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Felicia Brown and Kurt Johnson will make their views known to the world. Page 2 the (5a Serving the Carolina Cc EDITORS Adam Snyder, Amy Shannon, Kurt Johnson, Assist Sexual Pr billamei Ridding the ^r neighborhood of HHUiaiiii those pesky repeat Jqq many J sex offenders has now become easi- ? er. The South Car- sex { olina House of Representatives passed a bill last week that This fall sep would keep criini- crimimls fr, nals who repeat- p. edly commit sex even ajte'i crimes away from society, even after the person served L i.* i mi l ms ume in jail. inese criminals include rapists, pedophiles, sex predators. The bill is similar to one passed in Kansas in 1994. The program sets up state mental health facilities that the deemed sexual predator will go to and receive group therapy and counseling. However, it is unlikely that the prisoner will be "cured" from his impulses in this fashion. The attorney general or a solicitor are the ones who can ask that repeat sex offenders be deemed a sexual predator and be instituted in the program, and after evidence 15 1 J_l_ * J iL . 1? 1 J irom uotn siaes, me nnai decision will be left with a judge or jury. The bill still has to pass the Senate, but South Carolina is already making preparations for funding the program. The program's cut will come from the Department of Mental Health's budget. However, this has some ofVatican's; fails to bl Last week the [^^ rfrTTTrT Vatican released a 12-page report that The Vatican admitted to a fail- report that ure of Roman worshibber Catholic worship- / ? , pers to help Jews Holocc during the Holo- not Pope / caust. The report, written Dy tne vat- ^ ,f { ican Commission J for Religious Rela- have been t tions with Judaism, is considered a landmark document because the Vatican is publicly repenting for the sins committed by church members who did not protest the slaughter of Jews by Nazi Germany. The report, however, stops short of criticizing Pope Pius XII who reigned during World War II. Pius' public silence and refusal to do anything that could have saved the Jews has been glossed over, critics of the report said. Although the document serves as a fine apology and extends the repentant spirit of the Vatican to the Jewish people and to the world, "it is too little, too late," as the chief rabbi of Israel's Ashkenazi Jews said. First of all, the report is more than 10 years late in coming. Pope Hie (5a " Serving the Carolina Con The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The Universit) Friday during the fait and spring semesters and five times during ( periods. Opinions expressed irrThe Gamecock are those oftheedr, The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the p is the newspaper's parent organization. Th? Gamecock Adam Snyder Editor in Chief Rosalind Hanr Amy Shannon Viewpoints Editor Sara Ladenhelm Kurt Johnson . Can Pellatt News Editors Carrie McCulh Jennifer Stanley Features Editor Kristin Freest Achlm Hunt Nathan Brown Bryan Johnston Sports Editors Susan Meyers Photo Editor jQft Q Hgra Brian Rlsh Online Editor n . cnn nwo Chris Dixon Copy Desk Chief Connie Karick Student Media Julie Baker Sherry F. Hob1 Susan Barrett Alicia Dickson Carolyn Griffin Judson Drennan Creative Services Jim Green Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Mlchele Damt Lee Phlppa Advertising Manager Co/Wf|> ? % A imccodt immunity since 1908 lL board Editor in Chief Viewpoints Editor f.ant Viewpoints Editor edator ited plan hmhmmhI ficials concerned beLuUflHH cause they are afraid People are that funding this provictims of wil1 take awa? rr j from their treatment offenders. of the mentally ill. Despite the monmmm ey concerns, this )arates the program will protect am society, a lrt of people. Nine J' other1 states have simr prison. ^ar jaws an(j many more are soon adopting them. The main focus is to protect innocent women and children from a person who was supposed to be re The report simply tails short ot doing any real good. Sure, it expresses the Vatican's sorrow as to the actions of its members during the Holocaust, but it doesn't place any of the blame on Pius, which is where the blame should have fallen. Simply, it's too little too late. mecodi H8H tmunity since 1908 i of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and he summer with the exception of university holidays and exam tors or author and not those of The University of South Carolina, ubhsher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media All numbers area code 803 The Gamecock ey Public Relations Coordinator Editor 777-3914 Asst.Viewpoints Editor . Viewpoints 777-7726 imgh Asst. News Editor ate Asst. Features Editor News 777-7726 i Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Photo Editor Etc. 777-3913 Asst. Online Editor Sports 777-7182 hoff Copy Editors Online 777-2833 rwa Classified Ad c,t . Manager Stu<tent M"d,a i Business Manager Advertising 777-1184 Creative Director Classifieds 777-1184 >e Creative Services _ 777fi.fi, Graduate Asst. Fax 7776482 Faculty Advisor office 777-3888 * habilitated while serving for his first offense. This the same idea shared in detaining those with mental illnesses and the offenders would be treated as so. This is definitely a program with merit and a convenient way to keep such criminals separated from society. Patrick Lynn is one such Columbian man who fits these "requirements." When he came out of prison in 1996 after 15 years, within months he was linked to several Shaindonarea rapes. But by that time, he was already back in jail in Kansas for raping a women. These are the type of people that need to be contained and controlled, not only for our benefit, but for theirs as well. apology ame Pius John Paul II had promised that the docreleased a ument would be writblamed ten over a decade ago. s during Not only is the re. & port long overdue, it