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> Che (5 Serving USC Chris Dixon, E Stephanie Sonnenfel Edltorla ) Lucy Arnold, Achim Hunt, Bryan Johnston Jennifer Stanley Touching i 1 be part of Maurice Hood will not be teaching in District 5 again. The school board upheld his firing in a 6 to 1 vote Monday night. This case has caught and I held the attention of the area since last month, when Hood was convicted on aggravated assault charges for inappropriately touching a ten-year-old girl's buttocks in his music class. Hopd has maintained that it was a part of a lesson on proper posture. The girl's supporters have maintained that it was inappropriate for I a male teacher to be fondling a young girl, no matter what the circumstances. Whether or not Hood had any malicious intent behind his action, this case should have been a lesson to educators on all levels. If s risky to touch a student, particularly a student of the |l opposite sex. Gestures that at one time did not raise one 1 1. J_ eye drow can now oe grounas for termination. America's sensitivity to sexual harassment, molestation and assault is a double-edged sword. It is a very positive force I because students who once had to silently suffer under a teacher's wandering hand now can speak out and be taken seriously. A student need no 1-20 wreck 1 benefit frc Before last Wednesday, Columbia didn't know Michael or Marsha Johnson and their | six children. But, we know them now and we seem to know them well. The Johnson's were en route to California from North Carolina when an 18-wheeler hit the rear of their van on I20 near Lexington. All the Johnsons suffered some sort of injury?down to five-month-old Zachary. \ According to The State newspaper, Michael Johnson, 28, suffered from a broken arm and leg, while his wife Marsha, 25, had her spleen removed. The Johnson children suffered from injuries ranging from concussions to broken limbs. Student Media * Russell Ho Chris Dixon News: 7' Editor in Chief Advertising Stephanie FAX: 7 Sonnenfeld Viewpoints Editor Achlm Hunt Karen Layne Bryan Jennifer Stanley Johnston News Editors Editors i John Lyons Mark Hopkins * K-llv Desk Chief M DL ? Nikki Thorpe JSSsz. j The Gamecock is die student newsptper of the Unive Wednesday, and Friday during the Fall and Spring semesl periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editi Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications Student Media is its parent organization. The Gamecock will try to print all letters receive include full name, professional title or year and ' delivered by the author to The Gamecock newsrot - - reserves the right to edit all letter for style, possib > withheld for any circumstan& 1 amccock Since 1908 iditor in Chief d, Viewpoints Editor 1 Board , Karen Layne, John Lyons, Ben Muldrow, , Nikki Thorpe. need not education longer fear the retaliation, through grade allocation, of the teacher or professor. But at the same time, it stinks that good, caring people in the teaching profession now must be wary of giving a child a hug for a job well done. Yes, a sHrkpfr on a rprmrf. ran mnvpv the same message, but human touch is a way of saying "I cane" and "You're important." For the child who comes from a dysfunctional home, these gestures of love from teachers may be the only ones he or she receives throughout the day. High school teachers must be even more careful than the elementary teacher. Students in secondary education are fully sexual creatures, and touching once considered innocent as a pre-pubescent now can convey all sorts of sexual connotations. A misinterpreted pat on the back is not worth a professor's career. If the "good" professors are careful and refrain from touching their students, it will help validate a student's claim against any inappropriate touching conducted by others. It is unfortunate teachers, instructors, and professors must be on their toes. But if such extra responsibility helps just one student, then being extra careful is worth the precaution. victims im aid Their story is a tragedy, but it looks to have a happy ending. Columbia residents and businesses have really come forward and provided for the Johnsons. People have sent money and words of encouragement, while the Ronald McDonald House on Colonial Drive has provided a place for the Johnson children to stay while their parents are in the hospital. It's nice to see that there's an actual iota of pure humanity i J Ill U11C WUI1U. It seems all we see is the negative side of life?the raping, the murdering and the stealing. The story of the Johnson family is by no means a happy one, but hopefully, thanks to the kindness of strangers, it's ending will be. use USC Colombia, SC 77-7726 Adam Synder r 7774249 Office Manager 77-6482 J**011 JeWem Cartoonist Ben Muldrow Melissa Sellers Graphics Editor Online Editor ftkkl La Rocqne Laura Day Asst. Viewpoints Creative Director teginna Green Kim Golden Asst. News Asst. Advertising Jessica Nash Manager AsstFeatures Erik Collins ie#r Nicholson Faculty Advisor Asst Photo rsity of South Carolina and is published on Monday, en, with the exception of university holidays and exams ws or the author and not those of the University of South is the Publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of :d. Letters should be 200-250 words and must major if a student. Letters must be personally >m in Russell House room 333. The Gamecock le libel or space limitations. Names will not be VIEWP J 1 (hi It's proba Josh Stephens, Florida Holy Weel Dt's Holy Week, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on a few spiritual and religious issues. A few semesters ago, I was made aware that in our society's quest to be politically correct, some people have decided that we should change our system of dating. The terms, B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Year of our Lord) are no longer acceptable because they cany a religious connotation with them, particularly a Christian connotation. This is absurd, in fact, it is beyond absurd, it is asinine. These people suggest that we adopt the terms C.E. which stands for Common Era, and B.C.E. which stands for Before Common Era. I first came across this in a religion class that I took which was taught by an ordained minister. This seems ridiculous to me and I thought the teacher was joking when I first heard him use these. He said that since everyone is not e: ojLiigieiuii I Man can will nothing I unless he has first I understood that he must count on no one but himself: that he is alone, abandoned on earth with no one in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with ho other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." - Jean-Paul Sartre When a person tends to speak his or her mind, the world tends to agree with that person. However, when their opinions are challenged, they are usually alone to defend themselves. With this mode of thinking, it makes a person wonder why I am always writing from the limior store. Therefore. T will refrain from speaking about San Francisco, Grand Dragons, and people who hit their heads on diving boards, and