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Vol. XXI No.

3 The University Community's Feature Paper October 13,1999

.... '

s I I ~ I II L

Also In
This Issue:
Why the
pages 4 &18

The Brooklyn
pages 7,

I Love the
Smell of
Neurotoxin in
the Morning
pages 16 &17

You Want
Give You
i page 15 I
S I tSt
by a-y C urcil
1I -ok,'e
SýB U __
Diete y-eeryLog
Th. Dpaten o.hetrIrt
Univrsiy ~ Stny Bookopes is-sesonwit-To
a heStt Baroque Sunays at Three
F--- Amdrnm-tr-ceti pa.adese h On Sunday, October 17 at 3:00 p.m,. Baroque Sundays at
trdof htwme aemd t scedi'te Three opens the season in the Recital Hall of the Staller Center for
wokIc ic h ucs o ~mnsti h 90
Th inbltIossanln atn redhp h the Arts with the Duo Marchand, who will present an exciting and
wt dsatsid ) ".admotipotn,
unusual program of Renaissance and Baroque vocal and instrumen-
thi eeiglakoftm frbohbiligA&aee n
!utrng: amlIths aIal'onen ta' w~bt
tal music for voice, lute and Baroque harp. This was a time in Europe
woe adme1nu scet IlyriBnLqetin when beautiful music was performed in the most intimate settings:
abu hs sus ay hrcil n fBiansms
.clielyrgt bgn oase hm royal chambers and richly appointed music rooms, with one singer
Top peso-TusayOtbe 4i ---- and one instrumentalist telling a love story or portraying vivid emo-
Theatre Two at the Staller Center for ....... the Artsi...The ... per........6.......i
rniances u e. fo.......
. .. :::::.----::::,.........6.......ar.ce
................. Od........er. 14......tions. Please join us for this "salon" concert. Featured will be vocal
r "Thursday'................
through .. ........ at S p , Sunday October.................::..:i...::..::
17 at 2p ink, Thum ...day October
'"'i"",.. -21..
... through
-- ,"" Saturday, -- and....:
..... music by the great composers from England, Italy, and Germany.
October:::"- , Sunday, O..
.. 23*at S p m"""""'**""'*"*"**"""* ctober
**..... 24 at Zp m..''*'....****....****
Tickets :::.--:::--
are $10/generid ,
.................. $S,*.,-,...**.::
ad missio n......................- Instrumental elegies and dances will round out this exquisite jewel-
faculty/sta....nd'.'$6/student. and seniors"'::::.............. -::-- like program.
For.urthr.inormtionor.t.arrngefor-:-abhty-ela the .
::,::se :.Department.. . . .of. The Duo Marchandconsists of soprano and haipist, Marcia
Theatre 632 ..730e
M.... Young, and lutenist Andy Rutherford. Montana-born Marcia Young
performs and records with a number of ensembles in the New York
area including Pomerium, Musica Sacra, and the New York Virtuoso
Singers. The early harp, a recent enthusiasm, has led Ms. Young to
new explorations in medieval and early Baroque song, as well as
transcriptions of renaissance lute, bandora and cittern music.
Andy Rutherford, a native New Yorker, began studying the
lute in connection with his interest in 17th century art, especially the
works of Caravaggio and Vermeer. He performs regularly with
Chacona, Parthenia, Polyhymnia, and other early-music groups. Mr.
Rutherford also has an international reputation as a builder of lute-
family instruments and has made the instruments he will be playing
at the concert. As always, on the Baroque Sundays at Three series,
admission is free with a small good will offering requested to offset
concert expenses and promote early music at Stony Brook. For more
information, call the Music department at 632-7330.
i" g


The Computer Music Studio at the State University of
New York invites you to experience a fascinating sound world on
Sunday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Staller
Center for the Arts, Stony Brook. Admission is free. Donations at
the door.
What happens when the most talented performers and the
most provocative composers team up through technology?
Special guest composer and phenomenal electrical guitarist
Mikito Oki performs his dizzying, dazzling Sparks and impro-
vises along with the computer in his TBA. West Coast composer
and experimentalist Alvin Lucier is represented by the strangely
seductive and meditative Music for Piano with Slow Seep Pure
Ware Oscillators. Our own Daniel Burly spindles and mutilates
his own voice in a high-tech and humorous cautionary tale of
what happens to a local Ducky. Michael Pound's Release com-
bines sensuous sound and brilliant percussion performance. You
will also be treated to Dennis Miller's stunning Three Movements
for Video Tape and Mark Aiger's appropriately titled Shatter. As
always, there will be whimsical commentary on the music and the
A reception will follow the concert and audience members
are invited to meet the composers and performers. This is a "user-
friendly" production. Funding from Meet the Composer, Inc. is
provided with support from the New York State Council on the
Arts, ASCAP, Virgil Thomson Foundation, The Eleanor Naylor
Dana Charitable Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, call the Music department at 632-7330.
_ _ - -i ·
I · 1 111· 11 · ' ~-~ I IYL· I · I I · L %1 ~s Ir I sl I · ~ I · ·I I - r,

The State Of Affairs in the English Department
By Jill Baron
___I - -
Edelman made known his plans to resign, he began and this semester sent a letter to President Kenny
the process of hiring new faculty. After five other demanding a formal apology on behalf of the
The English Department at Stony Brook applicants had turned a position down, Edelman University to Professor Roy, and that some sort of
has experienced a lot of turmoil in the past year. offered the position to Roy, also of Tufts University. disciplinary action be taken against Dolan.
The protests that took place last semester objecting She accepted the position and, according to a letter "Clearly, it was abuse that confidential grades were
to the situation over the hiring of Professor Roy to President Kenny drafted by graduate students released and [this] reflects the fact that a small
have continued this semester, and have taken on (see letter below), negotiations reached an minority went to the level of showing meanspirit-
new issues ad further complications as well. "advanced stage." However, when Edelman edness and viciousness and is...unethical. This
The situation is partly traceable to an ide- announced his resignation soon after, many mem- kind of treatment makes Stony Brook look bad and
ological divide that has existed in the Department, bers of the department made known their dis- shows the attitude of this small faction to use any
and in many other English departments, for years. agreement with Edelman's offer to Roy, contend- trick to maintain power over the
There are some, often called traditionalists, who ing that someone who was leaving the department Department... English has gone down the drain at
stress the importance of teaching and understand- shouldn't be Stony Brook," said David
ing the standard classics, or the "dead white males," conducting Anshen, a graduate stu-
as they are also known. Others, who can be called hiring, and dent in Comparative
multiculturalists, favor stressing literature from furthermore, Literature. President
other cultures and incorporating a "diversity" per- since her hir- Kenny has not yet formal-
spective into the teaching of English. This ideolog- ing had not ly responded to the letter.
ical divide is nothing new, but seems to be the gone beyond Whether or not these
breeding ground for a lot of the commotion that negotiations "issues" will be'addressed
has taken place in the Department. w i t h by President Kenny
The trouble started last year, when Lee Edelman, it remains to be seen. A
Edelman was brought in from Tufts University to was never search committee to find a
head the English Department. In recent years the even formal- new department head has
department had been losing faculty and, in ized. In been formed and will be
essence, its vision, Many thought that Edelman, response, convening soon to begin
who specialized in "queer theory", would breathe President their search. Heading the
some new life into the department and basically Kenny man- committee is Professor
reshape it. However, after coming to Stony Brook in dated that Graduate students protesting during graduation. Stephen Spector of the
the Fall of 1998, he abruptly resigned in the Spring Professor Roy Photo by Joanna Wegielnik English Department. Also
and returned to Tufts. His reasons for resigning
not be hired on the committee are
have been sources of contention. Edelman's sup- and implemented a "hiring freeze," so that no new Professors Martinez-Pizzaro, Huffman, Kaplan,
porters have claimed that he left because the other faculty could be hired until a new department Dolan, Livingston, and graduate student Bob
"faction" of the department (i.e., the traditionalists), head was found. Last semester, many of the grad- Conklin. This committee, unlike the one that
were openly hostile toward him and made the uate students in English and other departments chose Lee Edelman, consists solely of members of
working environment unprofessional. The other staged protests and circulated petitions demand- the English Department. According to the anony-
faction, however, denies any hostility and claims ing that President Kenny rehire Roy and put an mous faculty member, the committee that found
that Edelman never really cared about reshaping end to the freeze. Edelman consisted primarily of members from
the department and only used his position at Stony And that brings us to this semester. other departments, and the English Department
Brook to gain leverage at Tufts, where he returned Professor Roy was not hired and has remained at voted to have the committee consist only of mem-
after resigning. According to an English faculty Tufts. However, another source of conflict has bers of their own department this time. "One
member who identifies himself as a traditionalist., come to light. Last semester, a memo containing thing Edelman destroyed," said the faculty mem-
and asked that his name not be used, this claim is information about Professor Roy's GPA when she ber, "was a plan by the Dean to add nine faculty
based on information that Edelman was already in was a student at Stony Brook, along with other members over three years. The Dean gave him
negotiations with Tufts in December of '98 (three alleged confidential information, was created in nine appointments, and [by resigning] he under-
months after coming to Stony Brook) for a top posi- the English department and somehow circulated cut that plan." As a result, he said, the committee
tion there. The faculty member contends that since around the Africana Studies Department. Paul is unsure what promises can be made to the new
Edelman was already in negotiations by then, he Dolan, a member of the English faculty, admitted chair. Regardless, the committee expects that the
must have decided to leave by October, one month to creating the memo but contends that he only search will be completed relatively quickly and a
after he came to Stony Brook. If he had made up intended for it to be shown to a few select people, new chair should be appointed by September of
his mind to leave after a month, he obviously never and whoever circulated it did so without his 2000. Once the new department chair is in place,
cared about "reshaping the department." knowledge or consent. The "unknown party" that the hiring of new faculty can resume. Then the
Despite all this, the real source of conflict circulated the memo has not been revealed. The department, which used to be one of the top-
is the hiring of Professor Modhumita Roy, a former aforementioned graduate students became very ranked English Departments in the country,
Stony Brook graduate student. Last spring, before irate when Dolan admitted to creating the memo, should be able to begin rebuilding itself.
-. . p m- 2--99.................
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are no oubt awae an-unsgned fler was crculatedattackin Profesor Roy sacademiccredentxls.: whch nclued the rlease:o
grade whil :**'- .
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.eanspirtednss tat'i-bot.unpofesionl:an-morlly.epugant student :::::::::::::::::::
attendingn St.ny.Brook.:hIs clearly-`- reflects: a...violat~ion of the confidentiality
orever.t..aag..the.ine eputtio.ofXhe Hmaniies.t.Stny.Book
of students
... grades and a level
.h:.X event.ha..been.widelyireorted.in nati.nally.respecte journals including Lwg-ai Ftuwa and Tiw Chronwk of Hig* r E.hwaturn We feel that thi
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facltyhaspubicl.taen.redt fr-tis ct
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*-*' **expressed approval of the student involved Second, since ...
a reuditinganycircl-X
member of the**"%'**'ng..s....Departme:..:.
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that a public apology should be issued on behalf of the university...........
P ::.ofess:::::r::Roy for this action.::..La.:
. . 12 ::I::::::O
*....3 CT OBER. PAGEj'-.::::::
With about a third of the semester
passed, weekly activities have started to
become routine. One of these routines is
the Sunday evening rush to unload resi-
dence points by those students in the vise-
like clutches of the meal plan.
If one were to observe purchasing
patterns through a given week, they
would notice that come Sunday, students
begin buying food in quantity. It looks as if
they are bracing themselves for an imma-
nent natural disaster. But Hurricane Floyd
has come and gone and the Y2K bug won't
hit for months. The reason for their strange
behavior is the new meal plan.
Students with a weekly balance
above what is deemed appropriate must
now flock weekly 'to the residence halls in
a display very similar to what took place at
the end of last year. When faced with the
prospect of losing money if they don't
spend it, students have to buy mass
amounts of food that they don't want.
Combine this with price mark-ups,
food service personnel who make ordering
a sandwich a monumental task, and a $125
"activation fee," and what we have is a
collection of students who are displeased
with the meal plan, yet again.
In the rest of this country, if some-
one goes into a restaurant for a meal and

