The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 19, 1993, Page 2, Image 2
7^4-5 w%
VUllllg
'Motor voter' bill excellent method
to allow participation, eliminate waste
The bill that would allow Americans to register to vote dui
the process of renewing a drivers' license is back in from
Congress.
Nicknamed the "motor voter" bill, the legislation first appet
in 1991 when it was passed resoundingly by Congress, only tc
vetoed by then-President Bush.
Congress is now trying again with a Democrat in the W
House. The first step was made Wednesday when the Ser
passed the bill by a vote of 62-37.
And again, the vote was mostly along partisan lines with n
Republicans voting against it.
The politics around this bill is ridiculous. In a country wl
voter participation is lower than all Western industrial democrat
except for Switzerland, it seems most ploys to increase voter re;
tration and thus votine would he nraised here.
The "motor voter" bill is an excellent way to get more peopli
register, which increases their opportunity, if only slightly, to ca
ballot in a future election.
In addition to making it easier to participate in our electi
process, this type of system would allow the government to c<
bine the paperwork from two currently separate departments.
This legislation would also eliminate the need for voter regis
tion drives, currently a popular way to get people register
Unfortunately, there have been problems with these types of dri
right here at USC.
SGA held periodic drives last year to register students in ti
for the November election. But when some 200 of the forms w
lost, there were a number of students who were denied their con
tutional right to vote.
Accidents such as these would be eliminated if citizens w
automatically registered when thev get their driver's license.
Of course, people without a driver's license can still register
old way. But this group only makes up a small minority of the v
ing-age population, causing only limited paperwork.
The "motor voter" bill provides a win-win situation. We elii
nate some of the worst bureaucracy while at the same time all
people an easier way to participate in the electoral process.
Republicans in the House, where the bill will next appt
should think twice before voting against this legislation. The m
people involved in the process, the better. And this should be r
ognized by both conservatives and liberals.
The motor voter bill makes it easier to vote, and that's progn
Besides, anything to get the most apathetic voters, the students,
participate is worthwhile.
The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be
200-250 words maximum. Full name and professional title or year an<
major, if a student, must be included along with an address and phone
number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit for style, possible lit
or space limitations. The Gamecock will not withhold names under tin
circumstances.
__________________
Taxes not necessary
to cut national deficit
Well, it should come as no i
surprise that Mr. Bill Clinton is I
nothing more than an old-time
tax-and-spend liberal. His major
campaign platform ? the economy,
stupid ? and all of the i
shallow promises that went
along with it have quickly been
brushed aside for some good
old-fashioned tax-and-spend liberalism.
WESLEY
His deficit reduction package,
which will not cut the deficit in
half over four years as . , 44r^
promised, is not based on broad lhe'r P|an- ,falled P""1"*
spending cuis, but rather on the Fam,hes Flrst- 18 a 8 ple solu
largest hot increase in U.S. his- t,on to f?slmP e- but hlShl>
torv. The total tax increase over ex'2s"era e Pro cm\
four years would be $238 bil- f , "7 P"*?* me'n,crease, "
lion; so much for the promised federal sf nd,n8 l0Ibe,l led ><
middle-class iax relief. 2 year' 1993' 9,3
w .u -7i . f would still provide Congress
More than 73 percent of ... tin ? /
. 7, ? . .. with $19 billion more than the>
Clinton s proposed deficit .. , . ^ J
reduction plan" would come ew ,aSh-^ ' V r,if lve~yea]
from new or increased taxes. Per,od' lb,s caP
ii,-.u a a c . .in spending would save $56?
With proposed defense cuts put .... F . .
.. e I . . .. X billion, without raising taxes
aside, federal domestic spending 7
will increase by $270 billion ^ c
over the next four years. 1 he "non pro.
It has been shown time and ^ S405 b.ll.on ot the saw
time again that the def.cit can- ,nf be u?fd '"J, ,rea. def"c'
not be reduced by raising taxes. ^36 billion tor lam,
Carter, Reagan and Bush all ly lax r^let 7" al s?meon{
promised to attack the deficit, carfs hbou' lhe middle class yet
it continued to rise durintt and 327 b,",on for '"^sunen,
their 16 vears in office. " lax_rel,ef 10 businesses.
In 1982, 1984, 1987 and lhe Henta?e has
1990, major increases in taxes ProP05^ a 1tf^s,bIe Plan thal
were followed by increases in Cl.nton would be wtse to conthe
deficit sider. The cause of our federal
Clinton,' after receiving great deficil is no1 facl mat hard'
criticism for his so-called eco- workm" Ameriams Pa-V 100 few
nomic plan, told his critics if ^ ^ cause of dle cleficil i!
they did not like his plan, then out-ot-control government
they should come up with a bet- sPon<hng.
ter one Taxing all of the "nch peoWell
The Heritage p,e who make over $30>000 a
Foundation, a Washinglon-basSd Jf* ,wdl not reduce our deficit
public policy research institute, Umi1 11,6 government realizes
has donVjusi thai. ZmUS' ?Ur SP "8 7
If Bill and Hillary Clinton ?h' '' '"vestments - die
cannot solve the problem, then def,c" W,U conunue 10 ?rowhow
does the Heritage
Foundauon propose it be done/ - r t, r*
F F for The Gamecock.
