University of South Carolina Libraries
\ Friday, September 22,1995 "iSatffeodi Serving USCSbtce 1908 Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief Matt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor Editorial Board Lucy Arnold, Jamie Clark, Erin Galloway, Gregory Perez, Stephanie Sonnenfeld, Allison Williams, Larry Williams, Ryan Wilson, Chris Winston All students should be given same opportunities The Carolinian Creed stresses a variety of virtues for student to live by; and for the university to uphold. Inherent in the creed is a sense of equality and acceptance among students. While the university does its best to meet these standards, a glaring inequity exists on our campus: the treatment of student-athletes. The NCAA has stated that all athletic dormitories must be abolished by August of 1996. This means that no more than 50 percent of the students in a residence hall can be athletes. While most of USCs peers have already complied with the regulation, or are well on their way, Carolina seems to be somewhat slow in their compliance. The reasoning behind athletic dorms is apparently that having athletes live together fosters a winning attitude, keeps them under supervision and keeps them focused on their goals; thereby building a successful athletic program. Since athletes raise revenue as well, the university has a special interest in them. In fact, this is not necessary. The University of Florida, which is establishing superior programs in almost all major sports, has no such program. Why, then, are non-athletes still excluded from living in The Roost? Not only are non-athletes discriminated against, but athletes who participate in non-revenue sports as well. Many runners, swimmers, and soccer players do not live in the athletic dorms: only recently have women ath letes been admitted. The new NCAA regulation is a large step towards placing student athletes and non-athletes on a level playing surface. All students should have the same opportunities and advantages available to them. If our university only complies half-heartedly with the regulation, are all students getting a fair shake? What does this say about the importance of academics at our institution? Where does the average student stand at USC in comparison to the athlete? " Where should they stand? * Spam fights Muppets while Powerbooks burn ? b V I'm writing this column with some 1 a trepidation because of an item I read CHRIS MULDROW in the paper today. ? b It seems the batteries shipped for ColumnISt Apple's newest Powerbook comput- I??????????I b ers have the unfortunate habit of ir catching on fire. This is not what the * You might have seen me, the h batteries are designed to do; they're Beardman, on WIS Wednesday night a supposed to power the computer, participating in the eatra-meal-with- E recharge and generally sit around your-professor program suggested t< . V. ,, , v.. rv_ r?_i Ti> iJiL. iu. like a large rectangular Duraceii. in- uy u s uuu me w?*y me ti stead, the latest crop could mean flop- TV crews cover news differently py disk flambe. from newspapers, what with them n I'm concerned about this devel- making the lady hand us our plates i opment because my own computer twice so they could get a good cam- ei is a Powerbook, though ifs not one era shot. n of the new ones. Fm scared that pos- It's a good idea for professors to n sibly some of the little computer grem- ^t with students and all ? Dr. Edgar, b lins lighting bonfires in the battery the professor I ate with, has gone to a bays of the new machines might have Little Pigs Barbecue Hut with us be- p decided my computer deserved a bar- fore aid doesn t hesitate to talk to a becue of its own, while it was sitting students any time. I'm wondering, n in my lap. The last thing I need is a however, if a Grand Marketplace p flaming pair of shorts and a computer meal is conducive to good teachercase melted to my lap (hence the term student conversations. I think a fund- b "laptop"). ed meal at, say, the Blue Marlin or a Tn ntVwvr* nouro unii mmr MrGradv's would be much better. ? jji wuiw iK/no, jvu majr uc awaic j ~ a of the legal battle being fought with *1 have to Pve the housing degreat intensity in one of this nation's partment a compliment on the in- J courts, a battle threatening to drag stallation of brand-spankin' new reuntil the end of time. If s the Spam frigerators and stoves in Desaussure ^ vs. Muppets case. ova- the summer. I had gone to Kroger It seems, according to The Asso- the other day and noticed when I reciated Press, that the newest Mup- turned that I actually