The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 14, 1992, Page 3, Image 3
Cons um<
Slow transformatu
makes consumers
The people of America no longer
It's not clear when this transforma
consider ourselves consumers above
images, proaucis, mercnanaise, sa
others by these things. It is through
government look at us ? not as cith
In America the consumer has re]
with consumers, America has also bt
We no longer make things. We on
We are no longer the manufacturii
been reduced to being salesman of J;
The result of how our society 1
decades is how we've transformed o
of images, information and an endle<
Our nation is an audience for t
serves as a stage for our amuseme
players actively surpass us.
We are entertained by war. We a
are entertained by everything in th
nothing active except consume.
We consume images. We consun
degree, we consume information, th(
be extracted from it.
Televison has spawned our mod*
not be the only source producing cc
woven into our culture.
What would happen if television s
At least 50 million people would
how to lead their lives. Think about
The images television conveys h
hood what to eat, what to wear, how
ly, are the ideals of our society. It f
gent, freely-thinking individuals into
tons.
Will THf R?AC
WARRH "TRUMAN PLEASE
STAMP UP ?
HV /#
B(*?'
w*
I
Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Copy Desk Chief
News Editors
i ? r?
viewpoints tanor
Features Editor
Sports Editors
Photo Editor
Graphic Editor
Cartoonist
Asst. News Editor
Asst. Features Editor
Asst. Sports Editor
Asst. Pnoto Editor
Asst. Graphics Editors
Asst. Copy Desk Editor
Student Media Coordinate
Production Manager
Asst. Production Manager..
Faculty Advisor
Advertising Manager
The Gamecock will try to |
Letters should be 200-250
professional title, or year and
be included along with addr
The Gamecock reserves the
style, possible libel or s|
Gamecock will not witho
circumstances.
A
*rism
m of society
out of citizens
" consider themselves citizens,
tion took place, but we now
all else.
les ? we judge ourselves and
these things corporations and
^ens, but as consumers,
placed the citizen. And along
jcome a nation of salesmen,
ly sell them.
ag giant of the world, but have
apanese products,
has changed in the past few
urselves into passive receivers
>s chain of products,
he world. The world outside
:nt, and we silently watch its
re entertained by politics. We
le outside world. And we do
ip r?rr?rhir,te A nrl tr\ a r+ain
IV/ pi VUUVIO. 1 U1U IV/ U VV11U1I1
3ugh not much knowledge can
jrn society, and while it may
msumerism, it is deeply inter;uddenly
disappeared?
be totally lost, without a clue
it. Television runs our lives,
ave told us from early childto
smell, and what, supposedlas
tranformed us from intellii
clusters of ad-driven automa
/
)
I
Sbfrock
Greg Rickabaugh
Patrick Villegas
Jay King
Chad Bray
J.T. Wagenheim
Jack Dunn
Lee Clontz
Nancy Salomonsky
Tim Thorsen
Stephanie Newlin
Ryan Sims
Paul Jon
Melissa Tennen
Jennifer Fuller
Rob Rodusky
Lea Clayton
Kristin Buehlman
Gregory Perez
Kim Everitt
Jim McKellar
Laura Day
Jim Green
Erik Collins
Ponoo Cihenn I
I IVI IVV Vlli/vVI I
srint all letters received,
words. Full name and
major if a student, must
ess and phone number,
right to edit letters for
sace limitations. The
Id names under any
Aiewj
%
Question: Wh
Martin Baiinsky
Graduate student
Geology
"I think it's hard
starting out our first
season in the SEC.
It's too early to criticize
Sparky. We still
have nine games left
to play."
Universitj
Last semester I obtained a copy
document stamped "confidential," w
summarized a 1990 study of Resi
Advisors (RA's) on the USC campi
compared 10 otner campuses.
After finding out about the the d
ment, I was given the report despite r
objections by staff members in Res
Life.
I am sharing this report with the st
now because I feel two injustices hav
First, by labeling a university docu
fidential" when the document is publ
and subject to the Freedom of Inforr
the department of resident student di
is violating the rights of every stud
campus and the taxpayers of Sout
who support this university and pay 1
hours that went into this report.
