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'A ·'Choice·"· Not An i'Echo ' . 'October1991

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Editorial Board

. Editof-in Chief.: ............ Michael Thomas Malloy ,

, Executive Director .... : ...... ;~ .......... Adah1 Bmmoorg ,

PUblishing 12ditor ...................... : ... Paul D, Schnier

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

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

r rrC~asllfer ... , :} .... , ... ~: ............................. .Jeffrey Weyl

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Contributors

Ephraim Bernstein.

Carpenter ill . Brandon Kriegel , "

Alillnni Board .

J .

. ,I . "' ~

Katrina Schwing

Yan Rusanovsky

Billy Scho~

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

IHGlnOl'a'lry' ' Advi~Q'r. : ~ .. , ~: . :, ' .. : .. ,.' .. :.,~: .... ROnald Rea.gan

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

~ : ~": ( ~~ t,">, .: , • ~ -

In i987 a few SuNY-B studentsf~d up witlithe-anti-. - . ' ~. ..;.;.:, \. : .. . . :

" spirit fonned.ajdumalto"comb~ th.e decepit state, of the educational pro~ess at Bing~ain~ori. ~s I journal, the Binghamton Review, promotes trad;itional 'American Co~serva·tism.

: . Binghamton Review is an ihdependentstu­dent journal of news, commentary, and ahalysis pib­lished monthly. Students at Bingh~ton receive the

I Kevl'e' w free .of-charge. , . Letters to the Editor are encouraged and shouJd .

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

All sl)bmissions to the Ryview become the Inrr\riPrhr of the Review:.The Review reserves the.ritght

edit the and "print any, submissions . . All opinions ' I eX)Jres:Sedare.tb:ose of the authors and qo ilOtn~ess~y

the optnions of the_Review . .

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BINGflXMTON ·REVlEw' , ': " ' ... ,", ~ 'October 'l99i

One ~f the great traditional strengths of ' the American universitY is th~t_ here the · sRirit of debate and the qu~st for kilowledge have safe haven. As the Binghamton Review

. begms itsfiftn yearwewouldliketothinkthatwehav~had'a:inaJorimpactonourcampus. -F:rom our journal pages w~ at the' Review have present~ a sensible alternative to the '

. "~oughtpoI1ce.'" .. , . t ,f

The "thought po~ice" ·arefoup.d all around the SUNY-B gro~nds. Look~at the St~dept {\ssembly and you will find.some. The SA has a long history of acting not:in the interestsof~it~.constifuenis but,ratherin the interests of the special,interests on campu·s. They:now are .in favo):, of Hapur college adOPtIDg a diversity requiryment. The question one must then ask oneself is "Diversityfrom what?"~The advocates will tell you that they would' like. stude~ts to be J~~ired to take c,9urses th~t are· based on non-Western culture. However, as of now H~pur does n<?~ even have a requirement for .' c~urses in Western culture . .

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

The te~ "th,ought pollce" is used to adckess a genuine co~cern, for the definition that I gave about the role of the University servirig as a utility for debate is now being questioned. The "enlightened ones" in our campus are pursuing the'''ideals'' bfDiversity

~and Political Correctness, even when those conGepts are losing their credibility through­out the country. This may suggest that those who influence policy and those make it at ~UNY- B are not acting in the interests of this insti,tution.,

./ . . Bmghamton ought not getitself mvolved in cow-towing to special interests at ;, \ " , \. , . ' the a:c~emic level. Not oruy do actions like theSe fmrt the reputation ofBihghahtton', but · ' . it degrades the idea of unive~sity 'an together. , '.,. '

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· 'lL., ' Traditiomilly 'students assume the content of the Review without reading it. I ! V), would like to take this oPPoItUmty to' openly challenge members of the university

, t •• '. i, ,; ~ommunity to :read through oUr articles cind take issue with us.· Write and support or IJ~ ~haUepge our positions. In . this way ·the tradition31 role of <;lebate in Academia ~ will -

, ": ( .. ".~

N.fich~elThornas~alloy

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

y.ou'rerlgh~ join'the ·

Binghamton Review . ,

i because we're right on the issues.

'Re~ember the left is not right!

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Page 3

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

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by Adam, Bromber.g . ''''''.

, staff membeFS: ', \-:.

",: '" ,. A' " s Nliticai ' corr~tness con- ",-', " '; !,res~perSO!1S ,st3rt by pl~ying' , . tinues to be a dominant issue' " ' ''Cultural PursuiCin 'which there area "

" ' o'n 'campuses ac.ros's the number of categories which inClude items " " " ,' such 'as: Has experienced being stereo-country, it's'alivyand well here at SUNY - typed; Is white" mciIe, middle or upper Bing.hamton. Eveiyility PC enters ne~ ,class;:Has,afriendorrelativewho-isgay, areas of our campus' life: as President lesbian or bisexual; Was considered, a . DeF1eurappOints eommissions to study 'jock" in high: school; Has had their Jhe problems. New students, who come name'mispronounc,ed. here apprehensive, are i1nm~ately be-sieged by the politically correctand their'

puts white; male, middle,or upper class,.' heterosexual and Christian an t6g~ther. It then tells , the ' OA t6 ask, "Is this a threatening issue to bring up. for males?; WHat does this symbolize?; What kindS of power does this group yield?"

, ,. After. that gFeat game was o~er; it was on to "Wheel of Oppression," but' , instead of Vanna White, they 'had Lois DeFleur. In "Wheel of Oppression," s~dents ' get into to even more detail by ,

teachin.gs ~ which continue, uiltil gradua- ,­,tion day;

, Once upOn a time, orientation helpedfreshlnan getacquainted with their new school including tours, of the' cam-

, , ':'N 0 longer a:re fre~dom,

individual rights , er economic 0Pp0rtulJ,ity. ' , ,

pus, information about ,student life, and ' , 'our mottos.; they are n~w

globalism. and the , Dove ,: _ "

Students are then supposed.to

an introduction io dorm life. Not any­more! "Freshpersons," as they are now referred to, are now being taugl!t to be pOlitically correct before they even start their career at this university. '

Orientation advisors (OA) went t~ough their own orientation in. whicb they were taught ,to be Pc. They were, given a briefing on the events of March 14 and told tllat the Na,tional Association

. i. go 'out on a scavenger hunt and- find ' 'people who catt answer yes 'to these ' questions. 'They would' tlien ~'have that

, breaking up 'into snialler groups and learnmg about the ,institutionalized evils of sexism, racism, 'hete~o$!xism, clas~ sism, ableism, ageiSil), :prejudice, and social pOwer. On the b.ottqmof the game, it says prejudice (which is deScribed as' stereotyping) + social pOwer (which is described as being white, male, middle or upper class) = Oppression."

, of Scholars was at fault for the incident.

. person initial their sheet. The&e,students ' actually received points for finding somebody who is a white male or sO,me-

, one who knows a homosexual. All ,this of co~se was done to enlighten students

, " about other types of people, to make them "seusitive."

They were also told that the NAS is ' . hostile to the'go:iIs'of diversity and mul..: ticultaralism. They, were then given a questionnaire about their racial and eth~ nic id~ntity. , They were asked their eth­nic/ra~i~ id~.!l~ty,.~ tfJ Eela:y: ~~*~hood, . memories about this identity, and to list statements of pride about their racial! ethnic identity. Obviously, these things are really , impOrtant for an orien,tation adviser.

