October 1991 - Binghamton Review

.r

~. iug .iaminu. "

""'.

:

' A 路' C hoice路"路 Not An i'Echo '

. 'O ctober1991

.

)

. i

.:;'-:,.;:, .:

..

BINGflXMTON ·REVlEw' , ': "' . .,",

"

~

'O ctober 'l99i

Editorial Board . Editof-in Chief.: ............ Michael Thomas Malloy , , Executive Director.... :...... ;~ ..........Adah1 Bmmoorg , PUblishing 12ditor...................... :...Paul D, Schnier One ~f the great traditional strengths of 'the American universitY is th~t_ here the ·sRirit of debate and the qu~st for kilowledge have safe haven. As the Binghamton Review . begms itsfiftn yearwewouldliketothinkthatwehav~had'a :inaJorimpactonourcampus. F:rom our journal pages w~ at the' Review have present~ a sensible alternative to the ' . . , .t . "~oughtpoI1ce.'"

Managing Editor......... ;...............Andy C. ,Szul :T1;~ .

Copy Edito'r......... ~ ...:~:..:.........._... ~.'... :..JOhn.Maggio .... .... )

rrrC~asllfer...,:}....,... ~: ..............................Jeffrey Weyl

,f

,

The "thought po~ice" ·arefoup.d all around the SUNY-B gro~nds. Look~at the St~dept {\ssembly and you will find.some. The SA has a long history of acting not:in the interestsof~it~.constifuenis but,ratherin the interests of the special,interests on campu·s.

They:now are .in favo):, of Hapur college adOPtIDg adiversity requiryment. The question one must then ask oneself is "Diversityfrom what?"~The advocates will tell you that they would'like.stude~ts to be J~~ired to take c,9urses th~t are·based on non-Western culture.

However, as of now H~pur does n<?~ even have a requirement for .' c~urses in Western culture. .

Contributors Ephraim Bernstein.

Carpenter ill .

The question then becomes two-f~ld: ' frrst, if the SA is.' going to institute it . · requirement for the-study of s~bjec.ts that our outside of the Carlon, should it not :it first institute a requirement·for the student body to study the Canon? And secondly, what is ' the,agenda of the advocates of diversity? . '

Brandon Kriegel ,

"

The te~ "th,ought pollce" is used to adckess a genuine co~cern, for the definition that I gave about the role of the University servirig as a utility for debate is now being questioned. The "enlightened ones" in our campus are pursuing the'''ideals'' bfDiversity ~and Political Correctness, even when those conGepts are losing their credibility throughout the country. This may suggest that those who influence policy and those make it at ~UNY- B are not acting in the interests of this insti,tution.,

Alillnni Board .

Katrina Schwing

Yan Rusanovsky J.

./ . . Bmghamton ought not getitself mvolved in cow-towing to special interests at

;, \ , .'the a:c~emic level. Not oruy do actions like theSe fmrt the reputation ofBihghahtton', but · ' . it degrades the idea of unive~sity together. , ' . , . ' "

.

. ,I

"'

Billy Scho~

~

,

'an

IAdlv,i s()r. ;.; ............ : ... ~ .. :·.:...... ;.... ,;.Dr:'Herb LOQdon

IHGlnOl'a'lry ' ' Advi~Q'r. :~ .., ~:.:,'..:. ,.'.. :.,~:....

.

,

t • • '.

/I

~

:

~":

(

~~

t,">,

.:

,

•

~

'

·'lL., ' Traditiomilly 'students assume the content of the Review without reading it. I ! V), would like to take this oPPoItUmty to' openly challenge members of the university i, ,; ~ommunity to :read through oUr articles cind take issue with us.· Write and support or IJ~ ~haUepge our positions. In .this way ·the tradition31 role of <;lebate in Academia ~ will -

ROnald Rea.gan

I sbqll 'do.~ot~i1;lgJ!l mfl'ice,.,w~a(/'m de~li~i.~: .: wtthis too importantfol"mcUidous intent.~! .:, .

\ .

./

-

,

":

(

..

".~

studentsf~d up witlithe-anti. In i987 . a few SuNY-B. . . .

-

"

'

~.

..;.;.:,

\.

:

:

spirit fonned.ajdumalto"comb~ th.e decepit state, of the educational pro~ess at Bing~ain~ori. ~s Ijournal, the Binghamton Review, promotes trad;itional 'American Co~serva·tism. : . Binghamton Review is an ihdependentstudent journal of news, commentary, and ahalysis piblished monthly. Students at Bingh~ton receive the I Kevl'e 'w free .of-charge. .

,

Letters to the Editor are encouraged and shouJd. . be sent to the Binghamton Review, 'SUNY-Bingham- ' ton~ P.O. Box 6000, Bing9amton, NS. 13902-6000' or brought to the.BingharritoQ Review office at UU 164.

N.fich~elThornas~alloy

The Bingbamton Review is looking for a few' rig~J people . .If you think y.ou'rerlgh~

All sl)bmissions to the Ryview become the of the Review:.The Review reserves the.ritght edit the "print any, submissions . .All opinions ' IeX)Jres:Sedare.tb:ose of the authors and qo ilOtn~ess~y the optnions of the_Review ..

Inrr\riPrhr

and

Binghamton Review .

I

",

,_

.....

join'the ·

i

,

because we're right on the issues.

5' .

' Re~ember ..,

the left is not right!

,-.

Page

~

3

~'

.••

Political Co,!ecmess' d(Jmi~ates ihe l{v~s of SUNY-Binghamton student~fr(Jm day one , .

.

"

by Adam,Bromber.g

,staff membeFS: ',

puts white; male, middle,or upper class,.' : that is "diverse""you see a number' of symbols~ which represent this dorm as heterosexual and Christian t6g~ther. " s Nliticai 'corr~tness con- ",-', " '; !,res~perSO!1S ,st3rt by pl~ying' It then tells ,the ' OA t6 ask, "Is this a well as explanations about the symbols. , . tinues to be dominant issue' " ' ''Cultural PursuiCin 'which there area " threatening issue to bring up.for males?; The sign has a ,symbol of a number of categories which inClude items " ' o'n 'campuses ac.ros's the WHat does this symbolize?; What kindS globe which explains that this is "a plaee " " " ,' such 'as: Has experienced being stereoof power does this group yield?" where individuals accept their obligacountry, it's'alivyand well here at SUNY typed; Is white" mciIe, middle or upper , ,. After. that gFeat game was o~er; ,tions to the groupand where well-defmed Bing.hamton. Eveiyility PC enters ne~ ,class;:Has,afriendorrelativewho-isgay, areas of our campus' life: as President lesbian or bisexual; Was considered, a . it was on to "Wheel of Oppression," but' , ,governance for the common good." This ' slogan sounds kind of familiar to me. It ~ instead of Vanna White, they 'had Lois DeF1eurappOints eommissions to study 'jock" in high: school; Has had their DeFleur. In "Wheel of Oppression," was probably written on one of those Jhe problems. New students, who come name'mispronounc,ed. s~dents' get into to even more detail by , statues of Lenin that are being knocked here apprehensive, are i1nm~ately bedown all over the SovietUnion (or what sieged by the politically correctand their' used be the Soviet U Irion). Since when teachin.gs~which continue, uiltil gradua- ,0 fre~dom, .has residentlallife had the power to de.. ,tion day; cide what is, the "common gobd." , Once upOn a time, orientation , Other signs on this poster are a helpedfreshlnan getacquainted with their , peace sign, a recycling sign, ~ peaceful new school including tours,of the' cam, dove, which symbolizes a "lovrng, carpus, information about ,student life, and ' n~w ing -community" and "the ,symbol for an introduction io dorm life. Not anyhum¥1rightSl' repr~ntedbyafist, which more! "Freshpersons," as they are now and has been the symbol of many radIcal and referred to, are now being taugl!t to be violen~ organizations in the past. The pOlitically correct before they even start Students are then supposed.to hUman rights symbol represents "A place , their career at this university. ' , breaking up 'into snialler groups and go 'out on a scavenger hunt and- find ' where the sacredness of each person is ' Orientation advisors (OA) went 'people who catt answer yes 'to these ' learnmg about the ,institutionalized evils honored' a nd where diversity is pursued." of sexism, racism, 'hete~o$!xism, clas~ t~ough their own orientation in. whicb questions. 'They would' tlien ~'have that A list of all these symbols were they were taught ,to be Pc. They were, . person initial their sheet. The&e,students ' sism, ableism, ageiSil), :prejudice, and , ,,' social pOwer. On the b.ottqmof the game, . not only displayed,on this sign, but were given a briefing on the events of March actually received points for finding it says prejudice (which is deScribed as' also,d1stnbuteglo'every'RA ,to use. The 14 and told tllat the Na,tional Association somebody who is a white male or sO,mestereotyping) + social pOwer (which is flier distributed to all RAs states, "A , of Scholars was at fault for the incident. , one who knows a homosexual. All ,this described as being white, male, middle defmition of the symbols used and how They were also told that the NAS is ' of co~se was done to enlighten students or upper class) = Oppression." they tie into campus community: our . hostile to the'go:iIs'of diversity and mul..: , " about other types of people, to make way of being educationa11ypurposeful... '~ ticultaralism. They, were then given a , the, orientation', ad~isQrs said them "seusitive."

