University of South Carolina Libraries
I Vote Students should make < in runoff SG A election Thursday's runoff election will mai government campaign, and it is pret be relieved. Dirty politicking and mudslinging of political campaigns, whether it be This year's campaign, however, i usual. Accusations flew from all sic infraction under the sun plus more. Ripped-down fliers, tacky camp vicious rumors and lists galore coerci blocks were just some of the stunts p and their supporters. It was sometimes hard to tell if the than veteran hardball politicians runr 10th straight term. It has been downright sickening a are fed up with the entire process, it body vote Thursday. And hflipvp it nr nr\t hphinrl all r\ ly issues. SGA has the power to distribute $ fees to different student organization say the least. Another power of SGA is to lobb; which greatly concern students, inch tion, parking and safety. Receiving m tion in general requires lobbying the s Of course, recommending policy c support is not that much influence cc which can do about anything on camp which controls the state's purse strings. But this is all we have to work wil of it. And the first step to solving our p just vote. Be an educated voter. Look at the candidates' stances oi character ? stressing leadership, de gence and genuine caring. We don't want resume builders; Intelligently. Amendment i iu jvccjj ucllcuk Tonight, the student senate will vote on one of the most important bills in student government history The bill would require the student body vice president to choose members of committees, like the finance committee, in a representative manner. The current codes only suggest and encourage the vice president to do that. So what does this mean to you and me? The bill's author, Sen. Shine Brooks, said it would pre- no^ vent one type of ideology to take over the vice presidency, so he or she could abuse that power and stack people who side with him y01 me on certain committees. Take this scenario for example. 0 A College Republican wins the \rir-a nrpcirtpnr-v Ufl n ViV/U Uivoiuvnv;. ut Lfltivo a vie finance committee, which decides the what organizations get money, stacked with a majority of other 1 e College Republicans. This puts an< clubs such as the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Association in jeopardy. All this bill would do is establish a check and balance system ' that is already needed. It would y11 help keep partisan politics out of student government and help . n focus on student issues. in= Minority group funding is one on of the most important aspects to prc; this university. It is needed to promote understanding and diversity. e If it is threatened by any group Uh?] then we must stand up and protect those groups from social igno- act ? poo ranee. ? And this threat has been happening. There is a movement by '" members of a certain political group to gain control of the vice s^c presidency and the senate and for ultimately slash funding for der minority groups. Need proof? Ask the current r^a lfif student oody executives, connect- * ed at one time or another with the College Republicans, why they suddenly questioned the budget c c for the Association of African- aa5 of f. American Students. Ask the current student body treasurer why ant he did not remind the BGLA to send in their request for funds. ^0l Who's to say they won't stop -?hl with those groups? That's why ^ this bill is so important. a Therefore, If you have never been to a senate meeting before, go ^ 1 careful choices Thursday k the end of the 1993 student ty safe to say most of us will is, unfortunately, always part c\ natinnal r?r ramnne rapp u nuuviiui v/jl vum^yuo i UW. seemed to be far worse than ies concerning every election >aign slogans, name-calling, ng people to vote for different ulled by this year's candidates se people were students rather ling for the legislature for the it times, but, even though we t is still important that everyf the politics, there are actual1 million of student activities s. This is not an easy task to y the administration on issues iding tuition increases, visitaore funding for higher educa- ^ ;tate legislature, hanges and lobbying for their )mpared to the administration, us it wants, and the legislature, ;h, so we must make the most iroblems is to vote. But don't n the issues and their overall :dication, pragmatism, intelliwe want leaders. So vote. mportant ;e of power T I G E WATTS 11/ 'You have to be moved by the plications this has," Brooks said, ome to the meeting to show lit support or your dislike." The eting takes place in the Russell use Theatre today at 5 p.m. One last item: How will this ect Thursday's election? Both :e presidential candidates said j y supported the bill. They said :y wouldn't abuse the power i stack the committees with ' ir "own" people. Okay, so is that why College j publicans sent out a flier say; Republicans "must not let the j erals succeed in bashing j lerican traditions and ideals