february 1996 - binghamton review
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Contract on BinghamtonTRANSCRIPT
Exclusive Interview with Lois B. DeFleur
BINGHAMTON REVIEW ' ·OIUlIIl' 9 'iulllhl'O':; 111<, SlIId<'1l1 .l/aKtI:,ill<' til /liIlK/WIIIIOIl l ·llh·<'ni~J' h'hru:lr~ 1996
Contract on Binghamton?
Today'!: Le!:!:on: Inequality
BU J:aculty Political Affiliation: 76% Democtat
17% Independent/Otnet 7% Republican .-r~
Faculty Democrats Far Outnumber Independents and Republicans
Student Association Grapples With Ethical Government
Binghamton's EOP Officials Are Tight-Lipped About Summer Program
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
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BINGHAMTON REVIEW Volume 9. Nwnber 5 February, 1996
Departments Editorial: Studenls should take this opportunity to ensure Iheir governmenl is operaling under Ihe highesl ethical slandards
AI Campus Prcsswatch reveals Ihe ravings of College qj;: Democrats and affi rmative action proponents
Find oul how Presidenl Clinlon and Ihe Washinglon D.C. pizza industry are relaled in Quibbles & Bits
Features Alex Galitsky shows Ihal diversily on Ihe basis of politeal alTiliation is nol prized al Binghamlon Universily
James Keane finds Ihal invesligaling Ihe BEP program is ne~t 10 impossible
Nathan Wurtzcl talks with B.U. Presidenl Lois B. DeFleur aboul Ihe budgel. public safely. and Rethinking SUNY
Joshua Trallani reports on imporlanl elhieal legislalion pending before Ihe Siudent Assoeialion
I1~ Am~' L. Gardner reports on Ihe latest shOIS fired in Ihe war over Ihe diversily requiremenl
Dawn M'Kibbin delves inlo old history in Ihe lalesl inslallmenl of her fanlasy epic "Kcilka"
Anthony J. Benardello lakes a shOI al salire-be Ihankful he's not shooling al us
Gordon Shaqlless would like 10 inform his legions of concerned fans Ihal "Sharper Image" will relurn next monlh. Gordon reported 10 B. U. laIc from winler break after a freak aceidenl in which he and a moose foughl an epic ballle over whelher or nol Bob Dole is. in fael. an animaled cadaver.
Next Issue • A modesl proposal for Ihe reform of student aclivily fee disbursement
• A studenl runs afoul of Res l .ife 's anli·drug campaign
• More politically ineorreel news, views and hUJJlor
Available on March 6
FEBRUARY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••• EDITORIAL
BINGHAMTON REVIEW 3 • ••••••••••••••••••••••••
In Search of Good Government
p:fh3PS no one past the age of ten seriously believes that a government can operate in a responsible
and ethical manner. Certainly, there is enough evidence suggesting government cannot exist without self-interest and egoism---even training-wheel governments like the Student Association at Binghamton University. Nevertheless, students seem to think we need the Student Association, so we must accept the reality of its existence and instead concentrate on ways to make it work for the students instead of the bureaucrats in power.
The Student Association sank to new 10ws---<jUite an achievement for this governing body-this semester in several areas:
• Four students who were removed from the Off Campus College Student Assembly election as a result of breaking electoral guidelines were allowed to participate in a subsequent election and won seats on the Assembly.
• A Judicial Board member was allowed to vote on a grievance calling his own election to a governing body into question. A second J-Board official voted on the grievance despite the fact it was filed by her housemate.
• The three students appointed-by whom remains unclear- to the Public Safety Advisory Conunittce had evidently made up their minds on the pending Public Safety legislation long before public input was solicited. Why bother holding hearings or questionably conducted public opinion polls if the input is meaningless?
• The Student Assembly was not seated until late November due to incompetence and meaningless conflict within the Executive Board. This proved inconvenient for organizations that have no choice but to depend on the S.A. for funding and leadership.
At press time, the Student Assembly was considering two resolutions which do not solve the problems embedded within the SA, but are a good start towards that goal. The first resolutionentitled "Do the Right Thing" -asks the Assembly to finally confirm the election of the Harpur College Council (HCC) delegates from Off Campus College. These elections were protested due to the fact that a write-in line was not included-a condition which is proscribed by SA, but not HCC guidelines. At tllis point, the prudent action is to acknowl-
edge tile delegation and make provisions to deny a recurrence of this controversy in future years.
The second proposal-" A COinmon Sense Approach to Goverrunent"-addresses conflicts of interest and reconfirmation of J-Board appointees. We believe this resolution, though underreaching and flawed, should be passed as a down payment on the changes which need to be codified in the future.
What else needs to be done? For starters, all political appointments made by the S.A. should be abolished in favor of direct election or deletion of position. Political appointments- no matter who grants the patronage- tend to be given to friends and allies, not the best people for the job. We also believe the student activity fee structure is patently unfair and needs serious reform (see our ncx1 issue for details).
Chances are that our readers can think of many other ways to reform the Student Association. These ideas should be forwarded to your elected representatives, whose names and numbers are included below for your convenience.
If we have to have a goverrunent, let's at least make it work.
BIN GHAMTON REVIEW
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Pipe Dream December 5, 1995
IfYOII canjind all of the misstatements, deceptions and oli lrighllies in this Perspective penned by College Democrats Mark Saltzman, Thomas Scotto and Rob Pitko/sky, we 'll send YOII a ji-ee subscription 10 the Review for the resl of your life upon graduation ...
"Currently. the Republican Congress in Washington is proposing drastic Federal educational cuts. which could affect a large majority of students on this campus and on others across tltis pation. Under their plans. higher education could be destroyed ...
"Clinton 's [directloan j program has saved the federal government millions of dollars ...
" In total, the Republican Congress wish [sicjto cut nearly $10 billion from Federal student loan programs ...
"President Clinton has vowed to protectthe interests of students ... as shown by his veto of the Congressional spending measure two weeks ago. This temporary spending bill was loaded with education and environmental cutbacks ...
"The President is up against a hardlined Republican Congress who are [sic] destined to make higher education unachievable for millions of Americans."
Pille Dream December 12. 1995
The real tragedy of this editorial is thaI Pipe Dream's E-Board had penned a well-reasoned and well-writ/en passage concerning the Judicial Board jiasco immediately above the/allowing importalll proclamation ...
"TI13nks to a repeal of the Federal speed limit (55 mph for those of you who forgot it already). the state of Montana has essentially abolished all speed limits, deferring to drivers to use their best judgment on the safest speed for their cars.
" In any state in the Northeast, a similar judgment would be absolutely disastrous. Most drivers here are already insane ... "
CAMPUS PRESSWATCH
Asian Outlook December 1995
Have any of yo II ever thollght, "Gee, the plight of Asial1-Americal1S today is a lot like the plight of Jews dllring the Holocallst?" We never have either. bill slIch is reality in Ihe worlel according to Sis; Maw ...
"Changing names during war time is common. During the Holocaust, many Jewish people fleeing Hitler changed their names. This was out of sheer necessity to live. But by changing their names. the Jewish people camouflaged their identities as Jews. After Jewish families changed their last names, they lost their true ones . My friend who changed her name because of persecution lost part of her family history. She cannot trace her family before Hitler 's rule. The consequence of changing her name was severe. She has lost a part of herself in history.
"1 am drawing a parallel between what happened to the Jewish people and what is happening with Asian people in America. "
JANUARY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••
Gyncgra[Jh Fall 1995
No dOllbt, poet lallreate Carole Anthony was merely trying to laud the accomplishments of working mothers, bllt gosh darn iI, don) they teach anything abolll history in fH:Jlllen s S(udies? ..
" When Dante contemplated Hell Or Shakespeare penned a sonnet, Did junior interrupt to say His cake had ketchup on it?
"When Socrates was teaching youth And Plato wrote Phaedo, Were they the ones who cleaned !be mess The children made with Play-doh
'' If Edmond ,sicj Burke had to work On all his kids' ablutions. Would he have had the time and strength To speak on revolutions?"
Asian Outlook December 1995
Another month passes ... another magazine is released by a campus cultural grollp ... another piece defending the horror of legalized discrimination appears. Life is too predictable ...
