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4 Collectivism denies choice to individual The concepts I I of collectivism TOMMY and individual freedom often HfflgMUyJI clash when it cranes to government policy. Collectivism, a system in which the state owns and controls the material and means of production and distribution, is a foundation of socialism. Individual freedom, the liberty of personal choice, action or thought, is a foundation of democracy. In the United States we have many individual freedoms, far more than most other nations. Our Constitution was based on the principle of personal freedom and liberty. However, our government clearly infringes on our personal freedom in many areas. For instance, during the first two years of the Clinton Administration, each U.S. taxpayer has been forced to fund abortions and fetal tissue research. It doesn't matter what your personal convictions might be, the choice has already been made for you. Another area we have been forced to fund as taxpayers is public education. It doesn't matter if the school promotes teen-age sexual activity or teaches outcome-based education, we have to fund the public school system anyway. Again, there is no choice. hi addition, we have to fund the entire welfare state without tax dollars. The current welfare state only causes a class of dependency and encourages younger females to have children out of wedlock and fathers to abandon their responsibilities. This means we are forced to fund illegitimacy. Once again, no choice is given. Finally, taxpayers are forced to fund the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA offers grants to artists who paint pornographic pictures of one man urinating in another's mouth. No choice in this case, either. There will never be a complete consensus on any issue. The point is, no nno okmild ko fnrroH fn fiinH nrncrrnmo they morally oppose. This, in essence, is the battle between big government advocacy and smaller, more decentralized government advocacy. For years, the liberals have attempted to force the American tax-payer to foot the bill for all of their ideological programs and schemes. The conservative movement is driven by the notion of giving the power back to the individual. Conservatives want to allow you and me to make more of our own decisions, and they want to allow you and me to spend more of our own money the way we see fit. And if you think this only effects us indirectly on the federal level, think again. We are currently forced as students at this university to fund a variety of student organizations. We pay a student activity fee every semester to fund these organizations. A list of these organizations was printed in the Feb. 6 edition of The Gamecock. If you read the list, you found the student activity fee funds many academic organizations, honor societies and miscellaneous organizations that are not political in nature. Organizations that are political are generally not granted funding (Le. College Republicans, Young Democrats). However, there was one political organization that did receive funding. And who was that? It was the Gay and Lesbian Student Association. Shocked, aren't you? Yes, the group that advocates homosexual issues receives your money for its funding. Immoral, yes. Disgusting, yes. Legal, unfortunately so. This is a law which must be changed and it is a great representation of the dispute between collectivism and individual freedom. Ine mere tact 1 am lunding the bay and Lesbian Student Association is terribly upsetting. I have spoken to many of my fellow USC students about this issue. Each student is just as upset as I am. Basically, 70 percent of our students who oppose homosexuality are having to fund this organization for the 5 percent who use these services. This is unethical and just plain wrong! I have written a letter to Goviieasley, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Majority Leader Bob Dole in reference to this problem. I am asking them to please lead a legislative drive to prohibit coercion of this kind. If you would like to help with the cause then please call or write each of them and let them know how you feel. I hope this will awaken many of you to the unfair practices of collectivism. Liberals love to make us pay for their ideological war. We shouldn't have to tolerate this anymore. Government has a role to play. That role should not include using tax-payer money to fund partisan political schemes! \ THE "V-CHlP" if Vloocs OL \j\oit**t? 0N Candidates a< Technology is constantly changing, ~~ and it is imperative that we, as future journalists, stay on the cutting edge. As a journalism senator, I plan to expand our computer facilities. Vote Melissa Smith! Melissa Smith College of Journalism I am going to make every enort to extend library and computer lab hours in order to provide a better academic environment for the students of this university. I would also like to strengthen the power of the Student Senate. Michael Hawkins t College of Business Administration a( cc The main problems are