The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 24, 1998, Page 4, Image 4
I-w
It's our last issue, and we'll v
have some final words from J
our editor in chief.
Page 4
?c 6am ccodi
Spnrtno tht* C.nmlln/i C.'nmmunitv <inrt* 1 QTiH
EDITORIAL BOARD
Adam Snyder, Editor in Chief
Amy Shannon, Vieivpoints .Editor
Kurt Johnson, Assistant Viewpoints Editor
Scholarship bill
held up in Senate
Well, it is good mm I H II I' grades so as to help
to see that Gov. |^HUd4iJLLiiJii students qualify for
David Beasley is The Senate is holding the financial aid.
tjpsup a bill that would A the Senthing
right for this f* ctudonK ate may have legltl"
state. Though it belP m<^et sttffnts mate concerns, this
seems now the 8e*scholarships. is a plan that would
Senate is at fault. benefit many stuGov.
Beasley is dents. Even though
tryingtoi^titute Legislators need to a state-funded lottery
his Palmetto LIFE ? , ^ , , may be a better idea
scholarship pro- an? for students and the
gram, which in pdSS the bill. government alike
turn would allot. (mnnev wise?offer
$2,000 for high ing the same scholschool
students rising to college arship plan with money gained
who earned a B average and scored from the lottery), this is a start in
at least a 1000 on the SATs. But helping those with financial burthe
program is in trouble. Beasley dens not to worry as much about
said in The State that he does sending their children to college,
not know why "anyone in their The Senate would rather use
right mind" wduld be opposed to the money to just keep tuition
such a program. down. But this is just not as tanThe
bill is being held up in the gible as receiving a letter conSenate
because members do not gratulating you on your reception
believe giving out sweeping schol- of a $2,000 scholarship. The stuarships
is any way to cut higher- dent would really not know if and
education bills. They are in favor how the tuition is being kept down,
of using that $18 to $20 million in But with the scholarship, the stuthe
state budget to keep the tu- dent knows that it is money that
ition prices down in the state's pub- does not need to be worried about,
lie colleges. It's also much more rewarding
A concern of allowing these to the students, who know they
"free-flowing" scholarships comes worked their butts off so as to confrom
observing other states that tinue their education and to work
have such a program. Some of their way to a better life,
these states that provide merit
scholarships have inflated their
Airlines should
listen to patrons
Researchers | M II 11 this report. Despite
from Wichita great improvements
State University Consumer complaints in service and safeand
the Universi- rQ$e 20 percent ty, patrons of airlines
ty of Nebraska at hetnmm 1 qcfc and are sti11 upset
Omaha recently between IJbtO ana Consumers might
released an annu- 7. be unhappy because
al quality assess- high cost ?f
mentoflOU.S. plane tickets. Findairline
carriers. Airlines need to start ing a reasonably
Southwest Air- paving attention to priced plane fare is
lines ranked first, _ ^ often difficult, espewhile
Delta Air- 1 ' cially in Columbia
nn nivlino cinPO AirSf?llth HnC
II11 CO, Clll ail 1111C | I uuivv AUiuvMVii ?&v%w
that services Co- become defunct. In
lumbia, came in sixth. US Air- the consumer's mind, buying a
ways, Columbia's other major car- plane ticket has become synonyrier,
was dead last. mous with spending a small chunk
The report said that overall, of his or her life savings,
the airline industry has improved With this survey, airlines can
the quality of its service. But at focus on what they need to do betthe
same time, the number of cus- ter. The airlines must pay close attomer
complaints has increased, tention to what customers are sayThese
complaints, filed with ing because without happy
the Department of Transporta- customers, a big part of the airtion,
rose 20 percent between 1996 line industry would fall off.
and 1997. This increase in cus- Continued betterment in airtomer
dissatisfaction is troubling, line safety and service as well as
especially since major airlines ex- improvements in ticket costs, food
: j 1 a ?:a??A o mount of l not Inrrrraeta
pcridlUCU It (ItClUClltO ailU Ulic anu tiic auiv/uub v/x xuot
death in 1997. The year before, must be made by the airlines unmajor
airlines had 22 accidents til consumers can start looking forand
232 deaths. ward to their next plane trip inThe
airline industry needs to stead of dreading it.
carefully study the results of
%% Hie (gamecock IBB
Mjf Servian the Carolina Community since 1908
The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and
Friday dunng the fall and spring semesters and five times during the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam
periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the edrtors or author and not those of The University of South Carolina.
