TIME
A throwback
on 1996' Women Changing History
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
CHANEL
CONTENTS A Tragic Boom: TWA flight 800 Air Crash The Battle Over Abortion Women Changing History: RBG POP OF THE WEEK: Spice Girls Sports: The Playoffs gone wild. Sports: Wimbledon Champ. Blockbuster--Mission Impossible
Traveling with airplane is always an exciting journey as the plane radio always said, “We wish you a pleasant journey.” And the invention of aircraft advanced globalization. However, plane can also be hazardous and concerning at the same time. What if, your family members or your loved ones, is having a trip today, but as soon as you got home from dropping them at the airport, you got a call, informing a plane crush occurred? It is certainly a depressing and overwhelming experience. And this is the exact feeling that relatives of TWA air crush victims felt on the tragic day. On the day of July 17, 1996, a shocking tragedy occurred. A Trans World Airline’s Boeing 747 exploded when it is on the trip from New York City to Paris. At the time, the plane just departured from JFK airport and made its way to the coast of Long Island(Zimmer). But instantaneously, the aircraft exploded and sunk into the ocean below, without a warning. All 230 passengers on board died. Soon after the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board quickly operated an investigation that went on for four years, which is known as the longest investigation ever in history. They managed to put 95% of the plane back together within 30 months(Zimmer).
" The bodies of all 230 passengers on TWA Flight 800 have been found. Multiple and severe head, chest, and stomach injuries contributed to the occupants' deaths. " Relatives of the passengers suffered from their loss. At the same time, the news of aircrash went all over the mass media–television, and newspaper. And the conspiracy theories went crazy; some believed it was a bomb attack, missile attack, even a meteor strike(Zimmer). And the conspiracies grow the fear of domestic terrorism. In 1996, people were still processing the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the 1995 Oklahoma City explosion. Discussiong and speculations was going all over the places in the chat rooms of the newly invented World Wide Web. As Shane Miller, a professor at Saint John’s University, said, “It was really the first conspiracy of the internet age, it was the first to be picked up and widely circulated online.(Zimmer)” Indeed, the internet connected people from the globe, but at the same time, it helped spread the fear and scare brought by the conspiracies flowing around. After the investigation, the theory of missile strike was eliminated. Then, finally after spending $40 million into the case, in the end, they concluded that an electrical short could have sparked flammable vapor trapped in a nearly empty fuel tank, which was a possible cause of the explosion(Zimmer). This finding changed the law– the government was then required to pump inert gas into fuel tanks as they empty before the flight(Zimmer). Even though the case was closed, conspiracies still went wild for years, affecting society about flying security.
NOW ON
The Battle Over Abortion Abortion, has always been one of the most controversial, emotionally charge, and provoking topic to discuss in the United States. There are mainly three distinct camps in public opinions—conservative, liberal, and moderate. Conservative, predictably, stands for opposition of abortion. They believe that fetus, the fertilized egg before turning to a baby, is a human being. Considering this point, fetus has the moral rights as other humans, so it is ethically and morally wrong to take out the fetus– it kills a life. Conversely, liberals support abortion by sorting the fetus into the category of “ biological humans that are not persons.” More specifically, they haven’t develop their psychological traits, including sentience, consciousness, the capacity for rational thought, and the ability to use language. This makes the act of abortion not a killing, just a procedure, a surgery. Lastly, there are moderate people, supporting conservative’s concern about morals, but also agreeing the biological human theory. Yet, they suggest early abortions are morally better than late ones. And in April of 1996, President Clinton vetoed a bill that would outlaw a kind of abortion procedure– “ partial-birth abortion”, which in medical literature they called as “intact dilation and extraction.” This type of abortion allows women to have the abortion process in the middle and last months of pregnancy, which by then, the child developed stronger bones and body structure. To do the surgery, the doctor would spend minutes delivering the child "intact" and then kill him/her by crushing his skull or removing his brain by suction. And people prefer this type of abortion not only because it gives women who are pregnant for months a chance, but also because the procedure prevents further harm to the women’s body. Despite the advantages the procedure brought, the opponent–especially the religious groups– claims it is morally unacceptable for killing infants, which means killing lives. And therefore the bill was created to prohibit this kind of procedure. However, Clinton made it clear that “there is no restriction on abortion, for any reason, [that] he would accept.” And in an interview, the President said “I came to understand that this is a rarely used procedure, justifiable as a last resort when doctors judge it necessary to save a woman’s life or to avert serious health consequences to her.” Clinton stated abortion should not be restricted since he did not want to risk women’s lives with pregnancy. Thus he vetoed the partial-birth abortion bill. This made a step forward on the topic of abortion. For decades, abortion has been a controversial and thought-provoking topic. Public opinion camps and the government keep going back and forth on the acceptance of abortion. Yet, with the veto from President Clinton, it is certain that social conscience will be more open-minded.