, the, orientation', ad~isQrs said the students did not- understafld many of

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, Once the orientation advisors

When you loo,!c at , the i gQide" " , 'the concepts., The OA said that after ,lines and answer key to the game, it get$ . ;', playin.g some of the gfuncts the students ! ~ven better. It starts off by explaining the " drew away into·little groups and v:,ere not

' misconceptions aboutaffnfuatlVeactioh. as close as before. After orientation was It,saysthattherealreasonwhites'oppOse ' over, many of the freshpersons,thought it is because they fear "loss of pOwer/ that ,it was '~stupid."Many of them even controV resources" and suggests the OA, felt angry, saying that they were made to ,

. , should query with the students what feCI,guilty,just for being W~,itemales.

: that is "diverse"" you see a number' of symbols~ which represent this dorm as well as explanations about the symbols.

The sign has a , symbol of a globe which explains that this is "a plaee where individuals accept their obliga-, tions to the groupand where well-defmed ,governance for the common good." This ' slogan sounds kind of familiar to me. It ~

was probably written on one of those statues of Lenin that are being knocked down all over the SovietUnion (or what used to be the Soviet U Irion). Since when . has residentlallife had the power to de .. cide what is, the "common gobd."

, Other signs on this poster are a , peace sign, a recycling sign, ~ peaceful

dove, which symbolizes a "lovrng, car­ing -community" and "the , symbol for hum¥1rightSl' repr~ntedbyafist, which has been the symbol of many radIcal and violen~ organizations in the past. The

, hUman rights symbol represents "A place where the sacredness of each person is ' honored'and where diversity is pursued."

, ,,' A list of all these symbols were . not only displayed,on this sign, but were also,d1stnbuteglo'every'RA ,to use. The flier distributed to all RAs states, "A defmition of the symbols used and how they tie into campus community: our way of being educationa11ypurposeful ... '~ What- do they mean by "the symbols": whose symbols are these? Has residen­tiallife decided that these are \he sym­bols of our university? Residential life is telling students what they should think • . , telling them what symbols are important. No longer are freedom, individual rights ' oretonomie opportunity our mottos, they are now globalism arid the dove .

passed the PC test, they were now going to be prepared to teach others, to be PC. ' One of the main ways this was done was with two games called, "Wheel of Op-

whites have to lose if affmnative~cti6n . , exists. , Orientation is 'only'-one of the ' These examples highlight' the

, areas which PC has engul!ed;residential degree to which political correctness has

, pression" and "CrilturalPursuit," bOth of ' which were repOrtedly invented by SUNY

The guide g~s on to call white and male, and middle and upper class "persons with the power to adversely effect ot~ers, even unintentionally." In, the answer,key tothe game, a categ?ry

lifeohas:now joined !he PC,bandwagoil'. " '. ,become. ent~enched .in our ' university ' UponWalkingintobuildirigopeofHayes community. Political correctness has

Community, you see, a hugt;, sign weI. moved from the classroom to our vo-coming you to "Hotel Diversity.~; Be- " cabulary, to our,orientation, and to our sides telling y, ou that you are in,. a buildirig, places ofresidence. Who knows what's

next?

. fJoiou bave tbe,ri~t,stuff? , Get your career off to a flying start. Become a mer. There are no on-campus drills, Plus, you , yourself amongst the best and,start off making Marine aviator, Ifyou!re a college fresrumm, receive $100 a month during the school year, ' from $17;0.00 '. IZ.I,(X)() a ~ sophomore or junior, you could qualify for our Seniors can qualify Cor the graduate Ofncer year See ,if-you measure up, ' , ' ' , undergraduate Officer Com!11issioning Pro- ' , Commissioning Program and anend training Check ouqhe Marine Corps ' gram and'be guaranteedtlight school after-grad- after graduation, ' ' Officer:Commissioning , uation, All ' is cOll-ducted This is an excellent opportunity to prove Programs, ' , ~ , '

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Page 4

Illiberal E-ducation

The Politics of Race and sex on . campus ·

. Dinesh D'Souza

The Free Press

'$19.95

by Steven Schwamenfeld

T . he "Ar . . ge~tine nov~listVlady . Koclanclch dedIcates her

'_ novel The Last Days of Wil-

liam Shakespeare ''To .the victims of

now a quota fpr the Italian:-Americans. Meanwhile, what is happening to those happy students who have been accepted? .

At Stanford, students are being requested to re'ad the immortal words of Rigorberta Menchu. In I, Rigorber14 Menchu: An, Indian Woman in Guate­'mala; the experience of a typical Indian woman (who apparnetly spends most of her tim~ in Pans these-days) are re,,":

. counted. There is no hint of either literary , merit or historical reliablility. The au-. thorities wanted a Latin-American who was conscious of discrimination and they

_ got one. ~or such a position Jorge Luis Borges need not apply . . Here in Stan- . ford, the battle for thepoliticization of art is also being fought out. Art is evidently .

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white defaces a black's property it is a hate crime. If a black assaults-a white with a deactiy weapon, it is ' ~ot a racial incidtmt. This is not only Michigan, it is <! general experience. -

After the genuine ugliness at Mi~higan, D'Souza provides us with some much needed comic relief with Stanley Fish and his merry band of de­constructionsists,atDuke. Duke Univer­sity has striven to ~ at the cutting edge ·

; of literary fashion and, God help them, they have ·succeeded. Fish is, the man

_ with-the ingenious theory that it is the reader' sresponse toa work thatis impor­tant;not the work itself; Mter all, every­thing is subjective so no work has more value than any other. Shakespeare,Louis

first person ac;counts o( Southern slave­owners. He doesn't endorse them any­more then a person studying the Holo-

" caust would endorse Mein Kampf, but merely for assigning them he has been , .accusedofracisrh. He-immediatelygoes

. stupigity ill power~" This would be a fittipg,dedication to Mr. D'Souza's book as well. Ilijberal EdJlcation is a painful catalogue of the abuses in Ainerican Academia, although here it is difficult to tell who is more guilty, those in power or those striv#1g to obtain it. Both have the same aim, the elimination of traditional educational standards to be replaced with the indoctrination of the belief that there are no standards excepting those;e wish to have. Of courSe, this isn't all. For concurrent with this general demoral:' . ization o( scholarship comes cadres of semi-fanatics: each choosing to carve a rlic~e for their own special interest (these apparently do have "objective" value ).It is really amazing to read of these college facultY members, "with minds so open their brains have fallyn otit" adyancing side by side with pan-African racialists in theiratt~mptto build anew order in the ,

Illiberal Educatio~ is a pa!1ifutcatalogue of the abuses in American Academm, although here it is

difficult to Ie!l who is more ,guilty

. on the defensive wondering what he (the professor) did wrong. Ciearly waht he did was attempt to teach History, not .propaganda. This novel approach waS too much for his 'students so he dad 'to protest. In response to this and other "controversies," Harvard instituted its -ann~al AW ARE-(Actively Working Against Racism . and Ethnocentrism) Week. This is 'designed to teach students and faculty that they are inherently (genetically, perhaps?) racist. Every white person must know this to function properly atHarvard .. Whatever you do, say or think, you are'a racist. If you deny it you are a worst racist. Thus we are treated to the dedifyingsight of students protesting against individual professors who do not go along with this accepted truth. Celebrated intellectuals . such as Edward O. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein live under a state of siege, being made to be ready to justify their every word before PC inquisitors.

What can be done? The rot seems to be set in So deeply that removing it would leave' very little, at least of Liberal Arts faculties and programs. D'Souza offers a few solutions. He does' ~lieve in some degree of AffIrmative Action, but on a basis of poverty-not race. This is modest. D'Souza calls for ·

Anierican University. '. .

