The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 04, 1991, Page 5, Image 5
Rules
i Greek system unfairly persecuted
at California university
This year is a difficult one for fraternity and sorority members
at the other USC. The University of Southern California has
placed harsh new rules on the Greek system that set a dangerous
precedent for schools nationwide.
Greek houses at Southern California are now subject to searches
at all times. Greeks must also maintain a higher GPA than regular J
students. Restrictions have been placed on parties as well, limiting
their size and length. Finally, opposite sex visitation is not allowed
when there is a party serving alcohol.
These rules are largely in response to a date-rape on campus. A ^
I university official said the rules weren't excessive because some ^
schools had banned the Greek system completely. That's like say- he
ing it doesn't matter if someone was maimed ? at least they we- vi<
ren't killed. sei
The Greek system can be seen as an elitist anachronism. However,
it should be allowed to exist on college campuses without an
draconian restrictions. Blaming an entire system for the crimes of kil
a few is simply un-American. Date-rape is a serious crime, but an
like the cliche says, one cannot legislate morality. A person who is wl
inclined to rape a woman will do it, no matter what the rules say. pu
The new situation at Southern Cal is just another example of the
conservativism sweeping colleges as a whole. Across the conti- sU
) nent, our USC is also turning into a police-state. On-campus par- fei
ties, Greek or otherwise, have to be registered if there are more m,
than 10 people. Opposite sex visitation is heavily restricted. Alco- i:;
hoi has been virtually banned. Universities are regressing all over,
even in liberal California. Students, as paying customers, have to tal
put a stop to it. co
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News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249
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Chris Silvestri i
Editor in Chief
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Tige Watts Octavia Wright
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Aaron Sheinin Teddy Lepp r
Sports Editor Photography Editor y
c
t
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Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor f
Tracey Davis Rich Taylor y
Asst. Carolina Life Editor Asst. Sports Editor
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c
Wayne Williams eric Glenn i
Comics Editor Darkroom Technician r
renefc A. Gibson Laura s. Day \
Asst. Media Director I Advertising Manager Production Manager 1
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Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin i
Faculty Adviser T ? ? Business Manager t
7 Lara Chapman
Asst. Classified Manager
i
Letters Policy: The Gamecock wiH 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 space limitations. The newspaper will
not withhold names under any circumstance.
4
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Death penalty ii
In 1983, Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins did the ?
ty work for our state, but he did the state's
>rk a little earlier than the state had intended. ;
are importantly Gaskins did the work without
> state's consent. Gaskins blew another man's
ad off with a radio bomb and after being con:ted
of nine other murders, he was finally ]mmmm
itenced to the electric chair.
I guess the irony of fate will never cease to The
laze me. Here we have a man convicted of puni
ling another man, who was on Death Row, pr0j
d the murderer gets sentenced to die. But and
ly doesn't the state get sentenced to the same C0Ui
nishment? The man killed in 1983 was con- 0f 1
;ted, sentenced and a resident of CCI's Death the1
>w. Justice was served, although not as the n
ite intended. Even though the means were dif- $13
rent, the end was all the same. The man was ecoi
/Iftolritto mill Ka An UriHov Qf
LUUQ^u) JUdl <10 VJOOIVlllO w ul* uv vii jl nvmj hi gpyj
30 a.m. judii
My point comes to this, the practice of capi- cuse
1 punishment, regardless how you look at it, a y(
mes out in the same light everytime: hypo- tion:
itical. By executing a murderer, die victim re- accc
ains dead. Most mainstream churches don't steai
pport it. And have you ever met someone tion
tio said they didn't kill another because they for 1
Dpped and thought about being sentenced to y
ath? Yet these are all emotional arguments, the
id this doesn't concern the future. ^
Over the summer, the newspaper covered the Worl
nsational story around the Federal Crime Bill. Afri
honors college
Gee, I know how the guys in the Civil War r-~
mst have felt.
This past week, this beloved newspaper ran
a editorial slamming USC President John
alms for saying how great South Carolina Colge,
the Honors College, is. 1
For all my honors college friends, I had no ?
art in that editorial. Why should I anyways? mm.
rtiy would I want to slit my own throat by dis-editing
my college? L
Well anyways, the editorial went on to say leg<
alms was selling the "regular" USC colleges indi
lort by praising the honors college. T
The writer of the editorial mentioned Palms denl
lid, "The honors college offers a superior edu- Pret
ition to young people who might otherwise at- T
;nd academically acclaimed schools outside of vers
outh Carolina." high
The editorial also said Palms was basically avei
lying, "USC stinks, but at least we have the ^
onors college."
I'm sorry fellow newspaper hounds, but that !
; not at all what Palms said.
