The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 08, 1995, Page 3, Image 3
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#
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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