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THE BATTAlI
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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Tuesday, April 1,2003
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Breaking the glass ceiling
Census Bureau report oversimplifies discrepancy in wages
IVi
Thailand
omen of Texas
A&M be wary.
Fox News, citing
|| f Taiwan a recent Census Bureau
; ] L*. Hong rep ort, declares that even
Kong 1 : w l en education is taken
•••••n
•••••• j nt , account, women still
viemair ma ^ e l ess money than
•••• men. Apparently, neither
Singapore ^ f ern j n j st rnovement of
NEWS IN BRIEF
d to Hong Kong ocxunwd in a a the 1960s and 70s, nor the National Committee
on Pay Equity’s annual “Equal Pay Day” —
dMarchso 31 ° April 15 this year — has been able to close the
, 7“ gap. Currently, the Census Bureau report sug-
ger ts that women generally make only 70 per-
lent block. It s only twe cei t 0 f w h a t men make. However, during the
lents. but from lk>or zero jglj 4Q y earSi these studies have misrepresented
facts and oversimplified a vastly complex issue,
ffected, but most of tlie®^ mon g ot h er things, studies such as this
distort the facts by failing to account for spe-
nall area of that apar ° r ,
, , ,cif c educational differences. For example,
uilding, virologist , . , , „ . r ’
tohr said at WHO headqi studies have lum P ed together all majors as if
, Geneva eat h was worth the same in the marketplace.
That differs from the; ^ ut college educations are not necessarily
“en earlier at the Metr 2<li |a l-One need only ask a student in the
Otei, where the disease Clllege of Education whether he believes that,
>read to Hong Kong. Tupon graduation, he will command the same
jests staying on the ninth salary as a student in the College of
;came infected. Engineering. It should come as little surprise
“That was horizontal, hit a petroleum engineer is going to demand a
>w you have a vertical coi^gher salary than a high school teacher,
m.’ Stohr said, ‘'tou caijYhether this is fair fails to change its validity.
Kiut water pipes and se< lg ut where the Census Bureau’s report erred,
ivs. about ill,ills which tpaj^i g Heckler’s study compensated.
n ‘ 1 . 1 s Published in 1998, Heckler’s study surveyed
'he differences in incomes between men and
s that are being looked in ., . „ „ „
fhe °4() residents undc vonien Wlth the same college major ’ 0vera11 ’
lartment quarantine have 1 * 8 stud y sa ggested that the 30 percent gap was
dered to stay inside until ndeed P resent between men and women,
eht on April 9. However, when individual majors were com-
Dared, Heckler found that half the women sur-
/eyed earned at least 87 percent of what men
Bned. Moreover, he found that the 13-percent
i iiscrepancy decreased even further when grad-
eguiators approve
level educations were compared. The
Ian tO Unite airlifl^uJy even went 80 f ar as to Show, for instance,
l/VASHINGTON (AP) - Fec ; ^ at wornen a masters degree in the area
gulators gave the go-aP^ sciences actually made about 27 percent
onday for Delta, Northwest more than men in the same field. Suddenly the
mtinental airlines to sell sinfamous wage gap seems to be dwindling and
i each other's flights.
fhe Nos. 3, 4 and 5 aiil
ached an agreement
msportation Department
ils after regulators expreConolCV Can't force
ncerns that the "code-sL ^ , ...
in would stifle competition!^CUIty tO Q6ny religion
Tie airlines agreed to givf
port gates and agreed to so In response to Brieanne Porter's
t not all, restrictions on March 31 column:
?y can market joint contraoi
vel agents and corporation Everyone at A&M, staff included,
has the right to express their opin
ions. I have no problem with that,
anted for murdei i do have a problem when some-
IELCRADE, Serbia-MonW® ne ' lik « Con ° le Y' decides ,ha ''' is
J ) — Police sought an inte ' ,er r| g^^ f orce someone else,
rial arrest warrant Mondai^ch as Crouse, to express a polit-
bodan Milosevic's wife, a ically correct opinion and stifle
her involvement in the their own, especially when it vio-
a political rival, but dates a certain ethic or moral held
nounced the warrant ( by said person.
>sia as a political ploy. Asking Dr. Crouse to "promote
lirjana Markoyic, believec anc j celebrate" the homosexual
hiding in Russia, wrote alt |jf est y| e W ould be like asking him
lying she had any part in t0 p romo te and celebrate premar-
)0 slaying of Ivan Stamb j ta j sex
ose body was found in a If Ar . .
., c ., As a Christian, he can not do
ered grave in northern Sf ,
week On Sunday, herdaf tha : and should not be censored
said Markovic would notli i0r ired ^ or adhering to his stan-
earlier request that she rei dards. I applaud both parties for
questioning. Fighting for their causes, but Dr.
fficials began the proce^Conoley can not be allowed to
:ing the warrant Monday, silence the opposition, whether
she is in the "oppressed minority"
or not.
looking more like a myth.