Whatdo they mean by "the symbols": questionnaire about their racial and eth~ the students did not- understafld many of whose symbols are these? Has residennic id~ntity. , They were asked their ethWhen you loo,!c at ,the gQide" " , 'the concepts., The OA said that after tiallife decided that these are \he symnic/ra~i~ id~.!l~ty,.~ tfJ Eela:y: ~~*~hood, . ,lines and answer key to the game, it get$ . ;', playin.g some of the gfuncts the students bols of our university? Residential life is memories about this identity, and to list ! ~ven better. It starts off by explaining the " drew away into·little groups and v:,ere not telling students what they should think• ., statements of pride about their racial! ' misconceptions aboutaffnfuatlVeactioh. as close as before. After orientation was telling them what symbols are important. ethnic identity. Obviously, these things It,saysthattherealreasonwhites'oppOse ' over, many of the freshpersons,thought No longer are freedom, individual rights ' are really ,impOrtant for an orien,tation it is because they fear "loss of pOwer/ that ,it was '~stupid."Many of them even adviser. controV resources" and suggests the OA, felt angry, saying that they were made to , oretonomie opportunity our mottos, they are now globalism arid the dove . feCI,guilty,just for being W~,itemales. . , should query with the students what , Once the orientation advisors whites have to loseif affmnative~cti6n . , , Orientation is'only'- one of the ' These examples highlight' the passed the PC test, they were now going exists. to be prepared to teach others,to be PC. ' ,areas which PC has engul!ed;residential degree to which political correctness has The guide g~s on to call white One of the main ways this was done was lifeohas:now joined !he PC,bandwagoil'. " '. ,become. ent~enched .in our' university and male, and middle and upper class ' UponWalkingintobuildirigopeofHayes with two games called, "Wheel of Opcommunity. Political correctness has , pression" and "CrilturalPursuit," bOth of ' "persons with the power to adversely Community, you see, a hugt;, sign weI. moved from the classroom to our voeffect ot~ers, even unintentionally." In, coming you to "Hotel Diversity.~; Be- "cabulary, to our,orientation, and to our which were repOrtedly invented by SUNY the answer,key tothe game, a categ?ry places ofresidence. Who knows what's sides telling y,ou that you are in,. abuildirig, next? .

''''''.

",: '" ,. A'

an

\-:.

a

to

,,':'N longer a:re

individual rights ,er economic 0Pp0rtulJ,ity.'

,'our mottos.; they are

,

globalism.

the , Dove ,: _"

. i.

i

,

'

.fJoiou bave tbe,ri~t,stuff? , Get your career off to a flying start. Become a Marine aviator, Ifyou!re a college fresrumm, sophomore or junior, you could qualify for our undergraduate Officer Com!11issioning Pro- ' gram and'be guaranteedtlight school after-graduation, All ' is cOll-ducted

mer. There are no on-campus drills, Plus, you , receive $100 a month during the school year, ' Seniors can qualify Cor the graduate Ofncer , Commissioning Program and anend training after graduation, ' ' This is an excellent opportunity to prove

yourself amongst the best and,start off making from $17;0.00 '. IZ.I,(X)() a ~ year See ,if-you measure up, ' , '' , Check ouqhe Marine Corps ' Officer:Commissioning , Programs, ' ,~, '

, "

/

Page

4

Illiberal E-ducation

The Politics ofRace and sex on . campus · . Dinesh D'Souza The Free Press '$19.95

by Steven Schwamenfeld

.

T

now a quota fpr the Italian:-Americans.

Meanwhile, what is happening to those happy students who have been accepted? .

At Stanford, students are being requested to re'ad the immortal words of Rigorberta Menchu. In I, Rigorber14 Menchu: An,Indian Woman in Guate'mala; the experience of typical Indian woman (who apparnetly spends most of her tim~ in Pans these-days) are re,,": . counted. There is no hint of either literary , merit or historical reliablility. The au-. thorities wanted a Latin-American who was conscious of discrimination and they _got one. ~or such a position Jorge Luis Borges need not apply . . Here in Stan- . ford, the battle for thepoliticization of art is also being fought out. Art is evidently .

a

he "Ar . . ge~tine nov~listVlady Koclanclch dedIcates her '_ novel The Last Days of William Shakespeare ''To .the victims of .stupigity ill power~" This would be a fittipg,dedication to Mr. D'Souza's book as well. Ilijberal EdJlcation is a painful catalogue of the abuses in Ainerican Educatio~ Academia, although here it is difficult to tell who is more guilty, those in power or those striv#1g to obtain it. Both have the to same aim, the elimination of traditional educational standards to be replaced with the indoctrination of the belief that there racial. A selected number of artistS must are no standards excepting those;e wish be of a speCific race if their art is to ha~e to have. Of courSe, this isn't all. For value. What is interesting is that nearly concurrent with this general demoral:' . all the non-Western books -chosen by ization o( scholarship comes cadres of Stanford~ those written in recent times semi-fanatics: each choosing to carve a

by PerSons consumed by hatred for the rlic~e for their own special interest (these West. The actual _classics of other apparently do have "objective" value).It civilazations (the K0ran, the Ramciyana, is really amazing to read of these college . the works of Confucius, Etc.) are rarely facultY members, "with minds so open included. Whatever their artistic merits, their brains have fallyn otit" adyancing they are politically irrelevant and of no side by side with pan-African racialists use to a teacher of Literature. in theiratt~mptto build anew order in the , _ . ~ At Howard University, we see Anierican University. ' . . a genuine black (if you'll pardon the MJ:. D'Souza chronicles outexpression) comedy ' being played out. rage after outrage with considerable deLee Atwater is named to the Board of Trustees and students and faculty go ' ... taclu~nent. I believe, hisaiffi is to provide a bedrock upon which others can build. ballistic. Demonstrators occupied cam.. He has been criticized by some conserpus buildings and .the police were called vatives for this detachment, however, I in. Eventually.Atwater resigned and the consider it necessary. It makes each of grievances of the students were ameliohis case studies both more ridiculous and . rated. this was done by speeding up the mor~ chilling. He describes six "caSes:" . impiementation of an Afro-centric curBerkley, Stanford, Howard, Michigan;> rriculum. What this means is that the , DUke and Harvard. Each of these instiprejudices and fears of the students are tutions is used to highlight one p~cular going to be catered to on a ~d scale. aspect of the assault on standards. At . Few of us have been spared thephenomBerkley we see Affirmative Action in all enon of the semi-literate Egyptologist its glory. Here students are barred from who fS to be found throughout the Black: adinittance solely on the groqnds of their " Gommunity. From him, ~e are tOld that ethnicity. Blacks with 900 SAT scores Egyptians were black and that they and .poor citizenship reCords (I think· founded all aspects of Western culture. expulsion qualifies as poor}are accepted, Invariably, this is iecounted with the . while whites with 1300's and spotless perfect cOPlplacent certainty of the truly records are turned ,away. Even more Ignorant Now whole programs will be mind-boggling is the plight of the Asians. dedicated to feel-good history whereby , Since they score better than whites,·on, the student is '''raise!l~up'' by his imaginaverage, they are even more violently sary racial past. The parallels betWeen this teaching of history, and ~at spon- . discriminated against. Between 1983 and 1984, Asians accepted 'to Berkley soredby various nationalist dictatorships ' dropped by 272 (20%) in response to to instruct their pupils iri the hating of their "over-representation." foreigners is all too obvio~~. .

