Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Serving USC i Lee Clontz, Editor in Chief Chi Editorial Erin Galloway, Wendy Hudson, Su Jimmy DeButts, Ryan Wilson, Car: auwwei u the Mag Well, we did it. We gave you the The Gamecock has survived a si we feel like our coverage has been ] changes for the staff, but we believe Hie transition to four issues presi lishing of your campus newspaper. Il the resources and staff to pull that c This newspaper, as with any ne working hard to get it out every da^ in size to deal with the additional ii t-kVtAM /^AflirmAna A/lxray^ioinrr rvmnli piici o, ucoigncio, aurci uomg |a;ujl/h The Gamecock. If you're interested ii paper, come by the office and talk to Shell tell you what's available and | As the summer approaches and e pus, The Gamecock urges you to be c off. If you're being graduated, good and visit USC occasionally. If you'r other year of exciting news and exci We gave you the bird because w news. Next year, well do it again. I: Viewpoint! crazier tin newspapei MULDROW If s the last column of the year, as all my writers have been beating into your heads all week long. I've been forced to read their depressing tear-jerker, year-end, 111never-see-you-again columns all moaV on rl nnw I'vo arnt tn writ.p Tt CV IV j U11U 1XV ?? i ? W gw V w*. a aww mine. Being Viewpoints editor on The Gamecock is an odd job in an already odd environment. IVe been the guy dealing with the controversial stuff like MattHorgan's Marshmallow Peep expose and crowds of New Jersey residents hunting down Drew Stewart for his Yankees in Myrtle Beach column. It never ceases to amaze me what people will write letters to the editor or call about; the only letters I've ever gotten on one of my columns were two letters last year blasting something I wrote that criticized MTV. One of the writers called MTV an "icon of our generation" that I didn't understand. Since that letter, I've set aside a couple of minutes every day to pray to MTV in hopes the "Real World" gods will forgive my indiscretion. It also never ceases to amaze me how people translate the 250word limit on letters into 800-word novels criticizing everything this newspaper, its staff, the university and every president since Millard Filmore have ever done. I've cursed many a letter that bulged the sides of a standard envelope and contained more information than anyone could ever want to know. But when youVe got writers like Fve had this year, you're asking for letters to the editor. I think Tom1 1 _ 1 Ll my lOucnDerry s aouruuii aenes set a new record in letter generation. With Tommy writing for us, The Gamecock can never truly be accused of a strong liberal slant. Pat McNeill also takes up a conservative flag. Pat, also an Armchair Quarterback and an aspiring lawyer, has the ability to get right on the edge of a serious column, then turning it into a treatise or local professional wrasslin'. Byron James, on the other hand is a resident liberal and our in-houst Student Government commenta tor. Byron always hands his col umn in hand-written in blue inl about three minutes before dead tanffcod? s i??rinniz i Jimmy DcButts Editor in Chief Ryan Wlbon Chris Muldrow Sports Editors Viewpoints Editor Kim Truett Carson Henderson Photo Editor Radhika Taiwan! Ethan Myeraon Copy Desk Chiefs Ryan Sims Erin Galloway Graphics Editors Wendy Hudson Gregory Peru News Editors Design Editor Susan Goodwbi Jason Jeffers All toon Williams Cartoonist Features Editors The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published Tuesday through 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 ol South Carolina. The k t rack Since 1908 is Muldrow, Viewpoints Editor Board isan Goodwin, Allison Williams, son Henderson, Radhika Talwani ime and is easy bird four times a week, emester of four issues a week, and pretty good. It's meant quite a few this little "experiment" has paid off. ages an eventual move to daily pubt might be a few years before we get ?ff, but it's definitely on the horizon, wspaper, has a big gang of people f. Tlie staff this year has increased 3sues, but more writers, photograe and editors are always needed at i helping out with next year's newsWendy Hudson, next year's editor, sjet your name. veryone closes up shop around cam:areful as you vacation, work or goof luck, and remember to come back e coming back, look forward to anting times. e care about you and about USC's lave a good summer! s writers in normal - r people line, apologizing profusely. Then there's Nigel Ravenhill, our resident Canadian. Nigel doesn't have the ability to write a column without mentioning either hockey, beer, Canada or beautiful women. He also tends to use words we don't know and write about 300 words more than Faulkner would have if he had been given the same space. Nigel's planning to return to Canada; I have mental visions of him hanging out with the guys from "Strange Brew," drinking beer and wearing funny ski hats. One of the oddest features on my page this semester has been the Cassie Sturkie/Ben Martin column. Cassie has gotten love letters about some of her columns, and other people have complained about some of their columns. All I know is I had to design a new column sig (that little doohickey with the writer's picture in it) to handle two pictures. Scott Kaplan has filled the role of cynic and watchful voice of education graduate student columnist. For some reason, I always forget to put Scott's disk back in the box so he can save his next column, so he ends up hunting me down. Another aspect of the Viewpoints editor's job is to write lead editorials every day...whether you agree with them or not. If there's something controversial, the