The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 16, 1994, Page 4, Image 4
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