1
NTINEL •
Vol. 67 No. 7
Thu rsday, January 31, 1991 •
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Persian Gulfrelated articles: - see page 2 -see page 5 - see page 19
Sexual taunts, harassment rile students by Lln•l1• f 19em1n
St11r111d Editor
It's Friday, Jan. 2S. Classes are over for the day and a student is walking to her car, which is parked in the lot behind the library construction site.. As she passes the site, a construction worker sticks his tongue out and leave.5 it there. She is offended and glares her re.5ponse. He then says, "Smile honey! It wouldn't be that bad." Another scene: the fall of '90 second English 103 competency test. The topic is discrimination. Some of the students write of being discriminated against or harassed by instructors. Both of the.5e incidents occurred at North Idaho College in the past two months. Dean of Acadcmi<: Affairs Kathy Baird said, "To my knowledge, it (sexual harassment) isn't a large ~e (for NIC), but I feel there is the potential for it to be an~e." According 10 the Office of Personnel Management to government agencies, sexual harassment is defined as deliberate or repeated unsolicited verbal comments, ge.5turcs or physical contact of a sexual nature which are unwelcome. Therefore, by definition, the incident with the construction worker was harassment. "Sexual harassment can be something vt:ry oven or v,::ry subtle. The more subtle it is, the more diif1CUh it is 10 deal with," Baird said. "Being verbally derroga1ory 10 SOmt()ne and then when confronted saying ' I was just kidding' may not be se.wal harrassmcnt.u Another problem, according to English instructor ~ Mattei, is "Students don't know what hara.s.smcnl 1s, so they don't know it's a problem. . " It can be gender related or sexual in nature. Either is haras.mient," Mattei said. Semal harassment is not a new problem at NlC Plt'GJlt SH SEX p. 19
photo by Bob Shert<IM A PROUD SALUTE- NIC sophomore, physlcal therapy major and Army Reserve Drill Sergeant Mike Brumley presents arms during recent weekend drill activities.
Because ot the war In the Mlddle East, Brumley, along with many other student-soldlers, walks a tine llne bet· ween staying In school and returning to active duty.
Poll gets student opinion on war by D1rrwl 8Mhner Smtlnd Rtp0r1tr
A majority of the students a1 Nonh Idaho College suppon the United State's position in the war in the Persian Gulf region, a recent survey showed. The survey, conducted by the Sentinel approximately one week after the war began, questioned 230 NIC English students about their opinions on such things as the draft, media coverage of the war and anti-war protests. Over 82 percent of those surveyed said they supponed the U.S. position in the Gulf. Although 18 percent of students said there were tither against or undecided about the U.S. position, many stated they were opposed 10 the U.S. government's handling of the situation but still suppon the U.S. troops involved. "While I do not suppon the U.S.'s position in the Persian Gulf," one student said, " I suongly suppon the men and women who arc doing their duty there. !...was completely disgusted by the Ueatment of returning (Vietnam) veterans." The student asked that those opposed to the war to " ... not take (their) anger or disapproval oul on the people in the war, but on the government who put them there." or those surveyed, 169 (73 percent) said they have friends or relative.5 serving in the military in the Gulf. One student said she knows more 100 people who arc cumntly stationed there, including her husband.
Only 3 percent said they had panicipatcd in anti-war protcstS. That same percentage said they believe the protests would help stop the war and bring American troops home sooner. Although 61 percent of the students felt the draft would not be implemented, 46 percent said they would suppon ii: while 22 percent of those eligible for the draft said they would not abide by it if it were implimented and they were chosen. About 43 percent of the students said they thought the media was giving the war too much coverage. One student said the war wasn't over covered, however it is ovcranalyud 10 make up for the lack of infonnation coming ou1 of the region.
or those surveyed, 23 percent felt the media coverage has damaged or threatened the security of U.S. troops stationed there. "I find h far more lhrcatening that news is censored or re.5tric1ed," one student said. Of those surveyed, 92 percent said they felt Saddam HlWCin should not be allowed 10 remain in power in Iraq if the United Nations were to succeed in liberating Kuwait. Comments on this topic ranged from "Who arc we to decide who should be in power," to " He should not be allowed to remain in power and should be tried for his war crimes." Perhaps the strongest comment came from the student who said the U.S. should just "Nuke 'em!"