The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 17, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
TBatock I
Serving USC Since 1908
J.T. Wagenbeim, Editor in Chief Shayla Stutts, Viewpoints Editor
editorial board
Jay King, Gordon Manlier, Rob Rodusky,
Lee Clontz, Carson Henderson
Bygone
Columbia's economy neither gains
1/~hc/?c in nutrnmp nf NFL hid decision
I 11/ # H/U V^U K f Vf?rw.,w A > -A I,
For the past week, USC has taken some shots from Columbia leaders
for letting the NFL-Williams Brice deal slip away. Now, these
leaders say as much as $40 million in added revenue generated by
a new Charlotte franchise will be funneled to Clemson and Death Valley
and will not help the economy of the Midlands.
There is much more to this episode than $40 million worth of maybe.
We must consider the role of USC in Columbia and the role of Gamecock
football.
In an interview earlier this week, President John Palms said it is not the
mission of USC to bolster and promote the economic development of the
city but to provide the best education to its students. Well said.
We recognize the necessity of economic development for the growth
and future health of a community. However, such development must be
balanced with strategic considerations of what is best for the overall community.
With the NFL deal, it should be considered that Gamecock football
might have suffered under the shadow of professional play on the same
field. How many people would come to see college football when they
could wait a day and see the pros plav? Now this is not an ironclad argument,
but it should be added to the equation.
Some sources say USC is one of the primary economic pillars of the
community, and this is probably true to some extent. But this should not
lead people to expect USC to put aside its own self-interest to promote
development in the Midlands.
Columbia's economy has come under scrutiny in the past few weeks.
We have our share of problems, but we also have plenty of room to
improve and build. USC does play an integral role in this. Contrary to
some opinions, our community hasn't lost anything by turning down the
NFL proposal.
Instead of hanging our heads in defeat, consider the positives. Anyone
who has lived in Columbia in the past year or so has had the opportunity
to see rock concerts at Williams-Brice stadium by Guns N' Roses, U2 and
Paul McCartney. The NFL deal isn't the first opportunity to come our
way, and, rest assured folks, it won't be Columbia's or USC's last stab at
growth.
The NFL deal, if accepted, would have been a helpful economic booster
for Columbia but not an enduring one. A community simply doesn't
throw away what it has already accomplished for something else, as new
and improved as it might seem. When NFL's term here would have been
completed, how would we have salvaged USC's original plans and interests?
Hungry?
Inconvenient hours
make dining a hassle
As an out-of-state freshman I L
at USC, I looked forward to rl jgflftttk B"
Labor Day weekend at my new
school. I had friends to go out
with, activities planned and a 21 . Bill , Bk Bit
meal plan ready to go. What I I !Jk * Jjl B
didn't realize was that USC dining
wasn't ready for me. 11|
After a day at the zoo, my I LmhhmI ;
friend and I headed for the allyou-can-eat
Bates cafeteria for |||BBBBBJ
some dinner and relaxation.
Acquainted with its sporadic
hours of service, we were not after 7 p.m. each day. The cafesurprised
to find the cafe closed, terias stopped serving at that
With optimism, we headed for time. I was prevented from eat%
the Grand Market Place. ing on campus during the first
From the moment we arrived, week of school,
the Russell House looked How far must I go to get a
unpromising. The Grand Market meal? The choice to stay at the
Place, as well as the restaurants zoo or to participate in rush
in Carolina Mall, was closed, activities shouldn't result in dinCmetratflH
K.. ,Ka . .
uj uit uiuu icauiu- mg on campus, camping out in
rants, we trekked off campus to front of the Bates cafeteria
eat dinner. Never mind that it might be extreme but so are the
was an hour and a half later or inconvenient hours it keeps,
that we had to walk to Five When Y called ^ food ^
Points to fm a p ace at main- vices office to explain my
tained c?nvenien dilemma and to inquire about
With curre" eateries facility hours, I was not wellhours
none of the UoL entenes , . , .
t arT open 24 hours. Even those rece,ve)d- Ralller- the employee
are open Z4 nouis , was rude and referred my call to
open as late as n p^. neg'ect (he jnUivjdua| , was
the student who has been at
practice all day, up late writing food sa,n on tne chase tor
Xhv ?r kepl bUSy by aD?Uier Fr0m this time-consuming
Maintaining one facility that ' have 'ea ed to
serves food at every hour of the j. . Alcotiol iKn'V' f
day idea- T atdaction Good food' conv'e"
every student travels on week- en( hours ^
ends. There are those of us on poims are Inuch L0 "
campus who need a place to eat. , tU more
use shouldn't convenience its app '"f 2l'"PUS dlning.
restaurant employees to the ev f .?. 1116 few 1 CS "hen
r detriment of its students. USC facihues are operauonal.
