University of South Carolina Libraries
Fantas 4 Pandering to p isn't university Now that USC President that he has had quite enou^ since the mid 1980s, the un J denly been saddled with a hu Regardless of one's persoi man ran things here at USL, an administrator and a publ resignation, it seems that t would essentially like to have The ideal president for U! hold down tuition costs, acqt what the state legislature wo the school into the 21st Cen and undergraduate educatior ethical record when it come life. This is the stuff pipe dreaj of Trustees cannot be expeci entire state of irate taxpayers the USC Board members will who will be the absolute best while meeting as many of the Taxpayers certainly have a going, and the university doe being as frugal as it can. Bu best by picking a president well-educated students who awesome challenges of the ne positive attention to the rapii first-rlass srhnnl "WHEW! THANK 6OOP1 The G Scott Pruden Editor-in-Chief Ron Baker News Editor Fred Gonzalez Sports Editor Kristin Francis Graduate Assistant ed bonza Director of Student Media Ray Burgos Assistant Production Manager kyle berry Assistant Advertsing Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock will be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words fessional title if a USC employee or a student. An address and phone i Gamecock reserves the right to ed space limitations. The newspa circumstance. * I npe dreams >' s job James Holderman has finally shown fh r\f thA flaH Ha hoc HiAAn natnH inrr yLX VI U1V 111UV 11V 11UJ VVVJll iversity's board of trustees has sudge burden. rial opinion of how well Dr. Holderhe will be difficult to replace as both ic figure. From the reactions to the he university and state community ? their cake and eat it to. SC, it would seem, would be able to lire sufficient funding to make up for n't give, provide the vision to propel tury as a great institution of research 1, all while maintaining a lily-white is to spending, personal and private ms are made of, and the USC Board ted to comply to the fantasies of an ;. What Mike Mungo and the rest of I be expected to do is pick the person for the students and faculty of USC, goals listed above as he or she can. right to know where their money is s have a responsibility to the state in t it will fulfill that responsibility the who will attempt to turn out bright, are properly prepared to meet the :xt century, while bringing even more rSsgJ dly growing reputation of USC as a HESS WE 60T ACROSS SAFELY answe enragt piousl ence, self-cc No\ were i amecock q Robyn Thompson Managing Editor, Copy Desk Chief I h; Mond ? ? Some Dennis Shealy ing e Carolina Life Editor into O Nick Leoncavallo Sur Photo Editor For career to it. Erik Collins few i Faculty Adviser trenct Laura S. Day sciom Production Manager rudel) Renee Gibson hmt 0 Advertising Manager Carolyn Griffin !"re f Business Manager P?in e 6 what everyc nizing I try to print all letters received. Letters should F11"5 long. The writer must include full name, pro- wear ' South Carolina resident, or year and major if likely number are required with all letters sent. The lit letters for style, possible libel or in case of per will not withhold names under any much child Koger WChica^Tnkute. I \ 1 I I ' |gg|gg|j olderman wasi 11, it's happened. Good ol' Jimmy Holder- 0 is no longer president of THE USC. He id hard, lived well and smiled a lot during ~ JBL ^ 1 years here, but how many people will that nnnp ran ?av at this nnint What \i/p X. ly is that the man had his bad points and 3od points, and in the end showed the he was . . .human ? a human with his ties a little out of order, but human " leless. room for < iat do I mean? Let me illustrate. How sometimes of you have credit cards or have friends night); I i atives who do? Now, how many of you I've neve )ur friends and/or relatives) have run the I've neve up to the limit and been faced with huge thoughtful it one time or another? I thought so. Now, others, wli about this. You (or friend, or relative) did of an imp vith the full knowledge that YOU. (or mistake tl r) had to pay it back. something v, suppose someone walked up to you and Of coui you a seemingly limitless credit card and else has t< ou to use it when you felt you needed it, the shoe i; ^meone else would pay it. Do you hon- say thing! hink you'd stop to realize just WHO was messiness I tor it eacn time you used it; i mougnt parents h; ,nd when you saw your chance to finally together t ith the big guys, and knew that that little years at a of plastic could do it all in a matter of when they ss, would you think twice? Hmmmmm. ing towar< v I know there will be people out there by univer; ring YES to these questions and getting angry ? id at my implication ? and if they are were, and y saying YES with a fully clear consci- trustees wi I congratulate them on their superhuman Now to >ntrol. make on tl v I'm not saying that Holderman's actions ing the un right or that his outrageous spending was While I ed (after all, I could live in my dorm things dur rientation exp< ad the pleasure of experiencing something MKm&i lay that I thought I had escaped long ago. mPP * thing frightening, chilling, nerve wrack- W ixciting and petrifyingly boring all rolled ^ * ne unforgettable event. ? *""* '* nmer orientation. those of us who are well into our college s, the word has a much less effective ring HHSH The expenences that took place on those a Columbi 'ateful days are, however, deeply en- strok? led