Jump to Fly.
Look back at world history, and American history, single-sex schools had been a long-existing type of education. Even though in the 60s and 70s, many schools started co-ed teaching, it was still common that boys and girls had separate classes. Later on, most public schools were already mixed, and the ones with single-sex education were mostly private schools(US News). And in today’s topic, the Virginia Military Institute, known as the VMI, is one of the single-sex schools. The VMI school, founded in 1839, is the earliest-found state-supported military college in the nation. They were known to produce leaders and individuals that embrace the lifestyle and values of the military spirit. The graduates of the institute would become citizen-soldiers, and they are well-prepared to become both civilian leaders and military leaders whenever the nation needed. They designed the programs in order to teach the students life-long values: integrity, devotion to duty, self-discipline, and self-reliance(VMI). To achieve the goals, they were famous for their “adversative method” of teaching– physical rigor, mental stress, absolute equality of treatment, absence of privacy, etc–simply treating the cadets as in the army(Justia). Also, inside the system, the seniors would help train the underclassmen with strict rules as well. In other words, besides the school curriculum, the upperclassmen played an important role in educating cadets. This is a major reason that the public did not support women joining the institute–they thought women can not handle the rigorous and harsh training. Women in Virginia did not have the right and opportunity to join the VMI, essentially because of the discrimination that “ women can’t survive the training” and the system was not designed for women. And basically, the school declined the chance for women to have equal educational rights, since the female wasn’t allowed in the school. So the United States sued Virginia State and VMI, claiming the male-only admission
policy violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause– “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (Congress.gov)” In the trial, Virginia argued that single-sex education yields benefits for education and promotes diversity in educational approaches(Justia). They also argued that their teaching method cannot be modified for women, and if so, it will destroy the program’s purpose. Moreover, VMI’s mission of creating citizen soldiers was “ inherently unsuitable to women.” Virginia stated in the court: “ The notion that admission of women would downgrade VMI's stature, destroy the adversative system. (Justia)” The result of the court is a 7to-1 decision, deciding VMI’s admission policy was unconstitutional(Oyez). Ruth Bader Ginsburg Justice delivered the opinion of the Court— in which 5 of the Justice joined the opinion, one filed a concurring opinion, one with dissent, and the last Justice did not take part in the decision(Justia). The Virginia State and VMI failed to prove their single-sex education system contributes to educational diversity. And in the decision, the Supreme Court considered Virginia’s reasoning and evidence not to rank as "exceedingly persuasive(Justia)."Plus, the female-only leadership school VWIL could not provide the same military training, faculty,
Cadets gathered in the Virginia Military Institute campus(Jared Soares)
courses, facilities, financial opportunities, or alumni reputation and connections that VMI provides to the male students. This shows clearly unequal education access under the watch of the Virginal State. This, therefore, violated women’s constitutional right to equal protection(14th Amendment). As a result, the Supreme Court ordered the school to admit women, or else, forfeit its government funding(Legal Momentum). After the United States v. Virginia case, it appeared the Supreme Court was heading toward employing a harsher type of intermediate scrutiny in gender-based equal protection arguments(Stobaugh, 2002). It made people realize that in the Supreme Court, the Justice was always male, which means the court would view the cases from a male’s perspective. Then it would be harder to achieve gender equality in court. Likewise, it affected society’s view and triggered a discussion on whether single-sex education is a good system. This makes people start to think about whether girls’ schools and boys’ schools have equal sources, facilities, and equal treatment. Eventually, it makes the whole education system more progressive and evolved.
Ginsburg J. took a big part in the Supreme Court decision. She was the main writer of the court’s judgment, and she delivered the opinion to the public about the decision. Her words, her opinion, her point of view, and her passion for women’s rights, had a significant impact on the case. The case reflected the importance of Ruth Bader Ginsberg in fighting for women’s constitutional equality. Throughout her life, not just as a lawyer, but also as a Justice, she helped a series of significant sex discrimination cases. Her contribution changed the society with legal rights, for instance, a landmark case of hers called Reed v. Reed, empowered women with more access to the estate. Ginsburg’s philosophy as justice is that she believed in a living Constitution, a form of jurisprudence that believes the United States Constitution is a document that adapts to the times, taking on different meanings depending on when it is interpreted. This philosophy is discussed by many people in the States and is as well a thought-provoking discussion– living constitutionalism vs. originalism. The former believed as time goes on, they should change their interpretation to adapt to the world. On the other hand, originalism believed the Constitution should be followed word to word, and it is unacceptable to change its original meaning.
