The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 24, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
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.
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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
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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.
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