The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 01, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
Monday, March 1, 1993
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Politics
Voters' rejection of negative \
in USC elections an encouraging trend
In th<i 11 ;nrl r\ r\f PAOmo t U.-t, ^ ^1. . 4 A ,
in uiw wvnu ui pwiiuca, uicic attina iu uc Ulliy ivvu l'UIlMt
dirty politicking and negative campaigning.
Year after year, campaign after campaign, this unfortunate as
of politics always plays a role.
Elections, deemed the cornerstone of democracy by many, 1
been tarnished by this ugly, mean-spirited practice.
And this year's SGA elections were no different.
Mud-slinging and name-calling were in season for the
month as some of our fine SGA candidates thought it necessar
be rude and to insult our intelligence in their attempts to win.
But in a trend that began with the 1992 presidential campa
negative campaigning was rejected entirely.
Regardless of what their opponents charged, Bill Clinton
Albert Gore stuck to the issues which they felt were importar
Americans.
As the weeks went by and the polls continued to show tl
President Bush trailing the Democratic ticket, the president bee;
increasingly negative, attacking Clinton and his supposed waff
and the "Ozone Man," better known as A1 Gore.
Bush's negative attacks against Michael Dukakis were effec
in 1988. But when the negative, unsubstantive, visionless mess*
started pouring out of the White House this time around, m
were convinced "more of the same" would be disastrous for
country's future.
November's election results were not only a mandate for chat
but also a mandate against dirty politics and negative campaigni
This year's SGA campaign was eerily similar to the Bi
Clinton fight in some ways. The underdogs believed they cc
only catch up if they attacked their opponents rather than cone
trate on their own record and platform.
A number of campaign slogans which were used didn't attei
to focus on the issues or that particular candidate's ideas or chai
ter. Instead, they made unsubstantive attacks on the opponent.
Certain candidates also went on the attack in Monday's S
debate. But instead of convincing voters of their qualificatic
they looked childish and less than distinguished or "presidential.
The students showed Thursday their disgust for "politics as i
al" in their resounding rejection of negative campaigning.
Both the American people and the USC student populat
proved they are sick and tired of candidates with nothing posii
to say.
In these times, both the country and the university need leac
who are inspiring and full of hope. This is impossible to do if
candidate is constantly attacking his or her opponent.
Negative campaigning is almost as old as politics itself. /
unfortunately, it seems to work, sometimes.
But negative campaigning was rejected this time, and th;
always a good thing.
Remember poor, homeless
during spring break week
It you open your eyes and vhhhhb
them live at the Statehouse; oth- I f W
ers live further downtown.
They are the homeless men
and women of Columbia. PATRICK
it's funny. Many of us are
gearing up for Spring Break
with laughs and a good time in .. . , .. , .
i \\r, , . . and yelled to himself about how
mind. We are going to visit , u. ^ L- .
.... ? he might do something he cou d
Mickey Mouse, the snowy re?rel
mountains, the Florida skies, c, ,k- ... ,.
?o ?,;ii j - I hope this man didn t do
and many ot us will be doing . ,
... . ,? anything irrational, but then
the thing homeless people . J ,-t ? . .
., , ~ , , u again his lite isn t rational 1
would love to do: sleep in their ? k- ^ ,
..... . . stlU regret not giving him a dolchildhood
bedrooms. ? T. k .
^ , . . lar or two. It might have at least
Arrested Development has a ., , n Umnh
.... , paid for a lunch,
new single out that takes a good 1 ... nn, tn .
look at this invisible minority. -v ^ 11 . . . V,nct
It's called "Mr. Wendal." The ???" 0 se,d^! 'fe?f '?s
to the local shelter or soun
Xhe (5amcrock
Viewp<
6???, cam mou
^magime inves7w6
a bimctf of mo/vfh
mo IN~To SOM?7P'A/0
AMP GFTTiMO
UffuE OR NOtW^
ints: BACkf
pect V
iing
tges
any
lhc PC full of unneeded we must ap
. . euphemism,
Ige, labeling, coloring feelings urn
ng. kind words
ish- To the editor: ments, allow
)uld In Plato's dialogue the term that 01
en- "Gorgias," Socrates argues that 'correctness
what is best translated as "the cos- 2ence by ins
metic craft" ? the application of fess stupid &
" cosmetics that disguise blemishes Please taki
rac" in the body ? is a shameful thing, over before ;
for the reason that it "wears the my sensibilit;
GA mask of physical training."