instead talk about something that ties all of this (including the existentialist quote) together?political correctness. To be brutally honest, I think it sucks. You can't please all of the people all of the time, it just cannot be done. As I have found out years ago, you will offend someone trying not t$ offend someone else, so I try jOINTS tenefete ol mj ^ dHL v liiV lii'fiB |XvfflU <I 11k it's something blv going to enai State University Phi Delta Thet; 5 V is presen( 1 FRED LEACH 1 Christian, some might find it offensive that we use B.C. or A.D. in describing the time period. It is 1997, which means that it has been approximately 1,997 years since the birth of Jesus. Ibis is the way that we keep track of time. What good does it do to say that we are in the "common era?" Common to what or to whom? No matter what it is called, it is still relative to the birth of Christ. I asked a fitiend of mine who is Jewish if he were offended by B.C. and A.D. He replied that he had never even thought about it He went on to say that if people have enough time on their hands to worry about something like this, then they need to get a life. It seems that there is an effort to remove religion completely from everyday life. This effort seems to have begun in the 1960s and has been gaining momentum ever since. attempts 1 | SHAWN SINGLETON | to nlpnsp nn nnp hi if mvsplf for in the end there is no one but myself. I have caught a great deal of hell this semester for speaking my mind. Yes, I will admit that my jokes and philosophies have gone too far, but I refuse to curb my style of writing or speaking just so I won't offend anyone. Imagine how many death threats I would receive if I said, "The only difference between flirting and sexual harassment is the attractiveness of the woman." I have nothing against women or women's rights, however, sometimes, feminism can go a little too far. A woman does not have to disrespect men in order to get respect, at least not in my world (Thanks, Dave, for contributing that piece of political incorrectness for my column.) I do have to give praise to some people who I would otherwise run into the ground, and that's my fellow Southerners. I have to respect any part of the country which prides itself on its hospitality and its high morals, fhpn flips nnp of fhp most oflfpnsivp symbols in recent history. It's hypocritical as hell, but if s politically incorrect, and I respect that. I have to give an equal amount of praise to Hov ard Stem and Dennis 1 L lifting <*ft camp 7^ IfloKnHrflS1 * Bb iilBHHlBBy ^ySfi^fe|W " " mmjjgt )( the fraternities ne ip saving the Greel i president, on his fraternity's decii i :e prompts The intentions behind this effort are clear. Religion has rules and sets consequences when the rules are broken. No one wants to be told what to do, especially when that means not doing things that are enjoyable. This whole attitude that one should be able to do whatever one wants without having to pay the consequences is becoming prevalent in our society. Where does religion and God fit in to someone's plan to go down to five points, get drunk, and score? They do not, simply because according to the Judeo-Christian religions these behaviors are wrong, and there are consequences that go along with these behaviors. People today do not want to accept responsibility for their actions. Many people, when they get pulled for speeding will automatically place the blame on the police officer and try to finagle their way out of it. Granted, the fine and a rise in insurance isn't pleasant, but they knew what would happen if they got to explain i Rodman, two (or one-and-a-half if you're scoring at home) men who have obliterated the boundaries of political correctness. These are men who walk alone, as Sartre stated earlier, who say what they want, and do how they feel. They may be crude, offensive, and just plain rude, but they're politically incorrect, and I like it. Besides, who else can have phone sex with a woman on the air vising a stereo speaker like Howard Stern and who has an affinity for balls like Dennis Rodman, and not just the ones for which he pulls down sixteen per game. Another group of people that I must give a shout-out to for their political incorrectness, is my fellow umtea states Marines. These men have people to kill and things that absolutely,positively have to be destroyed overnight, so they don't have time to be politically correct. In this business, as Jack Nicholson put it, "We follow orders or people die." In the heat of combat, only in a made-for-television movie will you hear a Marine yell, "Please get me some ammo, you jerk," instead of "Get me the f..king ammo, you b..ch!" There is no such thing as a politically correct drill instructor, we don't sing politically correct cadences during drill or physical training, and we don't readanything written by mm ed. i system. sion to go substance-free questions caught speeding, yet they still think they should be able to get out of it. If a woman gets pregnant and doesn't want to accept the responsibility of being a parent, then she can head on down to the abortion clinic. If a woman has sex, then she knows that she could possibly become pregnant. Why then should she be able to shirk that responsibility for purely selfish reasons? I realize that all abortions do not occur just to get out of dealing with the responsibility, but the majority do. Who can honestly say that our society is not in a decline? One of the main reasons for this decline is that people are no longer being held accountable for their actions. Religion holds within it the ultimate in accountability?where one will spend eternity. That is why religion has become inconvenient. $ It is inconvenient to think that we might someday be judged on our earthly actions. That is why many people want to remove religion from nearly every aspect of our society. his words Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, or Randy Shilts. Just like the fact that there are no politically correct drill instructors, there are no politically correct rappers, unless you're talking about M.C. Hammer, and I didn't consider him very much of a rapper, anyway. These are the men and women who talk about what they've seen in their lives, in language that any gangster or goodfella can understand. The people who don't like it are the people who just wouldn't understand anyway; as the old phrase goes, if s a certain thing. How else can they get their points across, vet be realistic at the same time? The language they use brings reality into what they're saying, and that is what pditical incorrectness is all about. As I close this, I sincerely hope that the readers out there enjoyed the muses from the liquor store and my politically incorrect thoughts. I actually tried not to offend anyone but surely someone was offended for this is the politically correct 1990s, and truthfulness and common sense are not allowed here. Maybe in the 21st century, we can find a happy medium for being non-offensive, yet be politically incorrect. As Bill Maher would put it, "Does anyone have a problem with wiat;