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Serving USC Sii Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief f Editorial I Lucy Arnold, Jamie Clark, Gregory Perez, S Larry Williams, Ryan Wi Fear prevent from viewini The NAMES Project AIDS Memori Carolina Coliseum for over 2 days now. Have you been to see it? Chances are, you haven't. Chances quilt is. Unfortunately, you're not alone The only showing of the quilt in Sou publicized. Hence, attendance at the viev people over 3 days, has been extremely Perhaps the lack of publicity and ai derstanding and concern. Perhaps Sout importance of the display. Maybe fear 1: The fear that the AIDS quilt may be sonal nature is very likely a deterrent 1 denying the pervasiveness of the disease down to the Coliseum. Attempting to b' thousands of people each year and afife ways the safe way out. The quilt provides a different perspe while the media turns the disease into a quilt shows the human side of the stoi fected in real ways, all across the riatio: ing and, hence, is given much less attei Maybe the main reason that people tends to prompt them to act-and care, ft does not, and could not, affect them. T1 to justify their lack of contributions in ? However, facts are facts. AIDS is s1 people are standing by and watching, these facts. Don't be afraid to be aware. Horgan ven on advertisii Who are the morons who write TV commercials and why are they allowed to live? A simple question, ladies and gentlemen, to which, unfortunately, there is no easy answer. I cannot seat myself in front of the television for any brief amount of time without being molested by commercials so absurd, so insipid, and so cliched that I begin to gnash my teeth and tear at my hair. In short, they cause me great pain. It's bad enough that I have dreams, nay... sick fantasies, about skewering the Snuggle Bear on a spit and slowly charring him over a open flame. Now Tm confronted with a talking Huggies diaper that cavorts about, squeals with glee, and just generally acts perky as hell. The way I figure it, ifs a diaper... realistically, it's not going to be too happy-go-lucky when a one-year-old on his first solid food loads it up. In fact it.11 nrohahlv be heppinp for a ??-7 X J OO O merciful end to its miserable existence. I wouldn't imagine that diapers lead charmed lives. I just don't understand this fixation advertisers have with creating walking, talking versions of their product. Does it really make more people want to buy whatever it is? How many of you out there watch an ad and think to yourself, "Ha Ha, what a cute doughboy! I think m go buy some biscuits," or "Ha Ha, what a cute yeast roll, I really must go to Quincy's." More than likely though, it's "Hmm, rapping Chicken McNuggets. I think HI go shoot everyone at a McDonald's." There is a plague of bad commercials out there, and they are slowly but surely turning us into a nation of idiots who all use the "Psychic Friends Network" (Dionne Warwick, by the way. With the help of her psychic friends she has really turned her career around and is now heading a definite direction... Hell). I think we, as tv watching AmerironQ Viavo a roannnaiHilit.V to out selves and to our children. We must stand up to the advertising conglomerates of this nation, put our foot down and say, "Hey. Fm not going to pay a lot for this muffler." Other than that, Fm sure you all m TBattodt S= r AA. Student Media Russell House-USC* Col Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold Editor in Chief Stephanie Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld Viewpoints Editor Features Editors Chris Winston Larry Williams a m?Py ?u!rir'ef Ryan Wilson Allison Williams Sports News Editor Jamie Clark Keith Boudreaux ph0t0 Circulation Manager Robert WaJton I Asst. Photo Editor The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published Monday 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 of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is its parent organization. 5 lock tee 1908 datt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor loard tephanie Sonnenfeld, Allison Williams, lson, Chris Winston Is people I quilt al Quilt has been on display at the are, you might not know what this ith Carolina has been sorely under/ings, predicted to be roughly 30,000 low. ttendance stems from a lack of unh Carolinians don't understand the Lolds them back. s emotionally moving due to its peror many people. Staying home and e is much easier than making a trip lock out the fact that AIDS touches ets their families and friends is al.etive on AIDS than does the media: stack of numbers and statistics, the y; it shows that real people are afn. The latter is much more disturbltion. have avoided the display is that it lost would rather pretend that AIDS ley would like to use this reasoning solving the problem, veeping the country, and too many The quilt is a testimony to both of ts anger ig officials MATT HORGAN Columnist know that the S.C. State Fair is in town. Ahh, the fair... it really hasn't been half as entertaining since they took the freak shows away. Not like there aren't enough freaks alreadyevexy yahoo from York to Hardeeville comes out from his or her respective rock to clog the State Fairgrounds for a week. I have rather bittersweet childhood memories of the fair, though. As a little tyke, the fair coming into town was a huge occurence for me. However, due to the fact that I had not yet reached the level of maturity that I am at today(which is still questionable), I was forced to go with my parents. Going to the fair with my parents meant having to experience the sheer horror of the Cantey Building (insert maniacal laugh here). I would get all worked up and frothy in anticipation of the rides and then have to look at 20 pound squash and triple-pane windows for two hours. Considering that at that age my attention span was only two minutes anyway, it was the worst