Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Spooky Sense, caution should be used during Halloween festivities It's Halloween. It's time for the young and young-at-heart to lose their inhibitions. Halloween is the only time of the year when being bad is good, and being scary is nice. But when the ghosts and goblins venture out to costume parties and haunted houses tonight, they should use caution. Among college students and other adults, Halloween parties are popular traditions. With this tradition, however, comes a certain amount of adult responsibility. Sometimes Halloween party-goers get a little out-of-hand, and some of their pranks can be dangerous, illegal and/or deadly. The death of William Anthony Odom should serve as a warning against Halloween pranks that could go wrong. The 15-year-old boy was staging a haunted house hangman gag, when he accidentally hanged himself at a private Halloween party. The death of the York County youth was similar to the death of a 17-year-old boy who was also staging a Halloween hangman gag in Lakewood, N.J. a week ago. The point is people need to be safe. At this time of the year, authorities talk about Halloween safety in terms of the little trick-or-treaters. Parents are warned to make sure their children go trick-or-treating in their own neighborhoods. They are told to make sure their children wear brightly colored - clothes, so they can be seen at night. They are told to examine the Halloween candy after it has been collected. But what about the rest of the people who will be out and about tonight? , Detroit has a Halloween tradition called Devil's Night, during which several buildings are burned by arsonists each year. Last year, Devils' Night fires left at least five families homeless after fires flared across Detroit despite the efforts of an estimated 30,000 patrolling volunteers. In other cities, vandalism and other malicious acts are common occurrances. Wearing costumes and disguises helps to reduce inhibitions, and the effects of alcohol and other toxic substances sometimes consumed during holiday carousing makes the effect two-fold. It's alright to have fun tonight, but people should also use good judgment. So in case no one else tells you, The Gamecock would like to: be safe. "WE'RE ALL AM KttRP" ?Set. T^Je, a/isrltJkitsHous* unify mes?n& (Q I^ 9^7^j>6elO"Ft C. rgK The Gamecock News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 Jeff Wilson Sharon Willamson Editor in Chief Managing Editor/Copy Desk Chief Lynn Gibson Elizabeth Lynch News Editor Carolina Life Editor DougAube Renee Meyer Sports Editor Photography Editor Kelly c. Thomas Viewpoints Editor Elizabeth Fox Sherri Tillman Assistant News Editor Assistant News Editor david bowden kathy heberger Assistant Carolina Life Editor Assistant Carolina Life Editor Brant long Julie Bouchillon Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Photography Editor Sara Verne Octavia Wright Assistant Copy Desk Chief Assistant to the Editors Kristin Francis Erik Collins Graduate Assistant Faculty Adviser Ed bonza Laura S. Day Director of Student Media Production Manager Ray Burgos renee Gibson Assistant Production Manager Advertising Manager Kyle Berry Carolyn Griffin Assistant Advertising Manager Business Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, professional title if a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if a student. An address and phone number are required with all letters sent. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible libel or in case of I space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any circumstance. "IF YOU m JU I .1 Open minds1 In Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire (1942) the Supreme Court established that, concerning freedom of speech, it is the unpopular beliefs, not the popular ones, that need legal protection. The court reasoned that the beliefs of the majority are rarely threatened by opposition, but the beliefs of the minority often are. In simple terms, the court determined that the minority (whoever it happens to be at the time) has just as much right to speak his/her mind as anyone else. Obviously, it is difficult for us to be open to other's opinions, especially when their opinions are different from our own. We are often too caught up in believing that our way is the only way, so we automatically become close-minded. But differing opinions are constantly clashing, ana an numans win never toiaiiy agree on any subject. I would like to establish the importance of hearing what others have to say, attempting to understand their viewpoint, and possibly learning more about our own beliefs based on other's differences. I realize that it is easier to criticize someone (or some opinion that differs from our own) than to investigate their position and leam from their differences. When we encounter someone unlike ourselves, we must remember