The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 28, 1998, Image 4
Hey kids, be on the look
out for new columnist
Ryan Vescio, as well as
another thought-provoking
editorial.
I
Hit 6
Sening Ibe Carolina (
EDITOR1A
Jennifer Stanley
Kurt Johnson,
Rob Gioelli, Assista
Kathleen McCorm
State's h
distort r<
We like The |
State newspaper. Lil
In fact, we depend Hurricaru
on it. And, until re- coverage fa
cently, we trusted
it. HKTITVT11
The State has
always done a good Newsp
job of bringing us compromise
timely news. And
it has done so with
a sense of propor
tion. The headlines were large
when a country was at war, or a
president shot. The headlines were
very large when our country had
won a major war, or a president
was dead.
Lately, though, we've been confused.
For the past few days, the
headlines have been getting progressively
larger as the subject of
those lines, the former Hurricane
Bonnie, has gotten smaller. On
Wednesday, the front page held
three stories ? all on Bonnie and
her effects. One would assume that
~ i : l i j j
uitj iiuinumt: iiau uevasuiuiu uui
state.
Bonnie is a big deal in North
Carolina, and there has been a little
damage and some economic
loss in South Carolina. However,
Bonnie is not an earthshattering
occurence.
use dor
top moi
Harvard University,
the Uni- IHiHUgii
versity of California USC's ra
at Los Angeles, the yidtiofi
University of Pennsylvania,
and the BTrfTTTT
I Ini vprsitv nf Smith
Carolina. We still
We are in the academics,
ssrss
thanks to recent big
donations.
The on-line magazine "Slate"
has published what they bill as
"the 60 largest American charitable
contributions for the first half
(January through June) of 1998."
Along with the above mentioned
schools and two others, the
City Universtiy of New York and
the University of Southern California
(what is it with USC's?), our
USC was mentioned twice.
Only Columbia University (is
it something about the name Columbia?)
was mentioned more,
with three donations.
In that respect, then, we've
come out ahead of Duke, the Mass
acnucjeixs iiisLuuie ui lecimuiug.y,
and numerous other schools who
Hit(5ai
**^3T Serving the Carolina Comi
The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University
Friday during the fall and spring semesters and five times during t
periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those oftheedi
The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the p
is the newspaper's parent organization.
The Gamecock
JannHar Stanley Editor in Chief Rob Lindsay
Sara ladanhalm Managing Editor Jessica Barfle
Kurt Johnson Viewpoints Editor Jackie Poaton
Josh Lonon News Editors Todd Money
Erin Reed Rosalind Harvi
Kristin Freestate Features Editor
Bryan Johnston Editorial Assistant Rob Gloelll
Nathan Brown Sports Editors Brad Walters
Nlkkl Thorpe Photo Editors Henley Young
Sean Rayford Ruth Nettles
Brian Rlsh Online Editor Denlsha Graht
Student Media
Ellen Parsons Director of Erik Collins
Student Media Jeff Stensland
Lee Phlpps Advertising Manager
Sherry F. Holmes Classified Ad
Manager
Carolyn Griffin Business Manager
Jim Green Creative Director
atnccoch
Community since 1908
lL board
y, Editor in Chief
Viewpoints Editor
nt Viewpoints Editor
ick, Editorial Writer
eadlines
eaiity
The exaggeraliSflHH
tion is not limited to
2Bonnie storms. Friday's
} the State, headline was the
largest, a giant "U.S.
JTJJHJ* STRIKES BACK,"
in reference to the
aper retaliatory missiles
s integrity in Afganistan and
headlines Sudan. We've heard
it was even bigger
than the headline
The State used for D-Day.
This practice is compromising
the integrity of the newspaper.
We can only wonder why The
State has chosen to sensationalize
this and other recent events.
We know there is a new executive
editor and page designer, and we
are guessing they are responsible
for the changes. We hope our guess,
that they are making events appear
more important than they
are in order to sell newspapers, is
not correct. We even doubt it will
work, as soon the readership
will become used to large headlines
no longer think they are
cause for alarm.
We hope that The State will reverse
its current trend towards
sensationalism, and give us the
quality news we expect and need.
rations
nw Uct
IVJ iiai
either got only one
tttaHBlH large donation or
nkings in none worthy of the
al polls. listWe
didn't have
rjHr|TjTnBB| such a great showing
on another re1
lag in cent list, however.
but USC is . The^Vfu?,t31
issue of U.S. N ews
donations. and World Report
ranked all of the
above mentioned
schools, with the exceptions of
CUNY and our USC, in the top 50
Best National Universities.
We weren't even in the top hundred.
In fact, we were listed in the
third tier.
We could complain about the
criteria used by USN&WR, but
we'd rather focus on the positive,
which is this: perhaps the gifts
that got us the first ranking will
help bring us up on the other list.
If we are to improve our academic
reputation, we need money.