in name of 'cultural diversity.' d we cannot let the big-spend- | \ liberals waste thousands . . . useless groups and specialized ^ jects?" Who left it up to the College publicans to decide the defini n - 44 1 " O - ii m a useless group, ouuie ui groups they consider useless ually promote awareness necary to break down the walls of otry. Student government should not a forum of partisan politics. It >uld be like Shine said, a forum concerned people to solve stutt problems. If a senator or an icer is there for just partisan isons, he or she should be ked out because they don't re our best interests in mind. Consider your vice presidential >ice seriously. Weigh the facts, 1 remember your choice may set your education of diversity 1 social understanding. \nd one last thing, write to ir senator, and tell them what 1 think of the bill. Stand up for at you believe in, and show t you do care about USC. know I will. e Watts is a columnist for The mecock View frfi \ HMMpnT- V J Senator explains reasons for serving To the editor: As USC students continue to show apathy during the student government elections and fill The Gamecock with sarcastic comments flhnnt thp ramraion T'rl like fn tnkp the opportunity to share with those why I ran for an SGA position last spring. I moved to the United States in 1984 from Taiwan. Next to the educational reasons, I came here for the freedoms in America. But instead, I found more than what I 1 sought ? America's problems with racism. I did not run for senate t because I felt unjust or because of hatred, but because I cared. u I felt it was important for all s minority groups, including the s often forgotten international stu- f dents, to be well-represented here } at USC. I wanted to soften the n racial tensions on campus. I wanted t< to work for all that America stands s for, which were the reasons why c many of us, the foreign students, \ came to the United States. v The moment I was elected, I jj realized I was in trouble. Because English is my second language, I found it difficult to clearly express my feelings on the senate floor. While 1 had many concerns for the welfare of all USC students, my | shyness and inabilities in public * speaking hindered my voice from ? being heard. The moral to my story is that, ? although I found myself to be not as capable as many of you when it :omes to expressing myself pub- c! iicly in English, I cared about this s* nstitution, and I did somethins ibout the problems it faced. ^ If most of you are so insensitive jr, ibout your own well-beings here at ' JSC, and wish to see "for sale" ids on the bulletin boards rather ai han the names of those who could 111 jenefit your educational experi- ai jnce, go ahead and hit us with your m >-by-4's or spray mace at us next re ime we walk up to you and tell 'ou what YOU can do about those J1? :ampus issues that you complain ibout everyday. newsroom fO 777-7726 P.O. BOX 85131 I Editor in Chief Associate Editors Viewpoint Editor Copy Desk Chief News Editors Asst. News Editors I Carolina! Editor Asst. Carolina! Editor Sports Editors Asst. Sports Editor Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Graphics Editor Asst. Graphics Editor Cartoonist Copy Editors Student Media Coordinator Production Manager Asst. Production Manager Advertising Manager Faculty Adviser Graduate Assistant Darkroom Technicians poinl NOW XhlfROt liAPER 'SfiCKER ' X GOTO HELL, LEAST X WONT (E TROUBLE FINPli LAWMEft. A I My term as a senator is about to end, and I did not run for re-elecion. What I just said won't get me >ack in SGA, nor will it benefit my lealth. Is it really that difficult for he 80 percent of you who did not fOte in the last election to take a ew minutes and listen to what the candidates are saying, and make ^our choice at the voting booth? If so, quit complaining! Brian Tsai Engineering sophomore Elections give reader landy scrap paper To the editor: I am writing to publicly thank he many candidates in the recent tudent government elections who lipped their unwanted campaign liers under my door at Columbia iall. You have provided me with auch-needed scrap paper on which o write memos, telephone mesages, grocery lists and the like. I ?nly hope that you will find equaly good use for the fliers that you /allpapered our classroom buildtigs with. Once again, thank you. Stephen Milligan Secondary education junior Political correctness trengthens language o the editor: The article concerning political Directness was off-line and offenve. 