The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 15, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
"?m!
Serving US(
J.T. Wagenheim, Editor in Chief
EDITOR!#
Jay King, Gordon M
Lee Clontz, Ca
Hatred
Group uses Christian
while threatening US
In Gatlinburg, Tenn., a store call
paraphernalia, particularly patriotic
eagles, American flags and crosses u;
letters, the shirt asks, "What is happ
by a list of about 10 evils plaguing 01
The list of problems includes hom<
outlook on America's future by the !
off the shirt's message as a figment
Despite one's religious beliefs, howi
life come into question.
People are often afraid of relig
because it seems judgmental or irrai
ment to the one made by the anti-ga;
ago.
Likening homosexuals to child mo
surging through moral veins. The <
founded on religion, but hatred. Witl
fusion comes in pinpointing exactly \
Homosexuals argue the discrimini
the historic plight of the black race
aforementioned shirt presents the m<
distinctly calling it a sin.
The shirt poses an honest question
doesn't take into account that hom
OOillU OUlidlU lUiU/i Uiai NtjH uwtiu
These forces are not, as groups such
have us believe, of true Christian prii
Some use religious principles to 1
use codes not founded in any religio
wrong, black and white are truly in 1
there is no room for cries of "exei
group of people simply because they
on the USC campus.
Even more foreboding than the c?
guise donned by the criers. The S.C.
Christianity to mask its apparent goa
crimes.
These threats should be taken as
community. In a sense, we are un<
hearts of the perpetrators of such th
Christian images or terms such as "
beneath the mask.
There is no excuse for inciting vi
campus must continue to uphold its
tolerance, evidences of our progress
our appreciation for all types of peop
Tii/a mi f nf i-lii
1 TT U UUl Ui UI1
Clinton in '96
Eight months into his presidency,
Bill Clinton has already
had an interesting, if not totally
exciting, term in office.
Marked by triumphs such as
his budget bill squeaking by
both houses and tragedies such
as the suicide of a top aide, the
Clinton administration has been
through its ups and downs.
The youth and energy that
attracted many voters to candidate
Clinton turned off these
voters after a number of public
relations blunders.
Clinton's attempt to lift the
ban on gays in the military
sparked an outcry from much of
the country, especially the military
brass. And the "don't ask,
don't tf?ll" c.ctarr.
m.v*A ajr^iuii) yy 11 iv 11 waa
eventually adopted by Clinton
and the military, satisfied no
one. Neither the gay community
nor the military were pleased
with the result, and Clinton
knows it.
Because of these incidents
and others, it is not surprising
that Clinton's national approval
rating has been in the 40 percent
to 50 percent range for months.
And in South Carolina, it is
surely much lower.
Clinton hasn't seen anything
yet.
This fall, Congress is expected
to tackle three key pieces of
legislation: a government reform
bill streamlining the federal
bureaucracy, the North
American Free Trade
Agreement and health care
reform.
The passage of at least one or
two of these bills is essential to
Clinton's chance of being president
through the year 2000.
The news of a Middle East
peace agreement is an excellent
way to start the Clinton administration's
first autumn.
However, the agreement on
Palestinian self-rule between the
Palestinian Liberation
Organization and Israel is more
the individual states' doing than
Clinton's or Secretary of State
Warren Christopher's.
Ktcock
C Since 1908
Shay la Stutts, Viewpoints Editor
IL BOARD
antler, Rob Rodusky,
rson Henderson
iity to mask hatred
C's cultural progress
ed God's Country displays religious
T-shirts adorned with drawings of
plifted to a blazing sky. In bold black
ening to America?" This is followed
ur country.
osexuality as well as racism. The dim
shirt's designer makes it easy to pass
of some religious nut's imagination,
sver, the principles behind American
ious commentary such as the shirt
tional. But compare the shirt's statey
fliers posted on campus a few days
lesters is a common ploy to send fear y
:all for violence is explicit and not c
i so many tainted messages, the con- J
vho opposes homosexuals and why. p
ition and hatred they battle parallels
or any other minority. However, the
?ral condemnation of homosexuality,
r
about our country, though its content e
losexuals collectively encounter the s
and women from freedom for years. c
as the S.C. Christian Alliance would s
iciple.
distinguish right from wrong; others e
us group. Sin and morality, right and (
the eye of the beholder. And behold, r
cution-castration-imprisonment" of a _
are different from someone else. Not *
c
ill for termination of gays is the dis- ?
Christian Alliance blatantly misuses
1 of possibly committing violent hate
no less than dangerous to the USC 1
certain of the motivation within the ?
icais. dui unc uimg is cciuuu. incii
holy war" tell nothing of what lurks
F
olence. To counteract this, the USC f
; principles of cultural diversity and r
in an advanced society and proof of *
le.
t
t
*ee could help
election
Bi
Whatever the case, the agree- j
ment is a positive development (
in Clinton's foreign policy and \
one that might boost his sagging
approval rating. And Clinton (
will need all the help he can
muster for the congressional
fights ahead.
