Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Gair 'iBaflfeock Serving USC Since 1908 Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief Matt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor Editorial Board Lucy Arnold, Jamie Clark, Erin Galloway, Stephanie Sonnenfeld, Allison Williams, Larry Williams, Ryan Wilson Incorrect Priorities Student housing problem indicates lack of planning, concern A half-erected parking garage stands overlooking Blossom street The basketball practice facility likewise stands in a nascent stage in the front of the Coliseum. Preston Residence Hall has been transformed into one of the finer places to five on campus (due to the large amounts of university funding dedicated to its renovation). Meanwhile, residents of Sims awake to water dripping on their heads and the noises of construction filling their ears. Another 84 students are either acting as the third wheel in a two-person room, living in residence hall lounges, or making due in guest housing. This leaves one to wonder if solutions to the problems that the university faces are being prioritized correctly. Granted, funds and labor have been devoted to seemingly worthwhile causes that should benefit the university in the long run. However, the problem of student housing is a far more pressing problem than the lack of parking or the lack of a basketball practice facility, and requires a far more urgent solution. One is also left to wonder whether or not prior planning is a skill that the higher powers posses, and if so, whether or not students are considered during this planning. " 'J 1?r?_i l 4-1? , Aitnougn tne summer pruviu?? uiuy a icw snui i luuuuia iui uuupuD renovations, it seems highly improbable that university official were blind to the fact that having roofs on the residence halls is a necessity. A feasible solution might have been to divert attention from other projects to the more pressing matter of reroofing the residence halls. In order to give credit where it is due, the university is making plans to improve the housing situation. Maxcy will be renovated and used to house Honors College freshmen. A new residence hall will be constructed near the Blossom garage as well. ^ Nonetheless, with the destruction of Baker and Burney residence halls imminent, the solution to the problem lies a year or two ahead. Does this facilitate a learning environment? Will this help to draw either in-state or out-of-state students? Does this make Carolina a better place to be, one in which we should have pride? Ask the powers that be. And keep asking. I I c c k Liberal torch to be : carried by friend C I During the previous two DAVID HALLER years, my friend Byron Columnist James held the position of t ; 1 token Democratic colum- i _ -J s -_# 1J X 1.! msc, ana aunng mat nme, ? Okay, let's get it out in the open, 33 331*0 33 the sun rises. 5 straight from the top: I am a Demo- . . . ST. and I have a yellow dog. *>meOOe WOtrtd always , For some of you this is not a new write in screaming mad ( piece of information: you've been lis- about ItOW wrong He was. j tening to me spew forth my rhetoric , for five years now. Some of you don t sometimes I'll write about stuff at care. And for a sizeable hunk of you, school, and sometimes Fll just decry 1 this is an insult. Republican politics. i During the previous two years, Now, if you disagree with some- i my friend Byron James held the po- thing that I write, I encourage you sition of token Democratic colum- to voice your frustration through letnist, and during that time, as sure ters to the editor. But if you do write as the sun rises, someone would al- a response, please make it substan- | ways write in screaming maa aoout tive. That is, if 1 write a column fahow wrong he was. voring Affirmative Action, and you Republicans always seem theat- disagree with mv ODinion. write about ened by Democrats, mostly because why Affirmative Action should be they have been able to paint a pic- ended ture of flaming radicals trying to Please don't waste people's time ! teach children ungodly things. Fear talking about how l should be ig_ has worked them. nored because I think President ClinStill, I believe the message of the ton wjd be re-elected (which I do) Democratic Party is, generally, the am] don't believe in the omnipotence best for our nation. That message of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limdwindles down to a few themes: baugh (which j don't). it subtracts All people are equal, reagard- from the debate, blurs valid decisionless of race, gender, national origin, making, and demeans the political religion, and, yes, sexual orientation, process. Americans, as a society, have My goal with this column is sima responsibility to help each other. ple: to encourage an open discussion Government can effectively pro- by educating people on important isvide opportunities for, and improve, sues fom a Democratic perspective, people s lives. I hope you willjoin the debate. ' Pe?pl?havtla nght t0 ma^e ^ for my yellow dog (his name choices based on their own morals, .. Sii|lv> wpl] _ he iuat , values, and traditions. "T ~ * " * ; ;?' My columns will, in one form or s e? Ps' Ps' 1 es a ey^rJ ^.in?' another, reflect these themes, Some- d pees on my carpel-kind of like times ru write about national issues, my friend Byron. News: 777"7726 E,hi^MSrn I MnLCDfR Advertising: 777-4249 Ryan Sims XL>aM I IVWJd\ FAX: 777-6482 Online Editor Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 Chris Carro11 Director of Student Media ' Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold j Martha Hotop Laura Day ] Editor in Chief Stephanie ! Tina Moraan Creative Director Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld Asst. News JefT A. Breaux I ] Viewpoints Editor Features Editors Ben Pillow Ait Director Chris Winston Larry Williams Chris Dixon Gregory Perez Copy Desk Chief Rvan Wilcnn Asst' Fcaturcs Design Editor Erin Galloway Sports Editors Robbie Meek Kim Golden Allison Williams Jamie Clark Asst Spans Asst Advertising Manager News Editors Photo Editor Jason Jeffers Erik Collins Keith Boudreaux Caitoornsl Faculty Advisor Circulation Manager UttOfS Policy The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of Smith Carolina and is published daily during the fall and The Gamecock wtll try to print all letters recetved. spring semesters, with the exception of university holidays Letters should be 200-250 words and must include full and exum periods. name, professional title or year and major if a student. