OPINION
Tuesday,March 1] Tuesday, Maivh 21,2()()()
THE BATTALION
Page 13
The Harvard School of Corruption
Student election scandal handled poorly by University, hurts reputation
F or more than
350 years. Har
vard University
has prided itself on
being the oldest and,
in its estimation, the
most prestigious in
stitution of higher
learning in America.
Its graduates have in
cluded six presidents, such as John Adams
and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Over the past
three centuries, it has awarded honorary
degrees to people such as Benjamin
Franklin, Albert Einstein and Tennessee
Williams. The university seal prominently
features the Latin word “Veritas,” mean
ing “truth.” In short, the university has be
come synonymous in American society
with excellence, ambition and respectabil
ity.
But like so many other fabled bastions
ofvirtue and excellence, the foundations
ofHarvard University seem to be crum
bling in reality. The University, which has
boasted of its integrity since its founding
1636, has a crisis on its hands.
The current student body president and
vice president have been accused of vio
lating campaign spending limits and using
their personal contacts at the University to
gain an unfair advantage over their com
petitors. Additionally, Harvard Vice Presi
dent John A. Burton has admitted to steal
ing materials from another student
organization for use in his campaign last
semester.
The black eye caused by the corrup
tion of Harvard’s student body elections
will not be concealed by ivy-covered
walls or fancy Latin phrases. Instead of
leaning upon its reputation. Harvard
should actually stand up for what is right
and remove the students who have broken
campaign regulations.
At any other university in the nation,
proof of illegal spending, improper cam
paigning tactics and outright theft would
have been enough to remove students from
the oftlces they reached in such an un
scrupulous manner. At Harvard, though, it
is apparently not that big a deal. In fact, cer
tain members of the administration seem to
have had at least some part in the impropri
eties of the December 1999 elections.
At the heart of the controversy are
campaign buttons and lemonade. Al
though the entire affair sounds at first like
a petty junior high election squabble, Har
vard’s inability to deal with it has allowed
the fiasco to become a predicament which
threatens the legitimacy of Harvard’s stu
dent government.
University election commissioners
were able to look the other way as Burton
and his running mate, now President Fen-
trice Driskell, spent more than the $100
limit on campaign expenditures estab
lished by Harvard student body election
guidelines. Commissioners were also able
to ignore the fact that Driskell-Burton
fliers appeared in the mailboxes of every
freshman on campus in direct violation of
Harvard’s ban on such campaigning.
When other candidates brought up these
concerns before the conclusion of the
election, the Election Commission chose
not to investigate.
Only on the very last day of voting
did the Election Commission choose to
begin looking into the allegations. Their
investigation did not stop them from pro
claiming Driskell and Burton the win
ners. Right about now, they are probably
wishing they had stopped.
Since the election, it has been revealed
that the campaign wrote off several cam
paign expenditures, including lemonade
provided by a Harvard dining hall, as con-
tributions-in-kind. In reality, the lemonade
and the other expenditures in question
were omitted because they would have
pushed the campaign over the $ 100 limit.
The most startling development has
been the discovery of the source of the
campaign’s buttons. These too were left
off the campaign expenditure report since
the campaign claimed that they were do
nated by the campus Bisexual, Gay, Les
bian, Transgendered, and Supporters’ Al
liance (BGLTSA). Only when the group’s
leaders said they made no such donation
did Burton admit to taking them without
permission from the group’s oftlce late
one night. The buttons were then relabeled
with Driskell-Burton stickers and distrib
uted to the student body. At no time did
Burton offer the BGLTSA any sort of re
imbursement or even ask if he could have
the buttons.
Burton ignored calls for his resignation
by a large number of the student council
members and the previous student body
president.
As he told Harvard’s university news
paper, The Crimson, “It could be the end
of the world, and I would not resign.”
A movement calling for Burton’s im
peachment failed to garner the two
thirds support from the student
council necessary to remove
Burton from office.
Despite clear evidence that
the sitting student body vice
president committed numerous
campaign violations, he re
mains in oftlce.
Perhaps it is politics as usual.
The other recent notable impeach
ment turned out to be a popularity
contest as well.
The entire “Buttongate”
affair, as it has become
known on the Harvard cam
pus, has disillusioned many
students and rightfully so.
The University and its student
government have allowed a stu
dent to break the rules without receiv
ing an iota of penalization.
In doing so, they destroyed the
myth of respectability and truth
which has graced the halls of Har
vard for 3 1/2 centuries. Instead
of standing up for ethics in poli
tics, Harvard has chosen to roll over
and accept dirty political practices just
like the rest of America.
It turns out that Harvard is just
another cesspool of corrupt poli
tics and moral depravity like the
rest of America, albeit a very ex
pensive one.
