The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 10, 1997, Page 2, Image 2
i'Mtd
Serving I
Edito
Adam Snyder, L
Nikki LaRocqu
Stephanie Sonnenfeld,
Clinton a
gay discri
When President
Clinton attended
a gay and Huma
1 i a 1 XxU'//t'U'i
lesbian mnd-raiser,
some Americans
weren't too happy.
According to
The State, Andrea
Sheldon, executive Clinton re
director of the Tra- America*
ditional Values J*,j
Coalition, referred should n
to the event as "an
American President
kissing up to
the wealthiest extremists of the
1 1?A ?
aiiiuicu leit.
Whether Sheldon and other
citizens who share her views like
it or not, homosexuals are indeed
a part of America. They are citizens,
just as heterosexuals.
President Clinton is the president
of all the American people.
He isn't the president of just heterosexuals
or whites or upper-middle
class citizens.
He represents all of us, from
the homeless family on a city street
Vista dev<
isn't profc
After years of
thought and months flHfeUidH
of talk, it looks like
Columbia's d k
r A *ii Uvl/CH
riverfront area will
be getting a facelift
? one of the mQQQ
economic and
Dhvsical kind. The idee
Patrons are now but curi
coming in droves to residents
drink, eat and be to find a
merry in the close to call
by Vista, while plans
are being drawn for
the development of
a "river-focused" community. Here,
developers hope to renovate already
standing buildings into
restaurants,offices and shops. City
officials hope the area surrounding
the Vista arid the river will be home
to a village of trendy homes, the
State newspaper reported.
It's great. It's wonderful. It's
empowering to the economy. It's a
shot in the arm to Columbia's
fledgling self-identity. If the plan
is successfully implemented and
carried out, Columbia could have
a cozy river district similar to ones
in Augusta or in Savannah.
But, in the wake of all the
pending development, there lies
quite a real problem without a
pragmatic solution.
Currently, there is a
neighborhood which surrounds the
Vista area. It is full of low-rent
Student Media Russell Hous
Adam Snyder Susan
Interim Editor in Chief Photo
Nikki LaRocque Donni<
Viewpoints Editor Graphii
Rosalind Harvey Stephanie
News Editor Asst. Viewp
Sara Ladenheim Kristin R
News Editor, Design Cara 1
m- . , Asst. Neu
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Jessan
Creative
The Gamecock is the student cock are thoee of tb
newspaper of The University of South and not those of'
Carolina and is published Monday, South Carolina.
Wednesday and Friday during the fall _
and spring semesters and five times 1??ar<1 01
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T 1
tamecock
JSC Since 1908
rial Board
aterim Editor in Chief
e, Viewpoints Editor
Assistant Viewpoints Editor
mm
ddresses
k m . m
imination
?rrr^^m to the single mult
millionaire.
n rights By attendin
and speaking at th
Human Right
CTHTTTTH Campaign dinnei
IjUMmmI Clinton wasn't cor
? doning homosexc
presents all aj behavior, a
is, and his many right-win
support extremist woul
zflect that. have us believe
Instead, h
stood up for huma
rights, makin
clear, strong statements that jo
discrimination, on any basis, wi
not, and cannot, be tolerated i:
uiuo lAJUiiiiijr.
He urged Congress to pass le?
islation to protect homosexual
against job thscrimination.
Thank goodness we have pec
pie in a position of power wh
are willing to stand up for what i
right.
And yes, we are speakin
about Clinton.
ilopment
>lem-free
wmh houses am
apartments, ttia
v;Qtn occasionally couli
* be deemed "shacks
mment , , ,
by modern housin
standards. Like an
neighborhood, thes
buildings are full c
i is great, tenants. The Stat
rent area article cites thes
will have residents as "al
new place black, and most ar
I home. poor." Ideally, th
city and developer
would like to bu;
the land thes
hraisps sat nn Tdpnllv fhp rpsridpnt.
would sell, take their money an<
move on.
But, this situation isn't om
molded in the ideal. Many of thi
people who live in this area can'
afford to move anywhere. Man;
don't want to move. Many can'
because they're too old or too sicl
to relocate.
The City of Columbia hasn'
offered residents any options yet
but when they do, they need t<
consider who they are moving
These are people who have lived ii
this area for most of their lives
They call this place home. Ifsgrea
that we're developing the Vista an<
River area, but we need to realizi
that this development isn't jus
impacting the future, but it's als<
displacing the present,
e U8C Columbia, SC 29208
Meyers Ellen Parsons
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11
ti
College of Charle
J USC orga
Q
s | Columnist |
Extra-curricular activities offer
so much to your life and provide skills
that you will never learn anywhere
else. They have allowed me to mature
and acquire the skills needed to insure
my success in life.