white defaces a black's property it is a hate crime. If a black assaults-a white with a deactiy weapon, it is ' ~ot a racial incidtmt. This is not only Michigan, it is <! general experience. After the genuine ugliness at D'Souza provides us with some much needed comic relief with Stanley Fish and his merry band of deconstructionsists,atDuke. Duke University has striven to ~ at the cutting edge · ; of literary fashion and, God help them, they have ·succeeded. Fish is, the man _with-the ingenious theory that it is the reader' sresponse toa work thatis important;not the work itself; Mter all, everything is subjective so no work has more value than any other. Shakespeare,Louis Mi~higan,

Illiberal is a pa!1ifutcatalogue of the abuses in American Academm, although here it is difficult Ie!l who is more ,guilty

What of the blacks who' are being "helped?" Being under-prepared and unqualified, they, unfortunately, drop-out. They do this at rates of more than 50%; several times more than their "over-represented" counterparts. -This . doesn't stop our brave academic leaders from charging ahead with their dreams of universal equality. Now they are set:. ting quotas for individual nationalities. .

Thus MeXicans and Puerto Ricans ,get, ' preference over Spaniards. In the CitY · , UniversityofNewYorknetworkthereis

In Michigan University we . encol-lOter the 'gag-rule. here it is now possible to be reprimanded, Or even expelled, for using .off~nsive "hate.;language." - Black power symbOls, the teachings of.Ma1com X~ and Elijah Mo~ hammed, and any' anti-white perjoratives do notqrialify. D'Souza also in~ vestigates the 'phenomenon of . hatecrime: Put simply, this is a crime com- ·. mitted ~y a white.against a black. . If a

\

first person ac;counts o( Southern slaveowners. He doesn't endorse them anymore then a person studying the Holo" caust would endorse Mein Kampf, but merely for assigning them he has been , .accusedofracisrh. He-immediatelygoes . on the defensive wondering what he (the professor) did wrong. Ciearly waht he did was attempt to teach History, not .propaganda. This novel approach waS too much for his 'students so he dad 'to protest. In response to this and other "controversies," Harvard instituted its ann~al AW ARE-(Actively Working Against Racism . and Ethnocentrism)Week. This is 'designed to teach students and faculty that they are inherently (genetically, perhaps?) racist.

Every white person must know this to function properly atHarvard..Whatever you do, say or think, you are'a racist. If you deny it you are a worst racist. Thus we are treated to the dedifyingsight of students protesting against individual professors who do not go along with this accepted truth. Celebrated intellectuals . such as Edward O. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein live under a state of siege, being made to be ready to justify their every word before PC inquisitors.

What can be done? The rot seems to be set in So deeply that removing it would leave' very little, at least of Liberal Arts faculties and programs.

L'Amour"Rigoberm Menchu; they all D'Souza offers a few solutions. He does' have equal literary merit. In other words, nothing has any literary merit because - ~lieve in some degree of AffIrmative Action, but on a basis of poverty-not there is no such thing. This allows race. This is modest. D'Souza calls for · Literature professors a tremendous amount of freedom and helps reinforce , the abolition of race-based college organizations. He feels these promote .the notion that the Canon was "chosen" for petty, political reasons; thus it can be • segregation ~ effectively as Jim Crow · and are a real impediment to Black su~rceded for .similar reasons. Of ,J progress. This too, is <luite reasonable, course, this leaves us with the question as white racial organizations are 3tready of why people should read fiction at all? an atheema; However, I would nor be This is something Fish and company optimistic about anything being do"he don't answer. However, we can at least about black organizations. They are too hope that news ofCUNY ,s new affrrmavocal and emotionally appealing to white tive action program will heip Professor administrators: Filially, D'Souza makes Lentriccia (anotherdecoristructionist) be and appeal for the ClaSsics on the grounds more comfortable with his "racially in.of their universal .value~ In~ an arncle m sensitive" ethnic heritage.. Anything that Policy Review, he has elaborated 011 this can be called anti-racist apparently has iii calling for a study of the truly great objective value. non-western works. Thus, the different Finally we come to America's . civiliZations can' be studied and compremiere Ivy League University. Here pared. We can learn that there was Arab . we see America' sfmest professors cowwriting before Fanon. Whether ·the ering in terror before their students. A prophets of diversity want us to learn this . History professorassigns students to read x is ''problel,llatic.''

ADVICE,AND DISSENT They're contentious and con~agious. They're ' the McLaughlin Group. (clockwise from left)jack .

Germond, EleanorClift,.john McLaughlin, Fred Barnes, Morton Kondracke, and Pat Buchanan.

MadepossibJe by a grant fr~m GE.

t6 ' _

.

.

THEMcLAUGHLINGROUP '

Check your locall;',ing for , ..,ion and time.

We bring gooil things to life.

BINGHAMTON-REVIEW

October 1991

Page

5

According to the Us. Department of Health and H~ Servi~, ariimal reseanh haS helped , extend our life ~tancy-by 20.8 years. Of course, how you choose to ' ~nd those extra y~ 15 up to you.-

,

Foundation for BiomediGIl Research

r70undation Jar Biomedic~1 Research - - ~lease send me - - 818 C?nnecticut AVE" NW, Suite 303 information on how animal.

Washington, DC 20006 ' research has improved the

I I

202/457-0654

'

-

-

-' -

I

I I

quality of my life.

I Name "

I Add~ess I City

--'

I _

" State_f

_

Zip

It

I ,I

The Foundation for Hiomedical Research is a -non-profit,.tax exempt 5Ql (c) (3) organizatio.n, I I We're dedicated to helping the public understand the necessity ofhumane and responsible 'animal research in the

_.

Lde_velop_ment_oftre_at_men_ts_an_d .cure_s for_disea_ses_,d_isorde_rs~~~U_rie_s w_h_idl_affi_e(t_h_uma_ ~s an_dan_imals~ " . . . "

i

~"

"

Page . 6

BINGHAMTON REVIEW ..

,

\

October 1991

'

."Many SDviets viewing the current chaDs and ' natiDnalist unrest under GDrbachev IDDk back "almDst long'iligly tD- th'e era Df brutal Drder ilnde r Stalin."

7Mike Walla~e, Dn "60 Minutes," Feb. 11, 1990 .

' A FACr-RN{)INft

JlJNItET 10

'VAIL.!...

.Tb-e Binghamton Animal Rights Koalition (BARK) has lal!-nched a campaign against Elmer Fuddfor being a speceist and trying to. kill Wabbits. .

What did · Ted Ke·nnedy's n·ephew say' while . he w\as 'allegedly ,raping his victim? '" You ,better be quiet or 'I'll· have my uncll· drive you home.

,

I

Out of r~spect for the passing 'of Dr. Seuss, The'SA has made it manditory for the dinning halls to serve Green ,' eggs ~nd ham. .\

"I have no idea what White House statement was 'issued, but1 stand -behind it 100 percent."

Budget Director R'lchard Darman

, .

('

Page

BINGHAMTON路 REVIEW '

October 1991

.

7

(

MikhaitGorbachev is again$t Star Wars, ihe 'M X, stealth technology, c~uise missles., smart bombs, and U.S." involvement in NATO, Central Americ'a, the Middle East, and the ' Philippines. He also frowns on the expansi(Jn of the American .Army; Nayy, Air Force" '.

Marines, and Coast Gaurd.. Tl?:e .Democrats better get hold of.h im quickly bef0t:e the KGB does. .

President Lois DeFleur has decided 路t%rm an ad hoc committe-e to .find out the ingredients of Seafood Newberg. . . .

.'

