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You can write us letters at: GCKVIEWS@SC.EDU It works. We promise. Just remember to include a phone number. I tto(5 Sening llje Carolina C EDITORLA Jennifer Stanley Sara Ladenheim, Rob Gioielli, V Kurt Johnson, Assist Kathleen McCormi Beasley, showim In the midst of [?~~^zz our current national crisis , some of Beasle the candidates in our upcoming elec- , tions have gone so low as to identify HVSTTnVTT each other with President Clinton, Both cand\ either because they to grow up are in the same par- about their ty with him, or for no Darticular rea t son at all. Two Republican candidates for Congress in Virginia have already said they plan to identify their opponents with Clinton's conduct and the "unfortunate political climate" in Washington. And our own David Beasley has outdone himself in one of his most recent ads. At the end of the commercial, he shows a picture of Clinton that fades into a picture of Jim Hodges. In response to this, Hodges took an equally unstatesmanlike stance, sayingr"David Beasley reminds folks of Bill Clinton a lot more than I do." It is only the first week in October and we have already gotten Recycling need to c< Recycling is a big issue these days, and for good reason. [JSC's Pollution is a world- campus wide environmental problem that has been stinging us for KJjTJWn a long time,and recycling is a big help. Utliw) In 1989, USC in- have soli stituted its recycling problem nrrurrom It ofartoH t" "61 ?*?" " ?vwv* sum small, but now en- L_ compasses most of the university. The program finally hit a snag last year with the announcement that USC's recycling program would no lnntrpr inrlude newsna pers. This angered many students, who then sent a petition to President Palms with thousands of signatures, asking for the return of a newspaper recycling program. Nothing happened, just like nothing is happening with USC recycling right now. Yet, students are unaware of this. Students have been religiously recycling the appropriate goods and assuming they are being dealt with accordingly. The University is storing the materials in a shed until the program gets back on it's feet, but they have still broken their good tfe. Ik 6a Setting the Carolina Con Tilt; Gamecock is the student newspaper of The t niversit Friday during die fall and spring semesters and five times during (icriods. (fpinions ex|*essed in The (iameci vk are diose of die ei The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the pi die newspaper's parent organization The Gamecock Jennifer Stanley Edtmr in Chief Jackie Posto Sara Ladenhelm Manaymn Editor Todd Money Rob Giolelll Viewpoints Editor Rosalind Ha Josh Lonon Mors Editors Erin Reed Kurt Johnso Kristin Freestate Eeatures Editor Brad Walter; Bryan Johnston Etlilorial Assistant Kenley Youi Nathan Brown Sports Editor Ruth Nettles Nlkkl Thorpe limio Editors Deneshla Gi Sean Rayford Jeff Romlng Brian lusKi itmine iMuor ??-uj mwiui Rob Undsey Oipy BtUktrs Man Ryan Jessica Barfleld Kathleen M( Shident Media Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Carolyn Gril Lee Phipps Adtvrtisiun Manager Erik Collins berry F. Holmes CUukfied Jeff Stenslar 1 amecocb Community since 1908 LBOARD Ty Editor in Chief Managing Editor ieupoints Editor ant Viewpoints Editor ick, Editorial Writer Hodges maturity very dirty in this campaign, and by y's ads the look of things, ig Hodges it'j,on!ygoiP?to P. ? get dirtier. This is ,Linton a very tight campaign with some highly contested isidates need sues. and worry But in his new " own state. TV commercials, Beasley isn't addressing important issues like education. He's acting more like the undereducated of his state by resorting to namecalling. These two candidates have nothing to do with President Clinton, and it is shameful that someone would want to bring the horrible problems we have in Washington closer to home. We encourage both Hodges and Beasley to worry about what's go-# ing on here at home. In case anyone hasn't noticed, we have a lot of major issues to deal with here in South Carolina, ones that are a lot more important than what's been happening in the White House. solutions )me soon I faith with the stuAiiHHHI dents. It would be ontiro nnp thincr if tViprp UfW W t- w"A"b 44 v recycling were no Pr?gram ^ at all, but to have one and not do jJTJTO anything with it is * extremely deceit's^ should ful The students vedthese are thinking ? over the they're doing somemer thing to help the environment, and they are depending on the university to aid them in this process. And what's the university doing? Shoving the material into a shed, and who knows what will be done with it in there. They might start simply throwing the stuff away when it gets too crowd_ 1 Til. 1 >1 _ 1 ea, li iney naven i aireaay. Why do that, when there's a rather useful recycling center near the airport? Why not transfer the goods out there? The program should have been "reconstructed" over the summer and made ready to go for this semester. A lot of students are passionate about recycling, and their needs, as well as the world's, have to be taken into consideration by quickening this "reconstruction" of the recycling program. mccock imunity since I'M IB MHBMHIwktBMMMli y of Soutli Carolina and is published Monday. Wednesday and the summer with the exception of university holidays and exam litors or author and n<* those of Tile I niversity of Soutli Carolina uhlisher of Hie Camecock. 