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Priorities Pee Wee gets blasted for "crime" while Tyson gets only support Paul Reubens ("Pee Wee Herman") has had his television show prematurely taken off the air and became the national subject of jokes for a minor offense. Mike Tyson has been defended in the media and has been guaranteed his title match even though he has been indicted on rape. America has a strange sense of priorities. This is no knock on Tyson. All people in the United States should be innocent until proven guilty, BUT why is it that Tyson's rape charge has been criticized and swept under the rug while Reubens' public exposure charge gets national headlines? Reubens was punished by CBS and by the American media. The question is a matter of money. Commercial sponsors would have pulled their advertisements if Pee Wee's how stayed on the air. Tyson's fight, however, is a guaranteed money-maker, and would not be stopped for practically anything. It is interesting to wonder if the fight would go on if Tyson had been convicted of rape. Tyson should be allowed to fight versus Evander Holyfield for the Heavyweight Championship. He has gotten the treatment he deserves. Reubens, who was persecuted for the most minor of crimes, is ridiculed. Hypocrisy has become a uniquely American art form. WE ARE EXPERIENCING SATELLITE DIFFICULTIES .. aaoiiiipwMMiiiiwiHiii I POD i GAMECOCK News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 Chris Silvestri Editor in Chief David Bowden Brant Long Managing Editor/Viewpoint Editor Copy Desk Chief Tige Watts Oct a via Wright News Editor Carolina Life Editor Aaron Sheinin Teddy Lepp Sports Editor Photography Editor Patrick Villegas Gordon Mantler Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor Tracey Davis Rich Taylor Asst. Carolina Life Editor Asst- Sports Editor Virginia Marshall Greg Rickabaugh Asst. Copy Desk Chief Asst- Photography Editor Wayne Williams ? . Eric Glenn Comics Editor Darkroom I echmcian ReneE A. Gibson Laura s. Day Asst. Media Director I Advertising Manager Production Manager Stacie Lewis Ray Burgos Asst. Advertising Manager Asst. Production Manager Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin Faculty Adviser Business Manager . Lara Chapman Asst. Classified 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 space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any circumstance. 1 tell your mommy about your prob- Democratic lem or are you just going to clip waste of tir your proud letter out of the paper First, our and send her a sample of your with Judge baby whining? with his c What many Don't get me wrong ? I don't ize is that mind cyclists riding their bikes on Judge Thor campus. You have every right to Conservati do so, but you must also realize tear at ess< sidewalks are for pedestrians, not freedom of cyclists. However, if you wish to of church j share them with us, we do not the minorit; have to dodge you, you have to man's right dodee us. If a cvclist was comine lieve the Extremism si Last week, The Gamecock printed a letter, whose author condemned most of the USC student body as sinners and advised us to repent. This opinion like so many others on this campus and in this country is one of an extremist view, and not shared or welcomed by most Americans. Of course, extremists have a right to speak in this country, but so many times, their methods are riddled with insults, condemnations, closemindedness and violence; and I have no respect for that. My question is: haven't these people heard of moderation? Moderation is the only practical and logical way to run a successful society. Antagonistic fanaticism is counterproductive. All extremism does is cloak the issue, which is not for the betterment of society. For instance, whether somebody wants to burn a flag or not has absolutely nothing to do with their patriotism. Most Americans do not hold fanatical opinions on issues such as the environment, religion, gun control, abortion, animal rights and capital punishment. The majority have middleLfc I Bikers don't changeyou have problems To the editor: Thoi So, you think you have a hard time cycling to class, weaving in fVlf* tand out of the pedestrians? Well, ^ try waking up 15 minutes earlier, so you can walk to