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4 • The Red and Black • Thursday, May 3, 1990
■ QUOTABLE
OPINIONS
The Red & Black
Established 1893—Incorporated 1980
An independent student newspaper not affiliated with the University of Georgia
Charlene Smith/Editor-in-Chief
Amy Bellew/Managing Editor
Hogai Nassery/Opinions Editor
■ EDITORIALS
Equality for women
In virtually every profession, women are still
striving for equal treatment in a career world that is
still dominated by men. Although more women are in
the work force today than ever before, in many fields
they aren’t making as much money as men for doing
equal work, and they aren’t moving up as fast.
Sadly, the business of higher education is no
exception.
A recent report shows a gap in salaries between
men and women faculty at the University. In an effort
to provide equal paychecks for men and women,
University President Charles Knapp has decided to
allocate §100,000 toward closing the gap. This is a step
in the right direction, but Knapp’s progressive
measures can’t afford to run out of steam here.
Women are grossly underrepresented in the
tenured faculty as well as upper-level administrative
positions at the University. The vice president for
Legal Affairs, Bryndis Jenkins, is the highest ranked
female on campus. Next, comes Emily Pou, the dean of
the College of Home Economics — the only female dean
of the 13 schools and colleges. There are no other
female deans or vice presidents.
In the Office of Student Affairs, only two of 12
department heads are female — Health Services
Director Jacquelyn Kinder and Admissions Director
Claire Swann.
Of the about 726 full professors throughout the
University, only about 42 are women. That works out
to about 17 men for every woman.
Progress is being made, but women in higher
education have a long way to go. Today’s plethora of
career women helps to dispel the old stereotype that a
woman’s place is in the home. When women moved out
of that role, naturally, the first careers they sought
were in traditionally female fields. The highest-ranked
university women around the Southeast today tend to
be deans of nursing or home economics schools.
Knapp spent about $500,000 last year to bring
black faculty to the University, nearly doubling the
number of minority faculty. And his effort to fill the
gender gap in salaries is commendable.
But to make a real difference, Knapp must recruit
more women faculty and administrators and offer
incentives for the current female faculty to stay and
move up the administrative ladder.
Higher education, by its very nature, should be the
leader in offering equal opportunities for all.
Fun at the Festival
Athens has an abundance of activities to offer
students, but perhaps the most unique and exciting is
the annual Human Rights Festival to be held this
weekend. This is a chance for political activists to be
seen and heard in a forum that is free and open.
It’s celebrating its 12tH year with a diverse,
articulate tabloid and 18 hours of speeches and music.
Events kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday, continue into the
night, and then resume Sunday at noon. Speakers will
represent groups from Amnesty International to the
Alternative Childbirth Network. This is a perfect
opportunity to sign petitions, support your favorite
cause by buying their T-shirt, or find out about new
groups and their meetings.
The very variety of issues represented at the
festival indicates the breadth of human rights
violations in the world today. It’s essential that
students actually become involved with these groups.
As students, we shoulder the responsibility to speak
out when others stay silent. It is embarassing that
while students in Guatemala and Afghanistan lay
everything on the line for their causes, students here
are hard pressed to go to meetings.
STAFF
NEWS: 543-1809
Nsw* Editor Jennifer Rampcy
Scoria Editor Trevor Padgett
Entertainment Editor: Margaret Wceton
Associate New* Editor*: Chris Games, Jennifer
Wilkin
front Pag* Copy Editor David Johnston
in eld* Copy Editors: Walter Colt. Joel Groover. Mary
Ratcliff*, Johanna van der Wal
UOA Today/Wire Editor: Robert Azula
Graphics Editor: Davis O’Koeff*
Chief Photographer Peter Frey
Photo Editor Maria Clay
Start Witter*: Lynn Barfield. Maria Edwards, Anna-
Mane Fangoy, Lance Heims Christopher Hightower.
Der* McLeod. Mike McLeod. Stephanie Smith.
Sandra Stephens, J. 0. Spuillant*. Robert Todd
Sport a Writer: Chris lancette
Special Sections/Trende Editor Cara May
Assistant Special Sections/Trends Editor
Gloria Rowtootham
Editorial Assistant: Pamela Warren
Cartoonist Mike Mor*u
ADVERTISING: 543-1791
Student Advert!sing Msnagors:
Kneb Burnham. Bcverty Taylor
Advertising Assistants
Jennifer Davis, Scott Donaldson. Kathenne Femdel
Senior Adverb sing Representatives: Scan Fagan.
Krichaile Halualam. Julie Reynolds
Advert!sing Representative*: Augusta Duffey,
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Higgins. Chris Munguia, Toby My*r*. Lee Nettles.