Yet a discrepancy between men and
women’s earnings remains, and Dr.
Patricia Hausman, behavioral sci
entist and member of the
Independent Women’s
Forum, offers up
some reasoning.
Citing the
National
Longitudinal
Survey of Youth,
funded by the U.S.
Department of Labor, Hausman
suggests that among childless women
aged 27 to 33, the pay gap is only 2 per
cent. Clearly, this shows that there are differ
ences between men and women that were not
taken into account by the Census Bureau’s
study, nor NCPE’s statistics.
Science, progressive as it is, has yet to suc
cessfully implant a uterus into a man - leaving
mankind’s better half to bring life into the
world. And as millions of young women decide
to have children, they must decide between a
full-time career and a full-time career raising
their children. “Study after study,’’ writes
Hausman, “finds that women with children
work fewer hours, accumulate less experience,
and take more extended leaves... all of which
limits their advancement.” Many feminists
would argue that taking absences for children
is a sacrifice women should not make, yet why
should it be viewed as a sacrifice at all?
Motherhood is a far more noble pursuit than
climbing the corporate ladder, yet in today’s
time, nobility seems to be measured more by
one’s SoHo apartment or new BMW lease than
one’s benefit to society. Hausman concurs,
saying that “these are often choices gladly
made by women who consider being with their
children more important than maximizing
earnings.”
However, careful scrutiny of the facts does
reveal that, all things being equal with respect
to family situations and educations, women
make 2 percent less a year than men in the
same field. Could this tiny percentage be a
product of sex discrimination? Of course. But
more likely it is the result of gender differences
MAIL CALL
v
between men
and women.
Research has shown
that men and women make
career decisions based on differ
ent notions. Hausman makes note
of this in her essay. While men
and women have the ability to
negotiate comparable salaries,
women are more likely to settle
for less — their decisions usu
ally are not based on money.
So, a minute discrepancy of 2
percent arises.
Though there may be other
valid reasons for the inconsis
tency, sexual discrimination is
difficult to believe given the
circumstances.
So, female Aggies out
there, rest assured that if
you have the education
and the drive to achieve
monetarily what your
male counterpart is
achieving, it can be done
regardless of what one
might hear on Fox News
or see when perusing
NOW’s Web site..
“Equal Pay for Equal
Work” is here so long as
one is willing to make certain decisions about
one’s career.
lilosevic's wife
Kris Schaeffler
Class of 2003
Column an example
of anti-gay sentiment
In response to Matt Maddox's
March 31 column:
Matthew Maddox showed his
utter ignorance of the facts sur
rounding anti-gay violence when
he wrote, "This theorized oppres
sion of homosexuals appears to be
a charade when contrasted with
the threats of firing leveled against
Christian faculty."
First, any comparison between
the continued oppression of
homosexuals on this campus or
anywhere else to threats of being
fired is ludicrous. There were
1,592 victims of anti-gay violence
last year according to the FBI's offi
cial crime statistics; offenses listed
only include murder, assault and
rape.
Maddox apparently does not
think any of those three could be
weighed against the largest
offense of all: a threat of being
fired.
In Maddox's narrow system of
values, oppression of a people
because of life choices isn't as
important as having a job. He
ignores the fact that around the
country and here at Texas A&M
many people are denied jobs and
fired because of their sexual orien
tation every day.
Second, this is not the most
open of campuses and many qual
ified minority students avoid it
because of that and people like
Maddox. Maddox complains of T-
shirts on campus that promote
homosexuality (I've yet to see
one), however, variations on the
saying, "Texas A&M: where men
like women and women like men"
are rather popular. Apparently, the
First Amendment only applies to
people that agree with him.
I think, unfortunately, Maddox
speaks for a majority of this cam
pus; something (hopefully) the
new administration will change.
Jennifer Harvey
Class of 2005
Militant Christians
campus' biggest threat
In response to Matt Maddox's
March 31 column:
"Loving the sinner while hating
the sin (is an) empty rhetorical
gesture at best and a cover for per
secution at worst." These are the
words of Jane Conoley as quoted
by Matt Maddox.
"Only Christians go to heaven
when they die." These are the
words of George W. Bush in 1993.
As a person of the Jewish faith, I
have to concur with Dr. Conoley's
statement and might I add that
Christian militants pose a far
greater threat to the stability and
well being of this nation than does
any foreign terrorist group or ele
ment.
I am sure that Bush will vindicate
my assertions.
Erik J. Seidel
Class of 2005
Students are paying
a needless fee
I went to Student Financial
Services today and spoke with a
supervisor. I was told that if you
signed up for the installment pay
ment service and do not use that
service, you will still be charged
$15. You will be charged $15 every
semester that you are in school
until you go to Student Financial
Services and ask them to take your
name off the list.