Around the Soviet Union pictures and statues of Lenin and other communist icons are being destroyed. A word of advice to aspiring Soviet' capitalists-there is a .huge market for them in . the political science department of SUNY路 Binghamton. . _

.

Recently, Marvin the 'Manfrom Mars w~s appointed by the DeFleur administration to head a special committee to "represent the extra-terrest-,rial population at SUNY-B. 'Traditionally, the ETAmer~cans have been victims of social oppression by thew hite male. . . '

Rumors that Sesa,m路e Street will explolre adult issues fly .having-Ernie kille4 by .random gunfire are . false. However, there are plans for Bert and Ernie ,to come. out of the closet this season. '.

I.

After the panel ~iscussion on "University Education .in the Nineties/' it has been ,determined that the use . of alphabetical order is a new form of oppression which is bidizg used to keep the social power ,in the hands of privileged white, males. _'.

',

Page

BINGHAMTON -REVIEW"

8

October 1991

Questioning Abortion Rights versus Choices

by Jef!efY Weyl

murder, size or age is not important, rather'the fact that murder teok place is.

When a women uses her right to choose an abortion, then It is intentional killing. ,In sum, a woman does not have the right to choose to have her growing child killed. The pre-born is not merely part of , the woman's body, !Jut an individual she must morally, if not legally protect.

I

n America, future pru;ents need to look ahead towards a time when eacp child will be welcom~d and not feared. A time when fertilization is an act of joy and not a future act of murder. Now is the moment to consider the facts associated with abortion. The " issues of women's rights, the United Stat~s Supreme Court, and Pro-Abortion ,groups factor into a complex decision that affects a great deal of people. ,

\

ra~e once,they are no longer cond.o~ed . :'

Finally, I

,It's me',Right Beer NDwl ,

-

ButNQtNDw!

!~

, 1-'

P~s;t;vely,

NDtNDwl '-

'

• '..'

:1.'

AndAbsDlutely,'

say to women: think

,One must be' abl~ ' to assume rcilJy hard, because.if you abort, then it will stay with you for the rest of your that the pre-born child is dependent and relies !lPon the motper. As of now, tM ': ,; lives. You ~ill have-a hundred questions ' mother may have alegal abortiofl~ Let us ' about say that the ,roles were switched: an " ' a life you ended and will never know the example where a woman is dependent . answerS. And if there is a little of the on and her life is sustained by her husband. killing in the world,we can preveNt, let's , Whfll if he did not want to support and start with ourselves. , pro~ect her? Would it be the right of the husband to kiil his wife if he no longer wanted to sustain heT? Stephen Schwarz, (*): Vincent J. Collil,1s, M .D., Steven author of The Moral Question ofoAbor- ' R. 'Zielenski, ,M.D." ~rr~h Thomas J. ' tion , uses the analogy of child to ahouse~" , Marzen, Esq., ' ~ ;. , . burglar. Even in a place' he may not be wanted, death is not necessary to eject Fetal Pain and Abortion: The Medical the burglar from the house. So it is the Evidence. Chicago. AUL, 1984. sam~ way with 'a, pre-born child. If someone'iritentionally kills'an adult to ' , get him out o( the way, then that is ' intentional homicide. - In considering ,.. '''''.)' , '

HT~

LI

~' Statistics recorded in the mid , 1980s by Christopher Tietze show that in countries larger ~an 1 million in size, abortion is illeg3I in only 20 of them. In 16 countries, incltiding the United States . and Israel, abortions are totally legal, that

According to the book The Terrible choice-The Abortion Dilemma, , in 1968, years before Roe-v-Wade, the , percentageofAmericansagainstabortipn ' is, a'woman can freely end a life and not on demand was over 80%. In 1973, the to justify her action. In94 countries -need Wa,rren colin voted 7 -2 in favor ~fKaren maqe it legal on very specific grounds Roe (her real name being 'Norma Mcas the woman's age, rape, or time' such Corvey) which legalized abortion. The elapsed into pregnancy. The sad play on Court ' conduded that during , the first , 'Yords i, s tliat women in China are forced ' _ trimester" the abor~on decision and its .to abolit their "chi,ld in cases of adverse effectuation must be left to the medic~ social conditions and a l~ge population. judgment of the pregnant woman's atIt is considered thatthese Chinese women tending physician." The court also said, have noreproductiv,erights. In the United that' after the first trimester " the " States, women have a different type of state... may, if it chooses, regulate the reproductive rights, the right to end a abortion procedure iri 'ways that 'are life. reasonably related to maternal health."

One of the dissenting opinions by Justice The medical evidence agamst Rehnquist was that "[the Court's] judg- , ,abortion is truly shocking: me!1t is an impf;ov~dent and extravagant According to Dr. Vincent 1. Collins: exercise ofthe power of judicial review that the Constitution ,extends to this Dilation ,arid EvacuaCourt." With this opinion, the Supreme ,tion abortions are performed after, the 12th Court legalized abortion to occur at any ' weekofpregnancy when fetal bon~s are too , tim~ during a pregnancy, including the large and prittle and the sizeof the fetus 'is too ninth month. Besides the legal aspects, , great for standard 1st trimester abortion Pro-Lifers think that it is morally \Vfmig , ' techniques.D&E ' involves the progressive dismemberment of the fetus prior to extrac,,for a licensed doctor to perform' an ~tion in order to facilitate ,removal of the fetus abortion on a consenting woman. In parts from the uterus . The,slicing'and crushfact, it is legally rig}1t for a siat~ to ing ... would 0 bviously e(t~it~ pain receptors, ... prohibitanyaetimi that is morally wrong.

Itmustbec0l1cluded, tb~r~+ore, that the fetus ' ,In Abortion: Law, Choice :and Morality;' suffers pain as a result'ofP&E abortion,(*) there is data from studies in Sweden and Hungary showing 'that of women who ,.......• were 'denied legal abortions, only , After reading that sharp and distinct one-third went on to have an . . , passage, hopefully 'one will 'not take ~ illega1:abortion.Thissrudy.shows that if ' ~ghay be.ing Pro-Choice. 'Incidentally,"_, applicable to the 'United States, ,two the term "choice" iSi a ' word used to thirds of all. deaths by abortion can be ' disgtlise the atrocities of abortion. prevented. It will not be a return to , It is upsett,in.z .~hat here in "back-alley~: aboEtions,as the:"iiberals putit, but rather adtmialoHhe equal right ' Binghamton, ~bortionservi<;es are listed under birth control in:fGmnation services: to kill. According tolnducedAbortion ; in the yello~ pagys. ,Stephen Schwarz A World Review by ChristopherTietze" says that one can hear -the beating heart the percent distributio,n of women who " by day 25. Usually a heartbeat signifies , have aborted more'than once ~ei1t up 1.5 , ' life.

Thatis all that~y'1\m~riCar.l sh€}Uld , the year after Roe v. Wad~. This issurdy have to hear. evidence that things will occurata:greater.

"

,

.,.:

Page

Studerit AS8ociation:Clashes With ·Sfudents·· .

.

Is the SA. representing students or pushing their own political agenda? .'

- Unfortunately, SUNY students, who Saharan Africans which meant that only . never called the meeting to order, the give SASU $30,000, are being reprevote had never really taken place. Obthose who had intercourse with anyone ei~'g .a student .a.t ' SUNY- from this group were at risk. In addition, noxiously, the SA voted again and not sented in such afoolish fashion.' StuBmghamton has Its a:dvan- ' dents who went to Albany-said that immy surprisingly, the motion torescindfailed. the FDA cited that those with a higher . . tages and dis3dyantages. Over '.- occurrence of malaria,-like the Sub-Sa· 'of the Assemblym_en had a hard time · The ban was once again in effect. .taking SASU seriously. In the hallways .haran.Africans, were also banned from the past few years, students, as w~ll as Following, the SA ban, the Hinman of the Capitol building, SASU leaders donating blood. Since the cost of testing.' . proressors, have argued over whether College Council, acting on its own, took had the audacity' to get a group of stufor mv -2 and malaria woolddrastically the university campus is indeed 'a place a phone poll of the Hinman'community. dents to shout obscenities in. order to get increase the cost of blood for operations, for true freedom of thought, action and Results of the poll showed that over 80% ' attention. However, according to the the FDA decided to ban Sub-Saharan speech. This.year's incoming students of its residents wanted blood drives to be SUNY studen~ who were serio_us about are ·becoming acquainted with suNY- . Africans from donatiilg blood as a cost:. held on campus. By far, this was cermaking a change, the only ones that they beneficial·move.

