The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 01, 1999, Page Page 2, Image 2
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7irh^R
VJ
Serving the Carolina
EDITORS
Sara Ladenhqir
Rob Gioielli, V
Kevin Langston, Assi
Emily Streyer, Assis
Jennifer Stanley, Spec
New orgs
good for:
Even though
4-1 :
wcit uie nuiui paiticipants
and ben- A studen
eficiaries of higher
education,students _
in South Carolina /ormea
and here at USC I
have almost no direct
voice in high- ^ Statewic
er education at the Student i
legislative or ad- influence
ministrative levels.
Our student ?!
body president represents
the students at all meetings
of the Board of Trustees, but
the board has no voting power.
She's one voice representing 26,000
others.
But two USC students are trying
to correct this disproportion.
Whitney Shively and Duke Taylor
have formed the South Carolina
Student Association to
give students an influence on the
legislative side of higher education.
This kind of organization is
long overdue in South Carolina.
Important decisions about the future
of higher education are too
often made by politicians out of
touch with what's really happening
on university campuses.
Monica's 1
not neede
For a trial that
has already proved IHHHJm
+ n ho Inntr a n r) 11, ? r ?
slow-moving,
House managers
will be deposing before th
Monica Lewinksy hmpot
today. HHSiLmJm
Presidential ad- She has %
**??<'
emphasize state- involveme)
ments that could augment tl
be helpful to Pres- ?
ident Clinton.
These advisers also stress the
goal of using this opportunity to
encourage the 44 Senate Democrats,
who had previously voted to
dismiss the case, to exercise their
power to acquit the president.
House managers, on the other
hand, will be focusing, once
aeain. on the details of the rela
tionship between Clinton and
Lewinksy. In a trial that has already
seen interference from Larry
Flynt, the publication of the
Starr Report and several book
deals, this event has mirrored a
Jerry Springer episode. Are we
dealing with the impeachment of
the president, or have they sensationalized
the last "trial of the
century" with sex, lies and videotape?
According to an Associated
Press story posted January 26th,
fife Hit (5a
^3 Serving tlx- Carolina Con
" The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The I'nh ersin
Friday during the fall and spring semeSers and five limes dunng
periods Opinions expressed in 11k- Gamecock are tliose of the ed
The Board of Student Publications and Communications is lite pi
the newspaper s parent organization
The Gamecock
Sara Ladenheim Editor in Chief Emily Slreye
Rob Gioielli View/mints Editor Kevin Langsi
Kenley Young A tux Editor Rachel Helw
Brad Walters aCms Editor Clayton Kale
Nathan Brown Sftorts Editor Brock Vergal
Erin Reed Features Editor Charlie Wall
Rob Lindsey Feat tins Editor
_ , .., Kafy Evans
Sean Rayford I'holo Editor . ' , _
? ? ? Deneshia Gr
Matt Ryan Online Editor
Kristin Freestate Copy Desk Chief Ash'on June
Todd Money Oft Editor Ann Marie M
Rebecca Cronican Cofiy Editor Jennifer Star
Jessica Barfield Co/n Editor
Student Media
Ellen Parsons Din-dor of Kathy Van N
SltaU-nl Media Sherry F. Ho
Lee Phipps Adtvrtising Mat/after
Susan King Cn-alive Din-dor Carolyn Grif
Susan Barrett Creator Semites Erik Collins
Jason Curry Create e Semites Jeff Stcnslam
^ Daniel Brown Cn-aliis^iovites
1
amccock
Community since 1908
VL BOARD
a, Editor in Chief
Viewpoints Editor
stant Viewpoints Editor
tant Viewpoints Editor
ial Projects Coordinator
inization
students
Only a student can
liUdHHHI give an accurate
t lobbying picture of the reon
has been ality of contempo?
nt Tier rary C0Hege llfeThat's
what our
H leaders need in
order to make dele
effortfor cisions that win
legislative benefit us the most.
will benefit By bringing stuyone
dents together-from
all across the state,
the SCSA is increasing
its chances for success.
Higher education isn't just a USC
issue, and by showing a strong,
united front, students have the
best possibility of being heard.
We realize this organization is
just in its infancy, and only time
will tell whether it can really make
an impact. But at the very least,
it shows apathy doesn't have autocratic
rule over USC students.
