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Ryan's song Ryan Bethea was no saint he deserves accurate mem The name Ryan Bethea has begun to fade from tl USC football fans, students and faculty. It's been m since the lanky wide receiver attended USC ? st the NCAA stripped him of his eligibility. Now he's no longer playing in the NFL, either. He has faded into anonymity like so many other out for one reason or another. In Ryan's case, he cause he couldn't decide if he liked being free m the right thing ? he didn't like football, but he die or work, either. Ryan's name has faded from our minds, most memory 01 ms reamy sun lingers nice me cousin w just couldn't get his life in order. When you mention the name of Ryan Bethea to umbia, you hear words like: "thief, head case, taler cipline problem" and words like "drug user" and "ci While it is true that Ryan had a particulary shad; deserve the exoneration in our minds on one count. Shortly before he left USC in 1988, Ryan wa charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine \ in the Russell House parking lot. He denied the < and said he was framed. No one believed him. He was dropped from the team, shunned by the c laughed at by his peers. But then it was learned he really was framed. Thi dropped, and the police officer was brought uj charges. But, still nobody believed Ryan. Anytime you name all you heard about was that arrest and how 1 gie. He is remembered not for the 77-yard reception go ahead touchdown against Clemson, but for the ai House's parking lot. That's how his memory rests in USC fans' eyes t is not a fair way to recall him. Ryan did get arrested for stealing a radar detector a plane ticket illegally from a sports agent and he TEDDY LEPP Assistant Adveru! JEFFREY B. THOM Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be, 300 words long. The writer should include full name, professional title if an employee t resident, or year and major if a student. An address and phone number are required wit editorials should not exceed 500 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for style Gamecock will not withhold names under any circumstance. , but ^ iory ss te memories of (j ore than a year j tucking it after stars who bum : burnt out be ore than doing ' ip?' In't like school of us, but the "VOUT e all have who people in Col?adi F00tball ti y past, he docs ^ , Garnet and Black. . . Saturdays. The theme IM., i s arrested and from "2001." Seventy vhile in his car thousand. Debauchery. |B irugs were his Sr.alninP Alma Mater H " --r--0. f w Carolina football 4 immunity and games. JHL ** Rah. Rah. Rah. - charges were s universityis HH| " ^. making it even more ) on his own difficult for me to be a fan of football games mentioned his ? and I didn't think Ar le was a drug- that was possible. But , that set up the with my own PreJu" Lo? Test in Russell dices aside, anyone must agree that student , ?, , ticket distribution has become ... am oday. But that re[entive. For the first time in years, I was go , he did accept the impossible. I was going to go whe was generally never gone before. I was going to seel ot possess the out. . . uh . . . pardon the digression. plain, I was going to get a football tic \ at lpau/hm Blindly, I followed the crowds, hop i cu itdM wneii shQved intQ the dght Unes And when irately. failed, someone just told me. It would and painless, I thought. Just give then E ? and .... "! I Letters to tl 1J Conway coach /I was no racist H ?jm |? To the editor: " g/* 'ft ?L I have been a resident of Conway for more than 10 years and was graduated from Conway High y School in 1989.1 feel that the artih .1 _ ttn. _ _ j tt n i <tef e :>ianci UP m 1116 5ePi-1 issue of The Gamecock unfairly portrays the situation. Having played varsity sports at Conway High, I have come to |K|fp know the coaching staff and can say that none of them discriminate against anyone on the basis of race You insist racism is the motive for replacing a black quarterback with a white one. Why was it not racism then, when, during ConSrlll|pR way's 1983 football season, white Rl|?p|P quarterback Robby Squatriglia was replaced with black quarterback * Laverne Reddick? The same head ] coach made both decisions. i A few more facts about this coach were also left unmentioncd. As printed in The State Sunday, Sept. 3, Conway football players were dismissed from the team for SgS^S^^J"' missirig consecutive practices just before the season opener, and "any 1<^ZjA?T20T~ player who wished to return could too*f?r-pdw.?M approach (the coach) individually. . .six returned." These athletes were not being punished for k standing up for their beliefs! Another fact you failed to mention was about the "black middle school teacher" who is not merely >rn Region the "group's spokesman," as you suggest. He is the local chapter , ? .., president of the NAACP and he aphy Editor " , , ... ~ , )N was suspended with pay. Only you have him suspended without pay. Y In closing, I would like to say that racism does exist everywhere. But every problem concerning a Editor black and a white is not racism. I can sympathize with this situalt tion because Conway High is my alma mater, and I know the people r involved. I