Food services let me down
during sorority rush week, too. Johnna Goodwin is a columnist
Rush activities didn't end until for The Gamecock.
JSgggggfgjgggm
The Gamecock will try' to print all letters received. Letters
should be 200-250 words and must include full name,
professional title or year and major if a student. Letters must
be personally delivered by author to The Gamecock
newsroom in Russell House room 321. The Gamecock
j. reserves the right to edit all letters for style, possible libel or
SJ space limitations. Names will not be withheld under any
circumstances.
Viewpoints
Do you think it was wise for US
"No. The money would "I don't think it was wise,
have been helpful to the It would have brought
local economy and to money to the city. After
USC itself." all, Clemson's in the
country. A lot more peoBill
Jenkins Ple would to see NF1
Psychology freshman *n Columbia.
Taross Thomas
Nursing junior
Will Clinton's proposed he?
Q2S by Patrick Sharbaugh
Friday, Bill Clinton released the latest draft of his sweeping health care
reform bill, an attempt to mitigate the impact of the meteoric rise of health
care costs on consumers and, equally as important, to provide some. 37
million uninsured Americans with a form of coverage.
While few would deny that health care is in desperate need of reforming,
fewer still would be ambitious enough to try and do something about
it given the opportunity. We can take two past presidents and 12 years of
protecting the status quo as a prime example.
Opponents of the plan have conjured up a host of downright frightful
images for us, not the least of which is the fearful hobgoblin of socialism,
whose specter conservative elements rarely fail to invoke when a logical
argument eludes them. In this case, they have summoned up horrifying
visions of good folk waiting in line for Band-aids and being assigned to
bumbling, Marty Feldmanesque physicians without having any say in the
matter, all the while handing over huge chunks of their paychecks for
these privileges.
In reality, a socialized system of health care such as that in Canada or
Germany has next to nothing in common with what Bill Clinton has proposed.
He has outlined a combination of free market competition and
broad-based federal regulation of price increases. The socialist elements
here are nil.
The plan would guarantee necessary medical coverage to every living
American and legal resident, even if they change jobs; create insurance
cooperatives to buy basic coverage for the poor; and bar insurance companies
from turning away anyone on the basis of medical history.
Furthermore, users would still retain a huge amount of latitude in choosing
their doctor or hospital, all for a premium of which employees would pay
only 20 percent.
Opponents insist on calling the premium a tax, but not a penny of the
money would go to Washington; it would replace current insurance premiums,
and it would likely be equal to or less than the average premium
today. Let's make sure we're comparing apples with apples here.
Opponents call for a reform bill that operates solely under the auspices
of free market principles. Such a plan could not, by its very nature, exist.
Do we honestly think that if we lowered malpractice premiums, physicians
would lower their rates commensurately without a little help?
The plan isn't perfect; no plan could be. Americans are famous for
wanting to have their cake and eat it too, and so there will continue to be
opposition to the proposed plan. But until the plan's detractors can engineer
a better alternative and present it to us, they would be wise to give
this one a good look before excoriating it. Because right now folks, it's
the only show in town.
Patrick Sharbaugh is a regular contributor to Crossfire.
Student upset as police Enoush benoush! usc p?lice.
r r if you want a complaint from more
withhold Towers' security students, here it is. We can only
To the editor: hope that you are paying attention
Have you heard that there is a 311 ^at y?u respond,
man going around campus placing
a gun to students' foreheads and Kitti Trybula
robbing them? The second time Hotel, restaurant, tourism
this happened was Wednesday administration senior
morning in front of Bumey. Where,
you might ask, were the police? Holocaust ad Unfit
mat s wnat we wouia use u> ? ~ .