Legh Riffe. Lon Thurman
Assistant Editorial Prod Manager: Cnstma Femdt
Assistant Advertising Prod Manager: Marlena
Martin
Production Stair. Andy A/d. Laura Friedrich. Andrea
Manaour. Loon Marsh. Elizabeth Mauu. Laura Miller,
Stacy Stenberg, Michelle Wegeit
General Manager: Harry Montevideo
Advertising Director: Robin Stoner
OMce Manager: Mary Straub
Production Manager: Judy Jordan
CIaaatheds/Receptionist Beverly Vaughn
Credit Manager Susan Davis
Clerical: Joanna Horton
The Red and Black it published Tuesday through
Friday during the regular school year and aach
Thursday dunrg summer quarter, with the exception*
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'Our company policy Is not to encourage drunkenness at all. We
declined because people here don’t get waste ^
— Chris DeBarr, manager of the Downstairs cafe, re e g to
thf* ripsienatod drivers program.
Religion does not supercede the law
The U.S. Supreme Court is cracking down on
religious doctrines which run contrary to estab
lished law. While it may erode part of the fence
between church and state, it’s a necessary step.
Last week, the Court said an Oregon statute
outlawing the use of peyote was constitutional
in its application to members of the Native
American Church, who use the hallucinogen as
part of their ceremonies.
While it might seem picky of the state to
argue such a case, the implications are quite se
rious.
Robyn Twitchell didn’t deserve to die, but his
parents allowed it anyway.
Consider the case of this 2 1/2 year-old boy
who died in 1986 as a result of his parents’ reli
gious beliefs. Robyn’s parents had him treated
in the manner their Christian Science Church
prescribes — with prayer from Christian Sci
ence “practitioners.”
Some, including prosecutors, think Robyn’s
life could have been spared had he received con
ventional medical attention. Instead, he was al
lowed to suffer and his condition worsened
while his parents relied on a wing of prayer.
The defense says David and Ginger Twitchell
didn’t act recklessly in allowing their son to die,
but followed the only real path ns dictated by
their religion.
The fact is, the official position of the Chris
tian Science Church is that members aren’t os-
Chris
Clonts
tracized for receiving medical treatment. That
treatment was available for Robyn, and his par
ents failed to take advantage of it.
They were negligent. Robyn, at 2 1/2, had-
hardly declared himself a devout Christian Sci
entist. Because of someone else’s belief, his life
ended before its start.
He deserved the chance to later make up his
mind, and it’s the state’s right and obligation to
protect Robyn and other minors in that situa
tion.
Less damaging, but just as serious examples
of hiding behind a shield of religion abound. In
Nevada, a woman created her own religion in
which she was the “high priestess.” Members of
her church, conspicuously all male, went
through a rite which, curiously, required an ab
sence of clothes by both worshipper and the
priestess.
Then, when the “ceremony” was done, the de
voted member would leave a “donation” at the
high priestess’ “altar.”
Certainly everyone sees the real motivation
behind this sort of bogus “baptism.”
A scarier, hypothetical scenario involves a
Jim Jones operating wi thing U.S. borders. If di
vine inspiration told him to poison and kill, and
if this inspiration was institutionalized in an
organized religion, certainly no one would advo
cate his right to break laws otherwise applying
to everyone.
Justice Antonin Scalia said of the Oregon de
cision that of course it carries the possibility of
closing in on some religious practices, but the
judgement was necessary.
"It’s an unavoidable consequence of govern
ment, and the alternative would be anarchy,”
Scalia proclaimed.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in her con
senting opinion, was cautious about setting a
precedent applying to all such cases. “Each case
must be weighed individually,” she said.
Every case involving conflict of church and
state winding up in the courts is not a good
idea, when a precedent is in such need of set
ting.
Robin Twitchell needed a precedent. He
needed a precedent as much as he needed a
doctor.
Chris Clonts is a junior history major.
Confessions of a former guilty liberal
Although Athens is basically a conservative
college town, it remains as a small island for
some of Georgia’s liberals. Liberals, for those
unfamiliar with them, eat, drink, study and
sleep like any other human being. Our glasses
are not tinted rose nor do our hearts leak blood.
Liberals do have a love (some would say addic
tion) of chattering on all matters of woe, punc
tuated with commentary on a particular style of
politically correct music or an endorsement of a
politically correct film or a warning about a
product or phrase that is not politically correct.
A perennial subject in liberal quarters is how
“we”, usually a group of middle class whites,
can relieve the suffering of the downtrodden.
With full conscience, the liberal answers, giving
a solution that is more or less thought through,
more or less practical, more or less doctrinaire,
more or less politically correct.
That solution will involve historical perspec
tive, as if to lay blame and to claim reparations
in the form of apology and guilt. Therein, the
hard-toiling victim of an oppressive system,
however far past, is made a martyr, blessed and
pure. The sons of the oppressors (the daughters
are also oppressed) bear this original sin. It’s
Scott
Wells
often said that the cause of social ills is the
greed and the grasp of white, northern Euro
pean, Christian men.
