The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 07, 1997, Page 3, Image 3

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

I The<5fi Serving USC S Chris Dixon, Ed Stephanie Sonnenfeld Editorial Achim Hunt, Bryan Johnston, Karen Layne, Jc Jennifer Stanley, New stai to bene! We don't know if it is Dr. 1 Palms, the Honors College, or i the Faculty Senate, but somewhere out there in i Decision-Making-Land there i lives someone wise. < As of Fall 1998, the 1 standards of admission to the 1 university will be raised. High 1 school students will have to i work just a little harder to > af f onrl ITSf! fVian flip 1 QQfi 1 freshmen class. < High school students who originally made an 2.0 average 1 will have to have a whopping i SAT score of 1500, as opposed s to the old 1400, which wasn't i anything to sneeze over, either. 1 Students with a 3.0 average < will be required to have a 900, up by 100 points from Fall ! 1997. Students with a 2.5 average will need a 1200, also : up by 100 points. 1 Slowly it seems USC is on i her way to developing a more 1 (could it be?) intellectual 1 atmosphere. The quality of students is a major ingredient to such an atmosphere. We i are pleased to see such diligent ] efforts by the likes of Dr. Sederburg, the Dean of the i Honors College, in improving 1 O.J. trial money is O.J. O.J. O.J. ( What a confusing fellow. 1 One court says he killed Nicole and Ron. Another says he < didn't. One verdict allows him 1 to go free. The other is literally 1 orating him his life?monetarily speaking. < Sure the media hype ] surrounding the whole O.J. i controversy got a bit out of hand and sure the whole thing has become contender for the 1 crime of the century. But, those 1 things aren't the problem. i The problem lies in 1 Tuesday's verdict where O.J. was named liable in the deaths ] of Nicole Brown and Ron j Goldman. It's so strange to 1 think O.J. was deemed < innocent in his murder trial, 1 but named guilty in his civil trial. So, what exactly is 1 he-innocent or guilty? 1 It seems the victim's families j are simply happy that O.J. was found guilty in some < fashion, which is a legitimate concern. But, one has to ask j Student Media Russell House Chris Dixon News: 77 Editor in Chief Advertising: Stephanie FAX: 77' Sonneafeld Viewpoints Editor Aehim Hunt IVi Karen Layne Bryan A Jennifer Stanley Johnston ?? News Editors Sports Editors John Lyon. J jr || Copy Desk Chief McPh,L. " r A rj. rhoto Editor Features Editors ?... Ben Muldrow Graphics Editor The Gamecock it the student newspaper of the Univen Wednesday, and Friday during the Fall and Spring semesle periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock ate those of the editoi Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications i: Student Media is its parent organization HHXdESI The Gamecock will try to print all letters receive incjude full name, professional title or year and i delivered by the author to The Gamecock newsroo reserves the right to edit all letter for style, possibl withheld for any circumstance. * imecock inoe 1908 itor in Chief , Viewpoints Editor D 1 DUATU >hn Lyons, Kelly McPherson, Ben Muldrow, Nikki Thorpe. idards It I SC ;he University through such actions. But atmosphere aside, raising admission standards neans USC will be a more competitive university. It will oak more appealing to brighter ligh school students. Less borderline students will get in, and therefore graduate, vhich gives us all just a few lundred less people to compete against in the job market. But mostly, it gives USC ;he reputation as an academically challenging school. Professors, with better 3tudents in their classes, will be inspired to teach more creatively and diligently. Some are concerned less 3tudents will apply, and the University will not receive as much money from tuition. But, with higher standards, USC 3hould make up any loss of tuition through more state funding. Overall, we applaud the Faculty Senate and all who influenced their decision in raising admissions standards. It is great to see the faculty avidly supporting its student body. I proves i power [lid justice fail in either one of the O.J. trials? Now, if O. J. is really guilty af these murders, why is he walking the streets a free man while other murders are jailed? Maybe the 0. J. trial is just ane more reminder that if you bave money, you can skirt the system. Look at the recent JanBenet Ramsey murder case. Police wanted to question her parents, a rich family from Boulder, and see if they could be possible suspects in ner muraer. Rather than dragging her parents into the police station for questioning, the Ramseys were originally being questioned via mail and at their leisure. In other cases, the Ramseys would have been hauled into the local