Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1 Thursday, October 26,1995 IBaiflcotk Serving USC Since 1908 Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief Matt Pruitt, Viewpoints Editor Editorial Board Lucy Arnoia, Jamie ^iarK, urcgory rerez, oiepnanie oonneruciu, aiiuuii w imams, Larry Williams, Ryan Wilson, Chris Winston Government needs better communication Have you heard from your representative in Student Government lately? Or at all? You are in fact aware that we have a student legislature, right? Well, chances are that you probably won't hear from anybody in the student legislature at all. A piece of legislation passed yesterday did away with one of the main sources of student contact for the legislature: individual constituent reports. The legislators will now work strictly with university committees, the members of which apparently know more about student concerns than individual students. Don't you love when others speak for you, without your knowledge or consent? This legislation seems to be designed to pawn off the legislators' work on various the committees. Apparently calling a whopping 5 students a week and asking them a few questions is too much trouble to go to just to find out what constituents want. Granted, much of the lack ot communication between our government and the student body is due to the apathy of the students. The percentage of votihg students on this campus is sickeningly low, and very few seem to be concerned with the actions of the legislature. However, the purpose of the government is to carry out the desires of those who elect them. If no communication exists between the groups, then what is the legislature doing? What is their purpose? Just because one side isn't as receptive to communication as it should be doesn't mean the other should take a step backwards. It is the job of the government to cater to its constituents. It is the job of the constituent^ to voice their desires and needs. Make sure everybody does their job. Halloween prompts Drew to wax poetic The Buzzard DREW STEWART Once upon a toiler park dreary Columnist I sat down not too cheery My lovely lady Miss Lenore She placed a hockey mask on her face had just walked out thei kitchen door. to make me another murder case. She said all I did was hunt j slammed my truck ^ and fish for bass and it ran off with a burst, and when I wasn t domg that I just j dropped down into second gear wi^^'-jaxT i.. i.i. while running over the beheaded Well, I said Now that s not true deer x and if you don't like it the heck with you. At once I thought I was safe from And so she ran out the door harm twas this and nothing more. ,iru T e ,, , b When I felt a sharp pam m my arm. a i v . j , . ji i j I looked and saw Miss Lenore As the midnight candle gleamed , . t . .1 j. u o cm. with the chainsaw running even more. I sat there reading Field & Stream , . , T , , . j. j r u She took a swipe at my neck I was looking at an ad for a bow T. , , j.. , , , t u Jj i i- 1 jumped so hard it made me wreck, when I heard some knocking on my Ti- j i.i_ , . , window I bed on the ground acting deceased. I got up and said, "What the heck?" Lenore's an?er in' when my question was answered T ' n. i j i TT with a peck. Miss Lenore then piked up her HomeIt turned out to be a buzzard big and , . - . . x kjack as I began to run m fright. ^ _ c. ptt.1i : a-nC My breathing was fast wiin uie lire 01 neu streaming uuui -, . his back and my heart was racing I yelled, "Man, it's time to blow this A?61, me Miss Lenore be?an ohas' place" When off fell the buzzard's face. men 1 caa[d ^110 more'1 dove h a ditch I ran out of my trailer and into my ^iss ^,enore JumPed over truck sonofa" When at once I saw a Headless Buck. The Buck cried out, "You evil man 11 looked ^ coast was dear you shot me dead. 1 UP and ran like a spooked deer. And on your wall I ran to a nearby double wide, you hung my head " It looked like a safe place to hide. I said, "Yeah, I remember that. 1 hit the lock and bolted the hatch And on you head I said, "It won't be me she'll catch." I put a John Deere hat." When at once I moved back from the The Buck then rammed the side of door my Chevy only to see the evil free of Miss Lenore. but since he had no head She threw me down with one swift the damage wasn't heavy. blow. I could see the chainsaw engine with I fired up my truck to flee that its horrible glow, dwelling The chainsaw made an awful growl when at once I heard some evil yelling, and roar It turned out to be voice of Miss Lenore I was certain my death would come only this time she had something from Miss Lenore more. But instead of using it to rip out my In her hand bright and red spleen, was a Homelite chainsaw to kill me she simply said, "GOTCHA! HAPPY dead. HALLOWEEN!!!" I nrmnrv Perez ISaflfcod! . Advertising: 777-4249 Ryan Sims FAX: 777-6482 Online Editor Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 ChrisfCC?n^" Director of Student Media Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold Martha Hotop Laura Day Editor in Chief Stephanie Cece VOn Kolnitz Creative Director Matt Pruitt Sonnenfeld Asst. News Jeff A. Breaux Viewpoints Editor Features Editors gen pj||ow Art Director