had room to pet flick features a tyrannical wild store my food, including my case of pig named Spa'am. The makers of 24 Big K colas, the soft drink of chameveryone's favorite chopped-pork- pions. The stoves even almost made shoulder-and-ham meat product are my homemade croissants taste good, worried the movie will give Spam a Not quite, but almost Tm still bank- ^ bad name. ing that failure on ineffective yeast What the Spam lawyers don't re- in the mix (not the cooking ineptialize is the fact a mere movie can't fnde people keep claiming), give Spam a bad name Spam is much Housing also had a quick, polite w 1-: ai iL-J. o !? Vuv reSDOnse time tr? the evnlnrlinor tnilet a uigger man uiau opam i?, 1111a^, ^ . t ~i & - _ - j yond reproach as the ideal chopped- upstairs from us the other day, with pork-shoulder-and-ham meat prod- someone coming in to clean up the ' uct, a cut above Treet and other such mess rather efficiently, prompting lowly imit.flt.nrs and imposters. Spam me write new housing motto: . should see its immortalization as a "Hey> least y?u don t have to worMuppet as a tremendous leap in sta- *7 about exploding toilets! This retus as a chopped-pork-shoulder-and- places the old motto, "If you live in a ham meat product, a legitimatiza- couple of our buildings, you don't " tion of what chopped-pork-shoulder- have roaches to worry about, and-ham meat products are all about Why arent any of After all, you're not an true Ameri- those...hey...wait...FIRE!!! FIRE!!! can icon until someone's made a Mup- MY COMP UTER SON FIRE!!! j pet of you. HELP!!! J a New* 777-7726 E'h,?Sr" ! VJdllltXOCR *dvertsing: 777-4249 R? Sims J FAX. 777-6482 Online Editor Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 3 Wendy Hudson Lucie Arnold Martha Hotop Laura Day Editor in Chief Stephanie Tina Morgan Creative Director Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld New. Jeff A. Breaux p Viewpoints Editor features Editors Ben Pillow Art Ditec'o' ^ Chris Winston Larry Williams Chris Dixon Gregory Perez . Copy Desk Chief Ryan Wilson Asst. features ^sign EXrector Erin Galloway Sports Editors Robbie Meek Kim Golden C. Allison Williams Jamie daric . ^ Sport. A^Adve^ng Maoager 1( Nrw. Jason Jeffers Enk Collins Keith Boudreaux I 1 Cartoonist I Faculty Advisor Circulation Manager Latter* Policy k The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. i' South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Letters should be 200-250 words and must include full (j Friday during the fall and spring seroesten, with the exception professional title or year and major if a student, of university holiday, and exam penods. Utlerl WI| * p^ooaHy delivered by the author to ? Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors _ _ , ? ? .. ,,, or author artlnot those of the University of South Carolina. newsroom in Russell House room 333. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for g publisher of The Gamecock. TVDepartment of Student Media possible Hbel or space limitations. Names will not is its parent organization. under any circumstances. t VIEWPOINT! It jit" QUOTE UNQUOTE "There's nothing unusual about this kind of wc Linda Ware, associate director for housing tension between govern! An interesting incident occurred last reek which highlights the tension be- DAVID HALLER veen government and the press. At its meeting on September id, j\ns v>uw",,tK" /ustrWs confirmation for Student Sen- I ' tor came to the floor. Kris was quesoned and the Senate moved into de- utes later, The Gamecock leadership ate. Things then got interesting. showed UP because, they believed, For weeks, Kris' nomination had been the Senate could not use Executive Sesrewing. As someone deeply involved s'on t? discuss a nomination. Soon af1 politics, he had made a few enemies, ter, the Senate ended the Session, opened icluding some senators. Concerned the doors and took their only vote on the bout what might be said, Senator Rhett nomination. irown moved for the Senate to enter in- The next day, the headline screamed > executive session, which would clear The Gamecock's anger and the article le Senate of all non-senators. cl aimed the real confirmation vote was South Carolina's Freedom of Infor- taken in executive session, which was lation Act allows for governmental bod- illegal. The staff editorial slammed the ss, like the Student Senate, to enter Ex- Senate for closing out the public and for cutive Session for a limited number of taking a ceremonial vote once the doors jasons, one of which is commonly sum- opened. larized as "matters of personnel." Rhett