*mmmuRS-i Tiei

To the Editor,
As you have heard, the 'Sensation"
exhibit displayed at the Brooklyn Museum
has run into problems and a number of vocal
protests have been made against it, from the
Mayor on down. Many of these protests are
met with familiar assertions of the First
Amendment guaranteeing freedom of
expression. Others assert the need for artis-
tic expression. But, I assert the need for more
sensitivity to others. There is something
called taste and apparently the defenders of
this scandal lack it. As a Christian, I am
offended and insulted by the spreading of
feces over a picture of one of the holiest fig-
ures in the Christian religion. I believe that
any person of any other religion, whether
they be Jewish Moslem or Hindu would also
deeply resent such treatment of the ones they
consider holy. Underlying this piece of "art"
is a strong show of disrespect and complete
lack of sensitivity both by the artist and his
proponents. It is just this kind of "free
expression" that makes this "art" not art.
C o
v e r
o t
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- -
e Q' i
e I n i k


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By Hilary Vidair ing a toy safety project. This project also promises
to organize a student book exchange that helps
This year marks the New York Public students buy and sell books to each other at rea-
Interest Research Group's (NYPIRG) 25th sonable prices. In addition, a Small Claims Court
Anniversary. NYPIRG purpose is to serve as Action Center, run by student counselors, will
"New York State's largest consumer, environmen- teach others about the inner workings of the court
tal, and government reform organization." They system as well as provide procedural advice.
are "a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group estab-- The End Sweatshops campaign deals with
lished to effect political reforms." corporations such as Nike, Gap, Wal-mart, and Liz
Stony Brook's chapter of NYPIRG, direct- Claiborne, who abuse child labor laws by paying
ed by Todd Stebbins, has many plans for this children far below minimum wage and forcing
semester. On September 29, the organization had a them to work more than the legal maximum hours.
meeting to discuss projects to benefit both the stu- There are hundreds of sweatshops in places like
dents and the community. California, Asia, New York City, and even here in
There are six different projects, each Suffolk. NYPIRG hopes to rally against these cor-
directed by a NYPIRG intern. The projects are as porations in December. This is the first semester
follows: Higher Education (Jen LoGerfo), that NYPIRG will organize such a programi
Homeless Empowerment (Rory McEnvoy), The goal of Student Vote 2000 is to
Consumer Action (Christina Mueller), End encourage more students to utilize their right to
Sweatshops (George Koutsouvanous), Student vote, as well as to register more student voters.
Vote 2000 (Liz Kelly), and Access to Justice (David "We have the ability as students to do so much...in
Rodgers). a way that we don't get to do very often," Kelly
The Higher Education project involves stated. "As students, we have a responsibility to
maintaining affordable tuition, preventing further vote."
TAP cuts, and organizing hundreds of students to Finally, the Access to Justice program
rally in Albany. focuses on protecting New Yorkers from poten-
Last year, NYPIRG's Homeless Outreach tially harmful legislation. This group will lobby, as
Project gathered 30,000 pounds of canned and well as engage in a letter writing campaign.
dried food here on campus. The Homeless "This really is a year where a legacy will
Empowerment project aims at continuing pro- be established," said Chris Meyer, the Executive
grams such as this one. They also plan on taking Director of NYPIRG.
more active roles like volunteering in soup To get involved in one of the projects
kitchens. mentioned above, or to inquire about NYPIRG's
The Consumer Action project hopes to Fall Conference (scheduled for October 22 at

. .........
obtain better standards of consumer safety, includ- Syracuse University), call Stebbins at 216-6457.
..... .....
By Tim Connors
.... .....
.... .
.... .
. ..
ing is meant for the students, and there are other
rooms on campus that could be used for banquets.
The Student Senate has held two meetings The meal plan picks up the tab for these lavish catered
so far this semester. The first one was informal, and affairs. The Senate did not decide on a course of
consisted of socialization activities. The second was action; instead the schedule of events will be
formal, but rather short. Neither was too exciting, but reviewed and a spectacle will be made at an inappro-
here are the highlights. priate time.
The Student Senate is like any other group of The Executive Council met and the big news
people, some aesthetically pleasing, and some who is that Beanie Man is coming to Stony Brook! This
smell like they don't know how to wipe their asses. concert will only cost $21,000, which is a real bargain
Chairman Calvin Coleman, who ran the meetings for a one hit wonder few people have heard of. Dr.
quickly, made a point of saying that his measurement Preston's office is donating five grand towards the
of the Senate's success will be its accomplishments. event. The SPA is looking for a raise in their starting
Dave Klein presented two motions about salary and bonus for four employees of the month.
concerts at Stony Brook. The first was to have the Well that covers the first real Senate meet-
Student Activities Board concert chairman John Sulit ing. Now about the informal meeting that was
appear before the senate and report on his progress supposed to allow Senators to get to know one
every two weeks. The second motion was to form a another. There were two games run by the Student
committee to examine why there has been a lack of Activity Center. The first involved telling your
concerts at Stony Brook over the last several years. most exciting experience and the second involved
Both motions passed, and Calvin Coleman promised walking on paper plates to study group behavior.
to have John Sulit at the next senate meeting. Some of the life experiences were inter-
Apparently John Sulit's idea of a rock concert is to esting, such as the EMT who dealt with two car-
have an eighties cover band. diac arrests. Most of the stories were not so forth
The second issue touched upon in the Senate coming, like the girl who went to Las Vegas for
was mistakes in last year's budget that left some clubs her twenty- first birthday and only gambled and
without funding this year. A volunteer committee never had a drink. One Senator later informed me
will form and report back to the Senate in two weeks that his most exciting experience was a circle jerl<
with information concerning remedies for this over- while he was in the Navy.
sight. Dave Klein suggested I cover the Senate
Since we're talking about the budget, a for- from the inside so I went to a Commuter Student
mer Polity officer gave me a tip that the number of Association meeting and got elected to the senate
students is underestimated in forming the budget, This was very easy. All I had to do was talk for
and that the additional funds go into a discretionary thirty seconds and I was in. If you're a commuter
fund. That's just a rumor. and you want to be a Senator (and you know how
Several Senators expressed concern about to wipe your ass), then show up at a CSA meeting
the closing of the Student Activities Center lobby for on Wednesday at 12:40 in SAC room 114 and nom-
events sponsored by the Administration. The logic inate yourself. CSA still needs about twenty
behind the objections to the closing is that the build- more Senators.

OCTOBER 13, 199 PAGE 5

ISSUES 1 ~,-·r r i-··l ~
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By Angelos Hannides supplier of the project, Timber Holdings, could the rainforest really is and why it should not be
not find certified lumber. Instead of changing spared (this guy was serious about it; scary!).
The Incorporated Village of Greenport the supplier, the Board heeded the Mayor's Enthusiasm reached its climax when it
has decided they want a Boardwalk. All right. suggestion and changed the lumber back to was discovered that the- lady selling stuff in
It would take them three phases. The first rainforest fornfntof- the
phase would cost $1.5 million. They want to hardwood. building on
use rainforest hardwood, and specifically The Mayor which the ban-
brazilian ipa; all 35,000 board feet of it. apparently ner was hung
Problem: for every 10 board feet of Fine Export timed this to (without the
Quality Brazilian ipa, a whole acre of rainforest be too close permission of
has to be wasted. Why? Going in the area, pick- to the annual the owner) was
ing out the trees you want and transporting Maritime a member of
them out by air is not exactly the way that Festival , the Board.
industry works. It is all done by land. thinking that Along with
Bulldozers are brought in, roads are built, "use- nobody another Board
ful" trees are cut and processed; the "acciden- would bother member, who
tal" fatalities are "discarded." In the end, for to follow up leaped out of
every tree actually targeted, another thirteen on it, and nowhere, the
are wasted. Besides, 80% of the logging in nobod y pair defended
Brazil is illegal, which means these loggers get would both- their territory
really pitiful money for the wood they sell, er. Wrong. Bv bv drooline
therefore they have to produce quantity. How a long shot. Grassroots organizations live for incessantly on the pavement and chanting in a
do they manage to export it, then? The seven this stuff. strange Melanesian dialect. The event ended in
families which control exports and have the On Sunday, September 26th, members the evening, after a policeman claimed that an
appropriate documentation to do so buy this of Rainforest Relief and the SUNY at Stony activist was disrupting the public with his loud
illegally-logged hardwood for despicably low Brook Chapter of the Student Environmental proclamation of the event's purpose. The agent
prices and export it with all legality. Action Coalition (SEAC, pronounced "seek") of law had to repeat himself because the
So, why then not use domestic hard- busted the party. Flyers were passed around, Budweiser lady next door was yelling, "I smell
wood certified by the Forest Stewardship banners were put up on buildings, and people some beer over here," and passing out frothy
Council? Because it is more expensive. By how were talked to. They discovered that vast ones to the visitors heading towards their cars.
much? 11 thousand (0.7% of the total cost). majority of Greenport citizens did not agree In the end, no arrests were made (thankfully),
Even the Board of Trustees realized how ridicu- with it. That's pretty boring. Thank goodness though the point was. It is expected that the
lous this is, and decided to go with the recom- for the minority which spiced up the day with Village might reconsider at least for the second
mendation of Rainforest Relief, a non-govern- absurd arguments, and funny little dances with and third phase of the project (perhaps for the
mental organization, and buy certified hard- a foaming mouth on the sidewalk. One person, first one too; who knows?) to use certified lum-
wood instead. That was a year ago. At the end who claimed to be a professor, quoted the com- ber. If not, get in touch if you are ready for a
of September, the Mayor announced that the edy show South Park, which taught him what daytrip out east: ahannide@ic.sunysb.edu.

