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nSaf Serving USC Lee Gontz, Editor in Qiief Su: EdKorla Keith Boudreaux, Lupe Jimmy DeBut Sunday sale Blue laws no longer apj. Head, Charleston right In Hilton Head and Charleston Coi a new day for many South Carolin tail locations on a day that previoi freedom results from a vote taken in 1 the sales. It's not surprising the anst mative. Election day was a mandate in m servatism about which we've heard so ers sent another message that was he a few doors, and liquor cabinets. Religious traditions aside, there i should not be allowed to be sold on S\ anyone from drinking to the excess. It six-packs the night before. It doesn't p or prevent drunk drivers from hittinj dulge in the fruits of the vine, there ar that closing the liquor stores for 24 he People should have enough self-contr isn't the S.C. government's fault. Blue laws have been a prevalent ] sure. Now, years later, if s not hard to ders is being questioned. Slowly but su day store hours earlier and earlier. A1 another step in this process of taking to life as we know it today. That socii shouldn't really come as a surprise to plicable as they were 50 or 100 years i either. Hilton Head and Charleston had 1 of a law that bans the selling of alcohol to a vote. The affirmation that the vol only proves that more places around t rectly affect change by banning the bj izens can do is take a good hard look i that govern it. See if the two match u] Tree barely trip home f ASHLEY qBALL t I went home last weekend to help my family pick out a Christmas tree. And you should see it?whafs left of it, I mean. It would make Charlie Brown proud. But we didn't buy it that way. Here's what happened. I was standing at Long and Woodley's checkout with my mom and little sister, Laura, and the prettiest, most perfectly-shaped tree in the lot. Finally, it was our turn to pay, and the salesman tied the tree to the rack on top of our suburban. So far, so good. As we turned onto 1-77 for the drive home, my mom instinctively switched from 103.1 to a station playing Christmas carols. It was muzak on wheels, but the mood in our car turned festive as Laura began singing ?1 4-1,^ aiung w 11*11 mc uaiiuug uug vingi^ Bells" song. Outside, the air was crisp ... like Christmas. As we pulled into our driveway, we were excited. My mom was instructing me and Laura on getting the decorations out of the attic. As she chattered on about the decorations, she reached up to punch the button the garage door opener above her visor. I froze as I realized the terrible catastrophe that was about to befall our beautiful tree. Suddenly, my mom's decorating instructions were punctuated with loud crunching, scraping sounds overhead as we skimmed right under the raised garage door. "Oh no... the tree!" my mom wailed as she threw the gear shift into reverse and flattened the gas petal. There were more loud crunching, cracking sounds from above as we shot back out of the garage. Getting out of the suburban, we surveyed the situation. Our beautiful tree that had been on top of the suburban was now in front of the suburban. In fact, it was "?affcock ? Student Media Russell House-USO C I Lee Clontz i Allison Williams | Editor in Chief | Features Editor Susan Goodwin Jimmy DeButts Viewpoints Editor Sport* Editor Steven C. Burritt Kim Truett Copy Desk Chief Photo Editor Keith Boudreaux Ethan Myerson New* Editor Graphic* 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 i* the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is its parent organization. (cock ".Since 1908 san Goodwin, Viewpoints hditor il Board Eyde, Steven C. Burritt, ts, Kim Truett IS )licable to state; Hilton to allow alcohol sales unty, Sunday marked the dawning of ians?the ability to buy alcohol at reiisly shunned such activity. This new )oth places on whether or not to allow ver was overwhelmingly in the affirore ways than the push towards conmuch. For two areas of the state, votsard and answered simply by opening are no plausible reasons why alcohol inday. Such a restriction doesn't stop ; doesn't stop anyone from stockpiling irevent underage alcohol consumption z the streets. If someone wants to in e far too many ways to do it to believe mrs will make a dent in the situation, ol to say no. If they don't, it certainly part of South Carolina's history to be understand that the wisdom of the elirely, stores have started pushing Sunlowing the retail sale of alcohol is just the old and seeing if it really applies aty has changed in the last few years anyone. That some laws aren't as apago shouldn't shock the general public the right idea to question the validity on Sunday and to put such an inquiry ;ers gave toward repealing such a law his state should do the same. If not dims, the veiy least South Carolina citit the society they live in and the laws Psurvives or holidays all over the suburban! The garage door was streaked with green. Limbs were everywhere. The tree's trunk was shaved to the white on one side. My mom was crying and mumbling something about $50. "Don't worry, Mom," Laura consoled, as my mom began sorting poignantly through the limbs. "Ashley and I will tie it back together... it'll be as good as new!" "Ashley and I?" I gulped, surveying the carnage strewn across the garage floor. But after an hour of working and tying, the tree was coming together. Laura and I had gone into the kitchen for a hot chocolate break when we heard the garage door raising. Dad was home. I rushed out to stop him just before his car rolled over what was left of the tree. "I see you got some greenery for the mantle," my dad acknowledged in his cheerful holiday mood. "That's our Christmas tree," I explained. He