torture imaginable. I came to hate the Cantey Building with a passion and I haven't set foot in the place since. Now when I go to the Fair, I plan my time there very carefully. First things first, I go eat an elephant ear a-nrt cm oar aa rrmfh nnwd#?rpH S11C ar on my face as possible. Next it's a little of the "Racin' Razorbacks" action, and the rest of my night is spent at the Bumper Cars. I love the Bumper Cars... my sole purpose on them is to cause as much pain and suffering to others as possible. Iam driven. First I seek out the little kids who have no idea how to steer the car- they are sitting ducks. If you pin 'em in a corner so they can't go anywhere they eventually start crying. Then I go after the lovey-dovey couple riding in the same car (the same ones involved in the disgusting P.D.A. while in line) and I ram them full on from the side so that they knock heads... Great fun! Well, that's it for this week kids. Here's your homework: Bite Me. 777-7726 I tising: 777-4249 Gregory Perez 777-6482 Design Editor umbia, SC 29208 ^,an J!"18 Online Editor Martha Hotop Chris Carroll Cece von Kolnitz Dircc,or of Student Media Asst. News Laura Day Ben Pillow Creative Direc,or Chris Dixon Jeff A. Breaux Asst. Features A? Direct?r Robbie Meek Erik Collins Asst. Sports Faculty Advisor Jason JefFers Cartoonist Lattm Policy The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 200-250 words and must include full name, professional title or year and major if a student Letters must be personally delivered by the author to The Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances. /LEWP QUOTE. UNQUOTE "The problem with this buildii exp< Professor [ You can cur Imagine yourself walking down the sidewalk from the Coliseum to the Russell House. You are keeping to yourself, in your own little world. Suddenly you hear someone shout out, "Unclean! Stand back! You look up and see a man sitting on the ground leaning up against a building and right in your path. He is covered with sores and obviously too weak to get up and move. As quickly as possible, you run to the other side of the street to avoid coming near him. Even worse, imagine that you see him before he sees you. Would you steer clear, going in a building or casually crossing the street as if that is what you had planned on doing the entire time? Both of these situations were true in the world of Jesus of Nazareth. According to the laws of the time, if one had leprosy (not the same as our modern leprosy, but any disease that causes the skin to degenerate) one was isolated and quarantined from the rest of the community until one was cured, and then could be reinstated by the High Priest. For a society where identity was defined by how and with whom people saw you, isolation was like death. In an adaptation of his book "The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant," John Crossan makes a firm distinction between the disease and the illness. "Diseases are abnormalities in the structure and funcLETTERS TO THE EDITO ?^ 1 n .1 . Palms' failure t< In Thursday's The Gamecock, President John Palms claims that adding the words "sexual orientation" to our university's equal opportunity statement would "invite the kind of cynicism about the university's motives and judgements that this university must strive to stay above." It seems that the spectacle of our spineless president, unwilling to take a stand that is not backed by "political practicality" (translation: prior approval) would arouse a great deal more cynicism both among our student body and among outsiders. This university is an institution of higher education. As such, it is our duty to strive to create an environment conducive to learning, untainted by bigotry. While adding the words "sexual orientation" to our equal opportunity -a.-*.- ??J. u __J. ?11 ? statement wuuiu nut eiiu iiumupiiuuia on this campus, it would at the very least demonstrate an interest on the part of our president to oppose this particular strain of bigotry. However, to take a stance which is not pre-approved by the General Assembly, which may be unpopular, which in fact could possibly result in debate and some opposition ? well, that takes courage. Courage is a trait our president sadly lacks, evidently; he seems content to follow the lead of the simpering idiots who govern this state by taking no stand whatsoever. I am disgusted by the aforementioned. PINTS ig is that it is a working build >cted to suspend their work ti )avid Berube, on the South Carolin e illness bef nanenu Diicu Uftmmi uuuii Columnist tion of body organs and systems." "Physicians diagnose and treat diseases." However, illnesses are something else. "Patients suffer illnesses...Dlnesses are experiences of devalued changes in states of being and in social function." Put simply, diseases are the medical condition; illnesses are what society does to you because of the disease. The disease was leprosy. The illness was being cast out from the world. The lepers often lived in camps outside the cities. No one, including family, was allowed near the leper, and they had to warn people that were approaching that they were unclean. Food was brought to a point near the camps, but not into them. The bringer of the food would then back off so the lepers could come get it. Imagine only being able to see your brother or sister, mother or father, husband or wife from a distance because they could not come close to you. You could not touch them again unless by some miracle you became clean. But someone challenged these principles. Jesus of Nazareth, whether you believe him to be the Son of God or a man with a social conscience, refused to obey the laws that stripped diseased peoR _ _ ^ .1 j support ciaus< I am repulsed by the fact that my university is represented by a man unwilling to speak out on behalf of his student body. Note his unwillingness to even stand up for his own convictions; evidently, political