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Serving US J.T. Wagenheim, Editor in Chie! Edltork Wendy Hudson, Carson H Nancy Salomon; Vote Students owe it to themse promising candidates inn It's that time of year again. Poste wear buttons and stickers encourag SGA candidate. It's also a time that's of the student body, according to vot We know some of you are annoyec on the way to classes to ask for sup under residence hall doors in the ev - politicking are two of the only way you. SGA leaders work hard for us, anc of you may think. They are responsib student organizations, groups a good SGA leaders play an instrumental campus, as well as lobbying the Leg money so our tuition costs can be ke With this in mind, we encourage elections. Ten percent isn't represeni fact, it's a pitiful display of apathy. Many of you are just here for you involved. Student activities aren't for you pay student activities fees when concerned with where this money is \ Take a few moments to learn abo for and what they want to fight for. effect on the campus than you think. SGA representatives have to becor stituents. Too many students aren't SGA officers won't do anything for th When many student senators are them to talk to a mere five consti whether the students have a point. With a new administration soon to challenge himself to make life better campus. \r/i,?n cr.A v w iivii jvja LUiivuiL oiuuv^iii i to encourage the entire campus to vo Racial redistr community fi The creation of black-majority Congressional districts after the 1990 census was heralded by minorities and, oddly enough, Republicans as a positive step toward having better minority representation in Congress. This became reality when the 1992 election handed the House Black Caucus 13 new members. giving blacks a total of 39 seats in the House. However, in response to a lawsuit by a number of white N.C. voters, the Supreme Court last year ordered a U.S. District Court to review the plaintiffs' claims that the 12th district in North Carolina was a form of "racial gerrymandering." The plaintiffs said the district, which snakes across the state from Durham to Charlotte, places blacks from hundreds of different communities in an artificial entity for only one reason: race. Next month, the District Court will ask North Carolina to defend me iztn aistrict again, mis is ai a time when black-majority districts across the South, from Texas to Georgia, are being challenged by disgruntled white voters. And there seems to be a decent chance that courts will rule the N.C. district and many of the other ones in the South unconstitutional. This type of redisricting has been effective in getting more minority representation in Congress, including S.C.'s Jim Clyburn in the sixth district. In addition to its questionable constitutionality, there are just too many problems with this system to keep it. Creating black-majority districts, no matter what the cost, is not only a type of racial segregation, out also harmiui to tne sense or community political districts should feel and to the long-term objectives many minorities are striving for. Molding a system where blacks represent blacks and whites represent whites with little intermixing of the races isn't politically healthy and is actually a step back in time. Rather than create districts that are relatively even between blacks and whites, giving both races a chance to win the seat, the new svstem separates the rares raiis "?aiiitcock ? Student Media Russell House-USC* Co J.T. Wagenheim Nancy Salomonsky Editor in Chief Carolina! Editor Lee Clontz Tony Santori Viewpoints Editor Sports Editor Carson Henderson Dav'"d Mandrell Copy Desk Chief P)K>t0 Ed,or Gordon Mantler Chris Muldrow Copy Desk Chief GraPWcs Wendy Hudson Nora D?y,e News Editor Assl- News The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the fall and spring semesters, with the exception of university holidays and exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and not those of the University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is its parent organization. Icock C Since 1908 f Lee Gontz, Viewpoints Editor il Board [enderson, Gordon Mantler, sky, Tony Santori Ives to elect i office Thursday rs litter the campus, and students ing others to vote for a particular cared about by less than 10 percent er turnouts the past several years. 1 by young politicians who stop you port, and by those who slide fliers ening. Keep in mind these types of s for candidates to get through to 1 they have more duties than some le for allocating funds to about 300 many of you belong to. role in providing a safe and clean islature for more higher education pt down. you to vote Thursday in the SGA :ative of the campus community. In ir education and don't wish to get everyone. That's fine. But most of paying tuition, and you should be going. SGA decides where, ut the candidates, what they stand The winners will have more of an ne more accountable to their conmoved to vote because they think em. against a bill that would require tuents per week, one has to ask enter office, each SGA official must in some way for every student on >ody it can do this, we won't need >te. The students will want to. icting causes agmentation Gordon Mantler COPY DESK CHIEF ing more inter-racial animosity than cooperation. The idea to string a bunch of black communities together in one district for the sole reason of race ruins the sense ot community a political district should have. Blacks in S.C.'s 6th district might be of the same race, but they have totally different political objectives because they are both rich and poor, rural and urban, educated and non-educated. Of course, most districts have some disparity between constituents, but not to the extent the new black districts have. Black-majority districts also weaken white incumbent Democrats, by taking strong Democratic-voting blacks out of their districts. The result is a few more black-majority districts and a larger number of white Republican districts. This is the real reason why the GOP is for this new redistricting system. Weakening the Democratic party, which is much more progressive on civil rights and other minority issues than the GOP, isn't in die best interest of minorities in America. The new districts might give them more black repre sentation in Congress in the short term, but less progressive representation in the long run. More minority representation in Congress and local government entities is needed. However, the black-majority districts created in states across the South and in other regions aren't the answer. * Destroying any sense of political community, plus taking away districts from progressive white Democrats, isn't in minorities' best interests. Gordon Mantler's column appears every other Wednesday. __7 Chris Carroll . ///-//ZD Coordinator of Student Media tising: 777-4249 Laura Day 777-6482 Production Manager . . ? Tim Hrppn lumbia, 5L zyzUo , """ ?? Asst. Production Manager Keith Boudreaux Gregory Perez Asst. News Production Asst. .. ? . Brian McGuire Emily Peterson Gradua|e ^ Asst. Photo Renee Gibson Jimmy Debutts Advertising Manager Asst. Sports J- Taylor Rutland . Asst. Advertising Manager Paul Jon Boscacc. Erik Col]ins Cartoonist Faculty Advisor Letters Polky 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 the author to The Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 321. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances. Viewpo iif ,.,WE("TVl6 JlMW, FN f imedcfemoimt* guilt# ijy rca$o ill ofqup inanit "There are no disadvantages to and continue to serve the constii Conservative C There's a growing trend in America. This tr is a scary one, too. It's the trend by the domii media culture in which it's totally intolerant of thing a conservative Christian says or believe: Some liberals imply that since conservative C tians are against abortion, evolution, homosea ity and are for abstinence-based education, I are somehow intolerant. The media tends t( particularly guilty of this assumption. Befng a "right-wing" Christian, I grow tire' seeing.the media blasting what I believe in and ing to mischaracterize conservative Christians "fringe" group. Certainly, Ronald Reagan, Get Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Charles S ley or other prominent "conservative Christi; don't fall into the small group of radicals the dia tends to single out. Speaking as a conservative Christian, I don't lieve it to be at all intolerant for me to he mm against abortion, homosexuality, drug use or other behavior I believe to be wrong. 1 also d think it's intolerant for me to advocate that public education system teach material that's resentative of the vast majority of American | Gambling debases ^most, ? deny tl community morality our soc The To the editor: country You were beyond wrong when of soci< you said gambling isn't and society shouldn't be a moral issue. a song Mr. Wagenheim, judging by your be defc column, you feel that morals presick should have no place in deciding moral the economic and social, for that he's ca matter, fate of a town or communi- bigot. 1 ty. You called for us to put our sort of morals aside to accommodate with regards the times. sickens Morals are basically what govern any hur our lives. Was the Constitution not 1, fo based on morals? Are the Ten Columl Commandments to be spit upon fore, because they involve morals? Why Columl don't we tear down the State House be solv and build a casino there if we aren't ending going to let morals and values ment j judge our lives? better-s Former Vice President Dan much r Quayle was on target when he said tory wh "Our policies must be premised on Mora and must reinforce values such as lives. If family, hard work, integrity and per- to the < sonal responsibility." To deny that state y< morals have a place in our society, values our government, our schools and in when ii Do you intend to E"No. I don't know wi kind of vague on that." "Yes. I hope that some %JSPv student body well w "** -wmMfe something done." urn ke aoout y i percent or America is eitner christian 01 rally Jewishany Using myself as an example of a conservative on't Christian, I don't believe I'm intolerant of homo our sexuals. I've never advocated the killing of homo rep- sexuals; likewise, I believe homosexuals have the par- right to do whatever they