)ns, His point? While cosmetics may
conceal ill health or ugliness by
isu- means of "shaping and coloring, and
smoothing out and dressing up,"
jon they fail to correct what they con- die edjto
tive cea*' anc* ^us PerPelrate deception. jn reSp0ns
The "cosmetic craft" pretends to jno "p0litica
achieve the sort of beauty one en^ng langu;
obtains authentically only through p^m 0ut th;
^ie the physical maintenance of exer- js a totai v
cise- Gould's arg
\.nd "Appearances deceive." "All that b0VV shallu
gutters is not goto. Any number ot become,
at's trite phrases we use today all echo why ma
the very same idea. watered-dovv
So what bearing, you may ask, pUt a label
does this bit of Platonic ideology Labels are nc
have upon the pertinent issue ot cuts t0 think
political "correctness"? off-base, heii
I answer that it defines every- js not "need
thing wrong with the movement, one race n:
and I leave myself open to refuta- people of a
tion. Political "correctness" is to Americans,
social injustice ? a sickness, of How aboi
sorts ? what cosmetics are to yOU were bo
physical training. It hides ill health are an Amei
in the "body" ot society by shaping parade arou
and coloring language, smoothing it Anglo-Ameri
out and dressing it up. probably moi
Tracy Gould is right in one ^an most A1
respect. She said, "Language is the oniy the sec
basis for communication in our family to be
society." Although this statement but I am, >
isn't the striking revelation it pre- American,
tends to be, it does acknowledge Most Afr
the importance of language as a been here lo
qualitative representation of cul- Europeans,
ture. between pe
Terms and phrases do represent
c?aniv, vv/uhuj
the way tilings are, be they just or \ am no,'
unjust. But what has eluded recog- tjon 0f cultur
nition tlius far is the fact that repre- js a differen
sentations are not equivalent to culture and
what they represent. Pressuring people
people into using "correct" termi- j(- society
nologies will certainly change the Caie," as M
words they use, but it will not stated then I
change their attitudes. jn? ^ star
Men and women of all races and wjj0 ^gy ^.g
ethnicities have sacrificed a great ^ person
deal for freedom of speech. But, if secure if he
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song involves a conversation ki(chen |g mere, ,0 us
between a homeless man, Mr. e |Q ^ and ac,
Wendal, and a young adult. for U)e |ess fommate
II you have a chance, not A| col we afe doi
only listen 10 the yrics. but also someth, ? |ves ^ our
try to comprehend them. It real- future ^ iviM a ,ifc.
ly makes an impact by trying to ed of
change altitudes about people ,. ? . ... Th.
.. . fnw%tha , . 11 diversity and culture. 1 he
livinu on the streets. . ,
?3 , nt. . . r homeless are receivine nothing
This situation reminds me of . . ,. ? <
c t but cold pavement tor beds,
a recent experience of mine. I c . . , .
r,k- So when you are basking in
visited Chicago this past year, , . .. ,u?
and a man who looked like he f ""a SU" ?f Sk""8
was in his early 30s said he had T' S'Ve
just moved to Chicago and was Ul?u8,hl ?.h yoa mh'Shl
looking for some money. able 10 helP 0 hbrs J0"
I asked him why he moved to mum 10 s<ih001' )' could aS
, . easv a>i vnlnntppnno in a cnnn
Chicago, ana ne sata ne naa left . . r ? ?'
the West Coast because there kl,chen' or 11 could ^ lalkmS 10
weren't any job opportunities, a homeless person about how
He said he had a better chance could better themselves,
n the Windy City. . Remember, at college we
After hearing his story, I told ha,ve four *ears 10 better ourhim
I couldn't offer him any selv^ "ntellectually and emomoney
because I didn't have ""h^ 1 lh,"k we ca" afford 10
much myself, and then 1 wished fme 01 <* * time 10 help
him good luck. ' someone olher thhh our"
Unfortunately, he walked off e ves"
and started muttering about how p_, . ,
he was tired of his homeless life . . J Megas is editor in
chief of The Gamecock
Dint
I jH M \ it's
iili? ??| GALuEt?
I ; g? "BuMiMS
ill; m TexfSooks
lips St ' AT oua
1/1 ?&? iikiikjcp citll*
ipj| 8ooKsjo#e
3EISHS
>ply the cosmetic of to be oppressed by lane
and thus spare hurt being offended by others,
ier the pretense that show your own lack of ch
guarantee kind sentime
to complain of a Eric G
ffends me: "Political Undeclared
insults my intellian"a
sheep13' ' am "? Clinton keepinj
; a moment to think it promises, aS US
idjusting yourselves to
ies. To the editor:
1 would just like to I
Matthew H. Dewey Clinton for the wonderful
Humanities doing as president of I
social sciences senior nation. Bill has proved t
when he makes a promise
r: it.
