ISaiHlcodt
Serving USC Since 1908
J.T. Wagenheim, Editor in Chief Shay la Stutts, Viewpoints Editor
BMHiABim BAADn
BWII vmwfc wrww
' Jay King, Gordon Mantler, Rob Rodusky,
Lee Clontz, Carson Henderson
Violence
Right to bear arms should be amended
to privilege of responsible citizens
Scan the headlines in recent newspapers or watch the nightly television
reports. Inescapable to our eyes and ears are words such as
inhumane, threat, war, seize, martial arts, racism, kill and guns. This
past week, a 2-year-old Columbia girl was shot in the head and killed
while sleeping next to her mother.
The cause of death? A bullet shot from a gun somewhere outside her
home. A deadly intruder. Where could that child have been safer than in
bed with her mother? The incident is a warning sign about the people our
society produces.
But confused, hateful adults aren't the only ones who kill with guns.
The weapons are somehow accessible to our children, too. The cover of
this week's New Yorker depicts happy children arriving from the school
bus armed with backpacks, lunch boxes and machine guns. Children, welcome
back to school. Hope mommy loaded your gun before you left this
morning.
Denial of violence, especially with the evidence at hand, is as harmful
to our nation as unconditionally upholding the right to keep and bear
arms. Modem day problems warrant that we reconsider our forefathers'
guidelines in the Constitution. Ideally, we would like to terminate the
source from which hardened criminals get guns. But of the alternatives
under consideration, none seem to offer a viable solution.
Most neonle concede that criminals will find ways to procure weapons.
* 1
Beyond this, the question becomes one of how easy it should be for honest
citizens to get weapons.
Law enforcement agencies and officers' associations support gun control
virtually across the board, primarily because the men and women they
represent are the ones asked to confront gun-toting criminals. But another
facet of their argument is the belief that not everyone should have or be
able to get guns.
This idea seems to fly in the face of the constitutional guarantee of the
right to keep and bear arms. However, the practical matter to consider is
the absolute power offered by guns and the responsibility of owning one.
Guns have a certain seductiveness that can change the personality of the
person holding it. Every gun was made for the express purpose of killing
something. Each time a person picks up a gun, he comes that much closer
to making the decision to pull the trigger. Chances are that when that
decision is made, something or someone will die or be seriously hurt.
In an idyllic world, guns and weapons would not be necessary, but the
world we have inherited falls far short of that. There are still bad people
in the world who victimize innocents. Too often, this process involves
guns and violence.
It's foolish to deny that there is a necessity for people to be able to
defend themselves, but it is prudent to make every effort to require people
who would defend themselves to thoroughly consider and take responsi'
jility for their actions.
The opportunity to buy a gun on a whim should be eliminated. The
decision to buy should be considered with all its implications. Possibly, it
might come to pass that the gun will have to be used. Would-be gun owners
must consider how they will react if blood must be spilled.
USC hope chest for harmony,
not tensions between cultures
I was home in Jersey about a I 1
month ago with my two room- r-B H~~
mates, one of whom is from ! Bf T
Ecuador and the other from jB
Charleston. Pretty weird combo,
right. You have me, a
Yankee Jew; Mark, a Low ? JB
Danilo, our South American
amigo. We all went up to New
York City to do the sightseeing
thing. I have been there a million
times, Danny twice and
Mark had never even traveled door or I have to sit next to
north of the Mason-Dixon. someone from a different coun
Needless to say, Mark and try in my math class.
Danny were in absolute awe of I am lucky that my roomthe
ta buildings, the crazy and mates are different than me.
diverse mixture of people and We are lucky to have a diverse
the adu t attractions on population at USC, so we can
Broadway and 42nd. To see be prepared to face a diverse
Mark and Danny really appreci- WOrld when we graduate,
ate the diversity and culture in Believe it or not, there are
New York got me 1 ng many more people in this world
This university as ad its Wb0 ^ not yOU Biose
history of racial and cultural who ^ u an advantag<;
misunderstandings. Much like when you can readily accept all
NYC, USC is a melting pot of types of people at any time
all types of people. From all i encourage those who are
corners of the world, people are culturally ignorant to educate
here for a common purpose, themselves. It is not a difficult
Even in my apartment. There thing to do, and with Diversity
are three people from entirely Week coming up, now is an
different backgrounds living in ideal time to do it.
a close environment. We get When I see friends of mine
along just fine. Are we the shocked to see diversity and
exception? I think not. success in the same environHarmony
among the many ment, it makes me upset. It is
types of people on this planet not such a shocking thing, and
should not be such a hard idea those who can accept it will be
to grasp. And at USC, racial fte successful ones,
tension should be the least of Most of us have a good
everyone's concerns. I for one understanding of our own culwould
rather worry about the tures you will only be a better
trillionth tuition niKe in tour person if y0U learn and accept
years, getting a class or how others.