"Many need to be educated about Affirmative Action-this includes the majority alld minority. It is important to understand why Affirmative Action exists and who benefits. It was set up to provide equal opportunities to groups who are traditionally oppressed. These groups include people of color, women, QS well as \vhites who do not enjoy the same economic privileges and access to opportunities as others ...
':My frustrations come from the minorities who have benefited from Affirmative Action and want to close the door to the rest of under-represented groups ... Some of these people believe that since they know what it is like to have as much money as other white kids, they can sympathize with the conservative rhetoric and claim that EOP is wasting the money of whites."
Billghamtoll Ulliversity'sjacliity is 1I0t diverse whell it comes to political affiliatioll
Students at BU have a variety of classes to choose from, taught by professors of diverse backgrounds,
races, and colors, It might be interesting to examine the political affiliations of some of these professors, in order to gage the level of i.deological diversity which exists at our university. An analysis of public voter registration records for some of Binghamton University 's professors registered in Broome County clearly shows that the faculty is dominated by Democrats,
Of the nine departments surveyed, three had only one faculty member who was registered as a Republican, and four additional departments had no Republicans at all (refer to table for complete data). In total , the results for the nine departments show 9 1 Democrats (76%), 8 Republicans (7%), and 20 Other (17%). On the other hand, according to a survey conducted by u. , the national college magazine with the highest circulation, (including on our own campus), 55% of college students consider themselves conservative, while only 35% consider themselves liberal. Certainly, merely the fact that the vastmajority of BU's faculty members"a re registered Democrats docs not necessarily mean that they all indoctrinate only left-wing ideology and propagandize liberal ideas. Most ofBU's faculty are outstanding professors who teach their courses with as little bias as possible, and do not penalize students with opposing views,
By Alex Galitsky
Department Democrat
History 11
Political Science 6
English 24
Economics 8
Philosophy 6
Anthropology 10
Psychology 13
Sociology 5
Geological Science 8
Republican Other
0 5
1 2
I I
2 2
I 0
0 4
0 3
0 2
3 I
6 BINGH AMTON REVIE W
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Yet. we are living in the subjective world. and there are very few things that can be taught with no bias at all. One can imagine this with the followi ng hypothetical situation: the class is 20th centU!)' American Histo!)'. On the multiplechoice test the students are asked the following question : Which is true about the 1980 's? The choices are a) the rich got poorer, the poor got poorer; b) the rich got poorer, the poor got richer: c) the rich got richer, Ole poor got poorer; d) the rich got richer, the poor got richer. While nobody would question that the first two choices arc wrong. the right answer. whether it is c) or d) . might depend on professor 's political perspective. If the professor is more liberal the correct answer would most probably be c). If the professor is morc conservative the COf
rect answer would most probably be d). Tltis might not be the result of a purposeful bias on the part of the professor, but instead a result of the evidence that the professor is most likely to show in class. These are dependent upon which publi-
Professional Service ...
COVER STORY cations the professor looks at. which in tum might depend upon the professor's ideology.
Many professors deliberately try to hide their ideology in order to appear more fair to eve!)·body and facilitate discussion . But the uncertainly can only hurt the students.
It seems that despite the apparent diversity among Binghamton's faculty.lhe intellectual diversity ofBU's professors leaves much to be desi red. The university is committed to ensure "equality of treatment and opportunity on the campus regardless of race, sex. color. marital status, disability, or Vietnam-era status." What about political orientation?
Haven ' t we heard enough about diversity on tltis campus? For years, BU's administration has been t!)'ing to instilute yet another requirement. which is supposed to make all s tude nt s multicultural. Thomas Sowell. a prominent "conservative spokesman in the African-American community. in his rccent book Inside American Education:
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FEDRUARY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••
The Decline, the Deception. the DoglIIas writes. " Is there any evidence that colleges that have gone whole hog into multiculturali sm have ocHer relations among the various groups on campus? Or is it precisely on such campuses that separatism and hostility are worse than on campuses that have not gone in for the mult icultural craze?" This is something to think about at Binghamton University. What if Harpur Co ll ege Council consisted not of a vast majorit), of liberals? What if it consisted of more conservative professors? Who knows, maybe we would not have a problem with diversity requirement at all . The imbalance of Democratic and Republican professors on this campus, and many others, is a problem. The students do not get the full spectrum of ideas . T he Democratic party is "ofthe many one"the magnet of allegiance of the faculty on this campus. Where is the diversity?
Alex Gnti/sky is a junior mnjoring in politicat science nnd his/01:V.
.t1he If c III 0 IlfM III pili u III ,-111 E 1[1 RI E!3o's 412 Chenango Street, Binghamton (Next to Tuthill's)
(607) 722-6442
he 9lwt1re" Getting information on an EOP summer workshop proves to be impossible
BEfore I begin writing, I should obably apologize for the con
tent~r rather lack thereof-in this article. What I mean by Hcontent" is facts, quotations, and an ultimate conclusion. Unfortunately, this article will contain little of the above. You're probably wondering just what I'm talking about, so I guess I should explain what I wanted to talk about in the first place.
In early November of last year I was asked to look into two documents obtained by BINGHAMTON REVIEW. These outlined in some detail the agenda for a workshop to be conducted during the BEP program for EOP students. For those of you who are unfamiliar with BEP, it is a program run by the EOP office which prepares incoming Educational Opportunity Program students for the rigors of college academics. Binghamton Enrichment Program is approximately six weeks long, is free for the students, and is justified by the fact that most incoming EOP freshmen have SAT scores and high-school averages far lower than the rest of the student populations. The program also consists of many workshops which help the students become aware of the organizations on campus.
The workshop outlined in the documents in question was called the Student Organizing Workshop, was quite different than the other workshops. While most of the workshops focused on academic organizations, this one fo-
By James Keane
cused on political organizations. Select political organizations.
To try to find out more about this workshop-and BEP in general, I contacted the BEP office, which send me to Admissions, which sent me to Financial Aid, which sent me back to the BEP office.
Anne Hamlett, who works with fmancial aid for EOP students, was the first person that I actually sat down and talked to. I walked into her office expecting to leave with nothing, but Mrs. Hamlett turned out to be the most informative person I talked with. She spoke quite openly about the requirements for admission into the EOP program, and especially about the financial requirements. However, when I began asking about the BEP program, she only knew its purposes and the requirements for attendance. She said she knew nothing about the workshops run during the program~r any other specifics for that matter. She said that to learn more about that I should contact the EOP admissions director, or the BEP office itself. She seemed surprised when I told her they sent me to her.
Still unclear about the nature of the program in question, I decided to try to find students who actually attended the program. I found four. They were very clear as to what happened at the meeting. According to the students, all of whom wish to remain unidentified, the Student Organizing Workshop was held
to introduce students to certain political organizations on campus. The documents obtained by the REVI EW were accurate in that only select political groups were invited to participate in the workshop. It is interesting to note that every organizations invited to participate represented a political or cultural minority -like the Caribbean Student Association, Latin American Student Union, Black Student Union, etc. When I asked what other student groups were represented, I was told there were none there. No one could answer why.
With the knowledge that the program existed, I once again called the EOP office, this time asking to speak with Steve Duarte, the Academic Advisor and Curriculum Specialist for the EOP program. I was told that he was too busy at the time and would call me back. 1\\'0 days later I called again, this time insisting that I speak to him. When I finally spoke with him, I found out that I knew more about the BEP program than he did. He said he wished not to answer any of my questions unless I had an application submitted for the EOP program. He denied my request for any type of statistical information on the EOP class or BEP students. Most importantly, however, he denied the existence of the Student Organizing Workshop. When I explained that I not only spoke with students who attended the· meeting, but also had documents in my possession to prove its existence, he refused to
8 BINGHAMTON REVIEW
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answer more of my questions. He said that if I wanted more information I should speak with Colleen Morris, Assistant Director of Admissions. Colleen Morris handles all of the incoming EOP students.
When I explained that I had tried to get in contact with the Admissions office, he said he could not help me any further. So, I tried once again to
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MORE KEANE contact the Admissions office. Once again I was told that Mrs. Morris was unable to speak with me. I called another three times before I actually spoke with Mrs. Morris.
When I finally spoke with Mrs. Morris, it was apparent that Mr. Duarte had spoken to her about our conversation a few days before. She refused to provide any statistical in-
607 724·9609 81-83 Su.tp St. Binghaulton
FEBRUARY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••
formation about EOP students, refused to answer my questions about BEP, and even accused me of lying to her, Mr. Duarte, and Mrs. Hamlett in order to gain information. She offered no apology for the lack of help she gave me. and seemed angry that I had called at all.
