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Quote, Unquote ‘Kids, this is the story of wheji I was shot... I was spitting up blood, and I couldn’t walk.’ Stephen Kuzirka, Fourth Division Marine Corps, Saipan, 1944 I 1 Wk 0mecock Editorial Board Sara Ladenheim • Editor in Chief Kenley Young • Managing Editor Emily Streyer • Viewpoints Editor Corey Ford • Assistant Viewpoints Editor Brad Walters • Editorial Contributor Kiki McCormick • Editorial Contributor Senate must realize impeachment is over dnesday’s student senate meeting turned into, as Sen. tdam Dawkins termed it, “a three-ring circus” when controversy swirled over the Student Government court of impeachment’s official decision to dismiss the three articles of impeachment that had been filed against treasurer Elizabeth Ford ham. i he fiasco that erupted during the meeting did nothing more than portray some senators as nitpickers seeking someone to blame for their failed attempts to remove Fordham from office. The longer these senators beat this dead horse, the more plausible seems the idea that some have personal vendettas against Fordham. According to Fordham, some senators might bring new charges against her or claim the court of impeachment had no right to drop the charges. But the court of impeachment used its code-given right (Article III section 4, clause 16, section F) to dismiss the charges Nov. 8. The normal role of a court of impeachment is to determine whether or not the charges should be brought before the senate. It appears to The Gamecock that some senators sought some thing more from the court of impeachment than a simple yea or nay regarding the validity of the charges. Rather than concentrat ing on matters directly affecting the student body, such as safety, the senate is myopically pursuing a matter that is already closed. * K_ _ lVlvl VC U1I. We also question the impartiality of Senate Parliamentarian Austin Brown. As parliamentarian, Brown advises Student Body Vice President Brandon Anderson, who presides over the senate when in session. Brown also must ensure that senators follow Robert’s Rules of Order, a set of rules dictating proper parliamen tary procedure. But during the hearing in front of the SG court of impeach ment, Brown claimed he served as a “student advocate” for Sen. Sally Ballentine, who presented the impeachment chaiges to the court. As legislative acts frequently yield to or flourish under par liamentary procedure, Brown’s objectivity is clearly questionable — possibly, as Sen. Christian Stegmaier called it, “a conflict of in terest.” Stegmaier’s assessment that Brown “can’t be the judge and the attorney” is absolutely correct. Brown’s role as legal counsel for Ballentine — in any capacity — might bias the advice he gives Anderson as parliamentarian. Brown’s position in this embarrassing ordeal is merely sympto matic of the senate’s gross disregard of checks and balances. The group of senators that has pushed for prolonging the impeachment process must realize that respect for a system of checks and bal ances is crucial to self-government. They prevent one particular, individual branch (legislative, executive or judicial) from exerting too much power on the other two. The Senate must now come to grips with the court of impeach ment’s decision and not only respect the protection provided by checks and balances, but also appreciate it. Despite the plea from certain senators, the court of impeach ment carried out its duty in its recommendation that the chaiges raised against Fordham be dismissed. The story should end now. The Gamecock is the student newspaper of The University of South Carolina and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday durir* the fall and spring semesters and nine times during the summer with the exception ck university holidays and exam periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and not those ck The University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Department of Student Media is the newspaper's parent organization. The Gamecock is supported in part by student activities fees. Address The Gamecock 1400 Greene Street Columbia, SC 29208 Offices on third floor of the Russell House. Student Media Area code 803 Advertising 777-3888 Classified 777-1184 Fax 777-6482 Office 777-3888 Gamecock Area code 803 Editor gcked©sc.edu 777-3914 News gcknewsOsc.edu 777-7726 Viewpoints gckviewsOsc.edu 777-7181 Etc. gcketcOsc.edu 777-3913 Sports gcksportsOsc.edu 777-7182 Online www.gamecock.sc.edu 777-2833 SuBMSSION POUCV Letters to the editor or guest columns are welcome from all members of the Carolina community. Letters should be 250-300 words. Guest columns should be an opinion piece of about 600-700 words. 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The Gamecock Sara Ladenheim Editor in Chief Kenley Young Managing Editor Emily Streyer Viewpoints Editor Kevin Langston Brock Vergakis News Editors Clayton Kale Associate News Editor Rachel Helwig EtCetera Editor Todd Money Jared Kelowitz Sports Edita Kristin Freestate Copy Desk Chief Sean Rayford Photo Edita Rob Lindsey Encore Edita Student Media Ellen Parsons Director of Student Media Susan King Creative Directa Kris Black Julia Burnett Betsy Martin Kathy Van Nostrand Creative Services Will Gillaspy Online Editor Corey Ford Asst. Viewpoints Editor John Huiett Asst. News Editor Ann Marie Miani Asst. EtCetera Editor David Cloninger Asst. Sports Editor Greg Farley Asst. Photo Editor Casey Williams Asst. Online Editor Brad Watters Graphics Editor, Copy Editor, Editorial Contributor MacKenzie Craven Charlie Wallace Philip Burt Senior Writers Lee Phipps Advertising Manager Sheny Holmes Classified Manager Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Erik Collins Faculty Adviser Jonathan Dunagin Graduate Assistant College Press Exchange --- I TOW SND cm AMOUG \ mu\lTS HAS V PKUNEPl.. . so mav& m ^ Wb A&EN'T aoOON, ( GUU VNEim /Sr> \ HAS6 WKWHERS V TO NIL. Religious Issues Religion a dangerous justification In the Bible, Noah is de scribed as some one who “drank of the wine, and be came drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent” (Gen. 9:21). Thus, we can con clude that getting drunk and passing out naked is con doned by God. Frtday. He can Okay, I admit J reached via Tfm that’s farfetched, "<6®ijfepgfcafc'* and I have a con- '■gckviews@sc.edtt fession to make: I like getting drunk, passing out naked and feeling good about myself, so I fabricated the interpretation to justify my ways. Think and say what you like, but at least I am not in denial. 