University of South Carolina Libraries
Wednesday, January 31,1996 TBofl Serving USC Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief? Tina Morgan, Brent Seel EdKotU Chris Dixon, Martha Hotop, Karen Layne, Ryan Sims, Stephanie Sonnenfeld, Cece vo Fee hearings debate from i The money- iHnvnj grabbing extravaganza is over. The screams Stu from agonized activ treasurers have died auoc down. A calm falls over _____ all of Student Life. Until next Sunday, when the Student C?m Government Senate should Finance Committee fa finishes its week-long not deliberation over how to snend student activitv fees. T ^ Until next Sunday, when campus organizations such as SAGE, AAAS and Carolina Cares receive their budget allocations for the 1996-97 academic year. Some probably will get the short end of the stick. Student organizations requesting large amounts of money from Student Government were strongly encouraged, but not required, to attend Finance Committee hearings. In those hearings representatives from those organizations were given Press must r< While the press has I done an admirable job of LA* keeping apace of changes in technology such as the use of computers and cable telecommunications, they have %Unfortunately lagged behind with respect to the evolution of their professional ethics. This has resulted in an unintended, but predictable, bias in coverage. Ordinarily, journalists will be the first to advocate the need for progress and to point out the futility of adhering to tradition merely for tradition's sake. Sadly, when it comes to introspection, U? 1:1. - i. 1 : ? u ? _ mcy, line muse ill manjr unici professions, seem to put on blinders and refuse to accommodate the very changes necessary to keep apace of the advances they have embraced. Until recently, most cities had two papers, one conservative and one liberal, but with the competition of cable ' Revision, CNN and C-SPAN, most have evolved into one-paper markets. In a few instances, there remain vestiges of the old model, such as New York, with The Times and Wall Street Journal, or Washington, with The Post and The Times. However, because of an overabundance of liberal professors in journalism schools, which is in turn reflected in the students who are graduated and go on to became reporters and editors, most of the papers that survive have become decidedly liberal. This dominance is not complete, as there are isolated conservative papers and journalists, but the majority are liberal. In a free society, it is neither right nor wrone for individuals to be liberal or conservative; all are entitled to their opinions. As recently as 10 years ago, it was also ethically appropriate for iwspapers and editors to have liberal or conservative preferences, because there was sure to be a different perspective offered from the other paper. Today, the problem is that such im^, i?^ | News Advc VlJUllUXUut fax Student Media Russell House-USO C< Wendy Hudson Robbie Meek MwtaQ-et Matt Pruitt Ryan Wilson Sports Editors Managing Editor Allison Tin. Morgan waBams Brent Seehger Spedai Projects Viewp^uBdta. Ethan Myerson Martha Hotop Graphics Editor Cece von Kolnitz Karen Layne N?W,E^O? ChrisDuon McLendon Stephanie Copy Desk Sonnenfeld Ryan Sims Features Edtor OnHa Bdilon The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published Tuesday through Friday tkitmg u* fall and spring semes ten. with the exception of ursversity holidays and exam periods. Opinions expreared in The Gamecock are those of the -tiers or author and not those of the University of .sooth Carolina The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student ^jedia is its parent organization. ^ \ ttOCR : Since 1908 ' Ryan Wilson, Managing Editor, liger, Viewpoints Editors i Board Robbie Meek, Tyson Pettigrew, Matt Pruitt n Kolnitz, Robert Walton, Allison Williams I I 0 N 1 not open to organizations TJTT5BH the opportunity to present and defend dent their budget requests ity fee tor the following year. ations In addition to the advice and I questionsthey | expected to receive, the mittee organizations faced a allocate panel of senators preaching the bully importance of co programming. Do-ityourself seemed to be their battle j cry as senators prepared to " distribute funding. Nobody argued though. Even if the senators don't have the slightest clue what's best for the organizations, groups like the \ geology club cant afford to dispute their advice. They're put on the spot. SG controls their livelihood. 