Three weeks after I first began asking questions about the Student.Organizing workshop held during the BEP for EOP students, I was left with little more information than I began with. Thus I am unable to report. facts. quotations, or anything useful. What I can tell you is that I was left with the impression that somebody somewhere has something to hide about BEP, and specifically about the Student Organizing Workshop held during the BEP program.
James Keane is a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering.
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An Interview with the President Binghamton University president
Lois B. DeFleur has been characterized alternately as a vision
ary leader, a dedicated administrator and a doormat for leftist special-interest groups to wipe their feet on. In search of the truth, REV IEW editor-in-chief Nathan Wurtzel and jack-of-all-trades Lee Markiewicz, wearing his photographer 's cap for the day, spent an hour with President DeFleur on the morning of Thursday, January 18.
Lois B. DeFleur is a former Professor of Sociology who specializes in deviant behavior and occupational socialization. She was provost at the University of Missouri-Columbia before coming to Binghamton University in 1990. She is a pilot who has flown for more than 25 years and the owner of a Comanche 260 airplane.
Following are excerpts from the January 18 interview:
WurtLCI: Tbe biggest issue right now is probably tbe state budget. This year, Governor Pataki 'proposes to cut $83.7 million from SUNY. How are these cuts going to be administered?
DeFleur: Actually, the figures which the campuses have received from the system administration when they add in a variety of things that are in the executive budget amount to $98 million .... Part of it has to do with a revenue target we get from the state. We have to meet enrollment. Last year they did not meet enrollment and that leaves a six or eight million dollar gap. This ycar they have not lowered the enrollment target again and they do that for the system as a whole.
So there 's a combination of about three additional Ulings to be added on to that. ..
For Binghamton [the cut] is $4.9 million which really knocks your socks off, I'd say. On top of everything else we've reduced- I 've reduced the budget every single year except one and midyear also . ... It would be extremely difficult. We've already done things- taken a couple million out of energy-related utilities. We don 't purchase equipment. We've done early retirement time and time again. It would just be very, very difficult. Each year we have had a budget cut, I have differentiated the amount of the cut according to the areas. For example, even though the academic affairs is 66 percent of our budget, last year I assigned them the lowest percent reduction and then I had to assign the administrative and fiscal affairs area a six percent cut last year. Our goal obviously is to preserve particularly the
By Nathan Wurtzel
Photographs by Lee Markiewicz
classes and the library- things like that. Our history over the last few years is that.
Wurtzel: In his State of the State Address, Governor Pataki suggested that control of SUNY sllending be taken away from the state legislature and given to the Board of Trustees. Do you think that's a good idea?
DeFleur: J think the campuses very, very much need the kind of flexibility, autonomy, moving funds around, carrying over funds. I've worked in public higher
President DeFleur clarifies her positions on the budget, Public Safety and Rethinking SUNY for R EVIEW Editor-in-Chief Wurtzel
\0 BINGHAMTON REVIEW
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
education in two states-this is the only state where 1 haven 't had that kind of flexibility. 1 don't want to get in between the governor and the legislature. I,';ould hope they would come together and see that more flexibility and autonomy is in the best interest of education and they still obviously have a lot of ways in order to exert influence.
Wurtzel: One of the interesting ideas in the Rethinking SUNY pro,)osal is differential tuition for SUNY campuses. What do you think of that proposal?
DeFleur: I've been very ex-plicit from the beginning about that. I know that we ' re the only [state] that doesn 't have differential tuition at their research universities. What has happened over the years is that it costs more to educate students at research universities beeause the laboratories and the libraries are much larger. And so in other places the costs have reflected that and it costs less to go to an arts and sciences school or a two-year junior college. The schools Olen get to keep most of that. So I'm not opposed to the concept-what I've been very vocal about is it is unfair ... if this all goes into the state budget or into
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the SUNY general budget. That I find is the worst possible scenario.
Wurtzel: Some of the proposed increase in revenues is going to be channeled into financial aid ...
DeFleur: That is important- that is very important. Plus, the second part of itI just believe that it is fundamentally unfair for you to be paying more so that we can keep open some two-year school that is struggling.
Wurtzel: Another proposal in Rethinking SUNY is the idea of granting individual campuses greater management autonomy ...
DeFleur: I agree with that-absolutely. You have no idea-the fornls, the crap-I've never seen anything like it.
Wurtzel: Then is there any need for SUNY Central?
DeFleur: Yes . I believe that a systemthere arc advantages to a system. You bring together in this state- uniquelycommunity colleges, the specialized schools, the research universities, the colleges. In other places I've been I probably wouldo ' t even know the presidents of those other schools or we would not know as much about their programs. It offers opportunities for us to develop partnerships, to work together. Right now, we formed a Route 81 alliance wjth the Health Science Center, Environmen-
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tal Sciences and Forestry and Cortland. We hope maybe by the fall , certainly by next spring, to offer to a lot of our students opportunities through distance learning or even some campus to take the courses. For environmental courses we ad not been able to hire any additional people and that was about our third largest or fourth largest major. I feel there are some real advantages to having a system ... but what you need to understand is that the research centers are better able to manage their own affairs.
WurtLel: You were the presidential representative on the structure committee of Rethinking SUNY and one of the interesting recommendations was the elimination of programs of questionable quality as well as those with low enrollments and high costs. Can you think of any here at B. U. that may fall under that?
DeFleur : We 've gone through that analysis . They identified programs where we hado't graduated more than five people and it had so many faculty appeared to be dedicated to it. There was a geophysics major or something like that...and we eliminated it. There's not much money when you eliminate that. There were some music-about four degrees available and it turned out most of our students were in three of them. There weren ' t a lot- in fact we had fewer probably than most places, but there were a few and 1 believe that we
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Vulll Pia ...... , Ve51.1. NY 138~O (607) 798-1600 (800) 798-7287
probably should have been on top of that earlier, butthere'sjust so much to do. It doesn 't save a lot of money, but it is educationally important.
WurtLel: Given the fact that EOP students statewide have a graduation rate 25 pereent lower than non-EOP students, do you think it's fair that this program remain untouched in this ye"r's budget?
DeFleur: They already experienced a 25 percent reduction last year...
Wurtzel: Altbough it didn't result in a 25 pereent reduction of students ...
DeFleur: They treated us differentially there because we make that whole program look good. So we did not experience a reduction, in fact, we got it a little bit, but other places got very substantial reductions. So that was differentially
administered. I would say there are places where they' re not doing a good job- either reform them or you shouldn 't continue it, but we have really, really worked hard ...
We have managed through a lot of hard work and tutoring to provide opportunities with people and I mean, when I interact with a lot of the students .or even some of their ... a lot, not all , but a lot come from single-parent families. I mean, it is phenomena l that they come ... thatthey arc achieving and that they ' re here and they have the opportunity. I' m not familiar in depth wilh programs of other schools, but I know about ours and I've fought hard for ours.
Wurtzel: Is tbere any way tbe program could perbaps better identify ~1udents more likely to graduate?
,DeFleur: Yeah, there are some ways-I lhink inilially they cost money. [Some
schools have outreach programs] that are in U,Ose high schools and Ihey begin very early 10 identify sludents and take them and work wilh them after school. We don't have Ihe money to do Ihat kind of really early identification. Early identification and early opportunities-I believe Ihal most of us probably grew up in environments thaI are so different from whal you find these young people growing up in. To me, when Ilaik wilh some of the parenls and Ihey teU me some of Ihe problems, I Ihink iI 's a wonder Ihal we reach in and are able to have success with as many as we do.
I think lhis is a fundamental problem in our society in lerms of U,ose Ihal arc in very slum, poor, terrible conditionsare they always going 10 be sort of apart and alienated from our soeiety or what are the ways that we begin to make them productive? If we had Ihe answers, we'd all be revered- and if we had the power to implement Ihem.
12 BIN GHAMTON REVIEW
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Wurtzel: The big issue on campus last semester was the legislation involving Public Safety and basically you-{)n the recommendation of PSAC-sent back a letter saying that you wanted more autonomy in making decisions. What was in there that you wanted added or you didn't like?