There are people at USC and
around this state who actually
care about the future of higher education
in South Carolina. It's refreshing
to see groups like SCSA
get off to a successful start, and
we hope they can help improve
higher education across the state.
testimony
d for trial
37SMH1 Plato Cacheris,
AmHHIH Lewinsky's lawyer,
Winsky has said she can't add
tion toThe record
e Senate. that hadn't already
TynTFTfl^H been presented to
MUyriMNHi the Senate. If this
lOthing to is so> why is she beher
further !ng brought before
lawyers to rehash
It tvillonly old statements?
)e mockery. Lewinksy has
? nothing more to
say. With an end to
the trial in sight, House managers,
senators and the president's team
see their hands are tied amid a
growing public distaste for the
whole thing. Lewinsky s only purpose
is to remind the public how
the president used various office
supplies and sloppy security measures
to mar the sacredness of the
Oval Office.
American justice has been
marred by enough "trials of the
century," with the last decade overwhelmingly
making the Rosenbergs
seem less significant than
ex-football players, ex-Harvard
professors and the president. It's
high time the House managers
and the president's defense realize
that Lewinsky's testimony can
do little more than enlarge the
scarlet letter "A" that she has worn
for the past year.
mccock ?
since 190H MHMlHilliMMXifiBMI
>' <H Soulh Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and
ihe summer wilh the exception of university holidays and exam
lilots or author and n<x those of The I niversKv of Soulh Carolina,
iblisher of The Gamecock. Ihe Department of Student Media is
?^^ 1 1J TJ'ilUi
All area codes are 803
r Asst. Vkrufrriuts
ton Editors Kdifor 777-3914
ig Asst. Aiws Ijlitors gilu'dOsc vein
View points 777-7726
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|
view]
The Gai
V POUT EVEN
SMOKE SECKV6E /.
V UKE THE W /}
IT FEELS.
ill Ml I li 11II
Professor
Last week, I withdrew from a
class for only the second time in
my college career. This second "W"
| comes from
NIKKI THORPE second, in
guest columnist my last se
mester of
university, happened the day I listened
in horror as the professor made a racial
slur in front of the class.
The class is made up of between 350
and 400 students, and many of them
laughed. As my outrage mounted, I contemplated
escape. Unfortunately, I was
wedged smack-dab in the middle of the
third row, front and center. I decided
my hasty exit would cause a scene, and
as the professor had shown his like for
confrontation only days earlier, I chickened
out.
I remained in the auditorium half
listening to the rest of the lecture,
T T C Tr2/\1/i4-rk
u.j. viuiaic
Pope John Paul II focused on the
controversy of human rights during
his recent visit to the United
?States. Upon
his arLouis,
the
fate- wKE^m pope bashed
SF use
capital punishment
in
America.
SPIi^fc * ^ie^>on"
claimed,
COREY FORD -Thedignh
co'"m""' ty of human
life must
never be taken away, even in the case
of someone who has done great evil."
Why was the pope bashing the United
States in regards to human rights?
Does not America serve as the beacon
of light to the world for human
_Li _0 T- jl * _ i iL _ 1 _ 1 J . P. .
rignisr is mis not me iana maae ior
you and me? Ultra-liberal human rights
groups should wage their campaigns in
Third World countries, not our back
yards, right?
Unfortunately, many violations of
human rights occur in the United States.
With an increase of police brutality and
harsh complaints of maltreatment from 1
correctional institutions, problems do
]
Mural important <
to USC football
i
To the Editor:
Progress will continue and must for 1
the University of South Carolina to become
a leader in the 21st century, but *
ask what price must this progress come? '
Must the past be destroyed for us to en- 1
ter the future? Even the university be- ?
lieves this not to be true. This is shown '
in its current motto of a past to remember
and a future to build. If this is *
true, why does the university plan to J
point
mecock
T
i COOL - ^
TWETSMUS.
3^\ WW ME Tttfi
&HT(-SttOKlH(
vj STOFf G01V4G
wm>
s racial s
and stewing in my own thoughts. How
dare this man stand up in front of so
many students and make a comment
like that? Does he not realize that, as
a professor, he has an obligation not
only to teach his students, but also to
uphold the principles of this university?
The Carolinian Creed states, "I will
discourage bigotry, while striving to
learn from differences in people, ideas,
and opinions."
How can we expect students to find
something beyond humor in racial slurs
if the professors are making the comments?