I will soon hand over two of my
positions in campus organizations,
j treasurer of Sigma Chi and Community
Service Director of Fraternity
Council, but I refuse to elevate my pres?
ence within them. These and other organizations
that I have been and am
y today involved in, have provided me
the opportunities to enhance my lead
v:
^ cianip auninca, tu uuiiu my puuni;
speaking skills and to foster my abile
ity to be productive within the society
to which I belong.
e That is why I encourage you to
e get involved. Participate in your fus
ture. Enhance your school and the
y campus. Organizations come in all
e shapes and sizes, numerous types, and
s" in a range of involvement levels. There
i are over 200 organizations that can
meet any needs that you may have and
e address the one's that have not yet
e come.
t Here are just a few of the organiY
zations to look at:
t
?
; Rnarl trin
r
t
J ^^^Vlewpolnt^dlto^^^l
t Let me begin by assuring you, dear
3 reader, Fm not a groupie.
I don't really care for their music.
It's too cumbersome for me, too mainI
stream and boring.
But my best friend is a friend of
this unnamed band's soundguy. When
she arrived in Columbia Friday afternoon
after seeing him in Charlotte,
N.C., and Atlanta, Ga., she realized
she had a bag of his in the backseat of
her car, so we jetted back to Atlanta
to return his wallet and credit cards
ana even some minor souna equipment.
Personally, I think we should have
gone to New York or Boston, Mass.,
with the dude's wallet and plastic. We
would have had a much better time,
materialistically speaking. Calvin
Klein, anyone?
We're lucky we arrived in Atlanta
at all, considering my friend is a lousy
i. Yankee driver and nonchalantly drove
. off the interstate on the way there.
Then, just as nonchalantly, she drove
down a major, downtown one-way
' street the wrong way. I had several
! friendly, intimate conversations with
i the other drivers who passed us.
Driving with "Yankee Girl" makes
l even the most determined non-smoker
light up in fear.
, Quaking and chain-smoking for
my nearly extinguished life, we walked
up to the band's rinky-dink bus, waltzed
*
m\
!k l
Alt~i
aithful to me, and I don't ha>
ston senior Angela Johnson,
nizations
Greek Organizations, social or
honr; these groups build life skills, time
management, social comfort and opportunities
that can be put on your resume.
Belonging to both a social fraternity,
Sigma Chi, and an honor
fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa, I am
able to testify to their wealth of opportunities.
I have built connections
that will assist me in my career. I have
learned how to be secure in what I believe
in, and yet, to be open in new
ideas. All of this and more is touched
on when you become a member of a
Greek organization.
Community Service Groups; This
class of organizations provide the opportunities
to enhance the lives of others
and the experience of helping
better someone's life, and your own.
This type of organization fulfills the
humanitarian desires that some of us
may have. From City Year to Carolina
Cares, there is a wide array of community
service groups that will enable
you to help others, better the environment,
or provide a better home for
abandoned pets.
The next class is sports related
organizations. Sports offered include
biking, surfing and fencing. The Mountaineering
and White Water Rafting
Club offers trips to Table Rock and other
natural sites that will invoke your
desire for outdoor activities. Also included,
intramural sports allow those
creates g
in and threw the bag into "Sound Boy's"
lap.
He hadn't even realized it was
missing. See, I knew we should have
neaaea to JNew iorK msteaa.
Of course, he thanks "Yankee Girl"
with kisses, and he nods in my general
direction (at this point, I'm feeling
like Abby in The Truth About Cats and
Dogs), and we sit down to chill and to
collect my nerves.
It's then that I realized, as I
watched "Sound Boy" go through his
stuff, that a fair amount of a certain
illegal substance also was in his bag.
Oh, that would have been swell if nfankee
Girl" and I been pulled over by the
police on the way over. I can see it now,
the two of us denying ownership and
then getting hauled into jail for trafficking.
That would have been brilliant.
To thank us, "Sound Boy" invites
us out for sushi and tries to get the
lead singer to come along with us (I'm
seeing the three is a crowd scenario already),
but he gently refuses (I later
learn that they all thought I was in my
third year of high school because I had
referred to myself as a junior, meaning
in college). At dinner, we ran up
o foV? xxrifVi lr\+a nf ranr ?IoV? a n r?
a .-xu tau w xvii iwio ui ian non unu
sake, and "Sound Boy" didn't turn out
to be a total rock-band prick.