1 understand the audacity of trying to use the Bible to justify my corrupt be havior. There are some, however, who not only use the Bible to justify their ridicu lous claims, but are also convinced that their interpretations are the only correct ones. We can call these the God-wanna bes and the belief, the God-wanna-be fal lacy. The Bible, according to Christian faith, is the word of God written by man. Many, however, foil to realize that interpretations of the Bible are human, thus imperfect. No interpretation is 100 percent accurate. Yet, the God-wanna-bes think theirs are. Anyone who’s ever taken an intro ductory literature course can agree that in terpretations can be subjective, mere opin ions, neither right nor wrong. In psychology, we learn that people are egocentric; they tend to assume others’ lives and experi ences are similar to theirs. When we com bine these two facts, we can easily see why Jerry Falwell says God does not approve of homosexuality. Sure, he can use the Bible to justify his position, as much as I can use it to justify my drunken ways. Do the Scriptures really say homo sexuality is a sin, or does Falwell, shaped by his experiences, extract this labeled truth (interpretation) so that it justifies his own beliefs? The only real way of knowing whether an interpretation matches the author’s in tention is to ask the author. So unless Fal well is a new Messiah or a resurrected Moses and has chatted with God, he can not be certain his Bible-based belief is absolutely correct. It is true that, at a scholastic level, Fal well, with his familiarity with the Bible, is in a better position to give a more edu cated and fact-based interpretation. But to say any interpretation is absolutely correct is almost blasphemy. It is Holy bologna! From history books, we know that Adolph Hitler said the Bible told him to ethnical ly cleanse society. Charles Manson is said to have read the Bible various times. So did the Bible tell them to kill? Proba bly not. Again, someone extracted a mean ing that conveniently supported his own beliefs. ■ If the wanna-bes would at least use the Bible to persuade people to live better lives, this argument would be empty. But when Bob Jones HI, president of Bob Jones University — a Christian fundamentalist school that forbids interracial dating among students—uses the Scriptures to support his position on the Confederate flag issue, the self-interest is evident. Using the Bible to push one’s personal beliefs is probably as much a sin as the things these wanna bes claim are sins. Pragmatically speaking, religion’s goal is to make people better. Through differ ent teachings, it tries to persuade people to develop morals and live better lives. Most religions encourage love. But we see too often how this end is forgotten. People, blinded by their own inade quacy, try to propose that their actions — as wrong as they might be—are supported by their God. A good example is the group of so called Christians who vehemently support Pro-Life. I say so-called Christians because Christ never proved a point through hate ful tactics, as these people do. We’v§ all seen these pathetic do-gooders with their disgusting pictures of aborted children, their chastising of women and doctors com ing out of abortion clinics and, in some cas es, even the murdering of abortion doc tors. And these “Christians” think God and Christ condone their actions? Holy bologna 700-fold! They’re probably worse sinners than the women getting abortions (if it can be proven that abortion is a sin). At least the women didn’t plan their situations. The abortion might be premeditated, but it is a reaction to what is usually a mistake — unlike these “Christians” who deliberate ly commit atrocities against women and doctors. The argument does not hold true on ly in Christianity. Wfe’ve seen some of the violence in the Middle East that imperfect Muslims try to pass off as the work of a perfect Allah. The point is that religion’s goal is to make better people out of us. When we begin to think ourselves better than others because we interpret the Bible or the Koran to coincide with our own be liefs, we have to be very careful. Neither God nor Allah was meant to be understood by men. If they were, they wouldn’t be supreme beings. So when people say they “know” what God wants, or they “know” what Allah meant, they really are placing themselves at an equal level to their supreme beings—thus com mitting, probably, the worst sin of all. Letters Killing apathy only way to beat hunger problem To the Editor As we sit down to Thanksgiving din ner in two weeks, there are a few sober ing facts that we should digest along with the turkey. The majority of the world can not eat the feast that we will. They either cannot afford or have no access to such luxuries. Nearly a billion of the human family will be hungry as we eat our Thanksgiv ing meal. More than 50,000 members of the human family will die on Thanksgiv ing Day (as happens every day) from hunger-related causes. Yet, something positive is happening. Oxfam Carolina, the Office of Communi ’ ty Service Programs and others at USC are joining in National Hunger and Home lessness Week. Many are giving up meals, junk food, cigarettes, even fasting for a whole day, and giving what they would have spent to Oxfam America, a self-help hunger and poverty-fighting organization that works in 30 countries and the Unit ed States. The fast challenges us “don’t go-‘round-hungry” people to experience for a brief time the gnawing emptiness that a billion endure for a lifetime. Really, though, it’s not hunger that kills — it’s apathy. Apathy is bom out of a sense i' that we are powerless to bring about pos itive change. It is also generated by ex cessive self-concern. Nevertheless, there is hope. A way out of this