The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 02, 1994, Page 3, Image 3
*t5a?l
Serving USCS
Lee Gontz, Editor in Qiief Susa
Editorial
Keith Boudreaux, Lupe E
Jimmy DeButts
Teaching AD
S.C. teacher's death n
disease, demonstrates
With World AIDS Day celebrat
Month underway, the death o
the deadly disease seems trag
not immune to AIDS should not come i
dents and parents at Marrington Eleir
ever, the shock of a beloved teacher's d
knowledge that she had AIDS, a secret
The revelation of the 31-year-old tea
gry parents to question the logic behin
conditions of the school. While some mei
pathy over the teacher's plight, the igno
to illustrate exactly why the teacher 1
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Ill a pCI IC^t VYUl 1U, OllC OHUUIU UlAVW
no other reason than simply for suppor
pie of bravery in the face of death could
with a disease that affects so many pec
is an invaluable lesson to learn in a wo
As it was, she didn't feel the freedo
ents are asking about the disease high
ciety?people still don't know all they
breeds the fear that won't let people ge
most.
During AIDS Awareness Month ta
AIDS, exactly how it can be spread anc
the virus won't hurt you. Our world wot
to understand, not condemn, to educat
Marrington Elementary School sti
the fear of AIDS. Unfortunately, the/\
Family value
well at Than
fw iv/mmi
7 TOUCHBERRY
Columnist
The Thanksgiving holiday was a
bit different for me this year. I only
spent one full day home in Atlanta.
I spent the rest of the break in Augusta,
Columbia and Summerton. It
was both a good and bad Thanksgiving
at the same time. The bad part
was my Dad struggling with a kidney
stone, which is an extremely
painful ailment. The good part was
spending a lot of time with my relatives.
I really got to know some of my
cousins I never knew before.
The importance of family really
hit home with me this weekend. It
made me realize the significance of
family values. It also reminded me of
a statement Newt Gingrich recently
made He basically said, if we as Amer
icans want real change, we have to
start being responsible for ourselves
and our families. Effective policy starts
with effective citizenship.
Governor-elect David Beasley used
the slogan "putting families first" as
his campaign theme. More or less,
that is the cornerstone of conservatism.
Another important point any good
conservative would make is this: "Government
can't solve personal family
problems. Only you can do that!" What
our new government can do is legislate
in a way that promotes natural
intact families.
I am fortunate to have been raised
in a good family. Although my family
situation is far from perfect, it is
better than the situations that many,
if not most, in my generation have
encountered I was raised by both of
my natural parents.
I was also very close to all of my
erandDarents. Mv grandmother in
particular was influential in my life.
She, more than anybody else, taught
me about Christian values and the
difference between right and wrong.
My dad deserves a lot of credit because
he took me to church and Sunday
school at a very young age. I also
identified strongly with my grandfather.
I would say he and my Dad
were my strongest role models.
The one part of the family experience
I have always missed out on
was the extended family; aunts, uncles
and cousins. Because I don't have
any first cousins and almost all of my
second and third live in South Carolina,
Texas and Augusta, Ga., I have
always felt like an outsider. Most of
"iSaifcock B
Student Media Russell House-USC* Co
Lee Clontz Allison Williams |
Editor in Chief Features Editor
Susan Goodwin Jimmy DeButts i
Viewpoints Editor Sports Editor
Steven C. Burritt Kim Truett
Copy Desk Chief Photo Editor
Keith Boudreaux Ethan Myerson
News Editor Graphics Editor
Lupe Eyde Erin Galloway
Features Editor Asst. 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.
' A ti i? '
The Gan
track
'ince 1908
n Goodwin, Viewpoints Editor
Board
yde, Steven C. Burritt,
, Kim Truett
DS
lises awareness for
need for education V
ed vest.erdav and AIDS Awareness
f a S.C. kindergarten teacher due to
ically timely. That South Carolina is
as a surprise to anyone. For the stulentary
School in Goose Creek, howleath
was only overshadowed by the
; she kept with her to the end.
idler's illness has prompted a few and
her silence as well as the hygienic
libers of the community express symrance
of facts about AIDS only serves I
held her tongue and suffered alone.
told people about her condition, if for W
t during her time of need. Her exam- I
have been used to help students deal ^
pie. Tolerance of a person's hardship
rid with lots of heartaches,
m to admit she had AIDS. That parlights
a basic shortcoming in our soshould
about AIDS. Such ignorance ^
t close to those who need comfort the
ke the time to leam the truth about
1 how hugging a person infected with
lid be alot better off if we each learned
e, not hate.
idents don't have to be taught about
re learned about it firsthand.
)s alive and ^
iksgiving
my cousins know each other quite i
well, but they hardly know me at all.
On Thanksgiving, I spent the day
at my cousin's house in Augusta Many
of my grandmother's relatives were
there. This was the third-straight
year we spent Thanksgiving with
them. This year, I felt as if I really
knew these people. I felt comfortable
and had fun.