practicality is more important than creating a learning environment. How ironic that at this same meeting, The Carolina Spectator was condemned for their efforts to inspire "threats, intimidation, and harassment" towards a gay member of our community. Adding "sexual orientation" to our equal opportunity statement would be a far-reaching eauivalent of that con demnation; unfortunately, we are led by a president who lacks the courage of his faculty; who is in fact, content to continue with business as usual in a society fraught with bigotry. Michael McLellan English Senior Many miss the point when considering O.J. trial I feel compelled to address a few issues that were presented in Larry Williams' column in the October 5 edition. First, Mr. Williams opines that O.J. Simpson's defense team ".. .base[d] their whole case on one man's supposed racism." I > ing. Those who work here, facu 9 accommodate the legislature. a Legislature moving into the Carolin bre you cure pie of their humanity. Regardless of A what disease the lepers actually had, d which Crossan believes Jesus could not v cure though I believe he could, their ill- J ness was separation, and that is what Jesus healed. He healed the illness by 1: refusing to accept the official quaran- t tine, by refusing to stay separate from s the sick person, by touching him, and j thereby confronting others with a chal- c lenge to do the same. Jesus held the lep- t er and let him cry on his shoulder. Je- c sus would not quit loving him just be- f cause his body was weak. s What would Jesus do if he were with 1 us today? Where would he be? What j would he tell us? I, along with Crossan t and many others, believe he would be i healing the illness of AIDS. He would 1 be down at Richland Memorial, Baptist, 1 and Providence Hospitals holding the c victims of such a terrible disease and an 1 even worse illness, iie would not De in the churches thanking his thankful, but t rebuking us for turning our backs on those who are in pain. "Truly I tell you, 1 just as you did it to one of the least of < these who are members of my family, t you did it to me." (Matthew 25.40b) ( Brennan Manning, in his book The Sig- i nature of Jesus," tells the story of the 1 dedication of a hospice for the terminally ( ill in New York City. At that dedication, \ Mother Teresa said something that is i both remarkable and shocking. "Each j e shows lack of To the contrary, the defense's strategy j called into question the investigative i procedures of the Los Angeles Police De- 1 partment and the Los Angeles Coroner's i Office. There is no doubt (or should be no doubt) that these two agencies mis- < handled the evidence utilized in this ] case: tne coroner was caiiea to tne crime scene some 10 HOURS after the bodies i were discovered (by law, he should have 1 been called IMMEDIATELY), and the < coroner discarded Nicole Simpson's stom- < ach contents during the autopsy (they ] could have and shovdd have been used to approximate the time of death). These two facts call the prosecutions time line into question and could establish reasonable doubt in a jurist's mind. Second, Mr. Williams asks, "why wasn't he punished for beating his exwife?" The answer is simple: she did not press charges against him. Besides, he was not on trial for abusing his ex-wife, although that fact made him the prime and only suspect for the murders. Finally, Mr. Williams discusses Mark Fuhrman. Yes, he is a racist, and yes it IS possible that he "... was cold-blooded enough to frame Simpson in the murders." Is it so impossible to believe that Fuhrman could have planted or tampered with evidence in order to convict an African-American man for killing a white woman to whom he was once married? I don't know too many racists who Tuesday, October 10,1995 W.c=3 ilty, staff and students are n a Plaza ! i disease JDS victim is Jesus in a distressing lisguise." When we turn away from a ictim of the disease, we turn against tesus. Why do we want to forget those who iave HIV or AIDS? Why do we cast hem out? We claim to have advanced o much in the past two millennia, but ret we still want to avoid those who are liseased. I saw on the news last week hat the parents of an AIDS victim had :overed their last name on their son's >anel in the AIDS Quilt, even though omeone else had made it. Even after lis death, they cast him out. People ireach sermons saying that AIDS vicims get what they are asking for by beng promiscuous. Jesus would not care low a person contracted AIDS. He would ove him or her anyway. God loves everyine, no matter what. Why can't we? [hough we can not as of yet cure the disuse we call AIDS, we certainly can heal he illness. ^ /"I 1 1 il- *1 iL _ u LrOQ in neaven, may mis De tne ast year we must see this disease, beause we are tired. Give us the strength jo fight the prejudices we have within mrselves and to hold those who truly leed our support. Help us open our learts so that we might love others un:onditionally just as you do, and bless is with morning rays of sunshine that lluminate a world that is free of pain md suffering. Amen. courage approve of interracial dating or marriages (keep in mind that at the time of the murders, O.J. was and still is dating a white woman). The question we all need to consid - u?... ?? ? ;i.i_ sr is tins, iiuw can uiie man witn uiie knife kill two people and leave the scene with no bruises or cuts on his body? The supposed killer had one cut on his knuckle, yet it is a known fact that Ronald Goldman fought his attacker(s); wounds an his body proved it. Wouldn't 0 J. have had more than one laceration? Tanya Berry Graduate Student College of Criminal Justice write now Reader responses are welcome. Letters should be between 200 and 250 words and should be delivered personally to The Gamecock, Room 333 of the Russell House. Name, major and phone number should be included. Names will not be withheld for any reason.