class, dodging To the editi crowds as well as cyclists. Wah, Your et wah, poor baby ? I feel so sorry nomination for vou. Have vou written home to the Suprei head-on towards me, I wouldn't ready to lo: move to either side ? reason be- mental rig! ing that last time I was polite and Bush wants moved, I got run over. I learned Secondly my lesson the hard way. has the whomever Is bicycle parking such a prob- sponsibilit> lem? Well, unlike motorists, if you 5enate to run out of places, you can just quaiified a clamp your bike to the nearest make decjs lamp pole, parking meter or any United Stat other such thing. Motorists get a n0 0lj $5 ticket when we create a parking ernment tl space. Consequently, we park way change the out in B.F. Eevnt and walk miles ? ___ ?os r - ? eaSier ant to our classroom building (prob- Cases fro[T] ably the same building where you imDact on are parking your bike). mentandc Thanks to your lazy butt on the have the sa bicycle, not only do we get to lopment of walk miles to class, but we also want y?ur ( get to play dodge-em! If you have where they such a problem, WALK! For 3 type ?f m years, I have walked 20 minutes to Thomas tl and from Capstone to the Band think not. Hall every weekday, not to men- It is ob\ tion all the other places that one others that must walk in a day. It's not hard, take into c Try it some time. of the Amei ing this noi Basically, the moral of the story Americans is everyone has their own prob- lieve in fref lems getting from point A to B. dent's lack Just take your problems like an can opinioi adult and deal with them, or decision is r WE ARE RESRPWP/MG TO PAREMTA WP/.EMENTINS ON AW ONGOIWS 6ASIE pgO<5RAfrft$> TARGETED ID ACHIEVE. O&XECT/VES 'W TERMS OF MAKING P TO APPROACH STRATEGIES PER SE1 IMPACT A FKSIT/VE ANP ^STRUCT/' IN WHICH TO CUAU?MGE INPIVlPl/AL WE WITOW A FRAMEWORK OF CERTAIN RE <?F AVAILAPL& M0N6VS ANP HWWAN R lould be curt GORDON MANTLER of-the-road sensible thoughts on these and other issues. So why do these fanatical few insist on shoving their opinions where they do not belong? I'll only be able to comment on a few issues r\ (* n V\nt K/v?*a n fr\?t i LKjcdusc ui iajhmicuiiu*, UUI 11^1^ ai^ a itw that epitomize this problem of extremism in America. I personally don't think fundamentalists should cram "their" religion down our throats. Christians are not supposed to be religious bullies, but instead caring, accepting people. Fundamentalist groups have been successful in banning classic titles such as The Catcher in the Rye, The Scarlet Letter and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, depriving many American TERS TO THE~EDI ir plan. me. But then, when ; Lynn Negri dround lhe world? 1 Graphic design sehior dme ^or Americans? Da> " USC Youn mas bad Vmerira n isiim iitorial regarding the judgmen of Clarence Thomas to ne Court, calling the To die editor: response "silly" and a 1 write this conce ne is inaccurate. Henson's letter on Sej " major complaint is not He complained J Thomas himself, but "openly cursed my L onservative ideology. God's name in vain." Americans do not real- grown up in the very upon taking the bench, "BiMe Belt" (S.C.), nas and the rest of the stand Mr. Henson's fe ve bloc will begin to matter. I do know "( intial American rights: stand for "gol dang' expression, separation select regions of the u ind state, protection of I feel that when a y and, above all, a wo- "G.D.," he or she fee] to choose. I hardly be- about a matter that 1 American people are most supreme being i se some of their funda- ian framework to cui its all because George aB- I use the phrase someone on the bench. unthinkingly. My gii while President Bush stiintly scolds me, bi right to nominate Iook a'you say it he pleases, it is the re- 10 according to t / of the United States c~ T ensure that person is J? ' af*r nd has the wisdom to Tm? S Sa; ions that will affect the tight with Bt^etab her ponion of our'go- ? T'"8 ht ^' c 1S? " you believe he Supreme Court can jdeology. lifestyle of our country 1 with less restraint. Which brings me i the 1950s had a great l?pic- Mr. Henson c our cultural develop- sumed everyone in tJ ases from this court will system is a Protesta me impact on the deve- even implies that " our children. Do you die nadon is. They :hild to live in a society Henson. Everyone dot can't listen to a certain y?ur Lord. There , 1 Jehovah's Witnesses i links it's offensive? I an?