MJ:. D'Souza chronicles out­rage after outrage with considerable de­

... taclu~nent. I believe, hisaiffi is to provide a bedrock upon which others can build.

.. He has been criticized by some conser­vatives for this detachment, however, I consider it necessary. It makes each of his case studies both more ridiculous and . mor~ chilling. He describes six "caSes:" . Berkley, Stanford, Howard, Michigan;>

, DUke and Harvard. Each of these insti­tutions is used to highlight one p~cular aspect of the assault on standards. At . Berkley we see Affirmative Action in all its glory. Here students are barred from adinittance solely on the groqnds of their ethnicity. Blacks with 900 SAT scores and . poor citizenship reCords (I think· expulsion qualifies as poor}are accepted,

. while whites with 1300's and spotless records are turned ,away. Even more mind-boggling is the plight of the Asians. Since they score better than whites,· on, average, they are even more violently discriminated against. Between 1983 and 1984, Asians accepted 'to Berkley dropped by 272 (20%) in response to their "over-representation."

What of the blacks who' are being "helped?" Being under-prepared and unqualified, they, unfortunately, drop-out. They do this at rates of more than 50%; several times more than their "over-represented" counterparts. -This

racial. A selected number of artistS must be of a speCific race if their art is to ha~e value. What is interesting is that nearly all the non-Western books-chosen by S tanford~ those written in recent times by PerSons consumed by hatred for the West. The actual _classics of other civilazations (the K0ran, the Ramciyana,

. the works of Confucius, Etc.) are rarely included. Whatever their artistic merits, they are politically irrelevant and of no use to a teacher of Literature.

_ . ~ At Howard University, we see a genuine black (if you'll pardon the expression) comedy ' being played out. Lee Atwater is named to the Board of Trustees and students and faculty go ' ballistic. Demonstrators occupied cam­pus buildings and .the police were called in. Eventually. Atwater resigned and the grievances of the students were amelio­rated. this was done by speeding up the impiementation of an Afro-centric cur­rriculum. What this means is that the prejudices and fears of the students are going to be catered to on a ~d scale. Few of us have been spared thephenom­enon of the semi-literate Egyptologist who fS to be found throughout the Black:

" Gommunity. From him, ~e are tOld that Egyptians were black and that they founded all aspects of Western culture. Invariably, this is iecounted with the perfect cOPlplacent certainty of the truly Ignorant Now whole programs will be dedicated to feel-good history whereby , the student is '''raise!l~up'' by his imagin­sary racial past. The parallels betWeen this teaching of history, and ~at spon- . soredby various nationalist dictatorships ' to instruct their pupils iri the hating of foreigners is all too obvio~~.

. doesn't stop our brave academic leaders from charging ahead with their dreams of universal equality. Now they are set:. ting quotas for individual nationalities. . Thus MeXicans and Puerto Ricans ,get, ' preference over Spaniards. In the CitY ·

, UniversityofNewYorknetworkthereis

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

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L'Amour"Rigoberm Menchu; they all have equal literary merit. In other words, nothing has any literary merit because -there is no such thing. This allows Literature professors a tremendous amount of freedom and helps reinforce .the notion that the Canon was "chosen" for petty, political reasons; thus it can be su~rceded for . similar reasons. Of

,J course, this leaves us with the question of why people should read fiction at all? This is something Fish and company don't answer. However, we can at least hope that news of CUNY , s new affrrma­tive action program will heip Professor Lentriccia (anotherdecoristructionist) be -more comfortable with his "racially in-

sensitive" ethnic heritage .. Anything that can be called anti-racist apparently has objective value.

Finally we come to America's premiere Ivy League University. Here

. we see America' sfmest professors cow­ering in terror before their students. A

. History professorassigns students to read x

, the abolition of race-based college or­ganizations. He feels these promote

• segregation ~ effectively as Jim Crow· and are a real impediment to Black progress. This too, is <luite reasonable, as white racial organizations are 3tready an atheema; However, I would nor be optimistic about anything being do"he about black organizations. They are too vocal and emotionally appealing to white administrators: Filially, D'Souza makes and appeal for the ClaSsics on the grounds

.of their universal . value~ In~ an arncle m Policy Review, he has elaborated 011 this iii calling for a study of the truly great non-western works. Thus, the different

. civiliZations can' be studied and com­pared. We can learn that there was Arab writing before Fanon. Whether · the prophets of diversity want us to learn this is ''problel,llatic.''

ADVICE, AND DISSENT They're contentious and con~agious. They're '

the McLaughlin Group. (clockwise from left)jack . Germond, EleanorClift,.john McLaughlin, Fred Barnes, Morton Kondracke, and Pat Buchanan.

MadepossibJe by a grant fr~m GE.

t6 ' THEMcLAUGHLINGROUP ' _ . Check your locall;',ing for , .. ,ion and time.

. We bring gooil things to life.

October 1991 BINGHAMTON-REVIEW Page 5

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

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

Washington, DC 20006 ' research has improved the I 202/457-0654 ' quality of my life. I I Name " I It

I Add~ess I i "

I City _ " _f State- _ Zip ,I I The Foundation for Hiomedical Research is a -non-profit,.tax exempt 5Ql (c) (3) organizatio.n, I

We're dedicated to helping the public understand the necessity ofhumane and responsible 'animal research in the _ . Lde_velop_ment_of tre_at_men_ts_an_d.cure_s for_disea_ses_, d_isorde_rs ~~~U_rie_s w_h_idl_affi_e(t_h_uma_~s an_d an_imals~ " . ... " ~ "

Page . 6 BINGHAMTON REVIEW .. October 1991

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

What did · Ted Ke·nnedy's n·ephew say' while . he w\as ' allegedly ,raping his victim? '" You

,better be quiet or 'I'll · have my uncll· drive you home.

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. "Many SDviets viewing the current chaDs and ' natiDnalist unrest under GDrbachev IDDk back

" almDst long'iligly tD- th'e era Df brutal Drder ilnde r Stalin."

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

' A FACr-RN{)INft JlJNItET 10

'VAIL.!.. .

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

.\

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

Budget Director R'lchard Darman

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October 1991 BINGHAMTON· REVIEW ' Page 7

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MikhaitGorbachev is again$t Star Wars, ihe 'MX, stealth technology, c~uise missles., smart bombs, and U.S." involvement in NATO, Central Americ'a, the Middle East, and the ' Philippines. He also frowns on the expansi(Jn of the American .Army; Nayy, Air Force" '. Marines, and Coast Gaurd .. Tl?:e .Democrats better get hold of.him quickly bef0t:e the KGB does. .

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

.' .

Rumors that Sesa,m·e Street will explolre adult issues fly .having-Ernie kille4 by .random gunfire are

. false. However, there are plans for Bert and Ernie , to come. out of the closet this season.

'. I.