Chris Winston Jamie Clark Chris Dixon Marilyn Edwards Copy Desk Chief Photo Editor Asst pca(ures Taylor Allison Williams Robert Walton Jason Jeffers Marketing Director News Editor Asst. Photo Editor Cartoonist Enk Collins Larry Williams Robbie Meek Keith Boudreaux Faculty Advksor Rvnn Wilcnn Asst SPorts Circulation Manager Kyan vviison ?than Myerson Sports Ed,tors Graplucs Editor Letter. Policy The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. South Carolina and is published Monday through Friday dur- Letters should be 200-250 words and must include full .ng the fall and spnng semesters, with the exception of univer- professional title or year and major if a student. s,ty holidays and exam periods ... . . ? ' ,. . , .. . ' n_- ' . . L /- ?l _ ., , , Letters must be personally delivered by the author to Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors _ r or author and not those of the University of South Carolina The 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 for publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not u its parent organization. be withheld under any circumstances. k * i, VIEWPOINT -w 1 1 vJfcLL | f?LK^ fis ffimtsev, I'/A LAO^CHi/^6- f\ senioos |Wt/fST<&ATl0N luTo f*\1 \ 1 WIFf'S rv\u<2 oe&.AMD TO j I STfiit-T... QUOTE, UNQUOTE "A lot of senators complained and saw that there was n viewing students or making up the s SG senator Alex Vu, on the r Series highlights absurc With this year's World Series, base- [ ^ ball-starved fans of the world are final- LARRY WILLIAMS ly able to witness a Fall Classic. Columnist This past Saturday, with Greg Mad- I dux making the first Series pitch since when the Braves played the Minnesot Philadelphia's Mitch Williams' fastball Twins, and it was the samp scenario oul was belted over the left field wall by side of Fulton-County stadium. Mayb Toronto's Joe Carter in the 1993 series, on a smaller and less-recognized scal< a collective sigh of relief fell over base- but there they were, the Native Amei Kall'o i-MYwroT+nal rniric+* hnurouor a mr?ro 1 1 _ uaui,t-n,.uulu1 i' " icans, protesting tne use 01 tneir nam serious issue has permeated baseball's ^ ^ Atlanta baseball team. walls that needs to be addressed. My question is> why do they onl It is fitting that that the Cleveland sbow Up for large scale events like th Indians and the Atlanta Braves are batr \yorid Series? tbng it out, but for the wrong reasons are Ihey for the Florida Stat No, not because ftey are the two best footba]1 , Sure, ^ teams m baseball. No, not because it ,, ., 7 n u 11 oi a, ,, , , d. . ,j the capacity of I)oak Campbell Stadiui represents the best pitching m the world , . nJ? AAA ,, XT ,.r A against the best hiLg. rea^ 76'^?'Nat nc? This year's World Series is quite in- c?dd cause to ^ a h teresting in the fact that it, like just of J*?Ple m Tadahfsf' about everything else, is seasoned with Where are they for the Chicago Blacl a racial spice - only this time it isn't a hawks Professional hockey games? In white/black thing; it's an Indian thing. town ^ ^ Wmdy City, the Indians Outside every Series game this year, excuse me, Native Americans, if the the Indians - oh, Fm sorry, I guess since really felt strongly about there causi Tm in the public eye, HI use the "polit- would surely determined and reac ically correct" term Native Americans int? the psyche of Americans at thei (When you refer to me, keep in mind every opportunity, wouldn't they? that Fm a European American, not a It seems that, if they were so ber white) - are protesting outside the sta- on their cause, they would be a little b diums to trv to force the resoective tpams more dedicated and protest on a moi i ~ " ' Mr ~ to change their names to some other widespread scale - more often than or "non-offensive" mascot. time a year. Before the first game of tl I can remember in 1991 attending Series Saturday, Native American lea< Game 5 of the World Series in Atlanta ers planned a rally for which they for LfTTERS TO THE EDITOR Argument concerning t flawed, misrepresents th( I am writing in response to Tommy says that 'homosexuality' and 'sexuj Touchberrys column on homosexuality sin' separates [sic] us from God." in the Oct. 19th issue of The Gamecock. Any kid in Sunday School can te I am troubled by the gross misrep- you Paul wrote those books, and ar resentations and flawed arguments he good Christian scholar can tell you thi uses to justify his condemnation of gays Jesus himself said nothing about b anH lpshians mosexualitv. From the beginning, Touchberry Although Touchbeny describes h claims, "Homosexuality is a moral issue, mosexuality as an orientation rathi not an intellectual one." Clearly the is- than a choice, he still sees it as unna sue is both moral and intellectual. ural. The only thing he defines as na To claim it is not intellectual is to ig- ural is his own "innate fear of inversior nore the wealth of research on the sub- He assumes all straight people have ject. Touchberry's strategy is to estab- natural discomfort with homosexualit lish that the only moral position on the But if it were truly natural, wouldi issue is condemnation ? his own posi- it work even if he didn't know someoi tion ? and that