On Saturday I went to Summerton,
where my deceased grandparents
lived, for a family reunion. About t
70 of my grandfather's relatives were ^
there. We had a great time. It was
fun watching the FSU-Florida game ^
in an equally divided room (all the
Clemson fans were pulling for FSU,
and all of the Carolina fans were
pulling for Florida). We all talked (
about sports, school, work: the usual
stuff. One of my cousins mentioned ]
he had read a few of my articles in ^
The Gamecock. Thus, the forbidden
topic of politics had been raised. Al- \
though we were divided 50/50 on foot- <
ball, we found unity in politics. Eveiy- 1
one seemed to be of the conservative i
viewpoint so, as you can imagine, I
felt quite comfortable.
Another great thing about the <
family reunion was the devotional of- 1
fered by my cousin Jackson. He point- <
ed out what has made the Touchbeny 1
family and its descendants so great:
faith in God and commitment to fam- 1
ily. That statement pretty much sums
up the whole reason I am active in
politics. I want to promote political
policy that will allow families to pros- |
per by allowing our children to leam
about and experience a faith in God
and by encouraging parents to be responsible
for themselves and their
children.
Also, I enjoyed talking with my 1
cousin Shawn, who had just finished
srViml at f!lemsnn Tt. was interesting
to hear about the similarities and differences
between life and Clemson
and USC. We both had fun playing
around with our little cousin Steven,
who was five years old and and had
more energy than that bunny in the
Energizer commercials. He kept going
and going and going. I would like
to end this little account of my Thanksgiving
weekend by saying it is great
to be part of a family that has such
great values! So thafs where they get
that family values thing from!
Tommy Touchberry is a marketing
junior. His column appears every
Friday.
_ Chris Carroll
. lll-IIZO Director of Student Media
tisinp: 777-4249 i r???
o Jbiiui a l/uj
777-6482 Creative Director
lumbia, SC 29208 JiAmI?reen
Art Director
Robert Wertz Gregory Perez
Asst. News Production Asst.
Wendy Hudson Elizabeth Thomas
Asst. Copy Desk Adv Graduate Asst.
Tanja Kropf Rencc Gibson
Asst. Copy Desk Marketing Director
Ryan Wilson Christopher Wood
Asst. Sports Asa. Advertising Manager
Jason Jeffers Erik Collins
Cartoonist Faculty Advisor
Letters Policy
The Gamecock will try to print all letters reoeived.
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 333.
The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for
style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will no<
be withheld under any circumstances.
necock VIEWP0II
~n ^
r&op/e Mo Hi
SPORx<^\
R?FE&EE? \
iuoteunquote
"Students mal
Kelly Peart express
Biggest shoppii
Well, I know I wrote about shopping last week, bul
ifter Thanksgiving break, I couldn't help but revisil
he subject.
You see, my mother awakened me at about 7 o'docl
he morning after Thanksgiving to go shopping.
Now, if you're not familiar with the retail possi
)ilities of the day after Thanksgiving, let me fill yoi
n. It's the biggest shopping day of the year, mainlj
>ecause people blew their year-long diets the day be
ore and figured, "Hell, I might as well clean out th<
>le' checking account while Fm at it."
Stores are opening progressively earlier on Turkey
[)ay Plus One, and they're making more and more ad
/ertisements for their 6 a.m. sales every year.
Our newspaper delivery boy drove up in a tractor
;railer and lowered our newspaper's advertising in
serts with a forklift on Thanksgiving morning, and m;
iamily spent the day plotting our assault on sale afte
sale.
The sales are the attractive draw for Turkey-Day
Plus-One shoppers. Stores offer 75 percent off to al
:ustomere who anive at the doors at 1 a.m., free break
fast biscuits and coffee for early shoppers, and cot
autside so people can just camp out for the store's open
ing.
I'm still not sure, however, how my mother man
ages to talk me into wading through crazed holida;
shoppers eveiy year. If it were a holiday and I were ii
Columnist finds
Jeffrey Dahmer was killed Monday by his fellov
nmates in Wisconsin. It couldn't have happened to j
nicer guy. Although murder is usually a terrible thing
taxpayers have one less expense on their hands.
I think his death brings about an interesting sit
nation. Instead of paying for convicted murders, rapist
and other dregs of society to live out the rest of thei
days in a cell, let them fight among themselves.
With prisons overpopulated as it is and the reluc
tance of governmental officials to actually tultill tn
death penalty, this solution would be a benefit to ever)
one involved. The death row inmates are just waitinj
to die anyway, and to me, that's more cruel and ur
usual than them serving justice.
Let the inmates have a competition. Instead of pre
viding television for them, make them earn it. Put a
those sentenced to life in prison or to death in a roor
with a few broomsticks, lock the doors and come bac
a few hours later. The ones that can make it out ca
have TV privileges for a week. They would have t
earn this treat weekly, of course.
