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Wednesday, April 28, 1999 Older kids have effect on young thatI,u> ' To the Editor: LU111L.U11U Amid the newspaper stories, tele- mentionec vision reports and radio broadcasts ciilture ha about the Littleton shooting, there is lair backlj one lesson we must learn. Guns, en- en tertainment and society pressures 8ense a Sc did not drive Eric Harris and Dylan mi1 Klebold to kill 12 of their classmates srarits.con and one teacher. We did. Philade pi As members of the coveted 18 to 35 1S s^nc y advertising demographic, we influence 3111 ai young children more than any group p111?8 anc besides parents. butblamn We shape the market: Our pur- ar0UI '?' chasing power gets us what we want. saa^' r? And we want the same violent enter- er tainment blamed for influencing the eas^; two Colorado high school seniors who ere slaughtered 13 people. Who chooses to saying on^ support these shows? We do. We must ask ourselves whether we Pr . ave * will take responsibility for our choices. did, it m(^ Motivated by our purchasing power, : television companies air more explicit j,e and violent programming each year. Pajn> an We watch violent shows; advertis- ?n -v P .c ers pay networks to air commercials oemn js when we watch. Why all the violence 0 ^ on TV? We put it there. wev Likewise, the movie industry re- tragedy coi leases movies featuring cynical killers ^^ dispassionately torturing, brutalizing s 11 and murdering their victims. We know many of these characters appear in critically'acclaimed movies touted as "art," but who understands 1 when violence is gratuitous and when it is art? We do. Children don't. Dire< While our media and entertainment choices alone did not cause the Colorado ElN vJJ shootings, what those boys watched as children and young teen-agers affected the way they chose to act April 20. 0 e c They watched and idolized movies fea- Pr r turing cold-blooded killers that laughed mmg r?s at their victims. Then they went and versi 01 S did likewise. roanEng If you or I go to a movie this week- inaccurate end, we should think about whether * no on( the next Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, assac Kip Kinkel, Mitchell Johnson, Andrew ^ c^e Golden or Luke Woodham will one day Alt o see that same film. done, we e How will it affect them? Who de- to set cides? We do. They don't. J You? dents mus Lynn Rogers lfor classl English and Spanish Junior course 1S have to w 1,-ai ?f their coi Placing blame disaPPoin solves nothing SZ not have a To the Editor: es^ I'm glad to see The Gamecock doing ^ac1 something to stop the blame game sur- ^ SfCfe?<: rounding the Colorado tragedy. The English de simple answer is that the answers to mes*er to * this horrid tragedy died with the gun- es sma^ ~ 0 ^ $5.00 off any chemical servic (not good with any other New Line of Redken Active Exp including flash wash shampoo, split * and quick treat treatment < Special Introductory Pric NEED A flUMME Roper Personnel Services, Inc. announces its 10th An Earn money while working for toj companies and qualify for scholarship Gain valuable work experience , Earn top pay X. 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The gothic 3 been the victim of an un- ^ sh to the shooting. ,-$0 ough I am not in the strictest h, I, too, have come under a site (http://www.raven- \jfisk V ), and a television report in ia tried to tie my site, which iterary, to the shooting. palled at this. Blaming video K violent movies is one thing, i* W g an art form that has been s centuries is completely inic poetry has nothing to do :e and hate, but rather a re- ' re rumors swirling around theirs. I doubt this rumor jen no proof of it. Even if he people would realize that agedy is great and so is the lg the pain. I strictly conict and all others like it, as r, I have no desire to see the tinued by "passing the buck" is squarely in someone's lap. ove on, let's stop the blam- ? Jonathan Bailey t Journalism Freshman tors defend ~^^^pg?gg=j '101'102 itor: cent editorial (4/23) slam man English and the uninot offering enough fresh- (We also require the instructors to ish courses is based on take an intensive two-semester teachernformation. We're surprised training course, and we offer - for free at The Gamecock called any- - individual tutoring in our Writing ated with freshman Eng- Center and Writing Studio Programs.) k out the facts. It would be great for our budget, and igh the damage has been it would let more students get the times ) wish you'd make some ef- they desire, if we allowed 40 or 80 stuhe record straight. dents in every section, but our goal is lid: "It is sad that some stu- to teach writing effectively, which re; forego their initial choices quires small classes. Some sections and s] because the section or some times do fill up rather quickly. llled Students should not. We alee can't holiove that wen moan irry about the availability to suggest that we should have an un ses." Although it is certainly limited number of sections at any paring not to get a particular ticular time of day. We are constrained, ime for a course, surely you of course, by the number of classto suggest that we should rooms on campus and by the schedules y limits on the sizes of class- of our teachers (who can only teach one because we want students in freshman English, the lartment struggles every sejep these introductory class- H 22 in 101, 24 in 102. 799-9310 4 Santee Avenue Five Points ?s with use ID iffer) ess Products < I econd conditioner r" ind styler __ r. $9.95 sffl ^3 (i R JOB?? I iual Scholar Dollar Program NU4 1 h,s sumtner Getting a ye / A A to cmm 101 / \j crammed en * must be registered Call Ryder a for the fall semester -ing Valley - 788-2203 mmmm 1?mmm ISTRY ' ^ ^,0/ I y? )pm | IBB irogram: o Seniors I . er) 5:30 pm DlSCOUnt ! S^M 9-4993 ????? 1 ra 11 Hr I atholic Center | Note to m-s?r^r l ! 3.Attach >n Sat. 3:30-4:30pm or by appt. , Chaplain mm mm mm mm m of Christian Formation i^SchoolofNursing)^^^ mecock class at a time). Therefore, unfortu- available at every poss nately, some students will indeed find always have seats a\ that their "initial choices" for a course time. When we do see, 1 are filled. that we might be rum But no one, to our knowledge (and then we add more se we've been involved in freshman Eng- absolutely must, we lish for many years), has ever been one student, forced, as you claim, "to wait a semes- In other words, t ter or even a year before they can take sumption of your editoi these entry-level courses." schedule enough class We understand very clearly that date the students, is fa freshman English is a required intro- would be nice to have ductory course, and we take very seri- any given time to acc( ouslv our resDonsibilitv to Drovide these student who mieht wa courses for students. at that time, such a sc Later in the registration process, impossible, some particular time slots may not have If you do have other any seats available, but other time slots freshman English migl do have seats. We may not have seats love to hear them. Rat D OF (SAM cti WWl #! 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Carolina a better place, ictions or, if we raise the cap by Steven Lynn Professor ;he starting as- Director of Freshman English rial, that we don't (102) ses to accommoilse. And while it Carolyn Matalene enough seats at Professor immodate every Director of Freshman English nf 4-r\ 4-nlrA r* /-?1 nr>n /1H1) L1L \AJ LdAC a tiaoo yJLMM./ hedule would be ideas about how it be better, we'd her than attackMNG? . ** nswirE RYDER TRS www.yellowtPuck.com which does not ital. Coupon sub standard rental $4Ai or promotion. . DER LoSl] used under license. Moves I.D. on payment screen. NCO30 umber