The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media
is the newspaper's parent organization.
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VWp
The Game*
VMC4IIII1IIUI
A yeari
kevin LANGSTON
Columnist
Okay, I'm not going to lie. I missed
a class on Tuesday so that I could
go to the Carolina Baseball away
game. Hey, it was Clemson. Although
a friend and I rode two-and-a-half hours
there (honestly, we weren't speeding),
we arrived to see the game postponed
due to rain. Murphy's law, I guess. So
the way I saw it, we had just wasted
an entire afternoon. Missing Math
class wasn't a bright light in the attic
either.
However, a few hours after we had
returned to our cozy dorm, I began to
reflect upon the trip. People who know
me know that I am a sentimental fool.
When I really thought about it, I realized
that the trip wasn't a waste at
all. In all honesty, I would have to say
it was an enjoyable experience.
On the way there and back, my
friend and I talked about many things
that had happened during our first
year in college. What first amazed me
was that I had never seen this person
before Aug. 16. Now I was remembering
all the crazy times we had on
Lack of:
I usually write about light hearted
subjects in my column, but in this,
my last column of the year, I want
to address an important topic: the lack
of responsibility in America. No one,
it seems,
? tions.
T hdis
r j a aij dent in
yW LEACH ath|etlcs
Columnist IVe written
before
about athletes like Roberto Alomar or
Latrell Sprewell, who have committed
loathsome acts, yet have walked away
virtually unpunished, claiming that
they were provoked, or for whatever
reason, their actions should be excused.
Everyone makes mistakes, but athletes
are allowed to get away with so
much more than the common man.
Unfortunately, it is our athletes to
whom our young people look as role
models. A friend of mine, an athlete
in fact, pointed out that just before the
fall of Rome, homosexuality was rampant
and accepted, promiscuity was
everywhere and the citizens of Rome
OINTS
sock
jl
rehashei
the floor (sounds like a beer commercial,
doesn't it).
We recalled our first opinions of
each other, and then supplemented
them with our current opinions. We
talked about the guys on our floor. We
even tried to show off how much we
knew about them by mimicking
some of their behaviors.
No matter how angry any of us
were at the time, the two of us
looked back on several occurrences and
had a good laugh. From the time one
of our ex-floor mates was practicing
karate in his room, to the night another
floor mate walked around the
hall wearing only a cowboy hat and
boots. We covered nearly nine months
of memories in the five hours we spent
in the car. We even joked about the
difference in the way we both say "car."
A lot of ground was covered on that
trip. He may not appreciate it as much,
but I will remember that trip for a long
time. e
Thp tnivs nn mv floor and T have
gone through much this year. We first c
met as strangers, but we leave this c
year as friends. Sure, over the course i
of the year we got on each other's t
responsit
looked to the Gladiators as their heroes
? the athletes.
Let's consider television for a moment.
The decadence on television is
astounding. There are countless examples,
but I want to consider the show
South Park for a moment. I've seen
the show only once, but one episode
was enough for me to come to the conclusion
that it is poison for children.
Every episode, I understand, features
the death of the character named Kenny.
The trivial approach that South
Park takes in portraying violent death
is a negative influence on children who
watch the show. The show also features
gross references to sex and things
that I feel shouldn't be mentioned in
my column. While some parts of the
show may be funny, it is very irresponsible
of the show's producers to
allow such filth to reach the ears of our
children.
Why are we surprised when 11year-old
children take a gun into their
school and blow away their class mates?
Violence is glorified in almost any television
show or movie these days.
