The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 26, 1997, Page 3, Image 3
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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.
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Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editi
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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
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r 7774249 Office Manager
77-6482 J**011 JeWem
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Ben Muldrow Melissa Sellers
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ftkkl La Rocqne Laura Day
Asst. Viewpoints Creative Director
teginna Green Kim Golden
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ie#r Nicholson Faculty Advisor
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rsity of South Carolina and is published on Monday,
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>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
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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
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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;