- -- --- -·- --

By Theodore Smirilis duction of the defective protein. dystrophin-positive stem cells isolated from the
In order for a treatment to be effective bone marrow or muscle tissue of male mice into the
As unexpected testimony to the versatility against muscular dystrophy, genes with the capac- female mice. By 12 weeks after injection, as many
of the body's cells, researchers have found that they ity of producing the correct form of dystrophin as 10% of the muscle fibers in mdx mice injected
can make bone marrow cells turn into muscle cells, must be introduced in the cells. Gene therapies in with immature bone marrow cells produced dys-
causing mice with muscular dystrophy to produce the past have been limited by problems of getting trophin.
correctly working muscle cells. The experiment altered genes or cells Similarly, mdx mice
suggests that a form of bone marrow transplant to the right site in the injected with immature
could, in principle, treat patients with a variety of body. However, as muscle cells produce
diseases. The immediate relevance of the new this study suggests, dystrophin in up to 4%
result is for muscular dystrophy, a set of diseases stem cells (bone mar- of their muscle fibers.
said by the Muscular Dystrophy Association to row) may provide The most important
affect 250,000 Americans. better means for a conclusion of the stud-
Muscular dystrophy is the name of a gene shuttle. Stem ies is that bone marrow
group of chronic hereditary disorders, character- cells are immature cells appear to provide
ized by progressive degeneration and malfunction (un-differentiated) a means for the repair
of voluntary muscles. The most common and cells that have the of muscle. The levels
severe type is Duchene muscular dystrophy. It typ- unique capacity to giv of dystrophin achieved
ically occurs in boys between the ages of three and rise to a population ot in tnis study were
six. In this type, the disease progresses rapidly, and mature, functioning cells. Hematopoetic stem cells insufficient to cure muscular dystrophy in the
few survive their early 20's. Some other forms traveling in the blood stream communicate with mice; however it is believed that the procedures
include limb girdle, Becker, facioscapulohumeral, organs and tissues in the body, and are able to sense used could be optimized to result in therapeutic
and myotonic. Muscular dystrophy is character- the need for replenishment of cells in organs and levels of dystrophin in humans. In addition,
ized by the production of a genetically defective tissues. They also provide the cells necessary for these findings hint that adults may harbor stern
protein called dystrophin. repair. This is exactly the method the researchers- cells from a variety of organs and tissues that
Information in the cells is transduced from used to deliver the genes to the appropriate cites in might be manipulated to heal genetic defects in
DNA to RNA to protein. As information is passed the body. Using stem cells derived from the bone organs and tissues throughout the body.
from DNA to RNA it first gets copied to a precursor marrow, they were able to carry therapeutic genes As many details in these complex
molecule called pre-mRNA. The pre-mRNA mole- back to sites of disease and remodel genetically experiments have to be worked out, there are
cule subsequently gets processed to remove introns defective organs and tissues, allowing them to per- however two opposing views for the immediate
(junk DNA) in order to be converted into the manently carry the corrected gene. treatment of the disease. The first view sup-
mature mRNA. The dystrophin gene however is The researchers first irradiated mdx ports that the ideal treatment suggested by the
loaded with introns and contains over 100 of these female mice (an animal model of Duchenes muscu- experiments, would be to take a sample of the
sites. These introns must be cut out precisely. If the lar dystrophy) to eliminate any blood-related, or patient's own muscle cell, isolate muscle stem
excision process is off by one nucleotide, then the hematopoietic, stem cells, which are normally cells and treat them outside the body with the
entire reading frame is off, which leads to the pro- found in bone marrow. The scientists then injected correct version of dystrophin.
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Amid legal and religious rhetoric, opponents in art controversy exchange fierce words
By Michael Yeh
-- --
pointed to a long-haired man, Aron Ray, who
made a beeline to the duo.
was explaining his support for the exhibit to "Giuliani talks about the anal stage,"'
Waving signs denouncing censorship and another opponent. "Get out of here, you pig! replied Haskins. "Your priest is in an anal
depicting Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a Nazi offi- You Jewish pig!" stage." She said
cer, more than a thousand protesters gathered "Don't call me a Jewish pig," that she was
in front of the Brooklyn Museum of Art on the Ray said calmly. "We're not gonna tired of looking
eve of the unveiling of its controversial exhib- let Kristalnacht happen again." at pictures of a
it, "Sensation: Young British Artists from the Biting his lip, the man white Virgin
Saatchi Collection." stretched his right arm and waved Mary and that
The demonstration, organized by the New an erect middle finger in front of she welcomed a
York Civil Liberties Union and local artist Ray's face. painting of a
groups, featured prominent guest speakers "This is art!" he yelled. black Virgin.
including children's author Judy Blume, play- Others were not as belligerent, B e r n s t e i n
wright Wendy Wasserstein, and actress Susan although they were also fuming grabbed a long,
Sarandon. But the crowd, which filled the area with anger. "I, as a taxpayer, do not polished animal
in front of the main entrance and spilled onto want to fund it," said Blanche horn from a pur-
the right lane of adjacent Eastern Parkway, Ciccone, who described Giuliani as ple velvet bag,
grew so large that many people could not hear a "gutsy mayor" for taking on this allowing the bag
the speeches at all. issue. "I'm an artist. I oppose that to drop onto the
Protesters blasted the mayor's decision to crap." pavement. She
cut off funding to the museum and his threat to Stuart A. Balberg, a member of waved the horn
evict its board from the city-owned building. the community school board in high in the air,
Calling the artwork "discriminatory" and neighboring Crown Heights, was and shouted,
"anti-Catholic," Giuliani allegedly took action worried that the exhibit would "Zulu! Zulu,
in response to demands by William Donohue of send "immoral messages" to chil- "The Holy Virgin Mary" baby!" The
the Catholic League for Religious and Civil dren. "Children come to the muse- by Chris Ofili stunned audi-
Rights, an ultra-conservative group with no um. School groups come to this ence was silent
official ties to the Catholic Church. museum. Should they be exposed to this for a moment, then broke out in raucous laugh-
The funding cut, which began this month, pornography?" ter. "Crazy sista," someone muttered.
would take away almost $7 million a year in Undeterred, Bernstein jumped up and down, in
Although opponents of the exhibit spoke
operating expenses, or about a third of the rhythm to her chants. "Zuuulu!" She picked up
fervently against the artists, none of them had
museum's total budget.. the flag, and sang, "God is good, God is good."
seen the artwork. In her statement, Judy Blume
"Giuliani continues to create frightening also
chal- s o eanwhile, members of the
precedents in the area of freedom of speech," museum were offered a spe-
said protester Elise Engler. Since his inaugura-
lenge d cial preview of the exhibit.
tion in 1994, Giuliani's administration has t h e "It was quite beautiful,
faced 21 lawsuits fdr First Amendment viola- ma yor actually," said Manny
on this
tions, and lost in 18 of 20 cases, with no deci- Grinfield, referring Ofili's
sion in two cases. point. painting. His companion, Jon
Brooklyn resident Susan Banta used this "Li k e Linder, saw nothing unusual
event as an opportunity to teach her children m o s t in this particular exhibit.
the importance of free expression. "It's impor-censors, "We've had art like this in
tant for them to learn that if you believe he has- SoHo for decades," he said.
strongly in something, they should stand up n't actu- "[Giuliani] has got to get out
a lly
for it," she said, pointing to her eight year-old more often."
son Arlo and six year-old daughter Tess. seen w] "I can't imagine what the
"The mayor has no right to take away ourhe has so quickly denounced," she said. fuss was about," said Valerie Moolman, who
museum," Arlo said, holding up a large card- Waving a red flag and proclaiming her called the piece "totally inoffensive" and beau-
board sign. love for God, Desiree Bernstein claimed that tiful. "It had nothing to do with religion."
"My children benefit directly from the
unless our society shuns "trash art" and turns Just try explaining that to the mayor, who
presence of the muse- to religion, we would be pun- has recently stepped up his attacks on the
um," Banta said. "I'm ished with earthquakes, exhibit by accusing Christie's auction house of
outraged that the storms, and violent crime. conspiring with Charles Saatchi, the owner of
mayor thinks he has "We are a Judeo-Christian the collection, to jack up the value of the art
the power to single- nation, and I love that fact," through the museum's presentation.
handedly close the she said. "This is one of our Represented by Floyd Abrams, a renowned
museum." holy days, and I have to come First Amendment attorney who was a co-coun-
But much out to defend our Lord. sel to the New York Times in the Pentagon
the drama occurred Where's the Pope? Why isn't Papers case, the museum's management has
behind the stage, the Pope here?" vowed to fight back by launching a lawsuit
where the police had Her words attracted the against the city. Ironically, Giuliani's corpora-
fenced off an area for attention of Valerie Haskins, tion counsel Michael Hess, who played a sig-
seven counterdemon- an African-American woman nificant role in this issue, also participated in
strators. Some of who pointed out that elephant the same case as a co-counsel for the U.S. mili-
them taunted the dung used in Chris Ofili's now tary.
supporters of the infamous painting of the But with polls showing-most New Yorkers
exhibit, which Virgin Mary is a revered sym- in favor of the museum's right to show the
sparked off several bol in his culture. exhibit, some people like Brooklyn State
heated arguments. "Should I go to the bath- Assemblyman N. Nick Perry see the mayor as a
"Shut up, room here and paste it all political opportunist eager to curry favor from
Jews, Christ killers!" over?" Bernstein said. "This is conservatives.
shouted a man wear- art?" "I didn't hear so much from him when
A m-ell
11i r v h.1 d1..th0qA h - Amadou
U L Diallo was shot," Perry said. "He's
ng a arg1 6e . lLaI courtesy of the New Y o r k T i m e s IA -,- . , .gv .. . 5 . .-
cross on a gold chain. ered to watch, and several tele- going too far in attacking our rights. This time,
"Christ Killer Jews! Holocaust survivors!" He vision crews as well as people with camcorders he picked the wrong crowd."

OCTOBER' 13 1999' PAGE 7

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By F.L. Livingston these concepts to this painting.. (I know I do.) Or maybe an integral part of all our other basic freedoms. "Freedom
I sincerely hope that Voltaire, famous champi- he feels that the average person in our society has too of the press" and "freedom of petition" are variations
on of free speech, would not cringe in horror if he could negative an attitude toward manure to ever see it in a pos- thereof. "Freedom of assembly" - the right to gather
see my awkward paraphrasing of his immortal words. I itive light, no matter how it is intended. And he has a right with any group we so desire - would mean little if we
could not resist. His beliefs apply so aptly to my feelings to express his viewpoint. A right to his freedom of could not say what we wanted when we got there. (What
about the war between the city government and the speech. would be the point'? Just to sit and look at each other or
Brooklyn Museum of Art. The irreverent art show there Freedom of speech there's the issue. To talk about the weather?)
called "Sensation" bears criticism - in fact, it seems to legally penalize the museum unless they remove this par- And "freedom of religion". What kind of reli-
invite it - but it does not call for suppression any more ticular art show would be a direct assault on that liberty. gious liberty would we have if we did not have freedom
than any other controversial display of art. To criticize the display is one thing. To demand an expla- of speech, as well? Imagine if the government could tell
I totally understand how Mayor Giuliani feels nation is another. To discourage people from attending us what prayers to say or what words to use in our
about the show. It's disgusting. Especially the painting of the show is still another. But for the government to for- prayers, or what religious symbols we could or could not
the Virgin Mary splattered with elephant dung! It is an mally punish the museum for refusing to bend to the display in our homes and places of worship. Yes, some-
affront to Catholics - and, for that matter, anyone who
. .. .' .
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reveres religious tradition. And, besides, as I said, I think censorship - and bullyin rt religious
it's just plain disgusting. - and is completely una< gely that freedom of speech
But I do not believe that it warrants his threat- ceptable in a free society. protects our free expression
ening to deny funds to the museum or trying to have them Flashback: I ai ith. We cannot risk that.
evicted from their building. a college senior dating The taxpayers may not wish
Please don't get me wrong. I do not object to foreigner from a totalitar ty for such a shocking pre-
the mayor's speaking out against the display, particularly an nation. He loves th ition of art, as the mayor and
since so many of the city's residents are likely to find it sense of liberty that h Sofficials point out. At least,
offensive. It would be a sad commentary on human rela- experiences in Americ f they believe that that's all
tions in our society if a prominent mayor did not show He especially revels in tl re doing. But if they think of
some sensitivity to the feelings of his constituents. And if joys of free speecl funds as supporting one of
he objects personally and wants to give vent to that, then Perhaps too much. He nost precious liberties, then I
why not? It takes character for someone to stand up and shocked when someor .that there would be a much
express a controversial opinion, and I am all for charac- nre bu muct
iso as gets angiy a U 11= rent ,nniatr
ea•i n•LIU1.

ter, especially in our elected officials. Then again, per- something he says. And sometimes just as astounded I realizethatthere are limits to free speech. I am aper-
haps, as some suggest, he is doing this only in an effort to when that anger does not lead to his being arrested or son who contends that the use of words or symbols that incite
retain "the Catholic vote," but is it any great harm if our confronted by somebody's father. It takes a while for him people to riot or to persecute is unconscionable and should not
public servants are aware that they depend on the to learn to determine the fine line between offending be tolerated. I do not believe for a minute that we should dare to
approval of the people in order to keep their positions? someone and being penalized for the offense. Since he is risk the lives and well-being of thousands just because there are
None of this is inherently wrong. accustomed to a dictatorial environment, it is difficult, at one or two who cannot control their mouths. But "Sensations"
Of course, not everybody shares this negative first, for him to grasp the idea that anger does not neces- does not seem to me to reach those proportions, and according
opinion of the painting. The director of the museum sarily translate into prosecution or other serious punish- to the artist, itcertainly was not intended that way.
points out that dung is a symbol of "regeneration" in ments. So - I hope Voltaire would forgive me if he
some African cultures and suggests that we interpret the This should not be difficult for an American knew that I was about to try to paraphrase his words once
work with that in mind even though it is part of a collec- mayor. Especially not one in as sophisticated a city as again. (After all, that's my "freedom of speech," is it not?)
tion of pieces by young British artists. The painting's cre- New York, culture capital of the country, if not the "I disagree completely with the showing of this painting,
ator, himself, explains that he feels that many pictures of world- a place quite used to encompassing whole new but I strongly defend the museum's right to show it." (No,
the Virgin are "sexually charged" and insists that this is and different movements in art, literature, etc., let alone I would not "defend to the death" their right to show it
merely his "hip-hop version" of that phenomenon. one art show. nor the artist's right to paint it - but - well - you get
Neither of them see it as an insult at all. Plus, Mayor Giuliani should realize that free- the idea.) We must not sacrifice a cherished liberty

2: .
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. .. ...
w.. ....d

dom of speech is one of our most precious liberties. It is because somebody doesn't like something.