I'm going to juggle lo hours
and hold a job at the same time. yy Wagenheim is the editor
To me, these are genuine in chiej Qj ^ Gamecock. His
concerns of a college s u ent, column appears every other
not the fact that someone differ- Monday
ent from me has moved in next
VlEWFOE
Should we continu
"No. There's too many "
handguns in the U.S. h
already, compared to tl
nations like Japan. It is ri
scary that the most pow- g
prfiil lnhhv in Unnpress is n
the NRA."
Debra Lattimore
Statistics junior
Fairness doctrine
Congress might reinstate the Fairne
Doctrine, which once governed radio and tele^
sion broadcasting.
Congress created the Fairness Doctrine
1949, when Americans had only a handful
radio frequencies and television channels
choose from. The Federal Communicatio
Commission, whose members are appointed
the president, handles enforcement of the la
Over time, presidents used the doctrine
harass hosts and stations who disagreed wi
administration policies.
John Kennedy used the doctrine to bri
conservative stations into line with his polici
Richard Nixon employed the doctrine duri
Watergate to challenge the licenses of televisi
stations owned by the Washington Post.
Ronald Reagan repealed the doctrine in 19!
He said the sheer volume of radio, televisi
and cable stations had rendered it unnecessary
Now, many in Congress believe the doctr
needs to be resurrected in order to control
explosion of political talk shows. Part of
doctrine requires stations to balance controv
sial programming by providing equal time
those with opposing viewpoints.
Maybe I'm naive, but I had no idea that
media was not balanced. Controversial progra
cancel each other out. Howard Stern cancels
Rush Limbaugh, "Beavis and Butthead" cant
Values and tolerance or tJacl
, , . one s
determine success change
_ , counter
Xo the editor! Rchc
Professor Sue Rosser's article testjm0]
(Sept. 8) raises a number of inter- q^s*
esting questions. Her position is Qreat
that the SAT and other standardized
tests are biased in favor of f ?ye
white males against members of Qr skin
other groups. Ross
However, if cultural biases in centra
favor of white males, i.e. "institu- .
? , human
tional racism and sexism, are the ^rom
main obstacles to equity, then how 2erateg
does Rosser explain the fact that ?. ^
Asians and Asian-Americans tend
to do better on them than white sjt?s
males? The fact is well-document- ^
ed so sufficiently that a few years e
, , ? , of one
ago Berkeley officials were
accused of having an unofficial ^
quota ceiling for Asian and AsianAmerican
applicants. Rlsitt
Could it be that one's values and P
attitudes, and not one's race and mud(
gender, are the primary determinants
in one's educational success?
The difference is crucial: One has
no control over one's race, gender excuse
?
MH.m... MOU /AO
College SfuptrtT
wter our. natic
sns
ie to have a constitutional
Yes. Everyone should "Yes. Only the crimi
ave the right to protect don't abide by the h
hemselves even if it They will have hand<
squires owning a hand- anyway. [Without
un, mace, alarm or any right] the decent citi;
ther safety device." will be stopped fi
owning a handgun
Kiran Sandrapaty protecting themselves.'
Pre-med junior
Rick Dan
Pharmacy ju
could stifle media's c
H
w.
to
ith
out "Barney and Friends," "Masterpiece
ing Theatre" balances "Saved by the Bell" and NPR
es. balances WUSC. All we need now is a funny
ing morning jock to cancel out John Millinder.
ion However, that is apparently NOT the way the
Fairness Doctrine operates. Let me illustrate.
