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Viewpoint Magic i HIV-positive basketball player c! shows enjoyment, desire for life ^ Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Does anything else need to be said? It was only four months ago when Johnson shocked the nation and said he tested positive for the HIV virus that causes AIDS. During Sunday's NBA All-Star game, he showed us he can still do the things he did before he retired while competing with the a best of the best in the NBA. I But Magic's story goes beyond the basketball court. He's the first person to show us testing positive for HIV does not mean a death sentence. How many HIV infected people can play so astoundingly among all-star competition that they are named MVP? How many of us think an HIV infected person is capable of it? Maybe, just maybe, Magic's performance will bring a new understanding to this diagnosis. People with HIV can do the same things normal people can. Too often we write off people who are HIV positive. After his announcement this past Novemeber, the media kept talking about how great a player Johnson WAS, not how great a player he IS. Every TV network, newspaper and magazine basically wrote an obituary for Magic. It was as if the man was dead. He's not, and his performance Sunday showed it. Magic is not some sort of super hero. He's a normal person, whose true talent is in basketball. Other people who test positive for HIV can do well in their respective fields. A teacher who tests positive for HIV can teach just as well as a teacher who doesn't have HIV. A construction worker with HIV can work just as hard as a construction worker without the disease. Magic could have easily given up on life, but he chose to live his life to its full potential. He wants to live. He wants to enjoy life. He wants to drive past Patrick Ewing and take it to the hoop. Magic said even though he does have HIV, he still wants to live. Maybe, we should respect his wishes and treat him the same way we always have. We can still sit and watch in amazement during the 11 p.m. sports highlights.- _ Perhaps we'll leam to respect everybody with HIV and treat them as what they are: normal people. c i I VIANT THE PUBLIC 1 t o won wat X am ...except %have LIKE ANV AVERAGE A JOB. RED- BLOOPED j AMERICAN... s, i GEORGEBUSH GEORGE BUSH ,J CPUcff/CW fKCZ? ^will/now) XgoTAXefe GuifWAf-?pftea. )\? E>c3SfcOF "H %saff%a i Pontic in racist actions. We feel that the HlStOrV vice given in the following Baha'i J ings establishes healthy guidelines rtff?* 1* C linitV dealing with racism: vrllVl 3 IJ.llH/j' "Let neither think that the solutic so vast a problem is a matter thai To the editor: clusively concerns the other. CakfnArtr to Dlo/^U Uiotrvrtf \ A /~\r\ t k 11 nnitknr tkinb tkot on/^k n r\?rvk1am i vuiuai) 10 ijiav-iv muiiui. n n^iuivi tiimiv uiai ^ulii a piuuiviu is a time when everyone may want to either easily or immediately be r consider ways to gain a better under- ved. Let neither think that they standing of the black American's wait confidently for the solution of experience. problem until the initiative has bee Celebrating Black History Month not ken. Let neither think that anyt only enables us to better understand the short of genuine love, initiative, m; multi-cultural heritage of the United wisdom and deliberate, persistent States, but it can also bring us one step prayerful effort can succeed in bio closer toward race unity. out the stain which this patent evf The Baha'i Club of USC would like left on the fair name of their com to present a challenge to each indivi- country." dual member of the college commun- While this statement specificall) ity, all of us, students and faculty, to dresses blacks and whites in the Ui examine our own attitudes and actions States, it can be applied to people c toward achieving interracial unity. We races in all countries, cannot afford a moment's hesitation. Please join us in the effort to We must strive to become models of out racism. Let it be this gener. race unity, taking no part in racism, which ushers in a new era of interr however subtle or blatant; never allow- unity. ing ourselves to be passive participants The Baha'i Club of Question: Why do you think the icki Gist Geoff Fourqi ngineering major Biology majc I have a hard time voting be- "Students i ause I don't really know the issues so the andidates' views. Maybe ley don't express them nough." Across Death penalty a ju; The death penalty is one of the most con- with troversial ways to achieve justice in sure, America. Some say that the systematic mur- shoul der of a convicted criminal by the state is a shoul crime in and of itself. I do not agree. sourc Just as there are times when a state is appea justified in waging war for its own preser- and