The respect for life in this country is
nearly non-existent. Just this week,
the abortion rights crowd celebrated
q ruling tViaf urniiln inViiViit npnnlp's
IA 1 umi6 "1UW "W?1U ~ .
right to protest outside of abortion clin- j
ics. A Constitutional right was limited
for the purpose of protecting a
"right," which is nowhere to be found
within the Constitution.
The Gameci
I 11 I I ll * a student. Hand 1
In etude the author
hetd for any circu
kid
I Afte You
I wt THIN
CO
i in five
"We were 20 guys shark
shower stalls. We
hate each other along
us still hate e;
lerves. We were 20 guys sharing five
lathroom and shower stalls. We were
tound to hate each other along the
oad. Some of us still hate each otht.
However, this does not and cannot
ake away the fact that what we went
hrough, we went through together. I
an remember my mom calling me to
ell me that my father was going to
ieed surgery to remove some cancer>us
cells from his colon. I felt so helpess
when I heard this. I was very alone
vhen I got off the phone with my mom.
walked into a floor mate's hall, and
iveryone knew that something was
vrong. When they heard, they offered
tut their sympathy. They would fre[uently
ask me how my father was dong,
and after the successful surgery,
hey were happy to hear he was imrility
a p
"If abortion is legs
then why can't ]
life of anyone
to be an inconvt
Abortion is the best example of peo)le
not taking responsibility for their
ictions. If one chooses to engage in
>romiscuous, irresponsible sex, then
>ne should accept the responsibility
hat goes along with that choice. But
low we live in a country where women
:an have sex, and go and kill the baiy
at her own convenience. That is the
lltimate in selfishness. Pre-marital
sex in itself is a selfish thing. How
many girls out there have sex because
;heir boyfriends pressured them into
t, or because they felt like they had
x>? If that is how one acts, then they
io not love you at all.
The morality in America is disin;egrating
fast, and any society that
an't hold onto a core of values will fall.
Rome and Greece fell, and so too shall
ve if we don't turn this tide of selfishness
and failure to take responsiaility
for our actions.
Why are we surprised by those kids
in Arkansas? Why do we care anymore?
If abortion is legal in this counxk
will try to print all letters received. Letters should be 250-300 woi
vntten letters must be personally delivered by the author to The Gam
s telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all lettei
mstance.
"We just wanted to
k some butt, so we did."
Kim Scbultze,
USC softball player
Friday, April 24, 1998
I
ajwjf]
iSS CM 1
IghUI
liege press EXCHANGE
i hours
lg five bathroom and
were bound to
; the road. Some of ^
ich other."
proving nicely. I knew at this point
that I was not alone anymore.
Some of us will keep in touch next
year. Some of us will try to avoid others
from the floor. Still, we were and A
always will be "The Bad Boys of 5B."
This may not mean much to some, but
it does to me. At least for now anyway.
So after careful thought, I had
decided that the road trip was a fine
ending point to my initial year at college.
I know I still have more than a
week left, but that one trip was the
cherry on top. I only hope my friend
felt a tenth of what I felt about that
experience. For some odd reason, I
think he does.
iroblem
.1 4.
LI 111 11119 tuunuy,
I terminate the ?
who happens
:nience to me?"
try, then why can't I terminate the life
of anyone who happens to be an inconvenience
to me? I will not reiterate
the same old arguments, but I will
say this: pro-abortion people say that ^
it is not a human being inside the V
womb.
That was our excuse for slavery
too, wasn't it? And for the treatment
of the Native Americans? Fortunately,
enough people realized the grave
error that we were making. But for
a long time, Americans accepted the
enslavement of an entire race of people
because they thought Africans
shouldn't have a choice in the matter
because they weren't human beings ^
like the white men were. Abortion will W
end one day, I am confident, just as
slavery did. But it is important to take
note that violence didn't work. Anyone
who wants to say that the Civil
War ended slavery hasn't studied history.
It was only through changing the
hearts of the American people that
slavery was abolished.
'ds and must include fulTname. professional title or year and major if
ecock newsroom in Russell House room 333. E mail letters must in'
for style, possible libel or space limitations. Names will not be with
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