1 So they must accept the amount the committee allocates them, regardless. Finance Committee, keep this in mind when you deliberate this weekend. ] i ethink ethics I a balanced rivalry no longer KY exists, and where only one , side is given a voice, only half I the truth will be told. Some evidence of the harm this imbalance has already generated canj)e seen in the ideological polarity of discourse in outlets such as talk radio. Market forces being what they are, the lack of balance in print and television generated a hunger on the part of conservatives. This hunger fostered, and in turn was fed by, the rise of those such as G. Gordon Liddy. These demagogues are, in effect, creations not only of their conservative listeners, but also of the media establishment that reviles and denies them access. Conversely, we understand, then, why liberals cannot crack talk radio. It is not from any lack of talented or articulate broadcasters, nor is it from any phenomenal gifts on the Dart of conservatives. It is simDlv because liberals already have their perspectives addressed on television and in print. To counter the decline in newspaper readership and promote a greater sense of civility, the imbalance must be corrected. To do this, journalists must modify their ethics to accommodate the changes of the communities and markets they serve. The days when papers could champion one philosophy are gone. Newspapers have an increased responsibility to represent all their readers and, if they are to flourish, must address the needs of both liberals and conservatives. Perhaps a model akin to that employed by USA Today with an impartial pro and con of editorial issues may be appropriate. In anv event, a chance in the status quo is called for. Journalism is no different than any other profession; it cannot cling to what is comfortable without risk. i: 777-7726 rtising: 777-4249 777-6482 Chrjs CarroU )lumbia, SC 29208 Diw,or<*** Laura Day Tyson Pettigrew Creative Director Robert Walton Jeff A. Breaux Photo Editors Art Director Adam Snyder Sue McDonald Jennifer Stanley JimSpeelmon Asst. News Graduate Assistant Lucy Arnold Marilyn Edwards Dipka Bhambhani Taylor Asst. Features Market^ Director Achim Hunt Erik Collins *?? Faculty Advise Keith Boudreaux Jason Jeffers Circulation Editor Cartoonist Letters Policy The Gamecock will try to prim all letters received. Letters should be 200-250 weds 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 321. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letters for style, possible d^el or space limitations. Names will not be withheld unfrr any circumstances. IEWI "HHHK21Z! /fo WHAT wAJ\ \ IQoPoft'f J \ UKf ?J QUOTE, UNQUOTE "I can F Candidates r Just when American citizens are about to collectively vomit over the mvriarl nf nnraenlvo^ iasiiea ir Washington, in through the door comes a proverbial breath of fresh air. Or is it? Amid constant bickering betweer Democrats and Republicans over hov to pass a budget, protect the evironmeni and correctly analyze a State of th< Union address, in walks a virtua nobody, Republican Steve Forties, wh< announces his candidacy for presidem of the United States of America. Forbes, 48, is president and editoi in chief of Forbes magazine and is th? eldest son of Malcolm Forbes Sr., th< money-making capitalist whose wealtl was estimated at $1 billion when h< died in 1990. Despite his longshot for thi candidacy, Forbes does have a fev things working in his favor. And unliki others on the ho-hum menu o candidates, Forbes has some attractivi answers to complex problems. Those writing Forbes off need onl; look at-the poHo, where Forbes ha: surged ahead of the Republican pad to place second only to Bob Dole. T? l > : ?i ruxuea yiiwaiy meaacige la ucoi elementary and, most importantly, hai instant appeal for the American people In trumpeting his flat tax plan, FoHbe; has already tapped the intrest of man; Americans. 333 333 The flat tax plan proposes t establish a tax rate of 17 percent 01 earned income - no more, no less. Wit] this, the arduous, painstaking procea of filling out IRS forms will be reduce< to a five minute filling out of a forn the size of an index card. Presently, Americans spend $31 billion and 3 billion hours yearly oi tax preparation. Almost half of th country's taxpayers now use professions Not everyone f The other day I realized that, fo: the past two weeks or so, I had beei abeentmindedly using the names Pa ivoDertson ana rat oucnanai interchangeably. No one seemed b notice. Buchanan's preoccupatioi with morality and the notion o teaching the Bible in public classroom has overshadowed the rest of hi presidential platform. But b; advertising these personal beliefs ii his campaign, Buchanan himsel offers us the most persuasive reasoi why he does not belong in office. Mr. Buchanan has no concept o the separation of church and state and neither do the constituents ti whom he appeals. In his vehemen assertion to teach morality (or th Bible, since he uses these term interchangeably) in public schools Buchanan demonstrates a blatan disregard for the U. S. Constitutor the fundamental legislative code fo this country. Never mind that he ha never clarified his definition o "morality" or that he has only vaguel described his proposed amendmen to public education as a way o instilling morals in young people How can a person who wishes t govern such a diverse population a America condone the indulgence c the spiritual beliefs of only percentage of that population? Thi tactic appeases many constituent but will not help to further thi country's educational goals. The motivation for teaching th Bible in school seems to be an altruisti one; extremists feel that today's yout are degenerating into decadence an are concerned for their eternal soul "PINT* fwell... HE SoMET'^f! I TANK... HAfl fc3V>C \ HVIN' wrtM HI?N... \ .j. aa