DeFleur: They way I read it, they would propose two models at opposite ends of the continuum. Obviously, we callnot have just a closed security force and we have something that is closer to a police force. I guess the evolution from a public safety to a police force should be tied more to the individual campus con
MORE DEFLEUR DeFleur: Look at it the other way. What it automatically would have done is that it would have granted a whole series of powers-I think some of those we need. It said, ' if you became police officers, these are the powers they'd have. ' I know it still said the arming [was at the discretion ofthe campus president], but I think it would be unrealistic once they had all of those other powers- I think it 's unrealistic to think that you wouldn' t have to also have them have arms. I think the arming is not the central issue ...
Wurtzel: Which is pretty much the way we rellOrted it [in December) ...
ditions. We' re not in the middle of Buf- DeFleur: I know. You were probably the fa 10, [but] this is not an idyllic place only publication that reported it accuwhere there's no crime, but we are not ratcly .. .. Guns and the arming associcomparable to a Stony Brook or Buffalo. ated WiOl it are very emotional and deepThere's also an important difference in seated-and it really has very sharp raterms ofthe employment conditions and cial differences .. . different kinds of pay and retirement. I suppose if that 'c groups. particularly minorities, ill fact ' change were mandated then I imagine tend to have different experiences . It they would say the campuses would pay brings out some very fundamental divifor it. So there are fiscal implications. sions on the campus alld those are never
Safety is a real concern and what I going to go away. want to do is evolve with the various is-sues regarding safety and it's much more than just armillg-l mean, arming is one little part of it- l want us to have the ability to evolve and change as appropriate to Binghamton. I guess it boils down to some autonomy and flexibility again.
Wurtzel: What could have you not have done in terms of that prallosal that you would like?
Wurtzel: Are you in favor of arming at this time?
DeFleur: I see some changes that I think are worrisome. It 's a judgment call- l probably wouldn' t right today dramatically change that. I U,ink that if we move in that direction-and probably ultimately we will if the trends in the general society even though crimes are down in New York. .. most of all , I' m
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concerned that the public safety-the whole arming- is only one small facet of safe ty on campus. We have worked very. very hard on a number of safety issues and this is one that is very contentious and it will keep coming up. I have no doubt about that.
WurtLel: If it comes to the point arming is warranted-if the opponents of arming mount a serious demonstration-a rc they going to have an influence in those terms? Will emotion outweigh absolute need?
DcFleur: You know what responses from certain groups will be. If I and my senior staff- because I really rely a lot on their judgment- really believe that it 's the important thing- the right thing to do--we will do it. We will try to manage, to work with groups to get them to understand, but we will makejudgments in the best interes t of this instltuilon.
Wurtzel: An article appearing in this edition of the REVIEW shows among the faculty in the departments surveyed, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by a ratio of cleven to one. Can a student realistically get a politically inclusive, let alone balanced education with this type of disparity?
DeFleur: We all have a social perspective and a political perspective and I don ' t believe that you can separate those out completely-you have to try to be fair. What we want to ensure is that faculty are up front about what they ' re going to teach and the books they' re going to require so students
.have a choice. Students have rights. If you look at our free speech commission, we talked about students ' rights. That needs to be up front. There needs to be an atmosphere where students can exchange ideas. They can challenge and that 's what we' re ensuring. In America, we couldn ' t say when we ' re hiring people, " What is your political affiliation or orientation?" That would simply be untenable.
A Call for Good By
Joshua Trapani Government
Welcome back to another fun and productive semester of student governmenL every
one! I know-yippee I Let's rehash what's gone on since last time. and then look ahead to the future.
As readers may or may not remember, elections for positions on our Student Assembly for Off-Campus College were first held in October. The elections were invalidated by the S.A. J-Board -whose existence at the time was questionable at best-due to an absence of a write-in line. Also involved in that election was the distribution of an illegal campaign flyer. Elections were held again in mid-November, winners annouced, and since then the S.A has begun to meet and pass resolutions.
It is interesting, however, that the names of four current acc representativesFelipe ~vala, Jessica Flores, Liz Thompson, and Josh Waterston-appeared on the illegally distributed campaign flyer. This flyer was distributed to students during the first election within 100 feet of polling places inside the Union, and urged students to vote for a particular set of candidates. No one-including the S.A Executive Board and the extremely overzealous S.A Judicial Board---ever dealt with the issue of the flyer, and no one was punished for distrIbuting it. It might make sense to ban people who break election rules from running in future elections, but this wasn't done.
In addition, in early December, the S.A. Judicial Board-now unquestionably in existence since they'd been approved by the Assembly-had a "closed meeting" with the S.A Executive Board Reporters from the REVIEW and Pipe Dream were
barred from attending. No one from the JBoard ever explained why this was done. and they evidently believe no one remembers this incident and no action will be forthcoming. WeIl~ surprise, surprise~ some ofus remember.
As for the Assembly itself, it has been surprisingly productive, passing resolutions-including an opinion poll on arming ULED which actually went through without a hitch, keeping the meeting times to less than five hours (pretty amazing. huh?), and not trying to impeach any of its members-yet. Whatever bad might be said about the whole process. at least now that we have an Assembly and committees, student groups can get chartered and funded. That: after all, is the main reason the S.A. exists.
Clearly though, the S.A faces one overwhelming task this year: cleaning up its own act. Events of the· last semester have shown that the S.A Constitution and ByLaws are ambiguous and outdated, the JBoard is completely out of control, the elections process is a shambles~ and no one seems to know just who has the authority to do what: It was quite instructive to watch the faculty members on the Harpur College Council express their disgust at a student government unable to elect representatives, and then unable to agree on the validity -of the election. The S.A cannot hope to be taken seriously by the other governing bodies of the Universitylike HCC and the Faculty Senate-and the administration, let alone the state officials they are continuously trying to lotby. when it is so disorganized.
HerearesomeideastheS.A couldtake into account for getting itself back on
Neil/ler the Student Association Executive
Board or Judicial Board seem to have a clue as to /,ow to run a responsible and ethical government Alt/,ough some reforms
have been proposed, don't bet your life-or your
wallet-on self-reform
track. First. the Elections Committee needs to revamp the elections process: pr0-
ducing a "how-to" guide on running student elections. These procedures need to walk the fine line between being ambiguous and unnecessarily burdensome to the point ofbeing impossible,in practice. The new procedures need to maximize the ease and fairness by which elections are held while minimizing the potential for grievances.
The second priority should be the S.A J-Board. The S. A might appoint a special committee to examine the l-Board and, if need be, revise the procedures relating- to its appointment. tenns of office, and powers. My own recommendation would be that no one on the current JBoard be allowed to sit on the committee. The most important thing that must be decided is if and why the J-Board should exist-its "~ssion" and "purpose." Right now, it is supposed to check the powers of the Assembly and mediate disputes. but so far it is caused more problems than it has solved
14 BIN GH AMTO N REVIEW
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n,e next thing the S.A. needs to get straight is just who does what. And that goes for not only the J-Board, but the EBoard members. the Committees. and the Assembly itself. Someone needs to sit down and draw up just who checks whom . who has say when, and what the procedures are in C.1se of disagreements. Another special committee, perhaps-{)r the Assembly as a whole?
n,e SA also needs to evaluate its Constitution- a document alternately cited as law and spumed as irrelevant (and often totally useless)-<lepending on the situation. The SA might appoint yet another special commillee to review its Constitution and recommend changes- actually, such a commillee is being formed.
All of these changes should be made openly. and by popular vote, on the Assembly floor. Special commiltees, if appointed. need to prepare recommendations which the Assembly should consider, provide feedback on. and perhaps pass. This is similar to the procedure adopted by special commillees appointed by the Harpur College Council. Everyone needs to be prepared to sacrifice a bit of power for the greater good-a student government lIlat at least sort of works.
Finally, the SA needs to clean up its own ethies. Contrary to popular belief, the S.A. Office is not there so a select group of people have somewhere to sit and figure out how to get themselves a larger stipend-{)r how to rearrange the furniture for ne~1 week- it is there for students and student groups. The purpose of the whole machinery-from the E-Board to the Assembly to the J-Board and on down- is secondary to the smooth and proper functioning of student groups'. Certain S.A. reps and E-Board members arc currently taking steps to improve the elllies of our student government via a set of resolutions-this is hopefully a first step in the right direction.
All in all , the time is right for the SA to get itself back in gear. Whether it doesor whether it remains business as usual over there- is yet to be seen.