Who knows what other reports
stamped "confidential" which have b<
with the money taxpayers pay to this
clearly dates back to Holderman's rl
dpu/ill \JL lUIUUIi? Ullll^a.
Second, soon after I obtained the
the university tried to pull a fast one
RA's they would receive a 30 p<
increase and have Voice Mail install
phones to help bring RA benefits cl
national average.
But not by much.
According to one Columbia Hal
increase gives them about $20 extrj
PE survey
veiled price
lnrrpii^p
JLJIJiVJI. VMk/V'
To the editor:
The announcement in the Sept.
9 of The Gamecock says the P.E.
center is conducting a "Locker
Room Effectiveness Survey" to
help improve locker room services.
After reading it, I cannot
shake the uneasy suspicion this is
a thinly disguised notice of intent
to raise locker room fees to astronomical
heights.
For examnle. the survev form
asks if we would be willing to pay
$150 per year for an "Executive
Locker Room Package" which
would provide a set of P.E.
clothes, towel, laundry service and
(note carefully) our name mounted
on the front of the locker. The
only difference betwen this $150
service and what we now pay is
$50 a year for a nameplate ?
whirh ic an ahsiirrl wacfp of ninn
ey: I absolutely do NOT need my
name on the front of my locker.
What would we get for the $50
we currently pay for full service?
Well, we'd get an "Economy
Locker Room Package" that would
provide only a towel, laundry service,
and (!!!) our name on the
front of the locker. Hmmmm.
Am I the only one who is
annoyed at the prospect of a 300
percent jump in locker room costs?
The current system seems fine to
me, and I would like to see it left
as it is.
Daphne VV. Haddad
Graduate student, Education
?
joint
at do you think of Spar!
Justin Eaddy
Sophomore
History
"I think he pretty
much bites. USC
needs to get a new
coach. He sucks."
i should in
of a
/hich
dent
is as
locu- 8HHSH85HBMRSHR
nany
idenl EDITOR IN CHIEF
udent body And as far as Voice M
e occurred, doing fine with answerir
ment "con- My point is further p
lie property the report itself. When
nation Act, about potential addition
evelopment was in last place as a
ent on this below six other viable o]
h Carolina It is easy to see why
or the man "confidential." It proves
after examining the fo
are being rized by the departme
;en derived development in the 1990
state? This When calculating o
hetoric and basis, we pay an avert
based on a conservati\
documents, work week,
i by telling This also represent
jrcent pay lem. RAs question the
ed on their they see students in all
oser to the tions being paid more
less training and for wb
error are much less sign
II RA, the RAs.
t a month. This is especiall)
Greeks
should look
for diversity
To the editor:
I want to compliment Melinda
Waldrop for her informative article
on fraternity rush at USC that
appeared in the Sept. 2 issue of The
Gamecock. However, there were a
number of statements in the article
which particularly grabbed my
attention and troubled me, perhaps,
because I have my own philosophy
of what a fiatemity should be.
I feel Chi Psi president Kevin
Beach is correct when he stated
many men rush to find a group of
people with the same interests and
styles. I do not fault individuals
who seek membership in organizations
which mirror their own characters
and aspirations. Yet, one of
the major problems I see with
Greek organizations, including my
own, on this campus is that the
brothers and sisters in these groups
tend to tout conformity to an image
anti pvrlncinn rafhpr than hnalthv
diversity and inclusion.
From my own perspective and
personal experience in a fraternity
at Albion College 30 years ago, I
know that a fraternity can have unity
but at the same time champion
diversity in its ranks. Our chapter
did. We pledged men because of
their personal character and attributes.
