Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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A Yeltsin Russian leader discovers rliffiriiltid?? nf rlpmnrrntir rule / U y t^vi i fvy v # */ f c r v More than a year ago Boris Yeltsin came into power on the heels of a popular revolt against the old hardline multi-national communist state. He is now finding leadership in a newly-democratizec state difficult, to say the least. His attempts to bring the behemoth-sized economy toward t capitalist system have been slow and tentative, and he is noi receiving any financial support from the U.S. The main thrust of Yeltsin's reform thus far has been to dismantle the communist party structure. He began by cutting off tht head, Gorbachev, but was then faced with an organization heading underground. In a ruling made Monday, the highest court in Russia rulec Yeltsin had the right to dismantle the centralized Communist part) structure, allowing him also to effectively cut the many heads 01 the hydra left after Gorbachev's downfall. But the local parties arc a different story. The court ruled Yeltsin could not interfere or try to dismantle these organizations, and he had to return confiscatec property. Yeltsin, while claiming a mild victory, is left with politica opposition at the grassroots level. The state of the economy anc the inability of the government to provide basic necessities, whicl were available even in the time of Brezhnev, will be Yeltsin'; undoing. This is already apparent in the number of protests People who once stood with Yeltsin at the Russian parliament arc now beating on its doors. Dire economic circumstances breed radical politics, and i Yeltsin doesn't make sweeping free-market reforms immediately he could be faced with a radical shift back to hard-line commu nism. The people are angry, and the tide may be turning agains Vpltcin anH hie rpfnrmc It mav hp nnccihlp tr? malrp thp rpfnrmi X V1UJ1I1 U11U MMLMKJ 1 V1V/1 11 111UJ l/V J/VUUll/*V iv 111U1W UIV 1 V1V1 lilt stick with a little help from the U.S., but where would the mone> come from? Any money from the U.S. could only ease the situa tion. It would not solve any of the problems that have endured ii Russia for centuries. In the Nov. 18th edition of The Gamecock, Andy Hill's letter was edited for size. A paragraph was removed which made the letter incoherent. The Viewpoints editor and The Gamecock regret the error. i In the Nov. 23rd edition of The Gamecock, Sheldon Leigh Jeter's letter contained several errors. First, a line was omitted. The letter should have read "In addition, one cannot fathom the hundreds of hours that debaters occupy in the library in order to prepare for tournaments in which we represent USC (and the department) quite favorably." Secondly, in the same paragraph, the word "except" should have been "expect." The Viewpoints Editor and The Gamecock regret the errors. 15a lit cock Editor in Chief Greg Rickabaugh Managing Editor Patrick Villegas Copy Desk Chief Jay King News Editors Chad Bray J.T. Wagenheim Viewpoints Editor Jack Dunn Features Editor Lee Clontz Sports Editors Nancy Salomonsky Tim Thorsen Photo Editor Stephanie Newlin Graphics Editor Kristin Buehlman Cartoonist Paul Jon Asst. News Editor Melissa Tennen Asst. Viewpoints Editor C.E. Holman Asst. Features Editor Jennifer Fuller Asst. Sports Editor Rob Rodusky Asst. Photo Editor Lea Clayton Asst. Graphics Editors Gregory Perez Chris Muldrow Asst. Copy Desk Editor Brian Garland Student Media Coordinator Jim McKellar Production Manager Laura Day Asst. Production Manager Jim Green r-~? .u., i? _!i- - in rciuuny /auvioui CNK irOiuns Advertising Manager Renee Gibson Graduate Asst Brian McGuire Darkroom Technicians Erin Galloway Rika Hashimoto The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be no more than 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. The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during both summer sessions, with the exception of university holidays and examination periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and not those of the University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Student Media Department is the parent organization of The Gamecock. Change of address forms, subscriptions, requests and other correspondence should be sent to The Gamecock, P.O. Box 85131, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208.. Subscription rates are $46 a year. First class postage paid at Columbia, SC. The Gamecock is a registered student organization of the University of South Carolina and is partially funded by student activity fees. /iewpo I Jailhouse la On Monday, Nov. 16, the S.C. Supreme 1 Court ruled prisoners who confess their crimes to jailhouse lawyers can have those 1 confessions used against them during a trial. P j The article reporting this high court decision | immediately captured my attention. I am a 1 journalism major who plans to attend law s school upon graduation. I am also