Perhaps Mayor Giuliani has trouble applying

.... .
FAIR ACTION ALERT Giuliani: "Suppose, instead of a portrait of the Yorker (10/11/99) referred to his "Holy Virgin
When New York City Mayor Rudolph Virgin Mary splattered with excrement, it was a por- Mary" as "sweet, gorgeous and respectful of its sub-
Giuliani appeared on three national television shows trait of Martin Luther King. How do you suppose ject."
attacking the Brooklyn Museum and its current art people would react to it?" To which Giuliani On Fox News Sunday, the closest thing to a
exhibit, "Sensation," none of the shows saw fit to replied, "I don't think the museum ever would have pro-art point of view was when panelist Fred Barnes
include an advocate of civil liberties or artistic free- done it. The museum board would have been too asked Giuliani: "The people in the arts and culture
dom. Giuliani appeared unopposed on NBC's Meet sensitive to the concerns of the minority -of people community... What does it say about them? What's
the Press, ABC's This Week with Sam and Cokie, that would be offended by this." the matter with them?"
and Fox News Sunday (all 10/3/99). Someone who had actually seen the show Lost in all the discussions was the fact that
Furthermore, while none of the participants , might have pointed out that no painting there was Giuliani was not simply trying to withhold public
in the broadcasts had seen the exhibit, it didn't stop "splattered with excrement"; that the Virgin Mary money from art on the grounds of offensiveness-a
anchors on two of the shows from joining Giuliani in portrayed in the painting was herself black, and thus practice the Supreme Court has declared unconstitu-
condemning "Sensation." On Fox News Sunday, representative of the "minority" Giuliani and Will tional-but is attempting, by trying to replace the
anchor Tony Snow dismissed the exhibit as "silly," think people are too sensitive to; and that another museum's board, to take over a private cultural insti-
while Cokie Roberts on This Week said of the show, painting by Ofili included in the exhibit indeed fea- tution whose policies he objects to. The threat to
"It's yucky." (On Meet the Press, anchor Tim tured African-American icons, including Miles free expression posed by this kind of government
Russert consistently asked Giuliani tough ques- Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali-and that intervention was not pointed out even by Russert,
tions.) this painting too employed elephant dung, to no par- Giuliani's toughest Sunday morning critic.
If an advocate for art-or even someone ticular outcry. ACTION: Contact the Sunday morning
who had looked at the art in question-had taken Earlier in the program, Cokie Reports shows and ask them to bring on a defender of the
part in the discussion, some errors might have been declared that "Sensation" was, "according to all First Amendment to balance the time given to
avoided. Following Giuliani's lead, anchors mostly reports...at best, a fifth-rate adolescent exhibit." Rudolph Giuliani's pro-censorship views.
asked about the painting "The Holy Virgin Mary," While reviews of the show have been mixed, many This Week with Sam and Cokie
by Chris Ofili-who used elephant dung as a medi- of the artists in it--including some of the most con- netaudr@abc.com
um in this and other works as a symbol of Africa, troversial-have been widely praised by critics. Fox News Sunday
fertility and the earth. Ofili, for example, last year won the Turner Award, foxnewssunday@foxnews.com
Playing off this, ABC's George Will asked Britain's most prestigious artistic prize. The New Meet the Press