View
nng V
Of J?
?
hhhh
> be
Thirty-five years ago, President Ei
^ industrial complex" playing too stror
1 e or else any small cutback could devas
late Friday's announcement that the Ch
closed has stunned and outraged SoutJ
lOSt Ac n rpcnit nf thp Dpfpn cp l^pncirtri
34,000 government jobs and near
lere statewide impact of the cutback could
;ies billion.
gis- Charlestonians are rightly outragec
necessary.
3 t0 Ike's warning has become painfull}
~t a for the nation. In order to cut the d
term economic stability, the military
cutbacks will save nearly $5.6 billion
^ While the closing will hurt Charle
3m~ six years before the full phase-out i
investment, the shipyard could becoi
tra- seaports on the East Coast,
ed. While this may not create as many
ves sibility of being more profitable than t
Many have criticized the decision
me one because Sen. George Mitchell,
ere Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in neighbt
^ Unlike Portsmouth, Charleston has
several other safety nets to provide soi
Naval Shipyard is the heart and sot
ere would guarantee the death of New 1
producing city,
the During the recession, New Hampsl
rot- state, and it has yet to begin recoverir
would be far more destructive to N
mi- would be to South Carolina,
ow The base closure committee careful
ings on local economies, and while it
,ar Charlestonians must realize that the (
or^ nation to worry about.
Perhaps next time we should heed
cc~ else we run the risk of losing more thz
-ss- C.E. Holman
, to
1
)d Negative term 'babe'
y unnecessary to use
To the editor:
In his frequent "Top 10" lists,
Matt Hanley continues to use the
term "babe" in reference to women
tof the Carolina community.
Women contribute greatly to the
enhancement of life at Carolina in
student organizations, in the classroom
and in the conference room.
We do not deserve to be referred to
in such a blatantly derogatory manner.
If The Gamecock wishes to serve
the university community, as is
stated in its masthead, sexist language
should cease to be a part of
the paper. 1 do not tolerate sexism
from my peers; nor will I tolerate it
from a student newspaper which
purports to be the voice of
Pnrnlinn
T
5
Wendy E. Powell
i Political science sophomore
1 Top ten commentary
I serious put-down
' To the editor:
r In the March 3 edition of The
NEWSROOM IT
; 777-7726
P.O. BOX 85131
i-wiivi in \?iuei
Associate Editors
1 Viewpoint Editor
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point
,_CRO
Is closing the Char
[
senhower warned of the "mililaryig
a role in the national economy,
tale local economies.
1 * xt i ol: j _ 1,1 i_ ,
iai lesion ixavai ompyaru wouiu oe
h Carolina.
nent's cutbacks, the state will lose
ly $1 billion in revenues. The
be as much as 70,000 jobs and $3
1. However, the base closings are
/ true, not only for Charleston, but
eficit and ensure America's longbudget
needed to be reduced. The
a year.
ston's economy, they have almost
s completed. With proper private
ne one of the largest commercial
private sector jobs, it has the pos
lie Navy.
to close Charleston as a political
D-Maine, refused to close the
iring New Hampshire.
? a bustling tourism industry and
me economic stability. Portsmouth
il of Portsmouth, and its closure
Hampshire's third-largest incomelire
suffered more than any other
ig. On scale, Portsmouth's closing
ew Hampshire than Charleston's
ly weighed die effects of the closis
sad that Charleston will suffer,
:ommittee has the interests of the
! the advice of our presidents, or
in just jobs.
is a columnist for The Gamecock.
PQg
Gamecock, a top 10 list concerning th
former SGA President Tom Young th
was printed and distributed
throughout campus. The list contained
the top 10 things Tom
Young would do in his last week of
office.
Most of the list was commentary (
or "put downs," to say the least,
about Young's progress in office ^
and actions he would take after
office. This type of criticism is T
expected when a person holds a
high office such as SGA president, h(
yet, when aimed at a university m
organization, it causes controversy. &
One top-ranking item was aimed at st;
the Kappa Sigma fraternity in par- m
ticular.
Matt Hanley, the author of the ca
list, seemed to feel that Young e-'
would have his "Kappa Sig goons" wl
beat him up. Whatever Young and I11
Hanley's relationship concerns, 'n
these sort of generalizations and ^
derogatory remarks give rise to bad ^
images and breakdowns of the fra- ke
ternal system and the student body
as a whole.