^ Muslims and claim to be an agnos , believing in a lovin 'ious to me and many j .. . a ^ , . . .., \ God that is comprised our president did not X. . .X A. . qualities of the Chirst onsideration the views ?Ui T, . -c . , ; Bible. I m not sure if ncan people when mak- . . . . T . _ ... J . . r ists, but I hope that 1 mnation. A majority of . . J J . isn t judgmental, are pro-choice and bei expression. The presi- And as for not m of concern for Ameri- the "book of life," 1 i in such an important not the only one who extremely disturbing to ing from that tome. S< L IMPUT BY ; erecific. <a?ALS' AMP Tu~f mmnAVMs <0/ fMtCUWWLV !\,nWz IE eriZVCTUpB >TRl/CVOti*LIMT$ I "T? AUVES M TERM$ ^gp ESOJRCE9... J <) jggjgjgggp >ed in society children from excellent literature. Even the unpopular and impractical visitation policy at USC directly stems from being in the "Bible Belt." Speaking on the right to arms: the average American has no need or desire to own a semiautomatic assault rifle, but eliminating guns altogther is not a solution either. I covered Pee Wee Gaskins' execution earlier this month for The Gamecock and was appalled at some of the behavior by pro-capital punishment individuals. Chanting "Burn in Hell!" is completely tasteless, even for Gaskins. I feel Gaskins did deserve to die, and the death penalty was the proper punishment. Somebody who killed as majy people as he did, and in die inhumane wayJfee did it, does not have a right to live in a just ^pd modem society. The problem of extremism has always been * in the world of politics, but now more than ever. Both major parties are seething with ex tremists, and we always seem to have to pick between two of them for president. No wonder one third of the American people consider themselves independents, and no wonder American voter turnout is so pathetic. ITOfi ??1:iHaBi - - - 1-- W- - you're jetting rest of y'all in the "lake of fire." who has the I'll bring the water-skis. Jamie Williams id K. Haller Journalism freshman g Democrats Execution still i guy unjust method 1 _ .. .. 10 ine eaitor: Somehow the concept that the death penalty is an immoral and rning Joseph torturous punishment has not }t. 9. dawned on many people. For some a professor reason, these people still believe ord and took killing another human being, for Now having any reason, is somehow justifiable, buckle of the For those people, I have some I can under- surprising facts about the death selings on the penalty: j.D. doesn t j jt costs more t0 execute a (excep or prisoner than to keep him alive pstate). for tjie rest ^ ^as ^ eCQ_ person uses nomjcs were ever a justifiable exs so s ong, y cuse tQ execule someone anyway). 16 h^rh 6 cost comes ^rom special faciln ides, added guards, special equiplt s ment required for executions and all the time the number of appeals a prisoner rlfriend conit the way I once, you go 2. And for those who believe the he Bible. solution to the problem is to cut the appeals process, I would like to ; initial utter- state that 23 innocent people have f it as many been executed in the United States ou can get in alone since 1900. One of these since you'll men was Edward Earl Johnson, exanyway. That ecuted in March of 1988. in Christian 0 _ j -- . d. oiausucai siuuies snow tne violent crime rate rises after every to my next publicized execution. So much for ibviously as- the idea of deterrence. nt cS 4- TJIC d^lh Pfnal,y 15 arb,lrareveryone in lly enforced and discnminatory. are not Mr Unproportionately large numbers nrvt hHieve of death row inmates are minority are Jews and (mostly black) men from very low ind Catholics socio-economic backgrounds^ Buddhists I Thus' with this Punishment> people tic Christian saying justice is available only ,g, nurturing if you can pay for it. [ of the better The death penalty is not justice, shown in the It is simply an excuse for the my God ex- voyeuristic pleasure of watching f he does, he another human being suffer and die, which to me sounds a little bit ,. like the crimes of the people the akmg it into state js executing. I m sure I'm will be miss- Ruth A. Oldaker o, I'll see the P. Journalism junior