Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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2 I "ISaffeock Serving USC Since 1908 Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief Matt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor Editorial Board Lucy Arnold, Jamie Clark, Gregory Perez, Stephanie Sonnenfeld, Allison Williams, Larry Williams, Ryan Wilson, Chris Winston Focus on issues which affect you directly It looks like the members of the jury in the O.J. Simpson trial were a eager wj eiiu uue uuiaiiess as uie rest 01 us were. Roughly three hours of deliberation, not counting the hour of testunon; recapitulation, were all they needed to decide the outcome of the biggest tri al of the decade. Nine months of drama drew to a close in roughly five min utes. Murder cases happen everyday, albeit most aren't as bizarre as this one Rape, domestic violence, and other heinous crimes occur everyday also. Out side the stimulating Court TV, we hardly hear a word of these. Athletes are human. Just because they have extraordinary physical abil ities does not mean they aren't faced with many of the same problems th< rest of us are. Why, then, did we focus on a crime simply because it was committed b a man who we used to see on television? So little attention is paid to the nu merous atrocities that occur locally or regionally on a daily basis, yet we fo cus on a situation from which most of us are very far removed. 0 J. is free now. Whether or not he should be will be questioned by man] for weeks, maybe even months, to come. However, the feet is, it's over. He's going back to his life; we can go back to ours. Keep in mind whaf s really important, and what affects you. This whole thing didn't have to affect us at all. Now, if s left some wounds that will take time to heal. And some semi-permanent scars as well. September holds two often-overlooked days September has once more come ^ and gone. The month of October has TRAV ROBERTSON cast her subtle shadows upon us once * Columnist more. I realize that we are in the month when the leaves begin to men who knew the importance oi change and a subtle nip is in the air; having and maintaining ideals and however, I feel as though we over- virtues. I suggest that, it is this veiy looked two very important days in thoudit that made William Kunstiei September that need just one more 8uch a great visionaiy. moment of reflection. September 4,1995, William KunSentemher 4 is a dav that should _li j- _ j .n l * i a no . ,. ,?V* ?. r suer aiea 01 neart iaiiure at age (o live in the minds of Amencans for \fcmy people do not know or care whc many yearn to amie. Itisadaywhidi SSL I would dare say that we, as a people, should have felt just we are better off because he lived, a httle unsure about our protection Kimstler waa a h who defend. from the abuse of our rights as indi- ed the most despised individuals in vriuahi in a free sooeiy . It is the day our nation. jj,. Runstler defended which the infamous and famom.de- the Chicag0 Scven after they had fender of Uiepeople, Wdkam Kun- ^ accused ofcausing riots at the sder^fromdnsearthtoalmg- tgegDe^ticconvention. Hedeercourtroom. September 17is.day fendedthefreedomfi htersofthe which aU Americans should take MaitinLuther ydem^becauseitw^thehrtiiday ^jr. William Kunstler defended of raie of our most prized possessions: jT? ^ ,, , n ^ . r, tt^Tjo! i. John Gotta, the mob boss, and Colin the Constitution of the United States ? , , c XT -a mu Ferguson, who opened fire on a New of America. These are the two days , 7/ ,. , of September which we shoulddis- York subway kdling six people, cuss and reflect upon. . Ibeheye he evailmda rdemde. First, I would like to reflect and "mgfl?nAoduals who blew up analyze the second date. Itwasthis theworid tradecenter and the fern day in September that our Consti- y ^ tution turned 208 years old. Now. I i""* ^^ 0^ >ted to_be am lully aware that we have too many in the spotlight. I suggest that this holidays in this land, but how many P?*> 41118 lawyer reahzed and upproclamations or documents give ?eld something the framers of the every individual to a society the right Comhtution upheld; every indj^dto free speech, the right to vote, and ual has anght toa defensemida&r the right to a defense and &ir trial? trial- I do not idealize Mr. Kunstler, Where else in this world have men 1 a merely suggesting he reahzed died to give us the right to bum our that for our system of justice to work nation's flag? Reading an article in everyone must be defended and all the "Christian Science Monitor," I must have a fair trial. He was an inrealized that we as a people do not dividual that believed the rights grantunderstand, or appreciate, the sim- ed to all people by the Constitution pie fact that we may not have been were full of value and virtue. He dea free land unless our Constitution fended people not because he neceshad been formed. It is on this day sarily liked them, or disliked them, in 1787 that, the greatest PYpen'mpnh but because our great Constitution for good or for evil, took place. The said that it must be done. William formation of a democracy, with the Kunstler is a member of if not already help of a central government, which the Inst.a dying breed, wmild efnhi1i,7p a uninn and cniar- In Conclusion. I WOUld like to SUg antee inherent rights to all individ- gest that we, as individuals, should uals. Thank goodness it worked, focus on the virtue and values reHowever, September 17 and the fleeted in the Constitution and reformulation of this document seem fleeted by William Kunstler. We to whisper a stronger and perhaps a should try to remember