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Columbus Recent controversy over holiday just another sign of the times When Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he probably didn't guess that in 500 years he would be a national pariah. Columbus has become a symbol of Western imperialism and oppression of Native Americans. This phenomenon is just a small part of the national crusade to "revise" history to fit our modern conceptions. To be sure, Columbus was no saint. He enslaved "Indians," he brought European diseases with his crew that would eventually kill millions of native people and his journey did start the brutal colonial exploitation of America. His mission was to find a new route of trade to Asia, and he never quite got it through his head that he had discovered new continents instead. However, it is highly unlikely that a modern person could find anyone living in 1492 (of any ethnic group, gender or religion) that fit? 1001 ?tnnHarrl? nf ronHiirt anH H#?n?nr.v Mnrlf.m Am^ri cans would find the year 1492 a thoroughly repulsive time to be alive. Let's face it, few of the great people in the history of the world believed in egalitarian democracy or the freedoms we enjoy today. Julius Caesar was a ruthless conqueror and slaver. Plato believed that his having sex with pubescent boys was good for them! The other great Greek philosophers believed in slavery and the submissive role of women. Abraham Lincoln offered to send all freed blacks to Nicaragua. Any historical figure is going to be harmed by the comparison to modem ethical standards. We glorify them for their role in creating 'the world we know today. They cannot be judged by our standards when they were raised in a time that is essentially alien to us. Columbus did play an important role in American history. If we deem him unworthy of celebration, we better find some new faces to put on American money: Kennedy was a blatant womanizer. Roosevelt put American citizens of Japanese descent in concentration camps. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slave-owners. The above men were not perfect, but they did advance the United States and made it a better Dlace in the lone run. That is why we remember them, and that is why we remember Columbus. f gU5T as \ ' o&mas ?T \ . was 4 >eaRs \ aso. igamecocE News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 Chris Silvestri Editor in Chief David Bowden Brant Long Managing Editor/Viewpoint Editor Copy Desk Chief Tige Watts Tracey Davis News Editor Carolina Life Editor Aaron Sheinin Teddy Lepp Sports Editor Photography Editor Patrick Villeg as Gordon m antler Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor amy barcomb rlch 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 ^vj britt Darkroom Technician Staff Cartoonist Renee a. Gibson Laura S. Day A no# !//)//?/? s>*s\r/ A ei n n AAns*r*r\+\ !>(/??/?/??. uai. iricuiu istrcuiu/ ??4>w?? iriiAfiugzf i r uuuisuuri lriunugcr 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. ? / \J s_ 3 . Bp ? I I ? g-| 1 'i'i'n'ii'iji ' 11 in 111 11 111111hi i i Bnimi n * . 1 I Use of N-w< very offensi To the editor: In response to Mr. John I editorial in the October 21 of The Gamecock, "Soni \ persecuted." Mr. Rhodes, first of all, the African-American Ass( for Students, it's the Assc for African-American Stud an African-American, f though Ms. Donna Mooreken the necessary steps agai Soni. I know Ms. Moore ally and she's not the Eun "me" type. That means she look out for self, unlike mai ocentric people. I fully agri a boycott and a report to the Business Bureau. Mr. Soni i sinessman and he should < himself as such. Trivial? You are sayir "nigger" is trivial? Who a but another Caucasian sett standard for what is offi Caucasians have dictated th dards in the past, such as way of life, language and i (just to name a few), and yc cle only shows that you a dictating. We are all people, but we unique. What I find offensi not be offensive to you. Sc who are you to judge whai fensive to others? I am si tired of reading The Gamect everytime African-Americz press themselves, there is al Caucasian that will object a are wrong. Take for instai "Cockwheat" issue: "Why black people getting so up; just a joke." A joke to you, racism to me. "Nigger" is a negative wc extends deep, I mean deep history. We were brougt against our will, forced t< under horrendous conditio) were unable to communica each other, our women rap men castrated and hangc along with all of these inj Aft# |:f|LETTERST we were called "niggers." You )rd ^r- Rhodes, you don't undersu you don't understand the pain ive the awful memories. We are tr) to rebuild our pyramids, but \ European sticks. If there are any editorials in thodes position to what I have written, edition matter what you say, you will jnfairly understand. . 