B's version of what is considered "sotainly representative of the students' got to talk to were_the legislator's aides. cially acct1ptable." whether it be a ' , Last year, a few students armed with · views.dn the campus, consi~erihg that it controversial topic being discussed by Last year, when SASU's membership was common knowledge that the Bing· this infOl1l!ation came to the SAand tried our bungliD.g Student Association, or a came up for renewal, 62% of the student hamton area received 10% of its blood to pass an SA resolution banning blood heated debate during a . class lecture,' body voted to get rid of SASU because · supply' from the campus. drlvesatSUNY-B. When this resolution students, new and old, are forced ,to be . ,they .did not like the job that they were came to the SA, the U.S. had just entered careful of what they say and how it is .Blood is a precious commodity doing. Unfortunately, the SA said tJ.1at ' · Operation'Desert Storm and the holiday interpreted by those . who consider needed for life. People in accidents, the only way to expel SASU was to get season was jUst beginning. Forboth of themselves oppressed. Just like a child ' 'hemophiliacs, and others depend on the a 2/3 of the students' votes. Ironically, sitting in front of a television and being even though more than half of the stu.indoctrinated by a show 's theme, stUdents dynts didn'twantSASU, they continued at SUNY-Binghamton .are being im- . , II•• to.pay for it , morally'and unjustly brainwashed,into what is considered "socially acceptable" Both issues, including 'the ban on the by the standards of 'the current puppet blood drive and SASU's continued ' cO!lsidere~ administration. . campus presence :;tgainst the will of the ,students, are prime examples of the Without a doubt, one of the many administration ~s and SA's blatantpursuif examples of these blatan-t attemp~ -to of iinplementing a "socially acceptable" , implant a code of momls into the minds code Of conduct. Anybody, whether of students, is last year's ban on all blood they are the top officials of a university's these reasons, the resolution couldn't drives at the SUNY-Binghamton camblood.banks for their life.

Tiying to take administration or egotistical maniacs in .have come at a worst time. . pus. away a tenth of this supply amounts to a student government, who threaten the blood terrorism and it is morally reprelives of people by complying to a twisted , At the SA meeting, during which the The controversy of the blood drive hensible no matter what political goals selfish set of morals has the duty to reblood drive issue was debated, a Bingbans started last year when afew students are sought: _ . evaluate whether what they are doing is decided to join a fight toJX>YCQtt blood · "-ham ton Red Cross Fe~sentative said in the interests of those Who ' they are that he would sign a letter with the stu- /" drives because ·of unfair screenii)g Regardless of how the students felt, the supposed to represent. dents asking the FDA to review its practices towards Haitians ':;md Sub-Saadministration and SA decided poliCies on the blOod drives. However, haran Africans. Native Haitians, as well Playing with politics is one thing, but this was ~ot acceptable to the students as non-indigenous populations,-who had not to listen to the students but instead playing with the lives ofpeople is another. who demanded a ban on all blood drives: had intercourse with other Haitians or impose a "socially' acceptable" ~t of · Any rational individual knows the difhad, blood ' transfusions when visiting Unfortunately, these students, who were morals onto the student population. They - ference, and it is their responsibility to elected by'their peerS, decided to define there, w~re stopped from donating blood had·violated .the fundamental principle ril3ke sure that those who they eleCt do what they believed was "socially acbecause of an unusually high occurrence to which all democratic governments not commit such atrocities of great proceptable" by their standards, without of AIDS cases among heterosexuals; · must adhere to: fair and true representaportions. This issue of blood drives isn't consulting their consti~ency. ' However, it' was later learned, that this tion of its constituency., ' . Eco-HiO, and pints of blood aren't widturned out to be false. Ifl:stead, many gets to be used in a bizarre supply and That night, the SA was in a deadlock Another. major issue that took place Haitians, who were stricken with the demand game. The proponents ofblood - for several hours, with both sides in a , with the SA last year was whether ~ASU, AIDS virus, decided to fabricate the drive bans'attempted to use the ability of stalemate. When the vote took place, it the Student Association of the State circumstarices surrounding their conthe ~UNY -B campus to donate blood as ende~ in a tie. The tie .

Universities, 'should continue to be stutraction of the Virus. The Haitian AIDS a bargaining tool. What they forgot was dent-funded.

SASU, is a student-paid victims, many of whom were religious~ breaker was up to the Executive Vicethat the a,bility to donate blood is not a lobby group that is supposed to protect did not feel comfortable with revealing 'President, who voted for' the -ban. His right, but a privilege and an obligation to SUNY student's rights af the state level. , the fact that they had homosexual relareasoning, he claimed, was that he could Last year, at SASU's Lobby Day in , those who can donate blood without tions, abused drugs, varied relationships not stand by and watch discrimination .contaminating the supply.

Albany, SASU made demands of the with prostitutes, and multiple sex partoccur.

Senate that were considered ridiculous ners. Th.is falsification, on the part of the Thestud~nts of this campus are ratioby many legislators. Forexample, SASU Thoseopposmg,the ban on blood drives, . Haitians, skewed ali the data on Haitian . . nal adults Who must be allowed to arrive expected them to increase state taxes to AIDS victims; the~fore, ' bringing the ' argued that it was not aracial issue -but make 'iIp ~e deficit for New York. Anat their own decisions, without any out-:rather a geographical one. However, the Food and Drug Administration to conother outrageous demand by SASU was .' side interference from those who con. proponents of the ban chose to be mm-owclude that there was,amuch higher chance that Governor Mario Cuomo resign. sider themselves above everyone else. minded and see this issue only in black of catching AIDS from monogamous _ and white. heterosexual sex in Haiti than in :;my other country. Consequently, the FDA Ironically, those that were pro-ban banned all Haitians,regardless ofwhether overlooked the fact that there are many they were heterosexual or homosexual, white people who live in Haiti 3$ well as from donating blood. This waS done many whites.ih Africa who because of quickly because.at the height of the AIDS their geographical location are also scare, the FDA feared of contaminating 'banned~from donating blood; . the blood supply blood. Presently, the In the .following weeks, a motion to FDA has lifte<t ,the b~ on Haitian dorescind was brought up: Once again, the . nating blood. . · SA argued for hours over tbeblooddrive On the other hand, Sub-Saharan Af,issue. Finally, when it came time for a ricans were banned from donating biood vote, the motion to rescind passed and at for a different reason. The FDA claimed that point, the ban should have been that Sub-Saharan Afrkans were infected ended. However, two voting .members with.adifferentstrain of the AIDS virus; .. of the SA, who had not-yet voted, entered called mV-2. the room. In ord~r to let them vote, ' (everyone knew how they were going to This different strain of the AIDS virus, 8:00 · p.m. . vote) the EVP said that smce he had EIV -2, was found only among the Sub--

.B'

by Brian Degano & Andy Szui JP-

_" I .

,

stUdents at SUNY-Binghamton are being immorally and unjustly ,brain washed into .what is "socially acceptable" by' the standards of the current puppet Administration

.

Make a difference and get involved~_<

join the

College.Republicans Meeting Weqnesday .October 2, SW231

\

..

.,

Page

~

10 I

,

Germany,·the New European Superpower? .

~

,

.

.

'

./

some of Germany's neighbors as they that Germany has come t1ven further ' fear the Germans will~ begin to revert . than Japan 3fter their colleCtive defeatin avmg returned from The Faback to their past policies of expansion W9rld War II. Basis for this argument . therland ~ May, I have seen and/orracism. Poland is by far the most comes from the fact that Germany was . , the beginning of the transfqr- , worried of Germany's neighbors. The physically ravaged by the en~of the war.mationin Germany.. As most People Polish .govenun~nt is afraid that th,e . The nation,was divided into four zones know, there no longer exists two - Germans will come to retrieve the land and laterinto two countries, while Japan Germany's; with the arnioying 'East' . which was taken away from them by the , had nearly twice as many people than the and 'West' placed ' before their names.