Our brotherhood of 60 to 80
men included whites, blacks,
Protestants, Catholics, Jews (and
maybe an agnostic or two), white
s
ky Woods' performance
' *
Darrell Haynes
Senior
English
"Sparky's done good
with the amount of
talent available. This
year is going to be a
maturation process
for us."
iprove
obse
| tants
Immsm can <
w : J ures
dene
ail ? most RA's were is $3,171,
ig machines. package. C
iroven when we look at surveyed,
i RAs were questioned 1 admit t
al benefits, Voice Mail last semest
i desired benefit, right tion.
ptions. But mos
the report was labeled taking anoi
to be very embarassing from the jo
llowing points summa- "The R^
nt of resident student on what th
report: the report s
ur benefits on an hourly There is
ige of $2.06 per hour, The repc
rt\y estimated 20-hour sities, but i
the money
s a serious morale prob- better finan
ir relative worth when "The im
other on-campus posi- an institute
for jobs which require the report c
om the consequences of Let's qu
ificant than they are for open, and
tions of eve
r difficult when RAs Enough j
collar, blue-collar, rural, urban,
suburban, campus leaders, scholars,
athletes, singers, and swingers.
Beach's comment that "We want
the kind of young man who will
suit us best" and Sigma Alpha
Epsilon president Brett Gough's
remark that "We want people who
will be best for the fraternity"
maybe typify the desires of the
active chapters of our fraternities.
But, let me ask, do these statements
encourage die development on our
campus of organizations which will
teach respect and toleration for others
and promote the commonwealth
of the campus community?
The right kind of conformity is
fine to a point. But shouldn't our
Greek organizations be more
empnauc in stressing wnat we can
do for individuals and not to individuals?
We don't need any more
clones!
Kenneth E. Peters
Faculty Advisor, Rho Omega
Chapter, TKE
\
Former
columnist
not missed
To the editor:
The August 24th [issue of] The
Gamecock offered Tige Watts'
story, "USC can't shake off
Holderman ghost."
Many readers were probably left
scratching their heads and wondering
why Mr. Watts chose this time
to reopen the Holderman can of
worms in such a long and torrid
this season?
Kimberly Johnson
Freshman
Math education
"I don't know about
Sparky personally,
but I think the team
can work harder."
l benefits
rve the tasks required of desk assiswithin
their own residence halls who
earn twice the income of RAs workewer
hours per week.
The total benefits package for USC
averages $1,582 per year (1990 fig).
By comparison, the mean among
niversities in the Southeast with resie
hall populations comparable to ours
more than twice the value of our
)urs is the lowest among institutions
his is a lot of bad news. The increase
er was a small step in the right direct
RAs must fill that financial gap by
her job, taking his or her time away
L L ~ _ r!ll
u ue ui sue was ciiosen 10 1111.
lS simply cannot get by economically
ley receive from their RA position,"
ays.
a point to this madness.
>rt compares USC with other univerit
does not say how they have found
to pay their RAs, or whether or not
icial benefits affect performance,
pact that RAs exert on students has
3nal value that cannot be overstated,"
:ontinues.
it trying to hide the facts. Let's be
together we can improve the condi;ry
aspect of the university.
said.
pnmM
JhAmhImUI
flood of prose.
Of course, those of us who read
the August issue of GQ magazine
would immediately know Mr.
Watts' inspiration: a first-rate story
about former USC president James
Holderman by journalist Allison
Cook.
Mr. Watts' story is a near paragragh-by-paragragh
rip off of the
GQ article, without a word of
acknowledgment toward GQ or
Ms. Cook.
I'm confident the story on
Holderman will look good in Mr.
Watts' portfolio, but his rip off of a
fellow journalist is unethical and
unprofessional.
C'mon, people. Journalism is
more than Strunk & White and the
AP Stylebook. And you will have a
hard time pointing to other people's
dirty linen when your own
doesn't look so fresh itself.
Will Moredock
journalism graduate
To the editor:
Recently The Gamecock released
its best issue in recent memory.
The reason for all this excitement
is the annoucement by Tige
Watts that he would no longer be
"writing" a column.
So. for the time being, readers of
the Viewpoint section of The
Gamecock will not be bombarded
by Mr. Watts' nauseating, highdecibel,
pro-Clinton pitch making.
I'm sure, however, Mr. Watts
could find use for his talents working
for such fine literary journals as
Mother Jones or the National
Enquirer.
Stephen Edwards
History senior