stopped and cast a sidelong glance at the array of limbs. "What kind of tree did we get this year... a kit?" "You're close," I mused. Anyway, we painted the skinned trunk brown and the shaved branches green and set it up in the corner of the family room. It leans a little to one side and there are still some open spaces where nothing was left but toothpicks to tie back together. But with all the decoration, you can hardly tell the difference. Hey, it may not be as professional looking as a string of multicolored, chasing, triangulartree-shaped Christmas lights in a residence hall window, but it's certainly just as festive. Happy Holidays, and have yourself a merry little tree! Ashley Ball is a journalism freshman. Her column appears every Wednesday. --- Chris Carroll S. I/I-IIZO Director of Student Media ertising: 777-4249 Laura Day A / i /-04oz Creative Director olumbia, SC 29208 Jim Green Ait Director Robert Wertz Gregory Perez Asst. News Production Asst. Wendy Hudson Elizabeth Thomas Ass*' CoPy D"* Adv. Graduate Asst. Tanja Kropf Renee Gibson Asst. Copy Desk Marketing Director Ryan Wilson Christopher Wood Asst. Sports Asst. Advertising Manager Jason Jeffers Erik Collins Cartoonist Faculty Advisor Letters Policy 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 333. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances. Dec. c( i STor 2 f PA/AN H ( i m** yt ' " *MjSl^P^aa QUOTEUNQUOTE r^litifnii^ci ai V11111U11 9 Uj Much has been written and said of the election-day debacle suffered by tl Numerous political pundits and party h? the outcome this way and that, analy voters want and why they want it. A p ers have wondered aloud what Presidei sponse will be and what sort of stratej ploy over the next two years. As far as the voters' message, it is cli less taxes, less spending and more re! emment. They believe that the govemr them, that they're not getting their mon that Democrats like Foley and Rostenk come arrogant, out of touch and intelle While much of this sentiment borders 01 quadi-anarchism, the thrust of it is a < ment of what must be corrected in Wa government refuses to live within its m parties are to blame. The voters are under the impressio is at fault. This is vexing, for the presic admirable gains in addressing the m deficit reduction has been real and impi he was forced to give up his campaign pi die-class tax cut because of his commit reduction. To his dismay and discredit, howe> care debate obscured his hawkishness The fact remains that health care cost trolled in order to control government Clinton plan was seen by the average as a long-term cost saver but as a goverr of the health care system. This image c ton's pedigree as a "New Democrat" ar ty dearly at the polls. One argument reasons that Clinton back, use the veto to block the Republ allow them to shoot themselves in th against the "do nothing" Republican Coi LETTERS SG establis In an effort to combat textbook pricing, Student Government has workec this semester to establish a book ex change over the university Internet com puter system. The exchange will provid< students with the opportunity to con tact others who may be interested ir buying, selling or trading books at bet ter prices than those set by the book stores. The large student population and th< volume of books involved with this pro ject make a student-run book exchang* impractical. Now that the university ha* wired most campus computer labs to th< university's background computer sys tern, putting the exchange on the In temet system makes it accessible to anj student willing to take the time to wall to a campus terminal that is wired int< the backbone computer system. Student! with personal computers and a moden may dial into the university backbon< to gain access. Brochures explaining how to use th< book exchange will be available in mos Shoul< 'Iff : ORI67NAC ?S AIT/WONT CC S+W dNNlVffcSA "The universe is pr< 1974 Nobel Prize Winner Christian de Di ptions open, i late regarding le Democrats. | % icks have spun I * * T ' I zing what the lethora of othlt Clinton's regy he will emThis is what Harry Trumai ear. They want Congress in 1946, squeakir sponsible gov- Given the reactionaiy agen 4. l r *i~ J rsi :_i_ nL:in j neui xias xaxxeu uingncxi, rxixx uriaxxxxxi axxu e/s worth and dictability of the large class owski have be- and the friction between th dually flaccid, and more moderate wings c i paranoia and could pay off for Clinton as 1 cogent assess- to internal strife, ishington: the Another tack might be th eans, and both is, Clinton could work with n as Bob Dole, Nancy Kasseb n that Clinton much like Ike dealt with L lent has made the 1950s. This could bring ajor problem: grams from the center of th -essive. In fad, Clinton says the good ideas edge for a mid- such as campaign, welfare ment to defirit could be dealt with on a bi restoring some public trus /er, the health partisan approach to the Gj on the deficit, this direction, s must be con- Still, I don't hold out mu spending. The strategies. A third alternati American not for the president. The vote iment takeover president should oblige then lestroyed Clin- Republicans' game and ma id cost his par- ments in his state of the ui To favor a balanced-bi should just sit target because sometimes i ican's agenda, run a deficit (wartime or re e foot and run of time because it merely m tigress in 1996. know we need but don't ha\ hes textbook major computer labs that are wired to 1 the university backbone system. The Student Government office in RH 110 ? i i u,. ? will cu2>u 11 avc uiuihuitc avauauic. x lcciac feel free to come by the office for more details. We hope all students will take advantage of this exchange as they buy, sell or trade books in the future. Brian A. Comer Student Body President Jayson Johnson Coordinator, SG Book Exchange History, columnist don't [ tell whole story on Lincoln ) 3 This letter is intended to point out i a common misconception as spotted in 3 Byron James' column in the Nov. 21 issue of The Gamecock. 