a fanatic _ supporter of an individual's civil rights, so the ; decision naturally compelled me to determine my thoughts on the matter. f Alvin Owens murdered businessman Ernest ' Vereen several years ago. After being convicted ^ of both kidnapping and murdering Mr. Vereen, ' Mr. Owens was granted a new trial on each t charge. He was subsequently convicted again on ^ 5 the kidnapping charge. After being incarcerated j for fhic primp Mr Ou/pn? hpoan rnncnltino an - unnamed jailhouse lawyer for legal advice ' i regarding his upcoming murder trial. According to Margaret N. O'Shea, a senior writer for The State newspaper, a jailhouse ' lawyer is "an inmate whose legal education usually comes from personal experience in court ]{ I and extensive use of the prison, law library." Sadly, the majority of all prisoners are woefully under-educated; but, in this particular situation, ' _ a jailhouse lawyer had ascertained a certain knowledge of the state law. Granted, this is by ' Medical inform On Monday former Senator and Presidential candidate Paul Tsongas reluctantly came forward to confirm reports he is again ill. But he admitted he "mishandled questions about his health during the campaign." Tsongas has been diagnosed with abdominal cancer. In 1983 Tsongas successfully bat- ? tied lymphoma, and in 1986 received a bone marrow transplant that helped him fight his illnpc? Rut hp suffprprt a rplansp nnp vpar Infpr 1 Tsongas' health had become an issue early in 1 the campaign. The public wondered if he might ( get sick again. In response to questions about his health, Tsongas responded that he was 1 "cured" and never mentioned his relapse. However, members of the press followed up on his claim, and accused the Tsongas camp of trying to cover up his health problems. Tsongas then urged me to form a committee { that would decide how much information a can- ( didate should release about their health. The. fliiestinn <ihnnlHn't he whether or nnt a 1 -J - " candidate must release deeply private information without having to worry whether the press 5 will uncover their "dark secrets." c The question is this: where in the First 1 Amendment does it guarantee the press the right 1 to know about the health of private or public individuals? J As a liberal member of society and a staunch supporter of free speech, I find myself strug- 1 gling with this issue. Under the Freedom of * wBL wr'*' Replace polls drubbed Nc with playoffs ?5 ?? yet the Huskii To the editor: ^ Brigham \ In the absence of a tournament ?^nn f7"^ in which teams can prove them- ?nn 1S selves, the fans (and players) of many teams must content them- tv'en wors selves with comparing poll rank- heal only onc ings. Voters watch only a few rcconJ Rl games per week at most. With little j^cn 8? boy information about most teams and beat four V games, how can they really judge ^e,aaw,hll< who is better or worse? Since the ranke" behinc media strongly influences who gets them and hav ranked where, teams from small '' media markets, from the West and No' from less established programs are acc ,in" 1 at an automatic disadvantage; and nation s tot some of the rankings do not make rankecl below any sense even when that is taken though lliey d into account. same rfcordHere are a few nuggets from this ?n 1 head week's illogical CNN/USA Today anylhing 10 d Top 25 Poll: thls season 1 ever just h< ints <" \ M4 6oSH, Sort,'! CArt'T BEUE.VE. qoU'RE WAItHlrtG , J Such a violent program /// ^ WHAT IS IT ?//? ^ f TME \ t?J V/ iwyers trick iff COLUMNIST no means an equal comparison to a degree obtained from an accredited school of law, but hic inmota ottomntoH tn hottor oHu/^ota himcolf uliio iiiniciiv- aiicinpivu iv/ i/viivi vuuvaiv iiiiiiovii, and it was well-known throughout the facility that he offered legal advice to other prisoners. Mr. Owens was convicted again of murdering Mr. Vereen, this time based on the testimony of the jailhouse lawyer who prepared his legal papers. It seems Mr. Owens admitted to his counsel that he had indeed murdered Mr. Vereen. In its ruling, the S.C. Supreme Court partially glossed over the jailhouse lawyer situation and ruled that other evidence besides the inmate testimony would h^ve convicted Mr. Owens. The state Supreme Court has no jurisdiction t)ver constitutional issues involved in a case, and all the high court can do is judge the facts of a case as they were presented in a lower court. ation off limits P*vi PRESIDENT-ELECT I N-'Okl Information Act, medical records are considered protected documents, therefore free from any press intrusion. However, I condemn members ~c a! ' 1 r l :* 4^ i_ l i_ ji uie press who leei 11 is necessary 10 puonsn this highly private information. Quite bluntly, it is none of their business. Just before the election, the Republicans tried to force the issue of Clinton's recurring throat problem. Under pressure to quell the media, Clinton underwent a physical, and had his docor release a report stating his condition was )kay. The "health issue" could have cost Clinton the election. But, since I won, in the end t didn't matter. The health of the president has always been a ierious issue. Whether it is Reagan's colon can:er, or Bush's heart murmurs, the American )ublic is afraid of dealing with a president's lemise or deterioration. The case of Arthur Ashe is really sad. The )ress overstepped its boundaries. How would /ou feel if a reporter called you in the middle of he morning and asked you to confirm if you tad AIDS or not, and then tell you he was going Washington (9-2) encourage teams to run up ). 