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

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

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

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Page 8 BINGHAMTON -REVIEW"

Questioning Abortion Rights versus Choices

by Jef!efY Weyl

I n America, future pru;ents need to look ahead towards a time when eacp child will be welcom~d and

not feared. A time when fertilization is an act of joy and not a future act of murder. Now is the moment to consider the facts associated with abortion. The

" issues of women's rights, the United Stat~s Supreme Court, and Pro-Abortion ,groups factor into a complex decision that affects a great deal of people. ,

According to the book The Terrible choice-The Abortion Dilemma,

, in 1968, years before Roe-v-Wade, the , percentageofAmericansagainstabortipn '

on demand was over 80%. In 1973, the Wa,rren colin voted 7 -2 in favor ~fKaren Roe (her real name being 'Norma Mc­Corvey) which legalized abortion. The Court ' conduded that during , the first , trimester" the abor~on decision and its effectuation must be left to the medic~ judgment of the pregnant woman's at­tending physician." The court also said, that ' after the first trimester " the state ... may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure iri 'ways that 'are reasonably related to maternal health." One of the dissenting opinions by Justice Rehnquist was that "[the Court's] judg­me!1t is an impf;ov~dent and extravagant exercise ofthe power of judicial review that the Constitution ,extends to this Court." With this opinion, the Supreme Court legalized abortion to occur at any ' tim~ during a pregnancy, including the ninth month. Besides the legal aspects, , Pro-Lifers think that it is morally \Vfmig , ' ,for a licensed doctor to perform' an abortion on a consenting woman. In fact, it is legally rig}1t for a siat~ to prohibitanyaetimi that is morally wrong. ,In Abortion: Law, Choice :and Morality; ' there is data from studies in Sweden and Hungary showing 'that of women who were 'denied legal abortions, only one-third went on to have an ...

illega1:abortion.Thissrudy.shows that if ' applicable to the 'United States, ,two thirds of all. deaths by abortion can be ' prevented. It will not be a return to "back-alley~: aboEtions,as the:"iiberals putit, but rather adtmialoHhe equal right ' to kill. According tolnducedAbortion; A World Review by ChristopherTietze" the percent distributio,n of women who "

, have aborted more'than once ~ei1t up 1.5 , the year after Roe v. Wad~. This issurdy evidence that things will occurata:greater.

murder, size or age is not important, rather'the fact that murder teok place is. When a women uses her right to choose an abortion, then It is intentional killing. ,In sum, a woman does not have the right to choose to have her growing child killed. The pre-born is not merely part of

, the woman's body, !Jut an individual she must morally, if not legally protect.

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

.. and Israel, abortions are totally legal, that

is, a' woman can freely end a life and not -need to justify her action. In 94 countries maqe it legal on very specific grounds such as the woman's age, rape, or time' elapsed into pregnancy. The sad play on

_ 'Yords i,s tliat women in China are forced ' .to abolit their "chi,ld in cases of adverse social conditions and a l~ge population. It is considered thatthese Chinese women have noreproductiv,erights. In the United

" States, women have a different type of reproductive rights, the right to end a life.

The medical evidence agamst , ,abortion is truly shocking:

According to Dr. Vincent 1. Collins:

Dilation ,arid Evacua­,tion abortions are performed after, the 12th weekofpregnancy when fetal bon~s are too , large and prittle and the sizeof the fetus 'is too great for standard 1st trimester abortion techniques.D&E ' involves the progressive dismemberment of the fetus prior to extrac,-~tion in order to facilitate ,removal of the fetus parts from the uterus . The,slicing'and crush­ing ... would 0 bviously e(t~it~ pain receptors, ... Itmustbec0l1cluded, tb~r~+ore, that the fetus '

suffers pain as a result'ofP&E abortion,(*)

, .......• , After reading that sharp and distinct , passage, hopefully 'one will 'not take ~ ~ghay be.ing Pro-Choice. 'Incidentally," _ , the term "choice" iSi a ' word used to disgtlise the atrocities of abortion.

, It is upsett,in.z .~hat here in Binghamton, ~bortionservi<;es are listed under birth control in:fGmnation services: in the yello~ pagys. ,Stephen Schwarz says that one can hear -the beating heart by day 25. Usually a heartbeat signifies

, ' life. Thatis all that~y'1\m~riCar.l sh€}Uld have to hear.

ra~e once,they are no longer cond.o~ed . :' Finally, I say to women: think

,One must be' abl~ ' to assume rcilJy hard, because.if you abort, then it that the pre-born child is dependent and will stay with you for the rest of your relies !lPon the motper. As of now, tM ': ,; lives. Y ou ~ill have-a hundred questions mother may have alegal abortiofl~ Let us ' about '

say that the , roles were switched: an " ' a life you ended and will never know the example where a woman is dependent . answerS. And if there is a little of the on and her life is sustained by her husband.

, Whfll if he did not want to support and pro~ect her? Would it be the right of the husband to kiil his wife if he no longer wanted to sustain heT? Stephen Schwarz, author of The Moral Question ofoAbor- ' tion , uses the analogy of child to ahouse~" , burglar. Even in a place' he may not be wanted, death is not necessary to eject the burglar from the house. So it is the sam~ way with 'a, pre-born child. If someone'iritentionally kills 'an adult to ' , get him out o( the way, then that is ' intentional homicide. - In considering

,.. '''''.)' , " '

killing in the world, we can preveNt, let's start with ourselves. ,

(*): Vincent J. Collil,1s, M .D., Steven R. 'Zielenski, ,M.D." ~rr~h Thomas J. ' Marzen, Esq., ' ~ ;. , .

Fetal Pain and Abortion: The Medical Evidence. Chicago. AUL, 1984.

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Studerit AS8ociation:Clashes With ·Sfudents··· . .

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

by Brian Degano & Andy Szui JP-. B' ei~'g . a student . a.t ' SUNY­Bmghamton has Its a:dvan- '

. . tages and dis3dyantages. Over the past few years, students, as w~ll as proressors, have argued over whether the university campus is indeed 'a place for true freedom of thought, action and speech. This.year's incoming students are ·becoming acquainted with suNY - . B's version of what is considered "so­cially acct1ptable." whether it be a ' controversial topic being discussed by our bungliD.g Student Association, or a heated debate during a . class lecture, ' students, new and old, are forced ,to be careful of what they say and how it is interpreted by those . who consider themselves oppressed. Just like a child ' sitting in front of a television and being . indoctrinated by a show 's theme, stUdents at SUNY-Binghamton .are being im- .

, morally 'and unjustly brainwashed,into what is considered "socially acceptable" by the standards of 'the current puppet administration. .

Without a doubt, one of the many examples of these blatan-t attemp~ -to

, implant a code of momls into the minds of students, is last year's ban on all blood drives at the SUNY-Binghamton cam­pus.

The controversy of the blood drive bans started last year when afew students decided to join a fight toJX>YCQtt blood · drives because · of unfair screenii)g practices towards Haitians ':;md Sub-Sa­haran Africans. Native Haitians, as well as non-indigenous populations,-who had had intercourse with other Haitians or had, blood ' transfusions when visiting there, w~re stopped from donating blood because of an unusually high occurrence of AIDS cases among heterosexuals; However, it' was later learned, that this turned out to be false. Ifl:stead, many Haitians, who were stricken with the AIDS virus, decided to fabricate the circumstarices surrounding their con­traction of the Virus. The Haitian AIDS victims, many of whom were religious~ did not feel comfortable with revealing the fact that they had homosexual rela­tions, abused drugs, varied relationships with prostitutes, and multiple sex part­ners. Th.is falsification, on the part of the

. Haitians, skewed ali the data on Haitian . AIDS victims; the~fore, ' bringing the ' Food and Drug Administration to con­clude that there was,amuch higher chance of catching AIDS from monogamous heterosexual sex in Haiti than in :;my other country. Consequently, the FDA banned all Haitians,regardless of whether they were heterosexual or homosexual, from donating blood. This waS done quickly because.at the height of the AIDS scare, the FDA feared of contaminating the blood supply blood. Presently, the FDA has lifte<t ,the b~ on Haitian do­nating blood . .