ujetor pifi ^ u ' count on tho price of a text 'rof. Stanley Dubinsky on the price of course packet i , , i -r Leed to be awa i services to I s handle it. larry other williams i appealing ? prospects for Americans in Forbes' platform are the i elimination of capital gains, dividends r -and interest earnings from income t taxation. Appearently, this would free ; up loads of capital for new enterprises, 1 economic growth and investment pickup ) that is long overdue. Forbes would also t exempt the poor from income taxes (a family of four with an income of less r than $36,000 would be excused). ? Aside from his appealing policies, i this Northwestern Wildcat of politics 1 also has several other things going in 2 his favor. First, Forbes isn't a part of the Washington interior, and has never ? held an elected office. Many would i consider this to be a disadvantage, but, b judging by recent public opinion polls f of our government, it's more than a b plus. Nowadays, ifs politically correct to y bash government (reasonably so), and 3 Forbes is as anti-Was?mgtenas-tEey^ t come. Forbes has attackedDole with ? v... u-u;?? oavagci^r UY uuuig eveijuiiiig uui uuiiug , Dole a liar. 3 Also, Forbes is loaded. He has no .. financial gains to make. He's got money, s and he's not afraid to spend it. Forbes y has already sunk $10 million into-his campaign, and it doesn't look-like-he's 0 stopping any time soon. ? 1 On a recent episode of "The i McLaughlin Group," a television show s on ETV where a panel of journalists i take sides on controversial issues, the ! group gave their insight on who this new "Stevie Wonder Forbes" really is. [) On the positive side, they stressed 1 the optimism of Forties' campaign and e the benefit of being the "feel-good" j candidate for America. The journalists >ractices what Buc r and for the 1 future of amy t society. Before i then we must 3 assume, l nobody got pregnant, nobody listened f to raunchy music, the youth of s yesterday were perfect little angels, s And as soon as organized religion y (these advocates of religion in the i classroom would have us believe that f this includes all morality whatsoever) l was taken away, kids started to grow their hair long and smoke pot between f classes. This claim is a poor excuse s, fabricated by those who have ingested o a lethal overdose of nostalgia for the t mythic "Golden Age of Morality." e These are not the people who should s be charged with the responsibility of i, structuring out public educational t system. i, Extremists often cite a "higher r authority" when arguing about 8 controversial issues like education f and abortion. They assume that all y Americans share (or should share) it this acceptance. Many do, and that's f OK, but religion constitutes a private i. belief that cannot interfere with public o policy. The beauty of democracy is s that everyone can worship freely, as >f long as they do not infringe on the a rights of others. The rights of others s (in this case, those who do not practice, s say, Buchanan's version of s Christianity) are violated when the attempt is made to impose private e beliefs on public policy. To do so is ic an insult to the integrity of the h American constituency, who have d the stipulated rig{it to define their s own personal beliefs without being > u/?mneiLS \ )T [ [/jOULV^T J M >... y ~y r l at j 4:< gir r." I gj Wmm\s9*z^- 6 ? chi ov< Lo book." ^ wh ! ha ins mj re of Forbes t and insiders in the group also va] documented his belief in economic du liberation and his promise to put money crj in the pockets of citizens. As with any politician, with the /: good always comes the bad, and with , Forbes, there are some negative aspoects to his platform, namely the quiet baggage that accompanies his flat*tax Plan- . All With considerable analysis, the fj, benefits decrease with the flat tax. If ^ the policy were instituted, Forbes would at eliminate all deductions, including the n e favorable write-off for home mortgage wi interest that saves 28 million taxpayers Ot a combined $64 billion a year. 1 m The flat tax rate might actually ha have to be closer to 21 percent to produce be as much revenue as the federal income Pe tax now produces. It would have to be m< even higher if deductions for home w mortgage interest and charitable gifts &? are retained. Pe From a historical standpoint, Forbes Jus some sWkmgaiBilmtietto forma- ^ Republican president Ronatd'Reagan. Think about it. In Reagan we had a i. j.j.: ?i_! _a.1 i. -j 1.. a" tax cuiung, opumisuc ouismer wno ga almost upset another Republican rjy president in 1976 and went on to a fta landslide victory in 1980. In Forbes we th have someone in the same mold who ft ] wnp't brpatiaggd with wtond idace. th ~ -TThfTrrtriguing aspect of witnessing ch - ForWrise to-pohticabprominence isn't ar based solely on his winning or losing. ju In a country where most will jump the va underdog bandwagon at the drop of a fli] hat, the beauty of Forbes' success is ha that, unlike a short time ago, his 001 competitors are no longer able to operate 5 ] on cruise control. Now, they're nervously n watching Forbes in the rear-view mirror- co and he can see the sweat. Wi is hanan preaches ? ve mmaaaV?a/I f a Utr a UirrUA?