The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 19, 1998, Page 2, Image 2
Kurt Johnson pokes fun ;
those lazy and impatient
stair climbers.
Page 2
Sirip
Serving the Caroline
EDFFOB
Adam Snydc
Amy Shannor
Kurt Johnson, Ass
M [i *1III: ?V/i
Pro-lifers
everyone
The 24th annual
Stand Up for Life
March and Rally at- Local pT
traded around 1,000 nttomn
South Carolinians w><*mp
Saturday as they pa- certain 171
raded from the Capi- onto e
tol building to Finlay ^
Park. The demonstration
included an- Tho infoa
ti-abortion speeches, ?
music, performances person,
and even some words choose
rv-i floirAwn A?
ix uin vjuvciiiui nrPQ
Beasley supporting "
the pro-life prerogative.
There is absolutely nothing wrong
with pro-life advocates organizing a
rally, carrying signs, and making
speeches. In our country, our constitution
guarantees our people the right
to peaceably assemble for whichever
reasons they see fit.
However, the people of the United
States also deserve the right to
choose. Opponents of abortion are
working hard to take this fundamental
right away from citizens by campaigning
to make abortion illegal. If
abortion were illegal, no one would
have any choice and the people's right
to choose would no longer exist.
The State recently quoted Kate
Michelman of the National Abortion
and Reproduction Rights Action
League as saying, "Today, there are
more obstacles to women seeking to
exercise their constitutional right to
Cltxvr ?n
VJ*+j iimii
represen
Once again, re- ~~
pression is rearing mjjjQ
its ugly visage. RMicoppi
James Hormel has ,
an ambassadorial U)hen gay <
nomination to the an amba
small country of
Luxembourg, but
Conservatives are PeODle TU
mounting an ag- m a
gressive campaign
to block his ap- and al
pointment just be- appointee
cause Hormel is
openly gay.
Hormel has
been endorsed by the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and would be
the nation's first openly gay ambassador,
but his fate is being held up
by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott,
who's still decided on bringing the
endorsement to a full vote in the Senate.
To show their opposition, some
conservative Republicans have put
a "hold" on their vote to Hormel's
nomination. However, the Family
Research Council, a conservative interest
group, doesn't want there to
be a vote at all.
Why? Are these people creating
all this ruckus just because Hormel
Wc?
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HAL BOARD
m\ Editor in Chief
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' iet/TYit \Zit>uri\r\4*itc TJsi4 trw
IINIl
iMdHHiliHlH
take away
's choice
choose than at any other
time since Roe."
O-life rally Who or what do protc
tn fnrro lifers ^irik. &*ves them
7 l t r the right to take other
Wral beliefs people's rights away?
VeryOTie. Every person should
be allowed to make his
lyQyll or her own decision on
. * r whether abortion is
Tlty of each morally right or wrong.
S right to No one is forcing
must be * those people who are
prvprl anti-abortionists to
have an abortion. Yet
those same pro-life advocates
are haranguing and indeed
forcing people who do want an abortion
not to have one.
In this manner, abortion foes are
foisting their moral beliefs onto everybody
else, including the people who
do not agree with the pro-life stance.
Strangely enough, the same sort of
difference in opinion over moral or religious
beliefs occurred at least once
before in the history of the United
States. In fact, wasn't that why the
earliest dissenters left England in the
first place, so that every person was
allowed his or her own moral belief?
It is only fair and just to afford
every American the right to choose his
or her own perspective on abortion.
The pro-life stance denies everyone
this basic right. No one is coercing prolifers
to do something they don't want
to do. So why are they menacing everybody
else?
should
t country
???is gay? Obviously,
yes, but that's just
-JSition arises The mania. ,
dentially competent
appointed to that's as far as it
ssadorship. should go. If he's able
to do the job, let him
do it. Luxembourg
zed to lose &ye its approval four
. months ago; they
' prejudices seem to have no probllow
the lem with it.
to have the Why should this
i man be repressed be'
cause of his sexual
preference? Is he not
a person, like any other person?
Some people need to open the narrow
corridors they call their minds
and realize, as well as experience,
humanity.