If passed, the initiatives
could have a comparable influence
to President Roosevelt's *
New Deal programs of the '30s.
Most officials expect A1
Gore's government streamlining
plan, which could radically alter
the way government does business,
to be the first issue tackled
by Congress. And there's a 1
decent chance that it will pass.
This will set up the wars over 1
NAFTA and health care, which
the interest groups and lobbyists r
are anxiously waiting to do bat- C
tie over.
Wannabe despot Ross Perot f
is getting back into the act by f
spreading his anti-NAFTA propaganda
to the ignorant masses, g
including S.C.'s textiles indus- li
try, in hopes of defeating the
landmark agreement. k
This fall's initiatives are the I
key to the success of not only i:
Bill Clinton and the Democratic E
party but for the entire United a
States.
Republicans might tell you tl
otherwise. But a successful Bill a
Clinton will mean a healthier, v
fairer and efficient America, and h
that's a fact. a
r
Gordon Mantler is university h
editor of The Gamecock. His d
column appears every other
Wednesday. ii
d
Viewpoint
What do yoi
m .jll umi i?
"It's not up to us to "I thin
tell gay people what wrong,
they should do. We are for ;
not God, and we should doesn'
not judge them." right f
Shawnee Peeples son
Political science freshman Sai
E
Master Minds Punishment
disgu
"The worst thing seems to be for schools to
vork with methods of fear, force and artificial
mthority. Such treatment destroys the healthy
eelings, the integrity and the self-confidence of
mpils."
Albert Einstein
Social workers have a fundamental commitnent
to vulnerable populations. Among the dis- j
:nfranchised, the powerless and the underrepreented
people in our society, the welfare of ^
:hildren subjected to corporal punishment in the ajj
chools is crucial. ^
The United States invests millions of dollars w?
:ach year to prevent child abuse, yet we allow
he injury of children by school personnel in the m(
lame of discipline. In case of injury inflicted by
>arents in the home, a report to protective serdee
initiates a process designed to protect the SC]
:hild from further assault. No such procedure in;
:xists to protect children who are injured by tei
eachers or other school officials. ch
So what is corporal punishment as it is prac- 30
iced? Despite some districts' polices governing pu
:orporal punishment - 23 states and the District
>f Columbia have already banned it - abuses are tic
lot uncommon. Punishments take the form of efl
>addling, hitting children with rulers, yardsticks, ral
>ointers, belts, ropes, rattan sticks, broomsticks, frc
ubber hoses, baseball bats, metal pipes and ac
irass knuckles. tie
Children are slapped, shoved, kicked and
hrown against walls, desks and concrete pillars, is!
)ocumented cases also describe children being co
tuck with pins, shocked with cattle prods and tin
Anti-crime legisla
Congress is about to pass a major piece of
mti-crime legislation. I am referring to Senate
Bill 636, which will impose tougher sanctions
)n those convicted of blockading abortion clincs.
Under the proposed law, first-time protesters
vill receive a year in jail and fines totaling up
o $150,000.
Several people, including lawyers at the
\merican Civil Liberties Union, have quesioned
whether the penalties might be a bit
iteep. After all, the freedom to assemble peace
ully is protected by the First Amendment. A
/ear in prison is too much to impose on political uri
irotests, especially considering that the average
convicted criminal usually gets sprung from jail 311
>efore he has time to order a pizza.
In her testimony supporting the bill, Attorney Pr
3eneral Janet Reno noted the increase in vioence
among pro-life protesters and explained 51
hat imprisonment "appears necessary to deter
ind punish unlawful conduct, as well as simply su
o incapacitate some of the more willful and pr
)ersistent violators." $1
I would certainly like to offer my support for
he bill. But I also agree with Indiana Senator pr
Message of fliers one step closei
?is* t-i i
iu uic cuuui; iiicy nave u
I am writing concerning the sto- gays,
y in Monday's issue of The Who will be
jamecock about the anti-gay fliers, da of hate? Ar
I am more than concerned. I am religion, anyon
rightened for the well-being of my side of marriagi
riends and loved ones. Are you next
The fundamentalist far right has
;one too far. They have crossed the Wom<
ine to fascism.
For those of you who do not
now what fascism is, it is what
litler and the Nazis were. And this
s exactly how the Nazi purges in .e Gamec
Europe started calls for violence Pnnt all 1
gainst minorities. Letters shoi
I assure you, I have not gone off words and i
he deep end. Sadly, this hatred is name' Pro^
11 too real. If you are not familiar year an" m'
vith Hitler and the Nazis, grab a Letters nius
listory book, or better yet, go over delivered 03
nd view the Movietone News p"16]!0!*
eels on campus and see what r-.11886,^,,!?1!.5
latred and fear of those who are ai 7..
lifferent can and did do. 10
These fundamentalist fascists are iw/fn c ?
n Christian dress, and they are 1. a 1?" '
angerous. . e;
They have killed pro-choice doctors. circumstance
rs
a think about the anti-g
tow :
k they're totally "I don't think that a
What's not right kind of discriminate
iomeone else should be tolerati
t mean it's not because of the negati
or another per- impact that it has h
on our campus ai
nantha Burton country.
education freshman Antonio Ellic
Accounting sen
ised as discipline
__i! v c
t
!
jctrostatic generators and burned.