* AiilV*Awfi7 ir* fn piccuaicu vj uy <x iiiguci auuiui lty 111 a v. Washington. re We crave stability in a tumultuous ut and uncertain world where change hs often comes unexpected and uninvited. th We naturally reach out for co "touchstones" - icons of stability and B1 guidance - to help us maintain some ca kind of orientation in life. For many fa of us, this touchstone means spirituality at or, more to the point regarding current so political trends, religious dogma, which 11 is distinctive by virtue of its rigidity th and its idolatrous, "unquestionable" nc nature. So the drive to reinforce le stability is natural and explains in th part the emergence of a fundamentalist ef right wing, but the government is a co secular entity that deals with problems ca experienced by all citizens, regardless d( of spiritual differences. We need to miea+inn nnf nnlv +Vi? HiaooH valnoa s&s of extremist politicians but also the reasons they are so readily embraced by voters. It is strange to think that a truly democratic society would advocate such candidates. Buchanan, who has not established his authority as a biblical scholar, plans to teach the Bible in the classroom in order to foster good Christian morals in children of diverse faiths, which disqualifies his authority as a impartial public servant and a competent lawmaker. Personal values cannot be legislated, nor is the federal government an evangelical institution. m Citizens who value their individual liberty should be alarmed that people who demonstrate a willingness to ? secularize the mandates of a particular * f\ religion are so widely accepted and supported in politics. 3^ ticket master" uins day On Dec. 10, jeff approximately beckham 18 p.m., my Wriendandl t the Physical Science Building and aceeded to my car. Because I had iple time left on my meter, we moved iwly, enjoying what was left of a lutiiul day. Noticing the several cars front of mine with parking tickets, I ently chuckled to myself because I ew that today I had beaten the slavey item Columbia has captured its citizens I was free from any bonds Columbia^ d tried to subdue me with. I had won imall battle - the underdog hadampioned. - . Then, like the slow realization that jrcomes you when you walk next to rena Bobbitt after a night of heavy inking, a numbing feeling froze me ere I stood! The dreaded ticket master d marked me for the kill. On first jtinct, I immediately lashed out at r girlfriend - didn't she feed the meterZ. lat the hell did she do with my last; mn quarter? Reason took over with r outcry of "not miiltv." I glanced up at the bloodthirsty mpire to see its red eye glaring in the ,sk. Shock forced oxygen to my inium - the eye had not made its pearance - the time bomb still had mininutes left to demolish my * lerwise happy day. 4:50 p.m., just" s minutes after the ticket was planted, tood in utter disbelief. Two gentlemen told me^the lerAflhmita nf mv alnvpr -.dirrlp K as, the monster had vanished. I could id no trace of the weasel. He isappeared faster than the Clintons a Whitewater hearing. I searched ar and far, soliciting help from tnesses, but none came forward.? iviously, I was the victim- of a hit and ? i. That bastion of Columbia oommercad simply branded me arid.tookjaffTifore he could be subjected to: rsecution by myself and the lynch ab forming - all of whom were fed up th the indentured servitude our local vernment has instilled upon its asants. My only choice was to call the city d plead my case before their judiciaries, ter thouroughly explaining my plight, ey made no concessions 1b? their slight, id I knew I was ready to fight. They id I should call the next morning, le "lady" I talked to said that the meter id somehow malfunctioned earlier at day when I parked there; how could break for 37-1/2 minutes since I put e last quarter in? Did the meterecking fairy swing its magic wand id make the EXPIRED sign pop-up st for the few seconds so that the rmint could tag and bag me and then p back down when I walked up? Not irdly. I submit that this unscruplous ward simply felt that "Hey - if s almost p.m., Fm gettin' off - this sucker will iver know - I'll just najjjiis liberalmmunist flag burnin'-constitution avin' butt! Man, I got my quota - this hard work!" This meter person doesn't give a imn about freedom, love and the soul, is/her sole purpose is to destroy the ry fabic of our society without regard r humanity. The Middle Ages has ared its ugly head in our modem day opia Die local land baron (the mayor) is emancipated his proclamation onto e peasants that they will pay and pay nsultants and host extravaganzas for MW so long as the King (Gov. Beasely) in have his share and promote his iry-tale world. But I digress; this is >out myself vs. the harsh reality of ciety. Meters were here long before was and will probably outlast even e Eneigizer bunny. Just consider the :xt time you're marked with the Scarlett tter: Did you leave enough time on ie meter or was a city freelancer simply irning his keep? In alime when nvicted armed robbers anJ drug dealers in win $14 million for resisting arresting count on justice. in Th e