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors Letters must be personally delivered by the autHor to or author and not those of the University of South Carolina. xhe Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is ... ..... , the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for Media is its parent organization. style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances. -VIEWjjW rfflW Act 1U0TE UNQUOTE "I woke up Satu It was only So WARNING: No Welcome back, all of you Summertonally-Enlanced persons for yet another year of unconvenional wisdom (unconventional, if you're from up lorth, that is). This summer, on a trip to the Grand Strand, I loticed some Southernly Deficient visitors discussing the local gentleman scene as old ladies in Summerton (pop. 975) discuss "The Days of Our jives". In essence, they described all Southern nen as "rednecks." They then stopped me and asked ne where they could get a bottle of "pahp." Now this, I have to clear up. Lumping all Southirn men into one group is not fair; nor is it correct. Southern men should be divided into two groups: southern Gentlemen and Kednecks. Southern Gentlemen and Rednecks have some similarities. Fore instance, both would rather listen to Mason and Dixon on WCOS than Howard Stern, but that's about where it stops. To illustrate, a Southern Gentleman will hold he door for a lady, allowing her to go first. A Redleck will kick the joker down and say, "That's one loor that ain't gonna be hittin' your sweet backside.'' Both men love to hunt. However, while the Southern Gentleman loves to hunt game such as ieer, dove, and turkey, a Redneck will shoot anything that moves whether there is a season for it 3r not. On a date, a Southern Gentleman will woo his female companion with a bottle of champagne, a magnificent meal at one of the South's finest dining establishments, and a brisk nightcap before Columnist cites We've had over a week to reflect on the sudden, and not altogether unexpected, end of Shannon Faulkner's attempt to breach The Citadel. Outside South Carolina the story seems to be fading away quickly, but her dwindling supporters are still nutting up a brave front. Her attorneys claim that they have other women who can step into Shannon's shoes and continue the fight. This is great spin, but the reality is that making it a class action suit at this stage is unlikely, and one cannot simply switch plaintiffs in a lawsuit. Once Miss Faulkner dropped out her own case became moot. The lawsuit will probably continue with the Justice Department as the plaintiff. One can hardly blame the attorneys ? without a living, breathing plaintiff they stand to lose a cool $5,000,000 in legal fees they had expected to collect from The Citadel and South Carolina tax payers. The lesson for the lawyers: if you want your filly to run with the stallions, make sure she's a thoroughbred. Another woman undoubtedly could have met the requirements ? a woman graduated at the top of the class at West Point last year (men and women have different physical qualifications but the character and academic standards are the same). The ability of women in general has never been the issue at The CitadeL It only became an issue because Shannon Faulkner was so woefully, and visibly, unprepared. Miss Faulkner's lawyers gave her the opportunity but, reminding us of her lawsuit to join her tiigh school football team, she fumbled the ball. Shannon Faulkner was more than just physi? 1 " rm /-*! j 3 .1 T J 3 _1 zany unpreparea ior i ne uuaaei. inaeea, sne was never tested physically ? she faltered before she 2ven had to do her first pushup. She never had the moral, spiritual and ethical fiber required of a cadet ? in short, she lacked character. Her motives were not pure. She might have been admirable had she truly wanted to join The Citadel, not merely to show up as a political symbol, but to revel in its traditions and values. She never felt the thrill of step ITS Wednesday, August 30,1995 V I irday with water leaking on my head. It wasn'1 on one side of the room, but then it started t< phomore Mary Huffstetler on the leaking Sims Hal t all Southern me fTj DREW STEWART ly ij l Columnist CJ gently kissing her "Goodnight." fr A Redneck will show up at the girl's house with ^ a six pack of Old Milwaukee, take her to Hardee's ^ to cruise the parking lot, and spend the rest of the night in the back of the "Love Machine." A Southern Gentleman will spend some of his ^ leisure time hitting golf balls at the driving range, n while a Redneck spends his time hitting golf balls a through the windows of vacant houses. k A Southern Gentleman will read and often quote b the writings of Faulkner and O'Conner, while a Red neck will read and often quote the writings found p on the bathroom wall at the local filling station, a1 A Southern Gentleman is well-versed in etiquette ir and chivalry, while a Redneck considers people who s] always have to wear their shirts at the dinner table fo "uppity." w Both men like to fish. However, while the Southern Gentleman may know where to find the