Allies at the end of World War II. The area known as West,Germany: ,. , Now th~re stands only. one BimdesrePoles are probably even more wary of .' Itistruethatright~owGermany publikDeutsehlandin theheartofEurope. , the Germans with .the recent breakup of is experiencing a slight economic ,setback the Sovi~t Urrion. , It has always been .

O.n October 3, 1991, the Gerto the integration ofeastern Germany due (hought that 'the Germans wquld never mans will celebrate the first anniversary into a market economy.

However, once iryto retake the land aslong as the Soviet . of th~ .German Reunification. The ,the integrationjs 'complete, Germany .

Union was intaet:Now much is unclear: amazing events that have occurred in will be stronger than ever,. By the late on the status of the ~oviet "Union." The Germany have unfolded ' in .the short.

1990's and into the 21st century, Ger- . accusations of the Poles have been span of two years. The beginning of the many maybe dictating what oct:uis in tempered somewhat by 'a treaty signed end forCommimist rule was OCtober 3, world markets. They will certainly not by the' Germans stating they will never 1989 when the borders we~ opene4 for , be going at it alone. Germany is preparing ',a.ttempt to recl~ what waS once theirs. emigrants of neighbqring~ounthes: The ". to enter its second consolidation of this events of:the'next year w(ue to:occor at a ~, The military fears @f a reunited , decade'- the Europe~ Community. rapid pace: The fall of the aet-lin Germany are almost entirely unwar, ' The idea of one Europe is a' Wall. .. the establishment of a democratic ranted. There wouldn 'teven bea German subject that every American should take govenunent in East Germany... the .call Army if there wasn't .a requirement for in since it wiil affect everyone. interest for reunification ... Helmut Kohl leading young Geinians to serve for 18 months Imagine countries like ' France, Great the Christian Democratic Union to vic- . (Germans also have the option to.se1!'e Britain, Italy, Holland and otherS being , , tory of a reunited Germany. "" ' ,as a volunteer for services like the Red' united with the economic strength of Cross, ambulance drivers, etc., but if Then there was the more recent in one cominon trading bloc.

Germany they choose this optiQn then they have to issue of where- the capital ot Germany The implications on the U.S. economy serve. for longer then 18, months). The . should be located. Should it remain, 'could be staggering if our trade with . German military is still under the watchBonn, a small Univ~rsity town and the .

Europe isrestricted.Uermany will be the . ful eye of the .North Atlantic Treaty home of Ludwig ~on Beethoven? Or . major player on the European Commu,OrganizMon (NATO}andhasno nuClear should it ,ht mo~ed Beriin,.the former ' nity team and is ,one of the countries 'weapon$ dir~tly , at their service (tbe Prulsian E~pire ,and the capital of pushing the hardest for complete·Euro, tJ.S .'has mi~sil~s ~(jn GermaFl ,soil).

Third Reich? The decision w~, reacbed pean integration (while Great Britain is aftermuchdeb~eandpoUticlOng-Berlin . If there is a reason to fear trying hard nOE to give too much of their willbethenew'capiJalofGeITnany(with . 'Germany, it will come from their awesovereignty). Of course, the U.S. and, Bonn serving as an ~dmipj.straiive censome economic might, not their military Japan are not going to drop off the face of . tet). strength (or lack of it). Jt can be argued the earth;so we may see a world divided into three major trading blocs.

This move has further worried

by Scoff Kot;her

H

in

to

tlle

•

~~

•

Germany is hardly a heaven on ' earth though;they have their share of , . problems too. Investment. of Western companies in .the area .. that was East .

Germany is occurring at a much slowe~ rate than Chancellor Helmut Kohl pre, dict~. This will only prolong the conversion of that region. Kohl has also'gone back6n hiS promise of "no n,ew , taxes. ;'He also slapped a large tax hike to help pay fotreunification. ' ,.

Far right-wing parties are . growing . at alarming rates in eastern Germany. These parties are close to the Neo-NaziS and are for a "Germany for the Germans." Theyresent any foreigQers holdlng jobs that could be held by Ge!'mans. They aIso are agaiDst the U.S. for still having troops and nUclear weapons ' . stationed there.

Another major problem in .

Germany is pollution. The factories 'in the old east had absolutely no restrictions on the amount of pollutants they released 'into tpe atmosphere; If the Germans do not do somethj,ng about the emission , leveis from their automobiles soon, the remaining forests will quickly yanish.

However, these problems are small compared to ,the overall direction~ . that the country of Germany is headed. ' With the breakup of the Soviet Union, ' Germany will increasingly become the most influential state in Europe. So as the month of October approaches, consider the implications that the German juggernaut will}J.ave, not only in Europe, but on the entire world.

1 ~ ••

Are California Univetsities beco~ing Diploma Mills? legislation~ which may pass this year-':' from the top one-fourth. Community Equity is no substitute for ~dri-, is designed to' in~rease ,e9ucational opcolleges are open to everyone else. , , cational quality - especially for disa~­ , portunities for "underrePresented" ethvantaged students. Those who enter But the racial compositions' of populist California econo-, . nic and socioeconomic gI'~ups. · But it co!lege with poorly developed academic . the student bodies- and the graduating mist disCovers.that ~ollege doesn't set mit to impr~)Ve th~· education skills'have enough troubles. As sOcial classes ~ don 'treflect the ethnic mix of graduates earn 30 perc.ent these students receive. mstead'they re- ' critics such as Thomas Sowell and Walter state residents. While eight percent of quire higher education offi~i31s to meet more than those who don 'thave degrees.

Williams have noted, placing these stu1986 high school graduates were blacks a iarget- racially balanced graduation dents at, say, aU.c. campus, when they So that the state's voters pass an initia.rates. Affirmative action officers may ' and 20 percent were Latinos, among . mIght be stated for Cal State or a corn- . tive that automatically awards bachelo~"s University of California freshman in delight in the legislature's rgoa)s,. Yet munity college, can simply overwhelm degrees to all high school graduates and 1988, only five percent were black and them. ' ,.r , stud{mts of all races and eeonotnic classes other California riatives 'who ~ t'8 of' 12 IX<fCent Latinos.

And of those rewho seek academic e.xcellenc~ and age and older. No longer will¢ose wno ceiving bachelor's degrees from u.c.

'State officials should instead have college 'dipiorrias enjoy undemo- " .the taXpayers who f~t th~ir bills- will ' campuses in 1988, less than four Percent· fo.cu$ on the education stud~nts get besuffer. . , cratic ad~aritages. The income of all were blacks, and eight percent Latinos. fore entering college. Students who are adult Californians will rise. , For the past three decades, ·better prepared for post secondary ,eduSq the h~gislature told California lawmakers have pursued three .

Under those circumstan~es, of cation will be more likely to stay in California's post-secondary educators: goals in higher education: Access to course, simply having a college diploma school and graduate. A school choice Thou shalt' graduate racially balanced , _ wouldn't miraculously raise your salary . . ' qUality education for all qualified resiprogram for elementary and high schools, classes. Assembly Bills 462 (introduced dents;solideducationalprograrrisrun by And the initiative itself is fiction- the which would allow students of all eco, by Tom Hayden) and 3993 (introduced brainchild 'of Robert A. Heinlein iI) his - competent t~achers; and diverse student nomic ,..backgrounds to:choose the best 1982 novel Fnday ; : . ~ut iiifluentla. ' bodies led py program~ , that help all . by Speaker Brown) target bothadmlssion schools, \Vou1dprovide a good start. Tax policies and graduation rates. Along , CaiiforniaLegislatocS":"::" led by Assem,students develop ·their pot~ritial. credits, vouchers or even an open en, with lofty language about reducing racbly Speaketwillie Bro~n':"':" have gi\ien ' , The state has ~~ acce~s to its . ism andincreasing opportunity, the bilis .' , rollment plan for public school students the genefai principle home in theOoloen ,. , could help. UnfortunatelyforCalif<;mlia , schools by providing virtually tuition- . offer this "remedy" for racial imbalance: students, Superintendent of Public InS~te's leg3Icooe. Itcol1ld Permanently '. 'free enroIimenn~ allre~ide'~tS.' Still, it By the year 2000, the student bodies and struction Bill Honig is one of the nation's rewards the best studettts by establishing devalue the nation's largest higher edugraduating classes of each division of the. . cation network. most outspoken .. opponents of school , a hierarchy inside the university system. higher education system should mirror .'choice.

