The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 19, 1991, Page 2, Image 2
Waste
Sununu's travel not biggest
problem facing the United States
X ?/ u *
John Sununu is not the nicest man in the world. To help hi
friend George Bush win the 1988 New Hampshire primary, h
employed tactics that would have made the Gestapo blush. Aftc
Bush was elected, Sununu rose to the powerful position of Chk
of Staff, doling out favors and retribution like a Machiavellia
prince.
Sununu's lack of interpersonal skills may be behind the recer
attacks on Sununu's travel expenditures. To be sure, there i
enough money wasted in the federal government every year t
feed half of Africa. However, taking government planes to sk
lodges is ridiculously minor in the grand scheme of federc
spending.
This controversy makes the Democrats look like nitpicking cur
mudgeons, bitter about Bush's popularity and doing anything the
can to hurt it. Note that the Democrats are not campaigning to baj
congressional junkets to Europe and Hawaii at tax-payer expense.
Sununu deserves a little understanding in the matter of hi
travel plans, if only for the office he holds. A high official in th
most powerful government in the world deserves a few perks
even if he is a distasteful human being in general.
By the way, the Chief of Staff's globetrotting does not excusi
waste on the local (i.e., campus) scale. USC officials won't see ;
dime of Sununu's travel budget, but they certainly could use thi
$90,000 President Palms spent remodelling his house on thing;
i i _ -
iiKe panting.
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If NOW HANDOVER \
BOAMECOTTKl
News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249
David Bowden
Editor in Chief
Tige Watts Aaron Sheinin
News Editor Carolina Life Editor
Rich Taylor Daniel Barabas
Sports Editor Graphics Editor
JULIE BOUCHILLON
Tit - r- '
rnuio Editor
Jennifer Jablonski
Copy Desk Chief
Ed Bonza Erik Collins
Director of Student Media Faculty Adviser
Laura S. Day Ray Burgos
Production Manager Assistant Production Manager
Renee Gibson Carolyn Griffin
Advertising Manager Business Manager
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not withhold names under any circumstance.
VMI decisior
After two full years of living in the "true"
South, I think people down here love to embarrass
themselves. \
Look at the latest embarrassing event this
Monday. A federal judge said women cannot attend
Virginia Military Institue because women
would "thwart its unique and successful method
of producing citizen-soldiers."
I do know that women can thwart men's concentration,
especially when they wear those
short mini-skirts and tight tee shirts. Come on,
though, how many sluts do you know enter the
military?
I have a couple of friends who want to enter
the military and they're not the type to thwart
soldier's concentration (no offense intended).
Anyways, what happened to the truly brave
soldiers in the Persian Gulf War. We have the
finest corp of men and WOMEN serve for us to
defeat that swarthy, foul-smelling Saddam
Hussein.
A woman was held as a POW, just like other
I men. Women left their families, just like other
mpn Wnmpn u;prp anH onnlonHaH
T T " V* V UVVVI UIV/U U11U U^iUUUVU,
just like other men.
[ LETTERS TO T
Movie review S^'S
j_ 0,0 m blow up ar
too critical makeapoi
I know thi;
To the editor a nobleJ?\
I am stooping to a "passive" re- in^u^ c
sponse to Brian McCarter's review , u s J
of Thelma and Louise (June 5,
1991) through a letter to the editor Lnillt out'
to prove the sincerity of my partial f131^ e W3S
disapproval of his piece. ,0"' thi
True, there are glaring props ^,cn S|
strewn thoughout the movie to ad- . e an w
vance the plot such as the money . atJ1.e ma^
envelope and the detective's lt' J.
"stick-like-glue" attitude towards 1
two women he knows only through s MUD kJ
Louise's baby picture and ^fep ^a
Thelma's anal retentive husband. P? [ w y
. .... . oiin Ac q *
His superhuman dedication to the
women superficially personifies
the need for compassion and com- . e e ma
mitment in our legal system's "in- in^ reassuj^
nocent until proven guilty" slogan. _one' rj
Granted, Brian's observations do , ' would
hold water on occasion. But the !?
big picture he paints is too tainted ^- "r
by the script's inadequacies with- .y P^yed
out much attention to the film's ar- ?ie . Um
tistic merit he says is lacking. ^.r saitcase
The truth is, the film is refresh- but the
ing to this female moviegoer. e crn c
Geena Davis and Susan Saran- sence 0 ^
don have both gone on record say- an attemPje^
ing they would not have done the c?m
movie if they sincerely believed it e stl&ma 31
would be a blatant male basher. a rap? csa? (
They decided to do a movie with- m. . e. ?
out the traditional soft-focus relatmg rt f
schmooze scenes Julia Roberts has one ^.an. e
crafted into an art form. The movie reP? e
is a sincere effort to challenge a raPls ,1
? . a r not get a fair
woman s basic mstmcts we so of- 0 , . .
. . . So look in
ten see men tapping into. . . ,
*?11 A X i . t tivations wh<
111 admit, the scene where they . . .
blow up Earl's truck disturbed me. T C. e, aw
I cringed at the blatant message U1 , s su
and listened for Anne Murray's "I ,ver . ^ir ^
Am Woman" to crank up any mi- kn0wledgc
W, SO I (Mr MAKE Ch
MCVOWLV& ?I CAN/
;et work with the rt
r~f
i wrongs femal
tl
TIGE WATTS a
m ^ lj
M tl
.'WPJT
L
IBBi^wBWil
Then why are they so grossly different from
men that they cannot attend a prominent military
institute like other men?
