The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 22, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
Service
Volunteer opportunities abound in Columbi
Despite the chill wind and the threat of rain, more than 30 peop
gathered in front of Russell House Saturday morning to participa
in a community service program called One Shot.
A monthly program sponsored by the Division of Student Life
Office of Community Service, One Shot's main purpose is to intr<
duce people who normally don't volunteer to the world of comnu
nity service.
Saturday's group went to the Peachtree Rock Preserve, a loc
park maintained by the Nature Conservancy.
Their task was to clean up litter in the preserve and to create fi
lanes, which allows controlled forest burns. The burns are a natur
part of the forest cycle; before man cleared much of the forest
parts of them would be destroyed each year because of lightning.
And after just three short hours of hard work, the preserve w;
noticeably cleaner and the fire lanes completed for the spring burn
This program is just one example of the many worthwhile se
vice opportunities in the USC community and Columbia area.
There is a large selection of programs and charities for studen
interested in serving the community, ranging from the One Shots
soup kitchens to just giving blood.
But in these times of shrinking budgets and staffs, many pn
grams can afford only limited public relations and depend on inc
viduals' own initiative to get involved.
Even though, when asked, most people say they strongly suppc
volunteerism and would be willing to devote a small part of the
time to it, most never act on it.
This is very unfortunate and disturbing. And trends seem to sho
volunteerism is decreasing.
In a time of sacrifice, as Bill Clinton has called it, we know go
ernment can't do everything or even most things. With this in min
volunteerism is even more important.
It is imperative that individuals become active and stay acliv
Without this help from the private sector, many people will sufft
This could mean closed soup kitchens, dirty parks, illiterate adul
or bloodless bloodbanks.
The call for service is now louder than ever. And we mu
respond.
The opportunities are there. USC's Office of Community Servi
is always willing to help people find their niche in volunteerin
But students must go to them. They do not have the staff nor t
budget to go to the students.
So get involved. A little bit of devoted time can go a long way.
The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters
should be 200-250 word? maximum. Full name and professional
title or year and major, if a student, must be included
along with an address and phone number. The Gamecock
reserves the right to edit for style, possible libel or
limitatinne Tlio nnmornrt \i/il1 nnt u/ifhhnlH nampc
OfJUWl/ 11111114AL1VSHO* A ftIV VJUIIIWVV/V rv will 1IV/V FVIUIIIVIU IIUII1WJ
uritloFany circumstances.
Block voting unnecessary
in student body elections
UMOJA, an organization stressment
elections, and, to my knowl- | ^
edge, that's an understood no-no I I , a
These two organizations gave
their members a list of executive
and legislative candidates to vote PATRICK
for in hopes of securing a voice V I L L E G A S
that would represent these groups L________?
or views in the upcoming year. And we cannot let the big-spendWhen
the results were finally jng liberals waste thousands upon
tallied Thursday evening, 30 can- thousands of our student activity
didates backed by these two fees 0n useless projects and spegroups
won senate seates, 20 of cialized groups."
them backed by UMOJA. This This type of thinking scared
list by UMOJA even included a many of the liberals on campus,
write-in candidate tor vice presi- an(j groups like UMOJA started
dent who received more than 15 putting out their own list of canpercent
of the vote. didates for which to vote.
This, boys and girls, sounds like So instead of thinking for the
a good case of partisan politics to interests of the students this
me- past Thursday, many of the stuAlthough
we should not rule den(S wound up voting for the
out the tact that these people best jnterest 0f (he party or orgawere
elected on their own merit nization lhey supported and uTtiand
that they won without the mately forced out many senatorial
backing of a separate party, we candidates who had good ideas,
bear the responsibility of reading but did no{ have a gI-QUp backing
between the lines. them.