police department and questioned endlessly. Isn't it funny that everything does have a price -even the priceless things like justice? USC Columbia, SC 29208 7-7726 Adam Syader 777-4249 Office Manager 7-6482 Jasoa JelTers Cartoonist Idd La Rocque Melissa Sellers sst. Viewpoints Online Editor ;giua Greea Laura Day 4sst News Creative Director lessiea Nash Kim Goldea AsstFeatures Asst Advertising -fTNicholsoa Manager Asst Photo CoUhw r acuity Advisor sitv of Souih Cirnlim mrl is nuhhshed on Monday. rs, with the exception of university holidays and exams i or the author and not those of the University of South s the Publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of d. Letters should be 200-250 words and must najor if a student. Letters must be personally m in Russell House room 333. The Gamecoc*. e libel or space limitations. Names will not be 1 VIEW] !m IU*I -f IJjf SA A I U1 UC1 IA7 XiiUXVV/ U1U11WJ As to the former view, and I picture Tom Brokaw riding in on a ^ white steed brandishing his sword ^ of righteousness at all that is wrong, this is exactly what every journalist would love for you to think. They want you to think they're j looking out for you because this way you believe every word they say. I do know people who believe To the editor: pe I am writing this letter regarding in the ticket distribution system or lack W thereof that USC employs. As we po all know, many people arrived several ch hours before 9 a.m. hoping to receive tei the best tickets available. When I syi arrived at 5 a.m., there was no lik system in place to secure a spot in tui line. Luckily, someone decided to Fc make out a list which documented foi what spot a person had in line. The an list was helpful in weeding out cutters on dpriHpH t.V?p?v wrmlrl aVinw nn and cut in front of300 people at 8:30 Gi a.m. H( However, the list had its problems, too. Only the first 150 people signed the list, so the rest were exposed to cutters who came late. Also, several To people decided to sign the list and either go home and sleep for several to more hours and then come back, or m< to sign up people who weren't even its in line. Really, one can tell that a a < person with gel in their hair, or w? wearing make-up, has not stayed rat up the entire night in line. ex] It is painfully obvious that USC I h needs a new system to ensure that U* v\/nn i wP 1)571^ SU( SveS -To HfcO? rti/ASa^ FRopn* ISHTAft.." He 1$ ? W?TV( A VIRTUAL Itl CHARi OLO Copt?< of TH6 f*\o ? PP-E^tOOiL^ WORTHLGSS vo 5 i. *w ^ "TA^tS CAr^Ror^ (*\p>vt?< ? L onttfL AGAIN. <. Q I The mtgor factor There were so mai Is the med: I have recently heard two L political commentators opine that the media does not have a liberal bias, ^ that any perceived liberal bias is a complete and utter figment of the ^ freshmen Republicans' collective imagination. __ Oh, and by the way, the fault line ? in California is not so much a center of seismic activity as it is an If s Not ^ My Fault Hotline. ? The commentators offered two separate views on the media in actuality. According to one, the media has no bias and will attack members ^ of various political parties with equal n BJ fervor. ^ The other concluded that journalists are sensationalists in awIov fA rv>nlrn mAnavr OINTS ckpbct from ' 7ne "$ta& "Aas 7 >> m ^ I :cessfou*i Ilk. fPCACgo \ olC r*\ 3 Pf^lFUSS. Sbpbmm vie, 1( fcfcfrtAIM /'/fill ?* V ^ ', >'-n\e AgN/s$ W/' U was that O.J. was ay discrepancies, on Beth Moodie, crim ia too libe Lacy Arnold | ^ yygrgrgT* erything any media person says. * ice, as I aigued with such a person, i retorted, "It is so true, I saw it on t Hours." ? Well then call off the troops, boys. r le enemy says they're done fightin'. inny how they ain't put down their ^ ins yet... > * No one can be utterly objective. ? ot you, not me and certainly not ^ iter Jennings. ^ When I report to my Mends that j ch-and-such's boyMend has been ^ eating on her, I usually do so with i expression of scorn on my face. ? enerally, this elicits similar :pressions of scorn from my j mpanions, just as I intended. Would their reactions be different g I said that her boyfriend's been ^ eating, but, boy oh boy, did she ^ serve it? Really though, I'm not sure how tyone could mistake liberal bias objectivity. I usually catch a hint ^ len Dan Rather rolls his eyes as g ! "reports" the crazy antics of the famous Speaker. g ople are not cheated out of a spot b line that they have waited on. v, ith the growing success and h pularity of USC basketball, this n aos will occur every time a good ft am comes to town, unless the u 3tem is changed. Lastly, I would . L e to thank the honest person who r< rned my jacket into the Lost and tund which I had mistakenly t< gotten, when I had to jump up E d race down the hall to ensure no tl e was