The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 16, 1991, Page 3, Image 3
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.
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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
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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
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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<
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>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