Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Wednesday, October 11,1995 Serving (JSC Si Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief 1 Editorial I Lucy Arnold, Jamie Clark, Gregory Perez, S Larry Williams, Ryan W Innliirlp pvpi under blank Once again, we of the university c< turn our collective eye upon ourselves ar tice what we preach. Today is National Coming Out Da awareness and acceptance by providing way for expressing their sexual orienta The Carolinian Creed advocates pre cording to the Creed, we should all try us. One would like to think that homose are severe minorities, would be include Unfortunately, little has been said help promote awareness of this event. I not heard of NCOD. Couple this with President John Pa tion clause to the university's equal op] get the impression that a certain group Are we only supposed to accept a o only learn from a few different groups' uals not been included under what see: If we can't include everybody due t the ideals that the Carolina communit Verdict mar divisions or America's pastime culminated last week, and now if s over. The 15 month season has come to an end. The Braves didn't win this one. Neither did the Indians or the Yankees. Nope, not the Reds either. In fact, there were no winners; only losers. Hopefully, you have figured out that I am not writing about baseball. I am writing about the pastime that replaced baseball. It started two months before 1994's strike. A fallen American sports hero was riding in his white Ford Bronco down the highways of Los Angeles as the whole country watched. This hero, who played football for Southern Cal and the Buffalo Bills, stood accused of the gruesome murder of both his ex-wife and her friend. Now, I am not going to tell you ? ?i i. Li let l my j uugtriueiiL as lu itjj . uuiipson's guilt or innocence is superior to the twelve jurors who watched every detail of the trial. Maybe O.J. really is innocent. If he is truly innocent, then I am thankful an innocent man's life has been spared. What troubles me is not necessarily the jury's decision. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and hold respect for their decision. It is the reaction of a significant segment of our population which deeply troubles me. ABC news has conducted several polls which finds that an overwhelming percentage of white Americans believe O.J. is guilty of murder. On the other hand, these polls find that an overwhelming percentage of black Americans believe O.J. is not guilty. This same division between white and black Americans exist on many if not most other issues of the day. If each person who believes 0. J. is not guilty also believes someone else committed the murders, then I would have no problem with their belief. But, it is painfully obvious that most of OJ.'s supporters believe that he should have been acquitted as a means to make up for past discrimination in America's judicial system. This is the same line of thinking which affirmative action supporters usually invoke. Let me say I do believe many black Americans have been discriminated against by the judicial system in the TBafeodt s FAX: Student Media Russell House-USO Cc Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold Editor in Chief [ Stephanie Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld Viewpoints Editor Features Editors Chris Winston Larry Williams a n?Py ^ Ryan Wilson Allison Williams Sports Editors News Editor Jamie Clark Keith Boudreaux Photo Editor Circulation Manager Robert Walton 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 Depar -nent of Student Media is ' s parent organization. ' \ cock nee 1908 Matt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor Board itephanie Sonnenfeld, Allison Williams, ilson. Chris Winston Ifbody et of creed )mmuriity is granted the chance to id find out if whether or not we pracy. This day is designed to promote [ homosexuals andhisexuals a gatetion. ?moting and accepting diversity. Acto learn from the differences among xuals and bisexuals, two groups that d in these ideals. or done on the university's part to n fact, most students have probably lms' refusal to add a sexual orientaportunity statement, and one might > is being forgotten, ertain amount of diversity? Can we ' Why have homosexuals and bisexms to be a blanket statement? 0 some political controversy, aren't y is promoting rather empty? ks national , 1 race line TOMMY TOUCHBERBV ] Columnist past. This is a fact beyond dispute. g( Before title VII was passed in the y lOf^s, black Americans did not have tj proper protection under the law. Un- u fortunately, the original intent of title VII has been diluted with mas- n sive liberalism. n Any individual who believes that J a possible murderer should be ac- 0 quitted to make up for past racial discrimination is dead wrong. Also, 1< any individual who celebrates Mr. fc Simpson's acquittal is basically eel- a ebrating the crime of wife-battering. v There is absolute proof that 0. J. r physically and mentally abuse his ex-wife. A person with this type of I character should never be respected t or celebrated. He should be consid- t ered what he is at the very least: a t wife-beater. I would like to close with some c comments directed toward the ma- t jority of (not all) black students. As ? a white American, it is very hard for I me to understand your problems and ? to want to help you when you say ? some of the things you say and do 1 some of the things you do. c For instance, the very idea that t we should sacrifice a color-blind society for affirmative action is ap- [ palling to me. Also, the idea that the _x xl__* 1__ government owes you sometmng Decause of discrimination against your ancestors is equally as appalling. Furthermore, the reaction of many black Americans to recent court rul- ^ ings is truly offensive. The mobs of ( celebration following the 0 J. verdict (as if you had just won the World Series) is sickening. The reaction to the i Rodney King verdict (in disagreement) by rioting is inexcusable. I hope in the future, a greater number of black Americans will turn away from the hatred expressed by these actions. I hope many black Americans will tell Jesse Jackson to stop his racist attacks, and stand behind black political leaders who are trying to change America for the good. Leaders like Alan Keyes, Colin Powell, Armstrong Williams and Clarence Thomas are black Americans we can all rally behind. nnn Eth3n Mycrson ?. 