Last week, the USC College This whole system caused a
Republicans sent out a list ol major disruption in the integrity
Republican candidates in their and fairness of our selection
otticial newsletter urging its process, and, instead of voting for
membeis to vote Republican in a better qualified candidate, many
the SGA races. The list included disallowed the possibility of fresh
more than 35 members and asked faces and new ideas to enter the
members to take it to the polls arena of student politics,
with them. AS j have said all semester
The newsletter also urged j0ng, student government is not a
members to "reclaim Carolina" place for little Jesse Helmses or
from the liberal majority and pseudo-Teddy Kennedys to be
said, "The most horrendous out- running around the Russell House
come of this election would be an Theatre politicking for the left or
enormous defeat for conservatism right cause. It's a place for us stuand
fiscal responsibility and a dents to have a small voice in how
victory for liberalism and fiscal we spend university money and
waste as our tuition increases." how life is governed here at USC.
The newsletter also went on to Get s try not to make student
say that Republicans "must not government bigger than what it
let the liberals succeed in bashing really is.
American traditions and ideals in , . ,
the name of -cultural diversity." 1
Vie wp i
s
?&F 4. <9&r'
"AT ~ ?=
W
v. Feminists on the
For many years, the pornography
issue has been making unlikely ~
c- bedfellows of feminists and funda- X3M
-r- mentalists. Although the basic prinIts
ciples of feminism inherently lean
to the liberal left, lately they seem |
ist to have undergone a directional
mutation that brings feminist ideals
okr\nt m ntariolr 1 QH H
auuui v^iuuv/ niaiuiaio IUU
[0 around until they have gone so far
l^e left they find themselves, SHE
inevitably, on the doorstep of the ^ ^
right.
Feminists' philosophies are
changing from progressive to suppressive, and
women should be very uneasy.
By opposing pornography because it "victimizes"
women, feminists are creating a dichotomy
in the women's movement. This protectionist
philosophy is absolutely ridiculous.
It does nothing but drag women back into the
dark ages. How can women stand as strong and
empowered individuals when our own movement
keeps telling us we are victims, that we
need to be protected, that we are mindless
enough that our moral standing must be legislated
for us?
I The women's movement was born from a
need to equalize women in a patriarchal society.
Nothing is accomplished toward that goal when
our sexuality is suppressed.
Women who take part in the creation of norGun
control a key percentag
, . . with fire
to lowering crime through
One re
To the editor: that New
Recent letter writers have been supposed
at pains to assure the readers of crime rate
The Gamecock that firearms some- fact is th:
how have nothing to do with the murder r;
high rate of homicides committed populatioi
with guns each year in the United was onl
States and in South Carolina. Carolina i
The fact is that in 1991, the last jn mo
year for which complete figures are where fi
available, there were 24,703 mur- handguns
ders in the United States and 402 the murdt
in South Carolina. In every state, 100,000.
year after year, half of all murders Anyor
are committed with handguns, and working
firearms of all types account for cide in" t
two out of three murders. South Ca
The homicide rate is higher in njze that
some states than in others, but the tator of n
NEWSROOM fOW f"
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Editor in Chief
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oint
Guess WHAT'S L
601 a/6 UP?
l ill
r ^ |||j
wrong side of por
mal erotic materials sign a con- w
^ tract. They make a conscious deci- fo
||K^ sion to participate in those activities,
and they even make money st;
doing it. How can this woman be ra
* ^ W I called a victim? What kind of a e>
feminist says women are not capa- it.
ble of signing a contract? This
means women should not be pi
allowed to sign a business deal, a th
L L E Y lease or a bill of sale, since obvi- fr
GEE ously we are incapable of under- ec
standing the nature of such agree- ti<
ments. it;
Let's give ourselves some credit here. The sf
moment we become victims by virtue of being
female, we should go ahead and pack it in, w
because we can't handle being functioning se
members of society. ol
For the first time society is beginning to hold fii
men responsible for their crimes. Men do not se
commit rape because of pornography, but fu
because some-of them are twisted individuals. ---Feminists
must stop connecting rape with pt
pornography. A man does not suddenly go out w
and force himself upon a woman because the lo
Playboy centerfold was a 36D wearing black th
garter belts. th
Feminists are unwittingly helping shift blame
away from the men who perpetrate sex crimes
and transferring it to pornography. There SI
should be no room in the feminist movement for
I -
e of murders committed availability of firearms w
arms is quite consistent us all safer,
it the country.