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By Michael Yeh If Damien Hirst weren't a successful artist, per- sisting of naked pre-pubescent girls fused into a siamese
haps he would have had a productive career as a biolo- ring. Some of them sprout out of the bodies of others, and
Mayor Giuliani's assault on Charles Saatchi's gist. Hirst's collection of assorted critters pickled in 5% all wore black Fila sneakers. They look homogeneous at
flamboyant collection of young British artists may have formaldehyde has- aroused the wrath of animal rights first glance, sporting similar cheap wigs, their dull blue
been just what the Brooklyn Museum needed to boost its activists and moralists of all sorts. (Peek into one of the eyes staring eerily at the viewer. But many of them have
attendance. zoology labs on the second floor of the computer science penises instead of noses, with .snout-like cylindrical
Since the opening of "Sensation," the institution building to see visually similar samples.) But simple as mouths. Some were joined at the teniples, cheeks, and eye
that for years has played second fiddle to its Manhattan they may appear, the reality of his. once-living sockets, where their
counterparts is now the talk of the town. Scores of curios- materials creates an unsettling effect. Hirst's features melt into
ity seekers wait in line for up to an hour every day just to The Physical Impossibility of Death in the distinct vulval labia.
see what the fuss is all about. Taking advantage of the cap- Mind of Someone Living (1991) features a The Chapmans
tive audience, conservative Catholic groups blasted their large tiger shark suspended with monofila- extended this theme
objections and Hail Marys from loudspeakers facing the ment fishing line in a white steel cage filled to other works as
building's pillars. Working with the police department, with a bluish-green formaldehyde solution. well. ha Tragic
the security personnel passed every visitor through a The shark's grimacing face creates wrinkles Anatomies (1996),
metal detector, and examined every bag-perhaps fear- behind its eyes, as its open mouth reveals these figures stand
ing incidents like the one when two youths in Australia ruws or razor-Snarp poinrea teetn. Atmougn Hirstt's"This Little Piggy Went to m a garden ot cheap
smashed Andres Serrano's infamous Piss Christ with a no longer alive, it retains a very menacing Market, This Little Piggy Stayed Home"" artificial shrubbery,
hammer. appearance. on an astroturf
But it was worth the trouble, that is, if you have His collection of preserved farm animals can be ground littered with artificial leaves. One of them, almost
a curiosity for the grotesque. (And let's be honest, who upsetting to city folks whose only exposure to mam- obscured in the far right comer, has a penis on each tem-
doesn't?) One of the first paintings in the display is malian carcasses occur in the supermarket as they pick ple like bovine horns. Some of them had two upper bod-
Marcus Harvey's Myra (1995), which created a stir in over neatly packaged steaks and cutlets. We are comfort- ies, fused at the groin as if fornicating doggie-style. DNA
London and prompted a spiteful visitor to hurl eggs at it. able in our ignorance, as we no longer hear and feel the Zygotic (1997) featured one body with many
This is a portrait of Myra Hindley, serving a life sentence primal shrieks and kicks of our food as a knife is plunged heads, arranged in sets of four, joined together by a shared
in Britain for torturing and murdering numerous chil- into its neck, spilling blood and guts onto the ground and anal opening.
dren. But look more closely and one onto us. And speaking of the anus, Mona Hatoum takes
can see that the painting is actually "This Little Piggy Went to us into the opposite end of the digestive tract in Deep
made up of eerie child-sized hand- Market, This Little Piggy Stayed at Throat (1996). Borrowing the name from the '70s porn
prints in black, white, and shades of Home" (1996) features a pig sliced video, the sculpture consists of a plain square table cov-
gray lengthwise suspended in two ered with a white tablecloth and a plain wooden chair. hIn
Marc Quinn's "Self" (1991) preservative-filled metal cages. The the middle of the plate in the place setting, a video moni-
is a cast of the artist's head, made animal's right side glides back and tor shows the path that a piece of food takes as it is ingest-
with nine pints of his own blood forth slowly on a motorized track, ed.
drawn over give months and frozen. revealing the intricate visceral net- Filmed using a fiberoptic endoscope, the video
The figure appears dark-and corpse- work inside. In "Some Comfort initially shows the artist licking the lens gingerly. The
like, but the face is visibly relaxed. Gained from the Acceptance of the probe is thrust deep inside her, passing quickly through
Like humanity itself, monument is Mueck's "Dead Dad" Inherent Lies in Everything" '(1996), the esophagus and into the stomach, where the folded lin-
fragile and temporary-destined to twelve tanks contain cross-sections ing pulsates rhythmically. Occasionally, a burst of steam
vanish should one pull the plug of its refrigerated case. of a cow,perpendici ular to its body axis. These piece show or digestive juices would cloud the view temporarily, as
Much of the attention was focused on "The the chaotic maze of muscle fibers, nerves, and solid and the lens is maneuvered to show parts of the gastrointesti-
Holy Virgin Mary" (1996) by Chris Ofili, the artist whose hollow organs cont ained within a seemingly neat furry nal anatomy.As the endoscope is withdrawn slowly, peri-
obsession with elephant dung has drawn so much atten- package. Although it is not dear what the I staltic contractions of the
tion to the show. It was impossible to get a dose view of author meant by "inherent lies," a viewer reach- esophagus pinch off the
the work, for visitors were kept several feet away behind ing the end of the dissplay is surprised with a sec- view, eliciting gags and
a dear plastic panel guarded by a security guard and a ond head, and reali zes that the display contains signs of disgust from some
city police officer. Nevertheless, the effect was dazzling, not one, but two coi Ws. of the viewers.
An unmistakably African figure with an open mouth and Hirst capt ured the horrific aftermath In contrast to the
fleshy nose stood out from a rich yellow background, of death in "A Thoiusand Years" (1990), which Chapmans and Hirst, Ron
with a golden glitter halo surrounding her face. Her flow- features his traden nark white steel enclosure Mueck portrayed more
ing, light blue garment parted at the chest, revealing a divided into two compartments. One side con- serene images of death.
breast of elephant dung with a spiraling gold areola. tains plump, black maggots feeding on cotton His silicone and rubber
Pictures of buttocks and female genitalia cut in the shape soaked in sugar wal:er. When they mature, they S"Dead Dad" (1996-1997),
of angel wings flutter around her, and two more dumps can fly into the o&tter side, where an artificial created in tribute to his late
of dung on the floor bearing the words "Virgin Mary". severed cow's head lies bleeding on the ground. father, features a small fig-
prop up the canvas itself. An electric bug zapjper hangs directly above the A ure lying supine on the
Ofili's other works also contain his trademark head, creating a lay('r of dead, decaying flies on 'ground. He is naked and
proboscidean anal fruit, but they did not draw the same the bottom of the cage. vulnerable, with gray hair on his head and legs.
impassioned complaints. Afrodizzia (1996) contains Jake and E)inos Chapman evoke similar horrors With impeccable detail, Mueck recreates the
paper cutouts of famous black celebrities including Louis with a sculpture dep)icting human slaughter, based on an protruding collarbones, the outline of the rib cage, every
A rm Q
str n e-hr by Francisco Goya called Disasters of crease on the hands and fingers, and the
Nelson Mandela, War tIhat showed the brutal deeds of flabby, limp skin of the buttocks.
and others mount- Napole ?on's soldiers when they invaded This is, of course, an unconventional tribute to
ed on a multicol- Spain in 1808. The Chapmans' sculpture, a man Mueck loved, and one may wonder about their
ored swirled back- titled C;reat Deeds Against the Dead (1994), relationship. But in an adjacent room, the father figure is
ground. At the bot- shows three bodies lashed onto a bare tree reborn in Angel (1997). He is still naked but alive, as he
tom is an image of trunk. Their genitalia were cut off, leaving sits on a paint-spattered wooden stool with his chin rest-
the back of a black gaping holes with internal organs protrud- ing on his hands as if in deep thought.
head shaved with ingfror n them. One man is tied upright, with Every piece of artwork in this exhibit is
the word his left ring finger cut off. Another hangs designed to challenge visitors to think about the unfa-
"respect," and upside-down behind him. A third man dan- miliarity of ordinary objects and settings. There is an
clumps of elephant gles fro]m a horizontal branch from his knees, abundance of shocking images, such as Mat Collishaw's
dung adorned with his arms and head chopped off. His photograph of a gunshot wound to the head, and
with the names of Biogenetic, De-sublimated Libidinal Model" arms, siuspended by thick rope, hang next to Richard Billingham's pictures of his own dysfunctional
Cassius Clay, Miles his truInk and under his head, which is family,showing his drunken father passed out by the toi-
Davis, James Brown, and Tito Jackson stand out from the impaled on a brand 1. let bowl.
flat setting. But the black community isn't branding this But more shocking, perhaps, is "Zygotic And if all goes well, traditionalists will contin-
piece insulting, unlike the easily offended, censorship- Acceleration, Bioggenetic, De-sublimated Libidinal ue to take offense at these daring novelties in expression.
happy Christian fundamentalists. Model" (enlarged X 1000) (1995), a plastic sculpture con- Because that is precisely the point.
.1 __ -- --
OCTOBER 13, 1999 PAGE 9
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By Chris Sorochin
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very gross faux pas in serious Catholic circles, that winning the case seemed more important
even leftish ones, to make any mention of the than seeing that.justice is done. The woman so
"Rule #1: The Boss is always right. Crusades, the Inquisition, the witch burnings, intent on defending the Institution never enter-
Rule #2: If the Boss is ever wrong, see Rule #1." the Thirty Years' War, the Hundred Years' War, tained for a minute the possibility that the lead-
-Commonly posted in workplaces the "Rat Lines" that helped Nazis escape to South ers of what has been for most of its history an
America with Vatican passports, or any of the earthly power with territory and armies might
I would like to describe two events that took Imperial Church's many other crimes and misde- ever do anything reprehensible. No, the Great
place under the auspices of the Catholic Law meanors. It's like a big, dysfunctional family get- Leader must be defended and never, ever ques-
Students Society at St. John's University School together in which the family skeletons remain tioned, just like in your standard issue cult
of Law. The first was at the Catholic Worker on desperately locked in the closet, but still manage (which is exactly what the Romans considered
East 3rd St. in Manhattan. The evening's "clarifi- to haunt anyone who's really engaging the old Christianity in its early days).
cation of thought" was to be a panel discussion gray matter. I tell ya, folks, the air was as thick Of course this schema is all too familiar, as it's
on the papal encyclical Fides et Ratio ("Faith and as pea soup with eau de denial. the same we routinely hear about another sacred
Reason") presented by St. John's law professors The answer to the query on anti-Semitism was institution, the United States. Yet another mem-
David Gregory, Lawrence Joseph and Rev. John a variation on the NYPD's "few bad apples" ber of the audience regaled us with his assertion
C•roii• rhlin OFNM difonso and ahbnt as that it was better to be colonized by the British
The panelists satisfying. I guess than any other European power because the
were uncannily these folks weren't British, unlike the French or the Germans,
unanimous in acquainted with the believed in the rule of law, thus implying that
stating that rea- Biblical quote about a British colonialism was somehow more OK than
son is OK and in good tree being unable other varieties. I was too well-mannered to sug-
fact encour- to bear bad fruit. gest that he pay a visit to the folks-in West Belfast
aged-as long as Several panelists and Bogside, Derry and ask them how sweet it is
it doesn't lead brought up the to live under the rule of British law.
you to any con- Church's "lack of credi- I did offer that the US, being a British spin-off,
clusions that bility," and one, who had learned from them the revered technique of
may contradict should know better, perfuming its crimes with rhetoric about rule of
official Church blamed it on the media. law and democracy, but my pearls just rolled all
doctrine. I believe that Fairness over the floor of the sty.
Otherwise you and Accuracy in A short time later, I had the dubious honor of
are "in error," the Reporting examined attending yet another of these encyclical
-rm ' "hrpesv" no this alleged bias a while klatsches, this one at St. John's Law School itself.
longer being. - e s u s ? back and I recall their I really should have know better, but this one
politically correct. During the Q & A period, finding that when Pope John Paul II came to the included an expensive Northern Italian dinner
someone said that Dorothy Day, founder of the US, the media went out of their way to render US afterwards, paid for by those law school gradu-
Catholic Worker, always believed in the primacy Catholic critics of His Holiness all but invisible. ates who are now raking in major shekels by
of conscience and was told yes, that's right, but Maybe this was due to his Cold War credentials serving as big-time corporate sharks.
fortunately her conscience never led her outside (he's stated that one cannot be both a Christian This one was presided over by one Fr. John
of Church doctrine. We were also reassured, in a and a socialist, although this strikes me as hav- Perricone, one of the big names in paleoconserv-
dizzying flashback to parochial school cate- ing absolutely no scriptural basis whatsoever), ative Catholicism. If you were shooting a movie
chism, that the Catholic hierarchy owns the because the US media made him marginal when about the life of Christ, you would cast Fr.
Truth outright--they keep it in special jeweled he criticized free-market capitalism, visited Cuba Perricone-who kept reminding me of Dr. Smith
reliquary and take it out and play with it when and criticized the bombing of Yugoslavia. He's on Lost in Space reruns-in the role of Chief
nobody's around.. supposed to go to Iraq later this year. Look for it Complacent Pharisee. The encyclicals in ques-
In fact. if I understood correctly, all true rea- to be lavishly underreported. tion were to have been on the rights of workers
son will eventually lead to the Church's position. "Ordination of. women?" someone wondered. but Fr. Perricone's interpretation was mostly
I began to be reminded of hardline Marxists and This issue has been unilaterally declared "closed" that workers have the right to keep their mouths
their conviction that their "scientific" view of his- by the Vatican. But the "No Girls Allowed" pol- shut and not make any trouble. Most of his pre-
tory was inevitable. icy as far as decision-making goes is far from sentation was a screed against socialism and
At some point one of the panelists mentioned closed for Catholic women. The arrogance and militant unionism. Communal ownership, he
birth control, prompting one young and foam- high-handedness of this pronouncement seems assured us, was intrinsically inconsistent with
ingly fervent aspiring attorney to deliver a to have engendered very little outrage, though. Christianity, even though the early Christians
fevered defense of the Party line: sex is for pro- What if all those gals one day got tired of being (and many subsequent ones) lived that way.
creation and procreation only, the Supreme Being treated as second-class citizens and withdrew Capitalism was not so anathematized: he pulled
apparently seeing humanity as one vast breeding their material and moral support? There's out something about the spiritual need to own
farm. He accompanied this with several very ire1.auy. it i..oL• .c.
eaireauy a sortage or
ly,S- e eOLt-
rLtf. ItLIM
interesting addenda, viz: priests because the Gospel teachings
1. Availability of contraception has led to dinosaurs in Rome won't about camels and the
society going to hell in a handbasket. Now that consider allowing female eyes of needles and
sex has been separated from pregnancy we no or married clergy. Christ's exhortations
longer respect "our" women! Yeah, women real- In the afterglow of this to leave behind all
ly had it good before the twentieth century. Any blessed event, Professor worldly things and
competent social history will reconstruct the Gregory asked why no follow him. I believe
pedestal they posed upon back when they liter- one had brought up he actually cited the
ally were "our" women, property of their fathers Galileo. Maybe because co mm a n d m e n ts
and husbands with no political or legal rights. many of us had a suspicio against coveting as
2. The population crisis is a myth (as the that such a query would have elicited more of justifying his position.
planetary population nears a cozy 6 billion) and the same pat responses. As they say in Vegas, Further revelations had to do with the divine
everyone on Earth could fit into Texas. Now, I "the house always wins," and I recognized a phe- placement of temporal authority (a.k.a. Divine
know that some fairly unsavory types, like the: nomenon I had seen before. I call it "Debate Right of Kings, which we had a revolution over
anti-immigrant brigades, use overpopulation as Squad Catholicism" and the object of the game is some years back) and the sinfulness of not being
a cover for their xenophobic agenda, but let's to defend the Institution with legalism and content to stay in your divinely appointed
face it, we can most definitely do with zero pop- sophistry while never once examining what it is place-I was unaware that Catholicism had so
ulation growth and reduction of consumption in you're defending. One participant, when I men- much in common with the Hindu caste system.
wealthy countries. tioned a new book, Hitler's Pope, which impli- He even paid homage to Ronald Reagan's State
Another audience member brought up the cates Pius XII in the rise of Nazism, responded Department by saying that those slaughtered in
Church's historic role in anti-Semitism. Now, for thusly: "I can refute it." Maybe it's because Latin America, including priests and nuns, had
those of you who don't know, it's considered a many of these people are lawyers or law students it coming because they were involved in politics.


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By Shari Goldsmith debate over when life begins. "The aim of this legis- states have approved laws that grant separate rights
lation is to create a body of law that recognizes a to a fetus that is at lea;st 14 weeks old, according to
Fetuses will be granted "personhood" newly conceived egg as an independent legal entity, Koch.
according to a bill that was approved by the House separate from its mother," according to an editorial of The passion of vested interests in this issue
of Representatives, on October 1, 1999. the St. Petersburg Times. forces people to questic n the motivations behind leg-
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act pro- This type of argumentation reverts back to islation regarding abor tion, especially this bill.
tects the "unborn child," defined as "a member of the ideology which was supposedly resolved by the Roe Supporters of the bill claim its intention is only to
species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, vs. Wade decision. "A woman's right to choose shall heighten the penalties imposed upon criminals that
not be infringed based on her constitutional right to
who is carried in the womb," according to Robert
Pear, a writer for the New York Times. nrivacv" The
are guilty of assaulting a pregnant woman.
r t.1fl
ip q
A criminal being prosecuted would be trimester system, as ersburg Times wrote,
charged separately for harm done to a fetus while the agreed upon by the "There is nothing new
crime was in progress. Independent of the mother, medical community, in this legislation that
the fetus would be recognized as a person. officially outlined fetal will deter violence
President Clinton has threatened to veto the development. against pregnant
bill saying that "to identify the fetus as a separate and Two other women. It was writ-
distinct victim of crime is 'unprecedented as a matter landmark Supreme ten to legally divide
of Federal statute'," according to Pear. Today's Court decisions stand mother from child,
Federal homicide statutes only apply to the killing of out, in regard to legal- not protect them."
a human being(that has been born). Supporters have ized abortion. The K a t e
tried to reassure skeptics that under this bill, a doctor 1989 Webster vs. Michelman; president
could not be prosecuted for performing an abortion, Reproductive Health of the National
nor could a "woman with respect to her unborn Services case rein- Abortion and
child" be held legally responsible. forced a woman's righi Reproductive Rights
Contemplation over the bill has been divid- choose, but granted states Action League, said,
ed mainly along party lines: 198 Republicans and 56 the right to place whatever stipulations they saw fit. "This bill . . . completely ignores the reality that
Democrats voted to pass the bill, while 150 And Planned Parenthood of Southeastern any assault or violence that harms a pregnancy is
Democrats and 21 Republicans opposed it. Pennsylvania vs.; Casey, in 1992, "clearly shifted the inherently an attack on a woman," according to
Republicans explain that their intentions are balance, seeming to allow states to impose more con- Koch.
to provide protection for the "unborn child." ditions on the availability of abortions," according to Democrats have agreed with the impor-
Opponents warn that legally recognizing a fetus as Barbara Hinkson Craig and David M. O'Brien, in the tance of a bill's increase in the punishment on
a person, as the stipulations of this bill provides, book Abortion and American Politics. The court under- criminals that incur violence upon pregnant
could lead to curtailing a woman's right to terminate mined the authority of using the trimester system as women, "but they did not want to recognize the
her pregnancy. This act could undermine the 1973 a guideline, after the first trimester, and announced fetus as a separate person, a crime victim with
Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe vs. Wade, their refusal to take on future cases contemplating rights distinct from those of the pregnant
which constitutionally legalized abortion. abortion. woman. As an alternative to the Republican bill,
Democrats led by Representative Zoe States constantly test the boundaries of their Democrats offered a proposal to increase the
Lofgren contend that "if a fetus is granted separate ability to legally infringe upon the right of a woman criminal penalties for certain acts of violence
rights, abortion eventually could be outlawed as to have an abortion. They devise methods of dis- against pregnant women. Its focus would be on
murder, and women who do anything harmful to a couragement, by enforcing laws ranging from requir- harm done to the woman, not the fetus," said
fetus could be prosecuted," according to Wendy ing parental consent, spousal consent, and waiting. Koch. Their proposal was voted down 224 to
Koch of USA Today. Republican Representative periods, to requiring medical evidence that the preg- 201.
Lindsey Graham initiated the proposal, arguing that nancy threatens the life of the mother to a large Democrats insist that this bill is just a
"the bill would appropriately punish crimes that enough degree that would justify its termination. back-door way to "establish the legal status of the
harm a fetus but would not eliminate abortion.". Eleven states have already passed laws sim- fetus as a person," said Representative Jerrold