777-7726 Graphics Editor ." l^io7"4249 Gregory Perez . / / /-040Z Design Editor )lumbia, SC 29208 R?an Sims Online Editor Martha Hotop Chris Carroll Asst. News Director of Student Media Ben Pillow Laura Day Chris Dixon Creative Director ? i-w a n Asst. features jen t\. ureaus Robbie Meek An Director Asst. Sports j Erik Collins Jason Jeffers Faculty Advisor Cartoonist Letters 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, rissible libel or space limitations. Names will not be wr eld under any circumstances. TEWP Dire< Ci I*% 9 -Here ~ / I ;f you're /i Wa?K 1U0TE. UNQUOTE "The bigges uet's be civil The ties that bind us as people may ometimes seem few and far between, lowever, I suggest that there is one ling, one bond, one capability that binds s all together. This characteristic or flaw of hulan nature is that we are able to for aulate opinions. As a result, we as inividuals are apt to argue with one anther quite frequently. Individuals will argue in order to aljw opinions to prevail or merely to proect pride. We as people are capable of rguing over the most minute things rtiich in turn lead to larger conflicts or amifications, such as war. Examples of this are, the crisis in losnia, the bombing in Oklahoma, or he shouting matches that occurred in he halls of our national Congress over he Medicare and Medicaid debate. Now, I do not suggest that a conflict if opinions is a bad thing. On the conrary, many of our countries greatest ichievements have come from this free low of ideas. I am suggesting that we is a people need to focus more on dis:ussing these differences of opinions ather than arguing. This will be evilent through an analysis of conflict on wo levels. First, one must look at this LETTERS TO WE EDITO USC Students \I7Un4- ifl finfk oil AT fV>A /llOQOOAAIQ TT liat ID 11/ YV1U1 CULL VI U1V UlOUOQWlU" Lion between the multicultural races on :ampus? I am sure that I'm not the only student to notice this particular issue. From my one-and-a-half month stay here on campus, I have noticed the disassociation of races in the classrooms, social events and in public areas. In just about all of my classes, the trend Fve noticed is whites sitting with whites, blacks sitting with blacks and foreigners sitting with foreigners. I ask myself "Why does it have to be this way?" I guess the other students think that it is this way. Well, if they do, I think they are very wrong. The majority of the time a problem may occur, and this causes teamwork, which leads to students of different races coming together to work the problem out. The teamwork method, within the classes, has helped me, and Fm sure will help someone else, too, to create a strong relationship with other races, which could be a erreat asset. When it comes to social events, like parties, for example, it seems that one race will have a party of their own, while at the same time, another race will have a party of their own. I truly believe that if we stop having all of these separate parties an just have one huge party, race relations would increase dramatically. This issue also plays a big part in USC's public areas, such as the restaurants. Every time I go and eat at one of the campus dining areas, Russell House in particular, very rarely do I see a mixture of races dining at one table together. So it is safe to say that the restaurant and classroom scene are veiy much alike. Being the well-rounded person that PENT! >.!. SMPsM ^ -lioNAL MAP fou. are...") b?^f5 r ...Here, jfyoure w hire Wfit step was coming out to m] USC student Jonathan O'Conner settle diffe TRAV ROBERTSON Columnist conflict or arguing on an individual level Second, we as a collective whole must analyze the conflict on a global level. Despite what many of you think I too am guilty of arguing and not listening and discussing differences of opinions. Last week several friends and I had a disagreement over something that I thought was very important. Personally, I feel that no matter what the situation, eveiy person should be allowed to speak. The three of us are very opinionated and as stubborn as a pack of jackasses, so naturally this difference of opinions lead to the argument and conflict that was mentioned earlier. While I still believe that I was right, I was wrong to get us involved in a conflict. This conflict led somewhat to a rift between my self and two people that are great friends of mine. The point is that when we are led to conflict instead of discussion many parties end up worse than when they started. Individuals never realize the effect an argument or conflict can have on the ff need to unif each other a chance and explore one another's background. After all, getting to know other people is supposed to be a part of the USC experience. With this important message in mind, I leave you with this thought again: Does it hurt to mingle a little? Dexter D. Zimmerman Civil engineering freshman All conservatives don't fit liberal stereotype I am writing in response to the letter written by Deanna K. Harrell in Wednesday, October 4 issue of the Gamecock. I am a white, very conservative South em male. 