Rehnquist Court 1994-2005(Justia)
And RBG’s belief more or less spurred a trend in the law field to follow the living constitution. In general, Ruth Bader Ginsburg can be seen as a pioneer in advocating women's rights in the legal field. Her legacy lasts in many American citizens’ hearts, inspiring other women to stand up for themselves.
Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception. -Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
S
s
G i e r c i l p
Wannabe
S p i ce U
! d l r o W p t he
Spice Girls is a British pop group formed by five girls, Melanie Chisholm (Melanie C), Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown (Melanie B), Victoria Adams (Victoria Beckham), and Emma Bunton, in 1994. During its most active era of 1996-2000, it became the bestselling and the most successful girl group of all time in the pop music industry. Its two multi-platinum albums, “Spice” and “Spiceworld” hit six consecutive UK #1 hits and sold over 65 million copies worldwide. It made its debut by releasing the single Wannabe on June 26, 1996. And their music video which was released after several weeks was dominating the music channels. Paul Gorman, a contributing editor of the music industry paper Music Week, recognizes their potential, “Just when boys with guitars threaten to rule pop life an all-girl, in-yer-face pop group has arrived with enough sass to burst that rockist bubble!!”, he wrote. This song later proved to the world it is undoubtedly a global hit, hitting number 1 in 31 countries. Moreover, they became not only the biggest selling single by an all-female group but also the biggest selling debut single of all time(Vogue).
♡
Spice Girls 𓆩 𓆪 Spice Girls
Make it last forever, Friendship Never Ends!
♡
Spice Girls 𓆩 𓆪 Spice Girls
Movie of the Week:
Mission: Impossible Mission Impossible is a 1996 “espionage science fiction action film” directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Cruise. The movie’s story plot was based on a television show with the same name Mission Impossible. In the film, under false suspicion of betraying the country, an American agent Ethan Hunt is forced to find and reveal the true spy without the assistance of his organization. Not only the plot and the action scenes were fascinating, but the theme music became an iconic melody in the later Mission Impossible series. The theme song was created by U2 band members, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton. It soon climbed to the top 10 charts and even was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. With the components of music, plots, actor performance, and stunts, it became the third highest-grossing film of the year 1996. And it also successfully spawned the Mission: Impossible film series(Fandom).
"Mission: Impossible is an incredible action thriller that's complex, smart and extremely tense(IMDB)"
Sports News:
Richard Krajicek Won the Wimbledon 1996' Richard Krajicek was a Dutch tennis player born on December 6, 1971. He started his tennis life at the age of 5. And he quit school in 1988 to focus entirely on his tennis career. At the only grass-court tournament in continental Europe, in late June, Richard Krajicek won the 1996 Wimbledon men’s singles title in the summer, defeating MaliVai Washington 6– 3, 6–4, 6–3.
And in the quarter-finals, he beat the three-time defending champion, Pete Sampras, in straight set. Sampras was known for dominating the grass, however, Krajicek managed to beat him and went to the finals. This 1996 Wimbledon made him prominent. Also, today, he is still the first Dutch tennis player to win the Grand Slam title(Palmer). Therefore, after Wimbledon, which is the highlight of his career, he became a legend to the German tennis fans, as well earn the respect of tennis fans all over the world.
Chicago Bulls won 4th Champion On June 16, Michael Jordan won his fourth NBA championship and fourth NBA Final MVP with the Chicago Bulls which was the first title after his come-back to the NBA. Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA three years ago as he lost the desire of playing basketball after the murder of his dad. Then, he went to the Minor League Baseball for one year(Greer). Due to his retirement, the NBA economy dropped significantly and many of the star players begged him to come back, including one legend player, Magic Johnson, whom he defeated in the final in 1991(Greer).
Finally, on March 18, 1995, Michael Jordan came back to the NBA as he said: “I’m back”. In the 1995-1996 NBA season, he led the Chicago Bulls with 72wins -10 losses to end the regular season. 72 wins in the regular season set the NBA's new record in a single season. Jordan and the Bulls made it into the Final easily as they signed a brilliant player last year–Dennis Rodman. After he joined the Bulls, the combat power in the paint for Chicago improved to the top of the league. In the final, the Bulls defeated Seattle SuperSonics in 6 games. Michael Jordan averaged 27.3 points on 41.5% shooting, 4.2 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.2 blocks in these 6 games(BasketballReference). Due to his excellent performance, he won his fourth NBA Finals MVP. Since Michael Jordan rejoin the NBA, Chicago Bulls continue their dynasty in the NBA as they won 4 NBA titles in the past 6 seasons and Michael Jordan prove himself again.
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