Joshua Trapani is a senior majoring in geology.
Pro ••• d 1.0 Plverse Money and power concerns cloud curricular debate
TIoughout last semester debate over the diversity requirement monopolized the Harpur College
Council meetings. The debate was expected to end when the requirement was passed last spring, but was brought to the forefront once more this semester by the presentation of the proposed implementation procedure. Many of the old arguments concerning the requirement have been heard, along with new arguments over the implementation procedure.
Before· the proposed implementation procedure could be discussed, there was an attempt by Professor John Arthur, of the Department of Philosophy, to get rid of diversity requirement. His motion failed by a vote of21-14. The motion was not a total failure, because during the course of debate some interesting information revealed.
The diversity requirement has often been called an "oppression requirement." During the debate over Professor Arthur's motion, Professor Warren Wagar of the Department of History admitted that he believed it was an oPPlession requirement, but he did not see anything wrong with that Professor Wagar is a proponent of the diversity requirement, and he believes oppression is a worthy topic for students to be required to study.
Opponents of the diversity requirement have often believed that the purpose of the requirement was not to promote diversity, but to gain finances for certain departments, such as Africana Studies and LACAS. Professor Darryl Thomas admitted during debate that without this requirement departments such as these might go bankrupt There are not enough students interested in these classes. The professors in these departments are hoping the diversity requirement will increase enrollment in their courses since most of the courses in these departments would satisfy the requirement. Certain professors
By Amy L. Gardner
in these departments were especially instrumental in getting the diversity requirement passed. Are they really concerned about diversity, or are ~ey simply ttying to protect their own interests?
Proponents of the diversity requirement have said that the student body overwhelmingly supports such a requirement. This appears to be a lie since only two students in this yeats elected student delegation voted to keep the diversity requirement. These representatives were elected on the basis of-among other things-their opposition to the diversity requirement. .
The claim of ovenvhelming support for the diversity requirement brin~ us to the next issue of debate in the HCC. SA Academic Vice President Jeff Golant made a motion to have the diversity requirement brought to a referendum, in which all Harpur administrators, faculty, and students would get to vote on it. The motion failed, but one has to question "Why?" If the requirement has such overwhelming support, th~ should be nothing to be afraid of if it was brought to a referendum. However, proponents of the requirement were afraid It would appear that there is not as much support as they would lead you to believe. A referendum could save everyone a lot of time. Ifprofessors do not want to teach diversity classes and students do not want to take them, it makes nQ sense to have a diversity requirement, because it will end up failing.
Harpur College Council eventually got around to discussing the proposed implementation proCedure. This brought up new issues, and discussion over the implementation has j1;lst started. The HCC has not discussed manY of the key portions of the implementation.
There were some concerns over the application process to get a course approved as counting towards fulfilling the requirement. Some thought the application fonn
was too cumbersome, and that some professors would not bother to fill it out. A suggestion was made to let professors decide for themselves whether or not their course meets the criteria for a diversity course. This suggestion was rejected by many who evidently believe that the professors here are not smart enough to know if their courses are diversity courses are not.
One section of the proposed implementation procedure which has not been discussed yet is how the Harpur College divers~ty requirement will overlap with the All College "global visions" requirement The committee, which set up the proposed implementation procedure, did not have enough time to work with the Faculty Senate to try to maximize the overlap. In the proposal, the committee asked for an extension to December 13 to work with the Faculty Senate. That date has come and gone, and the issue of how the two requirements will overlap has gone unresolved. Until that issue is resolved
. the diversity requirement should not be implemented. Satisfying both requirements could place an undue burden on students. They could end up having to take more courses than necessary.
Debate over the diversity requirement is far from over. Essential parts of the implementation procedure have not even been discussed yet. The implementation procedure will continue to be debated throughout the semester. It seems unlikely that the diversity requirement will be implemented in the Fall of 1996, as was expected. The issues over the implementation procedure will not likely be solved in time to be printed in the 1996-1997 Bulletin. It is better to delay a year than to implement a faulty diversity requirement.
Amy L. Gardner is a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law.
FEBRUARY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••• KEILKA
It Jana had been gently called "the sibs", were not natural born teasing Keilka about children like Keilka and his older how he had hooked up brother Stahl shein, but the family tenwith Julia at a party in sions were little different from K' Jana 's December all during own. Finally, they ate dinner just like
nner at the everyone else. Somehow, K' Jana had Nastargixyn'shousein Vermont. Appar- pictured something, oh, weird, maybe ently. Keilka had neglected to tell his and in keeping with the usual notion that family how he had danced the night the breeders didn 't wor~ or care about away with the girl and about their mu- their children or whatever. Despite evtual infatuation. His visiting "grand- erything, however~ the Nastargixyns mother" and "grandfather", as well as appeared to be an incredibly and utterly the rest of the family found K' Jana 's. normal~ upper middle class family. account highly amusing; Keilka was "Time to work~" Amtal said tersely annoyed. through his telepathy which he con-
K' Jana knew that his friend was an- stantly used, as he and Stahl. also a mute noyed because Keilka kept picking on and given to using mental instead of K' Jana during the rest of the meal for sign communication, stood to clear their little quirks. like drinking milk at the dishes from the table. As the two men table-almost all of them were deathly donned their coats to go outside to the allergic to dairy products although they renovated milk shed where they worked, lived on a former dairy farm-and the Syntal pointed to a pan full of sticky way he said words like "out" and buns and cookies that a neighbor had "about." K'Jana had seen this behavior given them for the holidays. Hecho's often enough before to disregard it, and business could wait a little longer. besides, Keilka would be off to work K 'J ana said something as they sat with his mother as a pilot for Nor 'Star back down, and Keilka again picked on Airlines in the morning. By the time he him for his accent. "You're Canadian?" got back from his rotation-and from Syntal queried. "I've been meaning to spending the weekend in Florida with ask you about that. Stahl said something lulia-it was quite likely he would have about your brother playing hockey for forgotten the whole thing. Cornell."
That thought in itself jarred K' lana. "Uh~ huh, " K' lana answered between He wasn't really sure Why. Maybe it had bites of his sticky bun, "he graduated to do with the fact that Keilka was a few with a degree in microbiology. but he months younger than him, but already plays for Quebec and says he will until had a commercial pilot's license as of his knees give out or they won't sign his eighteenth birthday just a few weeks him any more. Then he'll go to grad ago. He had damn near grown up in a school." Unlike most people, the cockpit learning early from his mother Nastargixyns hardly seemed phased by and the family's friends andprotectors~ K'Jana's overachieving family. "Ironic Guy Wylder, Gen. Lanther and Capt. really." K'Jana continued, "my grandBereli. parents met at McGill in Montreal, and
Yet, as K' lana analyzed his feelings settled there for a while. After the spliton the subject a little more deeply~ he . and K' Jana m~nt the Canadian onerealized that this was not the source of the anglophones had a very rough time agitation. Perhaps it had more to do with of it. Eventually, my grandparents the fact that the family was so strangely moved to London, Ontario. My parents
. normal. Both parents worked, indeed the got a job offer in Buffalo just after they whole reason for K'Jana's visit was so were married, so I was born here, but I he could intern with the software com- spent a lot of time with my grandparpany Keilka's father, Amtal. helped ents." found. They had children, just like ev- "1 didn't know there were black eryone one else, albeit the youngest five, people in Canada," Kia' mi, the middle
BINGHAMTON REVIEW 17 • ••••••••••••••••••••••••
sib, said. "There are," K' Jana said in a didac
tic tone addressed to the sibs, "some, like my father's family are descendants of escaped slaves from the American South. You do know how Africans were imported and forced to labor before the American Civil War?"
"Just like we would' a been if Guy Wylder and Lynne Hama hadn't helped us," the sib Craig Criith answered. K' Jana nodded.
"And still might be if Phar and Ridley manage to repeal the 33rd Amendment," Amtal warned mentally without missing a bite of his dessert. Yes, K'Jana could have forgotten the fragility upon which all Amtal and Syntal had built rested as easily as he had Amtal and Stahl's reliance upon telepathy to communicate.
"No!" Keilka exclaimed belligerently. "Besides~ they owe us freedom at least
for what the two of you have suffered on every one's behalf. The old leaders will protect us," Stahl reasoned while his mind lead everyone to look at the terrible laser scar from the "Mission to Asia" which still disfigured his father's arm.