Despite all of his credentials for
teaching (and let me say the list was
long and noteworthy), people like this
1J i. a. TIT? ? _ li...
snouiu noi teacn. vve as a university
should not let them stand up in the
fronts of our classrooms, no matter how
qualified they look on paper.
In all honesty, I realize that what
the professor said might not be the slur
many of those reading this column
expected it to be, but to me that is the
point. By saying that someone's "eyes
don't open as wide as" another's when
speaking of a person of Asian descent,
he was making a racial slur, in my mind.
A slur doesn't have to be as pointed or
malicious as those that send chills of
rage down the spine of the politically
correct. It was the subtlety of this insult
that enraged me. To me, the broad
s human i
persist even here in South Carolina.
Yet, Americans' disdain for the value
of human life by executing criminals
serves as the most disrespectful act
against human rights.
Like abortion, capital punishment
is an issue people grow weary of discussing.
Debaters mainly use emotion
instead of reason in arguing this and
similar issues. However, Texas' execution
last year of Karla Faye Tucker and
the weekly executions in South Carolina
this past Christmas season threw
the issue back into the limelight.
With the recent executions, America
should question the validity of the
death penalty. The hypocrisy of capital
punishment, along with racial disparities
on death row, gives reason why
the abolition of the death penalty would
be a progressive measure.
The Eighth Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution protects citizens from
cruel and unusual punishment by the
government. While most constitutional
scholars will disagree with me, I
believe any form of execution is cruel.
Certainly, the electric chair and lethal
injection do not seem usual ways to die.
Scott Blystone, an inmate from Pennsylvania,
stated, "From hanging, to the
electric chair, to lethal injection: how
much prettier can you make it? Yet, the
prettier it becomes, the uglier it is."
Submissions for
length.
'it The
sludcnl.
Ix-r. The (iamecook
lestroy the mural to arguably the great,~j.
~i.i-i~i._ xi-_ i_ x rtiono
;sl auneie 111 uie nisiury ui uov/.'
Even looking at the matter as purey
a football point of view, the mural
s crucial. In over 100 years of football,
;he University has little or no tradition
Desides that of mediocrity and having
;he most loyal and optimistic fans in
:he world, perpetually supporting that
nediocre team and knowing that next
fear will be the year of greatness. This
ack of tradition causes problems in
teeping great talent at home. Each year,
:he best talent in this state, arguably
some of the best talent in the country,
QUOT
"I 2
. bro
rc ^
J form
I
V DO\lT SMOKE j j f\*
J ^^jjj
, ISttO
i eecwis'
? > 1,) UOT SVtf
,"> ^K. k ^ TO.
lur disgust*
"How dare this man s
so many students and
like that?"
generalization that the professor prob- 1
ably considered harmless held all the 1
proof of ignorance and inhumanity of
other, more commonplace racial 1
slurs. <
Now I sit typing less than a week i
later and am no less full of outrage. My i
anger has grown, though. It is no longer I
directed merely at this one professor,
but also at myself. No, I was not one of 1
the students who laughed, but what I 1
did was worse. I sat there knowing how ]
wrong he was. I did not have the courage I
to speak my own beliefs. I have instead i
taken the sword of the coward: the pen.
I failed to show the respect I have s
for "the dignity of all persons," which c
is also mandated by our Creed. I, like \
the professor, failed to be the person I 1
should be. I must find the courage. I \
was lucky this time. I was able to drop r
the class and quietly slink away from t
my anger. This class was not one of the I
two classes I need to walk across the y
stage in May, but what if it had been?
v
ights with e
The Supreme Court deliberated J
the constitutionality of capital punish- c
ment in Furman vs. Georgia in 1974. a
The case in Georgia revolved around ^
how white juries convicted a disproportionate
number of African Ameri- ^
cans to death row. Furman vs. Georgia
initially abolished the death penalty,
yet the court overruled the decision in e
1976. o
Yet, attorneys, scholars and politi- g
cians still debate the arbitrariness of t
capital punishment. The controversy r
of Furman vs. Georgia remains with us r
today. a
Disproportionate numbers of African v
Americans still exist on death row. ^
African Americans comprise only 12
percent of the country's population, yet
they make up 42 percent of inmates on
death row. Also, since 1977,82 percent
of inmates were convicted of murder- a
ing white victims. These percentages y
suggest the abuse of majority rule c
against a particular minority in soci- r
ety. p
Furthermore, proponents of the death t
penalty claim that the threat of execu- ^
tion deters crime and murder. However,
studies show the opposite. A considerable
number of convicted murderers c
Uoirn O lr /-?Tr\V?ircn/>nl nl-iiicn 1J
nave a iiioiAJij ui piiyonxu auuoc.