Nicholas Roznovsky is a junior
political science major.
CODY WAGESTm BattaUO'
I South by Southwest
talents and crafts.
CPS struggles to meet its own goals
A
Baptist Church’s motives
questionable, stunt-like
S ome people never grow
up. Unfortunately, these
would-be Peter Pans
Ito impose on the unsus-
Ipecting masses. Worse yet,
home of them rise to relatively
lemment heights of power and
Iprestige. It is here that they
preable to do the most dam
age—and sometimes make
ilie biggest fools of themselves. Take, for exam
ple. Gregory J. Dixon, pastor of the Indianapolis
Baptist Temple. In an interview with The New
hi Times, he declared, “We are subject only to
tlie authority of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and to
prove it, the church quit paying its employees’ pay
roll taxes 12 years ago. The IRS received a judg
ment against the church for taxes, penalties and in-
|terestof$5.9 million this past July. Because Dixon
fesrefused to cooperate, the IRS has only one av-
lenue left to collect the money — foreclosure. The
pastor is adamant in his refusal to work with the
|1RS toward any agreement or compromise.
According to Dixon’s logic, the church need
[only obey the precepts of Christ. This logic is
dangerous. Christ did not have much to say
bout street drugs, but few take his silence on
|tbesubject for license. Sadly for Dixon, Christ
did make one memorable statement regarding
faxes: "Render unto Caesar the things which are
aesar’s.” It is hard to understand how Dixon
fluid overlook that.
Perhaps this is a publicity stunt. The longer the
Indianapolis Baptist Temple fights the IRS on this
ie more people will hear of the church. Like a
hi Id who wishes to be the center of attention,
dxon is playing this to the hilt. The headlines will
sensational: “Government Entity Cmshes
istians.” Dixon’s camp would love it. Conser-
ative radio talk shows and right-wing paramili
tary organizations already do. The Michigan Mili-
iahas pledged to help the church resist
foreclosure. Essentially, they are threatening civil
varifthe church is not given its own way. That
tight to get lots of publicity and make more than
few Baptists unhappy.
The church itself is not taxed on the property it
owns, nor on the income it receives. The church is
being taxed only in its capacity as an employer.
Dixon is refusing to cooperate with the govern
ment in paying taxes that are legitimately owed by
and on the behalf of the employees in question.
No one asks the other inhabitants of this country if
they want their employers to pay their taxes. No
one asks the employers if they want to pay.
This is not civil disobedience, either. Civil dis
obedience depends on defying an unjust law. In
come brackets and tax loopholes aside, the tax
code is enforced uniformly throughout the nation.
One would be hard pressed to call the support of a
legal government an unjust obligation.
Dixon and his thousand-member congregation
are doing much more harm than good with their
meaningless protest against the government. The
government of the United States is a legally con
stituted government that bases its authority on the
consent of the people it governs. Whether or not
they believe it in Indiana, the govemment is in au
thority over them, and generally, it is not wise to
toy with it. In reality, through this protest, Dixon
is teaching the members of his flock that there is
no legitimate earthly authority. This is clearly not
the message most people get from the gospel, nor
is it likely to be the belief the Baptist Church
wishes to inculcate in its members. The Baptist
Church probably does not wish to promote itself
as the “Church of the Bad Attitude,” but if they
force the IRS to foreclose on their property, that is
exactly the image the events will project.
A new discovery in biblical interpretation is
not what brought this about. Few will believe
that God is sitting on the preacher’s shoulder
whispering instructions and among the group
with the fewest believers will be some real au
thorities —judges.
Dixon may deny their authority over him, but
it can be reasonably assumed that he will not be
able to deny the walls of the prison he will live in
when their “disputed” authority incarcerates him.
Of course, the cynic hears his shouts of glee at the
thought of getting to be a martyr. Could sainthood
be far behind? Oops, wrong church.
II too often, there
are news stories
.about children
who have been beaten or
otherwise physically
abused. Occasionally, a
story makes the news be
cause the parent who in
jured the child was a pre
vious offender who had
just regained custody of his or her child. For
example, a recent Texas case involved a
young child who arrived at the hospital with
serious injuries after being reunited with her
parent. The child had been removed from the
home and placed with a foster family. The
child was returned to the parent after an ex
tended period of time, after which the parent
supposedly no longer presented a danger to
the child. Judging from the injuries the child
sustained, someone took a very wrong turn in
returning custody to the parent.
With every case that is brought to light, one
wonders how many more have gone unnoticed,
as well as why the legal system does not take
more extensive measures to protect children.
Both Child Protective Services (CPS) and
the Texas legal system control the fate of chil
dren in Texas. CPS is an organization stem
ming from “a concern for the care of children.”