there are no other moral was gay or lesbian? If the fag-gag refli positions of affirmation or understand- only works when you know someone ing. There are. gay, that would suggest that fear ai Touchberry also claims, "Most ma- loathing are culturally produced, not i jor religions openly oppose sexual rela- nate. People are not born that wa tions." (I assume he means homosexu- In an attempt to ground his mor al relations!) arguments, Touchberry turns to leg In fact, most mainstream Christian ones, citing state laws about sexualil denominations now include groups that He fails to distinguish among Sou seek the inclusion of homosexual Chris- Carolina's adultery, fornication, and bi tians. The choice is not "simple" and gery laws, and he fails to note that ma "clear" as Touchbeny would have us be- states have repudiated their sodor lieve. There is some disagreement, and laws. He grounds his moral argume there are those moral and religious peo- on laws that are grounded on his moi pie who affirm gay and lesbian lives, views that he tries to ground on tho Touchbeny also says that Jesus wrote laws... the reasoning is circular a: Gglatians and Romans, and that "Jesus faulty. s 3 f we Hvtev fiN exteu.enT \ perecTive... LT. fmnk v drf6in! y io way to really determine if the senators were really interinswers and turning them in for credit." iewTy altered constituency reports lity of politically correct 1 casted around 2,000 protesters. Need- a ted and pass out? Where are the Naless to say, around 50 showed up.lt al- tive Irish men and women during this so seems that if this movement were so yearly festival? Probably celebrating J popular and if so many Native Ameri- right along with them. a cans took this seriously enough, there And what about the mini-tomahawks would be protests everywhere we looked, which are so popular at Atlanta Braves e but apparently this isn't the case games? Wasn't it the Native Americans Many Native-Americans like to who madc ^ ^ M ^ counter the opposition by saying, What , c u ? j- jul u .... A*T , TI7LT rn to fans who were "offending" their here if it was the Atlanta Whites, or the Cleve- . ? land Blacks? Wouldn't you then be of- 1 , , . fended?" Well, to be quite honest with Offhi^we couM fp on and on dnut I you, no, I wouldn't be the least bit of- possible offensive mcknames. Here fended if a teams mascot, affiliated with ^ a examples: rm it n .1 _ i n _ a .* _ i am f? pride and dignity, was represented by ine ivew ungiana rauaois: iviy u my race. I would consider it an honor, great great great great great grandfaNative Americans have the miscon- ther was a Patriot, and I think it's ofn ception that team mascots are meant to fensive for New England to insult him ^ be "funny" or "cute," and that is where like that." they are badly mistaken. The New York Yankees: "1 used to Team's mascots are symbols of a live on turdy turd treet and I don't tink 4 swagger and exaltation - hence the pop- it's right to insult me like dat." a ular accompaniment fighting" which The Wake Forest Demon Deacons: goes with just about every team imag- ?pm a deacon for my local church and I y inabje, eventhe Orepn Fighting Ducks. think it's a sin for them to ridicule us." h , n^,"^0 U a fhort lustory The Minnesota Vikings, the Housn lesson: The Atlanta Braves mascot was . A n J Tt ., ir v r .1 c . XT i.- a ton Oilers, the Oakland Raiders, the tr chosen for the first Native American ^ ... ' baseball player. Anyone who think that R3"38 P** on and on It the "Braves" are a source of mockery If Nahve Amencans had their way what it needs a reality check. would come next? And after that? "e What about the yearly St. Patrick's Suggestion: to eliminate all of this ie day parade? Should it not be offensive hogwash, why don't we do away with le that people of all colors-white, black, names altogether? After all, when it i- hispanic, and yes, Native American- comes down to it, isn't every mascot e- dress up in green for a day, get obliter- downright insulting? A Closer Look Lomosexuality al Touchberry concludes, in a rhetori- ilk cal flourish, by using a "slippery slope" 11 argument. He insists, if we accept hoiy mosexuality as a part of the human at condition and society, then we will "lose our ability to make rational Would accepting gay and lesbian t people really cause us to lose all our /? p^^fM1CHA?L t moral faculties, our ability to make moral JQRnWJ luuuiuciijf tones lb a step iui uicx, ?\ J- I //\v y giving the slippery slope this historical i't (and apocalyptic) twist: If we don't afie firm his views on sexuality, it will be the M3TW? ex end of "civilization as we know it." is This argument was tired three cenid turies ago, when Montesquieu said in n" 1734 that Rome fell because Nero fidy died and diddled. It was tired when Vic a' torian preachers railed against Oscar ||#|||? Wilde and the "new woman" (that scary tHfrn m I Mm %J Mr creature who wanted to own property Reader responses are welcome, and vote). And it is very tared now, and Letters should be between 200 ny and 250 words and should be ay nt Sincerely, delivered personally to The ^ m j , j Gamecock, Room 333 of the se Ed Madden ad Assistant Professor of English Russell House t 4l I