Their assertion was patently incorelieved personnel included nominations rect. The only vote taken in executive nd wished to spare Kris from the press eession was whether or not to end exrinting allegations against him which ecutive session. The only thing The lay or may not be true in a light which Gamecock staff proved was the Senate lay or may not be fair. The motion right. assed with limited objection. The Freedom of Information Act's The room was cleared of non-mem- personnel exemption allows for execuers, including The Gamecock reporter tive sessions for "appointments" and disnd the Student Government president, cussions about "a student," and there is nd the debate commenced. A few min- probably enough room in there to make letters to the Editor lradition not always ber After reading Tommy Touchbenys can't think for themselves, olumn on Wednesday, I had a frightning realization: most people will ac- Tressa Hayes apt something as "good" or as "the right 2nd year law ray to do it" just because it is a TRACTION. i fail to see the logic in the Don?t make criticism with reposition that simply because people . rho lived before us did things one way, IllCOIliplet? information re should blindly follow. Some of the bhorrent "traditions" we have aban- I write as a member of the Univeroned surely illustrate that our en- sity community to express my outrage gntenment as a society is gradually over the slanderous and shallow exervnlvinor nnt disintpcrrntincr cise in hate-mongering that recently ai> """ O- # W . "Traditional" roles have changed for peared in The Carolina Spectator. I rehe simple reason that not everyone is fer to an article by the Spectator's ediontent to conform to a mold. I am cer- tor, Vernon Davenport, about Dr. Ed linly not suggesting that an intact fam- Madden, an assistant professor in the y unit is not ideal. I do not believe we English Department. Although I supave become a nation of "dysfunction- port Mr. Davenporf s right to convey Ids 1" families because we have departed opinions, no matter how poorly written, "om the Cleaver Family structure. In feebly constructed, or inadequately inict, I think it might be the other way formed, I join Dr. Madden's colleagues round. By trying to fit into some tra- and students in condemning the blatant itional role that may not be right for misrepresentation of his syllabi and his 11 individuals, people become frustrat- teaching and professional philosophies, d and unfulfilled, which in turn caus- I also condemn the open invitation to s the problems that make a family "dys- harassment which concludes Mr. Dav iinctional." The mere fact that so many enporxs article as both a breach of jourtraditional" families are totally miser- nalistic ethics and a violation of the Unible supports this idea. versify5s code of conduct. I agree with Mr. Touchberry's as- As Dr. Madden's students would readertion that family responsibility is im- ily tell anyone who took the time to check, iortant. What bothers me about his col- he treats both canonical and non-canonimn is the suggestion that there is on- icel works in his courses. As his consisy one way to do it: the traditional way. tently excellent student evaluations tes)ddly enough, avid proponents of fol- tify (he was nominated for the Mungo : u 4-U^ toapV\incr awarrl loot voar Viia firot nn jwiiig lci tani uauiuuus occrn tu uc uic ? ? .~wv ^ v-? ****, >eople who benefit most from main- campus), Dr. Madden tackles difficult aining the status quo. What about the issues with sensitivity to diverse perarge portion of the population that is spectives and encourages an open-mindleeply dissatisfied and limited by tra- edness and dedication to intellectual dislitional roles? covery that are the hallmarks of good Yes, some traditions are good. And teaching. In addition, he is fast acquirven the bad ones serve a purpose: they mg a reputation as an outstanding scholirovide a how-to manual for people who ar ? botji for his treatment of mainatwwm +??v+a cmrl fnr Viia af+ontion tn nnn. S 3 - * inn&ik, . >rk. This is the kind of work we've anticipated." facilities, on the renovations to the Towers nent and press still alive the Senate's actions technically legal, lie forum do so with the understanding However, the clear intent of the Act was that somethings will be said about them to allow "the people" (in this case USC which aren't exactly true, and some restudents) to see their elected represen- porting be a bit skewed. tatives in action, hear their rationale But b rintj the falsehood that and then make an educated decision at ,, ? ', ,. - T, . ..I.