taking my spot in line. n a eg Lackey t] mors College/Business Junior v> n a 01 the editor: a lam writing this letter in response p how I've been treated by USC's tl sdical insurance and the school ci elf. Last September I was hit by v, :ar on my bike This accident v irranted emergency medical and u iiological treatment, which is quite v pensive. As of this past summer, v, Lave been insured by Lamar Life, t< 3C's student health insurance. I s ? HOUYU/OOP /a/ ' digital KBMAK ? TH? fOiUVlN6 f!Lf* H BEEN moPifieP ffcor* IT* \ ORIGINAL VERSION. "fH \ <iUN5 awD ClG*?6TTiE5 X 1 B^en PlGi TALLY dene OVl?S 0?? CA&LG bflC SHO*i ?oj\ V\5TeA^" "iTee-fcei - // I 20TVt ANNlv6ft*A|lY. 7 / I CHAN^Pi 8?T 20-S // NosrflUfA v j GRoS5l*J? 0F I forced to testify so many things i linal justice major I ral and t( I actually have some very vivid nemories of Dan Rather as the 1994 ilection reports came in. He was ruly horrified. One could almost eel sorry for him. Almost. Now the analysis of the second :ommentator has more credence. Certainly the media is out to make noney. Who isn't? But this cannot explain the actual workings of the media. It does makp or high sales when you focus on Black Church Burnings - Racially Motivated?" instead of "Black and Vhite Churches Burned - Ruled Accidental." So I understand stuff ike that (understand, not condone). But would not the headline President Lies About Stuff make ust as good a headline as "Newt jies About Stuff? The feet of the matter is the media lat on stories involving illegal ampaigning on the part of the emocratic party, while headlines ike "Mean Ole' Dole Scowls" iropagated. And if that isn't enough, I am Dreed back to the point of delivery ind racial expressions. When the Democrats have made l boo-boo, it gets approximately two egan filing claims for my bills two eeks after I was released from the ospital. It is now approaching six lonths, and I am receiving threats om collection agencies regarding npaid hospital hills. I have contacted amar Life several times, and have sceived responses ranging from, ve don't have vou on our records." 9 "your check is on the way." [owever, when I manage to get irough to a human, which is usually ot the case, I am forwarded through maze of employees who tell me tiey can't help me, but they know rho can. I have yet to find this liracle worker. It is also quite amnion for them to be very snippy n the phone, and not willing to help t all. I almost forgot that these eople are working for me... imagine hat! I have also placed numerous alls to the health center where I ras told," we can't help because you re re not treated here." I can nderstand this, but they aren't rilling to give me any advice on rhat I should do. In a final attempt a locate answers, I called student ervices. I left messages on their THE or I / ? 0 rr ^ e Havi lUfO. ?o(i n$ 1 f<0~THirJ? IS M orofT'tiHC t T^? TOP- Js. i in the civil trial, that he went back >o biased? seconds of air-time and a bland delivery. I don't know what percentage of the evening news was focused on Gingrich's ethics hearing -but it was considerable. And were ii a i l i uie secret smues ana xou Know nes getting what he deserves!" looks flying! Past journalists would have been hammering away at Clinton until they saw him prosecuted for his various offenses. Whitewatergate notwithstanding, what about Paula Jones? Where have all the feminists gone? (According to some of these "feminists," because Paula Jones did not lose her job, she was not sexually harassed. So basically, ladies, men can pinch your asses, ask for sexual favors and mention pubic hairenhanced soda cans all they like, as long as they don't fire you.) Well, in spite of all that, I have heard one true-sounding thing on the news recently. A local station polled Columbians and determined that they'd rather hear about the Carolina Gamecocks and the O.J. Simpson trial than Clinton's State of the Union address. Go Cocks! machine and with people who told me they would see to it that someone contacted me. It has been two weeks, and I haven't had a single message returned. Yesterday, I got a letter from Lamar Life explaining to me that they needed more information about my accident to determine if they should cover any of the cost. It took them six months to read one sheet of paper and determine that they needed more information to make a decision. The fact that they even had to think about whether they would pay my bills is a complete outrage. If you have health insurance with USC, and you think they are out there to help you, you're wrong. If you are thinking about purchasing this plan, take my case into consideration. Incompetence would be a far cry from the truth. Keep in mind that insurance fraud works both ways. Neil Jacobs, Physics Graduate Student