lust but refuses to concede 3ius XII. that Pius could have, and should have, done more to reach out to , i , the Jews and speak should out against their anadmitted. nihilation by Hitler. By taking a stand, Pius could have prevented the deaths of some of the millions of Jews persecuted in the Holocaust. Because Pope John Paul II has done more than any other previous pope to strengthen Catholic-Jewish relations, he deserves to be commended. But by declining to acknowledge the error of Pius' inaction during World War II, this report will only serve to frustrate and possibly anger Jewish leaders and worshippers. /ewt The Gam< - gll How to As a cradle Catholic, my former habit of dating semi-fundamentalists sometimes proved unfortunate. Inevitably, my love and I would find ourselves in theological debates, the worst of which was the "faith vs. works" controversy, i For those kiki McCORMICK h e a v e n. Columnist More con servative Protestants tend to feel that it is only necessary to accept Jesus as savior to be "saved" from hell. As a corollary, then, anyone who does not accept the message of salvation is damned. This is similar to the official Catholic line, but the Church leaves wide loopholes for non-Christians. In general, Catholics emphasize "works," which refer to the actions and thoughts of the individual. Good works are those which are conColumn: Under normal circumstances I would not write any sort of "response" column, but dye to a misunderstanding between the copyediting staff and me, two grave errors occurred when my previous column was run, and to be fair to both those who appear emily STREYER this counGuest Columnist try. The first of the errors was that, when the column ran, the word "equivocally" was substituted confusingly and erroneously /*_ J_1_ _ J II 11 II T 1 J ioruiewora unequivocally, iwouia like to state again, UNEQUIVOCALLY, that is to say, unambiguously and open to no other interpretation, that we have made no strides whatsoever towards racial or gender equality when we attribute the successes ~ or failChallenge issued to student organizations To the editor: This article is in response to the comments made by Ken Caudle's letter entitled "Fair coverage given; rally went too far." It was clearly written out of ignorance. I can not help but believe that if Caudle believes what he says to be true, then many others concur with him. The facts of the matter at hand: 1) NAACPs budget was not cut. In fact, their budget was increased by $700. * 'OINT: acock ~ &L. get to \ sistent with the teachings of the Bible, especially those of Jesus himself. Two readers wrote in with lists ol quotes to support faith's case. Jeremiah Schwartz pointed me to Ephesians 2:8, which says "For by grace you have been saved through faith, onr] fViia ia nnt vnn* if ia tV?n rrlfl U11U WHO iO UUU I1U1U JWU, lb 10 W1U gui of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast." And John 14:6, submitted by Kirk Whitworth, says "I am the Waj and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Other good evidence for this argument is found in John 3:3 and Acts 4:12, but the main idea is summed up in the two passages I have quoted. Convinced? Frankly, I'm not. Mj gut reaction to such arguments is tc make an appeal for the many people who will never hear the "good news,1 or even for those who don't accept it for some good reason. For instance, what do we do with someone who, through no fault of her own, has very negative associations with Christianity. Perhaps this person might have been introduced to the Bible by one of the many street preachers whc threaten their listeners with "hellfire and damnation." How could we, or God, expect her to be receptive to Jesus' message, when her thoughts about Chrisist respc ures - of individuals to their reproductive organs or skin colors. The details of the second error are unimportant, but its result was consequential. The intent of my column was to strip away that which affirmative action claims to do, and leave what it actually (Jpes. and slight changes made to my sentence structure obfuscated this point. \ In another note, I stand corrected on the fact that Thurgood Marshall was the first black member of the Supreme Court, but as that point is irrelevant to my argument, I haven't further comment. I do not challenge the good intentions of affirmative action; I understand the idea behind the policy, although I must question the desire to work for a racist or sexist boss, especially if that employer was required against his or her wishes to hire a minority or a woman. But I take issue, however, not with what affirmative aci* i 1j 1 1 i *i V 1 i won intends to ao, dui wun wnat aifirmative action ultimately does. Whether you like it or not, affirmative action, if it does not outright imply that a person received a job because of sex or race, nonetheless leaves a smudge of doubt on the fact that a person has achieved through merit TheG> 1 | ] | | |1 ? a student, f elude the at 11 held for any 2) At the rally, the students who made reference to The Gamecock said that it was biased, not racist. 