The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 07, 1995, Page 2, Image 2
1
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IBafilcock
Serving USC Since 190S
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
Governor deals
blow to USC
Once again, the current Republican government of South Carolina has
done its best to hinder the growth of education in our state.
Governor Beasley in his infinite wisdom has declined additional funding
for African-American Studies at USC and the USC Law School.
The Governor's refusal probably comes as no surprise to those who are
familiar with his politics. After all, the same man came within inches of
cutting a few million dollars from the USC budget only last year (not to
mention the millions he proposed to cut from other institutions of higher
learning). The cut could have been a detrimental blow to a school already
suffering from limited state funding.
Beasleys statement implied that if USC wants to prioritize AfricanAmerican
Studies then money should be drawn from internal sources to
fund them This statement is similar in nature to last Year's suggestion
that USC make internal cutbacks and "trim fat" within the institution in
order to survive the budget cut.
Beasley and his regime are quick to place the responsibility on institutions
of higher learning instead of making a stand for education. The current
Republican leaders would much rather get behind a more worthy cause,
such as making minimal reductions in property tax (while the state's education
system suffers).
Should we send a letter to the State House reminding the Congress that
USC is still a "state institution," even though the minimal support received
from the state makes this term laughable?
Can lightning strike twice? Last year's student outcry made an impact.
Anyone for another round?
Summerton deers, doves
watch out for hunters
This Saturday was the biggest T^uTctciuadt
day of the year in Summerton Uncw olcWAHl
(pop.975). No, George Jones did not Columnist
crane to town. Nor did Laurence Man- L_
ning Academy play Charleston Hall home due to the more than obvious
in football. Folks, Saturday was the difference in I.Q. between the deer
first day of the hunting season in ^ ^ Rimini locals>
Clarendon County. Hunters are some of the most
1 here won t be sate deer or doves u^que people in the world. Whole
anywhere near Summerton Eveiy Uves center around the first Saturmatem
the entire county will be wak- day in September so the weekly liting
up at the crack of dawn from now ual can begin
until January to put his shotgun to The ritual begins about 5:30 in
practice. the morning. The hunter puts on his
I love to hunt However, I am not atrire of choice, usually camouflage
obsessed with it like many other ^ mture ^ huDter ^ icka
huntere are. I know some guys back W8 tru3t fi usually named
home who would rather hunt than .Qr Bets/ or ?Jethr ? md ^
f } one (W "ho missed his Us pickup truck and heads t0 the
first child being born becmise the fjgfd
doves were flying good Believe it or not, there is a big
Many a relationship has been , . , , ,. 1
, , j , , ,. T difference between deer hunting and
broken up due to hunting season. I , , ,.
wouldn't be surprised if Eve had dovehuntmg.
somethingtosaytoAdamaboutit. , ^ order to hunt deer, you have
Hunting in general is a positive ?s quiet as the preacher's son
thing, except where the deer and chu"L ADdetc^plck,up SOUIld
doves are concerned. I would rather fafr Pafkwuood UP f;
be a piece of chocolate at a Weight ^es.You ^ve * be<*reful
Watchers meeting than game in to rover your Kent, or else the deer
Clarendon County. I believe ifs safer "D catch wind of your B.O.
to hitchhike through Miami wear- However, a dove shoot is more
ing brand new Nike shoes than it is i^f a Party' ^en congregate in the
s._ i j . c field like old ladies at a sewine cir
lu ut; a utrer i uiiiin in near ouiiiiiicr- "
ton on a Saturday morning. de'md usuaUy discuss footbaH and
If God ever decides to get back at tell dirty jokes,
me, he can bring me back as a dove. A11 to ,m e. , g^ering more
More doves die in Clarendon Coun- exciting, there is always someone
ty each year than cans of beer get who drives around the fields in a
consumed at Tally Ho. pickup truck with a cooler full of beer.
I have more sympathy for deer The afternoon usually ends with
than I do doves. At least deer try to afew arguments over who shot the
avoid being killed. Doves rank right most doves. It's amazing how draup
there with horses and Clemson matically the numbers given decrease
fans on the intelligence ladder. 88 the local game warden drives up.