- u.ii.i. u .. rp, .j ... -X the Senate voted to confirm Kris in ex me uanui uux. mis is uemoLidcv in lis purest form ecutive session, all The Gamecock cud It's also the reason for the First 's to the argument that an irreAmendment. "Congress shall make no sponsible press is no press at all. They law ... abridging the freedom of speech are not the only media outlet guilty of or of the press,..." Hie Founding Fathers this, nor is the group at the helm now hoped for a society where people could the first to use the power of the pen to speak their mind and have an unbiased punish those they be]ieve are doing press cover it. Like every right, these mat the medja must ,eam is require the user to exercise a certain ? n . e- j 4. j u.v. that the freedom of the press is really amount of judgment and responsibility. ,, _ That's what the Senate tried to do. from press abridgment laws, It balanced the right of people to hear not 311 affirmative right to print whatthe debate, with the right of Kris Wus- ever they want, regardless of the controw to have what is said about him and sequences. This right is a responsibili reported to oe true ana accurate. Be- ty to tne community to tell people wnat cause reporting of the Senate by The is really going on in as fair and unbiased Gamecock recently contained many mis- a manner as possible, quotes and inaccuracies, they voted to But ^ the press really comes to c^os? ^e^fss)^n' 1,1 j i v. j take this to heart, who can blame the Still, The Gamecock leadership had _ . . . , . . . i a vay valid point, and one whidt I strong- Senate for wantlnfto P "*'students ly agree with. Kris' potential constituents from ^correct and irresponsible writhave a right to know his qualifications The real losers in all of this are the and the objections others have about people supposedly being served?the him. Further, those who enter the pub- students. leficial, change positive ular culture issues. Not only was his doc- place for a nuclear detonation." Horgan toral dissertation recognized by the fae- , the next time you're in New York, let ulty of the University of Texas as the me show you around. I can't even begin most outstanding dissertation written to describe all the fabulous things to do in his graduating year, but he already and places to explore. There is the Mu has published several articles in respected seum of Modern Art, the Street Seaport, scholarly journal at only the beginning Broadway, and many other notable atof his second year as an assistant pro- tractions as well as hidden jewels such fessor. Furthermore, his colleagues in as cafes, vintage shops, book stores, and the English Department profit from his galleries. True, New York may be taintr collegiality and his energetic commit- ed by crime, rudeness, poverty, and conment to University service. gestion, among other things, but what If Mr. Davenport intends to pose as city is not? As a journalist, you should a journalist, I encourage him to verify not be taken in by such a cliche and stale the accuracy of the information he pack- stereotype. We must not be so blind as ages in his venomous spew. It might al- to only look at these negative features, so help if he would get the names of those So, Worldly Columnist Horgan, open up he cites right. My last name isn't, and your eyes and see the wondrous dias far as I can remember, never has been verseness of such an amazingly animated Noonan. city. Don't be "a po' barefoot boy from the South" intimidated by culture and Robert Newnan individuality. Be a man and take on the Uhair, Department ot tnglisti most prolific city m the world: the big Apple. Horgan misrepresented Come on- ^ s?out for 301116 ha&]s fascinating North andgrits Alison EBto After reading Matt Horgan's column Psychology freshman on regarding New York (Sept. 19), I was deeply dismayed. Being a New Jersey resident who spends quite some time in the Big Apple, I found his remarks quite jaded and ignorant. Obviously he did not fully experience the wonders of our nation's most fascinating city, and apa- MM thetically resided to a passive, dissatis- tarn mwnm lying trip. I understand his journalistic endeavor was primarily to entertain his Reader responses are welcome, readers, and his anecdote was intended Letters should be between 200 to be light and amusing, but he failed and 250 words and should be miserably. Not only id Horgan disap- t0 point me with his feeble and mundane Z .... account of the Big Apple, he also ex- media, Russell House 333. ceedingly^flfended me with his ludicrous, mnmnir romnrta anrh as "What a PTftat