On the other hand, Sub-Saharan Af­ricans were banned from donating biood for a different reason. The FDA claimed that Sub-Saharan Afrkans were infected with.adifferentstrain of the AIDS virus; called mV-2.

This different strain of the AIDS virus, EIV -2, was found only among the Sub--

Saharan Africans which meant that only . those who had intercourse with anyone from this group were at risk. In addition, the FDA cited that those with a higher

'.- occurrence of malaria,-like the Sub-Sa· . haran. Africans, were also banned from donating blood. Since the cost of testing.' . for mv -2 and malaria woolddrastically increase the cost of blood for operations, the FDA decided to ban Sub-Saharan Africans from donatiilg blood as a cost:. beneficial·move.

, Last year, a few students armed with · this infOl1l!ation came to the SAand tried

to pass an SA resolution banning blood drlvesatSUNY-B. When this resolution came to the SA, the U.S. had just entered

· Operation' Desert Storm and the holiday season was jUst beginning. Forboth of

never called the meeting to order, the vote had never really taken place. Ob­noxiously, the SA voted again and not surprisingly, the motion torescindfailed. The ban was once again in effect.

Following, the SA ban, the Hinman College Council, acting on its own, took a phone poll of the Hinman'community. Results of the poll showed that over 80% ' of its residents wanted blood drives to be held on campus. By far, this was cer­tainly representative of the students'

· views.dn the campus, consi~erihg that it was common knowledge that the Bing­hamton area received 10% of its blood

· supply' from the campus. , .

. Blood is a precious commodity needed for life. People in accidents, 'hemophiliacs, and others depend on the

, II •• stUdents at SUNY-Binghamton are being immorally and unjustly ,brain washed into

. what is cO!lsidere~ "socially acceptable" by' the standards of the current puppet

Administration

these reasons, the resolution couldn't . have come at a worst time. .

, At the SA meeting, during which the blood drive issue was debated, a Bing-

"-ham ton Red Cross Fe~sentative said that he would sign a letter with the stu- /" dents asking the FDA to review its poliCies on the blOod drives. However, this was ~ot acceptable to the students who demanded a ban on all blood drives:

. blood.banks for their life. Tiying to take away a tenth of this supply amounts to blood terrorism and it is morally repre­hensible no matter what political goals are sought: _ .

Regardless of how the students felt, the administration and SA decided

not to listen to the students but instead impose a "socially' acceptable" ~t of · morals onto the student population. They had· violated . the fundamental principle to which all democratic governments

Unfortunately, these students, who were elected by'their peerS, decided to define what they believed was "socially ac­ceptable" by their standards, without consulting their consti~ency. '

· must adhere to: fair and true representa­tion of its constituency., '

That night, the SA was in a deadlock - for several hours, with both sides in a ,

stalemate. When the vote took place, it ende~ in a tie. The tie .

breaker was up to the Executive Vice­'President, who voted for' the -ban. His reasoning, he claimed, was that he could not stand by and watch discrimination occur.

Thoseopposmg,the ban on blood drives, argued that it was not a racial issue -but rather a geographical one. However, the

.- proponents of the ban chose to be mm-ow­minded and see this issue only in black

_ and white.

Another. major issue that took place with the SA last year was whether ~ASU, the Student Association of the State Universities, 'should continue to be stu­dent-funded. SASU, is a student-paid lobby group that is supposed to protect

, SUNY student's rights af the state level. Last year, at SASU's Lobby Day in Albany, SASU made demands of the Senate that were considered ridiculous by many legislators. Forexample, SASU expected them to increase state taxes to make 'iIp ~e deficit for New York. An­other outrageous demand by SASU was .' that Governor Mario Cuomo resign.

- Unfortunately, SUNY students, who give SASU $30,000, are being repre­sented in such a foolish fashion.' Stu­dents who went to Albany-said that immy 'of the Assemblym_en had a hard time · . taking SASU seriously. In the hallways of the Capitol building, SASU leaders had the audacity' to get a group of stu­dents to shout obscenities in. order to get attention. However, according to the SUNY studen~ who were serio_us about making a change, the only ones that they got to talk to were_the legislator's aides.

Last year, when SASU's membership came up for renewal, 62% of the student body voted to get rid of SASU because ,they.did not like the job that they were doing. Unfortunately, the SA said tJ.1at ' the only way to expel SASU was to get a 2/3 of the students' votes. Ironically, even though more than half of the stu­dynts didn'twantSASU, they continued to.pay for it

Both issues, including 'the ban on the blood drive and SASU's continued ' campus presence :;tgainst the will of the ,students, are prime examples of the administration ~s and SA's blatantpursuif of iinplementing a "socially acceptable" code Of conduct. Anybody, whether they are the top officials of a university's administration or egotistical maniacs in a student government, who threaten the lives of people by complying to a twisted selfish set of morals has the duty to re­evaluate whether what they are doing is in the interests of those Who ' they are supposed to represent.

Playing with politics is one thing, but playing with the lives of people is another. Any rational individual knows the dif-

- ference, and it is their responsibility to ril3ke sure that those who they eleCt do not commit such atrocities of great pro­portions. This issue of blood drives isn't

. Eco-HiO, and pints of blood aren't wid­gets to be used in a bizarre supply and demand game. The proponents of blood drive bans'attempted to use the ability of the ~UNY -B campus to donate blood as a bargaining tool. What they forgot was that the a,bility to donate blood is not a right, but a privilege and an obligation to

, those who can donate blood without . contaminating the supply.

Thestud~nts of this campus are ratio-. nal adults Who must be allowed to arrive

at their own decisions, without any out-:­side interference from those who con­sider themselves above everyone else.

Ironically, those that were pro-ban overlooked the fact that there are many white people who live in Haiti 3$ well as many whites. ih Africa who because of their geographical location are also 'banned~from donating blood; .

Make a difference and get involved~_<

In the .following weeks, a motion to rescind was brought up: Once again, the .

· SA argued for hours over tbeblooddrive ,issue. Finally, when it came time for a vote, the motion to rescind passed and at that point, the ban should have been ended. However, two voting .members

.. of the SA, who had not-yet voted, entered the room. In ord~r to let them vote, ' (everyone knew how they were going to vote) the EVP said that smce he had

join the

College. Republicans

Meeting Weqnesday .October 2, SW231 8:00 · p.m. .

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Germany,· the New European Superpower? ~ . ,.' .

by Scoff Kot;her

H avmg returned from The Fa-. therland ~ May, I have seen

. , the beginning of the transfqr- , mationin Germany .. As most People know, there no longer exists two -Germany's; with the arnioying 'East' . and 'West' placed ' before their names.

, Now th~re stands only. one Bimdesre­publikDeutsehlandin theheartofEurope. ,

O.n October 3, 1991, the Ger­mans will celebrate the first anniversary

. of th~ .German Reunification. The amazing events that have occurred in Germany have unfolded ' in . the short. span of two years. The beginning of the end forCommimist rule was OCtober 3, 1989 when the borders we~ opene4 for emigrants of neighbqring~ounthes: The ". events of:the'next year w(ue to:occor at a ~,

rapid pace: The fall of the aet-lin Wall. .. the establishment of a democratic govenunent in East Germany ... the .call for reunification ... Helmut Kohl leading the Christian Democratic Union to vic- .