I just wanted my fellow Aggies
who signed up for the service and
are not using it to go and ask
Student Financial Services to take
your name off the list because they
will charge you whether you use it
or not.
If your billing statement has an
INSTALLMENT PMT SERVICE
CHARGE under the 'Description'
column and a $15 charge under
the 'Charges' column, this means
Mike Ward is a senior
history major.
Graphic by Leigh Richardson.
you are signed up for the service.
Another way to see if you are
"signed up" for this installment
plan, you can go to Student
Financial Services located in the
Pavilion in room 11$ and they will
be glad to assist you.
They will not refund the $15
from this semester or any previous
paid. So please go and take care
of this before it is too late and
they charge you again for a service
not rendered.
Joe Nobles
Class of 2004
Cheatham should be
allowed in run-off
I guess no one has noticed how
the University has cheated Luke
out of being in the run-off election.
Being only 200 votes and 2 per
cent away from the top, they
should have allowed him the
opportunity to try and win the final
election.
I feel the University is terrified of
change. Because they know Luke
will bring this University back to
what it was.
Robert Klepac
Class of 2003
Assassination
a setback to
democracy
S erbian Prime Minister
Zoran Djindjic was
shot and killed earlier
this month. The Serbian gov
ernment has said that it sus
pects the assassination was
done by snipers, two of
whom were shot and killed
last Thursday, according to
The Associated Press.
Djindjic helped oust then-
Yugoslav President Slobadan Milosevic from
power after the United States led a NATO
attack on Serbia. Prime Minister Djindjic was
leading Serbia to a peaceful and democratic
future, and his untimely death is a huge set
back to democracy in Serbia.
According to reports from CNN, the
Serbian government suspects an underworld
crime family called the “Zemun clan” in the
murder of Djindjic. Crime boss Dusan
Spasojevic, who has been linked to Milosevic,
heads the Zemun clan. This link between the
underworld and the past leader of Serbia
reveals the former method of government rule.
It was not by the people, nor was it for the
people. Government rule was for the powerful
and rich, and the assassination of Djindjic
leaves the future of Serbian rule somewhat
unclear.
More than 400 people have reportedly been
detained in the investigation, according to
CNN. The Serbian government, currently
using an emergency system of rule, must not
alienate democracy and civil rights, or Serbia
could lose more than a prime minister as a
result of the assassination.
Djindjic had proven himself an ally of the
west by arresting and extraditing Milosevic to
the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Serbian national
ists oppose extraditing Serbians to the tribunal,
according to CNN. By extraditing war crimi
nals and holding them accountable, Djindjic
strengthened the rule of law in Serbia, and the
world. His fair system of governing will be
missed.
During the uprising against Milosevic in
October of 2000, The Washington Post report
ed that Milorad Lukovic, head of the Red
Berets, switched allegiance from Milosevic to
Djindjic and his democratic supporters. The
Red Berets were accused of many atrocities in
the wars during the 1990s. Lukovic’s switch
appeared to have helped the uprising against
Milosevic end relatively bloodless with
Milosevic’s removal. Coups such as this in
Serbia rarely end bloodless.
Djindjic’s willingness to recommit himself
to democracy by attacking the underworld
proves what an adept leader he was. By not
fighting Lukovic right away, Djindjic prevent
ed bloodshed in the uprising and possibly
secured the uprising’s success. As democracy
stabilized, the strength and willingness to pur
sue the underworld was attained. Interior
Minister Dusan Mihajlovic revealed that the
government was set to crackdown on under
world crime syndicates. According to CNN,
the crackdown could have been the motivating
factor in Djindjic’s assassination.
Violence in Serbia has spurred several con
flicts, two that eventually involved the United
States. World War I began when Gavrilo
Princip, a Serbian nationalist, assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-
Hungary. Much later, the United States and
NATO launched an air war against Serbia, led
by Milosevic, to prevent a repeat of ethnic
cleansing, this time in Kosovo. The air war
proved to be a great success, but the next war
in the region might not prove to be so easy and
bloodless. It is because of the instability of the
region that the United States and our allies
should be ever vigilant and seek to keep demo
cratic leaders such as Djindijic in power.
Democracy and reform is the legacy that
Djindjic leaves. However, it is up to the
Serbian people to continue the change to a
full-fledged democracy that promotes peace
and disowns violence as a political tool. The
United States must help this fledgling democ
racy overcome the criminal underworld, which
multiplies and festers in the open wound that
is Serbia’s war-torn economy. The United
States can help avert the fall of democracy,
and a possible future military conflict, by giv
ing aid and support to Serbia. A stable, peace
ful and democratic Serbia will go a long way
toward reaching peace in the Balkans region.
Prime Minister Djindjic led the fight for a
democratic Serbia, and with his assassination,
the United States must be wary of a return of
violence as the main political tool in Serbia.
JONNY
HAVENS
Jonny Havens is a senior
history major.