with .charity and not making any waves. Fr. St. Patrick's Day Parade. And, as everyone now being sold at the Intrepid. Anchored off 45th
Perricone also lamented the decline of religion, knows, it's there now as New York's hometown Street, this vast machine of death is a propagan-
not realizing that his cherished irrelevancies Fiihrer, Rudy Giuliani, raises a tempest in a da vehicle for militarism and does not show the
may have a lot to do with that decline. teapot over a painting by a Catholic artist true face of war. Despite sagging revenues, the
All this did not go unchallenged; there were because it represents the Virgin Mary with ele- Giuliani administration continues to underwrite
two representatives of the Catholic Worker there phant dung (a wholly legiti- I: this nauseous white ele-
and they took great exception to most .of this. mate and respected medium phant, even going so far
Perricone would then proceed to cover them and in the artist's ancestral Africa) I as to lower its rent.
the entire room in a layer of smarm and conde- and surrounded- by clippings ...................... |11|II. Now that's blasphe-
scension reminiscent of that kids' show where from porn magazines (Mary is i mous.
contestants get a bucket of green glop dumped the desexualized version- of.. . .We
... at SUNY have our
on them for saying the wrong word. He would the M other Earth goddess). .........................
.... ...... ow n mem ber of this
accuse his critics of being narrow minded and Giuliani is trying to make bee io- tiiC I ( a cult: dear old Candace
remind them that the hierarchy sees the whole points with conservative . . . . .. DeRussy, a lackluster
picture and they don't. He was glib and oily and Catholics, who would seem to be academic and political
effete and I, mystic that I am, detected an air bf a significant voting block here in good old "lib- hack who made a big deal about a conference on
complete falseness about him. eral" New York, for his Senate race. Those who female sexuality at New Paltz that featured a
His malarkey about not being political was have seen the painting by British artist Chris display of sex toys. People in New York like to
especially bogus. Since when has the Church Ofili say that they wouldn't have known it to be think they're so urbane and sophisticated and
not been political? Proclaiming that God likes "blasphemous.-nor that it contained excrement- laugh at folks in the Bible Belt who let the
one economic system while damning another is -had they not been told it was. Christian Right dictate public policy. Like those
a political rather than spiritual statement and The upshot is massive popularity for the dolts in Kansas who've all but gotten rid of evo-
one traditional role of the Church, when not a exhibit and the Brooklyn Museum. The lution to appease the fundamentalist knuckle-
political power herself, has been acting as hand- Defenders of the Faith should realize by now draggers that can muster votes. But let us not be
maiden to earthly power. that when they make a big brouhaha over these too haughty: Candace, Rudy, George Pataki and
The right wing of the Catholic Church is seen things, they end up being invaluable free adver- hordes of lesser opportunists are just waiting for
when it attempts to influence international con- tising. And if they want to picket an offensive, the purple-hued dawn of clericofascism,
ferences on women's rights and family planning. obscene "museum," they can do as many of us American style.

OCTOBER 13 1999 PAGE 11

ISSUES I-__ - I · I -~ b-~-l · I · ·I·~ I -· I· L I


By Angelos Hannides requested to notify the authorities in case they Huntington. As of yet, there are five or six fatali-
observed aggregations of dead birds and even to ties due to the virus region-wide, all of individu-
It is the first half of October, and a viral send samples in for identification. Adjacent areas als 60 or older, and 39 confirmed cases in the City
disease continues to dominate the news in New started checking things out too. Westchester (75% of which involve individuals 60 or older).
York City, Long Island and Westchester, and parts County (September 21st) and Fairfield County, (Note: although encephalitis could be one of the
of New Jersey and Connecticut. It has already Connecticut (September 22nd) detected the virus fatal demonstrations of the West Nile virus, it is
claimed the lives of six people and dozens of and resumed spraying, although with much less not the sole and certainly not the most common
birds (predominantly crows), and has been vigor and zeal than the City. one, which is [as the name suggests] extremely
- f l
detected in dozens of others. This viral disease, A ll I-N ;
,-l Lsf ,/ Uoi courseUt.,
already misdiagnosed once, appears to be West came with intense criticism. A gitis is also a
Nile Fever, transmitted by the West Nile virus, natural concern arose c o m m o n
which was unknown to the Western Hemisphere amongst people about the demonstration
before this last month. It is transmitted by mos- method and amount of pesti- of this virus.)
quito species foreign to this part of the land, but cide sprayings. The fact that The City
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) did find malathion, resmethrin and announced on
the virus present in one mosquito from Nassau sumethrin are neurotoxins October 7th that
County, New York. It took them six weeks and that affect significantly the it completed a
hundreds of mosquito samples from the whole nervous system of most verte- voluntary popu-
region. brates, including humans, lation survey to
The highlights of this case seem to shift raised questions about 'this understand
the interest of the actively involved groups and practice and alternatives. 1 more about
"kT - "N., I ,-, I .1 ,
individuals from the graphic quotes and vacuous New York (Greensaccused the City ot lax controls exposure to West Nile-like virus in Northern
(however dangerous) insights of the mayor of on the mosquito population, and contrasted it Queens. The-survey included 470 households and
New York City on public health and science, to a with Suffolk County's control measures: New 700 volunteers and was carried out by the con-
game played at a higher level. In this first part of York City has 2 full-time employees working to tracted Research Triangle Institute of Maryland.
the coverage of the encephalitis outbreak, we will control mosquitoes compared to Suffolk County Oh! By the way on October 8th, the case of the
explore the events and happenings and the ques- which has 33. New York City spends $120,000 per first actual mosquito carrying the virus in the
tions that arise from these. On the second part (to year on mosquito control compared to Suffolk region was announced. It had been sampled in
be published in a subsequent issue of the Press) County which spends $2 million. Dozens of wit- Nassau County earlier that week.
we will delve into the dark side of "the Rudy" nesses contacted the Greens hotline reporting bee
and explore some of the proposed explanations and yellowjacJet disappearances from around The Questions
for the origin of this crisis. The mass media have the Metro area, fish kills on the Staten island
contributed-as always-like more than willing shores, and direct spraying on people at This- dull account of events does not
accomplices of the authorities, in creating hype Riverside Park. The Greens went on to sue the clearly represent the uniqueness of the case from
and hysteria about the evil virus that lurks in the City of New York on October 6th for violations of an epidemiological or a public health standpoint.
dark, and the buzzing incarnates of Satan that the federal Clean Air/Clean Water Act. Other Naturally, the most striking event is the occur-
carry it. They consistently omitted mentioning a groups, such as NYPIRG and Artists Response To rence of a virus never seen before in the Western
few things about what is known about the pesti- Illegal State Tactics joined in, especially motivat- Hemisphere. How did it get here? Migration?
cides which are distributed en masse over the ed by mayor Rudy Giuliani's claims that "there's Was carried in captivity? Or could there be a
populace and any dangers they might pose, not absolutely no danger to anyone from this spray- source of the virus closer than one would think?
just to monarch butterflies (whose well-being the ing (the EPA prohibits any company from claim- The discovery of the virus smells funny too. Why
NY Times actually feature as endangered by the ing that any pesticide is safe). did two Federal labs (CDC, DOA) and one mili-
spraying) but to other organisms including tary lab (Ft. Detrick) not detect the virus despi-
humans. So, I attempted to provide some of the .A Sudden Twist thaving more time than the independent lab,
much-needed information myself below, and all which managed to come up with the discovery
is verifiable either by using the listed sources or Bird deaths at the Bronx Zoo during the first? And, most importantly, why did the CDC
by contacting me (ahannide@ic.sunysb.edu). late summer and early fall baffled vets. Tests took out of all the labs in the country mistake all cases
place at the CDC, the labs of the Department of for a different virus?
A Brief Timeline Agriculture in Ames, Iowa, and an army lab in The second interesting phenomenon
Fort Detrick, Maryland. involves the behavior of the mayor and the City
The New York City Department of Health first Nothing came up. Enter the New York authorities. While the abuse of the word proac-
announced the presence of three cases of St. Louis State Health Department. While at a meeting in tive by City Health Commissioner Neal L. Cohen
Encephalitis (SLE) on Friday, September 3rd. City Albany, officials of the department met with and Rudy Giuliani's unannounced Senate cam-
Health officials started suspecting something was researchers fiom the Emerging Disease paign point at all too familiar pre-election
wrong during the last week of August, although Laboratory at the University of California at schemes (sort of showing the public things are
they did not disclose how. They waited until the Irvine, and arranged with them to have samples done), the way in which concerns about the pes-
CDC verified the presence of the virus that of the fatalities sent over for testing. Before the ticides were put aside is discomforting. Cohen
Friday, and announced it immediately. At the weekend of the 26th, the lab at Irvine discovered certainly knows better about the dangers of
same press conference, they announced their the West Nile virus in a human brain. Suddenly, malathion, at least to humans. Why, then, all this
intention to ensue spraying with malathion to kill the CDC caught up and announced on that zeal? Why did the City contract the Research
the mosquitoes carryin ound the virus in birds. Triangle Institute to do the survey? According to
appease the con- e next day, Monday the the people themselves, the Institute identifies
cerned residents by 27th, they reclassified and measures chemicals in environmental media
citing some fact that all the cases previously that present potential for human or animal expo-
11 out of 300 bites attributed to SLE, sure and in biological media to improve the
from the mosquito including the three understanding of absorbed dose as a result of
species that carries St. fatalities, to West Nile exposures to environmental media. The Health
Louis encephalitis virus, and asserted that Commissioner said it was to provide under-
actually transmit the the preventative mea- standing of the exposure to the virus. And the
disease. sures for the two viruses employees themselves, when asked by the vol-
Things esca- are the same. unteer residents, said they were doing a survey
lated quickly after Meanwhile, the cases of on drugs, neighborhood, and social life.
this. The City expand humans infected with The plot thickens, and the case will get
me original spraying plans to cover iviannattan, wnat was now caiiea west ilie-iiKe virus spread really spicy in the second part of this article. A
Brooklyn, and Staten Island in addition to Queens into Nassau County, which started its spraying of different view of the comments and behavior of
and the Bronx. Pyrethroids were thrown in the Scourge (resmethrin) and Anvil (sumethrin). officials during this crisis and perhaps some
cocktail. Mosquitoes were trapped and sent for Suffolk found dead crows infected with the virus answers to these questions, coming up in the
examination. Bird watching groups were and sprayed malathion in the Town of next issue of the Press.



