The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 24, 2000, Page 2, Image 2
News__
Hodges praised for speech against domestic violence
Staff Reports
Associated Press
Advocates for battered women are ap
plauding Gov. Jim Hodges’ proposal that
a commission be formed to address do
mestic violence in the state.
In his State of the State speech, Hodges
said South Carolina doesn’t do enough to
protect its citizens from domestic vio
lence.
“We’re tough on crime in South Car
olina,” the governor said as hi neared the
end of his speech. “But when it comes to
fighting the crime of domestic violence,
we’ve got to intensify our efforts.”
Vicki Bourns, executive director of
the South Carolina Coalition Against Do
mestic Violence and Sexual Assault, said
Hodges was the first to address family vi
olence during his speech, which was tele
vised live and published in full.
“To publicly take a stand and say, ‘This
is not OK. It’s not acceptable, it’s a shame
in our state and we need to do something
about it,’ is a giant step,” Bourns said.
According to the State Law Enforce
ment Division, some 20,500 South Car
olinians were victims of domestic vio
lence in 1998.
Using 1996 murder statistics, a na
tional gun control group ranked South
Carolina third in the nation in number
of women shot and killed by their hus
bands or boyfriends. Fifty-eight South Car
olina women were killed by their partners
that year.
“If we are third in the nation, we are
not doing something right,” said Laura
Hudson, executive director of the South
Carolina Victim Assistance Network.
Rep. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia,
planned to introduce a bill this week that
would require police to devote a portion
of their continuing-education hours to
extra training in domestic violence. Now,
those classes are optional.
Other issues on which advocates say
the state should focus include:
• increasing domestic violence train
ing forjudges;
• • breaking family cycles of abuse by
helping kids who see their parents harmed;
• setting up local review boards to find
out where the system failed each time
‘ ... When it
comes to fight
ing the crime of
domestic vio
lence, we've got
to intensify our
efforts.'
Jim Hodges
S.C. governor
somebody is killed by a spouse.
Hodges’ spokeswoman, Nina Brook,
said the governor had not decided yet who
would serve on the commission.
Autonomy
from page A1
ic Wfestem culture,” he said “All that they
mean is the appreciation, celebration and
deep study of those Western or Western
ized intellectuals who think exactly as
they do about the nature and causes of op
pression.”
Kors said the disappearance of self
definition on college campuses prevents
various personal freedoms.
“Universities’ agendas are purely po
litical and are based upon group, not in
dividual identity,” he said “The mania of
group identity denied only authentic mean
ing of human liberation, the right to indi
viduate, to define yourself free of exter
nal coercions and impositions.”
Kors said such “speech codes” should
be a “national scandal” and are “manifestly
unconstitutional” and “part of a ferocious
assault on free speech.” He went on to la
bel such “codes” as “fraud” “false adver
tising,” “double standards” and a
“breach of contract.”
He further cited the results of with
holding derogatory intentions. “Prejudice,
ignorance, bigotry don’t disappear when
their expression is suppressed they sim
ply go deeper into people’s souls, and no
one has the chance to know how people
think and to respond in appropriate form.”
Kors went on to say just how prob
lematic university efforts are.
“Universities are teaching the worst
imaginable lesson - that one’s freedom
should depend upon one’s local power.”
Kors said students choose universities
primarily for “discovery,” not to be par
ents, “intrusive therapists” or a “political
belief selectively enforcing restrictive
rules governing voluntarily relationships
outside the classroom.”
Finally, Kors shared solutions for the
American university.
“Universities desperately need what
they don’t have - men and women of all,
for all seasons, who beat witness the be
liefs that are antithetical to the new tyran
ny to the universalism of legal equality
over the crude official division by race,
sex and sexuality,” he said.
“It is our liberty and legal equality that
define us in this world as human beings
with dignity capable of morals and of choic
es.”
After the discussion, Kors took sev
eral questions from the audience and signed
copies of his book in the USC Bookstore.
The lecture took place in the Rus
sell House Theater and was sponsored by
the S.C. Association of Scholars in asso
ciation with the Intercollegiate Studies
Institute.