, tory of a reunited Germany. " " '

Then there was the more recent issue of where- the capital ot Germany should be located. Should it remain, in Bonn, a small Univ~rsity town and the . home of Ludwig ~on Beethoven? Or . should it ,ht mo~ed to Beriin,.the former ' capital of tlle Prulsian E~pire ,and the Third Reich? The decision w~,reacbed aftermuchdeb~eandpoUticlOng-Berlin

willbethenew'capiJalofGeITnany(with . Bonn serving as an ~dmipj.straiive cen-

. tet).

This move has further worried

• ~ ~ • 1 ~ ••

some of Germany's neighbors as they fear the Germans will~ begin to revert . back to their past policies of expansion and/orracism. Poland is by far the most worried of Germany's neighbors. The Polish . govenun~nt is afraid that th,e Germans will come to retrieve the land which was taken away from them by the Allies at the end of World War II. The Poles are probably even more wary of the Germans with .the recent breakup of the Sovi~t Urrion. , It has always been . (hought that 'the Germans wquld never iryto retake the land aslong as the Soviet Union was intaet:Now much is unclear: on the status of the ~oviet "Union." The accusations of the Poles have been tempered somewhat by 'a treaty signed by the' Germans stating they will never

',a.ttempt to recl~ what waS once theirs.

The military fears @f a reunited , Germany are almost entirely unwar­ranted. There wouldn 'teven bea German Army if there wasn't .a requirement for young Geinians to serve for 18 months (Germans also have the option to.se1!'e ,as a volunteer for services like the Red' Cross, ambulance drivers, etc., but if they choose this optiQn then they have to serve. for longer then 18, months). The .

. German military is still under the watch­. ful eye of the . North Atlantic Treaty ,OrganizMon (NATO}andhasno nuClear 'weapon$ dir~tly , at their service (tbe

, tJ.S .' has mi~sil~s ~(jn GermaFl ,soil).

. If there is a reason to fear 'Germany, it will come from their awe­some economic might, not their military strength (or lack of it). Jt can be argued

./

that Germany has come t1ven further ' than Japan 3fter their colleCtive defeatin W9rld War II. Basis for this argument comes from the fact that Germany was physically ravaged by the en~of the war.-

. The nation, was divided into four zones and laterinto two countries, while Japan

, had nearly twice as many people than the area known as West, Germany: , .

.' Itistruethatright~owGermany is experiencing a slight economic ,setback due to the integration of eastern Germany into a market economy. However, once

, the integrationjs 'complete, Germany . will be stronger than ever,. By the late 1990's and into the 21st century, Ger- . many maybe dictating what oct:uis in world markets. They will certainly not

, be going at it alone. Germany is preparing to enter its second consolidation of this decade' - the Europe~ Community.

, ' The idea of one Europe is a' subject that every American should take interest in since it wiil affect everyone. Imagine countries like ' France, Great Britain, Italy, Holland and otherS being , united with the economic strength of Germany in one cominon trading bloc. The implications on the U.S. economy 'could be staggering if our trade with Europe isrestricted.Uermany will be the major player on the European Commu­nity team and is , one of the countries pushing the hardest for complete·Euro­pean integration (while Great Britain is trying hard nOE to give too much of their sovereignty). Of course, the U.S. and, Japan are not going to drop off the face of the earth;so we may see a world divided into three major trading blocs.

Germany is hardly a heaven on ' earth though;they have their share of ,

. problems too. Investment. of Western companies in . the area .. that was East . Germany is occurring at a much slowe~ rate than Chancellor Helmut Kohl pre-

, dict~. This will only prolong the con­version of that region. Kohl has also'­gone back6n hiS promise of "no n,ew

, taxes. ;'He also slapped a large tax hike to help pay fotreunification. ' ,.

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

Another major problem in . Germany is pollution. The factories 'in the old east had absolutely no restrictions on the amount of pollutants they released 'into tpe atmosphere; If the Germans do not do somethj,ng about the emission

, leveis from their automobiles soon, the remaining forests will quickly yanish.

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

Are California Univetsities beco~ing Diploma Mills?

byRick Henderson

populist California econo-, . mist disCovers. that ~ollege graduates earn 30 perc.ent

more than those who don 'thave degrees. So that the state's voters pass an initia­tive that automatically awards bachelo~"s degrees to all high school graduates and other California riatives 'who ~ t'8 of' age and older. No longer will¢ose wno have college 'dipiorrias enjoy undemo­cratic ad~aritages. The income of all adult Californians will rise. ,

I legislation~ which may pass this year-':' is designed to' in~rease ,e9ucational op-

, portunities for "underrePresented" eth­nic and socioeconomic gI'~ups. · But it doesn't set mit to impr~)Ve th~· education these students receive. mstead'they re- ' quire higher education offi~i31s to meet a iarget- racially balanced graduation . rates. Affirmative action officers may ' delight in the legislature's rgoa)s,. Yet stud{mts of all races and eeonotnic classes who seek academic e.xcellenc~ and

" . the taXpayers who f~t th~ir bills- will ' suffer. . ,

For the past three decades, Under those circumstan~es, of California lawmakers have pursued three .

course, simply having a college diploma goals in higher education: Access to _ wouldn't miraculously raise your salary . . ' qUality education for all qualified resi­

And the initiative itself is fiction- the dents;solideducationalprograrrisrun by brainchild ' of Robert A. Heinlein iI) his - competent t~achers; and diverse student 1982 novel Fnday ; : . ~ut iiifluentla. ' bodies led py program~ , that help all .

, CaiiforniaLegislatocS":"::" led by Assem- ,students develop·their pot~ritial.

bly S peaketwillie Bro~n':"':" have gi\ien ' , The state has ~~ acce~s to its . the genefai principle a home in theOoloen ,. ,

, schools by providing virtually tuition- . S~te's leg3Icooe. Itcol1ld Permanently '. 'free enroIimenn~ allre~ide'~tS. ' Still, it devalue the nation's largest higher edu- rewards the best studettts by establishing cation network.

F01.:three consecutive years the legislature has' considered bills that el)­courage "educational ' equity" . in the state's postsecondary institutions. The

y .

: I '

, a hierarchy inside the university system. The University of California canlpuse$ recruit from only the top . one-sixth of

, high school 'graduating classes; the , ·C~ornia S tate system, ~eeks students .

from the top one-fourth. Community colleges are open to everyone else. , ,

But the racial compositions' of the student bodies-and the graduating classes ~ don 'treflect the ethnic mix of state residents. While eight percent of 1986 high school graduates were blacks and 20 percent were Latinos, among . University of California freshman in 1988, only five percent were black and 12 IX<fCent Latinos. And of those re­ceiving bachelor's degrees from u.c. campuses in 1988, less than four Percent · were blacks, and eight percent Latinos.

Sq the h~gislature told California's post-secondary educators: Thou shalt ' graduate racially balanced , classes. Assembly Bills 462 (introduced

, by Tom Hayden) and 3993 (introduced by Speaker Brown) target bothadmlssion policies and graduation rates. Along

, with lofty language about reducing rac­ism andincreasing opportunity, the bilis .' , offer this "remedy" for racial imbalance: By the year 2000, the student bodies and graduating classes of each division of the. . higher education system should mirror

. the racial and ethnic makeup of the state. The bills easily passed the legislative committees last year, but they never .'

, reached the full Assembly -Cor a vote.