newspaper's editorial board votes on it On other days, though, there's nothing too big to comment on, so I have to drag out some meaningless drivel like, "Take time to relax during exam crunch week." Some of those lead editorials will surely come bade to haunt me when Fm applying for an important job. But next year, IH be Garnet & Black Quarterly editor, and Viewpoints will be a thing of the past I nope to Still De Dearumait, jruui friendly fuzzy Friday columnist, r but that'll depend on who gets the job. , By the way, if your column or i letter didnt run, if s most likely not because I dislike you or used your ' piece as kindling. We probably just ran out of room. Unless, of course . your letter was more than 25C i words, in which case you should learn to read directions. ___ , Chris Carroll vs: 777-7726 Director of Student Med rertising: 777-4249 Laura Day K: 777-6482 Creative Director Jim Green Art Director Tleff. Harper Elizabeth Thomas Tin. Morgan Ady A$$ Jama Ponct Renee Gibson Asst. Photo Marketing Directo Ben Pillow Christopher Woot Stephanie Sonnenfeld Asst. Advertising Asst Features Manager Larry William. Erik Co|iins Faculty Advisor Keith Boudre.ux ' Circulation Editor Letters Policy Tbe Gamecock will try to print all letters receive Letters should be 200-250 words and must include f name, professional title or year and major if a stude Letters must be personally delivered by the author The Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 333 The Gamecock reserves (he right to edit all letters style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will be withheld under any circumstances. ,0.n?e.ck VlEWjllfal 5 Quote Unquote "We want to show the people of ( Editor to leave 11 It's finally hitting me. This will be the last column I write for The Gamecock. Like most seniors, I've been going through all my "lasts" for several months now. Everything from "the last time 111 register through TIPS" to my last Gamecock published on a Tuesday seem to have taken on an exaggerated significance. a Everything has taken on a surreal quality. v The countdown is on for moving out of campus housing, the end of classes and, most distressing a for me, the end of The Gamecock. p I realize that to many, The Gamecock is a rel- ? atively insignificant part of the day. It's some- e thing to read before class or cut coupons out of or merely to ignore. Some people see The Game- c cock as an enemy, out to destroy every iota of > journalistic integrity, though those individuals i typically define journalistic integrity as the amount of press their organization's fund-raiser received ( in the paper. f The Gamecock isn't perfect. It has a long way s to go before it will be one of the best papers in > the country. But we're working, and working ( hard. > That's perhaps the least understood aspect of ( The Gamecock. There is a crew of some 25 people that works constantly to make this paper what ( it is. And I must say, I'm damn proud of it. 1 For all the late nights, botched relationships, i criticisms (both to my face and otherwise), fights, ] frustrations and errors, I've loved every minute I of my time here. I've had the good fortune to work with the most ' dedicated, marvelous group of people I ever imag- i ined I'd meet. I've made some wonderful friends Alcohol abuse seric Binge drinkers cause , problems in families; as bad as other drug abuse I have reserved my last column this year for a topic I'm very passionate about: alcohol abuse. Almost every college student encounters this prob? ? Ul?, lem. It's one 01 tne mosi pressing socim pruuicma in America today. Drinkers can be classified into three groups: 1. social drinkers (those who drink responsibly) 2. binge drinkers (those who drink to get drunk) 3. alcoholics (those who are addicted) About 60 percent of college students are nondrinkers or social drinkers and pose no threat to society. The other 40 percent are the real prob; lem. Drinking has become such a social norm in J our country that many kids grow up believing alcohol use is a rite of passage into adulthood. Unfortunately, when adolescents begin using alcohol, they often become problem drinkers by the ? time they reach college. In my experience, I have found that most nondrinkers are either religious or health-conscious. Binge drinkers like to offer up excuses for their behavior, e.g., the proverbial, "I'm not hurting anybody else." The facts say otherwise. Binge t. drinking often leads to violent changes in personality, drunken driving accidents, drinking be[ fore work or school, fights, unplanned pregnancies, date rape and sexually transmitted diseases. The simple fact is binge drinkers are likely to cause harm to themselves, their families, their friends and even strangers. # In the long run (according to the American *i. College Health Association), heavy drinking dra"J1 matically increases the risk of liver and heart <0 disease, circulatory problems, peptic ulcers, various forms of cancer and irreversible brain damfor kx age. Binge drinking can eyen cause respiratory ar rs Friday, April 28, 1995 \N9 f*o^t Corr\fneNC /* f*T * /^JHAT X(NO ^ cew*o*i K \ /! ?