The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 22, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
1
Supreme Court
Clinton should appoint moderate
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President Clinton will have a chance to alter the ideological
dynamics of the Supreme Court much earlier into his presidency
than most of us expected.
With the announced retirement of Justice Byron White, Clinton
can now reverse the current trend of an increasingly conservative
court.
Analysts say Clinton will make an effort to continue the devel '
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Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy and David Souter.
Joined by court liberals John Paul Stevens and Harry Blackmun,
the moderate wing has wielded significant power in the decisions
of many issues, the most well-known of these being the 5-4 decision
that partly reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion.
White was a consistent part of the conservative bloc, which
tended to vote against abortion rights and the wide use of affirmative
action and support "law and order" issues.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and
Clarence Thomas made up the rest of this bloc.
Clinton's assumed pursuit of a strong moderate core in the court
is a positive step for a number of reasons.
The Court's moderates tend to be true interpreters of the
Constitution rather than political idealogues, such as their liberal
and conservative counterparts.
The moderates also represent tne swing vote in controversial
decisions. i
In cases concerning *'lavv and order," they tend to vote with the
conservatives: ultimately limiting the rights of the criminal, a popular
stance with the American public.
But the moderates have also joined the liberals in upholding the
basic principles of the right to privacy and the separation of church
and state, which affect the issues of abortion and school prayer,
respectively.
And polls during the last year maintain Americans support the
right to abortion, with varying qualifications, and are against prayer
in public schools.
A stronger wing of moderates in the Supreme Court will allow
I for a more accurate, practical interpretation of the Constitution
while also representing the majority of the American people's opinions.
Let's hope Clinton does not give into the party's left wing and
nominate a liberal, such as New York Gov. Mario Cuomo or
Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe.
The last thing the country needs is a political idealogue, either
from the left or the right.
A Supreme Court justice's job is to interpret the Constitution,
not forward the policy views of a political party.
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.
'1V"!S- ,n0Wlng lhm reaP Ulc bcncri,s- "1 mad!,
Georgia lech played some of the one good coach , )d
most mcon ,stent basketball, Ids- (eam cc|ua,s one ppackcd ^|isc.
ing o s c'cpe, ieams like UItli and one packed coiiSeum
Southern int the first round and to . times 15 home games and postthe
o egc o arleston at seas0n tournaments equals one
home ear terthts season. happy university.
And I in sure USC wouldn't ?nd if ou don., bclieve
mind picking up a coach who has ask Kemucky fans whal Rick
| kept his program s nose clean pilino has do>c for lJlan b ,
and is respected as one of college A ram wa)king ol, crulch?s
basketball s l.ner leaders. a few a ,he
Gamecock talis deserve someone Wi|dca|s un(Jer Pllin0 have |i|er.
like Bobby Crem.ns, Cremins ^ f d , XhLS
motivated a small program into year tbere were aimost more
an NC AA powerhouse in the Kentucky fans watching the
nation's toughest league and won Gamecock-Wildcat in Columbia
ACC tournament titles in 1985, matchup USC fans.
1990 and 1993. So, let's cough up the cash.
I hate to ask it, but when was Bring this man to Columbia. We
the last time USC won a tourney have nothing t0 ,ose but more
title, or for that matter, a touma- oames.
^ ment game?
Television sports analysts and Patrick Villegas is editor in chief
some ot Bobby s closest of The Gctmecock
I
' Let's cough up the cash,
bring Cremins to USC
When Georgia Tech was
stunned by Southern University
this past week during Lhe NCAA
tournament, many USC fans did
something they haven't done in a \
^ They knew this game may
have been the saving grace that
a1I/\.,K> Clonrn i'? Tririh hpaH kno
dllUWJ VJVVi^m x wii iivau UCL&ketball
coach Bobby Cremins to PATRICK
return to South Carolina as our V I L L E G A S
new basketball coach.