biggest bass, it is the Redneck who knows the spots with j the fewest game wardens "snoopin' around." Southern Gentleman prefer to be entertained at social gatherings with other gentlemen in the com- ^ pany of their lady friends. A Redneck, on the other 0] hand, is just as happy sitting at home alone with a a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon watching reruns of "The si Beverly Hillbillies" he's seeing for the seventeenth ; lessons learned 1 STEPHEN SAMUELS j-j C^upct CnLumnist I 1 1 fc ping onto the famous quad and sensing the ghosts q of the great men who had gone before, of feeling her r pulse quicken with the sheer exhilaration of know- ^ ing that this was a place of manly virtue. She was deluding herself. She expressed surprise at the spontaneous celebration by the Corps ^ of Cadets after her departure. How could this be ^ ? after they had shielded her from photographers, ^ after her drill instructors had complimented her progress, after the oft-feared harassment had failed ^ to materialize ?she wondered? Never having understood The Citadel, perhaps being morally incapable of such understanding, she P didn't realize that such behavior is part and parcel 1 of The Honor Code. Nobody could make the cadets " truly like or respect someone attacking their venerated institution (except Shannon herself if she n had shown some character), but The Honor Code, so ridiculed by Faulkner's lawyers, had strength c and influence such that the cadets treated her with s honor and respect, if not warmth, while she was 0 enrolled there. 3 The lesson for political activists: purity of heart 8 i *i > .i ii i 1< ? aiming to Duna sometning up, ratner man tear it down ? will win every time. 0 The genie is out of the bottle; feminist organi- c zations will try again, no doubt with a qualified can- s didate next time, and the ultimate issue will be, ^ necessarily, resolved by the Supreme Court. d Let's make one thing clear though, the issue is 11 not as simple and obvious as it seems at first glance. c The media, and Shannon Faulkner's erstwhile supporters, characterize this as simply an equal op- t portunity gender-discrimination case ? the obvi- c ous next step after ending racial segregation. Sure- v ly, they say, no reasonable person could oppose such r a noble goal. c The real issue is much more complicated and c much more subtle. Simply put: Do the people of a e 5 t pleasant... > spread." I :n are the same me. The Southern Gentleman chooses to dress boldyet conservatively, while the Redneck chooses his othes from the finest truck stops and flea markets e can find. A Southern Gentleman takes pride in making is barbeque the way his family has been making for generations, while the Redneck enjoys makig moonshine "the way grandmaw made it." A Southern Gentleman may have an elongated, restigious name such as "Joseph Hamilton Laumce Manning Cantey, IV", while the Redneck has name such as "Joe Billy Cantey", but prefers to e called "Bubba" because that is what is on his belt uckle. A Southern Gentleman prefers to give his comanionship to a nice Southern lady who has been warded a Phi Beta Kappa key, has been well-versed i etiquette and has all the charm a Southern woman lould. A Redneck likes any woman who as all of er teeth, who knows how to fish off a bridge, and ho can name all of the WCW wrestlers better than preacher can rattle of the Ten Commandments. While the differences between Southern Genemen and Rednecks can form a list from here to lobile, they both agree on one thing: they would oth rather be from the South than anywhere else n the planet. And you can bet your Grandfather's ntique pocket watch (or Grandadd/s stuffed posiim, depending on your situation) on that one. torn Faulkner ate have the right to choose diversity in their ed latiunai iiiisuiuuuiio aaa uiuta w ^av/viuv u ^KWi fe for their citizens? There is no question The Citadel and VMI work irmen. Their graduates are particularly successful 1 their careers (40% of South Carolina's CEOs are itadel men) and their family lives (lower divorce ates than graduates of coed colleges). The argulent has been advanced that this success is due to 3me "old boy network" which women are denied ccess to. That's a convenient answer, but if fails 3 address why Carolina and Clemson, also stateonded colleges, don't have similar success and simar networks. The real answer is that The Citadel experience jrges iron will and steely determination to succeed, t does this because it has grafted a tough, discilined, military-style all-male format onto a tradiional liberal arts curriculum. Note that there is o clamor to install a mandatory corps of cadets ere at Carolina where the enrollment is much, luch larger than The Citadel's. The Citadel works because it addresses the peuliar weaknesses that men are prone to. Men have - ?:n l:_i J ..i. a u: igliiiiCcilitiy liiguei urupuut xaics, xugiici mtaieration rates, and higher rates of alcoholism, drug buse and suicide than women. The Citadel's proram is uniquely situated to address these probjms so particular to men. The Citadel has the secnd-highest graduation rate for black men of any ollege in the United States. These are things we hould care about. Where there are real differences letween men and women, and recognizing those [inferences can make our society better, we should lot blind ourselves with abstract, absolutist priniDles of mediocre uniformity. A final real world consideration: there are eightyhree women's colleges in this country. Only one if those does not receive government funding. A ictory for Shannon Faulkner, or her stand-in, will nean the end of the benefits of single-gender eduation for women as well as for men. It's pretty larn selfish of those of us who chose to attend cok! institutions to deny others that choice.