But good intentions are useless without the
means to carry out said intentions. CPS are of
ten understaffed, and the case workers are un
derpaid. The Texas legal system will not cut
down on child abuse until it imposes tougher
penalties on offenders and greatly increases
funding for CPS.
Many people criticize CPS for being overly
intrusive on families. But the philosophy be
hind the organization actually leans toward do
ing everything possible to keep families togeth
er except in extreme circumstances.
The philosophical base for CPS states “CPS
should intervene only when the parents request
assistance or fail... to meet the needs of their
children adequately.”
It also stipulates CPS intervention should be
“sensitive to culture, values, religion, and other
individual differences.” Agencies should “inter
vene in the least intrusive manner possible.”
ideally, these guidelines are a wonderful basis
for helping families stay functional.
But there are times when more aggressive
intervention is needed. CPS should be given
the means to conduct more thorough investiga
tions, and in many cases be more “intrusive” to
ensure the safety of children. The problem is
that CPS are often legally and financially pre
vented from badly needed action.
The problem is not with CPS, but with
what they are given to work with. According
to Janece Keetch, public information officer
for CPS in Austin, Texas has recently granted
The Texas legal sys
tem will not cut down
on child abuse until
it imposes tougher
penalties on offenders
and greatly increases
funds for CFS.
CPS enough funding to hire more case work
ers. But they are still sorely understaffed. The
average case load for a case worker is 24 in
vestigations per month, according to Keetch.
The Child Welfare League of America recom
mends 12 cases a month — the average case
load is twice this amount. Keetch stated the
new funding would help bring the number of
investigations per worker down slightly, but
the number would still not drop to the recom
mended 12 per month.
The salary currently offered to case work
ers hardly makes the career choice financial
ly rewarding. Entry level positions at CPS
range from $27,540 to $31,068 annually de
pending on experience. It is improbable to
expect the most qualified case workers to
stay in this position unless higher salaries are
offered, no matter how sympathetic they are
to the childrens’ plight.
In addition to physical shortcomings, legal
shortcomings are enormous. The Texas Fami
ly Code, which governs family law, is conve
niently vague when it comes to the question
of protecting abused children. Chapter 161 of
the Family Code (Termination of the Parent
Child Relationship) deals extensively with
the issue of abandonment or neglect of the
child’s personal welfare, but is less thorough
when dealing with other questions of abuse.
The code states that grounds for termination
of the parent child relationship include if the
parent has “been convicted or placed on com
munity supervision ... for being criminally re
sponsible for the death or serious injury of a
child." But what about less extreme forms of
abuse that are child abuse nonetheless? The
family code is not explicit in the conse
quences, although it does state repeatedly that
termination may be appropriate if it “is in the
best interest of the child.”
By being this vague, Texas has left the
door open for potential child abusers to get
off relatively unscathed. “The best interests of
the child” are being left up to too many vari
ous parties, and convicted child abusers are
therefore being let off easy. The parent in the
recent case described above should never
have been allowed to regain custody of the
child in the first place.
But CPS should by no means be criticized
for being ineffective. The real fault lies not in
the case workers, who are overworked and un
derpaid, but in Texas legislators who find it
more important to raise taxes than to protect
the youth of Texas from harm.
Before people will see any reduction of
child abuse, tougher penalties and more
thorough searches must be required for
every child abuse case. This will be made
possible through adjustments in the current
family code, and higher funding for Child
Protective Services.
Jessica Crutcher is a sophomore
journalism major.
MAIL CALL
English proficiency tests needed Students show disrespect for library
Ann Hart is a senior English major.
In response to Melissa Bedsole’s March 20 column.
Bedsole’s column hit home with me better than any article
I've ever read in a newspaper at any level. I hardly ever read
the campus newspaper, but after reading her column, I certainly
will have to start.
Speaking on behalf of myself and my circle of friends, the
idea of English proficiency testing for college professors and
T.A.s is beautiful. The current situation that we are faced with
is ridiculous. We are paying money to struggle through lectures
given by instructors that cannot speak English well enough for
us to understand.
One thing that we all agree upon is that most of the in
structors in question are absolutely brilliant. What does it mat
ter, though, ifthey cannot convey the'r message to us? I hope,
for the sake of college students everywhere, that the Missouri
state senate bill is passed and that all other public universi
ties follow suit.
John Jackson
Class of ’01
Why do some students steal from the library? Doing research in
the Evans library can be very tedious and discouraging, especially
when someone has torn out the articles you need.
There are several copy machines on each floor so that anyone
and everyone can use the library resources whenever they need
them. The library belongs to all of us, and it is our job to make sure
the library resources remain intact and free of damage so that Ag
gies for years to come can make use of them.
Dusty Stoddard
Class of ’02
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