The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 23, 1998, Page 2, Image 2
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
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Student Media
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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
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. Viewpoints 777-7726
imgh Asst. News Editor
ate Asst. Features Editor News 777-7726
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*
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
*