these inherent much-needed message. This being, rights before we are so quick to judge, that the framers of our Constitution Furthermore, we should be proud were men who had flaws. The that the great experiment in democframers were only men, but men with racy has succeeded and is forging a vision for the future. They were ahead. ?l5aiflcock Advertising: 777-4249 I Greg^^erez FAX: 777-6482 Design Editor Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 **** Online Editor Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold Martha Hotop Chris Carroll Editor in Chief Stephanie Asst. News Director of Student Medii Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld Ben Pillow Laura Day Viewpoints Editor Features Editors Chris Dixon Creative Director Chris Winston Larry Williams Asst. Features Jeff A. Breaux Copy Desk Chief Rvan Wilson Robbie Meek w Director Allison Williams Sports Editors Asst Sports Erik Collins News Editor lamie Clark Jason Jeffers Faculty Advisor Keith Boudreaux Photo Editor Car,??mSt Circulation Manager Robert Wa]ton Asst. Photo Editor Lottors Policy The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the Univetsity of The Gamecock will try to print all letters receivei aouui v_aiuuim diiu is puuiiMicu mvuuA/ uuwugi. .nuuj uui- Lcncrs snouia dc zuu-zdu woras ana must inciuac iu ing the fall and spring semesters, with the exception of univer- name professional tltle or year and major if a studer sity holidays and exam penods. Letters must be personally delivered by the author Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors ~ ,, or author andnotthose of the University of South Carolina. ^ Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters fi publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will n is its patent organization. be withheld under any circumstances. VIEWPOINT; Magic Eye 3-D P ? HVfiTRITfTIOlVfi' ?farp at i Aliwr AAft^/V? AMV/11^9 V/1W V U* I it is blurry. Mystery 3-D iim HHtranw aianoa aiouxnos All/ITP IIIMIMTP ( uuuic, unyuuic "Race Is a factor, but it shouldn't be. It doesn't matter Senior Sara Helterman, Pack up the big top, th Well, for a few minutes on Tuesday ^ P afternoon, the world stopped spinning. MATT PRUITT , Millions of people across our great na- Viewpoints Editor r taon, and the rest of the world, gathered around televisions and radios ? like and police department, etc., etc., etc. small-town Baptists going to worship Hello? The most biting social critique on a Sunday morning. And all of them has been staring us all in the face for watched, with baited breath, as what well over a year now. Many haven't sppn ( stands to be the biggest, most laughable it because they've been active particimedia circus of our generation came to pants. Day after day, hour after hour, a close. millions of people sat in front of the teleOr rather, they watched the begin- vision ? religiously ? hoping to see a ning of the end. The same characters new twist, a scandal, or maybe even a that have dominated the airwaves for courtroom brawl in which O.J. jumps the Dast vear and a-half refused to iust nvor tPio KonnVi cmrl Knu/la rnror Tfn run. go away after the verdict; I guess some ningharlr style. ' people aren't content with their 15 min- This was the real-life soap opera, utes. I have an eerie feeling that the ac- This was what everybody in the modtors in the O.J. drama will plague us ern tele-society was waiting for. the oplike a recurring nightmare, only leav- portunity to follow a senseless drama ing our memories after a lot of time ? and have it validated under the pretense and even more therapy. of "social importance." The Big Three of television networks And has anybody stopped, for just a used the time after the trial to interview second, to tiy to figure out why this trieven more "legal experts," which are ap- al was worthy of the undivided attention parently as common as a pair of white 0f the whole nation? Is it that infeasible socks. These "experts" each took their that a man who made a career out of few minutes to put to use their infinite playing football, a sport which is based wisdom by pointing out the social prob- on the premise of physical aggression, lems addressed by the case: racism, the could perform a violent act? Are athletes incompetency of the L.A. coroner's office rfeifipd so much that, we can't accept the ifttebq rn tup pnrrna fcfcf IMIW ?y lllfc M#?IWII Graduate student in his because of apathy of stude I am writing this letter to inform Spectator was a USC Student Govyou of my decision to withdraw from ernmlent-sanctioned organization, and, graduate studies at the University of therefore, was permitted to be disSouth Carolina. I felt I could not leave tributed in the USC mailroom. "The the program without letting you know Carolina Spectator" contained almost the reasons for my decision. I came to nothing but rabid racist, sexist and USC with high hopes for my studies homophobic sentiments. Not only does in history because of the excellent rep- the paper attack various student orutation of the history department and ganizations, but openly calls for the the university. However, since my ar- harassment of a USC professor. Inrival at USC, several incidents have cendiaiy language, which includes the occurred that have disturbed me enough address and phone number of the proto leave the school. One of the first ap- fessor mentioned, is not free speech. palling things to happen was the night "The Carolina Spectator" was printed that two USC students were thrown and distributed under the auspices of out of a student organization meeting being a USC student-sanctioned orbecause they were "liberals." One of ganization. Why was this allowed to the students, Trevor Spencer, was "al- happen? I think the most disturbing lowed" back into the meeting because aspects of these incidents has been the he finally convinced the student or- lack of reaction among the faculty and ganization that he was a reporter, the student body. Other than letters However, he was then placed between and columns in The Gamecock, and two security guards. The other stu- some behind-the-scenes advocacy for dent remained barred from a meeting the professor, there has not been one > that had been postedon campus as public demonstration or student ral"open to all interested students." As a ly to protest this kind of hate-monstudent of history I am aware that this gering. Why not? I cannot remain at sort of suppression is tantamount to a school that addresses this kind of infescism. What happened to free speech? cident in such a passive manner. One How was this allowed to happen? of the most frightening responses has Another incident that convinced been the silence of the faculty at USC. me to leave was when I found "The Some of the professors in the same dea Carolina Spectator" in my USC post partment of the slandered professor office box. When I demanded to know have come forward with written supto why this hate-mongering publication port, but where are the rest of the facwas allowed to be placed in my box, I ulty? The faculty of a university has l{ was informed by James Doran, vice the obligation to lead students? that president of Student Affairs, that The is why they are hired. If a university's 5 Wnihlimlini ftnlnhna J 4 AA| woonwiwiyy uctoD6f *99* V UZZLE ILLUSION image for a long time until ige will appear. Keep trying! ?- -1 i S SX U.J. !. . A I I. <aiH W..II1.. If ii main runrmaii is a ravisi, uvcausa v.J. is sun guilty* on the O.J. Simpson trial e circus is leaving town feet that they might po6sibly have faults? contrived set-up, all because of his racist Whatever the reasons, the public ate attitudes. After hearing the tapes, does it up, and licked the plate clean. Some- anyone really think he's that smart? where along the way, they, or "it," be- Whether you believe the theory or came lost in their appetites for dirt, and not, there is one thing you must not bestopped using all rational thought. At lieve: TRYING A CASE IN THE MEthat point, Cochran and the defense team DIA, NO MATTER HOW COMMON IT just started throwing out little seeds of MAY BE, IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. It dnnht. and nn matter how ahsurd thav imnadps tha instira svstam la vaar and were, they were always tossed around, a half is not a speedy trial), turns everyone analyzed to death, and subsequently involved into actors (anybody remember blown up by the media and the public. Johnny Cochran standing in a court of And so, Cochran sat back and wait- law wearing a stocking cap?), and dised for a winner, and eventually, through torts the real issues. (Question; was the the graces of Mark Furhman, he found race issue really the most pertinent one? one that the public would latch on to and Don't answer too quickly.) ride all the way to the jurors box: race. In short, this trial has pointed out Cochran masterfully orchestrated an what ails us today. We would rather emotional tidal wave in the 11th hour turn a double murder, and the fate of a that negated eight months of prior con- man's life, into a dog-and-pony show siderations. than go without entertainment and leave The maddening crowd was so caught justice unhindered. The legal system up in Cochran's spell, they didn't real- seems to have enough problems without ize the absurdity of his proposition: that the clamor of the frenzied media and a LA detective-turned-mastermind de- public. Race relations are still a far cry vised a complex plan to frame a famous from what they should be (we didn't ex-football-player, whom he chose out know that before, I guess). Some of these of over a million people, in the double problems will not be solved so easily, murder of his ex-wife and her "friend." Others will leave with O.J., assuming He planted some pieces of evidence and that we've learned a lesson from all this, tampered with others in a brilliantly You're free, O.J. And so are we. Closer itory leaving I nts, faculty ^ ^ faculty will not band together to protect and support one of their own, how X^ f can the students be fruited for not re- V) sponding as well? Why was there no /V concerted response on the faculty's rmrt'' T upcmpt lpnvincr anrno nf thp fripnHs //KmM' I have made, and some of the brilliant have a feeling that there are not iso- Iffj I am not the type of person who can ^ ignore these violations of civil rights or tolerate condoned hate literature; I cannot simply "throw it in the trash nf and forget about it" as many people ,f I cannot compromise my education at this point in my academic career, because of the time I would have to spend protesting these types of incidents. I will be leaving for a university that iitaiiI/) nmmi* 4r\lai?o4-a Krr\A nf kirr_ v>uuiu u^v^i wiV/i, aiA^ uuo VjJr*-' ui uig oted anr repressive behavior by stu dent organizations. I hope this letter helps some of the faculty and students M/JrIWOh fm mm MMM of USC to be aware that these inci- m M m %0 mm WW dents are not normal, and that the Reader responses are welcome, atmostpehere they are generating LetteIS te ^ destroys tolerance. Hopefully, someone will come forward to lead this 250 words and should be university down a different path. delivered personally to The Gamecock, Room 333 of the ' DeAnna K. Kartell Russell House Georgia State undergraduate