The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 30, 1989, Page 3, Image 3
Flag burning
Flag burning law draws protest
from real patriots around U.S.
' >
At 12:01 a.m. this past Saturday, the new federal law banning
flag burning took effect. At just about the same time in several
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their minds and bodies for America in war defied that new law by
burning a flag in protest. The people holding the matches were
Vietnam veterans, and they were dam angry that the country they
fought for has a law telling them how to be patriots.
Who would know better what makes a good patriot than someone
who slogged through jungles during war dodging bullets and
watching other patriots die? They are dam angry that the symbol
of liberty and patriotism is being placed above patriots and liberty
themselves.
The new law says it is illegal to "desecrate the flag of the United
States." The veterans say the law is merely an infringement
on their rights to express themselves. They say they wouldn't bum
flags anyway, but they should have the right to do it if they want
to.
And they're right. They should have that right.
This new law says, in effect, the flag itself is more important
than the principles for which it waves. The law makes it clear that
you will be a patriot in mind and action or you will be punished
by the law. That goes against America's foundations.
Americans should be able to express themselves any way they
. want as long as they don't infringe on anyone else's right not to.
This heinous act of burning the flag we love is nothing more than
burning cloth that happens to have the symbol of liberty on it.
Just because some ignorant person bums a piece of cloth because
he thinks he's making a bold statement, doesn't mean he's
any less a patriot. He is merely expressing himself.
The symbols for what we believe in should not be forcibly put
above what we believe in.
Some supporters of the new law say burning a flag illustrates
exactly why .the law is needed ? because America is the only
place you can do that and escape a firing squad.
But that's exactly why the law is not needed. Americans know
they are in the freest country in the world and they don't need
some law to make them show it.
The protests this weekend came from those who should not be
questioned about their patriotism. They've made their sacrifice.
And it is a slap in their faces and all the people who have ever
died for the United States' ideals if we make laws saying how,
when or where you can or cannot express your love of America's
present policies or hatred of them.
If the protests continue, maybe Washington will get the message.
More likely than not, however, the eggheads in Congress
will try to sweep it under the rug and go on to the next blatantly
political feather for their caps.
-WOW! YOU THINK ANYTHING LIKE THAT
^COULP HAPPEN HERE?"^
*
*
m . j
[ The Gamecock 1
' Editor in Chief Assistant Photography Editor
| WAYNE WASHINGTON JULIE BOUCHILLON
1 Managing Editor Viewpoint Editor
! HAL MILLARD JEFF SHREWSBURY
Copy Desk Chief Datebook Editor
KATHY BLACK WELL JAN PHILLIPS
Assistant Copy Desk Chief Coinics/Graphics Editor
jROBYN THOMPSON ROB LANE
jNews Editor Graduate Assistant
'KELLY C- THOMAS KRISTIN FRANCIS
Assistant News Editor Gamecock Adviser
JEFF WILSON ERIK COLLINS
Carolina IJfe Editor CfnHont \fpdla
1711 tClWl V*
^ROBERT THOMAS gj) BONZA
Assistant Carolina Life Editor Production Manager
jLYNN GIBSON LAURA S. DAY
^Sports Editor Assistant Production Manager
rCHRIS SILVESTRI RAY BURGOS
Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Advertising Manager
-.BRANT LONG JEFFREY B. THOMPSON
^Photography Editor
-teddy lepp
i
"Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be, at a maximum, 250 to
-300 words long. The writer should include full name, professional title if an employee with USC or Columbia
.resident, or year and major if a student. An address and phone number are required with all letters sent. Guest
^editorials should not exceed 500 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for style or possible libel. The
Gamecock will not withhold names under any circumstance. '
Ellis fans got1
seasons, Ellis has been
arm and leadership Wayne
qualities to match, Ellis Wfl<;h:nafftn
never blossomed into vv dMlinglOIl
the All-America quaf- ?
terback many fans expected
him to be. If he had a bad game by their
standards, there would be calls for his
replacement.
Saturday, those calls were answered.
There was an eerie hush at the stadium when
Ellis remained on the ground after the other
players had risen.
"Oh no!" the fan next to me shouted. "There
Letters to the e
Honors college to evaluate i
is same for all see
To the editor: VI*)!*
During my past three semesters r
here at The USC, there have been nfif |i
quite a few things that have "'"I 1J
brought my blood to boil; the
parking situation, the new visita- To the edito
tion policy and tuition increases In readim
just to name a few. But the occur- the editor ii
rence which brings my silent ac- Samuel Edw
ceptance of these situtions to an Oct. 25), I
end appeared in the Oct. 11 issue sad (but no
of The Gamecock. tion. It seem
no discrepai
As an Honors College sopho- fession ?f C
more, I applaud South Carolina simultaneou:
College's realization of the need to t?ward fello
increase black enrollment. I can at- ^aps a dtth
test to this through my own experi- order,
ences. Having been enrolled in
eight SCC classes thus far, I have Educa
yet to share the classroom with an
African-American student. But the Q Q]
method espoused by Renea Harrison,
SCC coordinator for
Academic Affairs, to increase their UCIIII
enrollment enrages me to no end.