,e to the letter regard- Take, for instance, tl
1 correctness strength- class tax cut and the ta
age," I would like to only on individuals with
at political correctness income of $200,000 t
vaste of time. Miss more. They are shininj
ument merely shows that ingenious disguise ol
?w our society has taxes on everyone mal
$30,000 a year,
isk the truth with In addition, how al
n euphemisms? Why increase of consumer cc
on particular groups? Thanks to him. it's dro]
)thing more than short- by day.
ing and often result in Oh, 1 almost forgot
ious generalizations. It increase of jobs that Bill
ed" to call people of us. The Savannah River
ative Americans and of the single largest em
nother race African- the CSRA. has just impl
hiring freeze. Soon, they
it just Americans? If laying employees off.
rn in this country, you Hey, Bill, guess who';
ican. Period. I do not get laid off. You got it,
nd calling myself an man that you promised I
can even though I am In closing, I would like
re justified in doing so MTV for pointing out t
:rican-Americans. I am how great a president
ond generation of my become. And to think th
born in this country, time I was listening to Ch
vithout a doubt, an
Ma
ican-Americans have Engineering s<
nger than many native
so why delineate peon]e should I
ople all born in the rtopic Miuuiu l
? stress differenc
belittling the preservae
by any means. There To the editor:
ce in preserving one's Unemployment, the
labeling a group ot national deficit, trouble
Europe and Somalia, disc
wants to "communi- Troubles of our pi
iss Gould eloquently society seem to grow ir
Ihev Should Stop label- nlmncf pvprv rtav
t accepting people tor a common reaction
problems by an otherw
is obviously not very tious and enthusiastic o
or she is weak enough of university students is 1
>aiHtcoi
5ITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA ?
Patrick Villegas
itzJ.T. VVagenheim The Gamecock is the i
Cordon Mantler South Carolina and is pub
:?riI,?n Giirbnd Wednesdays and Fridays c
inn, Melissa Tennen J
tochelle Killingbeck weekly during both sumnr
Jennifer Fuller versity holidays and exami
...Melinda Waldrop Opinions expressed in
onsky, Tim Thorsen or author and not those of I
The d 1
Kelly Johnson publisher of The Gamecocl
Gregory Perez parent organization of The
Chris Muldrow Change of address fo
!> ?..I I, -. ?
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avis, I horn Harman -r, , , . . , ? _
jim McKellar 1 he University of South Ca
Laura Day Subscription rates are
Jim Green Columbia, SC. The Gameci
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n-.Erik Collins den, actjvity fees.
Brian McC.uire }
iy, Rika Hashimoto
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-?^11 I
E5D U SomXMb'S
PMM gotta ee
. Poa/? ABOUT"
l^a os?
^ I^Boo^Wo^.
SftffJsK|fT33
JUHb^dMUMdP
;uage. By Many students throughout our
, you only country feel they are too insignifilaracter.
cant to make a difference and help
make our society and the world a
reenwood better place to live.
frPchiriQn T Hnn'l nrpcrrihA In ihot KaI iof
WIIIIIMII X UV/11 i |/1 VOV.1 1UV. IV/ UiUl UVUV1
and think there are minor everyday
y things we can do to make a differ=>
ence, especially in combating still
Hal existing prejudices.
Our present-day society speaks
of the equality of all races, creeds,
thank Bill sexes and sexual orientations.
I job he is There is a great number of our citithis
great zens who truly embrace this ideolo0
me that gy, see the inherent beauty in dif:,
he keeps ferences among people, and see the
presence of one race *? the human
le middle race. It is our job to discuss these
x increase feelings with those who do not
1 a yearly agree with our viewpoint or see its
1 year or simplicity. I ask all of us ? is it
? through not easier and more pleasurable to
' increased enjoy one's company and accept
ting over them for who they are? Isn't acceptance
easier than confrontation and
bout that hate?
>nfidence? Terms such as Africanpping
day American, Caucasian, Asian,
Native American, Spanish
about the American, heterosexual, homosexupromised
al, male and female do not re preSite,
one sent major differences among
ployers in members of the human race. They
emented a are quite minor in comparison to
will start our similarities.
We are all equally talented and
5 going to deficient, just in different areas. In
the little essence, we are all equally human,
to protect. v
to thank Robert Marcolina
o me just American history
Bill has graduate student
at all this
JN.
rc Pearce H
rphomore
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