One S.C. boy nearly died when he was pad- t|
id by an administrator who correctly followed j*
precautionary guidelines. Nevertheless, the
y suffered a life-threatening asthma attack and
is hospitalized for seven days. Another stunt
was paddled on 56 occasions during a twoDnth
period. 1!
Across the board, more than I million inci- c
nts of corporal punishment occur in U.S. F
hools each year with 10,000 incidents requir- 1
e> medical attention. S.C.'s public school sys- r
ns rank ninth in the nation for percentage of c
ildren hit. This translates into more than a
1,000 school children who will be physically c
inished this year. s
Corporal punishment is not a sound educa- f
>nal practice. It has limited and temporary
fectiveness. The child most likely to be corpo- /
lly punished is the child least likely to learn F
>m corporal punishment: the child with hyper- a
tivity, organic brain damage, learning disabili- s
? authofrs
newsroom in J mHHfl
>e room 321. The I fjun
eserves the right | -*% j?
letters for style, SPy^JLJj )\^
bel or space ~?BjF=E=L
Barnes will not be f ?
under any ?ys^
s or the angry stoic children. p
The child most likely to receive corporal pun- v
lment in the school often receives excessive
rporal punishment at home or in other setgs.
There are well-documented consequences
tion might put p
CK; '
an Coats, who believes that all violent protest *
ovements should be equally punished. After
I, it would be unfair to specifically target one j
ipopular group while sparing others.
I have worked up a formula to help legislators
d law enforcement officials:
One person has been killed in anti-abortion ^
otests over the past two years. Therefore, antiunion
protesters receive one year in jail and a {
50,000 fine per offense.
At least one person has been killed by white i
premacists in the past two years. Pro-Klan t
otesters should also get one year in jail and a ?
50,000 fine per offense.
A man was killed earlier this year during a
otest of U.S. immigration policies regarding
^M'm not voting /
WE NEED TO SAVE !
At*
to fascism
illed for the death of
next on their agen- *
lyone of a different
e who has sex outzt
?
Melinda Hewlett
jn's studies graduate
ock will try to ||
letters received. Lild
be 200-250
nust include full
issional title or tl^r
jjor if a student. CofT*
;ay fliers?
ny "I read in the paper that
rrv^^^:? n .uai i ^
un [ivciiiiia i iuhij uau iu
ed decide if the fliers were
ve opinion or a threat,
ad When someone incites
nd violence, that's not an
opinion."
>tt Norman Hayes
ior Political science sophomore
breeds violence
>f corporal punishment, including permanent
njury such as welts, bruises, broken bones,
lemorrhaging, hearing loss, nerve damage. ruD
ured bladders and even death.
The use of physical force to control behavior
eaches children lessons that we do not want
hem to learn. Force is not the way to resolve
onflict. It erodes the child's self esteem,
urthermore, corporal punishment is associated
vith lower grades, higher rates of truancy and
nd higher drop-out rates. The to states with the
lighest rates of corporal punishment, including
louth Carolina, have academic test scores below
he national average.
A frequent justification for the legal sanctionng
of corporal punishment is-that teachers and
>ther educational personnel require it for self>rotection.
Undeniably, violence in school is
ncreasing. Teaching children to empathize,
nake good decisions, understand the consciences
of their behavior and assert themselves
tppropriately reduces all forms of violence in
>ur schools. Techniques such as time-out, inchool
suspension and creative incentives for
>ro-social behavior have been used effectively.
South Carolinians should join the National
Association of Social Workers and the National
aretit-Teacher Association in advocating the
ibolishment of corporal punishment in our
chools. In its place should be effective discidine
that teaches that conflict can be resolved
vith reason and intellect, not violence.
Deborah Valentine is an associate professor
in the College of Social Work.
rotesters in jail
India. Actually, he killed himself, but violence
IS violence. Immigration protesters should also
get one year in jail and a $150,000 per offense.
Two people were killed earlier this year during
an Indian reservation protest for the legalization
of casino gambling. Pro-gambling proesters
should get TWO years in jail plus
5300,000 in fines for the increased risk of their
iemonstrations. This might put a damper on the
ifforts to get a lottery in South Carolina.
Finally, more than 50 people were killed in
.os Angeles by protesters who were upset about
he violation of Rodney King's civil rights,
rherefore, because of the inherent violence of
:ivil rights protesters, a first offense will get 50
fears in jail and $7.5 million in fines.
I realize this will make it more difficult for
>eople to exercise their First Amendment rights,
nit as our Attorney General has explained, it's
ill for a good cause. And if you ever DO want
o see a political protest in America, you can
ilways visit a jail.
Patrick McNeill is a columnist
for The Gamecock.
kNY MORE TAXES FOR EDUCATION?
SOCIETY BY BUILDING MORE PRISONS'
jji (if
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