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Viewpoint I I Apartheid America should learn lesson from historic South African vote Finally, it's over. South Africans voted Wednesday to end apartheid, a move which should have been approved more than 20 years ago. However, the most impressive thing about the vote shows everyone that wrongs in our society can be fixed. The policy, which was as wrong as the Jim Crow laws, was thrown out because of the convictions of leaders like Nelson Mandela. America take notice. With action comes change. A society that is apathetic cannot change. We would be stuck in the same position, right or wrong, if there was no action. This is one of the wonders of our country. Because we are democratic, we do have the ability to change. If the people of our nation want to change something, and have the conviction to do so, then change is possible. It is sad when our country lakes this basic right for granted. When we start to take things for granted, we lose full appreciation for them. We start to not exercise our rights. We start to become robots. We should give credit to South Africa for listening to the people. However, at the same time, we should also learn a lesson. We should be willing to examine ourselves. We should start to look around us, at the things that aren't right, nrut Ivirin ihinlriniy nf hnw u/r? ran Hitinap ihrw<? mnei start now. This election year gives us the most opportune time to begin more involvement. America, as one unit, is apathetic. It is time to reverse the tide and become more involved. 11" we don't want an indecisive president in office, then we should tell the candidates that in our votes. Voting is probably the most wonderful tool in our country. Yet, at the same lime, it is probably one of the most unused tools, as well. Let's not take the right to vote for granted. Let's start to appreciate our basic rights. TMp^ 1 C, n \\ ik w ' tuc ^0, A/ns fn i "t actually M IS end bush ii,j ra near 1 Jr nWi m-""\zfuiT^ks^ 11 a ? I * ccn'., dependent and defenseless. Animal aDUSC same thing not true for animals # # as humans, and the supposed si hpinoim crimp species, have a responsibility to and respect all other creatures, make their lives a living hell. I o the editor: South Carolina presently h Last week a 7-year-old labrador re- most |enjent animal cruelly laws triever puppy was soaked with ker- cnlire Soulheast Abusers are re osene, set on fire and left to burn to ()njy pa^ fines incurred ? death while the abuser listened to its habilitaiion fees for their animals yelps and screams ol agony. gajn ownership of them. Ftirthe A neighbor happened to hear the the penalties for dumping pels < noise and threw water on the puppy. highways arc the same as they ; The veterinarian who was contacted dumping litter. Now, I realize w naa 10 c..u mc puppy s misery Dy put- a ,ileracy probleni) blU , believe ling it to sleep. The tragic pari ol this know the difference between a 1 siory is lhai we have no idea how often puppies or kittens and the litter such heinous, senseless crimes are synonymous with trash. Life committed against defenseless and trash! trusting animals. Had the neighbor not seen and heard the puppy, we would There is a bill that has a still be clueless to the fact that the inci- passed the South Carolina Ho dent indeed took place. Representatives and now mu This news has prayed on my mind through the Senate that would ever since I heard about it, and I hope increase the penalties for several it has bothered others, also. Animal cruelty to animals. 1 urge you abusers, like all other criminals who tiI y your representatives abou torture beings weaker than themselves, views about animal cruelty, or i arc sick. We all agree that child abuse u> pay attention to their voles n is probably the most deplorable crime fleet your attitudes in the next el there is because children arc so inno- They are there to speak for us, a Question: Do thi James Stapel Kacey Engineering major Nursin "Yes. I think gambling in "If s general should be legal. I money don't think there is anything right tc morally wrong with it." want enougl are ol money Nuclear energy A 1,000-megawatt power plant such as the one in Jenkinsvillc, S.C provides the electricity needed lor one million people. If it burns coal or oil, it requires about three million tons of fuel per year (three tons per peson). It produces five million tons of carbon dioxide, 40,000 tons of sulfer dioxide and 40,000 tons of nitrous oxide. This contributes to the greenhouse effect and acid rain. Energy produced by fission of uranium nuclei in the fuel rods of a reactor is used in a nuclear power station to produce electricity. It is safer and produces