When the editorial was written, the writer
ok Palms' quote out of context All through- A
it the statement by Palms, Palms mentioned ^ (
e different angles that are so "great" here at ,
sc. wel
Anyway, let's face it, the honors college is a E
iperior college. Otherwise, it would not be had
illed the honors college. poin
LisTi
pnf college offers. (
L 1 Cijlllvlll students are stat
i * n* nation's best Fi
Parities issue cm Ivy League E
University, b)
'o the editor: (1988>? Places 1
Thank you for your editorial ^nong 1116 t0P
Wednesday concerning my recent ?
eference to the honors college. As both pertw
ou may know by my comments
?f the past few months, I am ex- , : .
remely impressed by the high ?fthe umvers,t>
[uality of the undergraduate edu- uafe
ation and experience that students ten&on t0
ind at Carolina, and I appreciate "oting sevefa Q
our pointing out their value. This am.commit
iniversity has much to be proud versity improve
J trum of its acac
However, using the word 10 ma^n8 Pec
superior" in referring to the hon- many ^ings we
>rs college does not denigrate the
iniversity's undergraduate progam
as a whole. My comments reerred
to other parts of that progam
I find noteworthy, and there ffoilOF
ire many more. "Superior" is a re- AkUilUI
ative term and does not suggest
hat the rest of the university is not pilvll Ma
r 11 T ^1 C
jenorming wen. in uie reierenee
/ou cited, I referred to its superior- To the editor:
ty relative to higher education Has The Gar.
hroughout the country. about everythi
Placing the honors college on USC? Is there
jar with other "academically ac- needs to be basl
:laimed" schools out-of-state is not gest Student
nere rhetoric. Deans at Ivy League USC is far frc
;olleges and professional schools, dents should ha
ixternal academic review commit- in their institu
ees, and faculty, students and gra- diversity,
luates with whom I have spoken The editorial
ind whose evaluations I have read lege is almost 1
ittest to the education the honors a week when U
UJU P'pvtte fe~T7
5K Hpoes ^tcowr,
\\i 78s M^-?poesM3r<S^
tnrnoral mear
. . : :.?- _u
CARL MAAS ^
*-* .. . . 4. ,
Guest Editorial
? " 1*
Senate would propose forty-nine crimes
ishable by death, and then the House would
jose fifty-one crimes punishable by death,
yet no one seemed to give a damn why a
itry which has one of the highest standards
iving has the highest violent crime rate in
Western world.
0 one asked themselves what the estimated
1 million bill per execution would do to our
iomy. I mean $1.3 million is a pretty outrais
price tag just to kill someone. Yet our
cial system requires us to defend the acxl,
an estimated 20,000 murder convictions
;ar. Now we're only talking about execus
for violent crimes, but should we take into
rnnt the future of the Crime Bill and the
dy erosion of Habeas Corpus and the Petiof
Writ, we are talking about executions
ion-violent crimes.
/tlAVl tKil pfofo to ol 1 /Ml F/1 r\ to L-ill
f IIV11 UIV dUll^ Id OllUWtU UU I^lil ltd UUL^lld,
ideas of the people, regardless what they
are in jeopardy. Many of our peers in the
Id today include countries like China, South
ca, Libya, Kuwait, Turkey and, everyone's
worthy institi
TlGE WATTS
et's also face that if not for the honors col5,
we would lose a lot of talented
viduals.
he honors college houses almost 700 stilts
with an average SAT score of 1250.
ty high standards for .any institution,
he average SAT score at John Hopkins Unility
is 1290. Northwestern University, a
ily acclaimed liberal arts university, boasts
age scores of 1230.
tent more proof? North Carolina-Chapel
, 1109; University of Michigan, 1195; Uniity
of California at Berkeley, 1176; Univerof
California at Los Angeles, 1142; and
legie Mellon University, 1225.
11 those institutions above were ranked in
top 25 of national universities. Let's face it,
lave some pretty impressive stuff here.
ven the number one university, Harvard,
an average test score of 1370, only 120
ts ahead of South Carolina College.
ERS TO THE EDIT
)ur honors college attack for admitting stui
istically among the "low" average SAT si
irther, How to Get GPRs, the slam on the h
ducation at a State lege really takes the ca
r Martin Nemko ously, the writer does i
the honors college stand what SCC and it
such programs in are really like.