The University of California canlpuse$ . the racial and ethnic makeup of the state.

F01.:three consecutive years the recruit from only the top .one-sixth of The bills easily passed the legislative legislature has' considered bills that el)California laws already under, high school 'graduating classes; the , committees last year, but they never .' ,mine the goal of competenf teaching. courage "educational ' equity" . in the ·C~ornia State system ,~eeks students . ,reached the full Assembly -Cor a vote.

The state requjre~ community colleges' state's postsecondary institutions. The y . ;.Coiltinued on 'page 11 I

byRick Henderson

a

:I'

--,--,---

, ,.". BINGHAMTON

-

-"

,

REVIEW

,

.

P~ge

'.

4

, 11

Atnerica to Congress:,

Political Mudslingling

Practice What You Preach

, W

by John Maggio ,

That's how Capitol Hill ,does "more then VicePresidentB ush decided to offset

by Edwin Feulner ' with less." his image of weakness by attacking the elevision has made an unbehy is itthatpbliticians never credibility of his opponent.

Soon, com. lievable impact on'the lives of Indeed,earlier this seem to practice what they mercials aired featuring Willie Horton, a Americans. Evolving from ,a year, virtually all congressional commit~ , preach? ' , ' Massachusetts murderer on furlough from , tees asked for budget.increases, most of vital form of entertainment, '~ievision 'prison who tortured a Maryland man and Think back fora moment to the them way above the rate of inflation. the has become an,e~y means to reach. an , rapedhisfiancee. Dukakis' counterattack peak - or the pit"'-::" of the recession.,In : Senate Banking Committee,for enormous audience, particularly voters..

January, ' was extensive, but a little too late. Willie example,iequest~ a 45 percen~ budget Realizing this fact, PQlitici~s '~d po.Horton was alreaqy a household name and hike for fiscal 1992 , t o help .cope ~ith the Senate Majority Leader George Mitchlitical organizations have been.capable describing DUkakis as a "liberal", truly savings and loan scandal. But if the ell warned that the American people of swaymg public op~~n in v,arious \destroyed his chances for obtaining the , must "do more with less.;' Not unfea- , ,banking committee's staff of42 failed to ways, usually in under a mmute with .presidency. Dukakis decide~ to las~ out. prevent · the $300 billion -S&L sonable words for a nation locked in ar:t commercials. '. and try to smear his opponent. The nightmare,why should we think that more economic do~nttirn. ' Commercials weren'tthef~t , Iran-contra scandal sUlfaced, connections determining factors in elec.tions. Tele- , .. with drug dealing Manuel Noriega even appeared, and rumors 'were created con- ' vised debates were dommant in the ce~ing a mistress of George Bush. Hon- ' early yearS. It has wid~ly discuS~d was quickly covered by mud as esty that if Richard Nixon would have criticism and deceit became primary conshaved and worn a diffeFent colorsuit, cerns.

The American public was partly to 14~OO he would have won the presidential , bl~e since these commercials proved to , election over John F. Kennedy in 1960. be more effective than pursuing tedious Vice Presi<\entialdebates 'also were discussions on topics such as the trade soon televised and Dan Quayle was money 'and stafLwilliielp them do any deficit. In a News~~ekpoll (October 3, Next,the senator from Maine shown unfavorably as Lloyd Bentsen better? ' 1988),40% of those ques.tioned felt news thinly expostUlated that "government criticized him as not being Jack organizations were most responsible for The only house committees that must .do the same, to be more careful Kennedy. Unfortunately, American negative aspects pr~sent in the presidendidn't get more money were the two that with your tax dollars." citizens have been voting because of , I tial campaign. probably needed one's television appearance rather than Bravo. But what has Congress one's political experience. , Negative advertisement has not it the most -ethics and intelligence. done since the senators s€rn1onizing7 limited itself to pdlilical campaigns. ' Re~' Hired more staff and given itself record-.

In recent years, commercials " Congressional staff play a'dicently, Supreme Court nominations have high budget increases. Indeed,Congress have played ~n important part in derect role in the re~election campaigns of has become a city unto itself,with a $2.5 termining who will be elected to certain , been dragged threw the proverbial mud Senate and House members;i>roducing , which has negatively affected their future Billion .annual budget and more than office poSitions. Instead of promoting the missive taxpayer - funded mailings 00: our highest court. Judge Robert' Bork , 37,OOOemployees-apopulationgreater a particular candidate and that person' s around election time. They also write the was the greatest victim of such vicious than that of II state capitals. views, political strategists have found letters ,make the phone calls,and arrange assaults. Due to his ideology, those who it easy to gain support by criticizing the hearings to pressure the adn1inistraThe growth of congressional opposed him created commercials inunopponents. Despite,popular belief, the tion on 'various policy'issues. Powerful dated with falsities~for example, c1ailning -', , staff is eye-popping. Congress this year ' formerLee Atwater was notresponsible incumbents owe much ,o f their dout to , will employ. almost 14,00 , new staff thatJudge BOrksupportedpoll taxes. These for the negative ad phenomenon; a man rumors swayed public opinion and also their large staffs. No wonder they Want members --.:.. which includes personal by the name of Bill Moyers began it all. more . . , . Senate approval deSpIte the fact thatJudge staff,suchaspresssecretaries,pluscooks, , ) Who is Bill Moyers? He is Bork was the most experiencedjudge ever But if Congress can't resist beauticians,and travel agents - than it the founder of negative television adnominated to serve,on the Supreme Court. going on it's own. self-indulgent spend1980.

Figured separately ,personal ' didin vertising. As an aide to Lyndon B. Lately, negative ads'have been removed ing sprees,itcan'tPOssibly be disciplined staff,or those working directly for the Johnson, he is credited for designing a from the screen which criticized several enough to trim federal deficits or wastemembers of Congress,~as grown from commercial which largely dete1lIlined Senators on the Judiciary Committee who fulgovernment programs. America , 6,791 to more than 19:000 since ' the 1964 presidential C1unpaign. The dislikeC!arence Thomas, PresidentBush ,s .... ,,.' ~ ';~ .... .. <_ infamous commercial featured a young nomination to 'the ,Court. While ' these 1960. Committee ~taff;likewise;has~ore ~ , : 'to Congress: Practice what ybu preach. girl picking petals from daisy as an , ·pro-Thomas com~ercials were forms of than tripled,from 910 in 1960 to more ominous yoice counted down to a . negative ads, should such comrriercials tie than 2,800 today. nuclear explosion. This commercial ' banned from television?

Note: Edwin'Feulnerfs pre~ident . " stU'Prise~ Bigger s~s always instilled the idea of a -nuclear war if I Barry Goldwater waselectedPresident The First Amendment of our ' ~ean bigger budgtftS. The congression3J. the Heritage Foundation,a -of the United States. - Since that ftrst - Constitution~ protects the rights of indibudget for 1992 will 'swell to 'all estiWashington-based public policy negative a~ appeared, its effectiveness viduals to make negative commercials. · mated $3 billio~~or ,about $5.6 million ." researcfz-'institUte. has led many political aides to create .'!''hough I may ~rsonally disagree with per 'year fOr each ~~ipber of ~~miress.,A' , similar ide~ in order to attract voters. -,," the way people criticize other public offi- r-~~--~~~~~~~--~----------, " 'cials, such advertisements should be per- , -Conti~ued fro~, p~gel0 , , . The most memorable negamitted in ,so far as falsities are absent from to have raci~y balanced faculti~s by th~ C,aliforni~' s educators focus tive ads were seen during the 1988 them~ The most UnPortant issue is who to " year2'005. During ~at time, the colleges on graduation rates and ethni~ compo- . presidential race between George Bush properly blame for these assaulting ads, . will hire more than, 18,000 faculty sition rather than on improving the and Michael Dukakis. Advisors to the father of negative commercials., members. By the e,nd of next year, 30 education disadvaIitaged students re, percent of those hjted must belong to an ceive, the value of all California degrees 'ethnic minority. But there aren'tenough willplummet. Once a college degree , " qualified candidates. As Abigail .Th~ .becomes one's birthright, rather than the ernstrom pointed out iIi the July, 1990 product of years of academic effort, it has little worth. .