And money, it seems, is just
what we are receiving.
rock ?
nuuity since t'XXi
1 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 area codes are 803
Copy Editors ?mor 777-3914
to
Viewpoints 777-7726
ay Public Relations News 777-7726
Director
Asst.Viewpoints Editor Etc. 777-3913
Asst. News Editor
Sports 777-7182
Encore Editor . ___
Online 777-2833
im Asst. features Editor
Faculty Advisor Student Media
Graduate Assistant Advertising 777-3888
Classified 777-1184
Fax 777-6482
Office 1 777-3888
VIEWF
i
/i
Green sp;
Being a student at the Universi- 1
ty of South Carolina at the end 1
of the second millenium means
? accepting
construction
" ? when the
ROB GiOiELLI master plan <
columnist js complete- 1
ly finished, '
and USC is a more modern, more beautiful
campus. (
It's hard hearing about a new build- i
ing or new dorm without feeling re- <
sentful about the fact I'll be gone by the 1
time it's finished. But the one thing that 1
does encourage me about all this new (
building is what seems to be a commitment
by the university to increas- i
ing the amount of green space on cam- i
pus. ^ 1
Green space (trees, grass, plants $
etc.) is one of the most important parts
of an aesthetically pleasing campus, t
c 1 o
ouuai oecuj
Exactly two weeks ago I stood on
the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building
and handed out tiny pink plastic
pigs,
S branded
with the
words, "Social
Security
reform
makes
sense." Despite
the festive
appearance
of the
pink piggie
All Freeman banks, it c
guest columnist w a s a 6
somber cele- v
bration. Yes,
friends, it has been a grand 60 years,
but it is time to let Social Security c
rest in peace... before it wreaks havoc. ?
On Monday, when The Gamecock 1
printed a brief article on Social Secu- 11
rity, I heard one of my fellow students ?
ask, "Why would I care about Social Se- J
curity?" There are certainly philosophical
and political reasons to care, but ^
the more obvious answer is simple. It
does and will affect you financially, both r
greatly and negatively. e
So. it's time to disDel a few mvths ?
about Social Security. ^
1. It should not matter to me. Ever 0
received a paycheck? Ever seen that c
large sum going to Social Security a
and FICA? Ever wondered when you v
are going to see that 12.4 percent of
Sorority Council
President Apologizes 8
To the editor: ^
On behalf of the nine sororities pre- ^
sent in the NPC Rush this year, I would g
'PINT
tHfe'9Qg, IB
ice good
Green space coincides with the design
of university buildings and the overall
campus layout to ensure that a school
is a pleasant place to look at as well as
work and live in.
As we all know, USC has, on the
whole, a very beautiful campus. The
Horseshoe is a landmark for the city
and state as well as the university.
Thomas Cooper library is included in
many books on campus architecture as
a great library design.
And even though we have our share
of ugly buildings, the university seems
to be committed to replacing them with
ones that are bit easier on the eye than
the Towers (Which I thought was a power
plant when I first visited Columbia).
But one of the most important things
)n any campus, and especially on an
lrban campus, is having the requisite
amount of greens, yellows and
Drowns to compliment the grays and
slacks. USC has a reasonable share
>f these but it needs more.
As Columbia grows, downtown real
estate will become more and more
valuable, and the desire will be to build
sigh rises and parking lots. Campus
jreen space could be sacrificed.
This has already happened in one
;oo many urban universities. I retity:
Don't <
rour earnings again? Well, you won't. "
the Supreme Court has even ruled that
rou have no right to Social Security benifits
based on your contributions.
2. But that money is being saved for
ne, right/ Wrong. Your contributions
ire used immediately to pay current
>eneficiaries.
3. But when I am ready to collect,
von't other people be paying in? Errr,
ry again. The problem with the payis-you-go
system rests in demographc
changes. It worked great in 1950 when
here were sixteen workers for every
leneficiary, but that is no longer the
ase. There are presently only 3.3 workirs
for every beneficiary. By 2030, there
vill be fewer than two.
4. But isn't there a trust fund?
["hanks for playing, try again. Although
urrently the revenues into Social Seurity
exceed payouts, the "trust fund"
s nothing more than a polite fiction. It
s filled with government IOlTs. Confess
has "borrowed" the money from
he trust fund for other programs and
replaced" the money with government
>onds.
But in 2012, when Social Security's
evenues from payroll taxes are not
nought to support benefits for the beginning
of the baby boomer retirees, the
ederal government will have to shell
iut cash for those bonds. Guess what,
omrades? The government does not
ictually have any cash or other assets
vith which to do that.
Even if the government were able
o wave its magic "bad economics" wand
3 Ij I 111 I land written
plKMK* numlx-r IT
Va fn annlnoriTP fnr fho mpoo lnfV nn tho
lorseshoe on our Bid Day, Sunday, Auust
23.