"First of all," Keilka thundered, "in case you haven't noticed, Aunt Lynne, Uncle Brian and Uncle Bran aren't exactly young, and they won't be around forever. If you don't believe me today~ you will after you see them next week at the Hecho dedication. It's time we got out from under their shadows and fended for ourselves. Second, 'they' don't owe us anything except a choice, just like everyone else. That's good enough for me."
"But there are so few of us," Bewar~ the oldest of the sibs, interjected.
"SOT' Keilka said forcefully. "I'm tired of this dependence and pack mentality. This will end!" With that, Keilka slammed his fist down on the table, so much like his real grandfather that all regarded him in surprise, and like the grandfather he so strongly resembled in word and deed all chains and restrictions galled him. Indeed Amtal had even said that the drive for freedom had
18 BINGHAMTON REVIE W
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
been the only good and natural desire he had inherited and his second son had received more than his share of that patrimony.
" I don ' t think you ... " "1 understand a lot better than you do.
brother. I'm not the one who works for Hecho. I don 't go to college at NCUR so that Uncle Bran can keep tabs on myevel)' move. I' m not going to spend the rest of my life ferrying snotty passengers around for Nor ' Star. and I don ' t want to have to go scurrying back to Lynne Hama. Bran Maastricht and Brian Bereli or their kids for the rest of Illy life! "
"But you will." Stahl prophesied With that. Keilka raised himself from his scat in preparation for another tirade.
Amtal gave a meful snort and intervened to defuse the situation saying in a dry. mental voicc, "Liberl)', cursed be thy name ...
"That cowardice and reticenee should renderl All that we have achieved in
KEILKA vain." Keilka interjected bitterly.
"That's not how j' goes!" young Dahua chided.
"No." Amtal replied in a tone as didactic as K' Jana had been. " the verse on The Conspirators ' Sign read: Libert}'. cursed be thy namelThat I should stmggle so hardland suffer such painIYet ne 'er draw ncar your bright name."
"Excuse me, but what exactly was The Conspirators ' Sign?" K' Jana asked politely. 'Tve read about you. but mainly bychancc while researching my family 's history." K' Jana couldn' t help but recall his disappointment at how a search ofthe libral)"s computer had sent him to a book entitled The Underground Railway at lO.OOO Feet. It obviously had nothing to do with his ancestor 's experience, and though intrigued, he did not regard it as a harbinger of thing to come. Amtal, in an cXl'rcssive mood, and wishing to quell what he felt was self-righteous and self-pitying anger in Keilka, forcefully
F EllRu,\RY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••
overrode any opposition "ith his mind and began. "Sometimes 1 used to walk through the streets of Philadelphia when we weren 't in training or studying or othem;se occupied. Bereli had already begun to loosen the Oligarchs' hold on the city long before President Striker and his regime's perestroika and detente . The market under The Grand Hall of the People, actually a late republican convention center that had been made from an unused train shed, was the origin of almost everything new and exciting in those days. It became a free zone where dissent. economic initiative and even discrect misbehavior were at least tolerated if not , according to Bereli 's mood. actively encouraged.
"One day, I was in the Market by myself. and Bercli happened to be there with a delegation ofleaders from dilferent cities. I saw one wandering around lost in the press of shoppers until anotller man. dressed in a marketeer 's costume with the
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FEBRUARY 1996 •••••••••••••••••••••••••
apron and all, brushed past him and whispered, 'Meet me at The Conspirator's Sign and get your shoes shined. '
"I knew what and where the sign was. It's in the back of the market behind all of the stalls, and it's an old mural of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, or maybe the Constitution. 1 don't remember which-anyway, it's lots of guys in wigs and waistcoats. Underneath it is a shoe shine booth that's probably been there for the two centuries the market's been open. Some years before BereH came to Philadelphia, agents chased a dissident through the market. As he hid at the shoe shine booth, quite certain that he only delayed the inevitable, he defaced the mural \\ith the words of the poem and the edge of a metal key. Since that time, it's been called The Conspirator's Sign. and it's been a magnet for all those who 've had cause to whisper in the dark.
"And then what happened?" K' Jana asked eagerly.
"I followed him at a discreet distance until he met another man posing as a shoe shiner. They gestured to him to have a seat on one of the stools to have his soft shoes cleaned. They spoke in a whisper while the man worked, but I could understand them. The men talked about a smuggled device that could block the trackers and taggers that officials had implanted in their body. I knew we had them too, so 1 paid close attention.
"When the carrier found me and gave me the postcard from Dr. Gray a few months later, 1 knew where to go to further the cause. You see that's why it took them so long to find us. Well, that and Maastricht's reaction to the violations of the airspace restrictions. They had to chose whether they wanted to lose us or fully laden aircraft. Once we had left, Dr. Gray removed the implants and gave them to Sara Nolson who tossed them out of her car window into the sage brush on the way to Cheyenne just as they were becoming active once more."
<4 A form of littering of which I approve!" K'Jana said.
Syntal smiled. Then she caught K' Jana 's unvoiced question and answered
KEILKA . out loud, "We left Philadelphia by way of an airshuttle from our building that appeared to be on a routine. authorized flight, but of course, that was rigged. As we were flying, Am, Dad and 1 slipped on the blockers, and then loaded ourselves into some crates from a hydroponics farm outside the city. Mine had a layer of peppers on top of a false bottom. "
"Mine had radishes." Brahms, their white-haired "grandfather" and creator said with extreme distaste and a wrinkled nose.
"At a point during the flight. Jackie Gandes, the pilot, signaled Chicago that she had a malfunction. She was sent to a special hangar for repairs. We didn't know it but luck was on our side. A few hours before. Pres. Striker had come to Chicago to make the first major speech of his presidency. He had just announced the reforms and detente with the ceded areas despite Maastricht's actions.
"When Wylder's plane came roaring across Chicago's approach patterns that night, the deputy warden, acting on his own authority. not Brian Bereli or Pratt Nastargixyn's as had been so carefully planned. ordered Wylder to be talked do\\n and sent to the same repair hangar. Although the deputy had no idea about the conspiracy, he abetted it nonethe-less with his overzealous endorsement of the nascent reforms and detente. As he entered the plane that we were aboard. we heard him say that he was aware of how the terrible recession in the free world of four years before still affected all o~ the ceded areas except upstate New York, and that only because it was so close to Canada and Quebec. Since the man knew that Wylder was from Utah, but of course, not that he was a dissident from that state's government, he asked if Wylder would accept some small token of assistance in the name of peace between the two peoples. Though he was insulted, we gave Wylder the strong compulsion to say yes.
"As the deputy went on with his naive drivel, we made sure that he felt a strong compulsion to give Wylder crates of peppers, radishes and tomatoes. Then we were lifted from the shuttle to Wylder's
BINGHAMTON REVIEW 19 • ••••••••••••••••••••••••
bush plane along \\ith other . gifts of peace.· ..
With that, Amtal resumed the story mentally, "After some waiting. about an hour or two, it's hard to tell in total darkness, Wylder was informed that his instruments had been repaired. When final formalities were completed, he taxied out of the hangar and was quickly airborne. We flew for quite some time until Wylder was sure that no one pursued us. Then he called out our password "Liberty, cursed be thy name ..... and began to dig away at the tomatoes on top of me.
'"'I've the plane on auto pilot,' he said as if to relieve the tension, "'sides, it's flat and desolate here. • Then I could hear him take a bite out of one of the tomatoes. "Uhl What a crud ball. Tomato's s'posed to have taste!' I heard him step away for a second, probably to find somewhere to spit out what he had bitten of into. He had removed enough of the leaden vegetables that I could lift up the bottom and peek out over the top of the crate to catch a glimpse of him reclined against a passenger seat and wiping excess juice from his mouth.
""Hullo there,' he said causally and not a bit alarmed. 'thought I'd gotten a whole case of the nasty things. Ughh! this all y'eat? No wonder why you want out.' At the time I was a little too disoriented to respond to humor. He quickly cleared away the rest of those excuses for tomatoes, and helped me out of the tiny crate. After 1 had completely stretched my cramped body. he said, "You must be hungry or thirsty or something.' Then he threw me an apple that had been sitting on the passenger's seat and said, 'Welcome to the free world'
Even K' Jana knew the rest of the story. but he was not adverse to listening to· it from the mouths of two people who had been so important to the course of events. Syntal continued on. telling them how Lynne Hama had taken them in those first few days and taught them the few survival skill, like back country skiing. that they didn't already know. Then she gave or bought them rifles, bows. tents. skis and all other gear necessary for winter
20 BINGHAMTON REVIEW ••••••••••••••••••••••••
in the back country. After a few days of acclamation, she drove them to as remote an area of Bridger-Teton forest as the snow would alloW. and wished them luck. She hoped that .she could picked them up once the furor had died down, but...