Commentary, nationwide fewer than 400 blacks received Ph.D.s in 1988~nsteadof addres~ing thec~lUses about two percent of all doctoral degrees of lower minoritY performance in the awarded. In most areas of the humani- ' schools - and looking at alternatives in _ties and naturai sciences, no blacks reprimary and seCondary education that ceived a Ph.D. "Discouraging as these m.ay help -California's lawmakers and numbers are," ,sIre' writes, "they are geteduoators are l1urting the groups they tingworse:" The quest for racially bal-, intend to ~rve.

It isn't likely the state's , anced faculties will deprive those students you taxpayers will continl;le to subsidiZe , who desperately nee~ strong teaching. colleges and universities to the tune of These battles have spread be$11 billion ayear if they're nothing more yond California: . 'The 'Middle States ,than diploma mills. ' and Schools' is .

Association of Colleges send leUers to: 'Binghamton Review, , Rick Henders~n,formerly a senior edialready holdingbackaccreditation when' 80x 6000, , SUNY-Binghamton, tor of The Carolina Critic. is assistant a school fails to ' recruit ac~eptable

T

The growihof congressional staff is eye-pop-' ping. Congress this year will employ' almost new staff members

been

•

.

•

\

I.

/

"

"1:

':.'"

a

0/

-

~.~

,.~

<

I

:

,

y

Love us,

Hate lis,

Write us,

Tell us.. what

think..!

P.O.

, Binghamton ,N.Y. '13902 - ,

)

./

numbers ofminority 'faculty and students. , managing editorofREASON magazine.

•

..... j

-

. Page ' 12 '

October 1991 ~

...

,~

Diversity Requirement "

'

The EPp e's proposed diversity'requir~ment 'will only be de~mental to futur

by Paul D. Schnier

' B

non-We~tern culture class, we will be _, looking at other cultures, but we cannot possibly see that culture as the people who actually live in it see it themselves.

The fact O'f the matter is a Western student can never totally remove a Western "bias." In fact, progqUn requirements such as this Dne ofren turn into 'mere courses ,which bash the West and label ' the great' 'Western classics as "racist, sexist, and homophO'bic."

industry," which produces and markets ' ,ethnic and gender-based resentment."

e students

approve only a small number of CDurSeS . which actually will satisfy the requirement; thus forcing students into CDurses where the administration carl promote its own political agenda.

eginning this week the Har.,.

The proposed diversity re' pur CO'llegeCouncil will .,e. quirement as i~ stands-right now is ex-gin discussions on 'whether tremely vague. According to' the recor, not to implement the diversity reommendationsby theEPPC,departments Currently at SUNY -Bingquirement as proposed by the Educawill indicate to the Dean's office which hamton, students have a great deal O'f tional Plannipg and Policies Commi(tee of their cDurses-satisfy the two require- , choice in, the courses they take. If ,(EPP.(:). If passed.. all entering Harput .' ments. A· curriculum committee will .implemented the diversity require!llent college students worild be required to' then'approve or disapprDve the course to' 'will inhibit that choice. There is notake two courses. One course will stre~s meet the requifemeni. Will a cDurse on denying the fact that the study of other. nO'n-Wesienlcultures, the other will stress Often times, 'requirements Df CI~sical MythO'IDgy (which is a course .cultures and peoples is an important ' are~ sqch as race, gender" etllnicity, .this type at other institutions fail to give on the proposedlistwhich is being sent study, but SQ are many Dther subjects . religion or sexual orientation. -1'hjs students a greater understanding Df to_the Harpur College Council) be apThe · idea that we CaImot learn about proposal promises to <;reate discussion Wemselves.andour cDmplex world. They proved if it discusses issues dealing with. - . others without taking a formal course is and CO'ntrO'Versy about issues facing om- ' merely promDte "groupthink'~ artd l)ave wDmen? What about biblical lristory ridiculous. We learn from each other !IDiversity. abhlkariizingeffeet. As Dinesh SDUZa courses (also Dn the-list)? Will militant just by being a part of our CO'mplUnity has said, "[Students] Dnly emerge,(and - political activists get more lhan a fair ' and interacting with peDple Df all races, The supporters of this proPO'sal this'is the political Dbjective O'f ,the ac" snare Df cDurses approved to satisfy the religions, colors, sexual Dreintations and believe that students are not taught tivists. who lobbied ~for sucli courses) requirem ent? By leaving the the prDposed so on;, What the University should be enO'ugh about ' O'th~r cultures, and are angrier and more bitter toward their o\V'n requirement vague, ' the administration soiving to do is provoke thought and not only taught from a white, male, heteroculture. In other words, mu1ti-~ultural can gain approval for it easier, and then cultural cheerleading, only then will we sexual point Of view. The fact O'(the studies at Stanford and elsewhere are have a true diversity -a diversity Df ideas. matter is, this is not true. Looking through turning 'intO' little more than a"grievance the cO'urse guide, it is evident that tJIere is aplethO'raO'f"diversity courses" available to students. Many departments' have plenty CO'urseS in the categories of race, ethnicity. gender, religion, and oon- ' Western -studies" ~ Professor Michael Mittelstfldthas,said, 'The curriculum at Harpur College has steadily. for at least thepasttwentyyears,exp~ded to-include such courses withoutany, seriOllS oPPO'sition. In fact, such -"diversity" in the curriculum has always been-welcomed." _NO' one is arguing that tbese .courses should be eliminated, but students who, c;hoose not to take them should haye a ' rig~t to do so. . ,:

b:

"IF YOU'RE 11m-COCAIIE .

WE1E GOT ALINE FOR vob.

There is nO' core curriculum at our Uriiversity. requiring $tudents to Wee any cO'urses dealinR , with "Western ~tudies," why then ShDuld students wh~ , .dDn 't wis}! to study non-Westt1rn culture be fDrced to' do. so? This requirement cotftd in fact be useful tocompfunent Dur learning of the West - to. betteruhderStand Qur own culture - if a Westem requirement -was present. The committee believes th,at non--Western ~studies' -is so vital to our education nere 'at BingbamtQn that it merits a separate,requirement.

As- e>Uf socie,ty becomes mO're diverse, . they feel it i,s the UniveI:Sity-''g duty to' educate us about -other' cultures. The drafrversion of the'recommendation or' ' the Hru;purCDllege EducatiDnal .arid Planning Committee'says, "Students will gain a 'new perspective on the broad based or narrowlydefmed' cDmmunity, and/or reap the benefits affDrded by an ' . inclusive curriculum." They further stare, "These recommendations(the diverSity requirement) are made after consideriDg the, educatiDnal needs O'f the students today and the leaders Df to'morrow."

Why doesn't the UniverSity require all . ,stu~ents to complete at least on~ la~ .raJory oriented s.cience otone:~omp1:li€r CDur~? As, Dur so<;,iety becomes ~O're technDlogiea,llyorienteq•.itis going to be. almost impossible fDrci~ens, It~t'alDne leaders, to survive in' society withDut these skills.

One ho~of this requirement is to eliminate a, stude~t"s Westem and European "bias.~' But since we,are a part ofa Western society" it IS impossible to' view anything withDut a Western slant since everything is truly relative. In a

Now there's another tragic · , side effect of cocaine.

It:s ,can~d unemployment. ~: Last Year alone', Americas

.·1 ,

businesse s lost more'than $60 billion to grogs. ~o this year, . most of the Fortune 500 will be administering drug tests. Fail~

ing the test means you won't be ~onsidered 'for employment.

Arid that's a'little dose ot'reaJity.

WE'RE PUITIIiI DRUllOUT OF BUlIESS.' Partnership for a Drug-Free Ameri.ca