The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 03, 1998, Image 4
^ Our editorial board will have
more to keep those debates raging
and those letters coming in.
I .
Wl?v
Serving tbe Carolina C
EDITORL
Rosalind Harve
Kiki McCormick
Marcus Amake
S.C. educa
teaching, i
Lately, people
from a many arenas ^ ,
have shown their con- ollegepref.
cern for education in tbanstan
our state.
We hope all of Focus on U
the attention given to thai
our problems will
result in a state full of
well educated people, but question
the wisdom of some initiatives.
One positive thing happening
for higher education is the flood of
donations to USC. Darla Moore's
$25 million gift to the business
school has bran followed by other
gifts.
Naturally, we are thrilled the
university is getting money to
improve its programs. But will we
be able to keep enough high-caliber
students in the state to enjoy the
fruits of these donations? Can our
state's low rated educational system
produce students whose skills will
serve them well in a first-rate institution?
Plans for scholarships (in the
House) and tax breaks (in the
Senate) that might have kept a
number of bright kids in S.C. colleges
have been scrapped. We don't
know if either of these plans would
have resulted in a better educated
state, but our reaction, as college
students, naturally amounts to
something along the lines of "Oh
pooh!"
The money could have saved us
from spending valuable studying
.time waiting tables to survive college
expenses.
m Hit 6a
~ if Serving the Carolina Cot
The Gamecock s the student newspaper ot The timers
Ftidgr tiring the tal and spmg semestos and 6*e Ones dtrvi
penods. Opnons expressed n The Gamecock me those of the e
The Board of Student Publications and Cimmunieabans is the
is the newspaper's parent organization.
Tin Ganacacfc
RguM Harvey Editor in Chief Orytm JahruA
KMd McCantdck Viewpoints Editor Amy McCere
ietmUet Staatij News Editor Hwfcarra Wh
Marcos Amaker Features Editors Sara* GarXw
Stream Meyers isrartsr STmSs)
Etaa Pan eat Director of Cetelym (Ml
Student Media ^ CJJJJ1
Lea PMppe Advertising Manager gdkCaMm
Skerry F. Hetrem Classified Ad
Manger
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jntrart
(immunity since 1908
VL BOARD
ry, Editor in Chief
Viewpoints Editor
r, Features Editor
tion needs
not testing
[TTrcnB[^H At any rate, wt
.. must improve edu
xiration is more j v
, cation m grades K
aardizea tests. 10 ?.
?ww. 17 fA nronoro cfii.
MM WW OVU
dents for college
caching rather Much is being dis
j tgstjfuj cussed on this
front, but little 01
substance is bein|
done.
It looks as though schools will
now be burdened with more testing
despite the danger that teachers
will feel they must teach "to the
test," rather than giving students %
comprehensive knowledge base not
measured in standardized tests.
The test results would be used tc
assign schools ratings from good tc
unsatisfactory.
While we need to know how
schools are performing, we already
have that information from the testing
currently done. Any more is
superfluous. But no amount of testing
and grading will make a school
better. Children will not learn more
until they have full bellies, learning
materials and well-trained teachers,
among other things. It makes
no sense to test children repeatedly
without giving them the tools they
need to perform well on those tests.
There is one issue the legislature
has addressed that could
improve the quality of education in
S.C. Smaller classes will allow
teachers to get to know each student's
learning styles and needs better,
so that the individual student
will be better served. We should
thank our lawmakers for addressing
this issue
uracil Hill
mmuntty since 1908
*y of South Cantna and is published Monday. Wednesday arc.
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IEWP 011s
The Gamecock
I S?'
Sll> Jail
' 1
I
Boyhoodi
IQuentin Johnson
Cohimnist
1 Fm old. Perhaps not, I am only m
' 22. But God, do I feel old. As I move ^
through my days doing this and that,
I rarely have time to sit back and Wi
reflect
It seems as if growing older, ^
sidestepping the mid-teens, is all ar
about dredging up the deepest, dark- F*
est memories, picking off the scabs Wi
from emotional wounds until they m
bleed for all the world to see.
This we call "experience." Wl
nt
But today, I was reminded that m
my younger days were not filled with ^
moon less dark. hi
No, my childhood had its magic,
m lfo omn ito innnmnm At,a T fVianlr .1
lio ant, 1uo muiaa/iiw. luiu M. mhhih ^
the person who brought down my
defenses to show me this. th
His name is Jonathan. He is the "k
thirteen-year-old brother of my best ai
, girl friend.
. He is from a small rural South cli
Carolina town called Barnwell. A de
town much like mine; a town I refuse tr
to visit. re
Tonight, Jonathan, through no
tnnuilcJoo nf Viic nam tnnlr me hart Jo
to that town, back to Wallace, South H'
Carolina. And in doing so, he
revealed a part of me I thought was
lost, a part clouded by things sharp M
E
sTTS *
^STP?
f
I 01
L 4 w
CO
nemories
id easy to remember. Jonathan t
ought back the magic. p
This is the second time I have v
et Jonathan. The first time was
fo summers ago. He was kinda (
liet and shy in his own rebellious ^
a> p
Although he didn't say much fa
ten, when he did, he displayed wit
id independence. Proof of his inde ndence
was easy to see. While he ^
as here, he cut his hair into a
ohawk and dyed it blua D
One day when his sister was at
ark, I "kidnapped" him ? leaving a 11
>te and numbers. Although I "kid- P
ipped" him, we didn't really talk. I h
dn't get a chance to really listen to
m. p
His head was still swirling in J
at way all of us from small towns c
) when we first visit Columbia. But
e second time, tonight, the second ^
idnapping," the key to innocence
id magic would be revealed.
I have grown cynical, a self-proaimed
realist. Secure in my ^
fense of hurt and nam and the k
uths they teach. Content in w
membering nothing else. p
Tonight, when I "kidnapped" s1
nathan, we started talking. ^
armless talk it seemed, but
nathan was really taking me back. jc
As he told me a collection of To b
ama!" jokes, I was reminded of lc
think it's a sadder place without
n, out 1 tnanx tne years 1 naa 10
work."
Dr. Henry Price
wine ^
IMQ."
PTHg* OHRft
T $|jpars g
JP
liege press EXCHANGE
regained
hose ringed competitions in the
ilayground listening and sometimes
oicing those veiy same jokes.
Jonathan brought up Jheri
Juris. All of a sudden, I was whisked
ack to 1985 when Jheri Curls were
opular, and I was unpopular
ecause I refused to get one.
Once we got to Five Points, I saw
eople I knew. I watched as
onathan withdrew and thought of
lyself at that age.
A quiet kid who preferred playig
in the woods or curling up in the
me tree with his tavorite book to
anging out with people.
And walking back from Five
'oints, we saw a lightning bug.
onathan and I swapped stories of
apturing these nighttime lanterns.
In that moment with that
senager and those flashing bugs, my
)st innocence was suddenly found.
In a world where innocence is
aider and harder to find, where
ids are exposed to more than we
rere as teens in movies, radio and
U in ninn fn Irnmir fKof fknm ova
I lilt, It Id 1lite us xvjivjtt uuat uicic ai t
till kids that chase lightning bugs in
le summer.
Kids that still tell To Mama!"
ikes. Kids that can still guide you
ack to the magic you thought you
;ft behind.