Federal judge to
reconsider evidence
after flag protests
Staff Reports
Associated Press
Houston —Recent protests in South
Carolina have forced a federal court
jucjge in Houston to reconsider her rul
ing allowing a Confederate flag tattoo
into evidence in a discrimination law
suit.
Two black Public Works em
ployees sued the city, saying their su
pervisor, Dan Petrash, passed them
over for promotions two years ago. Pe
trash has a Confederate flag tattooed
on his forearm.
Louella Henderson Jones and Her
bert Williams 1U say the tattoo sym
bolizes Petrash’s racism and negative
attitude toward blacks, according to
court documents.
They say Petrash, who had hiring
authority, made racist remarks and told
other employees that he wanted to hire
a white man for a senior supervisory
job because the Public Wirks Depart
ment already had three black senior
inspectors, according to the Houston
Chronicle.
A white employee got the job.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas
reportedly is concerned that the tat
too will heighten tensions because of
the recent protests in South Caroli
na, where the flag flies over the State
house.
Atlas allowed the tattoo to be ad
mitted into evidence in an earlier tri
al, which ended last week in a hung ju
ry. Because of the publicity surrounding
the flag in South Carolina, the judge is
reconsidering its admissibility.
The new trial is scheduled to be
gin Monday. A decision on the flag is
expected this week.
Petrash has denied making
racial remarks or saying that he didn’t
want to hire a black employee, ac
cording to court documents.
Clinton proposes tax
cut for college tuition
Staff Reports
College Press Exchange
WashmGTON —President Clinton has
proposed a tax credit designed to
make college more affordable.
Clinton unveiled the proposed plan
Thursday. It’s a$30 billion, 10-year ini
tiative that would make higher educa
tion more affordable for millions.
When the credit is folly phased in,
a family could receive a tax credit of up
to $10,000 for tuition, fees and training.
The maximum credit would be $2,800
a year.
Congress rejected a similar plan last
year proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer,
D-N.Y.
That plan, narrowly defeated as an
amendment to last year’s tax-cut
package, would have allowed families
to deduct up to $12,000 for college tu
ition. The deduction would have saved
the average family as much as $3,360
per student.
Schumer’s plan was more expen
sive titan Clinton's proposal: $45 billion
to $50 billion over 10 years.
The president also called for a $1
billion increase in Pell Grants and oth
er federal education assistance.
Thefts
from page A1
damn shame. Who would be bold enough
to walk into someone’s room, especially
when they’re sleeping?”
USC police officers have questioned
several residents and have a description
of a possible suspect.
“We investigate each case, but our
biggest couCeSm is trying to prevent these
things before they happen,” said Ellis, of
Law Enforcement and Safety. “Wfe try our
best to cooperate and work with student
organizations on campus to get the word
out about campus safety.”
Accounting and finance sophomore
Miriam Coyne said, “It needs to get around
that this is happening. If we had only
known earlier that this was going on, we
could have started locking our doors more.”
There were mixed feelings about safe
ty among the students in Capstone.
“I’m more careful now about locking
my door at night or when I’m gone,” Cain
said. “I leave it unlocked if I’m just going
down the hall.”
Chow said: “I still feel safe, but I feel
pretty violated.”
Prescott said: “I’m not worried about
my physical safety, but about my person
al property.”
“Make sure your door is locked even
if you’re going out for a second or sleep
ing,” Douglass said.
English sophomore Susan Swartz said,
“I’m paranoid about locking my door now.
Every time I go anywhere, I think, ‘Should
I lock it or not?”’
Lecture
from page A1
arts, will speak on Wednesday. The topic
of his lecture is a secret.
Miller, 78, has extensive experience
teaching — he has taught fifth-graders,
college-age students and FBI candidates.
Miller teaches a seminars for the South
Carolina Honors College. He’s preparing
courses on verbal thinking and docu
mentary production.
Other scheduled lecturers include
physics professor Chaden Djalali on Feb.
22 and African-American studies profes
sor Cleveland Sellers on March 29.
The lectures are in Russell House room
303. They begin at 7 p.m.
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