The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 09, 1991, Page 4, Image 4
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
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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
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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
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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
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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