The Drugs ceptible to allergies and asthmatic complications. of consciousness, abnormal reflexes and tremors,
Other symptoms include coughing, wheezing, short- accompanied by fever, chilliness, headache, neural-
Malathion - Malathion is one of the most ness of breath, runny or stuffy nose, chest pain, diffi- gia, myalgia, sore throat and cough. Attack rates
popular organophosphate insecticides used world- culty breathing and skin and eye irritation. range from 1-800 per 100,000(!), and are usually
wide. It was first registered for use in the US in 1956, much higher in individuals 60 years of age or older
where (according to the EPA) 15 million pounds of The vectors on drugs - "Ultra-low volume than in yotunger ones. Hypertension, arteriosclerosis,
the active ingredient are used annually. It is pro- application of adulticides in response to impending and diabetes predispose for fatal infections, and usu-
duced by at least 14 manufacturers worldwide, and or ongoing SLE epidemics have been credited with ally account for deaths amongst older individuals.
its popularity is attributed to the successful elimina- aborting or dampening transmission. Nevertheless, Since 1955, 5,000 cases have been identified in the US,
tion of insect pests of various species. It works by dis- serious doubts remain, and in recent years trial appli- with 10 cases in the State of New York between 1955
rupting an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, cations of adulticides for control of both Culex and 1986. The disease appears in July, and peaks in
which is involved in the transmission of messages tarsalis and Culex pipiens have underscored the dif- August-September. Mosquito abundance and rela-
across nerves. This enzyme and acetylcholine, the ficulty in reducing vector populations by this tively warm June temperatures favor epidemic
protein with which interacts, are present in most ver- method." (Monath and Tsai, 1987). The fact that build-up. It is forty times more fatal in persons 55 or
tebrates, including fish and humans. It is chemically insecticides have not been as effective as expected older than in younger individuals., hIn the epidemic of
related to various nerve gases used during World was explained by the presence of esterases. These Houston, in 1968, high attack rates were associated
War II. Malaoxon, a- chemical resulting from the oxi- enzymes are produced by female mosquitoes which with lowest economic strata, open foundations,
dation of malathion in mammals, insects, plants, and are digesting a blood meal, and detoxify insecticides, unscreened windows, and standing waters.
sunlight, is approximately 40 times more toxic than thus remaining unaffected by them. West Nile Fever Virus - This is-also a fla-
its parent chemical and is considered the primary vivirus, closely related to the SLE Virus, although
reason for malathion's toxicity. Malathion has been Sources: with much milder effects on humans. Symptoms
linked with non Hodgkin's lymphoma in workers at - Monath, T.P., and Tsai, T.F. 1987. SLE: Lessonsfrom the include fever, headache, myalgia, and anorexia, and
cotton plantations and flour mills who have been Last Decade. Symposium: The Epidemiology of Mosquito- occasionally pharyngitis, nausea, and abdominal
exposed to malathion. The National Cancer Institute borne Virus Encephalitides in the US, 1943-1987. The pain. The disease usually lasts for 3-6 days and is fol-
studied its carcinogenicity in mammals and found American Journal of tropical medicine and Hygiene lowed by full recovery, with children experiencing it
benign and malignant tumors in the brain, liver, (Suppl.), V 37, pp. 405-515. much more mildly than adults. It is widely prevalent
lungs and endocrine glands. Mutagenicity has been - Loretta Brenner. 1992. Malathion Fact Sheet. Journal of in Africa, Middle East, parts of Europe and the ex-
observed in human, animal and bacterial cells. Pesticide Reform, V12(4). Soviet Republics, India and Indonesia. It is extreme-
Complications during pregnancy in mammals, such - NY Greens, Resmethrin Fact Sheet: ly common in the Nile Delta. It multiplies in mosqui-
as increased still births and aborted fetuses, and http://www.greens.org/ny/stop-spraying/resmethrin. htm to species of the genus Aedes. Many bird species
decreased birth weights, have been verified to be due develop viremia (presence of the virus in the blood
to exposure to malathion. Fish and bees appear to be The Bugs stream) when infected, although encephalitis and
extremely sensitive to malathion and its derivatives, death are rare. Cases of naturally acquired encephali-
and appropriate notices are included even on the St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) Virus - This tis in horses have been reported in the past, and the
safety labels of the companies marketing this chemi- flavivirus was first recognized in 1932 after an out- rule there also is antibody production and absence of
cal. break in Paris, Illinois. Two outbreaks the following chemical illness.
year in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, led
The pyrethroids - (include resmethrin and researchers to believe that it was an insect-borne dis- Sources:
surmethrin (examples of commercial names used in ease, but this was not proven until the 1950s, when -NationalInstitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Task
the area are Anvil [TM] and Scourge [TM]) Naturally the principal vectors of the disease in the Eastern and Force Report. 1979. Virology, V2: Acute Viral Infections.
found in the chrysanthemum flowers, these sub- Central US were found to be Culex pipiens and Culex -NationalInstitutes of Health, Dept. of Health, Education
stances are potential nerve poisons, and act by inter- quiquefasciatus,two mosquito species which breed in and Welfare. Fields Virology, V. . 1990. BernardN. Fields,
fering with the sodium ion channels in nerve cell polluted waters, especially where poor sanitation David M. Knipe, Peter M. Howley [eds.]. Lippincott-
membranes. They have also been observed to cause exists. The incubation of the virus lasts for 4-21 days Raven Publ.
acute respiratory problems, especially to persons sus- and the predominant symptoms are an altered level Steadman's Medical Dictionary.1997.

By Angelos Hannides examples. Glossy ads which inform people of educational exchange programs or
summer academic opportunities can actually prove beneficial to one's edu-
In a meager attempt to optimize time usage, while cation (especially if they involve travelling abroad) and should be
releasing anger aggregated in class or in the dorm, and sus- left alone. So, after you locate the corporate titan's tentacle,
taining a more comfortable existence for rr g it down and dispose of it (I wish I could say "in the
and individuals in this community, I woul >aper recycling bin..." but, "no, not at Stony Brook!"
recommend toeach and everyone a new i administration says that's a whole different story).
and physical activity which will reap many If the ad involves business-reply-mail cards, drop
efits for many humans and other organisr them into the nearest mail box. That way, not
tear down a corporate ad. only-will their scheme fail, but they will also
Many major corporations believe have to pay to receive pieces of paper they
they have colleges and universities around \ paid posting up in the first place! You could
the country by the balls. In trying to tap in also write a letter to the company, explain-
the college student masses' wallets, they ing the purpose of the existence of your uni-
pay "poster-bots" to go find campus bul- versity and why (as if as it is not obvious)
letin boards and plaster their glossy, grossy forcing dubious products and services
ads all over them. And what if there is no down your throats and up your asses does
room? No problemo. Just rip apart some not belong here. Finally, to fill a very small
student group flyers here and there. Yes, part of the vast empty bulletin board space
this has been actually witnessed at SUNY
Stony Brook, and it's no news to some of u
/a littlear-IL
( yourno eIMU
glC yUU ay pL
(AllVC»TbIV.., yrr

flyer provided by your local chapter of


Well, let's tell these corporations to go and . ... . :he Student Environmental Action Coalition
shake their bootie elsewhere (or preferably go to hich you can find, download and. print at:
a corner cunrl un and die) C
L .L :: ·
How shall we do this? Well, first of all, what /www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/seac/BullBoards.html.
ads are we talking about? The ones which have a long This way there will be no doubt as to what happened
record of putrefying presence at our school include Kodak, I why. The more they sweat, the more we smile.
Discover, Visa, Mastercard, Columbia, BGM etc. These are od luck with classes, stay calm, and drink lots of water.
- -- -- -- -e L -- ---- ---- --- OCTOBER 13, 1999 PAGE 13
ISSUES L ~ , ' L-~ ra ~ ·L · ·- s~ '4PIP-~-~---C -~- - I - - - I ii

sa r.e. exvan

at Duke University and Harvard Law.) ing campaign, she raise hefty sums of money for