apathy lies in the very concept of thanksgiving. If we paused to actually note that which has been freely given to us, if we would honestly “count our blessings,” then we might begin to discover a sense of gratitude within us. Out of this thankiulness can come de sire, the compassion and the will to make a difference in the lives of our hun gry sisters and brothers. Tom WaD United Methodist Campus Minister ‘Birdcage’ article failed to represent performers To the Editor I was horribly disappointed in the fol low-up article to Bisexual, Gay and Les bian Association and Carolina Productions’ Birdcage [“USC Creed Week begins with ‘Birdcage,’” Nov. 1], Regardless of the superficial foul-ups, such as messing up practically every entertainer’s name in the article, that was not the last straw that broke the camel of journalistic integri ty’s back. When I worked as a journalist for my ■I high school newspaper, I learned that one of the most important things in an article is to ask why you are writing the article in the first place. I think the answer to this question was sorely off the mark in this case. Throughout the entire article, all 1 could see were references to how crazy the entertainers were, how much fun the show was and how the whole show seemed to be a romp into debauchery. While some of this might be true, the core purpose of the show was barely touched upon. As an employee of Metropolis (the club where the entertainers work), I un derstand everything that goes into what the entertainers do. As a member of BGLA, I understand the higher purpose of the show besides just having a good time. I felt that the purpose of giving the stu dent body an opportunity to see an oth erwise stigmatized group as people just like them was completely overlooked. The article simply condemned a group already struggling to find its niche in the world. I truly believe that The Gamecock reas sured their place in the Southern Bible Belt legacy. Let us pray that one day you can look past your stereotypical viewpoints. Scott Persons HRTA Sophomore Campus Issues Graduate admissions disorderly For about eight months, I’ve been trying to get into graduate school in the educa tion department. It’s not a lack of cre dentials; I think they’ll let me in eventually. It’s just that the Graduate School, the office that processes appli cations for the grad uate programs at USC, has had some trouble getting around to mine. Originally, I applied in April to start grad school this fall. As I never heard anything to the contrary, I assumed my application was complete and that I would hear an an swer soon. After a few weeks, though, I thought I should call, just to make sure. They told me they did not have two of my re quired recommendations. I called the individuals who had writ ten my recommendations. They said they had turned them in weeks before. Both of them. it is uniiKeiy they would ootn lie; it is equally unlikely that two separate docu ments mailed from different places would get lost in the mail. I thought, at the tipie, that the likelihood of the Graduate School losing them was low; I later learned bet ter. So, each recommender sent another copy, and I waited a little longer, calling every few days. Then I called a professor in the education department to find out what I should do. She said that not only had one of my recommendations still not made it into my file, but the Graduate School had n’t bothered to send my GRE scores to the education department, either; they’d had them for months and insisted when I called, despite the evidence, that they had sent them over. They begrudgingly agreed to send them “again.” I wish I could say mine was an isolated incident. As it turns out, everyone I’ve talked to has a similar story to tell. Several pro fessors have said the Graduate School is no torious for failing to process applications. One friend assumed her application to the religious studies department had been processed, only to find out the Graduate School hadn’t touched it because their fax machine had been down for a while. They let the due date come and go without find ing an alternative way of moving the infor mation (such as walking across the Horse shoe to Religious Studies), or notifying the student or the department of the problem. Fortunately for my friend, she knew mem bers of the department, and they were ex pecting her application and asked her about it. A student from another school simply wouldn’t have gotten in and never would have known what happened. I could go on with nightmares, but what is already clear is this: the Graduate School is utterly unable to perform its function. E ther the application process should be han dled by individual departments, or the Grad uate School’s current operation procedures need to be drastically revised. I suggest these steps to get more applications processed roiTArtlv 1. There needs to be one person in chaige of getting materials from the mailbox to ap plicants’ files. Right now, according to one staff member, there is not one person ac countable for this very important task, which could explain why it isn’t getting done. 2. Communication with the student is crucial. Right now, the Graduate School does not respond to an application in any way. There is not even a letter of receipt, much less a letter indicating what the stu dent needs to do to complete the applica tion. 3. There also needs to be communica tion between the Graduate School and the individual departments. The Graduate School doesn’t actually know what materials are required for each program; I was told to call the department when I had questions. Yet the department had no idea what had been turned in and what had not. I never even heard from the department itself until after the application deadline. Now, I’m applying for spring. I’ve checked often enough that I’m pretty sure my application has been processed, and I should hear something soon. But if I don’t, I won’t be surprised. I really hope this situation will be reme died soon. There is no way to.know how many good students have gone elsewhere because of the Graduate School’s failure to serve them. And that’s a loss for them and for the university.