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1 Wednesday, November 8,1995 nrw XlM IKUJIK 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 Congress makes the right legislative move All too often the press is called upon to perform the duty of criticizing the government. The "watchdog" role of the media is perhaps the most highly utilized in our country. However, once in awhile, governments on both the state and federal level deserve some congratulations. This is one of those times. The so-called "reconciliation bills," pieces of legislation in Congress designed to make cuts in education, have been killed. American education has been saved from billions of dollars in losses. For some time now, Congress has tossed around the idea of making considerable cuts in student loans, taxing institutions on student loans, increasing loan interest rates and eliminating the interest free grace period that students receive after graduation. All the cuts to education could have been a potentially detrimental blow to an aspect of American life that might already be on its last leg. The importance of higher education seems to be faltering in the minds of Americans (arid particularly in the minds of Federal legislators). Justifying cuts to education seems to be almost impossible. Education mm nnlv he henpfirial Education will onlv increase oDDortunities; it can on ly make our nation a better place and our population a better one. Perhaps the Congress came to realize this in the eleventh hour. Maybe a strange revelation struck the legislators. Maybe their own education payed off in this case. Remember to keep a close eye on education money. If Congress feels compelled to try to make cuts again, let them hear you. For right now, however, congratulations to Congress for a job well done. Drew ventures into local Yankee colony Folks, the reason I missed last ^ week's newspaper was not because DREW STEWART I was being held up by some angry Columnist Edgar Allan Poe society for my last column, but because I had a trip down they were even planning on changto Garden City. ing the spelling from M-Y-R-T-L-E Now, as most of you faithful read- to M-O-I-T-L-E. ers know, I wouldn t set foot in Myr- jt's not that I have anything D U Mrnn if fV?mr nrnro liQVincr Tf l n ? T r Lie oeatu c? "" fc> against i ansees. its just i preiei a Drew Stewart Day, but every once 0pgn country and plantation houses in awhile, I like to see how the Yen- to ^ rises and congestion, kees live so 1 drive to Garden City. B n0Wi wouId ex^ most , But this trip, I saw something people to be turned off by the junk veiy disturbing to me. Right smack those laces sell ri ht? w dab in the middle of downtown Gar- Tourjsts b ^ ^ ^ d den City, is the most hideous evd, on ^ side of tires, scary place I can think o? an Eagles It uscd t0 be that those fi,thy ^Ja?nWeaj i., jfu stores were confined to the Myrtle When driving past it, I felt com- r> u D , , 11 j i. a. t ' i. , ,, Beach area. But now, theVre movpelled to stop. I thought maybe the evervwhere Nex't ti" t head sign meant something about the Ea- J^g everywnere. iNext tune l head 1 1 J 11 u A i.- that way, there will probably be one gles rock and roll band, so I went m- , , * j v- u , to greet me m Andrews or Kingsburg S1 8ai 4.: aAiotolv T h;* (depending on how I go). ' - rv Back in Summerton (pop.97J?, floor. There was more junk m that , , v place than in Richland County Land- we began a program to mcreaseYanjit? kee-awareness around the greater Instantly, I ran out the door Sister Clarendon County area. Therefore, than a moonshiner runs when the w!? VerS10n ?f EagleS sheriff is after him. To this day, I am oaUed Stuckey's _ , still having bad memories of swim- N?w c?mpa^ to E^les Stuckming shoes, fanny packs, and tee e/sisntdl that bad. But, they do shirts that say "I'm with Stupid." make sure to sell plenty of those shirts These Eagles and Wings stores "M1 a Palmetto tree that looks more have become synonymous with sand, a Florida pahn on ai beach shore water and Yankees along the Grand whlch say ^mit South Carolina. Strand You can't throw a rock in Oh, weU. I guess they had to have that area without knocking over one something the Yankees could idenof those floats with Elvis at the Last .... Supper that Eagles sell in their front The httle patch of land on which windowg sits Stuckey's and Dairy Queen (the Those floats aren't the only things latter having been placed there so Eagles and Wings sell that are tacky, the Yankee tourists could have their Think about the half dead hermit own native food) is the only noncrabs. You spend about five bucks on Southern thing you'll find in Sumsomething that is going to live about merton. 10 minutes when you get it home. But y?u know one thing that Or what about those beach towels struck me as funny? which have a picture of James Dean If there are so many Yankee esriding along side Jayne Mansfield tablishments in South Carolina, then on the back of a Unicorn? perhaps maybe, just maybe, there is The absolute worst thing I can a town with lots of old houses, fields ^ tViinlr nf is thp shirts that, associate and stores that sells shotgun shells, Myrtle Beach with the South. Bass shoes, Confederate flag and genFolks, contrary to what any uine pit cooked barbeque up in New brochure may say, Myrtle Beach is York somewhere? Here's one thing as Southern as wearing Navy blue I did learn from a reader of the colsocks with Tevas and walking shorts, umn. There is a place called SumIt's become so Yankee-fied, I heard merton, New Jersey. Go figure. News: 777-7726 Ryan Sims IOTPC0CR Advertising: 777-4249 CJ"ne Ed"or FAX: 777-6482 J, Student Media Russell House-USC* Columbia, SC 29208 jim Spelmon Wendy Hudson Lucy Arnold Martha Hotop Graduate Assistant Editor in Chief Stephanie j Cece von Kolnitz Chris Carroll J 4 -* XT fv? fCh.