sympathize with the players who walked out, can no at Media longer play and may have risked a college future. ger I also feel sympathy for all the junior varsity players who now ion Manager start on varsity against players twice their size and strength. But I feel worst for the people who are not> ant* should not be, involved ;in2 Manacer with this situation- % screaming PSqN accusations and presenting biased or untrue accounts (from either , ai a maximum, zsv to , . x . - : viih use or Columbia side), the damage only increases, h an letters sent, diesi Newspapers articles, editorials and or possible libei. The negative overexposure will not solve anything. Only the parties in opposed to all authority figures. But, Ryan did n< marijuana and cocaine the police said he did. His memory is never going to be a good one, bul you think about him and trash his name, trash it acci *OH, LOOK, DEAR, ISN'T THAT NICI THEY'RE ON A CRUISE, TOO' f 3uu / \ W?'Te \ \ "Vtfssst. \ \ %*., V /VN The Gamecoc Best Non-daily Collegiate Newspaper, Southeastt Society of Professional Journalists, 1987-88 Editor in Chief Assistant Photogr WAYNE WASHINGTON JULIE BOUCHILLC Copy Desk Chief Viewpoint Editor KATHY BLACK WELL JEFF SHREWSBUR Assistant Copy Desk Chief Datebook Editor ROBYN THOMPSON JAN PHILLIPS News Editor Comics/Graphics KELLY THOMAS R0B LANE Assistant News Editors Graduate Assistai D. R. HAYNES KRISTIN FRANCIS JEFF WILSON Gamecock Advise Carolina Life Editor ERIK COLLINS ROBERT THOMAS Director of Studei Assistant Carolina Life Editor BONZA LYNN GIBSON Production Mana; Sports Editor LAURA S. DAY CHRIS SILVESTRI Assistant Product Assistant Sports Editor RAY BURGOS BRANT LONG Advertising Mana Photography Editor MARGARET MICH] Hi AKE SESAME STREET? I'LL TAKI ickets give "I'm going to have tc M|r* "Excuse me? What d Is this some sort of c $?* St man really believe it's i "This card has been i fe * JL take it. We're suppose< ? ^ f| marked lost." M Hey, wait a minute, t have to have that to eat me 10 bucks, and I don another one. mmEwNk By now I was getting ny man was thinking that I old ID to get a extra tic! knew that I had absolut* extra tickets out of her. further from the truth. I tl ticket for another studer this is impossible.) ing to do "I don't understand. 1 :re I had buy food." k "Have you ever lost i To be re-validated?" ket. Oh. We had stumbled ing to get zation. If you lose a can that validated for food, it wc be quick things like the library . i your ID Great. I have to keep this v 1 'I''' '" !! " be editor ' HI in 11(1111111 volved can reach a settlement. I simply write to encourage interested followers of this story to first examine all the facts and keep everything in its proper perspective. Jennifer Aiosa Marine science freshman Parking lots pain in the... To the editor: The other night I sat mulling over the parking situation or, rather, the lack of parking situation, and wondering why I had gotten a GS sticker this year instead of the CS sticker I had last year. Wondering why there were no commuter student lots and why all the parking spaces were taken up by those poor little things dreaming nice thoughts in their frilly cots in Capstone. And it came to me. When the order went from this institution to. that Jnetiliittr?n ^thw matp narlrinor UIUL 11 lO llkULlV/l? ^Uivy Kiuivv *V*. stickers at the same place license plates are traditionally made, don't they?), the Mogul in charge here let the fact that he didnn't learn much about readin' and writin' (didn't learn 4G's at all) in school creep out. " A 4G' ? a 4C\" sez he. "What's the difference?" But his sharp-eyed subordinates knew that there might be questions from some of the lowly, so they concocted this plan. You see it all now, don't you? Sez the Mogul, "Them dumb bunnies will never know the difference, and we'll save three or four hundred bucks. We'll just hunker down real low and pretend we planned it all the time." Mr. Mogul, you sure fooled me. David Gore TA English All students deserve respect To the editor: Today I witnessed an event which irks me greatly. While waiting in line at the office of Parking and Registration, an international student was in the process of exchanging a student sticker for a UT sticker. Apparently there was a misunderstanding and the student had picked up the wrong decal during registration. The student was very polite, and the problem was solved. After the international student = MR ROGFR'F MF/RURneurir>r> r " w?' ? ?' ' w# M\SWLS 'columnist ) keep this. Sorry." ladies over t 0 you mean? It's me! She was s for football i ruel joke? Can this wo- she called m tot me? "Wait a n eported LOST, I have to And she gav 1 to take cards that are wasn't supp< was no con; hat's my cash card. I ! A new one would cost On my w; 't have the money to get brooding ov to get a tick ; kind of tense. This wo- I would prol was trying to use an an ID for sil ket. Horrors! If she only ruffled my ( ily no desire to scam Nothing could be The ladie: was only trying to get a that I had pi it. (We now know that student Bas said they die rhe card works when I were rejectii down on a p t before and then got it IDs." I upon a startling reali- Did they i d and then get it re- I try to use i ?n't work for