We had an amusing moment
when some drunk, middle-aged businessman
looked at him and drawled,
"Man, you look like the guy from Greenday!
Doesn't he look like the guy from
Greenday?" m
X
23
re to be by his side watching c
on the positive aspects of her lor
offer mai
who are not necessarily in an organization
to compete and enjoy activities
like swimming, soccer, football and volleyball,
to name a few. What's a
great about intramural sports is that
they don't necessarily require a huge
amount of skill to be on a team, even
though it does help. A student with no
experience in sports can readily get involved
here.
If religion is your love of life than
look no farther. Whether it is FCA or
the PALMS Ministry, religious activities
are abundant here on campus.
These organizations offer Bible study,
trips and community service projects
that will fulfill your religious desires.
Other religious organizations also offer
similar opportunities as those of
Greek organizations. All you have to
do is look.
There are many other influential
organizations here on our campus that
are just as important and accessible
as those listed above. KnA is an organization
that has widespread coverage
when it comes to topics and activities.
Others are there as well.
Unfortunately, I can't name them all
in this short column, but I can tell you
where to go for a start.
The Office of Student Affairs has
all the resources needed to begin your
research. Located in the basement of
the Russell House, the one under the
roupie ex
It's then that I realize, as
through his stuff, that a
illegal substance also v
would have been swell
had been pulled over by tl
I just love it when aging professionals
think they're hip and still "with
it.".
"Yankee Girl" and I stayed for
the show and for some beers afterward
on the bus, then we began to head back
to Columbia at 3a.m.
\TVvf o rvw^UInrr> "Vonlrnn
nut a piuuiciii) uiiui x cumtt uui
announces that she can't make the drive
back without falling asleep, so she
makes a U-turn that defies the law
of gravity and pulls into an EconoLodge.
That's when we finally got pulled.
"What are you girls doing here?"
the officer demanded. Well, jerk-off,
what the hell does it look like? We want
a room. We said it much more sweetly
than that, of course, considering my
buddy deserves a careless driving ticket
right about now.
"Don't you know what this is?"
A hotel? Hey, I thought it was a logical
guess, but "Officer Friendly" informed
us that it's actually a crack
house and a house of prostitution. So
he checks my friend's license and let's
us go but not before telling us exactly
where to stay for the evening, leavii^
^MPCTHtVe ,
PBmweR '
I
)ver his shoulder." ^
ig-distance relationship
ay pluses
Preston Dining Hall, the staff can answer
most questions and there are plen- ^
ty of students down there as well.
I will offer some criteria to be
aware of: in order to be a University
recognized organization, the organization
must submit and have approved
their constitution-equal rights topics.
Being recognized by the University,
the organization has access to a ma- a
jority of university property and s (J
services, i.e. mail boxes, room use, etc.
So, it might be useful if the organiza
tion is University recognized.
All together, the list of opportunities
offered at USC is endless. All
one has to do is start at the Office of
Student Affairs, ask an older student,
or a professor. If you've ever looked in _
the Mortar Board you have seen that
there is a huge amount of students do
ing and accomplishing a lot. Whether
it is NAACP or the WILD Team, students
are learning life skills that will
assist them in this world in which it
matters who you know and what you
know. Only through extra-curricular
activities can these goals be accomplished
so easily or at least within the ^
short time frame of four years.
perience
I watch "Sound Boy" go
fair amount of a certain ^
ras in his bag. Oh, that ^
, if "Yankee Girl" and I
lie police on the way over.
us with this remark, "But if you
want to stay here, fine! If you're looking
for crack or to do some hooking,
then you girls are in the right place!"
This officer has obviously never ^
been around hookers before or else he ^
would have realized that the vast majority
do not drive around in beat up
Hondas wearing Docs and club clothes.
We found beds elsewhere, and we
eventually made our way back to Columbia
without a major incident, besides
me spilling scalding hot coffee
all over my hand. No biggie, Fm just
maimed for life.
As we pulled onto Huger Street,
"Yankee Girl" sighed, T m never leav- A
ing this place again!" Never being the
time between now and her flight home
for Thanksgiving, of course. It's all relative.
Just as long as she doesn't go down
to the water's edge, where vans have
a habit of pulling up and opening the
door while unnamed lead singers look
on and don't do anything to stop this
from happening.
1