Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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? * EDITORIAL Welcome Carolina community provides .a-fc /> >-* -a^t a*"* a-? ~Ccv M V* /I M n /"? *^? /T( / /> 1/*/^ 1 1 ff 1/^ cnuncc jur jjcr zunui gruvviri You are not on campus yet, but you are now a part of the Carolina community. You are young incoming freshmen, older transfer students, and graduate students. You are from the South, the North, the West, and foreign countries. Some of you come from big high schools and will not be too astonished at the size and number of students here; J some of you come from small private schools and could be ! overwhelmed. The USC system is expected to enroll about 35,000 stuI dents. The Columbia campus will take about 26,000 of them; the rest will be divided among the branch campuses. ; For incoming freshmen, the size of the campus and the size of introductory classes can be daunting. Taking a 8 a.m. class in an auditorium of 100 people on your first day can be intimidating (if you are not a morning person, do noi iorce yoursen 10 uo uiis;. iviaK.e sure yuu gei iu eiass un time, because professors love to make fun of freshmen. Inevitably you will be faced with the problem of parking. Whether you drive or not, you will be faced with thousands of students arriving late to class and interrupting your education with the hue and cry of "I couldn't find a place to I park." Hopefully, you will be staying on campus and won't have to deal with this frustration firsthand,, but of course you will still be affected. Be forewarned. Columbia is a college town and derives most of its culture from college students. The city is drained of most of its population by 5 p.m., leaving its main attractions, Five Points and Sidney Park, to us. Five Points is the nighttime hangout of choice complete with all the clubs, restaurants and bars you could want, and Sidney Park is a great place to spend the day or see an outdoor concert. Worship at the Temple of Taneyhill begins at kickoff. Besides the entertainment value USC can offer, it all comes down to your first reason for being here, your education. You might hear some mention of budget problems, cuts in funding and faculty leaving, but these are the same problems encountered by numerous institutions that are caught up in the trend of down-sizing. Good professors can still be found; you just have to seek them out. Remember, your education here in college falls on your shoulders and no one else's. Sure, you or your parents pay a bundle^ but y&u are paying for opportunity, the opportunity to learrv which comes at no small price. A midsummer's nightmare from Washington, D.C. In life, it is often important to make the best out of a bad situa- Patrick For example, I recently McNeill attended a screening of ** ? the new Pauly Shore rAlumnict movie, "Son-in-Law." [n w Columnist this movie, a Midwestern farm family sends their LSSS^ wholesome young daughter out to California to attend col- among states in preventing teen bno cKo relume hnmp frvr hrpciir oresnancy. The number of dressed like a member of the Ban- Arkansas teens who contract gles, sporting both a new tattoo AIDS has increased at a yearly and Pauly Shore, whom she intro- rate of about 50 percent, and the duces to the folks as her fiance. incidence of syphilis in the state The flick is sort of a "Father of has more than doubled since the Bride" meets "Beavis and 1989. Butt-head" concept. At this point, But wait, there's more! There the father of the movie pulls the have been reports that Dr. Elders mother out into the hallway and faded to warn Arkansas teens that announces, "You distract him, and some of the condoms handed out I'll hit him over the head with a in schools were defective. She shovel." justified her silence by saying that Of course, it took me almost an disclosure would have destroyed hour to figure out that this was an student confidence in the .condom actual movie. I thought it was a program. clever advertisement for the Question: When some of these National Rifle Association. kids use defective condoms and 1 * a tpvc However, the best humor this CI,U UP cuiiuacung ui summer is coming out of Wash- syphilis, won't that pretty much ington, not Hollywood. Dr. Joyce- destroy their confidence in the lyn Elders, the President's nomi- program too? nee to become Surgeon General, Fortunately for Ms. Elders, it is under fire from Republican looks as though she will pass Senators and conservative activist muster. She has sailed through her groups. But President Clinton has confirmation hearings, and now declared that he is "100 percent looks as though the Republicans committed to Mrs. Elders' nomi- be unable to prevent her from nation," and we all know how becoming the latest F.O.B. with a much weight that carries. Right, government J.O.B. But let's supProfessor Guinier? pose for a moment that she Many of my politically unaware doesn't. Let's suppose that she is friends have asked me to explain voted down, or that the President the Elders' controversy, so