The idea of "judging the apllica- To the editoi
tions of African-American students In respons
differently" is not only an insult to hind Bible."
the standards of South Carolina It bores r
College, but to the black race who title t
itself. minded intel
daily know
Standardized test results, such as hand, apath
SAT and ACT scores, have played and die
an integral part in the admissions
process of not only the Honors Only a f
College, but universities and col- Bible was
leges nationwide. If these standar- men wh? h
dized tests are deemed as not be- These^ were
ing a reliable judge of a student's diose spiriti
ability to perform, then why are dung I'r
they used at all? I am not question- would not ur
ing the validity of the assertion
that black students do not score as P? not *
well on the SAT as white students;
I have seen no evidence to support Bible,
or deny this tonclusion. But the vomiting wl
idea of setting up different admis- anything, v
sion standards according to race is stand in del
insulting. Is the Honors College stuPid t(
suggesting that black students are S'ves P^ace t(
incapable of meeting the same
standards as white students? However,
If the standardized test scores guish betwe
are an accurate portrayal of a stu- what is wi
dent's potential, then allow them everything
to continue as a part of the admis- Contrary t0 5
sions process here at SCC. But if nShts anci
these scores can't be applied as a wrongs> ho\
universal standard, then they punishment
shouldn't be used at all. Instead of rights and
lowering the requirements for ad- wrongs, ho\
r\ i _ _ i
Hussion ^uaseu on race, income or punisnmeni
any other category inherent to a them happen
student), perhaps the Honors Col- ceptance of h
f N
I GUESS IMS MEANS /T^M
WE'RE ENGAGEP?... ^ ?
what they wai
goes this season and next."
That statement, said even though the fan was
obviously not aware of the fact that Ellis was
closing out his career at USC this season, has a
bit of truth to it.
Say Ellis bounces up from the ground and
leads the Gamecocks to a stirring victory. Say
the Gamecocks go on to win two of their next
three games. USC would have finished the season
at 8-2-1. Throw in the possibility that Ellis
could have led his team to its first major bowl
victory, and the Gamecocks would have been
voted in the Top 20 at the end of the season.
And Top 20 teams have a much easier time
recruiting great high school players than do
6-4-1 teams.
Strange, isn't it, how one play can mean so
much.
The fans were disappointed to have their
love-hate hero felled against the arch-rival
Wolfpack.
Ellis' disappointment, however, was probably
more acute. Here he was, under a new coach
and the umpteenth offensive system he's had to
adapt to, and he was steadily becoming the
great quarterback he, more than anyone else,
ditor
simply find a new way Finally, if you;don
its applicants. the Bible, wait until y<
Valerie A. Palmer before you start tellii
economics sophomore not to take it so lit
# then, keep your talk-sl
'ess faith to>'ourself- _
Dou]
Electrical engine
Hugo res
I some recent letters to *
ti The Gamecock (e.g. was Dig c
'ard Dunham's letter of
have been struck by a To ^
it surprising) observa- T wnillH !iW,
is that some people see Jensen's letter titled
icy between their pro- onjy thing going on." .
hristian faith and their (jent ^ ^harlestor
5 expression of hatred a^je experience f
w human beings. Per- "welcome change of
* soul-searching is in Hugo brought to the c
ties. Let me tell you
James U. Gleaton went home that weekt
ition graduate student great "adventure," rei
_ , past camping expedit
tie hiding the loss of water and ]
? area ? for some of us
I /-I D1 Kll P an outdoor S"11' for 0
^ J-FlLflv/ canned goods and pac
for days, taking spor
r: the dark, and not havi
>e to "Do not hide be- with those worldly,
"luxuries" such as th
ne to listen to people microwave, air conditi
hemselves as open- frigerator. A nice adde
llectuals babble as the the mile-long lines w;
it all. On the other into to the numero
etic infidels bashing enough to count on
Bible infuriate me. grocery stores that dec
the day after Hugo stru
ool would state the
written by "ordinary Forgive us Hugo vie
ad spiritual feelings." ing so uncaring about
men close to God and the world, but for most
jal feelings" are some- world has completely <
n sure Amy McCaleb ound us. Nearly eve
iderstand. have worked so dilige
been wiped clear by i
>e so ignorant as to Hugo ? our homes, o
hristians "hide behind our clothing, our boxe
It makes me feel like ries and, with them, all
x 1 - < * Tr i 1 j -
lenever 1 near mis. n nupes anu oreams. l i
ve must continually are very familiar witl
'ense of it. Likewise, Hugo horror stories
) think that the Bible multitude of news repc
o prejudice. gazine articles focusi
tragedy.
