University of South Carolina Libraries
VIEWPOINT Wednesday, April 18,1990 The Gamecock 5 ( Earth Da This week offers sti to join fight to save With all the hoopla and fanfare si if Earth Day was a brand new coi marks its 20th anniversary. This yea 16-22) and Earth Day (April 22) a biggest events of the decade. This decade has just begun. Much of the attention given to E aUCIIllUU U1C C11V1IUUII1CIU Iiaa> game come one of the hottest issues arc factors, including the Exxon oil spill fully aware of the damage hur environment. Also, because President Bush is condition of the planet than Reagan has become a greater political issue. It's about time. Although all the publicity and 1 Earth Day is worthy of all the attent For years, young people, criticiz sacrifices and their seemingly lac other than themselves, have compla fight for, nothing like Vietnam was What could be more important tf no real sacrifices for those involved mental legislation, but our environir nothing about it. At USC this week, there are man or at least become more aware of t ing. Mortar Board's Environmental Allied for a Greener Earth (SAGE) in honor of Earth Day. Also, various groups will be oul Russell House today to promote a1 global warming, overpopulation and day, Delta Upsilon fraternity is sj drive in the Russell House parking the State House Sunday ? Earth D; tal action. These are just some of the acti honor of Earth Day, so everyone \ become more aware and become i different environmental issues facinj The result of an analysis by the 1 another incentive for everyone at U Week. Out of the 50 states, South overall efforts to protect the environ This is our new decade, and this USC join 2,000 campuses nation nlanpf "WHY PIPNT WE THINK A FEW H0S1 % The Gai Robert D. Thomas Editor-in-Chief jeff wilson, News Editor rob scott pruden, Carolina. Life Editor teddy lepp, Photo Editor ro Lynn Gibson Assistant News Editor Elizabeth Lynch Assistant Carolina Life Editor Deborah Ryan Assistant Photo Editor dfwpp hlr<vi?n inc/1 Eiiv Darkroom Technician Kristin Francis Graduate Assistant ED BONZA Director of Student Media ray Burgos Assistant Production Manager Jeffrey B. Thompson Assistant Advertising Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long, fessional title if a USC employee or South a student. An address and phone numbe Gamecock reserves the right to edit lette space limitations. The newspaper \a circumstance. iy m tdents chance ^ ? environment \ irrounding it, it would seem as ft n ncept, when in fact, this year Ji r r, however, Earth Week (April (a ' re being touted as one of the n v is pretty impressive since the A } ;arth Day is a result of all the R ;red. The environment has be- |||| lund, which is due to several M L The oil spill made the public w, n on o />o*i A r% t r\ Q liplnl acc iiaiio tan uu i-v/ ? nvipiv/oo much more serious about the /^gpL tended to be, the environment W&tk loopla may become tiresome, ion it is receiving. ed for their inability to make k of concern about anything ined that they had no cause to to the youth of the '60s. lan our planet? Sure, there are I in fighting for more environtent will be sacrificed if we do A 1 y opportunities to get mvolved he problems our planet is fact Issues Council and Students o are sponsoring several events . , e?is a r ? legislating i . _ . Well, I : on Greene Street in front of mine eyes, wareness of such problems as jness an(j j I solid waste management. Fri- wasting of jonsoring a campus recycling There's i lot, and there will be a rally at whom, if > ay ? to advocate environmen- name on a SAT score vities happening this week in status. The vill have plenty of chances to vl(iuaI mv , , ., ume on a s more involved with the many Th . I us today. into bills < nstitute for Southern Studies is training se; SC to get involved with Earth The sale of Carolina was ranked 47th in ery fo ment. * ihings 1 is, in part, our fight. So, help !f?!siialurc ., ? i . rabberstam wide m helping to save our osalslikell And not OF OUST TAKIN6 J"1?1!8 rA6esr when it do laws again killers, agi against it i but it is a something and the Re majority th same reasc shouldn't ( a case of ] tLeth hom To the edii Althoug had been "I my April Y-! ?> K" seems thai llVVVVIV gay-bashi McKay st KATHYBLACKWELL make'som Managing Editor sumptions * tions regai IfN THOMPSON, Copy Desk Chief wh?le' _ Mr. Spi jeff nichols, Sports Editor that "Blue BB h>ASE, Graphics/Comics Editor way relate National < issues tha LUCY Soto over in th Assistant News Editor the poem ] Brant Long "instructs Assistant Sports Editor jeans ' i 1 sharon williamson gay tc Assistant Copy Desk Chief idea was i f iTov iiPDcnrifD extensive rv/\ i n i 11 i>uiji\Mr,i\ Assistant to the Editors Or to force moscxual Faculty Adviser Sjnce you Lauras.day 0f ihis P; Production Manager your gripe RENEE ATKINSON But there Advertising Manager for your "< Carolyn Griffin thing you Business Manager als seeking No one is down youi print ail letters received. Letters should While The writer must