y vation, it is also justified in taking die life proce of a person that is a threat to society. The life. 1 death penalty is the last line of defense the r< against the truly incorrigible criminal. first ] Saying that the death penalty deters life, crime is simply not true, and I will not use Th< that tired argument. The reason the death penal penalty is just is because it is more heinous more ts~v nllrktii A </. ^ i:..A * 1? *. . iu aiujw a viciuui muiucici iu live uie resi tinue of his life in prison than to end his life for anoth his crime. To pay for this sort of criminal's is toe continued existence is wrong, more wrong killer than the supposed immorality of the death neede penalty. There is some justification that the death - Davi penalty process is racist, that it kills far Dav more blacks than whites. This is a problem columi Capital punishment Aside from the economical and practical over -easons for the abolishment of the death used I Denalty, capital punishment remains an un- lions air and inherently cruel form of tional 3unishment. show< Because the death penalty is an irrevoc- nutes able punishment, the legal system which a pole mposes the death sentence must be flaw- Fur ess. However, this is simply not the case. invok In a recent study of only well- fering locumented cases, research concluded an dual ] iverage 01 tour entirely innocent people cnmo lave been convicted of murder in the Un- as a " ted States since 1900. Coi The judicial system places a premium on ishme he life of a white person over the life of a wrote )lack person. Although whites represent death )nly 35 percent of murder victims, 85 per- nal w :ent of capital cases brought by prosecutors which nvolve white victims. him ai In September 1991, Donald "Pee Wee" confiri 3askins was the first white man to die for a moi tilling a black man for nearly half a cen- life." ury and at least 1,000 executions. The death penalty is also cruel and de- ment^ grading punishment. If administering 100 ncss 'olts of electricity to the most sensitive ^ CQ >arts of a man's body is considered torture n our society, how can a state justify the -Ryan idministration of 2,000 volts? Rya In fact, the tradition of placing a hood major. If you have an Issue you would like to see addressed in Cross drop it in a Suggestion Box or Call The Garr : adwru Writer's ideas )nof ethnocentric t exLet To the editor: can I would first like to say that I am a esol- lifetime member of the National Rifle can Association, and I am rigidly in favor this of our freedom to bear arms as guarann ta- teed by the Constitution of the United hing States, ature and While I agree with the general semiring ment of Jack Dunn's article, I found I has his argument to be extremely poorly mon based and his writing disgraceful. However, I am not writing to discuss > ad- the pros and cons of eun control in nited America; I am writing to denounce his )f all unsolicited, improper attack on our friends in and from Britain. wipe ition There can be no comparison with acial any other country in the world when it comes to the issue of gun control in the USC United States. The political, historical, re is such a low turnout 1 irean Lynne Withers >r Journalism ma don't know the "I don't think iy don't vote." at all, or ha\ make the effor Fire^ st punishment the method, not the idea itself. To be those sentenced to the death penalty d be given an automatic appeal. They d be provided with every possible ree to prove their innocence, BUT the lis Drocess should not take the vears ears it usually does. The slow-moving ss grants the guilty years and years of With that sort of delay, it undermines masoning for the death penalty in the place: to deprive the murderer of his s actual implementation of the death ty needs to be streamlined and made racially balanced, but it needs to conA man who maliciously takes er's life forfeits his right to life. Life i precious to be allowed to the foulest . This belief is the only justification A for proper use of the death penalty. d Bowden id Bowden is a history major and a list for The Gamecock. t unfair, cruel the head during an execution is only to cover the sight of the facial contorinduced by pain. Amnesty Internarevealed, "A prisoner in Mississippi A signs of convulsion for eight miand repeatedly struck his head against ; in the execution chamber." thermore, the foreknowledge of death es a great deal of psychological sufwhich results in the loss of all indivipersonality traits. Robert Johnson, a nologist, described the phenomenon death of the personality." isidering the argument that the "punsnt fits the crime," Albert Camus , "For there to be equivalence, the penalty would have to punish a crimiho had warned his victim of the date he would inflict a horrible death on