^nlM?li9 Matt Pruitt aonnemeiu a?i. news umum u> ...? Viewpoints Editor Features Editors gen pjHow Laura Day Chris Winston Jamie Clark Chris Dixon Creative Director Copy Desk Chief Photo Editor Ass, Features JefF A. BreauX Allison Williams Robert Walton Jason Jeffers Art Director News Editor Asst. Photo Editor Cartoonist Marilyn Edwards Larry Williams Robbie Meek Keith Boudreaux Taylor U ?... Asst. Sports Circulation Manager Marketing Director Sports Editor?*1 Ethan Myerson Gregory Perez Erik Collins Graphics Editor Design Editor Faculty Advisor Letters Policy The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of _ ? . ... . . . ?. . . . South Carolina and is published Tuesday through Fnday dur- Gam"?<*"lU 10 Pnnt "" lencrs rccc,ved Uttcri ing the fall and spring semesters, with the exception of univer- should * 200-250 words and must include full name, profesf sity holidays and exam periods. sional title or year and major if a student. Letters must be perOpinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors sonally delivered by the author to The Gamecock newsroom or author and not those of the University of South Carolina in Russell House room 333. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for style, publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withheld is its parent organization. under any circumstances. VIEWP ? _ .,?rx' QUOTE, UNQUOTE "Right now, it's 9 o'clock, pc c Education Education is a vital public policy issue. It is obvious that our public education system, collectively, is not veiy good. One solution to improve education would be to create real school choice. I believe parents must be given the opportunity to choose the type of education their child receives. The current system doesn't allow these choices for most families in our nation. Our system of tax-payer funded public education is both illogical and immoral. The very doctrine of separation of church and state, with worship, education is in itself a religious experience. The current system of public education is rooted in secular humanism. This means every American citizen, regardless of their religion, is forced to fund secular humanism. ffl*QOO.IWvfG r CUC11U3 OUU tUiL3Cl vau?C giuixriwvu groups are fighting hard to remove secular humanist doctrines from our nation's schools. Such areas as sex education, American history, English reading assignment, psychology and science. All involve differing religious and moral viewpoints. For instance, secular humanists beLETTERS 70 THE EDI71 Save a nation; Thank you for your front page coverage of our "Save the Wedge" campaign in the Nov. 2 issue of The Gamecock. I would like to make the following corrections in your news items: 1. The Faculty Senate did not vote to close the International Center for Public Health Research Center (also known as the Wedge). This one-sided decision was made by the provost last month without consulting the faculty and students at the School of Public Health. I brought up this issue at the Faculty Senate to ask the provost how and why he made this decision. 2. There are no "27 institutions with similar programs" in the country. Of the 27 Schools of Public Health in the U.S., USC is the only one with a unique vector research and training facility like the Wedge. It is the only research and training center on vector control of Malaria, Lyme Disease and other vector-borne diseases in the U.S. and the world. I would like to invite faculty and students to join our "Save the Wedge" campaign. We are going to have a field trip to the Wedge on November 17, 1995. You are also invited to the Open House on Dec. 2,1995,1-5 p.m. at the Wedge in McCellanville. We want you to see how this former rice plantation was converted in* ? - ? * J I/O a training aiiu researcn cenuei uu vector-borne diseases. The former horse stables were converted into laboratories. The former slave quarter was turned into an insectary and the old plantation house was turned into classrooms and dormitory. We want you to see beyond the architecture of the Wedge and the amount PINT ft f I f JJJoA ROUGH K>ple are starting to have a j ittier things may take preced USC Police officer Gene needs to TOMMY TOUCHBERRY Columnist lieve sex education should focus on se: ual decision-making while Christiai believe children should be given mor and common sense reasons for pos poning sex until marriage. Another e: ample is the controversy over how i view American history. Most in our s ciety believe we should emphasize tl great accomplishments of our natio while secular humanists believe v should emphasize the wrongs of the pa Liberal educrats often dismiss cri icism of secular humanist curriculun by saying "moral teaching should be 1( to churches and synagogues." This ty] of thinking exemplifies their arrogant First, they assume that "value-free" e ucation is some sort of reasonable coi promise, but morality has only two sid< right and wrong. You have to pick oi or the other. Secondly, if a