How do you recover from friends have said Cremins is
winning the Atlantic Coast ieaning toward taking the job in
Conference Tournament title by Columbia And if these rumors
beating Duke and North ^ correcb USC needs to make
( arolina, and then lose in the sure he'll gas up the tank and
| Big Dance in a most humiliating ^ the flve.hour drive to USC.
manner to 13th-seeded I say the athletic department
Southern? and contributors should
lankly, Bobby, you jump make him an offer that will blow
ship. I m sure Yellowjacket fans his mind Give the man what
would'1 i be too disgrunUed with he's worlh and Iel the u?iVersitv
Viewpoi
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...GRETTNGS. iM FROM THE
MIUTNW aailRE
OFFICE AT THE PWW30N...
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Homosexual cadet mu
Have you ever been excluded ??
from something just because there
was only one thing different about A
Well, dial's what will happen
today when James Belangia meets | ^ *
with Army ROTC officials for I f
"routine scholarship cancellation."
He won't lose his ROTC schol- | m
arship because he's disabled or
because he has a learning disabili- T I G E
ty. No, instead he's going to lose WATTS
his scholarship because he's gay.
Belangia made his sexuality
public in an interview with The Gamecock and Belangia s
in a series of letters to his commanding officer fought in tl
and USC officials. that Belam
That's all he did. He just said he was gay, ribbons for
and because of that, he's losing everything he tary career,
has. No, that
Isn't it a bit ironic that Belangia's announce- Right now
ment came on the same week of Bisexual, Gay show us al
and Lesbian Awareness Days? This is supposed work throt
to be a week when we learn and understand need this i
more about people like Belangia. It's a time Belangia.
when we learn more about our friends and some You hav
of our relatives. the world.
The military obviously doesn't hold the same he's willing
Americans should avoid
)
A
/vs j'Miiei leans, wc aic vciy sencentered
when it comes to our
interest in world affairs.
The public did not care about W
Vietnam until Americans died. We iL
did not concern ourselves with ten- I %
sion in the Middle East until the I
United States went to war against I
Iraq.
And now, in the midst of continuing
atrocities in the Balkans,
Americans are not interested LAFOUNTAIN
because they do not see how it ________
affects them.
Journalists have been aware of this lack of war has cr
concern for sometime. USC's freshman journal- nic cleansi
ism majors are taught that a front-page story on but I think
foreign events will often be one of the least read For thos
articles in a newspaper. the war, he
One textbook quotes columnist James Reston Serbians
as saying, "Americans will do anything in the for land in
world for Latin America except read about it." Serbian ar
I am particularly fascinated by the lack of winning
concern for the war in Bosnia. Killing is occur- Muslims a:
ring on what some consider to be a genocidal have decic
level, and the American public does not seem to area of the
care. The Uni
1 have asked students to tell me what they vide huma
know about the conflict. Who is involved? What has not, h
ic the United Nations' role in Bosnia? What side because of
newsroom
P.O. BOX 85131 UNIVERSITY
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0
nt
ist persevere ag
line of thinking. To them, James mar
Belangia is a threat because he's /
different. The military says he is a tlier
threat to the morale of other sol- that
diers, but the military doesn't seem illej
to believe some ignorant soldiers this
are a threat to Belangia. I
We've all read the Belangia garl
I 1 4 J 4.1 4. 1 _
quotes wnere ne recounieu uie ter- orn
rors of homophobia that were get
unleashed upon him. He's gay, and f*
to these cadets he's more of an ene- beii
my than Saddam Hussein. ber
Never mind the fact that "Gi
;erved earlier and has seen a war not
he Middle East. Never mind the fact pro
pa has received about eight or nine and
meritorious service during his mili- I
shij
doesn't matter to the Army ROTC. say
,-with a president who's trying to B-C
1 that we have to come together and diff
tgh sopie difficult times, we don't F
garbage the Army ROTC is giving RO
you
e to give Belangia all the credit in
That man has some real guts, and
I to stand up against an injustice in a
1 isolationist tenc
does the United States support? J
Few knew the answers. pin
I am not an expert on the Balkan hig
situation. I do make an effort to wil
siay liuuiiiieu, uui 1 ain nui laiiunui gui
with all of the intricacies of the can
conflict. thrt
Sadly, I think a significant por- 1
tion of Americans lack even a basic tari
understanding of it. /
The media has done a good job to i
of reporting on the crisis, but the (
people have not always been pay- nee
ing a great deal of attention. The Un
eated a few buzzwords, such as "eth- tro
ng." Everyone has heard the phrase, in
few understand what it means. (
e who don't have an understanding of on<
:re is a very simple explanation. all
, Muslims and Croatians are fighting
the former nation of Yugoslavia. The sta
my is better equipped and has been ap{
most battles. The Serbs see the out
s an inferior ethnic group, and so they
led it would be best to cleanse the the
m. we
ited Nations has a force there to pro- tivi
nitarian aid and to keep the peace. It
owever, been effective in either area
Serbian resistance.
