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VlEWP Diversity The Gamecock ma to guarantee fair c The USC community ? more tha ethnic, racial, religious, political and The Gamecock ? USC's student 'OINT & r Perry S Psyche kes effort som? JJ much overage overb^ n 25,000 people with diverse economic backgrounds, newspaper with a staff of ab- imunity's wide interests and TBI it efforts this semester to reprecruit writers, especially misuggestion boxes on campus s by contacting minority pro- I ampus and recruited female the Sol Blatt P.E. Center. Soul lal and extensive coverage to The 5 History Month. The news- ment h international students, gradu- system d minority students. . FlX11 i coverage to Bisexual, Gay ful, bui the concerns of BGLA. The fff y Wc cv will give equal attention to jisted forms. ibiased coverage to Student out of lished professor profiles and Still, It is s were instituted to guarantee olina 1< million /ery day and an international lottery stion of the day. nation 1 every paper. ?' worl AntoHainmAnt ^ or~\t ioonc* LHSl out 20 struggling to serve the coir needs to the best of its ability. The Gamecock staff has made gre; resent everyone at USC. In January, ads were published to norities and internationals. There are that are checked frequently. The staff recruited minority writer fessors and posting fliers across c sports writers through solicitations at The Gamecock has also given eqt Black History Month and Women'; paper has covered issues concerning ate students, handicapped students an The newspaper has given length} and Lesbian Awareness Days and Gamecock has covered Greeks and Greek Week. The Gamecock gave fair and ui Government elections and has pub! stories on their research. A number of new editorial policie diversity, including the following: Including an African-American e> student whenever possible in the que; Covering non-mainstream sports ir Covering non-mainstream arts and Advertising every day for student question of the day. Including at least two sources and news story. Running only two opposing letters subjects to avoid stirring up bad relat The Gamecock is more diverse an< has been in years. But despite the complaints still arise, and always will Readers have to understand that s different lights, interpreted many diff When controversy arises, editors Y address it because there is a problem community peace. Should a volatile newsworthy and reflects a problem, upset people. How would you decide' The Gamecock is an open forum. / an article, opinion piece or letter to tY An atmosphere of open-mindedm for input dominates the newsroom. Ii take advantage of it. Accusations of bias or narrow c considered. PRU6SU AAAS claims article unfair To the editor: When I was approached about giving an interview in reference to the budget of the Association of African-American Students, I immediately knew that problems would arise. The very first paragraph of the article that appeared in The Gamecock Wednesday, March 4, 1992, said that students and administrators are in rage about budgets, namely the budget of the association. Well, what is this rage based on ? the fact that they did not get what the association got, or that this predominantly black organization got thousands of dollars? Mmmmmmm!!! Absolutely no legitimate and factual evidence is presented as to why anyone needs to be outraged. Furthermore, none of the people quoted in the article once came to a program sponsored by the association or a meeting unless they were campaigning, that is! This letter from me, as president of the organization, is inevitable. As soon as I read the less than newsworthy article, I knew that something had to be done to provide the campus students and the community with factual, not inconclusive propaganda about the association. The Association of African* American Students was established in 1968; therefore* we will be celebrating ouf 23th anniversary in 1992* When cniv^i iaiiiiiiNw/iii 111 hplnin input for Cross Fire and the masses ing the two opposing views in every not soi stands to the editor on controversial state, ions on campus. If th j broad in its coverage than it a loUer efforts and accomplishments, could a I, sometimes very justifiably. , tories are often seen in many erent ways. iave a difficult decision ? to , or to avoid it for the sake of A si quote be left in because it is the be: or taken out because it will Yes } could Anyone at any point can write bul 11 ie editor. UPWil jss, diversity and eargemess when i is up to the student body to No, overage should be seriously cle to bale i mmit -r ^ Alst <g ^ Hov ESWI1H26*6 the student Senate Finance Committee makes its decision about how much a student organization receives in terms of student activity fees, one aspect is based on how long an organization has actively been on campus. The association has provided quality programs for the university's students and the Columbia community for years. We are not a select group that buys itself pizza parties and trips to the bowling alley. Approximately 90 to 95 percent of our budget is allocated for Black History Month programming and the operational costs of Black History Month. We have not had one penny go to any programming solely for its 387 members (not 367 as was erroneously reported in The Gamecock.) We spent almost $800 this year on Black History Month agenda brochures, sending them to every oncampus student (that ended up on the floor) encouraging all students to attend the