Are we (the male species) afraid to admit
women might be able to do some of the things .
we thought we could exclusively do? I just can- v
not buy the reason women are disallowed from it
entering VMI is because of the thwart factor. fi
Knowing a few military people, myself, I can
rest assured that military people are serious and ic
even more serious about their job. When they th
see a woman, they aren't going to drop what ai
they're doing to go flirt with her. w
What they do after hours is their business. If ft
a woman was going to go to an institute, then m
she should prepare for what might happen after
hours. She should realize that she's the closest to
HE EDITOR
stopped myself and pic- caught between a rock and
te times I've seen men place. Everybody saw 1
lything in their paths to dancing with the guy and
nt or sell movies. O.K., him would not go unpui
3 movie was attempting These women are not patie
il which is above blow- the legal system becaus
cs to prove a point know it will not be patiei
opped myself again to them.
WAS AN ACCIDENT! The ending may be drams
Brian. Maybe Earl's crowd-pleasing, but it too
exploited in your opin- freshing. If a "sign of the tii
ink about his mentality that reviewers are praising tl
poke, or attempted to. then it might mean
as not above believing are too "love it or leave it
r hook up. Think about do not pick up and appreci
a of romance was a subtle artistic touches in an
profile of a woman on wise bomb of a movie 01
^APS! versa. This movie does hi
rl in mind when you flaws but I believe the or?
Thelma took along the and real artistic and moral
voman, especially con- felt by seeing it would merit
?'-1 in o a aw
SlltUCICU cuuuuy gill 111 " mwuiuill UI& VH
i, I know the comfort- the crop should indeed be th
nee of a gun. I do not which inspire the most c
it if I or my roommate thought, positive or negative
not hesitate to bring it Laura 1
rip to the woods with a Journalism
[er hesitance was prop- y-i ? * f ?
out in her plastic bag- H/flltOF IlKGS
lid placement of it in
CTOy- alcohol use
s catalyzed by the pre- To the editor:
gun were catalyzed by It is a shame that in his J
[ rape. The murder was column "Suggestions for si
y a woman who knew fun," Carolina Life editor
rid lifelong humiliation Sheinin could find nothing
;ause. Looking deeper original to do than get inebrk
lils of the movie and I believe that as a Gam
today's legal system, editor, Sheinin has more of
ly assume that Louise sponsibility to his fellow stu
crime of rape and the ^ majority of whom are pre
l get convicted or did under the age of 21.
sentence. Even his other suggestic
ito the characters' mo- movies, T.V. and sports fail t
m they do things like ognize many of the unique e
into their own hands. ences university and Col
ibsequent confusion ^ave t0 offer,
lans stems from her Kristin Foi
that they are really Student personnel servicer
duate si
|1?
e soldiers
tiing to Christie Brinkley for these guys.
And amazingly, felllows, women are taking
tie responsibility. Women know when they enist
in the services, they might have to leave
ieir families. A lot of women soldiers this year
ad to leave, but they realized it was part of
ieir job requirement and went through with it
As a result of this decision, it's almost all
ight to discriminate. The only reason VMI relly
did not want to change is because of tradion.
I told a colleague' once tradition is nothing
lore than one's fear of heading into the future.
This is a new world and women are going to
1?.. ? u:? ?i- -- -* - -
lay a uig iuic 111 it. winy ine strong will surive
and the competition is going to get hotter,
's time to face up to the fact we have women
ghting for us.
If women can die for their nation, isn't it logal
that they should be able to lead our nation
trough war? By allowing women to only serve
id not lead is a gross injustice to all of the
orld. It shows that technology is pushing us
>rward, but our attitudes are keeping us from
oving.
Like I said, I think people in the South love
embarrass themselves.
" * j
i'i n nil I iiiVhiiYi lillllim I iH I Hi ii i i i'l'i iiili Li .Mil i ..i iJ
r!eE USC Creed
not necessary
nt with
_
e mey j0 ^
it with Thanks for your intelligent and
perceptive column about the Caritic
and 0iina Creed. If someone in my adis
re- vertising copy class were to sugnes
is gest those words (the Creed)
lis mo- might persuade people to change
viewers their beliefs, attitudes and percepTtey
tions, I would tell them to start
ate the over,
other
vice- Although I agreed with your obive
its servations, I would also like to add
finality that the majority of the words in
rush I this document (integrity, dignity,
praise rights, bigotry, concern, freedom
Jam of and respect) are just a bunch of
ie ones glittering generalities that fail to
ritical communicate real meaning.
L I have a vision of a parade with
marchers carrying flags, each of
which has one of these words on
, it. People see the flags and say,
> 'That's nice" or 'That's great" or
'That's right," but they don't do
anything about it because the
ifi/Vf/lo mtr%ArfiA?Al
wuiua aiv uaa?/cuijf supvuitiai anu
fune 5 100 genera^10 communicate meanimmer
ingful information. They are
Aaron merely symbols that go no more
more ^an sk*n spited.
The Creed is a quick and comecock
fortable solution to problems that
a re- haven't been solved. The Division
dents, of Student Affairs, which created
)bably the Creed, may believe this collection
of words means more than I
>ns of say it does, but it might be intero
rec- esting to find out how many stuxperi
dents agree,
umbia
irroux Jerome Jewler
s gra- Professor, College of Journalism
tudent an(* Mass Communication