Since 1984, states across the country u
executed 33 mentally retarded inmates, u
including three from South Carolina.
columns are welcome irom all mcmlxtrs ol the Carolina Commit
it columnists can only Ik' printed twice a semester. Please delivei
iw to print all letters. Letters should he 25ri-3tto words and must include full
n letters must l>e personally delivered by the author to the Russell House roo
reserves the rifjlit to edit all letter for style. Iilx-I or space Names will never
goes to other schools with great foot- lc
ball traditions. ci
WK of rvAAr fimmrr an rlnmomn ol
TT11UI puui LlllUllg U11U U^VlOlUll UiC DJ
school has displayed in this matter. Re- ii
cruiting period is the time the school tl
has announced its intent to destroy the
mural. This destruction of a display d
to our only football icon is on the G
heels of the worst season in the histo- n
ry of the team. p
Essentially, the school has decid- s<
ed to hire the best possible coach for the S
team, but it decided to handcuff him
and his staff in the recruiting process.
Why in the world would any top Recruit
E, UNQUOTE
im really glad BJ [McKie]
ke it [the record]. He is a
player, a Columbia native,
id a fine young man ..."
er basketball record-holder
Alex English
Monday, February 1, 1999
l DON'T SttOtt I
\ 6E0WSE i
?) M)MEKt\SERS ?
^/ -rv-1 i iir z
-V IfcLL nt ?
y To... f
g
?student
tand up in front of
i make a comment
Would I have been even less likely to
/oice my outrage? This time, probably.
My hope is that next time, no matter
what the situation is, I will speak
Dut. I will not be discouraged by confrontation
or grade worries. I hope that
next time, I will uphold my part of the
Creed.
I am not so naive as to believe
that one voice in his class of hundreds
1 J 1_ _ l . fiL*
ivouia nave cnangea me opinions 01 tnis
professor, but maybe it would have kept
lim from making a similar comment
n the future.
Not a solution, but certainly a
itep in the right direction. And with all
if that in mind, I wish everyone would
lave the courage that I lacked. I
mow many have. Great men and
vomen have changed our world. It is
iow up to us, the less great, to mainain
and advance their stronghold. So,
say to those who will listen, nurture
^our courage.
Let it grow so that you can start
vhere I failed.
xecutions
duch research suggests that people
ommit murders due to personal charicteristics
or shortcomings that a legal
[eterrent cannot affect.
Our government, especially in South
Carolina, seems hell-bent on the belief
hat capital punishment serves as an
ffective deterrent. However, instead
x xocusxxxg uix puxxxsnxng cx xxuxxxaxs, me
;overnment must focxxs on preventing
he circumstances that contribute to
nurder. The government should fous
on issues such as child poverty, easy
iccess to handguns, the despairing edication
system and the abuse of chiliren.
By implementing these measures,
he government can stop murder beore
it has a chance to happen.
Ordinary citizens like you and me
iso have a duty to stop injustice. Write
our representative or senator. Vote for
andidates who are not willing to surender
the value of every human life,
dso, the USC chapter of Amnesty Inernational
meets at 7:30 p.m Tuesdays.
The death penalty arbitrarily and
ruelly allows citizens to be executed
a America. Human life must never be
mdermined. So let us stop taking lives
njustly.
nily. They must lx- between (nO and 750 words in
r ail submissions to Russell House room .Sjtf. or call
name, phone number, professional title or year and major if a
m })}. F.-mail letters must include the author s telephone nuirv
he withheld _____
toking at coming to South Carolina deide
to come here when the school has
tiown that it is dedicated to destroylg
the memory of the high points of
le program.
Wisp nr> TTSf! T.isfpn tVip o+n.
ents, alumni, fans and others who say
George Rogers must and deserves to be
imembered by a prominent public dislay
and not relegated to a corner in
ame fitness center as an afterthought,
ave the mural, remember No.38.
William P. Frick
^ USC School of |.aw