other even though . . like football tickets. and says I'rr No, I didr /hile you go talk to the Go 'Cock >V ,v'? ' : 1& in left the office, the office workers snickered, and one stated, "I wish all those UT people would go back where they came from." Such a callous statement makes me angry. That international sudent has paid his fees and deserves the same opportunity that all students have at USC. He deserves the same respect and courtesy other students receive. The international community at USC deserves an apology. Let us hope the office worker's attitude doesn't prevail in other university departments. Chris Burnette Retailing senior Fair shouldn't define artistic To the editor: It is obvious that Rep. Mike Fair ' is not satisfied to have meddled in the affairs of the student body just 1 once. Having restricted and possibly completely cancelled the visitation privileges of on-campus students, he has now found another' "sin" that is being committed at USC. Last time we had little chance to respond to the representative's actions in Utai everything was kept low-key until it was too late. That is not the case this time, and I think we, as students, need to take advantage of this. I mean, HE certainly took advantage of US last year! We mustn't let him flex his political muscle this time. Rep. Fair, just WHO do you think you are?!? It is beyond the power of any single man to define art for the masses. Art can ONLY be defined by the beauty it engenders upon the viewer. It is impossible for you to tell ME what lacks or does not lack artistic content. What you think is art may be comnlpfplv rlifforpnt frnm what T hf? lieve to be art For example, you may think that sappy elevator music is better than Bach, whereas I would not think this way. Who would be wrong in this situation? No one. It is an opinionative scenario. In the case of the sexual content, does that mean you would not let a pre-18 year old see a presentation of the book (in play or film form) 19841 This is considered one of the CLASSICS of the literary 1 world, yet it contains sexual situations! Most people view Oedipus Dv.v An a 1i tarArir nlo oei/-? o1ca onH aca as a uu/iai) auu, unu this story is ABOUT sex! I ask you to reflect on your position on this. If you are honest with yourself you will find that ' N : headache here; they'll tell you what to do." ending me to a problem station ? tickets. I started to walk away, but ie back. linute, I'll show you where it is." re me back my card, which she ased to do. I guess she realized I artist ay to the problem station, I was not er the fact that I might not be able st right away, but over the fact that :>ably have to spend 10 bucks to get ly football tickets. This really jamecock feathers. s at the problem station concluded lid all my fees and was a full-time ed on these two facts alone, they In't understand why the scanners ig my card. They wrote my name liece of paper with other "problem solve my problem? I doubt it. When t again, it will still come up lost, the problem station has my name i entitled to tickets. 1't even buy a ticket, s. 11 " 1 1 1 . you haven't a valid one. If every student writes to the good representative now, we may be able to open his eyes. If not, get vour Darents to do so. And be sure to remind him that both you AND your parents vote! Samuel E. Dunham III Art studio sophomore Fans shouldn't get mad at band To the editor: Just imagine fans ? the first USC football game of the year. Carolina vs. Duke. The thrill, the excitement and quite possibly the agony of defeat. Now, march in the Carolina band and multiply those emotions by 100. To be on that field in front of 72,000 screaming fans. Fans who adore us? We have to wonder sometimes. We spend hours and hours in the sweltering sun practicing drill after drill after drill. Why, you may be asking? Because we are proud to be a part of the University of South Carolina and we enjoy what we are doing. Do you know what your gratification is for all of that hard work? Not just performing a good show, but knowing that our fans have enjoyed and appreciated it. After all, we do perform for you. Not only do we want your respect on the field, but off the field as well. Just this week we had an occasion where a drunk, disgruntled USC student/fan pushed one of the girls in our color guard into the bleachers. Not because he was in a hurry, but because he just did not want to wait for us to get back up to our seats after performing. This girl on the flag line had to be carried out of the game and spent the night at the hospital. Now because of the injury to her knee, she is not going to be able to march. After performing our hearts out, all we ask is that you give us a few minutes to get back to our seats in the stadium. Only then can we resume playing, once again for you, our devoted fans. See, I did not even ask you to watch the show that we have worked so hard on. All we ask of you is that you respect us enough to let us do our job. Those of you who do watch, enjoy, and applaud our pregame ana nairtime snows ? inanK you: For those of you who don't, watch us sometime. You just may be surprised at how good we really are. Lee McBride The Carolina Flag line Fashion merchandising senior