cent letter writer claimed Bruce
Jersey, where all guns are Englisl
ly banned, has a higher
: than South Carolina. The
it in 1991, when the u.s. Valentine condt
ate was 9.8 per 100,000 a tasteless prom
a, the rate m New Jersey r
y 5.2 and the South To the editor:
rate was 11.3. As a graduating student
st European countries, j jUS{ wanted to e,xpi
irearms and especially extreme disgust for the ad<
are not readily available, [ast week "all over can
it rate is less than one per "Valentine Condoms." T1
was "Show your valentine
le who is interested in ?send a condom!" First c
for a lower rate of homi- thought of sending a co
he United States and in opposed to the traditional
rolina will quickly recog- card is completely tasteless
firearms are a great facili- Secondly, I would jus
lurder. Restrictions on the state some facts about cor
JJttNltLUl
ERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA <
Patrick Villegas
> Clontz, J.T. Wagenheim The Gamecock is the
Gordon Mantlei South Carolina and is pub
: Brian Garland ... , , , ? . ,
rk Dunn, Melissa Tenner, Wednesdays and Fridays <
:o)\ Rochelle Killingbeck weekly during both sumn
Jennifer Fuller versity holidays and exam
Melinda VValdrop Opinions expressed in
alomonsky, Tim Thorsen ()r auth()r and not those of
Rob Roduskv n , , c. ,
.Stephanie Netvlin The B,Wrd ?f Student
Kelly Johnson publisher of The Gamecoc
Gregory Perez parent organization of The
Chris Muldrow Change of address fo
Paul Jon correspondence should be
iris Davis, Thorn Harman Tl c r
Jim McKellar The University of South C,
Laura Day Subscription rates are
! Jim Green Columbia, SC. The Gamec
Renee Gibson 0f the University of South
Collins dent activity fees.
Brian McGuire
lloway, Rika Hashimoto
u\ \ \
Ssll; ;
Hi El/ER
*:|i!! 8?EN ,
BEIWEE/V
^ A ROCK
~tf\ ANt? A
\\/ ? 1 ll A A K
^ PLACE ?
nography fight
omen who are willing to give men an excuse
rrape.
Novelist Anne Rice pointed out that when we
art giving credibility to the idea that "pornogphy
made him do it" we must also accept the
xuse, "but she was dressed like she wanted
Yet, feminists are still busily trying to ban
oducts that cater to audiences of erotica. Don't
ey realize success in removing this material
om the shelves gives moral majority groups
jual ground for limiting sex and AIDS educa;m
in schools because it discusses homosexualy
and in taking the Wizard of Oz off library
lelves because it has an evil witch in it?
Feminists should be supporting the movement
omen are making towards discovering their
ixuality. Instead of trying to rip this material
f the shelves, they should be proud women are
nally able to step out of the traditional role of
x as a duty and take part in erotica as beautiil,
self-aware, sexual beings.
We are breaking away from suppression by
itriarchal religious tyrants who would keep
omen barefoot and pregnant. We can no
nger subscribe to the idea that women sullied
eir sexuality and corrupted mankind during
at fateful tree-side apple seduction.
We're just too smart for that.
ielley Magee is a .columnist for The Gamecock
ill make that people are not misled in trying
to show their care. Condoms have
a 15.7 percent failure rate. Banking
Pearson a fatal disease or any other STD,
h faculty not to mention pregnancy, on an
84.3 percent success rate is not my
idea of showing concern. This is a
Dills' tac1, ant* 311 organization on cam,.
pus wants to encourage you to take
OllOn that chance, possibly with your life.
The only 100 percent sure way
to show vour valentine von care is
at USC, to abstain. The media and popular
ess my opinion today say that college stu>
that ran dents basically cannot control
ipus for themselves. That is a lie. Don't
re motto believe it because there are stuyou
care dents on this campus who are
)f all, the abstaining until they are married
ndom as and are still enjoying life to the
1 rose or max.
t like to Jenny Hazeres
idoms so Marine science senior
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