'Hie IX-partment of Student Media is All area codes are H03 n liditor _ 777-3914 rvey ttito KdtUitms ihmhir Viewpoints 777-7726 n Asst Vieufxnnts lulilur I Asf ,V?rs Ijlilurs News 777-7726 ig lincore liditnr Etc. 777-3913 -aham AvS Iditiires lulilur Asst Spurts litlilor Sports 777-71H2 re Asst On-line litlilor Online 777-2H33 tCormlck Mil,mat Wntir At]vcrtisinx 777-3HHH Manager (;lussifk'd 777"'IH<t ffln Business Manager (,ax 777-64H2 / 'acuity Atli isor id (irXluate Assistant Office 777-SMKH VlEWE 'm&\s Conflicting What to do when rights are violated is an easy question. The situation becomes mor;e ?- interesting EMILY STREYER 3jlyCab? coiummsi untangled by examining more closely where rights end. We lose a right when we neglect the responsibility which comes with it? namely, that we do not use the right to threaten or violate someone else"s rights. There is no reason to interfere with a person's right to own a gun, for example, as long as the gun isn't used to harm someone else. The moment a person kills, injures or threatens another, that person's right to own a gun is no longer relevant. Another way we lose a right is by voluntarily rejecting its benefit. Abortion, on the surface, appears to be a contention of rights as well. Confederal The disgrace to democracy that our current gubernatorial campaign has become has at least one ad? vantage: the rnmnvn tv 1 tillU T V bllV flag from '-A, ,. our StateROB GIOIELLI house two columnist years ago, he did something many of us thought he was incapable of doing. He stepped up and tried to make an unpopular but needed stance about this issue. But when opposition to his plan came, Beasley simply let the issue fade away, afraid to push forward because of all the controversy. The governor's recent reversal of the stance he took on the flag two years ago has just confirmed the fact he is a spineless, vote-mongering coward. Unfortunately, his opponent agrees that the flag should not be removed, so there is no hope that we will see action on this issue from the governor's office anytime soon. Student kicked at game by irate fan To the editor: The letter that appeared in last Wednesday's edition of The Gamecock prompted me to write this letter. The letter was about the appalling behavior of some of the students at one particular football game. My family and I have also had a bad experience with a rude student at a football game. - 1 >OINT 5*5? ftf: ftouu? PQSorelNW [rights mat When a child is unwanted, we initially seem to have a clash between the mother's right not to be impregnated and the child's right not to be killed. (If it weren't alive, it wouldn't be engaging in cell division, and if it stops engaging in cell division, then it's dead. If it stops because of outside interference, it's been killed. To say otherwise is silly.) This particular nexus of rights is surprisingly clear-cut in most cases. A woman forfeits her right not to become impregnated when she voluntarily engages in intercourse?a point which should be common sense. This isn't fair, of course?men, by biological virtue, cannot have their right not to get pregnant violated. Laws can't make up for this inequity, because another individual also has rights in this situation. The child is incapable of violating anyone's right at that moment? whose rights are left? Abortion may not be dismissed as a "moral" or "religious" issue. It's about rights. Of course, someone may forfeit a right and never notice, because that right is never contested?for example, women who engage in sex and do not get pregnant. Society s real questions are not deciding the course of action when rights e flag doesi This is unfortunate, because that flag needs to come downas soon as possible. It shouldn't even be there in the first place, but I would be happy if they took it down tomorrow. Now there are many in this state who disagree with me, and that is why our exalted governor is making these affirmations: to secure their support on Nov. 3. The main argument these flag supporters have is that the flag does not represent hatred, but heritage. I completely support those who wish to fly the Confederate flag as a symbol of their heritage. As private citizens, their right to do so is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Anyone who would wish to deny that right to people is someone who does not understand the importance of freedom of expression in our society. But this flag only represents the heritage of a certain part of South Carolina. It doesn't for me; my ancestors didn't arrive in this country until the turn of the century. It is especially unrepresentative of all the African-Americans in our state. Almost every one of their ancestors were enslaved by the government this flag represents. If you call this an expression of their heritage, you have a definition that is so perverse and disgusting that I question your grasp of reality. The Gam< Jljllfj. year and majoi elude the authi During the Parent's Weekend game against Marshall, my family and I sat in Section 29. One particular girl who sat behind us, whose name I do not know, felt that we shouldn't be there, even though we were sitting in the seats for which we held tickets. I do not know why she felt this way, but she decided to voice her opinion to us throughout the