Equity is no substitute for ~dri-, cational quality - especially for disa~­vantaged students. Those who enter co!lege with poorly developed academic . skills' have enough troubles. As sOcial critics such as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams have noted, placing these stu­dents at, say, aU.c. campus, when they mIght be stated for Cal State or a corn- . munity college, can simply overwhelm them. ' ,.r ,

'State officials should instead fo.cu$ on the education stud~nts get be­fore entering college. Students who are ·better prepared for post secondary ,edu­cation will be more likely to stay in school and graduate. A school choice program for elementary and high schools, which would allow students of all eco­nomic ,..backgrounds to:choose the best schools, \Vou1dprovide a good start. Tax credits, vouchers or even an open en­rollment plan for public school students could help. UnfortunatelyforCalif<;mlia students, Superintendent of Public In­struction Bill Honig is one of the nation's most outspoken .. opponents of school

. 'choice.

California laws already under­,mine the goal of competenf teaching. The state requjre~ community colleges'

;.Coiltinued on 'page 11

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Political Mudslingling by John Maggio ,

T elevision has made an unbe­lievable impact on'the lives of Americans. Evolving from ,a

vital form of entertainment, '~ievision has become an,e~y means to reach. an enormous audience, particularly voters .. Realizing this fact, PQlitici~s '~d po­litical organizations have been.capable of swaymg public op~~n in v,arious ways, usually in under a mmute with commercials. '.

Commercials weren'tthef~t determining factors in elec.tions. Tele- , .. vised debates were dommant in the early yearS. It has been wid~ly discuS~d that if Richard Nixon would have shaved and worn a diffeFent colorsuit, he would have won the presidential election over John F. Kennedy in 1960. Vice Presi<\entialdebates 'also were soon televised and Dan Quayle was shown unfavorably as Lloyd Bentsen criticized him as not being Jack Kennedy. Unfortunately, American citizens have been voting because of one's television appearance rather than one's political experience.

then VicePresidentB ush decided to offset his image of weakness by attacking the credibility of his opponent. Soon, com- . mercials aired featuring Willie Horton, a Massachusetts murderer on furlough from 'prison who tortured a Maryland man and , rapedhisfiancee. Dukakis' counterattack was extensive, but a little too late. Willie . Horton was alreaqy a household name and describing DUkakis as a "liberal", truly

\ destroyed his chances for obtaining the , .presidency. Dukakis decide~ to las~ out. and try to smear his opponent. The

, Iran-contra scandal sUlfaced, connections with drug dealing Manuel Noriega even appeared, and rumors 'were created con- ' ce~ing a mistress of George Bush. Hon- ' esty was quickly covered by mud as criticism and deceit became primary con­cerns. The American public was partly to , bl~e since these commercials proved to , be more effective than pursuing tedious discussions on topics such as the trade deficit. In a News~~ekpoll (October 3, 1988),40% of those ques.tioned felt news organizations were most responsible for negative aspects pr~sent in the presiden­tial campaign.

, Negative advertisement has not limited itself to pdlilical campaigns. ' Re~' cently, Supreme Court nominations have

, been dragged threw the proverbial mud which has negatively affected their future 00: our highest court. Judge Robert' Bork was the greatest victim of such vicious assaults. Due to his ideology, those who opposed him created commercials inun­dated with falsities~for example, c1ailning -', thatJudge BOrksupportedpoll taxes. These rumors swayed public opinion and also

In recent years, commercials have played ~n important part in de­termining who will be elected to certain office poSitions. Instead of promoting a particular candidate and that person' s views, political strategists have found it easy to gain support by criticizing opponents. Despite,popular belief, the formerLee Atwater was notresponsible for the negative ad phenomenon; a man by the name of B ill Moyers began it all. • . • \ I. /

, . Senate approval deSpIte the fact thatJudge Bork was the most experienced judge ever nominated to serve, on the Supreme Court. Lately, negative ads'have been removed from the screen which criticized several Senators on the Judiciary Committee who dislikeC!arence Thomas, PresidentBush , s nomination to 'the ,Court. While ' these ·pro-Thomas com~ercials were forms of

. negative ads, should such comrriercials tie banned from television?

Who is Bill Moyers? He is the founder of negative television ad­vertising. As an aide to Lyndon B. Johnson, he is credited for designing a commercial which largely dete1lIlined the 1964 presidential C1unpaign. The infamous commercial featured a young girl picking petals from a daisy as an , ominous yoice counted down to a nuclear explosion. This commercial ' instilled the idea of a -nuclear war if

I Barry Goldwater waselectedPresident The First Amendment of our ' -of the United States. -Since that ftrst - Constitution~ protects the rights of indi-negative a~ appeared, its effectiveness viduals to make negative commercials. · has led many political aides to create .'!''hough I may ~rsonally disagree with similar ide~ in order to attract voters. -,," the way people criticize other public offi-

, " 'cials, such advertisements should be per-. The most memorable nega- mitted in ,so far as falsities are absent from

tive ads were seen during the 1988 them~ The most UnPortant issue is who to " presidential race between George Bush properly blame for these assaulting ads, and Michael Dukakis. Advisors to the father of negative commercials.,

Atnerica to Congress:, Practice What You Preach

by Edwin Feulner '

W, hy is itthatpbliticians never seem to practice what they

, preach? ' , '

Think back fora moment to the peak - or the pit"'-::" of the recession., In January, '

Senate Majority Leader George Mitch­ell warned that the American people must "do more with less.;' Not unfea­sonable words for a nation locked in ar:t economic do~nttirn. '

That's how Capitol Hill ,does with less."

"more

Indeed,earlier this year, virtually all congressional commit~

, tees asked for budget.increases, most of them way above the rate of inflation. the

: Senate Banking Committee,for example,iequest~ a 45 percen~ budget hike for fiscal 1992 ,to help .cope ~ith the savings and loan scandal. But if the

, ,banking committee's staff of 42 failed to prevent · the $300 billion -S&L nightmare,why should we think that more

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

14~OO new staff members

Next,the senator from Maine thinly expostUlated that "government must .do the same, to be more careful with your tax dollars."

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Bravo. But what has Congress done since the senators s€rn1onizing7 Hired more staff and given itself record-. high budget increases. Indeed,Congress has become a city unto itself, with a $2.5 Billion . annual budget and more than

, 37,OOOemployees-apopulationgreater than that of II state capitals.

The growth of congressional , staff is eye-popping. Congress this year ' will employ. almost 14,00 , new staff members --.:.. which includes personal staff,suchaspresssecretaries,pluscooks,

beauticians,and travel agents - than it didin 1980. Figured separately ,personal ' staff,or those working directly for the members of Congress,~as grown from 6,791 to more than 19:000 since '

1960. Committee ~taff;likewise;has~ore ~ , than tripled,from 910 in 1960 to more than 2,800 today.

" stU'Prise~ Bigger s~s always ~ean bigger budgtftS. The congression3J. budget for 1992 will 'swell to 'all esti­mated $3 billio~~or ,about $5.6 million ."

money 'and stafLwilliielp them do any better? '

The only house committees that didn't get more money were the two that probably needed

it the most -ethics and intelligence.

" Congressional staff play a'di­rect role in the re~election campaigns of Senate and House members;i>roducing , the missive taxpayer - funded mailings around election time. They also write the letters ,make the phone calls,and arrange the hearings to pressure the adn1inistra­tion on 'various policy' issues. Powerful ­incumbents owe much ,of their dout to , their large staffs. No wonder they Want more . . , "

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But if Congress can't resist going on it's own. self-indulgent spend­ing sprees,itcan 'tPOssibly be disciplined enough to trim federal deficits or waste-fulgovernment programs. America ,

.... ,,.' ~ ';~ .... .. <_ "1: ':.'"

: 'to Congress: Practice what ybu preach.

