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r History Japanese shouldn't have felt obligated to apologize for Pearl Last Saturday's anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack brought forth a tidal wave of press coverage about Japan's duty to apologize. The Japanese government announced that it would not. And they shouldn't have to. Pearl Harbor is now more than 50 years in the past. World War II ended 46 years ago. Enough is enough. It seems that nations today are extremely sensitive about their *Ua TTm?4a/I Ctnfan nVirvnlA onnlAm7A fnr TJir IllMUiy. OUU1C U1111K U1C U1ULCU Oiaits SllUUlU apv lugifv 1U1 1111oshima and Nagasaki. President Bush rightly refused. No one in the American government today had anything to do with that decision, just like no current Japanese government officials were in charge in 1941. Japan was a totalitarian state in 1941; today it is a democracy. Let the past lie. If this trend continues, Germany will have to start issuing dozens of apologies over the next few years. This is the anniversary of the German invasion of the USSR, too. They must n't forget to apologize to Egypt next year on the 50th anniversary of Rommel's attack on El Alamain. This is not meant to sweep the horrors of World War II under the rug. The Holocaust, the firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg, the siege of Leningrad, the Bataan Death March . .. these are brutalities all nationalities can feel guilty about. America and the other democracies should have curtailed the Axis powers before they got powerful enough to threaten the world. World War II should never have happened. And that is the point. We should be vigilant to avoid a repeat of past catastrophes, but we should not dwell upon the past to the point of prejudicing ourselves in the present. The Japanese and the Germans havt changed. They are our allies now. That should have been remembei 1 on December 7, 1941. VyUl 1 CtilUU In Summer Smith's letter to the editor on Friday, Dec. 6, a sentence should have read "Patsy Tanner . . . was out until after the deadline because of a medical emergency." A "not" creeped into that sentence by accident. The Viewpoint Editor regrets the error. A -mm Adios This is my last issue working with The Gamecock. Working here has been a mostly enjoyable experience. I will miss working with my friends on the staff, but I certainly won't miss the long hours (I think I figured I made about $.50 an hour). After six semesters up here, I think I've done about all I can for this paper. I just hope readers appreciate the effort that goes into it. I wrote most of the editorials printed in 1991. I did not write a few I wish I had, like the one blasting George Felton or, more - recently, the now-famous Derby Days editorial. It certainly was a pain thinking of things to write about, but at least I had the war and Holderman. Despite our mistakes, I think The Gamecock is a pretty dam good college newspaper. Like I said this summer, I hope we didn't make two miny airurs. David Bowden Managing Editor 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 Villegas Gordon Mantler Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor amy barcomb 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 w J britt Darkroom Technician Staff Cartoonist Renee a. Gibson Laura S. Day Asst. Media Coor.IAdvertising. Manager Production Manager Stacie Lewis Ray Burgos Asst. Advertising Manager Asst. Production Manager Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin Faculty Adviser lara chapman Business Manager Asst. Classified Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters reoeiwBd. 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. " ^ ' ? ? HE Dorm policy hurts students To the editor: I am concerned about the visitation policy at USC. I reside in the Moore Residence Hall of the Towers, a primarily freshmen dormitory. The policy is not my choice. The visitation policy limits women visitors to the hours of 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. on weekdays. On weekends, visitation lasts from 12 p.m. until 2 a.m. It is disappointing my mother and grandmother cannot visit me before 12 p.m. when visiting me in Columbia. I am a young adult, 19-years-old and, in my opinion, mature. I should be able to set my own room visitation policy, with the agreement of my roommate. I know many others support my position in this matter. I would like for them to send in their ideas and suggestions to the Director of Housing. Hopefully, the present policy can be changed or modified tr? suit its vital assp.t ? thp. stii dents it affects. Steven M. Mullen Business freshman Cowboy letter just pointless To the editor In response to Brian Dignan and Stewart Doreen's article regarding Mr. Bowden and the Dallas Cowboys, we would like to say that there are 24,998 students of this fine university that do not care what Mr. Bowden said, or about the Dallas Cowboys. Even though it was nice to read something that did not have anything to do with racism, homopho bia or the tact that the cups in tne cafeteria are not recyclable, the topic that you chose was totally irrelevant for our campus community. The fact that you blast Mr. Bowden as "immature" for merely changing his opinion about a football team shows remarkable naivete in your judgment of one person's character. Your whole argument on the Dallas Cowboys issue hardly has any importance worth rfll WHY ,Y5U SILLY RASCAl PPI WHAT WAVE YOU GOTT Leaders Mi publishing in our student newspaper. There will never