The whole top 10 may have been fa
just a joke, but for some of us, it Qc
was a serious put-down. In the ve
future, we should commend our jj.
former student leaders and leave ^
VJJUIIl
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTK
Patrick Villegas
Lee Clontz, J.T. Wagenheim
Gordon Mantler
Brian Garland w
Jack Dunn, Melissa Tennen ei
.Lea Clayton, Rochelle Killingbeck we
Jennifer Fuller ver;
Melinda Waldrop
..Nancy Salomonsky, Tim Thorsen Qr
Rob Rodusky
Stephanie Nevvlin
Kelly Johnson pub
Gregory Perez pan
Chris Muldrow
Paul Jon con
Chris Davis, Thorn Harman
.Jim McKellar
Laura Day
Jim Green Cob
Renee Gibson Gf tl
Erik Collins jpn
Brian McGuire
...Erin Galloway, Rika Hashimoto
SSFiF
leston Naval Base neces
CON^^j
The Clinton administration, along wi
for base closure, has made a terribly
round of announced closings.
In essence, the United States is prep
security it took almost a half century to <
This enormous reduction not only af
United States and the nation's safety,
nations.
In my opinion, a much more prudent
appropriate.
South Carolina, as it now stands in tl
to endure one of the largest percentage c
We stand to lose as many as 25,000
could double or triple in terms of civili
the businesses that will close because c
patronage.
The Charleston bases seem to have 1
profitability or their importance in the <
tary.
The Charleston Naval Base has been
our national defense, and its workers h
prominence for their efficiency.
This downsizing is occurring much to
needed to decide where the most effectiv
We must also consider the instability
We must be prepared to deal with interni
be cropping up all over the world, by i
not cutting our defense too drastically.
Many may argue that Clinton has pre
and new job training in the places where
This will probably work about as well
tary plan. It would take an enormous
increased taxes to fund this project, not
would lake to put it into effect
I believe that we should be making it
and analyzing each situation specifically
We live in an extremely unstable worli
ble upcoming international situations wi
die same time putting hundreds of thousa
Jason Webb Schrader is
% ---.ir r. fPv **"* , * *"r - V
e controversial remarks to some- park
ing less public. lengi
and
Richie Estes force
Chris Warner T
Kappa Sigma fraternity entii
rem*
)n-campus housing ^
n inconvenient joke stude
0 the editor: f?ur
1 recently found a flyer from the on"c
)using department shoved under frien
y door emblazoned boldly with Can
e statement, "Keep life simple, still
ay on campus." I find the depart- I ve
ent's word choice bitterly ironic. just
The "simple" life I've led on myse
mpus so far has entailed forced T1
ection from my home ? for taut,
hich I pay dearly ? over every ?ds?
eak and long weekend, strangely and
flated fees for occupation of camI
>rm space over breaks, and more live ;
reed ejections when noise levels remi
am the frat quad or elsewhere depai
ep me from sleep or study and try.
imerous other inconveniences. It
The parking situation is also out- the it
geous. Spaces almost constantly seme
:cupied by university service smile
hides in University Terrace's
iveway, a labeled fire zone, block
ings up all day, but anyone
Icock
I CAROLINA COLUM
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;kly during both summer sessions, w
sity holidays and examination periods.
Opinions expressed in The Gamecock
uthor and not those of the University c
The Board of Student Publications an<
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snt organization of The Gamecock.
Change of address forms, subscripti
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Subscription rates are $46 a year. Fii
iimbia, SC. The Gamecock is a registei
le University of South Carolina and is
t activity fees.
I
?I
ssary?
JbSI
ith the presidential commission
unwise decision in their latest
iaring to dismantle the military
:reate.
fects jobs, the economy of the
but also the security of many
plan of action would be more
le proposed closings, will have
uts in military personnel,
military jobs, and that number
an jobs. This is not to mention
>f their dependence on military
3een chosen regardless of their
overall functioning of the milian
extremely important part of
ave continuously won national
0 quickly, and more analysis is
e cuts should be made.
of the world in which we live,
ational conflicts, which seem to
emaining militarily strong and
posed funds for urban renewal
these cuts will take place,
as his homosexuals in the miliamount
of money from your
to mention the many years it
ruch more reasonable decisions
before proceeding,
d. Are we willing to face possith
a deficient military while at
mds of Americans out of work?
a columnist for The Gamecock.
wswtrph
1 a I w A 1 M
w I I IwJ
mbhUMUP
ed there in the evenfng for any
lh nf limp ic nmmntlv lipt-pip/l
? ,w rv"TM; uv"v,vu
towed by USC's alert police
he university wonders why
e floors of campus housing
tin empty, when, on the whole,
becomes much simpler offpus
in a quiet apartment that
snts can still call home whether
a break or not. After three or
moves out of my "convenient"
ampus apartment and into
ds' houses over vacations (so I
have somewhere to sleep and
keep my job in Columbia),
decided it is much simpler to
sign a real lease and save
:lf some trouble,
te housing department's blafinancially
opportunistic meihin
which we are fined, ticketed
towed merely for living on
>us, the same way we would
in any other house we pay for,
nds me that the housing ,
rtment is its own little indusserves
neither the students nor
interests, and, after this
;ster, I'm leaving it with a
Catherine Threadgill
English junior
?
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