1 would like to lnlorm Ms. liarrell that we are in the United States of America. So "what has happened to free speech," you ask? It's called freedom to print and distribute The Carolina Spectator. Although I do not agree with the tactics Mr. Davenport used (giving addresses and phone numbers), I agree with the contents of the Spectator because it speaks from a conservative point of view. Just as it is your choice to leave this campus, it is also your choice to read the Spectator or trash it! It's that simple! Let me also inform you, Ms. Harrell, that we do not get into a big uproar here at USC over trivial matters. As a matter of fact, there is no need for a rally or protest. We conservatives have just as much right to publish and distribute our material as you have the right to publish and distribute your left-wing propaganda! That is freedom of speech and ,QO? 5 v fself after many, many years , on disclosing his homosexuality fences with circle of friends which one surrounds himself with. If we had, if I had, merely discussed the problem there would have been no problem at all. There is another aspect to this argument In some parts of our city, state, and country individuals would have settled this ridiculous conflict with violence. We are lucky, in that we live in an environment, unlike others, which does not answer problems with guns. We live in a time and age where this type of argument is sometimes settled with the death of one or more of the individuals involved. I assert that our inability tc discuss and our readiness to argue has plunged us head first into a society with the same mendacity. If we are not able to discuss differences of ideas between one another as individuals how can we possibly dis cuss differences as collective wholes be tween countries, nations, and other en tities? I would dare argue that there is some type of link between individuals not being able to discuss and the act o conflict between and in countries. Why did it take so long and so mam deaths before the waring factions ii Bosnia decided to call a temporary ceas< y, mingle a 1 Finally, I get tired of liberals like yo labeling conservatives like me as fas cists, bigots and hate-mongers. I, lik many of my conservative colleagues, ai none of the above. Ms. Harrell, let me leave you with couple of questions. If you are so "oper minded" and "tolerant," then why ar you leaving this campus? Why? Becaus you and your other close-minded, libei al friends can only tolerate liberal b< liefs and points of view. Steve Knigt Political science seni< Universities should folloi umiurm sjsicui As a transfer student, one has I wonder why USC has such different a teria than other universities. Why can't we change our college sy tern and have a state-to-state systei where every school has set standard! What is important for the future an e ucation, or are we more interested i the money the colleges can make off i l l i x 1 x -J x* tne stuaenis wno want an euucauui After five English classes, do I net to take English 101 again, just becaui my first English class I took did not me all the requirements? Don't get me wren we could all benefit from taking Englif 101 again, but should we pay for it wit every move we make? Also, I have a year of history but n in the time frames they require here, having this different history going make me a better rounded student' think not. As for tt>e cultural awareness clas T o ?0 a. o 0 3 co' 5T ?? 1 of denial." tout hostility fire? I would argue that the ramifications of this conflict or argument will be felt for years. Is there something new to be discussed that could not have been discussed months ago? Or did the factions decide that enough had been killed. Our own country is seeing a new wave of horrific events. Mondays train bombing was terrible. Are these groups i afraid to discuss rather than kill people? What could be so bad that a group of the "Gestapo Band" could not have simply asked to discuss the problems with the country? Our government even has the ability to argue and enter into conflict However, it much more responsive to the discussion of differences of ideas rather than to enter into conflict. However, there are times when the government does go astray from these principles, we the people have to set them on the right course again. In conclusion, one can see that on an 5 individual level of analysis discussing > the difference of ideas instead of arguf ing about them will not prevent friendships from being lost but also help us f learn that conflicts on a global level 1 should be viewed for discussion, not coni flict. ittle bit more u age college student who has not see othi er cultures and lifestyles but for those e of us who have been to other culturally ii diverse areas I don't think it is as important. a All in all I was coming to this unii versity as a senior, but with transfer? ring here, to my surprise I need two more ~ jrctuo. f- Having a foreign language is a great ** thing, but do all of us retain our foreign languages? Speaking for the majority, no. But you have to be able to pass the ^ proficiency test to see where you place, 5r and if you were to transfer you might have to take these classes over. V With the system we now have, after you leave the counselors initial counseling session, the appropriate response should be, "Glad to welcome you to USC, and as a student here your pockets will become considerably smaller with every extra English, History and foreign lan^ guage class you need to get you degree." 39 Buenas dias y buenas suertes! Jn Chris Bunch m 0? Sociology senior i? id je i write now ^ Reader responses are welcome. , Letters should be between 200 ot Is and 250 words and should be to delivered personally to The * Gamecock, Room 333 of the is- Russell House