A dove will fly right across the For the next few weeks, I'll be
field in front of you while you sit there waiting like a buck waits for soywith
something that can end his life beans for Saturday to roll around,
in a split second. And the thing is, At that time, I will be hitting the
seeing most of his friends die does- fields of Clarendon County, knocknt
thwart him. Telling a dove to stay ing a big hole in the deer and dove
out of a hunting field is like telling population,
a dog to quit drinking out of a toilet. D.S. Joke of the Week: Q) Why
On the other hand, deer will out- does Columbia have stifling heat and
navigate you through the woods. On mosquitoes while Berkley, Califormore
than one occasion, deer have nia, has liberals and hippies? A) South
outsmarted humans. Some of the Carolina had first pick,
world's oldest deer call Rimini, SC,
I
News: 777*7726 El3T
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VL/Ul I ItUlllV FAX: 777-6482 online Editor
Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 D^Jo'rd
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Keith Boudreaux Cartoon*, Facuity Advisor
Circulation Manager Letter# Policy
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PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS
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MTV hides biased aj
Beginning a new school year, and a new fall,
it is appropriate to get things started off on the right
foot. So I'll begin by saying something that is long past
due - the MTV generation sucks.
It might be a little blunt, but the aforementioned
is the sentiment of many people other than myself.
Disgusting, non-realistic shows and obvious one-sided
political agendas have reduced MTVs credibility to
zero, and there appears to be no end in sight as we
head into cyberspace, a corporate world, and the next
century.
MTV is likely the most popular, and easily the most
revolutionary, telemachine in the world. Spanning
the globe, MTV is watched by millions. One could come
to the conclusion that, with such a mass of viewers
(primarily young), MTV would have quite a bit of control
over the thoughts, beliefs, and opinions of a large
segment of society.
The problem is, MTV has exercised more than their
share of control over young people who have yet t o develop
their own sense or perception of the world. MTV,
with their liberal agenda and biased "news," has indoctrinated
viewers with a one-sided viewpoint which
proves that the music television monster itself epitomizes
the term "narrow-minded" - a term that they
often pin on others whose views don't necessarily correspond
with their own.
First off, don't write this off as just another conservative,
right wing perspective - if MTV bombarded
viewers with right-wing bombast, this assault would
still be on. The point is that MTV, with their so called
"American" ways, represent a totally un-American
side to television media and programming.
In the 1992 presidential campaign, MTV became
a key player in the race for presidency between Republican
George Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton.
With the slogans "Choose or Lose" and "Rode the Vote,"
Government shou
Americans may have more opinions about family
values than any other major theme. Everyone is concerned
about how America's children are being reared.
In fact, people look to blame someone when a dysfunctional
person commits some heinous crime. The
people that are blamed, more often than not, are the
parents that raised that deviant person.
Many states have laws on the books that restrict
marriages to heterosexuals only. The idea here is that
somehow homosexuals are not capable of raising children
in a functional, healthy environment that fosters
growth. Many presume that homosexuals would raise
their children to be homosexual as well. Of course,
what most people fail to realize is that gays and lesbians
have have been in existence on this earth since
the dawn of the human species. And every homosexual
person was born from the union of two heterosexuals?until
now.
Nevertheless, the state should promote family configurations
that provide a healthy environment for
children. Or, if a family is childless, the state should
promote relationships built on a mutual agreement
between the two parties involved. As Dr. Mary Ann
Mason states in The De-regulation of Family Law,".
.. individual freedom, rather than legal regulation,
could be the governing principle in childless relationships.
It might be useful to rename the laws that govern
these relationships, and carve out a new legal area
called something like 'relationship law' to distinguish
it from situations where there are children."
When speaking about a healthy environment for
children, the term healthy is obviously a subjective
one. It would be more effective if the state dealt with
unhealthy families on a case-by-case basis rather than
attempting to place rigid definitions on what "healthy"
The definition of marriage used in this column so
far has implied the unification of two parties. However,
as Shulamith Firestone questions in The Case for
Feminist Revolution, perhaps the unification of more
than two people for the purpose of raising children
should be considered. Firestone suggests the inclusion
of so-called "households." Her definition of this family
unit is as follows: "Households, however, connotes
only a large grouping of people living together for an
unspecified time, and with no specified set of interpersonal
relations If the household replaces marriage
perhaps we would at first legalize it in the same
way?if this is necessary at all. A group of ten or so
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*enda behind shallow
LARRY WILLIAMS
Guest columnist
MTV ran daily updates on the race and provided their
own version of insight into the race.
The primary element in MTVs angle was choice,
and it wasn't a coincidence that one key difference between
Republican George Bush and Democrat Bill
Clinton was the issue of abortion. While the consensus
among Republicans was "Pro-life," Democrats focused
on the element of choice when referring to the
issue. MTV used this to their advantage as a clearly
ambiguous term.