Honors students are ii
mance and percep- all forms of campus lif
; college is deeply Government, the Greek s
it is only one part various other student
's strong undergra- tions. Thus, SCC should
I tried to bring at- in the light of being a
entire program by part of university life if
its fine elements, athletic department, the
to helping the uni- business, or HRTA. W1
i across the spec- versity official praises tl
lp.mir. mission and tional business program.
iple aware of the journalism school pout
J 11 Ha CPP chirlanfo mk
UO well. kjvv. aiuutiiis W11
John M. Palms fres'd?nt Pal s^P1'
use President foo*?U "P"?' SC? aD<i
working staff should be i
for the unique opportun
1 m sents to its students ju
S KlflS "'regular' univers
ram should be. Surely c
antrum Stands that President Pa
not possibly praise evei
ment on every occasion.
necock trashed just The second point the 1
ng that it can at bles about is even more
anything else that than the first. What basi
led? Might we sug- writer have for making
Media? Although such as the honors coll
>m perfection, stu- volved in "false adverth
ve a sense of pride prestigious New York 7
ition and its great SCC "a thriving undc
honors college that oper
(Mi the honors col- League standards." Alsc
beyond mention. In you to the book How to
SC has come under League Education at a
1 C&rrwnv joei\' i
Mlb1%
-1S1 NUNigSi I
J^\ nmP J
^DCCSl
^ poe \y\ '90- li;
is of justice
favorite, Iraq. As a matter of fact, along with
Barbados, Bangladesh, Iran and Iraq, the U.S. is
one of only five nations worldwide to execute
its children, defined as persons below eighteen
years of age as stated in the American Convention
of Human Rights which has been signed by
the United States.
Lastly, one must question a practice that is as
inconsistent as the death penalty. The General
Accounting Office stated in a recent study that
82 percent of death sentences are facially
biased. And even as the federal government
pushes, one must remember that two-thirds of
all convictions or sentences are overturned because
they are too Constitutionally flawed to be
upheld.
The saddest fact is that last year was die
sfafp'? mr?ct vinlpnt vpar in thp hicfnrv nf Srvnth
Carolina, the same year we killed Rusty
Woomer. I thought the death penalty was supposed
to be a deterrent. As George Bernard
Shaw stated, "It is the dead that teaches, not the
name we give it Murder and capital punishment
are not opposites that cancel one another,
but similars that breed their kind."
Carl Maas is the South Carolina Student
Area Coordinator for Amnesty International.
There will be a vigil at the Governor's Mansion
on Lincoln Street at 7:30 p.m. and a Dinner of
Repentance at the United Methodist Church on
Colonial Drive. Both will be held on Thursday,
Sept. 5,1991.
ition at USC
Compare those numbers to "regular" USC
and you'll find the average SAT score to be
only 960 points, almost 300 lower.
Now can you sit there and tell me some person
with Einstein capability will decide to go to
an institution or a lower nature. No, tnigy won t
and that's why we have the honors college.
Even my roommate has told me if not forifije
honors college, he wouldn't be here, if it wasn't
for a scholarship check and the honors college,
I wouldn't be here either.
We have to swallow our pride and admit
there are smarter people. But there are also richer
people, nicer people, more beautiful people,
athletic people and people with nicer
clothes.
South Carolina College is here to attract
those smarter people and I think they're doing a
pretty decent job.
In this time of "bad press," it's OK to have a
few shiny sparkles. Until we catch the honors
college doing something wrong, though, let's
have some pride in something.
I'm sorry guys, but I can't stand behind you
in tearing apart the honors college. As long as
my name is in the staff box to the left, I cannot
sit by and let an injustice occur.
So if you want, draw up the lines and put me
on the honors college side.
1 . ... v
?R
i ft
..................... .- - -dents
with versity by Martin Nemko, Ph.D.
cores and These "words" come from indelonors
col- pendent authors over which not
ike. Obvi- even Dr. Holderman had influence,
lot under- The key phrase to remember is
s students "Ivy League education at statesupported
prices;" surely schools
ivolved in that charge students $10,000 or
e: Student more few tuition might offer some
lystem and better programs to those few stuorganiza
dents who can afford it. We were
be viewed both accepted to and received
n integral scholarships from some of those
- like the "academically acclaimed schools,"
school of but we chose to attend USC. Perlen
a uni- sonally, we are quite proud of the
le interna- degrees we will receive from USC
, does the through the honors college,
about it?
ine when This slam on the university
ments our should not come as a great surl
its hard- prise. In our old age, we seem to
recognized have forgotten the last time a
ity it pre- member of The Gamecock has said
st as any anything positive about USC. Do
ity" prog- you think that our student activity
>ne under- fees should fund such irresponsible
lms could and inane journalism? Considering
ry depart- u,t lauitA mint aiguuiciu ngc
Watts makes that abortion is the
economical solution to unwanted
writer bab- children, we suggest that The
ridiculous Gamecock's portion of student acts
does the tivity fees be sent to the District of
statements Columbia to help underwrite adoplege
is in- tjons At least then, the money will
iing?" The not be wasted at parrot-cage lining.
*imes calls
'rgraduate Chris Smith
ates at Ivy USC senior
i wc refer
Get an Ivy Ted W. Wooten, III
State Uni- International studies senior