parking and ^ meal plans. The parking situation ju should be made easier for students than the present The meal plan should allow a student to eat whenever. Heath Coleman College of Business Administration m I plan to request more speakers to visit ^ campus and discuss with students the opportunities and jobs Liberal Arts y( graduates can have. G Suzanne Pavlisko College of Liberal Arts Consumers The musical landscape is littered i i with many exciting developments that ir make it barely recognizable to the 1986 a industry that allowed Don Johnson to at record. S The average number of songs per tl album has soared from an early 80s 1 low of 7.4 to 11.1. Of course, this is gi merely an increase in quantity, not quality. There are still at least three C songs on every album that really bite. B You should still follow the adage h that unless you definitely love at least T three songs from the album, you should b; refrain from making the purchase. But al this abstinence is difficult to do for two ol reasons. C For one, it takes too long to hear h three songs because of the industry C innovation of stretching a single for C several months or up to year, depending how bad Saturday Night Live was the pj night band played. "1 For example, MCA only recently it released a new single from Dave li Matthews after playing "Ants Marching" M for three semesters because even Chris cc Farley wasn't funny and MCA wanted m to make sure everybody heard this veiy e: touching song. The other reason ifs so darn tough ir to put off going all the way with an of album is the lower prices offered by o\ record clubs and Home Depot-sized si electronics retailers. The record clubs ti are enjoying great success by advertising p< TEWF TH( * IT -TV p i i 6 TUC 6*rAtcot? ^ it\ -F% t&"v m ddress studei WHwlHTTIulm U7L s~i -4- t n + L * rrriui u me mwi : important issue facing your constituents in your college ; that you plan to address? < he nonexistent student voice in iministrative decisions is a main ] incern for students. The senate has { le potential power to change that; it ] ist needs to be exercised. < 1 Durley Florez t College of Liberal Arts i Gamecocks! Fm Ashley Jones and ly goal as Liberal Arts senator will ^ i to establish the policy of academic rgiveness. By electing me to office, ^ )ur voice will be heard in Student r overnment! ( i Ashley Jones College of Liberal Arts win with n n Parade M^rr lagazine, that HANLEY ttractive idition to the unday paper that everyone reads for le provocative celebrity Q&A on page (I recently heard that Sly beats his irlfriends. Is this true? Tell me more.). Due to intense competition between olumbia House and its despised rival MG, shipping and handling costs ave dropped to $8 per album, raditional retailers have been joined y electronic stores whose old idea Dout offering music was to tune some * the sets to MTV. Nowadays Circuit ity, Electric Avenue and Best Buy ave become peddlers of the new ollective Soul album and many quality Ds as well. People in the industry wet their ants talking about this merging of lardware" and "software." And indeed may explain why a quality company ke Sony would get mixed up with lichael Jackson. But the benefit for msumers is watching the computererd manager and druggie employees dst in the same store. This in itself is an important trend i the music world: the corporatization ' record stores. Blockbuster has taken /er every private record store, and lddenly Joe Deadhead has to wear a e to keep his $5 per hour earning iwer. OUST? : IP"; coveitt u? mice's a ss ? mm a si I ll II nt concerns Students in the College of Liberal Arts have faced complications in the advisement process, including not knowing from year to year who their adviser is and, for newer students, not being informed of the advisement process. Cathy Lightsey College of Liberal Arts As senator, the greatest problem I shall solve is the misallocation of student money to a bloated, wasteful university bureaucracy and to groups pursuing radical and immoral agendas. Vernon C. Davenport College of Liberal Arts Many students don't know their senators. Students should be able to meet their senators and voice their xmcerns. This way, every student will aave a say in what will directly affect hem. i Michele Marinkovic College of Liberal Arts [ feel your freshman advisor or one of four choice should continue to advise fou throughout your years at USC. fhis allows a relationship that can be established so you can feel comfortable md ultimately receive better advice. ZerellHall j College of Liberal Arts I iew music j Management and labor have reached compromises at many of these stores. At Blockbuster Music, employees may have long hair, but must wear it in a ponytail. They must still randomly ask five people an hour if they "need help finding something," but they have to be talking about music. And thirdly, if employees smoke pot, they must do so in their cars; the back room is used as a chapel for worship of Wayne Huiezenga. As for the actual music, there are only two categories: good