Note: Edwin'Feulnerfs pre~ident . 0/ the Heritage F oundation,a Washington-based public policy researcfz-'institUte. - ~.~ ,.~ < I : ,

per 'year fOr each ~~ipber of ~~miress.,- A' , r-~~--~~~~~~~--~-----------

, -Conti~ued fro~, p~gel0 , , to have raci~y balanced faculti~s by th~ year2'005. During ~at time, the colleges

. will hire more than, 18,000 faculty members. By the e,nd of next year, 30

, percent of those hjted must belong to an 'ethnic minority. But there aren'tenough

y C,aliforni~' s educators focus on graduation rates and ethni~ compo- . sition rather than on improving the education disadvaIitaged students re­ceive, the value of all California degrees willplummet. Once a college degree

Love us,

Hate lis,

, " qualified candidates. As Abigail . Th~ ernstrom pointed out iIi the July, 1990 Commentary, nationwide fewer than 400 blacks received Ph.D.s in 1988-about two percent of all doctoral degrees awarded. In most areas of the humani- '

. becomes one's birthright, rather than the product of years of academic effort, it has little worth. .

~nsteadof addres~ing thec~lUses of lower minoritY performance in the schools - and looking at alternatives in primary and seCondary education that m.ay help -California's lawmakers and eduoators are l1urting the groups they intend to ~rve. It isn't likely the state's taxpayers will continl;le to subsidiZe colleges and universities to the tune of $11 billion ayear if they're nothing more

Write us,

Tell us.. what you think..!

send leUers to: 'Binghamton Review, , , SUNY-Binghamton, P.O. 80x 6000, , Binghamton ,N.Y. '13902

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_ ties and naturai sciences, no blacks re­ceived a Ph.D. "Discouraging as these numbers are," ,sIre' writes, "they are get­tingworse:" The quest for racially bal-,

, anced faculties will deprive those students , who desperately nee~ strong teaching.

These battles have spread be­yond California: . 'The 'Middle States

. Association of Colleges and Schools' is already holdingbackaccreditation when' a school fails to ' recruit ac~eptable numbers of minority 'faculty and students.

,than diploma mills. '

Rick Henders~n,formerly a senior edi­tor of The Carolina Critic. is assistant

, managing editorofREASON magazine.

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.. Page ' 12 ' October 1991

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Diversity Requirement "

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The EPpe's proposed diversity' requir~ment 'will only be de~mental to future students by Paul D. Schnier

B' eginning this week the Har.,. , : ' pur CO'llegeCouncil will .,e ..

gin discussions on 'whether or , not to implement the diversity re­quirement as proposed by the Educa­tional Plannipg and Policies Commi(tee ,(EPP.(:). If passed .. all entering Harput .' college students worild be required to' take two courses. One course will stre~s nO'n-Wesienlcultures, the other will stress are~ sqch as race, gender" etllnicity, religion or sexual orientation. -1'hjs proposal promises to <;reate discussion and CO'ntrO'Versy about issues facing om- ' !IDiversity.

The supporters of this proPO'sal believe that students are not taught enO'ugh about ' O'th~r cultures, and are only taught from a white, male, hetero­sexual point Of view. The fact O'(the matter is, this is not true. Looking through the cO'urse guide, it is evident that tJIere is a plethO'raO'f"diversity courses" available to students. Many departments' have plenty CO'urseS in the categories of race, ethnicity. gender, religion, and oon- ' Western -studies" ~ Professor Michael Mittelstfldthas, said, 'The curriculum at Harpur College has steadily. for at least thepasttwentyyears,exp~ded to-include such courses withoutany, seriOllS oPPO­'sition. In fact, such -"diversity" in the curriculum has always been-welcomed."

_ NO' one is arguing that tbese . courses should be eliminated, but students who, c;hoose not to take them should haye a ' rig~t to do so. .

There is nO' core curriculum at our Uriiversity. requiring $tudents to Wee any cO'urses dealinR , with "Western ~tudies," why then ShDuld students wh~

, . dDn 't wis}! to study non-Westt1rn culture be fDrced to' do. so? This requirement cotftd in fact be useful tocompfunent Dur learning of the West - to. betteruhderStand Qur own culture - if a Westem require­ment -was present. The committee be­lieves th,at non--Western ~ studies' -is so vital to our education nere 'at Bingbam­tQn that it merits a separate,requirement. As- e>Uf socie,ty becomes mO're diverse,

. they feel it i,s the UniveI:Sity-''g duty to' educate us about -other' cultures. The drafrversion of the'recommendation or' ' the Hru;purCDllege EducatiDnal . arid -Planning Committee'says, "Students will gain a 'new perspective on the broad based or narrowlydefmed' cDmmunity, and/or reap the benefits affDrded by an '

. inclusive curriculum." They further stare, "These recommendations(the diverSity requirement) are made after consideriDg the, educatiDnal needs O'f the students today and the leaders Df to'morrow." Why doesn't the UniverSity require all . ,stu~ents to complete at least on~ la~ . raJory oriented s.cience otone:~omp1:li€r CDur~? As, Dur so<;,iety becomes ~O're technDlogiea,llyorienteq • .itis going to be. almost impossible fDrci~ens, It~t'alDne leaders, to survive in' society withDut these skills.

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

non-We~tern culture class, we will be _, looking at other cultures, but we cannot possibly see that culture as the people who actually live in it see it themselves. The fact O'f the matter is a Western stu­dent can never totally remove a Western "bias." In fact, progqUn requirements such as this Dne ofren turn into 'mere courses ,which bash the West and label ' the great' 'Western classics as "racist, sexist, and homophO'bic."

Often times, 'requirements Df . this type at other institutions fail to give students a greater understanding Df Wemselves.andour cDmplex world. They merely promDte "groupthink'~ artd l)ave abhlkariizingeffeet. As Dinesh b: SDUZa has said, "[Students] Dnly emerge, (and this'is the political Dbjective O'f ,the ac" tivists. who lobbied ~for sucli courses) angrier and more bitter toward their o\V'n culture. In other words, mu1ti-~ultural studies at Stanford and elsewhere are -turning 'intO' little more than a "grievance

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

The proposed diversity re­quirement as i~ stands-right now is ex-­tremely vague. According to' the rec­ommendationsby theEPPC,departments will indicate to the Dean's office which of their cDurses-satisfy the two require­ments. A· curriculum committee will then'approve or disapprDve the course to' meet the requifemeni. Will a cDurse on CI~sical MythO'IDgy (which is a course on the proposedlistwhich is being sent to_ the Harpur College Council) be ap­proved if it discusses issues dealing with . wDmen? What about biblical lristory courses (also Dn the-list)? Will militant

- political activists get more lhan a fair ' snare Df cDurses approved to satisfy the requirement? By leaving the the prDposed requirement vague, ' the administration can gain approval for it easier, and then

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

Currently at SUNY -Bing­hamton, students have a great deal O'f

, choice in, the courses they take. If .implemented the diversity require!llent 'will inhibit that choice. There is no­denying the fact that the study of other. . cultures and peoples is an important ' study, but SQ are many Dther subjects . The · idea that we CaImot learn about

- . others without taking a formal course is ridiculous. We learn from each other just by being a part of our CO'mplUnity and interacting with peDple Df all races, religions, colors, sexual Dreintations and so on;, What the University should be soiving to do is provoke thought and not cultural cheerleading, only then will we have a true diversity -a diversity Df ideas.

"IF YOU'RE 11m-COCAIIE . WE1E GOT A LINE FOR vob.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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