Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Former NOWpresident, ‘The Feminine Mystique’ author Bettv Friedan dies of heart failure at ape 85 Hillel Italic THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Betty Friedan, whose manifesto “The Feminine Mystique” helped shatter the cozy suburban ideal of the post World War II era and laid the groundwork for the modern feminist movement, died Saturday,, her birthday. She was 85. Friedan died at her Washington, D.C., home of congestive heart failure, according to a cousin, Emily Bazelon. Few books have so profoundly changed so many lives as did Friedan’s 1963 best seller. Her assertion that a woman needed more than a husband and children was a radical break from the Eisenhower era, when the very idea of a wife doing any work outside of house work was fodder for gag writers, like an episode out of “I Love Lucy.” Independence for women was no joke, Friedan wrote. The feminine mystique was a phony deal sold to women that left them unfulfilled, suffering from “the problem that has no name” and seeking a solution in tranquilizers and psychoanalysis. “A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, 'Who am I, and what do I want out of life?’ She mustn’t feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children,” Friedan said. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said Friedan’s activism and writing “opened doors and minds, breaking down barriers for women and enlarging opportunities for women and men for generations to come. We are all the beneficiaries of her vision.” Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, publisher of 'Ms. magazine and a former president of the National Organization for Women, praised Friedan’s legacy. Friedan, she said, “was a giant for women’s rights and a leading catalyst of the 20th century whose work led to profound changes improving the status of women and women’s lives” worldwide. “The Feminine Mystique” helped to “define the lesser status of women,” she said. The book “opened women’s minds to the idea that there actually might be something more,” said Kim Gandy, current president of NOW, which Friedan co founded. “And for the women who secretly harbored such unpopular thoughts, it told them that there were other women out there like them who thought there might be something more to life.” In the racial, political and sexual conflicts of the 1960s and ‘70s, Friedan’s was one of the most commanding voices and recognizable presences in the women’s movement — stocky and big-eyed with a personality to match, clashing even with Gloria Steinem and other feminists. As the first president of NOW in 1966, Friedan staked out positions that seemed extreme at the time on' such issues as abortion, sex-neutral help-wanted ads, equal pay, promotion opportunities and maternity leave. But at the same time, Friedan insisted that the women’s movement had to remain in the American mainstream, that men had to be accepted as allies and that the family should not be rejected. “Don’t get into the bra burning, anti-man, politics of-orgasm school,” Friedan told a college audience in 1970. To more radical and lesbian feminists, Friedan was “hopelessly bourgeois,” Susan Brownmiller wrote at the time. Friedan, deeply opposed to “equating feminism with lesbianism,” conceded later that she had been “very square” and uncomfortable about homosexuality. “I wrote a whole book objecting to the definition of women only in sexual relation to men. I would not exchange that for a definition of women only in sexual relation to women,” she said. Nonetheless she was a seconder for a resolution on protecting lesbian rights at the National Women’s Conference in Houston in 1977. BEEZER'S • COnTinUCDFROmi his real story is that of a dedicated worker who just loves delivering food. Carter has delivered sandwiches for Beezer’s for close to six years, and has worked at four other Columbia restaurants as a deliveryman since 1993. The Detroit native relocated to Columbia after being stationed at a nearby Air Force base during the Vietnam War. “It’s a peaceful, pretty place to be,” Carter said of the South. He served in the Air Force from 1969 to 1974 but was never deployed. After the Vietnam War ended, he was offered an early retirement from the military and began an entry-level computer job at South Carolina National Bank. After the bank’s merger with Wachovia in 1993, he saw delivery as a career that offered stability. It was also a way for him to express his creativity, he said. He fashioned himself as a “Road Warrior,” a la Mel Gibson, and when he began riding the moped and dying his hair red, he styled it like Oscar Wilde. “I want to be known,” Carter said. “I want to be famous.” He was also inspired by the “arty” scene of Five Points. In conversation, Carter referenced an obscure work by Van Gogh and compared himself to the artist. “There’s a reason for being here, and I’ve served part of it,” Carter said. “I’ve contributed to the world, just like Van Gogh made paintings for the world.” It was that attitude that helped Carter quicklybecome one of the most dedicated Beezer’s employees, Coomey said. “James is wonderful,” she said. “He works his tail off.” Lately, Carter has worked seven nights and four days a week. His two-hour lunch shifts are short in comparison with the 10-hour shifts that last until the wee hours of the morning. But he doesn’t complain and, with the exception of time off for a broken leg, he’s never missed a day of work. “The amount of time and effort I put into this is something like owning my own business,” Carter said. But he is quick to add, “But I’m working for a business, too. He takes pride in what he does. Over the years, he’s gotten to know the city and its Beezer’s regulars. On a busy night, packed with deliveries, he follows specific routes to minimize delivery time, ones he’s created and perfected with years of practice. The people he meets make the job worthwhile, he said. On any given day, Carter might deliver to an executive, a nurse and a student. When Carter delivers food to a party, he’s often invited to join in, he said. Students and other Columbia residents regularly offer him drinks, but he always declines when he’s on the job. Some of those customers turn into acquaintances or even friends, Carter said. But he also meets some unsavory characters. Two of his mopeds were stolen, and one night he was robbed in his car. Unsure whether the man had a gun, Carter just gave him some money and went along with his business. “I was in a hurry, so I didn’t call the police,” Carter said. “I had a lot of deliveries to make.” He also makes fairly regular deliveries to strip clubs, he said. Delivering to the now-closed Chippendolls club, Carter got the chance to see strippers before they performed, with no makeup and bright lighting. “They don’t look too good,” he