Although food and drinks were not
art of our activities on the Horsehoe
that day, we take full responsiility
for the trash that was left by
ur members and by by-standing obervers.
p
eh
"Ho
rr
wiw WflT
sreaiw us;
" wn's^^i
itooestfTTO
y?M potaa A. a
for urban
"One of the qualities t
great campus is it's ur
a suburban feel. "
member walking around the Georgetown
University campus in Washington
D.C. with my father, and him
lamenting how they had taken away
all the green space in their desire for
more and more modern buildings.
When it was founded, Georgetown
was on the outskirts of the District of
Columbia.
But as the city grew, the urban J
sprawl crept around the entire campus. 1
So when it came time to build, the uni- '
versity found that they had run out of :
room. They then decided to sacrifice the
green for gray.
Eventually Columbia will be big 1
enough that the University will have !
to make that crucial decision on whether
to keep the green space or build more. ^
But with decisions to remove the
parking lots from in front of the Russell
House and the library, along with
other parts of the Master Plan, the pow- 1
;ven think 2
"Social Security is obv
with or without our h
failing."
and find a way to redeem the bonds,
even that surplus would be depleted by
2029. The government would have to
raise Social Security taxes by 50 percent
or slash benefits.
5. But what about little old helpless
grandma? Doesn't Social Security help
the helpless? Well, sort of, but not really.
Social Security does go to the
less fortunate, but if you examine the i
distribution, you would see that much i
more of it goes to Beverly Hills, the upper
east side of Manhattan and the
swanky retirement communities in 1
Florida. Rich people. Of course, those
people do pay a lot more into the sys- I
tem.
But the belief that Social Security 1
works well for the less well-off is wrong.
Low-wage workers, minorities and 1
women receive an especially low rate
of return. The average poor person pays
more into the system than he or she
ever receives.
6. But isn't there a good alternative?
Actually, there is. As was branded on
4-V\n /-v'foi* oi^n fV>A mftmn Konlro
Ulv UUl^l OiUt VJI U1C piilA HA6oAC wUiUVO^
"Bank on personal retirement accounts." ^
These accounts could be either com- 1
pletely privatized or come in a form simck
will try lo print all k'ttcrs rvceived Letters slxxikl lx* 2^0-SOO words and m
s must lx* personally delivered by tlx* author lo The (iameaxk ncwsftxrm in
K' (i.imeaxk reserves the right to edit all letter for style, potisil^e Nhel or spoc
I am particulaly embarrassed by 1
the mess because USC's sororities have 1
a history of caring about campus beau- (
tification. Last year, we won the School ^
of Environment's Student Campus
Stewardship Award for our campus
cleanup project during Greek Week.
I will see to it that every sorority ^
present at Bid Day receives a copy,of I
ckey can probably generate
lore money than it would
cost USC."
Antonio Edwards
USC Junior
w| !
I 'J
&Mt&. I I
(W !! . i S
was l i
65W 1 S
?jc&J M
?m
i
i
campus
hat makes this a
ban location with
ers that be have hopefully showed us
they are committed to keeping as much
green space on campus as possible.
One of qualities that makes this a
great campus is its urban location with
a suburban feel.
We have all the convenience of being
in a city center, but our campus is
very easy to navigate.
\nyone who has seen an urban university
in cities bigger than Columbia
knows the concrete jungles that these
supposed "campuses" are.
They are either completely lost in
the city, with classroom buildings and
forms right next to office buildings,
3r they are fenced off compounds; isolated
cities within cities.
With any luck, in 50 years USC will
be neither of these, but a beautiful campus
that is an integrated part of the
nty, with its own distinct character and
plenty of green space.
ibout it
iously going down
elp. The system is
ilar to a 401(k) or an IRA. Even a
risk-averse investor would see substantial
gains through private investment.
Someone making $1,429 a month
from Social Security could be making
$3,636 a month from a modest stock
fund or $2,654 a month from an even
safer mixed fund.
Social Security reform is a hot topic
in D.C. right now. Changes are being
discussed, and if the right changes
are made, you could really benefit. Call
your representatives, join the million
byte march at www.march.org, or ally
yourself with one of the grassroots organizations
involved in this debate.
Social Security is obviously going
down with or without our help. The system
is failing. Don't follow the advice
of that person who looked past the short
Social Security article on Monday, mistakenly
thinking it irrelevant.
Don't wait until 2012 or 2030 when
the system collapses. Let's let it rest in
peace. The longer we wait, the less
peaceful its demise will be. Start stuffing
those pink plastic piggie bank, kids,
because that's the only retirement money
you are going to see.
list include full name, professksial litlc or year and major if a student
Russell House nx>m Mi E-mail letters musi include ihe authors tele
c limitations. Names will ma lie withltekl ha any circumstance
Karen Cochran's letter about the trash
eft on the Horseshoe, ans we will decide
as a group what step wil rectify our
responsible actions.
Sincerely
Debby Hames
Sorority Council, President \