and bad. Eddie Vedder is responsible for all good music, but if he got credit for all the songs he wrote for the Stone Temple Pilots and Silverchairs, he'd die of depression. He feels ifs better to spread the fame, er, misery. He would prefer to have a small enough fan base to know each of his fans in case he has to sue them. Bad music is made by any band with more than one bald person and Alanis Morisette. As for Hootie and the Blowfish, we should do everything we can to support them since we're from the same town. Every time a loved one hears a Hootie tune, they think of you and might send you a care package. Or you can pretend you know the band and earn a "date" when you return home. 1 > Wednesday, February 14,1996 tSaKfeffik Serving USC Since 1908 Wendy Hudson, Editor in Chief Ryan Wilson, Managing Editor Tina Morgan, Brent Seeliger, Viewpoints Editors Editorial Board Chris Dixon, Martha Hotop, Karen Layne, Robbie Meek, Tyson Pettigrew, Matt Pruitt Ryan Sims, Stephanie Sonnenfeld, Cece von Kolnitz, Robert Walton, Allison Williams | OPINION 1 Want to cnmnlain? Go vote Thursday We've bashed Student student body supports Government?more him on that issue, specifically, its Voting in On the other candidates?an awful lot eiections hand, if only 5,000 lately. We've criticized students vote for the same them for being unoriginal, BTTTTTtT^TTTTiTTB candidate, how can he be dull, out of touch and mmmmammmmm gure remaining motivated by self-concern. Every vote 21,000 support issue "A"? Perhaps we have been counts, He can't, unfair. so get out If candidates Doubtful. to the polls doesn't know what issues But in their defense, Thursday are important to their these candidates have _ constituents, do they have worked hard to be where to adhere to them? Of they are. They have put a lot of time, course not. They can do whatever effort and money into their campaigns, they want, and perhaps they truly want to serve That political agenda soon becomes the student body. a personal one. And who is responsible But we may never know for sure, for any mistakes? For the mishaps? Unless things take a turn for the For the wanton abuses of legislative better around here. power? For power struggles and the Unless you people get up off your what-is-good-for-me-is-good-for-them bums and vote. attitude? Yeah, you'll hear it every year: If you don't vote, then you are. "If you don't vote, you can't bitch." Every year, Student Government Perfectly true. You'll look like a elections are close?runoff close. Don't hvrvwifo if vnn pnrnnlain aVwnf iccnioc lio fn vrairoolf TVvn'f foil vrairo^lf vnnr AJ11 JUU Wlll^UAUl U1A/Ub liJUUVAJ AAV/ W JTVU1UV/AJU A^Ull V IA/U JWVIAkJVIA JUU1 you had the option to change but were vote doesn't matter. Unlike the federal just too lazy to do anything about, government, which has a voting body But there are other reasons to of 258 million people, USC has only vote. 26,000. As voter turnout shrinks, So don't be a hypocrite, candidates find it harder and harder Yell all you want if your duly to determine what issues in their elected officials don't represent you, platform they were elected for. If all and remove yourself from the 26,000 students vote for a candidate responsibility of poor campus who supports issue "A", then that governing: VOTE! candidate can be'sure the entire iBJi'iad ^ra oj avianafio arrow yJimsterd lli^l 4 i J l i .1 .Irf J ' ^fF^lll^rnrb Advertising?'777-4249 VUWl I ILUJUV FAX 777 6482 Chris Carro|| Student Media Russell House-USO Columbia, SC 29208 Director of student Media Laura Day Wendy Hudson Robbie Meek Tyson Pettigrew Creative Director Editor in Chief Matt Pruitt Robert Walton Jeff A. Breaux Ryan Wilson Sports Editors Photo Editors Ait Director Managing Editor Allison Adam Snyder Sue McDonald Tina Morgan Williams Jennifer Stanley JimSpeelmon Brent Seeliger Special Projects Asst. News Graduate Assistant Viewpoints Editors Ethan Myerson Lucy Arnold Marilyn Edwards Martha Hotop Graphics Editor Dipka Bhambhani Taylor Ccce VOn Kolnitz Karen Layne Asst. Features Marketing Director News Editors Deanna Achim Hunt Erik Collins Chris Dixon McLendon Asst. Sports Faculty Advisor Stephanie Copy Desk Keith Boudreaux Jason Jeffers Sonnenfeld Ryan Sims Circulation Editor Cartoonist Features Editor Online Editor The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the Letters Policy University of South Carolina and is published Tuesday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters, with The Gamecock will try to print all letters received, the exception of university holidays and exam periods. Letters should be 200-250 words and must include full Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the name, professional title or year and major if a student, editors or author and not those of the University of Letters must be personally delivered by the author to South Carolina. The Gamecock newsroom in Russell House room 321. The Board of Student Publications and Communications . is the publisher of The Gamecock. 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