less environmental impact. Each year a 1,000-megawatl nuclear power station uses 36 tons of enriched uranium. This replaces 36 tons of spent fuel, which includes radioactive plutonium and Nuclear power < The nuclear power industry is deeply troubled. It suffers from a poor safety record, an intractable radioactive waste problem, escalating costs and lack of public support. Every nuclear plant ordered after 1973 has been canceled. Opposition has risen steadily over the past 17 years and, as ol December 1990, a record high of 67 percent of the public opposed the construction of nuclear power plants. Since 1961, 13 significant accidents have occurred at nuclear power plants across the nation. The latest in 1991 at Nine Mile Point in New York where there was a loss of all control power. More than 780 uncorrected safety problems linger at the 111 licensed U.S. reactors, many of which are more than 10 years old. These problems will only lead to more accidents. Even if these 30-year-old reactors could be made safe, the radioactive waste generated would remain. There is no solution to Make Your In The Gamecock is the student nev serve you, the students. If you ha topics you think the paper isn't c( interests known by sending us a 1 want to hear from you. Really. Is the animals need someone to speal :? We, them. Liperior proteet Nancy Richai not to Psychology & as the ^ The Gamecocl It re" leans too far lc :rmore, on our To the editor: are lor The March 4 edition of The G e have cock is another example of how o we all touch the editorial staff is with a itter of portion of the student body. Excus that is ladies and gentlemen of the staff is not your left-leaning, liberal, anything bias is showing! lready In ihc editorial, the point seems use of the current form of sex education i st get only allowable form of education, greatly the research data please! Sexual forms sure is an adult pleasure and adv to no- mg sexual discovery for 13 to 17 l your olds, as your editorial suggest it least irresponsible, ind re- Sexually transmitted diseases, c ection. ren having children and cxposur nd the HIV are already high among nk video poker should be l< Adams Lisa Mash g major Marine Scie omeone is using their Yes. I se , they should have the with it. Lc ) spend it the way they legal, too. to. If they are old concept." i to be in college, they Id enough to spend the way they want." 5 Fir? y less damaging fission products. This can be stored safe in an underground facility. In the future, this fuel can be repr cessed. The unused, enriched uranium ai plutonium are separated from the radioa live fission products. This high-level was may be stored indefinitely in a mixture wi glass or concrete. One year's operation i suits in the production of seven tons high-level chemical waste. We also should remember the use of n. clear energy to produce electric power r duces our dependence on oil from tl Middle East. - Oswald Schuette Oswald Schuette is a professor in the D partment of Physics and Astronomy. causes nroblems the waste problem. Disposal sites will ta decades to clean up and will never be avt able for human use. The radioactive t products of nuclear energy will rem* toxic for thousands of years, spme for rr lions! The technology does not exist ! i permanent storage of this waste. Many people promote nuclear energy, an option to fossil fuels. Well, it's not. I like the difference between Pepsi and Col Research into real alternatives that arc i harmful to the environment need to be searched such as solar and wind power. In addition, Americans need to decre; their dependence on such harmful enei sources. Policy makers should focus mi on how to reduce our use of energy inste of ways to avoid dealing with the problen I - Katrina Nyland Katrina Nyland is a member of Stude 1 Allied for a Greater Earth. terests Known!!! /spaper, which means we want t< ve any suggestions for articles o wering adequately, make your etter or coming by our office. W k for group. Abstinence is a valid alterna for students, and if they are not loI< at home, then they should hear i dson school in conjunction with exis enior programs. Eric Ward's sentence fragment ( ribe against all organized authority ir ligion, and societal structure is a bit shrill. "A historic systematic wai k.pi- suppression waged on people by n '11 ion and political leaders." Be real Ward! We enjoy the advances of s ety, technology and medicine at ame- cost of friction between societal r ut of and personal freedom, large Finally, to the Managing Editor e us, Watts, 1 would remind you of the hut mtixim "Pmfimitv k simnlv l he \a goes mind attempting to express itself* lb fully." While I applaud your Cross scetion, the