educational and culturally enriching programs. Several other things were written in the article which made it non-objective and completely ridiculous: the graphic used made it seem as if the association was the top organization on campus receiving student activity fees. Wrong! The association may indeed receive the most allocations out of a particular series or code, but what about CPU or even Student Media, which are both receiving about twice as much money as we are. If this graphic was going to be Used, this information needed to have been explained. Also, no one from the studeht Sdhate friidtiee Cbrtlniitiee Was Question: What dc >cott Sven K >logy major Physics r ink it looks okay, but in "The H places there is too but the r garbage, especially erything 1 Gambrell Hall." and the 1 The hone ern atroci xross ^ottery could ease ii Carolina is a poor state. e nricnn c arp ni/prflrm/inn Ora;prn. r pi tjv/iu UJ v UJV11IU "JHg. VJU* vm V ousing is falling apart. The education a is almost the worst in the nation. 1< ng all these flaws would be wonder- Is t we can't afford it. Taxpayers are al- c burdened with state and federal taxes, en have a tax on mail order goods s an the back of the state income tax a The state is taking plenty of money ii its laborers' pockets. n , there are not enough dollars, ridiculous not to have a South Car- si attery. A state lottery could generate ii is of dollars every year. Not having a A is, in effect, turning down a cash do- V that could be used to aid a multitude tl thy and desperate causes. a time I checked, God was all for g the homeless and educating the p . So why are religious groups oppos- ti implementation of a lottery? This is si mething evil, this is something that a to benefit the population of this w e money that could be generated by y were put toward education, schools ifford to hire quality teachers. Teach- T State lottery is Late-supported lottery would not be in 1 st interests of South Carolina. , the money generated by the lottery c be used to fund education or welfare, ? would also make the state dependent a hat money. 1 the state spend its money wisely d it has an automatic safety valve that c it from running a deficit every year? c a lottery would give the state a vehi- d spend frivilously in some areas and tself out in others with lottery re- s ? when it overspends at the end of the c r< ), lotteries target people with limited es. As Jim Bakker demonstrated 1< he ran the PTL network, people will f< way money, even if they can't afford u icy believe that money will somehow a y their financial situation. n ;t people buy lottery tickets because p slieve thp.v will win thp $97 S million ? prize one day. C /ever, the best most people ever do in C quoted, or if they were asked, and ; comment was not given, that shouk have been stated. Let's not forget, that is the commit tee that makes the decision of hov much to grant an organization, not th( association. Additionally, if any organi zation wants more money, ask for it oi raise it. The writer also did not practice goot journalism by using the non-credibk sources and their quotes, which gave i racial tone to the article and to this si tuation. Or is that really the way thing: are? Mmmm! If we want to get technical, one o: the organization's presidents who wa: quoted is the president of a fund raising organization, which is not sup posed to receive any percent of studen activity fees. Only two predominantly black orga nizations receive funding. If we look a the less than $20,000 dollars that blacl groups are receiving out of the thou sands that we contribute in student ac tivity fees, compared to the thousand of dollars that predominately Caucasiai groups are receiving, somewhere th' black students are getting jipped. Besides all of the above information look al how this one article receiving Iront page, top story billing make: USC look to the community and those considering USC as their college. I: this image created by this one article relative to the students and administra tors at USC? Where are all of the good things thai ) you think about the appear Susan Abdelsal najor Art Design majc orseshoe is all right, "I think it loo est of it is ugly. Ev- cially when the is real spread out, bloom, but the I "owers are ugly, too. area is trash." sycombs are a modty-" , ; Fircr^ taxpayers' load rs are not saints. Their vocation should inlude sacrificing financial security. They, re the building blocks of our society, and a 3ttery could ensure we get the best around. : lot to mention computers, labs and more lassrooms. The money could also go to providing helters for the homeless with soup kitchens nd beds. The money could go to establishig free medical clinics in rural areas. Moey is needed everywhere. But with so many needs, so many debts, [) many causes, why are we even hesitatig? There is no doubt that we need dollars, old that is the first and foremost necessity. Vithoul the dollars to do something about lis state's problems, it doesn't matter what nyone needs. Next time you get a tuition increase, a roperty tax hike or an absurd parking cket, you have a right to be angry. The late is poor, but they're not doing anything bout it. It's easier for them to open your 'allet. , , - Shelley Magee Shelley Magee is Viewpoint Editor for he Gamecock. not solution otteries is win the $1 instant win prize. Furthermore, as the state of South Car>lina has shown in the past, the money ;enerated by a lottery will probably be