What could a few broomsticks and coffins cost coir
dirmlH toQnildvc VI
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"No, because I don't think th
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it inhibits their teaching, t
f? ^now- ^ n?t? it would be s<
P^Mp^K disclose at their own discrete
NTS Friday, December 2, 1994
7AMECOCK Hoi-lDM SPEC
we Earned /1 S.
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<e the school what it is, not visitors who ati
ing displeasure over his wife missing class because the BA
ttg day of year al
~f9| CHRIS MULDROW
1 Columbia, I wouldn't see the light of day until at least
f 2 p.m. Instead, I was in the car listening to far-toohappy
Noel tunes before the sun had risen.
What surprised me, too, is that at 7:30 a.m., the
stores were already overran with bai-gain hunters. We
? cruised around the mall parking lot like vultures poised
r to perch on any parking space we could plunder. It
made the "vulture lot" in front of the library look like
a kid's Matchbox Car parking lot.
Once we found our spot (two spaces away from the
V door... of course, it took two hours to find it), I took
r great delight in walking from inside the mall out to
the car with packages, acting like I was ready and willing
to drive away and open some prime pavement re1
al estate. I'd pop the trunk, put the packages inside,
get in the driver's seat, sit for about a minute, get back
s out, lock the doors and go back in the mall. The line
of care waiting on the parking spot only tried to run
me over once or twice.
One sporting goods store we visited was giving
y away coupons with a rub-off savings amount. You'd
ri
food for thought ii
! JIMMY DEBUTTS
r pared to the costs of paying for a man to live in prison
for 50 years. There would also be less danger of escaped
murders on the loose. Let's face it, if someone
e has been convicted of brutally murdering someone
else, what are the chances of him rehabilitating?
Now I'm not suggesting we do this the day after
1 they are sentenced; they should get their appeals. But
to wait 10 to 20 years to put them to death is crazy.
U The families of the victims continue to suffer while
n the inmate gets a free ride.
k Make that free ride one into a dark room and serve
n justice, not delay it. People complain that inmates are
o living in cramped quarters and not treated well. I say
good. They are not in jail to party. Excuse me if 1 m
l- wrong, but they should have to suffer a little, espeave
to disclose if the}
ieir students are at any 2 "No. 1
not really the students' mtivith
Hobson Powell
Journalism freshman ' j
he students have a right "I thii
Dmething they'd want to *n^er?
Shawn Saulsbenry
Computer science senior , f
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tend luncheons."
parking lot was closed
Iso biggest pain
pick your purchases and take them and your card to
the front. The cashier would rub off your card and see
how much you'd save. My dad and I went through the
door a couple of extra times, so we had about 10 cards
for the cashier to rub off. (Unfortunately, she wouldn't
let us add up the percentages. The store would've owed
us money.)
I think the main reason I go on these trips is to
point out to my parents what they should buy me for
1 l /? 1 il 1 . /Ti>. T\ m J T
unnstmas ana ror my Dirtnaay. uis uec. io, ana i expect
a card from every single one of you. And if anyone
sends me a "How to Write Humor Columns for the
Criminally Stupid" book, I just want you to know Fve
got two of them already and don't need another, thank
you very much.)
I point at things, smile and say, "Gosh, gee, golly,
that Porsche would be nice under the tree." My parents
always laugh joyfully and put coal in my stocking.
Unfortunately, I always forget to actually buy anyone
any presents on these trips. I guess Fll be making
paper snowflakes and construction-paper cards for the
parental units and my brothers again this year. Of
course, I could go mall-hopping in Columbia again ...
Chris Muldrow is a journalism senior.
His column appears every Friday.
ii Dahmer's death
daily if they were convicted of rape or murder. You
broke the law, don't complain about having to serve
time.
Take out all the luxuries that prisoners get: TV,
weight room and basketball. Make prison a bad place
to be in so they won't want to return. With my plan,
they wouldn't get a chance for parole after serving 20
yeai-s of a life sentence.The prisoners would really get
to feel the way their victims felt, but to many, that
would be cruel and unusual punishment. Five words:
my heart bleeds for you. Don't do the crime if you can't
do the time or take the punishment.
If you want to cut down on overpopulation, use the
Dahmer technique. Don't build new prisons. Why
should convicts get a new home when all over the country
innocent people are sleeping on the streets? Pack
the bad people together, let them fight if they must
and just buy enough body bags. Problem solved. Let
me know if vou need someone to organize one of these
in Union.
Jimmy DeButts is a journalism junior.
ir are HIV-positive?
Fhey're here to teach. There shouldn't be any acjs
where it is possible to contract the disease.
3 a matter of privacy."
Kristie Harris
Chemical engineering freshman
ik the administration should know. If they are
icting with children, I think the parents should
n
Kym Harper
Journalism senior