know. for The Gamecock
The police were so concerned To the editor:
that they came, at the request of j request that The Gamecock
housing, to talk to the students decline the advertisement from the
about safety on campus. One RA Committee on Open Debate on the
asked them what they could do to Holocaust. I have seen these ads in
cut down on students congregating a student newspaper in the past,
outside the towers at night. She Besides being historically inaccunoted
several complaints made to rate, they are extremely offensive,
the police about noise and Some of my relatives were murexpressed
concern about safety. dered in the Holocaust, two adults
The officer was obviously con- two young children. I have piccerned
about this situation because tures of them from before the conhe
replied that the police would not centration/death camps. My middle
patrol this area regularly until the name, Paula, is in honor of Peshka,
students really complained about my aunt who was killed
any problems! j fjn(j few pCOpie wbo know
Is he for real? If we lived in a about or truly understand the
city apartment, we would be enti- Holocaust or Jewish people for that
tied to police protection. Are we matter. Please don't contribute to
not entitled to the same rights when ^ ignorance by printing inaccu_
we live on campus. How many rate inflammatory ads. Instead,
students complaints will it take wh ^ njn a factual iece
before the police start patrolling about Rosh HaShanah and Yom
srdays'which
i, . . ,. 1 .. are both this month;
think there is a real problem on this
side of the campus? Are they wait- UZ cramer
tv ^ Ph.D. candidate, social work
KHpCu:
If you think that this does not
affect every student on campus, ask USC support group
yourself how safe you feel walking -pfppfo thncp in need
alone at night. We don't mean rSJCLl!> m 11CCU
across campus, we mean walking To the editor:
out of your dorm to your car, I am incensed by the USC
parked right there in front of your Counseling Center's latest attempt
building. at providing a support group for
0
ijHYI
>C to shun the NFL proposal?
"Clemson had the better "No. It would have
bid for the team. It brought USC more mondoesn't
affect me one way ey- Also, more people
or the other. We are not could know what USC is
going to lose money or ^erevenues
in Columbia
anyway." Keisha Williams
Broadcasting freshman
Catherine Salvo
Psychology sophomore
ilth care plan be effective?
2QQ by Ryan Atkinson
We might be on the verge of seeing the most highly advanced medical
system in the world dissolve. In its place, we will find a socialized
system like the ones in other countries. If we blame our problems on
the supposed greed of insurance companies, doctors and pharmaceutical
companies and subsequently target these groups, we might find that we
have more problems than we bargained for.
The basic problem exists within a system that effectively insulates
f?rv*v\ PAncnmaro
wiiAUiiU/is 11 win uib atiuai tusu wi mtii puivuaovs. wtiiw cvuouuiwu
don't feel the sting of rising health costs until their premiums rise or
their insurance is canceled, there are no competitive forces working to
keep prices down.
If everyone could pay a lump sum of money at the beginning of the
year for their groceries and then could buy as much as they wanted
without regard to price, what would be the consequence. The lump sum
would eventually rise beyond belief, and certain products would
become practically unattainable. This is the situation we are in with
health care.
However, Clinton's plan does little to address this problem. Instead,
he thinks government should micromanage health care with instruments
such as price controls and euphemisms such as managed competition.
What do you expect from a man who thinks government ought to be
there to waike you up in the morning and tell you it's time for breakfast?
Despite Clinton's talk about making health care less bureaucratic,
these measures will do the opposite. As usual, he says one thing while
looking you straight in the eye and then does another.
Clinton wants an employer mandate in the form of a payroll tax. I
guess he feels he didn't hurt the economy enough with his budget plan.
Germany has a 10 percent unemployment rate that can be blamed primarily
on payroll taxes. The reason BMW is coming here is because
the cost of labor is cheaper. At least it is at the moment.
Who says it should be the employer's responsibility to provide health
care anyway? I'm sure Clinton would have a justification, but it would
probably amount to an epistemological leap of faith.
This is the wrong course of action to take to revamp the health care
system. What we truly need is a system that employs free market principles
to keep prices down while also keeping quality high. Quality will
be the first casualty of the president's plan.
If this plan passes, it will be because of the same blind desperation
that got Clinton elected in the first place. It has already ruined our
chances for economic stability. I shudder to think where it will take us
next.
Ryan Atkinson is a regular contributor to Crossfire.
students. My first encounter with dent on them for help?
their twisted idea of such programs This group is about the only supwas
last year when I went to what port group in the Columbia area,
was advertised as an ACOA (Adult and it's a great idea. Unfortunately,
Children of Alcoholics) group, the people in charge are playing
which used the name without being power games again, deciding who
affiliated with the national 12-step deserves help and who doesn't,
organization. Imagine my surprise And let's strike out for fairness,
when, after summoning the courage Where's the help for the "line 7
to seek help and understanding, I men" suffering from childhood
was thrown out and told I wasn't trauma who, due to stereotypes and
wanted. such close-minded therapists, often
It's happening again. This time, suffer worse than the women and
the child sexual abuse "support with less help?
group," despite its claims to help A support group is created not to
those who are in pain about their judge but to be a place for trust and
memories, is excluding anyone for- safety. How can it be either when
tunate enough to be able to afford those in charge have the power to
individual help elsewhere. Why? decide if you have the right to be
Are the "theraDists" in charee aller- there or if vou deserve helD?
gic to outside ideas? Or just to the
possibility that someone in the Angela L. Miller
group wouldn't be totally depen- English junior