mispproriated by the legislature. Just like most bills in the State House, he state lottery proposal will probably inlude a few pay raises or a few perks for a orporation moving into a representative's iistnct. Then, the money generated will go to ome proposal that benefits a few vocal onstituents and generally leaves most state esidents out in the cold. Before concocting another lame-brain, ang-shot proposal to generate more money or the state, the legislature should consider sing the money it already has more wisely, nd it should consider reforming the lethods it already uses to raise revenue, esecially the stale tax system. -Chad Bray 'had Bray is Sports Editor for The iamecock. i AAAS does to promote cultural enrich1 ment and enlightment on this campus? Where is the article focusing on such events as the African-American Block/ lest, which attracted more than 600 j people from the campus and community? r Where is the article about the Christmas Carnival, which had hundreds of 1 deprived and at-risk youths in atten native; v^uiaiiM) livjt ill I lit vjamv^v^iv. * One can argue that there are not many blacks working in The Gamecock, but I 5 made special efforts to make sure that press releases and agendas were given f to The Gamecock. Who wants to work 5 in an atmosphere that continuously presents African Americans on this campus in a bad light. I Before I wrote this letter, I thought long and hard about what could be the best thing to do in this ugly situation. I decided that no way could I come off it as a student in rage. I had to do what k was best for the organization and the African Americans on this campus, now and those still to come. s Writers for The Gamecock, please i try in the future to thoroughly research e your topic before printing stories like this. Make sure that your stories have some type of newsworthy basis. And finally, for those who want to know the truth, you are welcome to attend our meetings Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Russell House Theatre, or you can come to our office. Don't let your ignorance blindly lead >^ou! Donna Moore L AAAS President ance of this campus? am Maeve O'Connor >r Biology/Spanish major ks nice, espe- " have a problem with it flowers are in be'n9 right in the middle of a Russell House cThe Horseshoe and humanities areas are kept well, more of what you'd expect a uunege 10 iook HKe. Pro-lifers fight to limit choices - Tige Watts When do we have the right to tell people what they can and cannot do with their body? This past weekend, a group of pro-lifers blocked ihe entrances of abortion clinics in Greenville. These people look just like you and me. But for some reason, they think they have the right to tell people what they can do with their bodies. They believe they can dictate us. They believe they fight for the rights of the unborn. They are wrong. They don't fight for the rights of the unborn, they fight to control us. They fight to limit what we think, what we feel, and what we do. Living in this country gives us rights. We can express our views. We can write what we wm * ^ want. We can believe in any su- i|| ^ ^ preme being. qm* * So, why can't we do whatever we want with our bodies. These people are not pro- IJHHBOfilMlifers. They're anti-choicers. We have to stand up to these people and tell them we won't stand for the limiting of our choices. We have to fight. Just as our forefathers fought to build this country, we have to fight to protect this country. We have to keep our choices available. We cannot stand by and let Big Brother tell us what to do. This is not a Communist country. But, if we don't act, it could be. Imagine living in a country where people tell us what we can read. Imagine living in a country that regulates what we think and feel. Imagine a country where choices are outlawed. If we don't protect our choices, who will? It's up to you and me. We can't afford to mess up. If we tell our government it's all right for them to control us, what will they do next? Will they ban some books? Will they ban TV shows? Will they ban our thoughts? From birth we have choices. We decide what to wear, what to feel, what to believe. If I want to wear polka dot shorts with a rugby shirt, I should have that right. If someone wants an abortion, they should also have that right. The freedom of choice is an important one. It has named our presidents and representatives. We cannot have it taken away. Stand up for what you believe in. Stand up and l ight for your rights. Stand up to the people and tell them you want to live in America, not Romania. Stand up and fight. Stand up. "ANP STILL RUNNING?" i?I IGamecock Editor in Chief Eric Ward Managing Editor Tige Watts Copy Desk Chief... Kathy Heberger Asst. Copy Desk Chief Jennifer Jablonski iewpoint Editor Shelley Magee News Editors... Patrick ViDegas/Gordon Man tier Asst. News Editor Kim Everitt Carolina! Editor Greg Rickabaugh Asst. Carolina! Editor Lee Clonts Graphics Editor Ryan Cartoonist Paul Jon Photography Editor ...Virginia Marshall Asst. Photography Editor Eric Glenn Sports Editor Chad Bray Asst. Sports Editor Sean Ryan Faculty Adviser Erik Collins Asst. Advertising Manager MeBsaa Owenby Asst. Classified Manager -Amy Taylor The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters 3hould 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 the right to edit letters for style, possible libel or space limitations. The Gamecock will not wltnhdld names under any circumstances. " *