As election day neared, MTVs Tabitha Soren had
candidate Bill Clinton inside MTV studios where he
would answer prepared questions from the audience.
Soren was extremely cordial and the only questions
and responses aired by MTV seemed to be very easy
ones that portrayed the liberal point of view.
MTVs equivalent to this "Town Meeting" was an
interview by Soren with Bush. The five-minute cross
examination was done on the caboose of Bush's campaign
train and stressed the negative side of Bush's
four years in office. Soren was extremely curt with
the President, unlike her role with good ole boy Clinton.
Later, after winning the presidency, Clinton recalled
that his MTV appearance was a key in the victory.
Fairness? Equality? Choice? I think not.
As for as programming is concerned, MTV has taken
a turn for the worst since their birth in the early
8ffs, when they were the self proclaimed "24 hour music
video station."
Nowadays, MTV is just another television station,
airing sitcoms with a few videos sandwiched in between.
In an attempt to provide a glimpse of how people
function in the real world, MTV began a few years
id put child first
KEN TRAUM
Columnist
consenting adults of varying ages could apply for a license
as a group in much the same way as a young
couple today applies for a marriage license, perhaps
even undergoing some form of ritual ceremony and
then might proceed in the same way to set up house.
The household license would, however, apply only for
a given period, perhaps seven to ten years, or whatever
was decided on as the minimal time to grow up?
but probably a much shorter period than we now imagine.
If at the end of this period the group decided to
stay together, it could always get a renewal. However,
no single individual would be contracted to stay after
this period, and perhaps some members of the unit
might transfer out, or new members come in. Or, the
unit could disban altogether."
Shulamith contends that her idea of a "household"
would offer many advantages to a young child growing
up. She claims that these units would be stable?
although they only last for about a decade. This seems
to be problematic. A child is always going to be the
product of at least one parent?a mother and, according
to the mother's perception, the child will most likely
hold great responsibility in her life. So it is possible
that a woman who carried a baby for nine months may
not be ecstatic about the idea of relinquishing control
over her child. Even if this problem is overcome, ten
years does not seem like a long enough time to raise
a child.
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uues r lrcstuiit; meaxi wj suggest uiat uic uuiu o uiological
parents can choose to transfer out of the group?
What happens after the group disbands? This so-called
household may seem like a good idea,but one can easily
see that it would be fraught with problems. Group
dynamics with ten or so people could get to be very
tricky, and the situation could lend to more tension,
confiision, and frustration than a traditional two-person.
Sexual preference should not be a factor when considering
whom to give marriage licenses to. The state's
main concern is the child in relationships which involve
children. And when examining alternative marriages
such as Firestone's group marriage model, the
state must always ask the question, "What is best for
the children?" and not "What is best for the state?"
Thursday, September 7,1995
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unch with students.
r
r facade of diversity
ago a show aptly entitled "The Real World."
Amazingly popular and still in existence, "The Real
World" should instead be called "MTV World." Sorry,
folks, but if this show were truly representative of
a real-life scenario, then MTV wouldn't hand pick their
"actors" out of a pool of millions of people. Which is
more real? Our world, our problems, or seven people
living togetner witn ajmion cameras catcmng their
eveiymove? Get real.
When MTV does get around to playing music videos,
the music that is aired is a result of MTVs own censoring
process. The term "Alternative" is used shamefully,
with bands such as Dave Matthews being referred
to as alternative. Alternative music on MTV is
a self-defeating concept. Alternative music refers to
something other than the mainstream and, the last
time I checked, MTV was still mainstream.
I don't think that the term "sellout" was a word before
the birth of MTV. Band after band chooses to relinquish
their basis for music and values in exchange
for the pop fame that MTV provides. This is, of course,
attributed to the bands' lack of fortitude, but think for
a moment: If MTV had any concept of variety in their
choice of programming, then wouldn't there be a wider
variety of "successful" artists, in turn meaning that
there would be fewer bands compromising their integrity
for money and "fame"?
Lefsfaceit: MTV is a joke. The word "Music" in
their title should be removed forever, as their proparron^Q
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ty and spontaneity which the very word music actually
entails. Television has more control than you
think, and worse, it feeds on ignorance. MTV is the
leader of the pack, and the others are not too far behind.
Kill your television.
A closer look
KATO
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