Amtal and Syntal had been very much aware of the avalanche their coming had precipitated even though they camped high in the lonely forest. A pocket radio kept them informed of "Wylder's Ride~~' a chase across the Rocky Mountains and Desert Southwest that could have been drawn from half a dozen cowboy epics if both the black hats and white hats had been on horses not airplanes. The haughty Oligarchic authorities, chasing Wylder who flew too low to be tracked accurately. often rudely intruded upon people who would have been all too willing to give Wylder up because of his dissent in Utah. Insult and intrusion, however, tipped the balances in favor of Wylder and lead to resistance instead of collaboration.
The situation quickly escalated and violence ensued, though to K'Jana it seemed that now both sides bore the blame. The authorities would not use a bit more courtesy and tact, and the westerners were too wound up for a fight to show common sense anymore. The violence turned fatal at a place called Rock River Ranchjust a little over half a month after Amtal and Syntal's escape. Maastricht soon called the western gov-. ernors and the Chiefs from the 30-yearold League of Peace to discuss this situation. When the Conference met in Telluride, possible commanders for a united defense were invited as well, but all five, though they were better qualified or better behaved or more religious or ideological1y palatable than Lynne Hama, had been ejected from the room in short order by the quarreling officials. Only she had managed to quiet the hornet's nest . and force everyone to talk about pertinent issues, and for that she was rewarded with a command that she assuredly did not want.
When they heard that, Amtal said that he thought they would be forgotten in the press of larger affairs, but even burdened
KEILKA with stopping a suicidal war while seeming to fight it, she reached out to them by setting them up with the now mountain "ise old dissident Charles Zigrana. She assured them that their cause and their freedom would be in the forefront of the issues because it was, as she had said before, a symptom of their sick times. She meant it too, and on that kept her word even when the crisis took a sharp turn away from the local rebellion it had been. Indeed, even as discontent with the leadership and losses by the Coalition in the .on-going world war as well as with the Oligarchy erupted to the surface and forged this small band of malcontents, who had abducted breeders in an effort to free themselves of convoluted entanglements in the own struggle for religious freedom in Utah, into the spearhead of a revolution for liberty known simply as "The Alliance", Amtal and Syntal re-mained symbols. .
Their recapture two years later nearly provoked irrevocable action. The refonners, still alive, but caught between a rock and a hard place decide on a gamble which could destroy the reason d' entre for both the hard-liners and Alliance: send Amtal and Syntal on a mission which could end the war. They offered their prisoners freedom in return for their cooperation. "The Mission to Asia" succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams as it destroyed all of the enemy's advanced defense capabilities and because an aircraft carrier the Alliance had captured from the Navy and given to a needy Coalition nation in return for their good will had been steaming toward enemy territory when the defenses went down.
With the 'big war' over, the two American sides could get down to fighting, but another surprise lay in store. A. group of outwardly loyal Oligarchic retainers sprung a trap on their masters and abducted most of them. A battle across the length and brea~ of the continent ensued only to finally end days after Pres. Striker conceded that his side, the reformers, had been defeated and needed the Alliance's help in sul:xfuing their mutual enemies. With his invitation to fonn a provisional government, the "Season of
FEBRUARY 1996 ••••••••••••••••••••••••
Aftermath", the reunion and painful refonns, that gave birth to the present peace and prosperity had begun.
The "Season of Aftermath" had been no picnic, and Hama and allies had to often stoop to base political maneuvering and trickery to survive and bequeath a free, viable economic and political system to the country. At the end of six and a half years of intense pain, it had worked. The nation recovered beyond all expectations, and out of the shadow had come a gaggle of little companies which would someday rise to be giants. Hecho, started by 5 young hackers, including Amtal, in the basement of a drafty house in Syracuse with $600 dollars they had borrowed from Gen. Hama, had been one of them. Northstar Airlines was another, but their headquarters had been on the second floor. .
That would soon change, and K' Jana knew that Amtal had procured him a ticket to the dedication of the newly renovated office tower that would take the place of Hecho 's basement. He knew that all of the leaders of the Alliance would be there too, and wondered what he would feel once in their presence.
Would he ask himself, as he had when he studied his daring ancestor, could I do this if I had to? Would I bring myself to do as the slave who fled from Bulow Plantation in Florida, the breeders, the rich oil heiress and the bush pilot had done? Could I say in the face of opposition even from the entire world, the words Lynne Hama had used upon hearing Amtal and Syntal's plight, "This must not be!"? If she, who the world regarded as the epitome of amoral nihilism for her actions could make such" an intensely moral decision, indeed the only such one of that sick time, then surely it lay within his capabilities as well, right? His answer to this question nagged at him, but still, he. was grateful that he never had, and most probably never would have the chance to find out for sure if he would join the struggle or have cOwardice and reticence make all in vain.
Dawn McKibbin is a .free-lance writer living in Jackson, "yoming.
By Anthony]. Benardello
W:,at a holiday season! After a grueling semester, I was cer tainly looking forward to a
relaxing Christmas with friends and family. We had the usual contingent of both at our house for the annual Christmas Eve festivities that begins with a traditional dinner. continues at midnight mass. extends to opening our presents Christmas morning and culminates with a festive dinner that evening.
I left Binghamton on December 19 in a severe snowstorm in which others were afraid to travel. I- in my brand new 4x-l--made it to Long Island in my usual three hours. Speed limits apply to others-not me. I can't drive 55: hell , I can 't drive 75. Ifl ain 't going 90. I ain 't happy.
My story started as myoid friend and business partner from Israel came over for dinner on Christmas Eve. His name is Zvi- being from Israel, he came over with his Galil assault rifle. which made me very nervous . As I crossed the Tappan Zee bridge the week before, I told Zvi. a station wagon full of Hasidic Jews had broken down in the snow and I had offered to help them fix their flat. Walking from my truck , I heard one of them yelling at me to go away. Confused, I had returned to the truck.
"Oh sure, after two thousand years of persecution from you goys, you think fixing one flat tire is going to fix
. things?" said Zvi , starting to work himself up.
!-lave another drink, lvi. "And another thing," he continued,
starting to wave his Galil around, ''I' m tired of you people blaming us Jews for
killing your God. If we could kill God, that would tell you how powerful we really are. Don' t mess with us! "
"Good point. Vm, Zvi, can you stop waving that danmed rille around-we have kids here and someone could get hurt: '
"What?! " he shouted, "I have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms! Are you trying to deny me my rightsT'
Geez, Zvi. you sound like this gun wacko lip at B. U. - Anlhony something or another. Beller move on with the story.
As we all got ready to go to midnight mass. I told everyone that I was going to pick up my new girlfriend. Lisa, and that we were going to pray by ourselves and keep an eye on Grandnla, seeing how she was sleeping and would be all alone. Everyone seemed to buy that one. Heh heh.
Christmas morning-there's nothing like it. The kids woke up first and made sure that no one else CQuid sleep so it was futile to try and buck the tide of children running around. yelling and screaming. As I went downstairs to supervise the chaos, I saw that everyone was up and having colfee as the kids opened their presents. After saying good morning to all, I started to introduce Lisa around. Grandma, always the nosy one. asked her who she was right away.
"Lisa," I muttered, "Lisa Donut." "Oh," said Grandma, "is she Italian?" "No, Gram-she's Danish." "You never bring home Italian girls
how come?" " If I could find an Italian girl who
could do what L. .. " I lost my breath as
Lisa elbowed me hard in the stomach. "Did you and Lisa pray last nightT
Mom asked. Before I could answer, Grandma shot
in. "Oh. yes. they prayed all night. I heard Lisa calling God's name until five this morning:'
Gee, thanks Gram- next lime I will check on YOIl like 1 was supposed to.
The kids were tearing apart the wrapping paper and the boxes as they were eager to get to their presents when my environmental wacko. ceo-terrorist, New Age, dirt-worshipping younger brother started bellowing his usual mantra about the damned environmeni.