This is liberal guilt; it is foolish and destruc
tive. I used to believe in it, and was trapped by
it. I would recite the litany: I am male, thus
rapist; l am white, thus slave-driver; 1 am not
poor, thus steal from those who are; I am Amer
ican, thus able to gauge the whole world; Gixl
forgive me; 1 know not what I have done. But I
am not guilty of these sins.
The origin of liberal guilt is the inability to
accomplish well-meaning, but often unattai
nable goals. Everyone wants to lessen racial
tension, but nobody has been able to solve all
the problems. Guilt gives an outlet for that
frustration; it seems to address problems. Un
fortunately, talking is easier than working, es
pecially when it means doing glamorless jobs.
Work is the only answer, and many of the
guilt-casters work hard. However, accusation
keeps many people away. They roll their eyes
and moon in pain to avoid confronting not only
the liberal guilt, but any sort of real and pre
sent responsibility. This promotes a cycle of in
activity, and if anything is worse than liberal
guilt, it is surely callousness.
Liberal guilt has one other victim: the op
pressed. When guilt-casters act, they often as
sume that the oppressed are unable to change
their own condition, or that they want to blame
anyone at all. This turns the oppressed into the
victim, and that’s simply insulting. The guilty
liberal may look with warm, cow eyes and
say,“I’m sorry,’’and the oppressed may look
back and say, “I don’t want your pity, and I
don’t need your help”.
Scott Wells is a senior history and religion
major.
Semesters rule supreme
■ FORUM
□ The Red and Black welcomes letters to the editor and prints them in the Forum
column as space permits. All letters are subject to editing for length, style and li
belous material. Letters should be typed, doublespaced and must include the name,
address and daybme telephone number of the writer. Please include student classifi
cation. major, and other appropnate identification. Names can be omitted with a valid
reason upon request. Letters can be sent by U.S. mail or brought in person to The Red
and Black s offices at 123 N. Jackon St.. Athens Ga
Marianne McCathy (“...Satanic
Semesters April 17") presents
many traits of the quarter system,
but she denies us, the readers, the
other side of the story: the benefits
of semesters over quarters. To
have done this she would have had
to explain why nearly 85% of all
colleges and universities in North
America today do not operate on
the auarter system. Could over
four fifths of all schools be totally
misguided in their calendar sched
uling?
By the end of a typical year at
this University, a student has
credit for 9 courses. At the end of a
semester, a student has credit for
10 courses. On semesters there ex
ists usually no need to exceed four
years of school to receive a degree.
The task of attending class every
day for 50 days-as in nigh school,
in junior high, in grammar school
(where is the growth?)-becomes a
grueling match against sad, repeti
tive roboticism.
McCarthy says that we receive
two more credits per course than at
other infidel institutions. She fails
to recognize that while a student is
awarded five credits per course
here, a student needs 195 of these
to graduate. On semesters, one
needs only 125 or so to accomplish
the same task.
As a student under semesters for
two years, I came to Georgia ahead
of schedule-with more courses;
and can safely say semesters are
more comfortable
Andrew H. Scott
senior, physical geography
Abortion not a solution
Hope Morrison’s article advo
cating abortion as a resolution for
global problems was individualistic
and selfish, as she forgot who is
most affected by abortion-the un
born child.
World hunger demands research
and aid in hopes of finding a
lasting solution, and reminds us all
of our moral duty as Americans
never to rest until a solution has
been found and fully implemented.
Morrison finds an answer in killing
unborn children.
She feels that if we are to ensure
the health and happiness of
“wanted” children, then we must
be able to kill “unwonted” children.
Whether a child is “wanted” or not,
it is still a child. If abortion is a so
lution to this problem, then what
may happen to the unwanted el
derly or handicapped? In such a
situation, there can be found much
pain, along with financial and emo
tional burdens inflicted upon the
individual and their family mem
bers. Is Morrison’s “back-up plan”
the answer here, too?
Morrison would like us to believe
that she is “pro-life”. She is wrong.
Paul Hammes
junior, political science
Cut aid to Israel
The sharks from the pro-Israel
lobby are once again circling Sen.
Bob Dole of Kansas. Some of the
most vocal critics are from his own
party. Gingrich led the latest
feeding frenzy against Dole, who
seems to have committed a taboo in
American politics-do not speak ill
of Israel, do not even think of it.
Dole was viciously berated be
cause he proposed a cut in aid to Is
rael and questioned a nonbinding
resolution, in which the Senate
calls Jerusalem the capital of Is
rael. The resolution on Jerusalem,
a city sacred to Islam, Christianity
and Judaism, has only created
more resentment of America and
Israel among the Arab people.
No, I’m not anti-Semitic. I don’t
wear a whitehood or shout paeans
to Hitler. But I am troubled that
our senators seem to be rep
resenting a few men in Tel Aviv in
stead of you and me.
Sean S. Haskell
junior, news editorial