believe in their own bed every decision we make is to ior "wrong'' without lat any civilization exists in insensitive or narrow-i :iety. we wouldn't be facing moral breakdown in this that all Americans face ' can take the blame for a lot sty's problems. We live in a C where a rap singer can sing Broadcast! endorsing killing cops and nded for it, but when a vice WnrnpnV rrwP :nt said there is a serious "U111CU ~ . . breakdown in this country, lacks objectivi lied narrow-minded and a [f one questions almost any To the editor: wrong behavior, they are i'm writing in resp< ;d as narrow-minded. This Plodinec's Feb. 14 a me, and it should sicken Gamecocks fall to R nan heine. AUUn,mk i n-, 0 xuuiv/ugii Li iv tauj vjii r one, don't want to see ketball team hasn't ha )ia become a pigsty; there- season this year, they'r I'm against gambling, team and deserve tc >ia's economic problems can strengths, not weakn ed by other means such as lighted, the dependence on govern- It seems to me tha obs and making Columbia win games, only a shor uited for industry. I would However, when the 1 ather see an automobile fac- longer article is usually iere CCI was than a casino. focuses on the team's c Is do play a big role in our Specifically, when P this country would go back successful in her three jays when it was all right to no mention is made, t xir patiotism, when family misses, the article rea< were unquestioned and harmed by the fact : was all right to call behav- Bass...missed all five ot vote in the SGA elections hat the SGA does. I'm ^ H "I P Carl Ostrowski c,uri English graduate student one who represents the "Yes ill be elected and get ^he Allison Simpson ,n ll nternational studies junior 5? ^ ?this proposal. This is a gradual step that r . a i ? i tuents or tnis state, lms proposal is in tr South Carolina." USC Admissions ( hristians concerns end I ^|l sTn" Tommy Touchberry njal- COLUMNIST :hey _ Mkmm ) be I?WBmk ents. d of Our schools should be places where our childrer trY- ape taught how to read, write and perform mathe ^ a matics. If they are taught sex education, it shoulc )r8e be abstinence-based, because that's what the ma tan* jority of the parents want their children to b< taught. If they're taught about the creation of th< world, they should be taught creationism, becaus< "?s < will allow us to get the best students le best interest of USC and the state of Jim Burns Committee Chairman, on the raising of admission standards *d, not intolerant room. But that doesn't mean I can't say homosex-' uality is morally wrong and is deviant behavior. 1 find it especially insulting to imply that being against abortion is intolerant behavior. I believe it to be unacceptable to kill anyone for any reason. As Planned Parenthood's research indicates, only 4 percent of abortions are done because of rape, incest or the mothers life being in danger. The other 96 percent are done as a form of birth control. 1 I find that to be an action of intolerance against hu' man life. i And just because I'm not willing to change my mind on any of these issues doesn't make me in tolerant. I don't see these issues from another an gle, because I'm sincere in my convictions and be liefc. My value of life in the case of abortion and my [* value of traditional sex-roles in the case of homosexuality come from my belief in God's word. i Other may not have the same beliefs as me on - these issues, and that's their right. But that doesn't mean I'm intolerant and they're not. It just means : that we have different religious and political beliefs. being called at three-point shots." ninded, then The writer failed to mention thai the problems Bass is playing with a stress fracture today. in her foot. She should be in a cast for four to six weeks, but she chose >rew Stewart to play out her senior season ng freshman instead. Why can't she be commended for her determination and ra.2e commitment to the team? ? Also, the Lady Gamecocks played ty a tough game against secondranked Tennessee last week, but the only mention of it in The :>nse to Matt Gamecock was a photo. The State, rticle, "Lady on the other hand, ran a large phoLazorbacks. to and a iotlg at-ticle focusing on mecock bas- ysC s strong plays throughout the id a winning game ancj the team's attempt to e still a goo ciose the gap wjth a team ranked > have their , 6 K 1 ' Women's basketball, and all; t when they women's sports, deserves more; t brief is run. attention than it's Currently receive earn loses, a in8 It's sad that the USC papen r written that 8iyes the team less coverage than! lownfalls. The State. It would be nice to see a! vfikki Bass is Gamecock photographer at thej :-point shots, women's games and some positive; >ut when she coverage of their season. ds "USC was that Nikki Erin Galloway! her attempts Journalism sophomore! * * 0 0 III ' V f __ ? ? Why or why not? robably will. Hopefully, people running for \ :e will improve the campus environment ng their term." Myrelo King J Pharmacy freshman |f ;. We need a stronger force in government, campus is supposed to be diverse, but e are lots of organizations not represented te government now." Quentin Johnson i Music performance freshman