child is taug one viewpoint five days a week, how a Sunday School going to overcome tl in one morning a week? The answer they can't. m i\ treasure: sa of money its sale will generate. V want you to know its past and prese research and training programs. We want you to imagine and s the faces of people dying of malai and other vector-borne disease in c veloping countries. We want you to s the faces of young American soldie who died of Malaria, Leishmaniaj and other vector-borne diseases in t war frnm World War TT to the Persi Gulf War. ~ We want you to see the faces Americans who are dying of Lyme E eases, Rocky Mountain spotted fev Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever and oi er emerging and resuiging vector-boi diseases in this country. Vector-borne diseases are still n jor public health problems in the U and around the world. After learni all these facts, we want to know if y would allow the closing of a natioi and international treasure like t Wedge If you care about this issue a want to join our "Save the Wedge" ca paign, please call me at 777-CARE call the Wedge at 777-2998. Francisco S. Sy, M.d., Dr. P Associate Professor of Epidemiolog Graduate Dire Weekend programmii at WUSC well done An all 80s weekend on 90.5 ] WUSC. What an inspired event! ] dos to Kerry Mitchell, promotions ir ager, who came up with the idea, it was much more than just a gr I s I ft-Tit? IS K tVWGttWRHO?,... -"1 good time. By 10 or 11 (p.m.) they lence over property at that time." Gabrys, on his various duties buck secul; There is no simple solution to this problem. I believe we must fix the system from ground up. We must move toward privatization and/or a voucher sysx tem model, so as to give parents reais sonable choices in their child's education, al Ideally, schools should be privatized t- to allow market forces to decide the fate x- of each individual school. In addition, to the government should use all educao tion funding to give each parent a vouchie er payment per child while covers the el, average cost of tuition. re Now you may be thinking that some 3t. schools will have more money and reit sources and thus better. And you may as also be thinking that lower income chil;ft dren will end up at the worst schools. I pe have a simple answer to these concerns. ?. First, doesn't this problem already J -? n/ih/\/\ln rjiro Q.- tAiM. OUUUlUOll SUiwio v^ci wuiuj uavv n- much more money than most rural and is, inner-city schools. They also offer a much ne better education. Using market forces, ht all the schools will improve. There will is always be a relative difference, but the lis point is to improve every school, is Secondly, most parents will put their children in religious schools whether it ive the Wedge ife idea?it was well executed. I certainnt ly wouldn't object to this kind of 80s aural gratification a bit more often, ee Which leads me to Ryan Wilson's "ia recent column, Give the Students Mu le- sic they Desire. As usu students,we ^ all pay an activity fee that is divided ^ up between a veritable plethora of dif31S ferent organizations, from which many of us never reap evident benefits. Yet, ^ just because I pay this fee, I do not expect each organization that receives . some of my money to pander to me.. It would be impossible for each orga' nization to pander to each and every me at the university and they shouldn't 116 have to do this. Neither should they dilute what they do, which so often g happens in attempting to please the majority. However, each organization rQU should provide a quality service, which ial I would argue WUSC does rather well. he I am a DJ at WUSC and have been for the last three-and-a-half years. I n(j did not have any part in either the m_ planning or the implementation of this ; or past weekend's trip down memory lane. But as a listener, I was overwhelmingly impressed with both the .H. quality of the programming and the y & professionalism of the DJs. Both of :tor which illustrate WUSC's continued ability to provide the Midlands with exceptional programming that is un' 5 available anywhere closer to us than Atlanta or Chapel Hill. I'm not just proud to be a listener, Fm proud to be FM a WUSC station member. Kulan Julie P. McKay Yet Art Education Graduate Student eat Almost Acoustic DJ JL. 3 p. va v're getting liquored up and ar trends be Protestant, Catholic or Jewish. This change, in itself, will produce better educated children with fewer school problems. Sorry liberals, morality makes a big difference in education. Finally, privatization would destroy the NEA, which might be the best thing that could happen to education. Principals would have the power to recruit the best teachers they could afford. Likewise, good teachers would see much higher incomes and bad teachers would be out of a job. In conclusion, I offer these ideas for an ideal system. I realize it is not this cut and dry, but the theory of privatization and school choice has strong empirical evidence to support it. In areas where it has been tried on the smallscale, there has been much improvement. In addition, all other industries operate in this fashion; why shouldn't education. Isn't that the American way. Fortunately, Bob Dole has already made a campaign promise to pusti lor scnooi choice. I hope the other GOP candidates will do the same. A Closer Look MffffAft AM# m fiu fiurv 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