be peace in this small world as long as people ridicule others without any clear and justifiable means. Chris Lyon Journalism junior Hugh Wilcox English freshman Writer unfair to USC shuttle To the editor: I am writing in response to Greg Rickaoaugn s article in weanesday's Gamecock. Greg, I can see that you do not appreciate the Shuttlecock. You probably feel this way because you have an automobile or maybe because you stay right on campus. Well, unfortunately, I do not have an automobile, nor do I live right on campus. I live at Bates House and I find the Shuttlecock very helpful. If there was no Shuttlecock, I would have to walk the bridge every single day, rain or shine. The only complaint I have about the Shuttle system is the length of time it operates. I feel the buses should run until 6 or 7 p.m. Many students have evening courses and must walk in the dark because the escort system does not start until 8 p.m.. As for the music, I like it and I do not think it should be stopped simply because you complained. If your type of music is not playing "whenever" you get on the bus, get off. Why does it matter to you if the bus driver is not wearing his/her seatbelt? It seems to me that you should be complaining about seatbelts for the passengers. It really makes me sick in my stomach when I hear people like you, those who hardly ever ride, complaining about the Shuttlecock. You probably do not ride it until >"* > nin ruif r\f mnnw fr?r cmc tr> y\JU I U1I V/Ul> V* ilivuvj guu bvr put in your automobile. I wish you would just stop complaining about the Shuttlecock. When you start to ride it everyday, like some, then you give your comments. In the meantime, drive your automobile or walk to your destination. Bridget Felder Journalism freshman Flock. Derby Days good clean fun io me eaiior: I have come to expect the occasional derogatory article on the Greek system from this rag, but now you have gone too far. I am a Sigma Chi and I am writing in response to the editorial on Derby Days in the Wednesday edition. The writer of this article obviously has no idea what Derby Days is all about, so let me explain. For the past 75 years, Sigma Chi chapters all across the nation have held Derby Days one week out of the academic year to help raise money for the Cleo Wallace Center, one of the few centers solely for treatment and rehabilitation for children who are learning-disabled or emotionally disturbed, located in Broomfield, Colo. To raise this money, we have band parties and sell T-shirts, as well as pitting sororitv aeainst sorority in friendly competition throughout the week to earn points, the total of which eventually determines the winner. Now the author of this editorial seems to have a problem with some of the "tasteless" questions posed in the Sorority Feud. He or SHE complained that there were questions "regarding sex, certain parts of one's anatomy and (oh my God!) even other fraternities!" Ask anyone who participated in this event and they will tell you how much FUN they had! It's a matter of pride. The girls participate in these contests because they want to; they don't do it because they have to. Have you ever been associated with an organization that you are ?^ .k?. . piuuu ui, uiai yuu wain iu gain recognition for, or that you might even enjoy? This is what Derby Days is all about, working hard and having fun for a good cause. Dave Kay, Jr. Journalism senior Greek event irresponsible To the editor: I am writing in response to the gi 'irfQL V - article in Wednesday's edition, as well as Brian Williams' response printed in Friday's edition concerning Sigma Chi's Derby Days. It is my sincere opinion that it is high time that this discussion began and I am very pleased that someone finally had the guts to say something about the irresponsibility of both Sigma Chi and the sororities on this campus. Each snroritv and fratp.rnitv at USC was founded on certain ideals and principles ? such as integrity, leadership, service and other such J positive character traits. How does Derby Days uphold these ideals? I personally do not see how being s. "darlings" for Sigma Chi, answering questions in public about birth ' control methods and participating * in the flesh-and-spandex show that the air band has become can be ^ considered to foster any ideals or I promote a positive image of the ' Greek system. Isn't that our purpose, though? I am not saying that Sigma Chi ? is consciously degrading women ' through Derby Days but some- j where along its road to popularity, respect, maturity and human dig- * nity have been lost. I seriously * hope that they will search for a po- I sitive answer, and that sororities will consider not participating until such time that Sigma Chi decides to show more responsibility in their choice of Derby Days events. After all, I think it is hypocritical for us to demand respect and judgement of ourselves based on who we are rather than what we look like if we voluntarily put ourselves on display for any sake, charity or otherwise. My human dignity cannot be manipulated by any popularity contest within this Greek system or by any man ? fraternity or otherwise. And I seriously doubt that my philanthropy would De pleased 10 taice money that came from such events. And as for the alcohol detail of Mr. Williams' response, I hope he doesn't consent to a lie detector on that one. Not only was beer "easily accessible," but it was provided by Sigma Chi backstage at air band. So much for the credibility approach. Susan Waters Journalism sophomore