//< ivwirrU'* I t i " i \ TMFdtf gfcv \ fAn (*\C<t.OpHot*Z ? / V J* V WH&tf'S THf / N^ir *1 fj i Mdahoma City that Americans are concerned, that tti and that we stand behind them." Anwar Abdelsalam, Muslim Student Association le Gamecock for c< BLEE CLONTZ Ben, i Editor in chief helpe ind perhaps a few enemies, but the good times An vill always eclipse the bad. Huds< I've seen The Gamecock go from a three-days- what in mi r i-week paper published with zu-year-oia com- ine mters and a single laser printer to a four-days- duty I t-week paper printed with 10-year-old comput- Just c :rs and a pretty darned nifty production system. As I wish I could take the credit for all of the jy pUj hanges. I can't. None of it would have happened gratec vithout the tireless diligence of a fantastic staff. a Rep They have my most humble gratitude. for My best friends in college have been at The May jamecock. We've all been through a lot togeth- 2ooi sr. Few nights in my life will compare with my ' staff's first issue together, back in August, when ^ ggn ve put together the biggest issue of The Game- j v sock ever published. What I saw that night, and vhat I have continued to see, was the glory of a u sommitment shared. *~u This semester, my staff and I embarked on a mjrand experiment: a four-days-a-week produc- 10 ;ion schedule that, a lot of people said, was a bad staff dea. Now that we've reached the end of the se- our nester, I am sorry to leave, but secure in The doub gamecock's future. keeP I can't begin to thank everyone who has made the A The Gamecock work during my time here, but I g special thanks go to my editorial staff: Erin, Ryan, bye a Sc >us problem on camp TOMMY TOUCHBERRY rest and death. ^ Here are some other startling college campus their statistics provided by the ACHA: Alcohol is in- gerg volved in about two-thirds of all violent behav- ^ave ior, half of all physical injuries, one-third of all emotional difficulties and almost one-third of all &1*011 academic problems. drug Additionally, according to researchers at Bran- ^ejr deis University, 25 percent of American families ^ experience alcohol-related problems, and drinking is a major factor in one-third of all failed mar- theii riages. Alcoholic families also have much higher mak rates of spousal violence, child abuse and other j social problems. Furthermore, an area often overlooked is the a economic cost to society. w1"1^ Besides the obvious increase in health and car regr insurance costs, drug and alcohol abuse impacts cajjj businesses through increased accidents, absen- Q teeism and worker crime. According to a 1994 study by Mission New but! Hope, the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse for 1 in Metro Atlanta was $5 billion a year. (These cong numbers would be similar for South Carolina.) ^ As every research study (as well as common sense) tells us, excessive or abusive drinking caus- ^ es serious physical and social problems. him We have outlawed the use of marijuana and jj^c other drugs for the very same reasons. Abusing alcohol is comparable to using an illegal drug. America must wake up to this fact. We must stand up against alcohol abuse. If everyone in our society who does not abuse alcohol were to publicly oppose it rather than condone it, then the effects would be dramatic. Look at the statistics on illegal drug use after America's "War on Drugs" during the 1980s. Illegal drug use dropped more than 50 percent from 13.7 percent in 1979 to 6.2 percent in 1991. 4 ??? ' r cars, $ it. , A gJU-Koft/* \ f c*Ate ) ftonr J t tl y ?l v'.-. .J / 8 mm ' 5| IS '' ay <J~Z2^5 J ie people are not forgotten oncrete city y, Carson, Radi, Susan, Allison, Kim and and to the assistants: Tina, Tieffa, Stephanie, jarry and James; and to the other folks who * d makes things work: Chris, Laura, Jim, Jason, Keith, Ryan, Ethan and the adverand production staffs, d to my successor and good friend, Wendy )n, I simultaneously envy you and wince at you're about to go through. Being editor of lamecock is the most rewarding, punishing can imagine. Best of luck ?youH be great, lon't get us sued, OK? for USC, I have high hopes for 2UU1. JJaijlication of The Gamecock. A racially inte1 Greek system. A Democrat ? or, at worst, ublican who cares about higher education a governor. (If you think I'm standing up 12, you're sorely mistaken.) 1 hope that by USC will be all that it can be, and every late can walk away from the Coliseum with se of pride, accomplishment and a job. ^ nil miss The Gamecock and USC. But, the e is calling. I guess it's time for this lame to head north to the asphalt pastures and 1 best Yankee impression. The Gamecock crew, you've been the best and the best friends. I'll always remember mes over the past 93 issues, and I have no t that you'll all do well. I'll do my best to in touch without getting in the way. Keep Aaris warmed up for me. fuess there's nothing else to say, except goodnd good luck. ...goodbye and good luck. us, in country sis, parents and the media started to speak gainst the dangers of drug use. le result: a drop in the number of high school rs who have ever tried marijuana from 59 ;nt in 1979 to 32 percent in 1992. nerica's parents and schools must refocus energy on educating children about the dan ' * ' "XT . % and immorality of alcohol abuse, i ou aon i to be religious to oppose alcohol on moral nds because abusing alcohol, like any other , enslaves individuals' minds and destroys souls. chips away at their sense of responsibility, r abilities to be productive citizens, and it es a mockery of virtue, want to make a brief statement about The >lina Spectator controversy. I was asked to e an op-ed article for them, so I obliged. I do et that The Spectator has stooped to name ng. ome of its views might be somewhat extremist, 30 are some of the views of liberals who write rhe Gamecock, The State, etc. Mainstream ervatism believes in limited government and itional values. Those are my beliefs. Jso, President Clinton should be ashamed of self for making the Oklahoma bombing po-1 * knmVvinir ? PrtmicrVi d 1. A 51CR. piSJ'UlU U1U Uic wvtuuiiip t! Have a great summer, and Go Braves! Congratulations to Matt Pruitt for inheriting the Viewpoints page. .. ?