10 Nebraska (8-2) in order to get more vc year and has a better really fair that fans ant t a stronger schedule, judge the success of th< 5S are ranked lower. based on the contorted oung (8-4) hammered poorly informed voters? I a few weeks ago, yet playoffs would allow u o. 21 and BYU is No. teams to prove themselv< field. ;e, the Nittany Lions : team with a winning Albert ltgers, which did not Uing ? while BYU I'ncT 25 Hawaii is JUgg^r 1 BYU despite beating *v'i 1*/"1 11 ing a better record (9- ** U.11I vfl U U. outhern Cal, which, entertain o NCAA, had the ^ . . ... lo the editor: ighest schedule, is ? .. . , Zrn ' Reading the letters two No. 22 Arizona even e.. , ? of the debate team wrote I eat them and have the . ,XT . tor (Nov. 23 issue t? . Gamecock) upset me a c -to-head games mean v ? le voters? Finally, Has the world lost its llustrated better than humor? Is it a crime to dw much the polls these days? The perform WlM t>orJ"r 1 /j/fj Hi: MOU mm just ill si hate S^Saut 1531^1 SASEP ItaScI^ SHOWS? ; prisoners Judging only the merits of the case, the court decided that Mr. Owens would have been convicted without his jailhouse lawyer's testimony used against him. But what about an inmate's, or, for that matter, any other individual's, absolute privilege of having all conversations with an attorney kept confidential? Are there any instances where client information given to a jailhouse lawyer can be considered protected? I am by no means a constitu tional expert, but there must be a federal issue lurking somewhere that will give Mr. Owens the opportunity to appeal his conviction in federal court. Traditionally, by privilege only, attorneys, physicians, clergy and spouses have not had information or confessions spoken to them by clients, patients, confessors and husbands or wives mentioned at all in courts of law. This bit of common law should be transcribed into statute law, but, first, a state supreme court or a federal court must decide what role a jailhouse lawyer plays in the attorney-client privilege. Recognized attorneys should never be compelled to testify against their clients. Hopefully, jailhouse lawyers will be allowed more room to function in the future. to journalists to run the story? I'd be frightened to death. Would you feel comfortable with a huge headline publicizing your medical misfortunes? I know I wouldn't. How would a woman feel if it was revealed on the front page that she had an abortion? Is it fair to subject anyone to this level of unwarranted scrutiny? Is it any of our business to know about their problems? Why should someone's battle with bourbon become the entertainment and fodder for the front page? So I think Tsongas, in addition to all citizens, deserves the right to privacy in regard to their medical records. Perhaps the press should learn when to behave. It seems we can't regulate ourselves, and because of it I feel we cannot stand upon a pedestal and claim it is the public's "right to know." Issues like this, and the press's outlandish behavior, are what make the public think we are adversarial, headline-groping maggots. I pray that in the future that the press can control itself, otherwise it will be open to more governmental restrictions. As President, I refuse to allow the press to gain control over the agenda. My own medical history is my business, not the presses. I will assure my supporters I have the constitution of an iron horse (even after passing that kidney stone). the score Hartwig and Jeter criticized was ?tes. Is it not, in my opinion, the least bit 1 players embarrassing or degrading to the eir teams theater and speech department. I logic of shared a class last semester with the At least sophomore football player they nderrated mentioned, and I think he is a talent es on the and a bright spot in the department. He performed a couple of great performances in our class, and I L. Allred thought his juggling act was one of MIBS the funniest things I have ever seen! I guess you would have to be a theater and speech major to understand the full range of what our departcj ment consists of and represents. 5 Reading a great speech could in no I rj way fully show people what speech majors learn in class. Lighten up people, and take a load off! Laugh members and the world laughs with you! o the edi o f Th e Tracee McDowell ;reat deal. Theater senior sense of be funny lance that