I'll pulls her nomination to avoid con take a stab at it. Imagine a Presi- troversy. dent nominating a close friend to Then we'll need a Surgeon an important government post. General who can talk frankly with Now imagine this close friend is kids about condoms. And TDS. incompetent and/or unqualified And oral sex. Someone with a for the job. Better yet, just imag- proven track record of having ine Ed Meese. Now imagine Ed done so. And someone who the Meese passing out condoms to teenagers of Americas can relate your kids. to. OK, maybe I oversimplified a 1 believe I have found the next bit. But let's look at Dr. Elders' nominee, track record. She has headed the Pauly Shore, come on down. Arkansas Health Department for the past Five years. In that time, Patrick McNeill is a columnist Arkansas has dropped to 49th for The Gamecock USC STopEWTs WHo TELL 1 IftoffWE UN? SERVICE SERVES Foot? * /s Comparable id Hoa ARE^oTauH WR0/V6... Southern livin I have been a resident alien from the Dlanet Scotland, living in America for the past three and a half years. So I thought I would take this opportunity to pass on a few small but important points and observations about local etiquette, climate and cuisine to my fellow foreign students at USC. Food will enlarge any stomach anywhere. Yet, food must be approached cautiously if said food is suspicious in smell, looks and name. Grits, for example, is not a euphemism for a particular skin disease. When I did inquire, "What is a grit?" Unequivocally, I was told by my deeply southern wife that, "There is no singular grit only grits." Still it must be said, that reminiscent of snow in looks and taste, grits should be avoided at all costs. In Scotland we do have something similar to grits called porridge. This is why apart from the moon' c ctnmoch Hpli^irv harrnic QcrttlQrtd onvvp O OlVllIUVU UV11VUVJ, Alt*C 0?' VV/HW1IW would not make it on the list of the top onehundred food centers of the world (or anywhere). Likewise, with grits, chittlins, pigs' feet, beef jerky and Prairie oysters, American fair is decidedly unfair to the palate or intestinal system. I'm a waiter at the restaurant for the seafood lover in you. One evening, I was about to take Students shoul One hundred and thirty-six years ago, Ralph Waldo Emerson stood before the students and faculty at Harvard University and delivered "The American Scholar." In his essay, Emerson laid the groundwork for a uniquely "American" education based upon "Man Thinking" and not man as mere thinker. For Emerson, Man Thinking is an active intellectual rooted in the thought of the past while accepting the challenges of the future. Emerson said, "Him (man thinking) Nature MJimis wiui mi iici piaciu, mi nci inuiuuiy yictures; him the past instructs; him the future invites." As you begin your years (at USC, no greater words can be found to guide you through your college experience. Many joys, friendships and social experiences await you upon your arrival at USC, but all of these should be subordinate to your mental development. While the conditions that produced Emerson and "The American Scholar" in 1837 have passed, the need for developing citizens who are "persons thinking" remains as great as in Emerson's antebellum America. South Carolina stands in great need. Our state Acceptance crucia It must have been one pitiful sight on that hot August day. I stood with my nose to the glass of the Patterson Hall lobby window watching my parents pull out of the parking lot. The chatter of dozens of freshman girls and their luggage-laden parents made a slight buzzing sound in the nearby stairwell. I was oblivious to their happiness. I was miserable. After a summer of clashing tempers and frazzled nerves, my parents and I were both ready for me to trek to USC. Only minutes earlier, they had helped me move into room 309. I didn't care about freedom anymore. I wanted my mommy. It was the first time I had been completely alone, and I wasn't quite prepared for it. The last thing I could do was let the loneliness get to me. I was determined to have a successful freshman year. And I did. So how did I do it? How did I not fall into a pit of despair and stay there? The key to surviving your freshman year is acceptance. You have to accept these new challenges as a test of your strength, and be willing to face them head-on. I found some time to make eight simple rules to help incoming freshmen avoid feeling as bad -fou f W? >(A//MS COUIVN'T fo WAT MAfcM Tf4? Q I?Kill M\p fRESHNt RoAPkl LL. H^'" ^'Nl^ :uisim?.