include full name, pro- ^ave aj)ar i Carolina resident, or year and major if r are required with all letters sent, lhe !, 'owar rs for style, possible libel or in case of McKay h; 'ill not withhold names under any his own moscxual opinion, \ mik ittle ditty abt ir once told The Gamecock that the iture is in the full blown business of ? morality everyday. have been to the State House and iiave seen the state legislature in bus- ? for the most part, that business is the taxpayers' time and money. ** one guy up there, Rep. Alex Harvin, ] ou live in his county, will get your resolution praising you for your high It is a ca or your attainment of centenarian There is resolutions are not trivial to the indi- issues, v olved, but are frivolous and waste ^at f?r tate level. aII been 're's all the work that legislators put people, changing regulations for Coon dog . A few ison, fishing season and all the like. Slte sex> ' Girl Scout cookies is considered ev- agree. T1 r exemption from the state sales tax. ^ 'cgisia ike this*jnake up the majority of the y Again, s "productivity''. Thirigs like this are jFaif. a si ped, t&fthere Sfe thdibiahds of pro$-' enacted i tiese. ' to fnfom one of these things is a moral issue. warning islature does legislate morals. But encourag ss, it has to be a consensus. We have practices st killing. Almost everyone, except parents f ree that killing is wrong and laws When ire necessary. This is a moral issue, nouncem ilso a consensus moral issue. It is saw one that the minorities ? the Democrats send me publicans, agree upon, as well as the she also at ignores elections. that didr 5 laws against drunk driving for the didn't lifc >n. It's an issue of right and wrong would b< bout everyone agrees upon. People thing els lrive when they're drunk. That is not That's u Vlike Fair's morals or anyone else's, was 19. jiLeJi E wrifprc gitimatc minority bee L'l hi ltd o ity is "someone wh( 1 nated (against) on lOphODlC color, erred or sex." trary, a minority is a tor: according to Webst ;h I thought my views from the major made infinitely clear in population." 4 letter to the editor, it Mr. McKay also t both Cliff Springs and mosexuality as "pervi ng newcomer Gorden I would like to remin ill fail to get the point, that crimes such as ii McKay has gone on to have been found to b e extremely ignorant as- ingly heterosexual ' and ridiculous accusa- one takes this as carl 'ding homosexuality as a proval for anti-heterc mination. And accc ings still seems to think American Medical A: ; Jeans" Day is in some American Psychiatrii xl to Gay Pride Day or and the American ] doming Out Week (two Association, homose t we will surely bicker a perversion. The ] e future). As you stated, and Lesbian Task fc printed in The Gamecock more than happy to 1 students to wear blue facts for you. As for f you're straight or think Mr. McKay w > show you care.'" The to know that such a never to isolate U.S.C.'s chaic and probably < homosexual population mon as sex with sh ; you to play "who is ho- being "the most disg and who is not." Rather animal cruelty knowi how your support for the I somehow think i group of human beings, slaughter of animal do not support the rights the plight of the w articular minority, then little above cruelty tc : is somewhat legitimate. No one is trying t< seems to be little reason a heterosexual shouh constant whining," some- with "Blue Jeans attributed to homosexu- McKay. I also think I the rights they deserve, likely that homosexu > forcing homosexuality going to leave so tl " throat. afflicted with dreadfi Mr. Springs seems to mophobia will be oh idoned his extreme ma- seems that those of d homosexuals, Gorden from this illness wil as written in to present to find a way to con warped view of ho- elusion McKay, som "freaks." In McKay's the word "normal" omosexuals are not a le- be used in quotes. Ii HIPPIE EAST WON mt legislati |T^ Stephen - Guilfoyle ise of consensus morals in our society, never opposition to consensus moral /hich shows you that Fair hasn't had any of his proposals, because they've opposed by significant numbers of students agree with him about oppoovernight visitation. Thousands dis lere is no consensus, so he had no right te morality. , with his latest little; crusade, Mike illy man at the best of times, now has ? policy that wiH retire the university n promoters of concerts to include a on advertisements if the entertainment es violence, suicide, illicit sex, occult or alcohol abuse. It is a warning for or their minor children. I was growing up, there were anents on television shows. If my mother of these warning labels, she would to my room or change the channel. But would find out what shows were about ft have labels beforehand, and if she :e it or didn't think I was ready for it, I 5 spending my nights watching somee or listening to the radio in my room, 'hy I didn't see Helter Skelter until I :RS TO THE EDIT' ause a minor- would be appropriate ) is discrimi- minded heterosexua the basis of yourself to take such