game. Not only did she tell us many times that we shouldn't be there and we needed to move, but she decided to yell in our ears as many times as possible and "I Th< ^ Stu re for tough "Property rights must 1 hand in every situatior of rights can be settled task." are violated, but determining who has rights in the first place and deciding which rights take precedence over others when a true clash occurs. The Nobel Prize was recently awarded to the economist Ronald Coase, who wrote illuminating papers asserting that all economic problems can be defined in terms of property rights. For a simplified example, a factory polluting a town can be seen in two ways. The factory has the right to pollute as much as it wishes, and the townspeople can pay it to pollute less until they are satisfied with the level of pollution. Alternatively, the town has the right not to be polluted at all and may be paid for permission to pollute, stopping when it exceeds an acceptable level. In either case, the town is satisfied with the pollution level, and the factory is happy with its production level.Whoever has conceded rights has been compensated. a't renresen JL "The governor's recent he took on the flag tw< confirmed the fact he i mongering coward." Flags are symbols. They represent certain ideals and concepts, and when we put them atop our governmental buildings, we are stating that we, as citizens of that government, agree and identify with the ideals that flag represents. Atop our Statehouse we have the United States flag and the South Carolina state flag. The former represents us as American citizens, and when we fly it, we are declaring our patriotism to this nation. The latter shows that same devotion we have to this great state. The Confederate flag is equally symbolic, but its meaning is completely different for certain groups of people. For some, it represents heritage, but for others it is the symbol of a society based on the enslavement of their people. The flags of South Carolina and the United States unite us as a people. We all identify ourselves as Americans and South Carolinians. But the Confederate flag divides us. And as long as it sits atop that dome at the end of rcock will try to print ail letters. Letters should be 250-300 words and r if a student Hand written letters must be personally delivered by tl or"s telephone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit all I to "accidentally" kick me in the back about two dozen times. At one point, she even cursed out my father. We politely asked her many times to stop what she was doing but she, for reasons unknown to me, felt she was in the right and decided to continue her rude behavior throughout the remainder of the game. Her behavior was very embarrassing to me. I do not want my parents (or anyone else) thinking that is what a USC student acts like. I do not, by any means, expect students to act in their best behavior at football games; they picked on The Gamecock. ey were there, and I had a target. " dent Senator William Frick \ -TOM?* decisions t>e assigned beforei before a contention , and that is no easy Property rights must be assigned beforehand in every situation before a contention of rights can be settled, and this is no easy task. Furthermore, when should murder be justifiable as self defense? By what right do soldiers kill during war? Whose rights take preference when a woman becomes pregnant as the result of a rape? Whose rights take preference when animals are used in a laboratory? As a society we waste too much thought on the easy stuff. We throw away tremendous resources deciding which moral codes to enact into law, or agonizing over contention-of-rights issues in which one party has forfeited rights. There are real questions we need to answer. Otherwise, we cannot move forward as a country of utmost freedom, tempered only by the necessary restraints. it everyone : reversal of the stance 3 years ago has just is a spineless, voteMain Street, it will continue to divide us. When Governor Beasley proposed that the flag be removed from the top of the Statehouse, he said it would be relocated to an appropriate place of honor on the Statehouse grounds. This is not good enough. The only state sponsored institution the flag should be in is a museum. Those who wish to fly the flag in their homes and on their property have every right to do so. But the government of the state of South Carolina is here for the people of South Carolina. If something as divisive as the Confederate flag is a symbol associated with that government, then that government is grossly negligent in its job of representing all the people. The problems of race in this state are not minor ones, ana something as simple as taking down a flag will not solve them. But once we do this then we can move forward. I must Include full name, phone number, professional title or te author to the Russell House room 333. E-mail letters must Inettcr for sty le, libel or space. Names will never be withheld. are a time to have fun with your best friends and cut loose a little. But, please have a little respect for others, espemollir viaiijr in nuiit ui av/mcviic a paiciita. Remember that one student's bad behavior reflects poorly on the rest of us, and I personally don't want to be associated with this girl's poor and obnoxious behavior in any way. Amy Squeglia Biology Sophmore " 1