1 would like to point out that te author is a Caucasian male and most likely heterosexual. Being a aucasian male, 1 don't suppose he is faced much discrimination in lis country, and, for that matter, tywhere else. If he had taken the me to consider the concerns of ly group besides himself, he ight understand why political corctness is important. Language is the basis for comunication in our society. nderstandably, the words reprent certain feelings. Many of these elings are wrong. It may have ?ail INIVERSITY OF SOU" r>~i. \/:11 I'lltriLN V llltr^tlM Lee Clontz, J.T. Wagenheim Gordon Mantler g Brian Garland Jack Dunn, Melissa Tennen ?ea Clayton, Rochelle Killingbeck v Jennifer Fuller V Melinda Waldrop Nancy Salomonsky, Tim Thorsen Rob Rodusky Stephanie Newlin Kelly Johnson K Gregory lVrez Chris Muldrow Paul Jon Chris Davis, Thom Harman Jim McKellar .Laura Day Jim Green C Renee Gibson G Erik Collins ^ Brian McGuire ..Erin Galloway, Rika Hashimoto t . wf\ VF~=V\ 1 ^SoL w & NG flly 8~~ been hard to stop -callirtg AfricanAmericans "Negroes," but it was something that needed to be done, and it was. It may have been hard to stop calling Native Americans "Indians," but it was something that needed to done, and it was. It may have been hard to stop calling Asians "orientals," but it was something that needed to be done, and it was. It may be difficult to stop calling women "girls" or letter carriers "mailmen" or members of Congress "congressmen" or any of the terms you may hear floating around. These terms may sound funny, but they are brought into focus because they offend. That alone should be enough reason to change your ways. We as a people are so used to the words and symbols that it may seem like a real pain to try to change our habits. Maybe it seems as though it has "gotten out of hand," but we, as a society, cannot remain at the status quo. We all know there is still plenty wrong out there when people of different races, genders and sexual orientation would rather discriminate against each other than understand each other. So don't get fed up yet, we still have a lot of work to do. Tracy Gould Psychology senior Vegetarian diet key to better health To the editor: I read with interest Wednesday's article by Karla Fulmer on choosing food for a healthier heart. She points out that obesity, high cholesterol and heart disease are three of the major problems facing Americans today and gives eight suggestions on how to combat these ills. I would like to point but that one can tackle these problems and manv others while incornornt " 1 ing her suggestions with one simple step... a vegetarian diet. Vegetarian diets are remarkably easy to maintain. Indian, Italian, L Oriental and American cuisines offer a wealth of food choices that do not demand we participate in ftcock rH CAROLINA COLl The Gamecock is the student ne^ outh Carolina and is published thre Wednesdays and Fridays during the I weekly during both summer session ersity holidays and examination peri Opinions expressed in The Gamt r author and not those of the Univer: The Board of Student Publication mblisher of The Gamecock. The Stud larent organization of The Gamecock Change of address forms, subsc orrespondence should be sent to Th he University of South Carolina, Col Subscription rates are $46 a yea Columbia, SC. The Gamecock is a rej f the University of South Carolina ai lent activity fees. ? rioti WHO W QU^V 8EUEVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT? ') the cruel manner in which "factory farming" treats God's creatures or poison our bodies with excess fats, cholesterol and additives. I could go on for volumes about the benefits of a meatless diet. The healthy, ecological and cruelty-free aspects of this lifestyle choice are plentiful. But the non-vegetarian reader is doubtless running through his or her mind preconceived notions about "vegetarian hippies" or cult religions as well as all that has been learned since childhood about the necessity of including flesh in one's diet. I ask those people to take the time to be openminded and realize that vegetarians are found in all strata of society, and much if not all of the fallacy that mankind must eat flesh is no more than propaganda put out by the beef and poultry industries. If you don't believe the latter, go to an elementary school and check out who published and provided them with their posters and information concerning health and nutrition. Don't be fooled by titles; The American Meat Council and other such groups are not federal agencies but are public relations arms of the beef industry. If you wish to learn more, I highly suggest the book Diet for a New America by John Robbins, the magazine Vegetarian Times, or the seminar March 20, "Beyond Beef," beins held at the embassy suites hotel in Columbia. Andrew Lipps History/education senior The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 200-250 words 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 space limitations. The Gamecock will not withhold names under any circumstances. ADVERTISING 777-4249 IMBIA, SC 29208 ,vspaper of the University of e times a week on Mondays, fall and spring semesters and s, with the exception of uniods. >cock are those of the editors >ity of South Carolina, s and Communications is the lent Media Department is the riptions, requests and other e Gamecock, P.O. Box 85131. umbia, SC 29208. r. First class postage paid at ^istered student organization rid is partially funded by stu