3 In the closing paragraph of his l ttrnfin/v fViA fAllmirm/t ofamnnf ^a I wilting, tnc luiiUTTiiig otatcuicin 10 1 businesses sell abbath is the Lord's day. I don't drink, le consumption should be at least restSamantha Anderson Biology freshman >usinesses-that's how they make most , Everybody voted for that in Hilton le next election there should be a vote Stephen Altman Biology freshman v can save *pou bility. It will nev islatures are acc >H|l WARF boy will the Ame Columnist To favor te grandfather claui eluded. This will i . (for the wrong rei i did after the GOP took lowing the Ameri ig out reelection in 1948. who stays and w] das of loose cannons like To cut taxes Jesse Helms, the unpre- Clinton can steal of freshman Republicans. good on his middl e staunchly conservative American public )f the GOP, this strategy the tax breaks ai :he Republicans succumb be squeezed a litl be slashed. Welfa le Eisenhower route. That subsidies, Medici i j n i i *ii l i. loaeraie rtepuDiicans sucn cows win aiso na iaum and Richard Lugar This strategy con BJ and Sam Rayburn in ate some liberals, to fruition moderate pro- resolve, demonstr e political debate, where put the GOP on t always come from. Issues If s a risky em i and health care reform or "Eisenhower" partisan basis, perhaps (37%, that is), an t in government. The bi- less is more. One fVFT deal is movement in the people's judg thority. To save ch hope for either of these forth a bold agen ve seems more attractive exposes the insinc :rs have spoken, and the rhetoric, gains hi a. Clinton should play the they want. Of coi ke the following commit- pie a choice betw lion address in January: and they'll choos ldget amendment. It's off- said in 1992 that the government needs to and Clinton wou eession), and it's a waste andates what we alreadv Phil Warf is a l re\ government responsiexchange ov< found: "How can the party of Lincoln sta want to stop and dismantle affirma- bei tive action policies?" He is of course re- his ferring to the Republican party, who experienced a monumental victory as evi a whole in the recent election. to True, Abraham Lincoln emancipat- wi: ed the slaves, giving de jure freedom ins for the first time to blacks. However, I s Mr. James' statement implies that cia Abe himself is an icon of social equali- Lii ty; and therefore, there is an irony an that his own party, be that as it may tio many generations later, wishes to do liv away with many of these programs An designed to facilitate minority equali- tol ty. be< Please allow me to cite Mr. Lincoln tiv himself: "I am not, nor ever have been, in in favor of bringing about in any way be] the social and political equality of the aw white and black races. I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making th< voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people." This I alcohol on Sun< n"Well, I think they shou guess to me it's normal. mon knowledge d( SPecr&TORS FRoi >KCW attend i w ^euNioro... ( HAW HAW } egnant with life." ive in lecture to USQ medical students / < Drtf S c ! I ? i 1 < ' 4 at I rv i itical bide' er pass the states because state legustomed to federal generosity, but rican public love the rhetoric, rm limits, but only if they have no se, i.e., current Congressmembers inensure Congress does the right thing ason) by rejecting term limits and alcan people retain the right to choose ho goes. i while balancing the budget by 1998. the Republicans thunder by making e-class tax cut pledge and giving the the SDendiner cuts it wants. To offset [id balance the budget, the rich can :le tighter and spending will have to re and food stamps is easy, but farm are, social security and other sacred ve to be put on the chopping block, ild limit economic growth and alienbut Clinton would gain respect, show ate responsiveness to the voters and ;he defensive. deavor but better than the "Truman" alternatives. The public has spoken id they've said overwhelmingly that can (and should) certainly question ment on this issue but not their auhis political hide, Clinton must put da that captures the middle ground, :erity of the Republicans' opportunistic m rocnoft nnrl rrivoa tVio rvAimlo wViat 'VWJ/VVWUUUglTVW TW11AV irse, Truman warned, "Give the peoeen a Republican and a Republican, e the Republican every time." They ; a centrist Democrat is even better, Id do well not to forget it. graduate student in government and international studies. 3r Internet itement is one of many that have en swept under the rug of American story. Mr. James, you write a fine column en if I do not necessarily subscribe a portion of your ideas. I do not sh to bicker or to chide you for one stance of not being well-researched, imply think that all persons, espeilly minorities, should be aware that icoln gave only physical freedom, d he would have worked in opposin to any equality programs had he ed to do so. He is one of many great lerican heroes whom we have been d of, with clever omissions, and m taught to revere based on selece facts tossed about like cattle feed our young years. Such heroes are pond reproach to those who are not are of the full story. Under every historical veneer lies s ugly truth. Brian Aaron Brunson Philosophy junior day? ild. I'm from the North. So, I I don't see why not." Andrea Rolfe Marine science freshman respect. It's just kind of comd that on Sunday." Donald Tyler Civil engineering freshman