nd who from that moment onward had led him at his mercy for months. Such aster is not encountered in private vever, the monster, capital punishstill exists in our society where fairnd human life are less important than nvenience of the court system. Faulkner n Faulkner is an international studies or question i Fire or USC Voices, Please lecock Newsroom at 777-7726. societal and geographical differences are enough to render any attempted comparison invalid. Other countries have the right to formulate and practice any laws they see fit. As long as their laws are humane and based on what their societies deem appropriate, they have my respect. Jack's attack on people from Britain was incredibly improper. Attitudes such as this have spawned the "ugly American" stereotype. I personally would like to apologize to all persons of British origin who found his statements to be in poor taste. I will respectfully ask that you not judge our country and her people based on his statements. I can only hope that the international exchange students here at USC do not formulate their views of the United States based on the misinformed, poorly-written, left-wing (usually) dribble they read in The Gamecock. Thomas A. Jolly Political Science major for student government elections? poon Khaleel Alsaabagh ijor Engineering major they really care "Maybe they don't care or re the time or don't want a president." t to do it." Newborns bring j world of change - Eric Ward The miracle of childbirth ? how it changes people. There is something mysterious that happens, an internal change, when you are blessed with a relative ? a son, daughter, neice or nephew. The miracle is no less great when a friend gives birth, but its effects are. It's just not the same. There is an element of closeness and attachment, something to do with blood relation, when it's your child, or the child of your sibling. The whole concept of "my" and "your" implies ownership, and perhaps that is the difference that causes the change. What happens? Well, last week my sister gave birth to a boy: Johnathan Andrew Stogner. And while you'll be spared the details new parents and un- vL7 f cles so neurotically spout off, * this is what happens. * 4 A baby turns you into a bab- - w bling idiot. You learn a new language ? Baby Talk. A baby turns you into a thinker. Suddenly you try to understand and view the world the way that infant does. Such an impossible task, but so enchanting. You look down at the squinting eyes and curled fingers and contemplate. You're way lost in thought A baby turns you into a mathmetician. Meticulously, you count and recount weight, length and age. You memorize, re-measure and re-memorize. You do daily reports. You suffer temporary neurosis. A baby turns you into a reader. Baby books ? shelves and piles of them. Names, names, names. What does Marcellas mean? Or Celeste? There are some changes that don't come naturally. You have to learn them. Such as hearing cliches like: "Shh, you'll wake the baby." No doubt I'll be hearing that for the next five years. And you have to master those baby devices. Cribs and strollers and straps and pins and socks and diapers and formulas. This bottle for that, that bottle for this. Feed here, burp there, which bottle do I use? Oh my God I'm so confused. Perhaps the greatest change is responsibility. Overnight you go from-being a'kid yourself to being responsible, for life, for the life of another. That child's future, whether he eats and has a place to sleep, is in your hands. And just as important, whether he's loved and guided well. You're the expert now. You have to have all the answers when you don't even know what the questions are. How strange it is that babies really bring out the baby in all of us. And raising a child is really a process of mutual growth, in which you raise yourself as well. ill i r : IGamecock Editor in Chief Eric Ward Managing Editor Tige Watts Copy Desk Chief Kathy Heberger Asst. Copy Desk Chief Jennifer Jablonski | Viewpoint Editor Shelley Magee News Editors...Patrick Villegas/Gordon Mantler Asst. News Editor Kim Everitt Carolina! Editor Greg Rickabaugh Asst. Carolina! Editor Lee Clontz ; Graphics Editor Ryan Sims Photography Editor Virginia Marshall Asst. Photography Editor Eric Glenn Sports Editor Ben Breazeale Asst. Sports Editor Chad Bray | Faculty Adviser Erik Collins Asst. Advertising Manager Melissa Owenby Asst. Classified Manager Amy Taylor The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 200-250 words. Full name and professional title, or year and major if a student, must be included along with address and phone number. The Gamecock reserves (he right to edit letters for style, possible libel or space limitations. The Gamecock will not withhold names [ under any circumstances.