4 "Stop setting your standai it.s not stop!" Edward J. Matthews )ciation Electrical engineering jui ents. I, eel as Racists shoul person- ? ^ ?? )centnc be prejudice* doesn't r ** ay Eur- ? , ee with To ^ edltor: ? Better "Life is hard enough when is a bu- belong here." What I do not un induct stand is why people consta want to make it so much n complex and infinitely hardei ig that utterly irrelevant issues like ^ ism Rarism is something thfl y\ju, - ? ? ? o ing the entirely beyond my comprel ensive. si?n- It is something that I c >e stan- even fathom, beauty, . , religion 1 was raised to appreciate pe< ,ur arti- Afferent races and cultures f re still very time that I could un stand that people were differ Because of my upbringing, I ; are all not even notice the difference ve may skin, religion and culture, but s< > I ask, people's ignorance knows t is of- bounds if they perceive a th ck and from a different culture. ?ck and ins ex- From skinheads and the Klai ways a the Black Panthers, racism is > s if we much alive and thriving, e ice tne wild! li exists 111 a time wnc are the should be dead, a thing inconc set, it's able to most. Anyone who can blatant hrace an ideology of hatred anc olence, no matter how passr (for negligence is observance' >rd that how pure their intentions may in our are more deserving of our ( it here tempt and hatred than some ) work whose only difference is the dii is. We ence of pigmentation. But ret te with ing the emotions they so richly ed, our serve will accomplish nothing id and bring forth only more hatred, justices must take these people and n r OT SURE,CHRIS, BUT IT ^ BE ANOTHER EWIP OF CALLY INCORRECT , <TA FANS. ^^ J?] I isn't it,-fellas} O THE EDITOR see them see that within them is the ind, true oppressor, that they are the and "nigger" and the "honky." ring So badly I want to shut my eyes vith to a world where equality is supposedly prevalent, but in actuality op- is nonexistent, but our eyes have , no been shut too long. Our silence has not convicted us to a sentence of violence, fear and unchallenged hate, rds, but when will we raise our voices in anger against the idiocy which ; m has reigned over the feeble-minded lior of this world for far too long? Perry Scott Psychology freshman id f?nr rlnAnn 14 UUCMI I enjoy paper you der- To the editor: ntly As members of an advanced lore non-fiction writing class (English by 460), we are writing to express our rac- dissatisfaction with the editorial it is negligence and lack of professionien alism this fall in The Gamecock, an't resulting in a publication comparable to the National Enquirer. Specifically, we are concerned abople out the sensationalism and subordiirom nation of significant issues, as well der- as inaccurate reporting and incoment. petent editing, do Even the pictures trivialize s of events. Why should we be disame tracted from important campus no news by pictures of women urinatreat ing or students feeding parking meters? These incidents are not isolated; nor are we responding n to from a sense of prudery. They are fQry simply not newsworthy, ven n it We feel that a student newseiv paper should have a dual function em- of providing accurate, pertinent inl vi- formation, as well as providing /ely practical experience for aspiring ) or writers. The disparity between the be, ideal and reality culminated last :on- week when Jimmy Jacobs, a stuone dent in our class, attempted to pubffer lish a film review in The urn- Gamecock. de- When Jimmy volunteered to and write reviews (or The Gamecock, We the Features Editor responded enlake thusiastically, giving him an as f 1 ?mmm?? signment to submit a review of The Super by October 7. He was so serious about the assignment that he asked the class to peer-edit his review before submitting it. Because he realized it was lengthy, he attached a note to the Features Editor expressing his willingness to meet with her for an editing session. She did not contact him, so after several days, he attempted numerous times to contact her, with no success. Based on previous conversations with her, it was his clear understanding that his review would be published. Therefore, we were all shocked the following Friday to find a review of the same movie under a different author's byline. Upon reading it, we were further chagrined to note the numerous similorih'no i/lano kaf?t>AAn tkn Ha>/\ IIIUUIIUVO U1 1UUU UVlY*W?ll UK IWU reviews. At this point, we want to ask a series of questions about the processes potential contributions to The Gamecock undergo. What are the criteria that must be met to have an article published? If an editor has a writer commit personal time and skills to a project, is it not the editor's professional responsibility to communicate to that writer any problems with the work and what might be done to correct them? If the editor decides not to publish a submitted article, does it not follow that the editor should notify that writer of this decision? We realize that all submitted articles cannot be published, but certain professional guidelines should be followed at all times. Also, is there a plagiarism policy protecting contributors' ideas? The editor's responsibility does not end with the contributing writers; the readers also deserve con sideration. The Gamecock is a reflection of the Carolina community ? writers and readers. Simply stated, we are repulsed by the editorial negligence that has been displayed throughout this newspaper. Because of this blatant disregard for professional etiquette and ethics, we find ourselves asking why anyone would want to contribute articles to this student publication? Dr. Butterworth'i ENGL 460 cltttf s y . lit