3) The rally was not held by "African American students who wanted an all African American ballot to be put out, because the SG President and Vice President are both Caucasians." The rally was held to address apathy, the biased Gamecock, and budget cuts to AAAS. No blame should be placed on the constituents and supporters of AAAS for speaking out about their budget cuts. I strongly believe that the othei organizations who also- received cuts should have been bold enough to speak out outside of their appeal as well "I k and it's M that's wl ^ iuniorKi ( col 1 leaven a< " P "It is an interesting d days, both argume Whether your curr works, you are sii buy your way h i tianity are colored by negative expe- a\ ' riences. w 1 I can use the Bible to support the 01 other side. Matthew 7:21 says "Not 1 everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' tl 1 will enter the kingdom of heaven, V but only the one who does the will of w my father in heaven." Therefore, we yi 1 can't rely on our faith, but must do the tc ! works God wants us to do. And Ro- h mans 2:6 says that "(God) will repay cl everyone according to his works: eter- pi nal life to those who seek glory, hon- E or, and perseverance in good works..." s< We sort of have a draw, then. The tl Bible seems to contradict itself on this y< issue. There are statements that faith tl s and works are each necessary. The two > are really interrelated anyway, as both t( ! readers point out. Schwartz says, "If A , one is truly saved, then their faith in "J God's grace will be evident by their n convictions and their deeds." The Bible ci inds to cri alone. I would not find complimenta- it ry the idea that I have received any- ai thing ~ a scholarship, a place in any cr program, a job -- because I am a woman. I imagine others, among them ir Sandra Day-O'Connor, Clarence tl Thomas and all other successful peo- d< i pie who have been told that affirma- st tive action got them their jobs, feel sim- kj ilarly. p< Affirmative action does not mere- pi i ly "suggest" to employers that they tl should "consider" hiring a minority; it m mandates that they do so, all other si things equal. In practice, especially 01 when quotas are involved, this com- 01 monly results in standards being lowered to accommodate the desire to n< achieve diversity. B i This desire for diversity is valuable di to society, but when diversity becomes it a priority above merit, it comes at the si price of progress towards racial and a gender equality. it The premise of my previous colum- li n's proposal, crucial to the decision to accept or reject it, asks if it is accept- 01 able to declare "the Potential to Con- ir ; tribute to the Diversity of Society" a a< valid quality, just like any other non- ti i race or non-gender quality such as ex- ol i perience or intelligence. If so, then cer- p< tainly we should just be honest about bi imecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 250-300 words at Land written letters must be personally delivered by the author to The Gamecocl ithor's telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all letter for s circumstance. i More specifically [this letter] is "to the editor" to request accountability, b It has been evident that there is a lack p of racial harmony on this campus as it well as a lack of understanding among n i student leaders and organizations. I n ; challenge The Gamecock to help bring c, about some closure to this "us against j i them" mentality. It cannot happen ^ overnight, but we can make a start by having open dialogue. Not dialogue " ; that is played out in "letters to the ed> itor," but dialogue that is open, non- a ; threatening, and including warm bod- n ies. This type of dialogue leads to n i accountability and a greater sensi- c< : tivity and understanding of individuals and races. * now that I can hit just mind over matter, lat it comes down to." im Pietro, USC softball Monday, March 23,1998 Mr lege press EXCHANGE abated ilemma, but these nts bother me. ency is faith or mply trying to ito heaven." grees: James 2:26 says, "As the body ithout the spirit is dead, so faith withit deeds is dead." It is an interesting dilemma, but lese days, both arguments bother me. Whether your currency is faith or orks, you are simply trying to buy our way into heaven. You are trying > manipulate God, cutting a deal with im, saying, "Okay, God, in exoange for eternal life, I'll give you a rofession of faith and a modest tithe." ither approach, then, is inherently dfish. My understanding of Jesus is oat he never condones selfishness, so ou're really in trouble if you care about re fate of your soul. Maybe, then, we aren't supposed ) concern ourselves with the future, iter all, as it says in Matthew 6:34, Do not worry about tomorrow; tolorrow will take care of itself. Suffient for a day is its own evil." iticism and do so, to hell with this danceround-the-issue affirmative action ap. But I urge eveiy reader to question ty premise. As a society, do we accept le risk involved in such a subjective Bclaration? To return to the opening atements of my previous column, we now, whether our daily actions supDrt it or not, that we shouldn't judge eople by the amount of melanin in leir skin or the number of X-chrolosomes in their DNA; why should we lpport actions which mandate favor disfavor to anyone based on either * these two reasons? This isn't to say that diversity is ot a desirable element in our society, ut that choice must occur on an inividual level; any attempt to choose on society's scale will have the same lortcomings as affirmative action, beluse diversity is not an objective qualy, and therefore no objective guidenes will apply to everything. This country will not achieve racial r gender equality kicking and screamlg its way to the finish line; it will chieve it through the perpetual, multudinous, daily disproof of centuriesId prejudices, and through the reeated demonstration of achievement ir minorities and women. )d must include full name, professional title or year and major if < newsroom in Russell House room 333. E-mail letters must intyle, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be withI challenge not only The Gamecock, ut Student Government, Carolina reductions and Fraternity and Sorory Council. I singled out these orgaizations because of their capacity to jach and influence students and beruse the majority of their memberlip and leadership is composed of stuents that are not of color. It is nportant for the crusade for racial armony to be led by the majority. For ny leaders of the "challenged" orgaizations, think twice before you say o. Say yes to a greater Carolinian immunity. Jessica D. Roberts Philosophy *