Hormel needs support. It's great
that this man is trying to improve
his life, while knocking down some
walls. He should get this job, if not
for anything else, just to rub it in to
those who opposed him. Hopefully,
he will get this job and represent our
country to his greatest potential.
And hopefully, people will lose
their petty and immature prejudices
and comprehend the meaning of
equality.
imirrnrh BMWtllM
CUIIUUUV Pp^aVH
Community since 1908 MiMBMilMKaBiijiiiM
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tg the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam
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The Game
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Life
SIGNE
PHILADELPHIA DAILY NE
Religiov
CCl T 7 e live in the Bible Belt!" b
1fXl rejoices the preacher, o
? celebrating the growth of 1
his congregation. t
"We live in the Bible Belt," bemoans t
Bubba, facing the closing of his favorite c
video poker y
- purveyor.
to think j]
My own r
ktkki MCCORMICK J
Columnist en^. from ^
those 8
Protestant, and even fundamentalist,
views that define the Bible Belt. Yet (
I admire people who will defer to a 0
higher law in matter of public policy. ^
It shows, in theory, a measure of hu- j
mility; it is saying that we humans ^
don't always know what is best. In p
practice, though, I fear that Bible teachings
are sometimes appealed to in hopes ^
of gaining support for truly lame ideas. f(
Notice, these arguments only "some- a
times make me uncomlortable. You ^
see, Fm betting (at least, I would be if j
Corporal
I tanvi DHERE I v
o
Columnist jj
Recently, I have come across some ?
editorials discussing corporal c
punishment in newspapers and a
magazines. Many of the writers sympathize
with the use of such discipli- g
nary measures. t;
According to them, court cases that n
ultimately punish parents and/or oth- g
ers for spanking children are helping ^
to lead to the demise of the tradition- ^
al American family. Parents are scared c
of touching their kids. The kids then
grow up to be the Ted Kaczynskis and g
Amy Fischers of society. So they claim.
With these writers and others who
feel as such, I have to disagree. I have t
never felt, nor will ever feel, that cor- ^
poral punishment is a necessary tool v
with which to instill discipline in a
child. It is a sign of improper parent- ^
mgIt
seems like a simple resort to pun- ^
ishment when adults are frustrated j
and tired of handling children. To in- ^
still discipline requires patience. Spanking
is a result of impatience, which is
undoubtedly wrong. ^
I also see paddling as a sign of disrespect.
There is something that is lost
wrft-r tm
Come to the n
I
OINT
cock
ws
is persj
etting was acceptable in South Carilina)
that religions can show us truths,
he world's religions are such an inegral
part of our lives, I can't imagine
hat they have managed to escape the
lutches of wisdom for thousands of
ears.
Philosophical ramblings aside,
hough, I think there is practical eviience
to suggest that the peculiar reigion
with which we are faced in the
louth can offer valuable insights.
This semester, I'd like to use this
olumn to discuss the issues we face
a the Bible Belt, and to look at outide
issues from the sometimes surrising
perspectives that Bible Belt
esidents have to offer. I'll propose a
opic for the next week at the end of
ach column, in the hopes that you,
he readers, will offer ideas on the isues.
Whether you are a native South
Carolinian who helps buckle the Belt,
r a transplant who is bewildered by
hese natives, I want to hear from you.
<et this column be an outlet of sorts,
o express frustration or defend your
osition.
Maybe, like me, you have encounered
professors who have little respect
ar your religious convictions. I've
ctually seen professors smirk as stuents
express their cherished beliefs.
think there is a serious disparity bepunishr
rhen a parent physically touches his
r her child in a wrong way. Respect
a a family is a two-way street. It does
iot merely transfer from child to parnt.
Parents, too, must respect their
hildren. After all, kids learn from exmple.
I often hear the use of whippings
quated with words of love and affecion.
I would not hit you unless I did
tot love you, some parents might
ay. If s fanny that I never heard Mike
tyson telling Evander Holyfield that
te would not hit him unless he did not
are for him.
Okay, some of you might see that
s an extreme comparison. But the
flint I am trying to make is that physical
punishment is not a sign of affecion.