On the con- to heart GROUP that er's, "differs Media ity of the presents ho- til GO srted" or sick, d Mr. McKay IlOl COFFG icest and rape e overwhelm- To the editor: vices, yet no I must respond to te blanche ap- the April 13th issue of >sexual discri- cock from Wes W. >rding to the mosexuality is not a m ssociation, the homophobia is. Mpst I c Association I have met are very Psychological who and what they ar Yiialitv is not who are homophobic Vational Gay secure with their own >rce would be ality, that lash out on uphold these never asked to be th "gerbiling," I are, that have a mental ill be relieved may be a third year practice is ar- Mr. Bales, but you 1 ibout as com- where unless you opei eep. As for it I never asked to be j usting form of never asked to be stra i to mankind," ing you are, it jusl the senseless That's the way it is. s for fur and Furthermore, I am \ hales ranks a and have never beer i a rodent. ll*e degree of having 3 "dictate how So your reasoning is I i dress or act" sonal opinion. If we a ;" Day, Mr. part of our society a it highly un- mental illness, then v ials are simply that claim on fact Sc lat Americans seem to be lacking, jl cases of ho- You say, "not c i-so-content. It mosexuality a mental you suffering is a potentially conta 11 simply have illness." This is the ibat it. In con- thing I have ever hear eone once said ment only enhances > should always ties about yourself. ] a the future, it are people, human be ?Y TUNE;' ing morality Guys like Mike Fair are exasperating. Mike Fair, though a Republican, has mastered the same skill that former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Tip O'Neil made famous. 'The reputation of power is power." That was the O'Neil doctrine. Fair proves it The only people 1 he truly represents are a bunch of religious conservatives in a small corner of Greenville County, yet he has convinced those on the Board of Trustees, that he is a powerful man. If they think he is, they, not he, make it true. In the legislature, Mike Fair's proposals are shot down left and right all the time. He wanted to eliminate Happy Hour in South Carolina a year or so ago, and we still have it. But the board, thinking he is more powerful than he is, uaves in again auu again 10 nun as uc legislates morality without consensus again and again. The board refused to consider his proposed rule for a long time, because, the members said, the state already has a harmful to minors act that covers these things. But he forced it, and they caved in again, just as they did on visitation. Granted, it will be three years before Mike Fair's victory is complete, but in three years, Mike Fair will be laughing at the students here who will be crying back, their rights denied. Warning labels mean the people who promote them are interfering in the family. If you don't want your children to watch a play that "promotes" anything in Fair's list, it should not be the job of a government agency, namely USC, to "inform" advertisers. That is a parent's responsibility. And it brings us one step closer to censor- i ship. Because while Fair's new rule says "promote" those things in his list, he really means "mention" those things. OR for narrow- caring ones. We are not sick or Is such as immoral. We cry, we laugh, we wise advice feel and we hurt. We do not seek victims to recruit or infect. Wake Bruce Lane up, open your mind, this is the i arts junior 90s. It may not be the gay 90s, grant you, but who says it is the straight 90s? L j Drew M. Bolin A History freshman ct Students need Lhe letter in . The Game- tO ODCn IllindS Bales. Ho- 1 ental illness, To the editor: homosexuals d0 we all feel better now that secure with we've gotten it off our chests? e! It is they Let's see ? all whites are racist, and are in- au blacks are racist, all homosexuheterosexu ajs oniy have sex in the missionary people who position with their spouses. Have I e way they left anyone out? illness. You Never before in mv life have I law student, read more narrow-minded, bigoted, will get no- ignorant generalizations than I 1 your mind, have in The Gamecock letters in gay and you the past weeks. Doesn't anyone light, assum- See individuals anymore? Doesn't : happened, anyone look at anything other than color or sexual orientation? Silly good looking me ? i had this strange notion i rejected to that people come to college for an a fear of it. education ? not just from books )ased on per- but from people and new ideas as re to attack a well. Apparently it only serves to nd claim its solidify hatred and bitterness tow/e must base ard others. imething you I was taught that people are free to do whatever they like unless it >nly is ho- hurts someone else. I guess all illness ? it these years I should have been trygious mental ing to take away people's individumost absurd ality and personal freedoms. Whatd. This state- ever happened to live and let live?. 'our insecuri- Alive and well at Carolina I see. Homosexuals Marie Loughmiller >ings, loving, Journalism senior