# l|bf mmmmmmmmm mammmm ig may confoi Derek 1 ^ McKissock Columnist an order from a family when the gentlemai stood up and with great sincerity and apologeti cally said, "No offense sir, but we were a huntin' a buffet." For a moment I was stunne< and before I knew it, they were up and gone. The lack of gun should have told me tha Quincy's was not about to become a sitting duck. Nevertheless, visions of a headlini screaming, "Family Hunts and Kills Buffet-Styli Restaurant" would make fine, believable'feadin; in The National bnquirer. Now let's talk about the weather! As you an no douH aware, Columbia sits in the frying pai of they^VTherefore, your year-long weathe fore' / % ^v^asily predicted. In the spring it'r A ^ 's hot. In the winter, i S'/L..;|L S;\ / n the summer it's so he a. Emersc | ^ Martin Davis Columnist continues to grossly underfund higher educatio while simultaneously trying to attract high-tec industry. These industries require individuals who ca do more than perform a prescribed task; the require creative and educated minds who nc only see the future but can invent the tools net essary to reach it. You are the people who wi move the state forward or oversee its regressio back to its rustic roots. Emerson's suggestions for learning in 183 resound a common- sense chime for tomorrow budding scholars. Emerson demands that w experience and be awed by nature. Before yc can begin to know yourself, you must fir; understand how you fit into the natural order. 1 to surviving lor __ Tanya Stroman /Ik. Jiff. Columnist as I did on that formidable day. Rule one: Learn what "head-in parking onl) means. This is an excellent means of avoidir parking tickets. Rule two: Avoid doing laundry in the oi campus coin-gobbling washing machines. Mai friends with an off-campus student, preferab one with a car. That way you can mooch a rid and go to a real laundromat. Rule three: Never underestimate the value < the cheap flip-flops. You do not, I repeat, do n< want to shower without them. The shower roo floors can sometimes resemble a toxic was dump. Rule four: Talk to your parents, your profe sors, your residential advisor, even the TIF s \ SSI 0>L?( SIR, UAWtH MM ItMA j ss or CASSERoiF CfuSf SCuRRlfP ACROSS f 4 I ^ FLOOR. ind foreigners The midday sun may be only for mad dogs and Englishmen, but happily for me, as I said, I'm Scottish. I therefore, on numerous occasions have had to translate my native speech (Scots/English)into the American language. To make matters more complicated, in the South, they have ingeniously created new words that might confuse a stranger from distant shores. For example, when somebody asks, "How ar^ y'all doing," they are not wondering whether c* t i not the current lukewarm business climate is I - affecting the well-known vehicle rental compa- " - ny. It is in fact a greeting that should be i answered with a, "Fine, and how are y'all doing?" This guarantees instant social accept tance. Also when somebody says, "I reckon" it does e not mean they are about to destroy something, e Neither does the phrase, "I'm Fixin," mean that g they are about to repair something. Once you've paid your fees and bought your e books, it's probably all you will be able to it afford anyway. Still the air is free, so breathe r deeply fellow foreigners and inhale the fresh ;, new experience of the United States of America, it >t Derek McKissock is a columnist for The Gamecock ni's suggestions The scholar must know the mind of the past. The past inspires; it does not dictate. "Each age...must write its own books," Emerson reminds us. You do not learn about the past to refrain from repeating its mistakes, but rather to be inspired to further your own age. Standing on the shoulders of nature and the past, we learn to be people of action. Emerson said, "Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind." n The university education empowers you ta h move without fear, for as Emerson so succinct^P states, "Fear always springs from ignorance." n As you begin classes in the fall, remember the y opportunity you have. Less than 20 percent of >t Americans attend college, and less than 15 per> cent actually graduate. More importantly, 11 remember Emerson's charge: ,n "The world is nothing, the man is all; in your self is the law of nature...;in yourself slumbers the whole of reason; it is for you to know all; it is for you to dare all." re J u . . st Martin Davis is a columnist for The Gamecocij* f tely freshman year man if you have a problem. Rule five: Better yet, establish a love/hate relationship early on with the TIPS man. You'll understand after your first registration experience. Rule six: Always accept homemade food. It's free, and after eating on-campus food for several days, it will like gourmet dining. Rule seven: Keep in mind that your grades are important and shouldn't be neglected. It easy to get behind and never catch up ? but don't let studying kill your social life. From the r beginning, set your priorities in order, and ig you'll find life is much easier. Duln ninkf* Tfi F ir\? n CATTIP t\mn rvf ort/?inl ixuic ^igut* iiy iu J win ov/iuv ijpv ui duwiai n- organization. For me, making the decision to te attend church and to hang out with cool, Christly ian friends gave me the renewed faith and spirit e, to help get me through that year. These friends have made coming to USC one of the best times af of my life. ot I hope that these hints are helpful to you. But, m always remember that you're never truly alone, te Mom is always a phone call away. , ^ s- Tanya Stroman is a columnist 'S for The Gamecock