"You' re killing trees to box and wrap presents for a capitalist. big business day," he whined.
011 shut up, YOII communist- and . walch your mouth. Having had enough
of his crap. I did just what I always doI threw everything out and put it in the same garbage can. Like I really care about separating garbage- it all goes into the same dump. Gee?., some people fall for every do-gooder idea that some socialist dreams up! The hell with trees-they just make a mess for me to clean up in the fall . Cut them all down and see if I care.
As dinner approached. my friend and stockbroker Reggie Jackson came over to share in the festivities. Reggie 's real name was Abdul Mohammed Skyhook Sahib Ayatollah Gadhafi or something weird like that. Reggie immigrated to America with his parents when he was three years old and changed his name to that of his hero- Reggie Jackson. Reggie wanted to change his name and
22 BINGHAMTON REV1EW ••••••••••••••••••••••••
religion so as to be what he called "a regular American." Can't say 1 blame him.
1 asked him if he celebrated that Af-rican holiday, Kwanzaa.
"There is no such thi~g," he replied "What!" "You see, it was invented in 1966 by
a guy named Maulana Karenga." "Really?" 1 replied. "Oh yes, it's a mythical celebration
based on socialist principles to get blacks away from what Karenga considered a 'white man's day.' There is no such thing in Africa."
"So, it's just crap, then?" "Yes, I'm afraid so-it's just another
attempt to separate blacks from whites in America," he said
How sad/or America, 1 thought. "I always did want to know why you
changed your religion to Judaism," 1 said "Well, 1 started noticing that people
in my religion were killing people and blowing up buildings in the name of
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FEBRUARY 1996 BENARDELLO . • •••••••••••••••••••••••
God--committing unspeakable acts of terrorism while proclaiming that God was on their side. But most of all," he continued, "I realized that every time they went to war with Israel, they got their ass kicked! Not once or twice, but every time! 1 then realized that if a God was on their side, it was obviously the wrong God So 1 figured 1 would join the winning team."
I didn't have the heart to tell him 1 thought be still was on the wrong team. But all that aside, he is a pretty good guy. 1 turned on the television to watch the All in the Family marathon. God, 1 love Archie Bunker.
Dinner was fast approaching and 1 could hardly wait. There's nothing like a meal of dead animals to get you in the Christmas spirit. As the relatives started arriving, 1 realized my worst nightmare--cousin Meredith was with them. God, she annoys me. She is one of those animal rights wackos. She actually
PADIANO'I
thinks that animals have rights. Meredith started asking right away, "What's for dinner?"
"The usual," I answered, "the deer and turkey I shot during the past hunting season."
"What?" she screamed. "Stuffit," 1 said, "I don't want to hear
any damn stories about Bambi. 1 killed his father and that's that-eat your dinner and like it."
As I sat at the table listening to my brother and cousin whine about the environment and animals, 1 had all 1 could stand. 1 got up, kicked the dog, threw another log on the fire, sat back down, lit a fine cigar and enjoyed the rest of my dinner in peace as everyone fled the cigar smoke.
Ahh. it don r get no better than this.
Anthony J. Benardello is a junior majoring in philosophy and philosophy. politics and law.
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It Takes a Village Idiot The jacket of Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book on child-rearing. it Takes a 'til/age, provides tills illuminating revelation, " Hillary Rodham Clinton is America's first lady. A longtime child advocate, she lives in the White House with the president and their daughter, Chelsea." We ' re glad the publishcrs cleared that one up. [Washington Tillles Week(y, January 22-28, 19961
Swift One, Pat GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan recently pulled a New Hampshire television commercial featuring the exploding space shuttle Challenger after residents complained that he was exploiting the tragedy for political gain. Ncw Hampshire is the home of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was killed in the 1986 accident. [New fork Post. January 12. 19961
How About "Blanks" The Washington Bullets. a professional baskctball team, has announced it is looking for a new nickname with " less violent connotations," The University of Massachussets is also reportedly set to change its mascot from "Minuteman -, to "Temporally Inclusive Person." I The American Spectator. January 19961
Shooting the Messenger David Scott, a law student and columnist for the newspaper Res Ipsa Loquitur at the University of Miami, recently was given documents proving that underqualified black students arc being admitted to the UM law school. The response? Mr. Scott-not the admissions office-is under investigation. [Campus Report, December 1995]
Putting Cougars Fi rst A mountain lion killed a California woman named Barbara Schoener in 1994 . In response. donors rai sed $2 1,000 to care for the cougar 's cub, which was orphaned when wildlife authorities killed the animal. but only $9,000 to care for Schoener's two children . [New.week, January 8, 19961
QUIBBLES & BITS Fat and Frugal
A pizza chain reports that deliveries to the White House decrease by ten percent whenever Bill Clinton is away. Tips. however, increase by fifteen percent during those periods. [1f0shington Times Weekly. January 1-8. 19961
Birds of a Feather Flock Together Louis Fanakhan took a trip to Lib)'a in mid-January. where he met with terrorist leader Moammar Gadhafi. Gadl13fi later told a reporter he has "found a loophole to enter IAmerica] and to confront it fTom within." Gadl1afi also pledged to spend $1 billion on Muslim causes in thc Uni ted States. But heck, we all know Farrakhan is a great civil rights leader. so why should anybody worry about this arrangement? IPress & Sun-Blllletin, January 27. 19961
Education-Unabomber Style A sixth-grader in Philadelphia was assigned to write a letter to a company about animal testing. A rew days later. AlfTed Zcien. the chairman of Gillette, received this: " If you hurt another animal...l ' ll bomb your company. P.S. Watch your back. " Zeicn says he gets hundreds of similar letters from adolescents every year. II/eader s Digest . January. 19961
BIN GHAMTON REVIE W 23 • ••••••••••••••••••••••••
Education-Secular Style Tennessee ninth-grader Brittney Kaye was assigned a research paper. so she wrote about the Ii fe of Jesus Christ. Hcr tcacher nunked her. saying that Jesus is not an appropriate topic for a public school. "Wake up'" said Ohio Democrat James Traficant in response. " , .. the Consti tution never intended to separate God and the America n people. " r H'ashington 7illles Weeklv. Dccember 18-25. 19961
We Knew It A poll conducted by Frank Luntz reveals that liberals arc more likely to admit havi ng taken a hotel towel and are morc likely to slecp around as opposed to conscrvatives. Liberals arc also more likely to believe that they arc better tha n their fellow man . I National ReView, December 25. 1995 1
Stupid Govern ment Tricks Redux Federal laws prohibit the fo llowing heinous crimes: making fal se crop reports: mailing o f injuriolls animals. plants. and pests: issuing a check for less than $1: and interstate transport of unli censed dentures. Overheard: "They can pry these false teeth from my cold dead hands ' " I Policy I/eview. January I February 19961
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PIPE DREAM Miol in Ch ief Burely Mu nuging Idiot
Lora Donut Keith Garnish
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Editorial
protests 's decision UN DERRIWRESEi\'TEI) GROlW GOVER1. .... 0R 011 N. Y.
to the • VERB NOUN
Yesterday, students Where we stand: NU!\ffiER <20
from occupied the Quit . like STUDENT GROUP argumg office of , demand-
Aot>.·n NISTR.J\TOR and give us ing they be immediately given PLURALAN lfl1AL
$ , and the • hru~1lJER ALCOHOLI C BEVERAGE COI\TRACEPTIVE DE\' ICE
In response , FARM l~IPLEMENTS
cited Bylaw and told the protesters to SA E-1l0ARD r ... fEMBER NUl\mER BETWEEN 3 I\NO .5
themselves and then take a flying off of SEXUAL ACT VERB
the . Protest leader called these demands CAMPUS LOCATION FOR..\ f.ER VPr>. tA
and the result of a ist way of thinking ADJECTIVE NOUN
and an even more ist culture . We can't believe that NOUN
at a university of this , students would resort to ADJECTIVE
such tactics to achieve . The adminis-INSULT LE I'llST GOAL
tration continues to prove their ness by doing SYNONYM FOR "SPI1'-lELESS-
about the situation, obviously hoping to secure FlTfILE ACTION
all the , and for themselves. HALLUCINOGEN LUDRlCMIT BIOCHEM ICAL WEAPON
Both parties are being selfish and all the , and should come to us.
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