Affection is something that is
ransferred through emotions and
rords, not spankings.
And when I see a parent spanking
lis kid in a grocery store, I cannot truthally
say that I admire and respect him
ar taking such control over his child,
lather, his action is a sign of his own
mmaturity from not being able to take
ontrol in other ways. Spanking in itelf,
in my opinion, is improper betavior.
r intin wmd
tew writers meeting ton
The Gar
J | ] ill]* a student.
elude the aut
held for any c
"It's
s
I
>ectives
"This semester, I'd like to u
issues we face in the Bible
issues from the sometimes i
Bible Belt reside]
tween the beliefs of many of our professors,
and the generally Christian
views of most of our students. That's
something we could talk about in
this column.
Also, we could discuss conflicts that
arise in South Carolina from the fact
that one general religious view predominates.
If you aren't Christian,
and sometimes even if vou are. vou
? J J J
might be offended that you have to obey
blue laws right along with everyone
else. Maybe we can discover, and then
discuss, the reasoning behind these
laws.
I see all sorts of conflicts among
people of different religious persuasions.
Maybe, by addressing these, we
can make some small step towards solving
them.
For next Monday, I hope to hear
from you on an issue we've been hearing
a lot about lately: cloning. While
this isn't a particularly Southern isaent
not
"I would not hit you unless I
might say. It's funny that I n<
Evander Holyfield that he w<
not care
I have also come to realize that
words seem to hit harder than whippings.
In my house, my mother never
once resorted to corporal punishment
when disciplining me or my younger
brother. That is not to say she never
disciplined us. She did. But she used
(and still uses) lectures and the occasional
(or perhaps sometimes frequent)
yells. And of course there was the
grounding. No television, no playing
outside for a whole week.
The fact that she and others have
been able to raise moral and properlybehaving
individuals without the use
of physical punishment suggests that
others can do the same. Spanking is
not necessary to discipline kids.
I have known kids who still continue
to act unruly even when parents
use the occasional whipping as a form
ight at 7 p.m. iri Russell I
necock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 250-300 *
ind written letters must be personally delivered by the author to The G<
hor's telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all let
ircumstance.
ussmmnm^m
always good to beat a rival."
Keith Switzer
?C men's swimming coach,
on beating Clemson
Monday, January 19,1998
n
iMIW8!'
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1
j #
il ! .
k > P?WN Mowi \ I
V lATKeU. .. J S
Ida \ i^ricettw |
4
college press EXCHANGE
needed
se this column to discuss the
Rolf and fn lnnlr af nnfoida
surprising perspectives that
nts have to offer."
sue, it will still be a point of interest Mk
to survey Southern reactions to it. It flft
is especially relevant to this column in
light of something Richard Seed, the
scientist who plans to clone humans,
told NPR: "We are going to have almost
as much knowledge and almost
as much power as God." Surely, a mostly
Christian community will have serious
problems with that statement.
Help me answer some questions:
Why is it that people are condemning
Richard Seed's plans to clone human 9
beings? Does it raise spiritual questions,
i.e., Do clones have souls? Or
is all the hullabaloo over nothing?
Get you opinion to me by e-mail, at
k.warthen@sc.edu, preferably by Thursday.
Please include your name and
phone number, and tell me whether or
not you'd agree to a telephone interview
to delve into your ideas a little
further.
for kids
1
did not love you, some parents
ever heard Mike Tyson telling
ould not hit him unless he did
for him."
of discipline. If this is the case, then
there must be other factors involved
in teaching children right from wrong.
And it is such factors that a good parent
is able to discern and utilize.
Rut T am not poinv to artma that
the courts should ban parents from using
whatever disciplinary measures
they want. Family affairs are private
affairs. And the government does not
have a right in interfering with those
things (unless there is a threat of extreme
physical harm).
But I hope adults who have children
know how to raise them properly.
They should make the right decisions
when dealing with their kids.
And the use of corporal punishment
should not be one of those decisions.
rck I
louse 333.
See you there.
tords and must include full name, professional title or year and major It
imecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. E-mail letters must in
ter for style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withV