the Bible does distinen
what is right and Forgive the media fc
*ong. Life isn't an jng the devastating
;-goes" experience. Hugo, but apparently,
some beliefs, there are t>it more sensitive than
wrongs. With the to the plight of othei
vever, judgment and word to Mr. Jensen:
shall come. (One of think about being more
wrongs. With the out the situation of oth
vever, judgment and you may need the he
shall come. (One of someday,
s to be a queerish ac- Jo<
lomosexuality.) Chemistry:
ited ? sort of
wanted him to be.
Against East Carolina this season, Ellis
changed the play at the line of scrimmage
countless times, hitting his receivers when they
were covered one-on-one. He took the sack instead
of trying to force the ball into double
coverage. He looked off defenders who were
trying to read his eyes to determine where he
was going to throw the ball.
But all the fans saw was the big numbers and
the lopsided final score. Development, progress,
leadership, they missed.
Sure, at this point in his career, Ellis could
have been comparable to great college quarterbacks
of the past like Miami's Vinny Testaverde
or UCLA's Troy Aikman. But Ellis was
a big-time quarterback behind a small-time offensive
line in comparison to other major college
football lines.
So, the third play of the 1989 N.C. StateUSC
game will always be remembered. It will
be remembered as the play that determined a
season.
But hopefully, it will someday be looked
back upon as the play that made USC fans
aware of how valuable the attributes loyalty and
patience are.
?.?
Loomis writes
eraHj^Until abOUt IlOthillg
low opinions
To the editor:
glas Winters j don't know about the rest of
ering junior USC, but I am getting really fatigued
with Amy Loomis' column
illy in The Gamecock. Let's examine
7 some of the subjects that she has
lool chosen to write about this
semester.
When we first heard from Amy,
she was complaining about the difpond
to Mr. ficult time she was having getting
"Hugo not "lto some ?f the local bars. HowBeing
a resi- ever, her problems seem to be
i area, I was somewhat unique. Every weekend,
irsthand the hundreds of underage drinkers de
pace" that scend upon Five Points. I find it
:oastal coun- difficult to believe that Amy, who
when I *s ?f aSe? has such a difficult time.
:nd, it was a More importantly, WHO CARES?
niniscent of Even if she contends this has
ions due to something to do with feminism,
power in the there exists much more evidence to
cooking on the contrary. Many bars only allow
thers, eating underage women into their estabkaged
foods lishment, while excluding underige
baths in a8e men.
ng to bother The next topic that she decided
man-made to bore us with concerned her hare
television, rowing freshman year. I don't wish
oner and re- t0 appear unsympathetic. Many
d bonus was people have problems trying to adaitincr
tn apt just to the unspoken rigors of col
us (almost le8e ^e- However, Amy's whining
one hand) simply didn't seem to be newsworided
to open thy journalism. Like many of
ick. Amy's columns, there seems to be
little resolve toward this otherwise
:tims for be- worthwhile topic,
the rest of Her latest sop was one of the
of us, OUR most outrageous pieces of journalcrumbled
ar- ism that I have ever seen. Amy's
rything we attempt to bring us closer to the
ntly for has state fair resulted in a quasi-artistic
the hand of flow of garbled emotion. I couldn't
ur furniture, decipher whether or not Amy even
s of memo- enjoyed herself. In fact, I tend to
1 of our past wonder whether Amy has fun dom
sure you ing anything at all. Her freshman
i the many year was a wash. She doesn't even
1 from the seem to like the fair. She was
irts and ma- nauseous almost the entire time,
ng on this she was there. Yet, she calls the
place magical. By Amy's definition,
I guess a warm six-pack and
ir spotlight- a stale burrito are also magical,
effects of point is, Amy is using a
they are a valuable resource to purge her
Mr. Jensen emotions. Her latest enstallment
a r>?1- !- -
rs. A rinai uciunga ill uic rurijuuu magazine
YOU just and not in The Gamecock. Maybe
caring ab- she should take up poetry or abers
because stract art. However, her forte
Ip of them doesn't seem to be in field
journalism.
die Lastica Michael Cummings
sophomore English senior