said. And he appreciates the irony of delivering to Platinum Plus, where strippers pull dollar bills from their g-strings to tip him. With interesting nights and work that he finds fulfilling, Carter said he doesn’t plan to leave the delivery business any time soon. “There’s a lot of potential for growth for anybody that’s career-minded,” he said. His dedication to the job extends even to choosing the sandwiches he eats. Carter eats at Beezer’s every day, but avoids the sandwiches made with salami or Capicola ham because “they make my breath stink,” he said. “I have to be presentable.” When he’s not working, Carter said he spends much of his free time sleeping because he’s tired from the long hours of delivery, but he also watches an eclectic assortment of movies. One of his favorite directors is Sam Peckinpah, whose murder mysteries he enjoys. He’s also a fan of classic horror movies. Work, though, is of paramount importance to Carter. With the exception of the Horseshoe-area dorms, whose residents mostly walk the short distance to the restaurant for food, Carter said he delivers to each dorm equally. USC students join downtown hospital workers as the most frequent delivery patrons. On a recent night, Carter made eight “huge” deliveries to Providence Hospital within a half hour, he said. Three to four drivers work on any given night, but when they don’t come in, Carter buckles down and works twice as hard. He also does dishes and takes out the trash in the restaurant between deliveries. He’s memorized food prices so that he can figure out a tip in seconds. First year students are the worst tippers, Carter said, recalling some who gave him five cents and 19 cents. “They learn,” he said. And despite his fears that students wouldn’t remember him after he gave up the moped and “Starburst-red” hair, those first-year students learn more than just how to tip. Former Maxcy resident Diane Keller is a frequent late-night customer at Beezer’s. A second-year history student, Keller saw Carter for the first time when he delivered her a sandwich, but said she recognizes him whenever she goes into the store now. “I think he’s really awesome for delivering people sandwiches,” Keller said. Asked to describe him, Keller said, “He’s ‘Beezer’s Guy,’ everybody knows him.” That recognition means a lot to Carter. “I like to know that I’ve becomesomebody, somebody that shines. I thought when I came off the moped people would forget about me,” he said, his words tinged with sadness. He paused, then spoke again, with the sound of hope in his voice. “I guess they didn’t.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu SCORE • conunuED FROIRI his speech at the opening ceremony Friday night. And in Saturday’s seminars, students tried to do just that. A community service seminar taught by second-year psychology student Alicia Lendon highlighted USC’s “Hands for Hunger” poker tournament as an example of doing community service and having fun at the same time. Her program was named one of the top three at the conference. Stephen Byrd, a fourth year political science and anthropology student, taught the “Sexual Jeopardy” seminar. Byrd got involved in sexual education through his work with SHARE peers and started doing presentations two years ago. In game-show format, Byrd showed the delegates they didn’t know as much about STDs and contraceptives as they thought. He also gave them ideas of how best to bring that information to their residents. “Keep it fun,” he said. Byrd tailored his presentation for the SCORE students, but gives similar talks to many groups. Asked if he was embarrassed at all during the talk, Byrd said he wasn’t. “Once you hold (condom demonstration unit) ‘Woody’ for one time, you get over that.” At a closing ceremony Saturday afternoon, second year biology student Cale Bonner received the first year experience award, recognizing his work as the 2006 conference chair for SCORE. Another USC student, Emanuel Thomason, won the four-year award for his involvement in the organization over the past four years. USC-Aiken was named the school of the year. Next year’s conference is tentatively scheduled to be held at the College of Charleston. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu DEflfl • COflTIflUED FROfTl I Shipley also mentioned that the USC Law School is not getting the recognition they deserve. . “How do we alter perceptions outside so that the quality of the University of South Carolina is recognized by judges and lawyers around the nation and by legal educators around the nation?” Shipley said. “I’ve been at three law schools ranked above this one and the differences aren’t as great as what shows up in the rankings.” Shipley said that the issue of scholarship money was tied into raising student credentials. He plans on raising the scholarship amounts by getting commitments from alumni | and other donors. Shipley is also excited about biring new law professors. There are several faculty members he believes will retire soon, leaving vacancies he is confident he will be able to fill. “It is a buyer’s market for law professors,” he said. Finances are also of concern to Shipley. He said a huge part of tbe job of the new dean will be spent visiting with alumni and asking for investments and I donations. “That’s what a dean’s going to face anywhere,” Shipley said. “That’s not unique to USC.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews @gwm.sc. edu plaza • conunucD PRom i the rest of our offices were going to be located. Now the plan is that we will have another building in the back,” Hollingsworth said. “Now there is no plan for the Plaza. It will be green space and possibly some additional parking.” Materials left from the demolition will be used in the construction of the new facility, rather than purchase and transport quality landfill to the site. The school is operating in 12 buildings and also rents off-campus space. Hollingsworth said she hopes the new building will consolidate the school. “Hopefully the new building will alleviate some ^ of the crampage (sic),” Hollingsworth said. The facility, like West Quad, also plans to be green-friendly by becoming LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.se. edu f—f— Amimtitn’t if f tfnAinf TVu. ftnmnfnr CAHCUH ACAPULCO JAMAICA BAHAMAS FLORIDA Don't Get Left Behind! BOOK TODAY! Bahamas Party Cruise $299 Cancun $559 Acapulco $629 Jamaica, Nassau, Panama Cty, Daytona From $179! Recognized 3 Times For Ethics! Campus Reps Needed! SpringBrcakTravcl.com 1-800-678-6386 Domestic International New York $156 Toronto $188 Miami $159 London $227 Denver $194 Paris $250 Las Vegas $217 Rome $314 Fares are round-trip from Atlanta. Many more cities available! Taxes are additional. Fares subject to availability and can change. Eligibility restrictions apply. SCHOOL OFMEDIONE ftOl-414-1100 _twtmoFsoimiiotm