lift cot
OF SOUTH CAROLINA
ick Villegas j Gamecock is the st
vagenneim
on Mantler South Carolina and is publi
an Garland Wednesdays and Fridays di
ssa Tennen weekly during both summi
<illingbeck versity holidays and examir
nifer Fuller .a
in Wnldron Opinions expressed ,n
im Thorsen or ailt^or and not those of tl
nie Newlin The Board of Student P
lly Johnson publisher of The Gamecock
?gory Perez parent organization of The (
5 TnuUon Ch',n?e ?f addreSS for
>m Harman correspondence should be :
m McKellar The University of South Cai
..Laura Day Subscription rates are
Jim Green Columbia SC. The Gamecr
Brik Collins ?f the University of South (
an' McGuire dent activity fees.
Hashimoto
ainst ignorance
iner similar to our founding fathers,
old the Army ROTC's ignorance may cost
n dearly. A federal court has already ruled
the ban on gays, lesbians and bisexuals is
>al. Which brings up the next question: Can
case go to the courts?
f I were Belangia, and I were given the
[>age he was, I wouldn't think twice about
iging it to court. In fact, I think they ought to
slapped with one hell of a huge lawsuit.
/lake sure you remember this: Belangia is
ig kicked out because he's gay. And rememthis,
too, to paraphrase Jim Sears, author of
owing Up Gay in the South": Belangia is
the only homosexual in the Army ROTC
gram. He's the only one willing to stand up
say he's gay.
t'c inconn thof Rplonnio \i/ill lrvcp Hie CfhnlQr.
I O X1 1 OCllIv U1UI JkXVXOil^lU yy XXX lV/OV llio OVllVitU
d just because he's willing to stand up and
he's gay. Please, remember the lessons of
3LAD week. Remember that those who are
erent are not necessarily a threat,
lather, it seems in the case of iOur Armyi
TC program that if you're a straight male
1're a threat to justice.
Tige Watts is a columnist for The Gamecock
lencies in Bosnia
ust recently, the United States started dropg
food and medical supplies in Bosnia from
h-flying planes. They must fly high so they
1 not be shot down by Serbian anti-aircraft
is. However, the high altitude means supplies
mot be dropped accurately ? only one in
je drops reaches its intended target,
rhe Serbs will also not allow U.N. humanian
convoys to reach the starving Muslims.
Americans may ask, "Why is this important
ne?"
jne reason is mere are peopic uymg who
d our help. And an even greater reason is die
ited States has committed 10,000 to 15,000
ops to be a part of a U.N. peacekeeping force
Bosnia, if a peace accord is reached.
3ur friends and neighbors could be in Bosnia
i day, so it is a situation that should concern
of us.
rhis column is not intended to be a lecture on
ying aware of international events. It is an
leal to die public to realize there is a world
; there that affects them.
Americans should always be concerned about
plights of others. And they also need to be
11-informed so they can tell their representors
what they want them to do, if anything.
i a r ~ ~
iviuit LMruununn /.\ a cuiumniM
for The Gamecock
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