that not only are they different from us, but we are also I^j JjJiy ^ jni. MI i > KfiETJlRS TO Tl - ' .... .. Realist should L h?sn dream a little us^ , ,. this read To the editor: freedoms To Charles Peebles, I agonized [hi through your recent letter to the c } editor in reference to the worl- [q foreier dwide playing of John Lennon's f "Imagine." You remind me of an _ antithesis of Robin Hood stealing ore from the poor idealist and feeding , . the cold world of realism. D (1 Beatles v Music has long been a controversial medium for ideals. I remember my mom telling me the jumpy W/f*l big band sound was discouraged I J because it was too loud and fast The first rock 'n' roll records were ll (J I banned because of suggestive lyr- To the ec J ics. And, what kid of any genera- This is JT FINP THE PRESlpEHl ST HAM6 UP A WAFFL will learn from ? SARA Verne * h! a< different from them. A A direct result of the closing of minds is prejudice. The problem of prejudice, which is often aj expressed through anger, stems directly from L several other problems, one of which is ignor- tl once. Long ago, Voltaire stated tnat prejudice is t\ "the reasoning of the stupid." Since everyone r< holds some type of prejudiced views (not al- ai ways intentionally), I cannot make the claim that a prejudiced person lacks intelligence, but k that person is usually ignorant of the other's si- li tuation, background and beliefs. o ti Because it is natural to feel threatened by al what is different, it is quite a challenge to curb b this ignorance. The easiest way to curb ignorance is to get to know the person whom you is view as different. Find someone whom you R would not normally associate with ... and talk o to them. Listen to them. But most importantly, ir learn from them. Generally speaking, most peo- h HE EDITOR Swragiye ; is .oxj&v , s ft? % , S? \ I I III! nil I Ill 't heard, "Turn that crap son's letter, which appeare Oct 29 issue. This letter i pinions to Lennon's idea- ?f inaccurate informatioi :s are to be respected by find it amazing that it was er but tolerated by the by a science major, our country awards us. s country's belief that First of all, the genetic i better than war a premise of a species has nothing > i relations? to do with the transmissibi calists like you in office, virus. I need merely to ren ir we are on the verge of that the rabies virus can b am a little. By the way, directly from dogs and sqi nnon was not with The man and that the encephai /hen he wrote "Imagine." uses can be spread frorr Ed Palkinew and birds to man via insect HRTA senior iter's data Finally, the Tuskegec ment did not infect their Qpftf I with syphillis. The inve* dLvlll dlv enlisted individuals who litor: ready acquired the disease ; in response to Mr. John- own sexual habits. Further riAL SEAL r ^ ^ t differences le are not asking you to believe what they beeve, or live the kind of life they live, but show >me interest in their differences. For example, hen reading a letter to the editor or listening ) other's com ?.nts in class, try to not only ^ar their words but listen to the message the ;rson is trying to relate. Try to understand the arson's point of view and their reasons for olding the beliefs they are expressing. Take Ivantage of the diversity found, not only in -merica, but also on this campus. To share a recent experience, a few weeks 10 I had lunch with an exchange student from > nr. I 11.. I 1. ? .i. ? L onuun. wc naruiy kiicw cam uuici uciuic len, but we ended up talking for more than vo hours about cultural differences involving iligion, education, government regulations and Ltitudes. Not only did I learn a lot about life in Engind, but I learned an incredible amount about fe in America. 1 am not suggesting that our pinions necessarily differed, but by spending me with someone who is "different," I was ble to learn about my own life and my own eliefs. George Bernard Shaw recognized that hatred ; the "coward's revenge for being intimidated." ather than feel intimidated or threatened by ther's differences, take advantage of the learnlg experience. I did, and my friend and I are aving lunch again this week. i d in the the time that the experiment was s so full initiated, there was no. effective i that I cure for syphillis. The breach in : u/nttp.n Plhinc nppiirrpH u/hpn npnirillin was later discovered to be effective against this veneral disease. The make-up investigators should have termivhatever nated the experiment and treated ility of a the subjects with this new drug, tind you Unfortunately, this was not done, e spread lirrels to Mr. Johnson is perfectly free to ititis vir- be as paranoid as he likes, but he 1 horses should refrain from corrupting sci5. entific data to support his genocidal paranoia. subjects Franklyn F. Bolander Jr. jtigators M.D., Ph.D. had al- Chairman by their USC Institutional Review Board more, at for Human Experimentation