85. Example #1. Pat McNeill is a columnist for
ion the student newspaper. In his column, he makes
a joke about low SAT scores in order to prove a
ine point. A reader writes back to politely disagree
the with McNeill. The editors, thrilled at receiving
the mail, congratulate McNeill profusely. The letter
er- is printed. Everyone is happy,
for Example #2. Pat McNeill is a talk show host
for the student radio station. On his show, he
the makes the same joke about SAT scores. A lisims
tener, instead of writing to the station, pens a
out letter to the FCC. Under the Fairness Doctrine,
?ls McNeill's joke is no longer a joke but a controkground;
one can control comparable university ii
values and attitudes and try. By wellness cente
them if they are proving state of the art aerobi
productive. It happens. aerobics equipment
1 John Johnson's moving Stairmasters, free w(
ny, "Succeeding Against the Nautilus-type equipmt
The Autobiography of a people need and expect
American Businessman." for a basic exercise prog
3ok contains useful advice The weight room is
ryone regardless of gender literally. Located in a 2,
color. feet room in the baseme
er's position, which derives like the armpits of the f
lly important features of brave enough to withste
cognition and experience and cramped conditions.
;roup characteristics, exag- I'm not trying to ins
differences between groups sent powers, but
sxpense of efforts to identify Government's $50,000 ]
values. These are prerequi- last year falls short of v
r scholastic achievement and ed in the center. I'm ci
jccess and are independent idea of a state-of-thes
group identity. would be popular enoi
Steven Yates vince students to pay ;
ssistant philosophy professor dollars a year to build it
USC students are no
P.E. Center ing than those at the s
Hill ate fsrilifv universities. The
lAjlldlC Idlllllj University in Charlesto
j.djtor. million over the past f
: probably has the sorriest ">uild a '?P-notch well
for a wellness center of any lts stu 311
ST -BE A 1 My
-REAP^ 1o
J/sl's WoRKFoRC?. p|||r ?
\,1maT's -RigHT... ijiijif
?LL- NAe ABouT 1
1 foToftg. ^ |||||
right to handguns?
nals ""Yes.There should be
iws. more handgun control
?uns laws or an extended waitthe
ing period before buying
zens one."
Veronica McGill
English freshman
iele
nior
:ontroversial voice
versial issue. There is someone who DOESN'T
think the average S.C. high school student has
the IQ of a grilled cheese sandwich. The FCC
investigates a possible violation of the Fairness
Doctrine. If found guilty, the station faces fines
of up to $250,000 or possible revocation of its
license.
Let's assume the station schedules another
show to balance McNeill's. The host of the new
show believes that S.C. high school students are
the smartest teen-agers in the universe. In fact,
she believes they are the future diplomats,
researchers and NASA scientists of the world. Is
the station off the hook? No. One of the hosts
might have the unfair advantage of a better
timeslot or more listeners than die other. This is
a potential violation.
So, what's a radio station to do? If it's smart,
it won't do anything controversial: Neither host
even gets a talk show. The station sticks to DJs
playing industrial-thrash-synth-ska-grunge-pop,
and those with diverse viewpoints are denied a
voice.
In legal terms, this is known as a chilling
effect. And even those of us who smack of privilege
are frozen in place by it.
Pat McNeill is a columnist
for The Gamecock.
mum *
i
a the coun- Center officials and other USC |
r, I mean administrators are studying ways to
cs classes, expand or build a new center.
such as If the USC community saw
sights and MUSC's center and realized what
snt, things they're missing, they'd get riled up
in the '90s enough to light a fire under our
;ram. administrators and Board of
in the pits, Trustees.
400-square- I hope The Gamecock gets
nt, it smells behind this issue and uses its influew
students ence to highlight what USC stumd
the heat dents need and deserve.
ult the pre- David Proffitt
Student Law student;
of
that's need- I VJ i fj !/|j I [|4Ti
zmfident the
art facility The Gamecock will try to print all
igh to COn- letters received. Letters should be
a fbw mnrp 200-250 words and must include full
name, professional title or year and
^ major if a student. Letters must be
ifcsa utavu- persuiiany uenverea Dy amnor 10
jtate's Other The Gamecock newsroom in Russell
Medical House room 321. The Gamecock
, oic reserves the right to edit all letters
n spent for styje> possible libel or space
ew years to limitations. Names will not be
Iness center withheld under any circumstances,
iculty. Blatt
lou ijilll'
wf illPi
iave. s:
one. wm,
I Jk j/ I wsc i \