in the collective collegiate subcon- Others, >, just waiting to ooze forth and barge 0ut parent r into our nicest dreams at the slightest shirt with f recall. duated wil )king upon these wandering flocks of fu- 0n the bac reshmen being led around by their ap- these peop d orientation shepherds, it came to mind two shakes an ordeal it was (and no doubt is for wjth. The )ne) when they must go through this ago- themselves ly exciting and annoying ritual. on-the-bol ;t, there's the selection of clothes. Some Their lessc coats, ties, dresses or skirts. This most Then cc is a result of parental cojoling, which also pent-up ai lot to do with the festivities. Parents are when the more likely to worry about how nice their loves the i looks than the fact that a walk from the would the Center to Russell House in the middle of thing havi WW, PAMA6E coKiim? ^ ^ 1't all bad .. 'M Kelly Thomas MS* 'VAV.-m __ in entire semester with the money he spent on a hotel room for just one S im saying that each of us is fallible. a r yet encountered a perfect person. c >r met a person who is ALWAYS c of the effect his actions will have on s 10 can ALWAYS resist the temptation i ulsive thought, who has never made a a tat hasn't ended up costing someone I . Catch my drift? *se no one gets upset when someone d pay for their mistakes ? but when a( s on the other foot. . . well, let's just c< 5 get messy. In this case, however, was fully justified. Students and/or r ave to work hard enough to scrape 1 he money needed for four or more \ in institution of higher learning, and s find out that money that could be go- i Is education is being carelessly spent a >ity officials, they are very justifiably I as I was, and many of my friends r even some S.C. legislators and USC i ere. Point made. h a couple of other points I'd like to tl he subject of Holderman and his leav- f iversity. tl iolderman has done some very good s ing his reign as president of USC, I irience has * l " c SCOTT PRUDEN Jfc : a summer day could induce near fatal usually future students coming with- c s, opt for the "Class of whatever" tthe names of every soul they gra;h silk screened in microscopic type 0 k. Of course, it never really occurs to s le that very few people at USC give v > where they graduated from and who se are the ones who still consider j, ; high school seniors rather than gum- a :tom-of-the-shoe college freshmen. g >ns come fast and hard, >mes a period of pensive silence and f( nxiety during the drive to campus, f( student might decide that he or she y )arents dearly, but for cryin' out loud q y please shut the hell up about any- tj ing to do with college. It's at this v / / / ( .. or all good hink some of his "achievements" have been :ind of backhanded and exaggerated. For examlie, I read the other day that among.U.S. elites, JSC is now viewed in the same light as many vy League schools. (OOh!s and AAh!s go lere). This report has been plastered to our oreheads by Holderman advocates as a sign of lis great achievements. And it could very well >e. Of course, when people have to pay nearvy League tuitions and student costs, they HOULD expect to be able to view their school is Ivy League. But is it the students or the stulents' parents who see USC as an Ivy Leaguer, >r is it some slightly deceived elites who have een little or nothing of The USC except a pres" dent wno can obviously spenu money witnuui i thought and maybe a glimpse of the historic lorseshoe? I wonder. And there is a whole list of other so-caded :hievements that could fit the same type of itegory as the example above. Finally, a word about a result of Holderman's esignation. Alas, Robby Benson and his dear ittle missus are leaving USC. Now I could be vrong, and Benson's P.R. man will probably ay Fam, but it seems as if Rob is trying to give is inconsiderate folk who drove Holderman way a slap in the face ? a sort of "If he goes, go" kind of thing. Strange, isn't it, that last nonth Rob and Karla had so many dear friends n Columbia that they were going to make their tome here permanently, and now that ONE of hose dear friends (excuse me, two ? can't orget Carolyn) is leaving, the Benson's feel hey must leave. Strange how your friends can o rule your life, isn't it? Well, all I have to say is, "Good-bye." ups, downs oint that a student realizes the parents are goig to be a royal pain in the butt all day long, ?ut all in the best interest of their child, of ourse. Once the group arrives at USC, it's into the f-rndnnf rA_pHllP iltinn in laoa pcut-iiu-aiuvjviii iv v?uvuwvi, ocssiuiis, ?" /hich both groups are filled in on what a fabulus institution the university is, how friendly nd helpful all the professors are, and basically ow things aren't really as bad as they seem. Of ourse, once the groups make it to Russell louse and pick up a Gamecock, that image is lown out of the water and everyone strolls arund in a numb daze, realizing that USC is a hambles as it lopes toward the 21st Century /ith no direction whatsoever. The day goes on, there's more parental pokig and prodding, more sweating, a bit of riding round on Shuttle Cocks, more USC propaanda, proficiency tests, etc., ad nauseum. All of this, of course, leaves the students deling like trapped animals, and the parents seling like ogres and tormentors, but isn't that /hat the parent-child relationship is all about, 'ollege is the place for both groups to prove lat they are niether, and if all works out the /ay it should, they should be successful.