remainder of the cditt 10 page no longer leans to the left. It * L*K" completely fallen over. Read plea- Restore journalistic integrity to y ocat- student paper and attempt to provid year more balanced and diverse edito s, is menu. hild- . Frederick Hell "C to Assistant Profes this of Military Scie sga! in South Carolina? Doug Williams nee major Political Science major ;e nothing wrong "| think it is okay if they >ttery should be can control who plays it. If It's all the same there is a way to make sure kids don't play it, then it is fine." 7~ Homophobia keeps ^ feelings repressed - Tige Watts Wc are scared of what we don't know. We are terrified. We shudder. We avoid it. We make fun of it. We chastise it. How many of you really know what being a gay, . r lesbian or bisexual means? How many of you have taken the lime to learn? How many of you care? USC is already apathetic. When it comes to gay o- issues, we don't want to know. We don't care, bend cause we don't want to. ic- It's a shame. 5te It's shameful when we don't care about 10 perith cent of our university. It's shameful when you don't e- want to learn about your of friends. It's shameful when you u_ All of us have friends who e_ are either homosexual or ie bisexual. You may not realize ? it, but they're out there. They're just like you and me. They don't have polka dots. They eat e_ the same food. They breathe the suinc an. I wore a t-shirt Tuesday which said, "Love does not discriminate ... and neither do I." I felt the looks. 1 felt the thoughts. I felt the hate. Why is it so wrong to love? Why is it wrong for a man to love a man? Why is it wrong to let your feelings and emotions come out? e It's not wrong to be gay. It's not wrong to share 11" with and care for another human being. Imagine if the tables were reversed? Imagine if un society's sexual orientation was geared toward J.1" members of the same sex: Imagine. How would you feel if people told yoji that ypu were*wrong for caring about someone? It wouldn't as be right. So, no one is right for hating the hot's mosexual and bisexual community. B-GLAD week does not try to convert all heter10l osexuals into bisexuals or homosexuals. It tries to re_ promote understanding and awareness. For it to work, there must be an effort from both sides. The people must be willing to understand. The ase people must be willing to learn. "gy There is no success in building concrete walls ar-; 3re ound us. It's not right to beat someone up because they're! gay and you're not. It's almost like being another Adolf Hitler. If the American society said the Holocaust was nLS wrong, then why is it conducting one of its own? Why are gays having AIDS burned into the carpet in front of their dorm rooms? Why are gays beaten up and kicked out of bars by bouncers? These incidents have happened to close friends of mine. They're not made up. They are done by people like us to people like us. We try to destroy our own kind, and it's wrong. It's not right to say homosexuality or bisexuality u is wrong, wncn wc siari deciding for people what is right to feel, learn and love, we ultimately destroy * ourselves. And that's what we're doing now. Narrow-mindedness only spells disaster. j We are a disaster. We close ourselves off from the gay community because we're afraid they may attack us. That's stupid. ? How many of you bought the t-shirts the BGLA were selling? How many of you wanted to but were afraid you may be deemed gay? How many of you " are afraid of society? It doesn't matter if a person is gay, but something is wrong when we punish them for being the way they are. Hive It's dead wrong. J so t at ting >?<- IGamecock , reloo r 0f Editor in Chief Eric Ward ?jig. Managing Editor Tige Watta jV[r Copy Desk Chief Kathy Heberger ^j. Asst. Copy Desk Chief Jennifer Jablonski the '-'iewpoint Editor Shelley Magee ulcs News Editors...Patrick Villegas/Gordon Man tier Asst. News Editor Kim Everitt iy|r Carolina! Editor Greg Rickabaugh , . Arc* rnrnlln.l ? - * OKI ""i- waiumia: cuiioi LCC UOIllZ 'eak Graphics Editor Ryan Sims rce_ Cartoonist Paul Jon Fire Photography Editor Virginia Marshall )rjaj Asst. Photography Editor Eric Glenn jlas Sports Editor Chad Bray Asst. Sports Editor Sean Ryan Faculty Adviser , Erik Collins our Asst. Advertising Manager Melissa Owenby lc a Asst. Classified Manager Amy Taylor rial The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 200-250 words. Full name and professional title, or year and major J if a student, must be included along with address and phone number, i vvi? The Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible sor libel or space limitations. The Gamecock will not withhold names , under any circumstances. , nee ?