But I find their other, lesser known and the ailing organization, totally turning its fortunes
'Hillary takes press away from less obvious similarities more intriguing. For one, around and making it a solvent and effective insti-
Elizabeth,' Bob Dole argues." consider the unconventional attitudes that they tution once again.
The bold-faced blurb caught my eye. It was part each displayed in their youth. Hillary shocked Not merely concerned with personal suc-
of an article on the campaign of Elizabeth Dole in family and friends when she attacked black cess-or even just with advancing the govern-
the September issue of George. Republican Senator Edward Burke in the com- ment role of their own gender-these are women
But wait a minute. Hillary? Hillary mencement speech that she gave at Wellsley. who care. And they do something about it.
Rodham Clinton? What does she have to do with Despite the fact that he was the main speaker at But the most compelling comparison of
Elizabeth's gain or loss of publicity? They're not the ceremony, she unabashedly rebuked him for these two candidates is, in my view, one that
running for the same office. Mrs. Dole is seeking what she felt was a habit of mistaking empathy for seems to blur the concepts of "similarity" and
the Republican nomination for president. Mrs. action. A girl who dreamed of ifference". It is
Clinton is probably going to try for the Senate seat- becoming an astronaut dur-
the fact that both
being vacated by New York senator, Pat ing her junior high years-an
of these inde-
Moynihan. They are not competing in the same idea "unthinkable" for young
pendent minds
race. women at that time-she switched their
Or are they? Does the fact that they are later obtained a law degree party allegiance
two prominent women candidates render them and a law professorship at a
in their youth,
"opponents" whether they are running for the time when women, as a
although in
same office or not? We are used to hearing such group, were just beginning to opposite direc-
terms as "the Democratic front-runner" or "the break into such fortresses of tions. Having
Republican front-runner"; will we soon be hear- male predominance. grown up in a
ing the expression, "female front-runner," as well? Equally as strong-mir s t au n c h
If this is so, does it make any sense? Why ed, Elizabeth eschewed the role of "the-woman- Republican family, HRC rebelled and became a
would these two particular women be viewed as behind-the-man" to which many of her sorority Democrat. "Liddy" (as Elizabeth is often called),
competitors? And what does it say, if anything, sisters at Duke aspired. Instead, she sought per- was raised as a "southern Democrat," but later
about the progress of women in American poli- sonal success. She obtained it at college through defected to the Republican party. (Of course, as
tics? These questions ran through my head as I induction into Phi Beta Kappa and election as stu- she points out herself, the values of a "southern
took time to read the George article. They were dent body president. And, when she decided to Democrat" are often as conservative as those of
still on my mind as I turned to read the Hilary seek a degree in law, she not only defied the con- Republicans anywhere else, but I think the com-
Clinton interview in the September issue of the ventions of her time, but horrified many members parison is still of interest.) I must admit that I find
new magazine, Talk.. of her family. Very self-directed women, Clinton the temptation to compare the two women very
Last question first. This comparison of and Dole both opted to buck social tradition and powerful.
the two women and their media publicity may tell family expectations in order to express their own Make no mistake. Brought up by parents
us a lot. In a way, it says, "Political women have views and achieve personal goals. It is no surprise who were staunch Democrats for most of their'
arrived!" Remember-these are not two that these are the women who are commanding- lives, I am a rather strong Democrat myself. I will
Hollywood starlets vying for media time. Nor are and perhaps battling over-our attention today. likely vote for the Democratic candidate in both
they two female socialites or, say, members of Both of them have endured criticism for these elections, regardless of whether they are
British royalty. Rather, these are two women seek- their independence and ambition, as well as their male or female. And, of course, I have to hear their
ing public office-and being taken seriously political contributions. While a modern First Lady respective stands on specific issues. I am not a per-
enough that at least one person is worried that one is expected by many to "have a cause" or be oth- son who votes by gender. But none of that blinds
of them may deflect media attention from the erwise engaged in world affairs, Hilary was casti- me to the remarkable similarities between these
other. (Granted, that one "worried person" is the gated for being "too" involved and having "too two women.
husband of the candidate who seems to attract much" input on such issues as national health Yet that does not really excuse or even
less attention, but still...) insurance. ("Who elected her?" some people explain any tendency to treat them as if they are in
But in another way it says, "Sexism is queried angrily when Bill Clinton inadvisably a contest for media time. It is not necessary-or
alive and well-and living in American politics!" referred to her as "copresident".) Those close to even desirable-to look at two or more female
After all, why should two candidates be pitted Elizabeth claim that she feels a need to appear politicians and choose to focus on one. Prominent
against each other just because they are both "ladylike" in front of her more conservative con- male candidates in various political races receive
female? Is it possible that the media can only focus stituents, to stifle any sign of personal aggression. equal time and space. The same should be true of
on one woman candidate at a time? that if one Her critics, on the other hand, often lambaste her women.
female contender captures their attention, they for that very lack of fire. (Her current campaign Then again, the complaint about loss of
can find little time or space to give to any other? Is may be suffering from this absence of passion.) space may just be the rantings of a disgruntled
this a new brand of "tokenism"? Nor is either of these women interested in political husband defending his wife's allegedly
True enough, it is easy to see these two personal objective alone. Each of them has made a lackluster campaign. Other women candidates are
women as "opponents" even if they are not in the concerted effort to improve the world around discussed in the media, though I admit that HRC
same political race. Besides the obvious fact that them. HRC has done a great deal of international appears to receive more press. As for Mrs. Dole, I
ti•y are uromItwou uil- )rk (much of it ignored agree that she has not received as much attention
ferent political parties, by the media, by the as Mrs. Clinton, though lately I am reading more
they are at opposite way-Sorry, Bob). about her, including the feature in which her hus-
ends of the spectrum Consider, for example, band made the accusation!
on certain emotion- "Vital Voices," the Can I get away from the idea that Hillary
packed issues. Mrs. world-wide program has received a vast amount of publicity? No.
Clinton, for example, that she helped to create. (Think: the now famous Vogue cover.) However, I
is pro-choice regard- with the purpose of suspect that is largely because of her husband's
ing abortion. Mrs. inspiring women all philandering, as well as her reaction to it-and the
Dole, by contrast, is over to participate in fact that certain officials turned this very private
pro-life, though she politics. And the fact matter into a public issue. (I am certain that she
brushes the topic off a that she convinced the would have preferred to attract less of this kind of
"dead issue". Liz Clairborne company to keep its factories in coverage.) I doubt that it has anything to do with
It strikes me, however, that their similari- Macedonia open - and to donate sufficient mate- selecting one political woman above all others.
ties invite comparison even more than their differ- rials to fashion 250,000 items of clothing for the So perhaps, Bob Dole is creating an
ences. Again there are some obvious factors. They KOsovo refugees living there. "issue" where there is none. Or maybe I am.
are both political wives with some experience liv- Elizabeth has also worked to help those However, the very fact that we are discussing this
ing and working in Washington. And they are in need. In 1991, for example, she left her position issue (non-issue?) shows that women have, as
both highly educated (Clinton graduated from in then-President Bush's cabinet to take over as they say, "come a long way" in politics. And, yes.
Wellsley and Yale Law School, while Dole studied head of the Red Cross. Through a clever market- I know, we still "have a long way to go".


I ~ · I · ·1 I _r I · a ,L I · d _a~-p~ L ~--- , · PI i, L -- 1 --


FEATURES - I · I I · · ·
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By Stephen C. Preston refut

was not "unconditional surrender", as it might be
isolationism implies a lack of involvement in for- now. At the end of the Mexican War, for example,
[Author's Note: I do not endorse- Pat eign affairs; his view (he calls it "nationalism") is even after occupying Mexico City, Polk only
Buchanan's views on issues outside the scope of this that America should engage with foreign coun- claimed the northern portion of land, and paid the
book. I have read some of his articles, and have found tries, while strenuously avoiding conflict. He government of Mexico several million dollars for
some of his opinions to flatly contradict what is in this quotes Charles Beard as saying, "It is not: Shall we it. Thus goes Buchanan's argument for the distinc-
book. Many of his positions are offensive to me, and Love Europe? ... It is: How can this country avoid tion with later imperial policy.
should be offensive to anyone. Yet, I think the debate war?" But more time is spent on the wars
that the book has ignited is one that should not die soon, The book is mostly filled with examples America did not fight. A typical example: when
and therefore I intend in this article to only discuss from American history of diplomacy that avoided Americans went to France in 1797 to negotiate an
Buchanan's views within the book. I think the ideas on war, as well as the failures of diplomacy that agreement after French seizures of American
Jlf -y
nr " v.'"rliri b14ll4(4ULU
'flU hFLL'LL
ships, they were insulted by demands of a bribe
var. ,ins makes it an extremely
should transcend whatever odious qual native book, whose achievement is before negotiations could begin. When they
the messenger has.] just to convey a political attitude, returned, cries of, "Millions for defense, but not a
it to awaken debate on topics that penny for tribute!" resounded. President Adams
Pat Buchanan's recent boot have been (and remain) taboo in authorized the seizure of French ships in retalia-
"A Republic, Not an Empire", ha; the mainstream press. It provides tion, but soon sent negotiating teams to France,
been one of the most controversial a useful antidote to the usual "war- and the crisis was defused before it became the full
books in recent history, judging to-war" history, in which periods war that many were demanding. Adams secured
from the talk shows and the opin- f peace are typically portrayed as peace, even at the cost of his re-election.
ion columns. Well, that's not quite 11,to be skipped over as quickly as
accurate: "controversial" implies ssible. Justin Raimondo, of the The Fruits of Empire: 1898-1918
opinions on both sides, and there hal pular website http://www.anti- Buchanan argues that after the wars of
been very few defenders of the book r.com, has described it as a "mani- conquest, America was a completed nation by
most media. ) for the new antiwar movement", 1869, having a (mostly) contiguous land mass,
The Presidential candidat ite its flaws (which I'll discuss with little remaining "empty" land left on the con-
have taken their shots at it. Somebc tinent. Thus the decision in 1898 to go to war with
read John McCain a portion of an exc Spain, with the purpose of seizing Spain's
f nolanimnru of the
,U.iLi L J a m.
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/ - 0 colonies, was the first step on the road to empire.
World War II, and he decided there was "no The beginning of the "American Empire" The first territory the U.S. annexed, to wide
place in the Republican party" for Buchanan, is generally traced to the Spanish-American approval in the country, was the Phillippines. The
then complained about other candidates "con- f war of 1898. Before this, American policy, Filipinos soon revolted, and the U.S. quite brutally
tinuing to appease Buchanan." Buchanan = though expansionist, was not imperialist. The crushed their rebellion. This was the first step on
Hitler, get it? distinction in Buchanan's mind is that expansion- the road to empire. Although the Filipino rebel-
McCain, of course, has little else to talk ist America intended to conquer new land and set- lion discouraged America from also annexing
about, now that we're not at war with Serbia any- tle it with Americans, as distinct from conquering Cuba, and perhaps resulted in the later anti-impe-
more. Six months ago, it was much easier for him new lands and exploiting a currently existing pop- rialist opinion of the nation before the world wars,
to get attention, by getting on talk shows and cry- ulation. In particular, expansionism relied on the the desire to rule over foreign peoples would
ing for war: "Bigger, harder, faster, more!" The talk fact that the lands to the west were mostly empty; recur, and each time become easier for the
show hosts, then as now, respond with: "Oh yes, the conquest became imperialism once it subjected American republic to rationalize.
John, yes! Baby, don't stop!" a fully-existing population with its own culture When World War I began, the American
and customs to American rule. Of course, the. public had little interest. The British were
So What's This Book All About? problem here is that the western half of the conti- adamantly trying to get the U.S. involved, with
The book is a historical justification of nent was not empty, and the horrible crimes com- some extremely effective anti-German propagan-
Buchanan's foreign policy. Its central premise is mitted against the native population are not men- da. But still, most Americans saw no difference
that America is "replicating, with alarming exacti- tioned at all in the book. When natives are men- between the aims of Britain and those of Germany.
tude, the course that brought the British Empire to tioned they are only referred to as hostile and What eventually got the U.S. involved was
ruin... From arrogance and hubris, to assertion of British-supported Indians. German violation of American principles of neu-
global hegemony, to imperial overstretch, to trum- Buchanan defends the war of 1812, which trality: The U.S. was loaning money and selling
peting new 'crusades'..." was started by Madison in an attempt to seize weapons to Britain, profiting from the war and
The main point is that all of the large Canada from the British while Britain was occu- violating its official stance of neutrality. Germany
empires have fallen through wars; wars which pied fighting Napoleon, as a "just and righteous decided to fire on American ships, and the first
quite often were caused by arrogance and care- cause". He justifies Andrew Jackson's actions of deaths of Americans led Wilson to declare war.
lessness, and could have been avoided by either war against Spain, in the seizure of Florida. He The technique was a typically American
side. He ultimately prescribes a list of recommen- similarly defends the con- e; the President aims to
dations, all of which share the primary purpose of quest of Texas and the declare war against the
avoiding conflict. For example, withdrawing Southwest from Mexico in public will, so he pro-
troops from bases all over the world, rewriting Polk's Mexican-American vokes the desired
mutual defense treaties to remove the obligations war of 1845-1848 under enemy into firing the
of automatic war, and generally taking advantage the doctrine of "Manifest first shot. The tech-
of diplomacy and negotiation in any situation Destiny". His general nique was learned in
where the U.S. is not directly threatened with principle is that "these the Spanish-American
attack. lands were contiguous, war and was repeated
This has led Buchanan -- almost alone largely empty, easily for World War II and
among the media elite -- to criticize both Bush's defensible with a small Vietnam.
policy ("neoconservatism", the embodiment of army, and involved no enta With the even-
wnicn might De the Iraq war) and Clinton's policy glement with the great powers of Europe". tual Allied victory, Wilson and the other Allied
("Wilsonian globalism", especially as represented Expansion to fill the entire continent was justified, leaders partitioned Germany, divided the Austro-
by the Serbian war). Buchanan believes, by their benefits to the popula- Hungarian Empire between Britain and France,
Now in modern America, you can choose tion. and ordered Germany to pay full reparations.
your excuse for murder, whether for "love" (as Yet also, it was justified by the fact that Buchanan revels in the numerous contradictions
Clinton) or for "money" (as Bush). But if you America did not need to fight very hard to obtain between Wilson's claims of liberal idealism (sup-
choose not to murder, the screech of the war these lands. The country had its goals, and accom- porting the self-determination of peoples, estab-
hawks is "Pussy!" (or the more polite euphemism, plished them, sometimes with "duplicitous and lishing the League of Nations to fairly handle dis-
"Isolationist!"). ruthless" techniques, but still showing the restraint putes, etc.) and the sleazy and cynical deals he
So Buchanan's book is a defense of what is of a nation that knows it might lose. And still, agreed to, again and again, for the sake of the
essentially his antiwar view, with the intention of America's intent even when fighting these wars British and French Empires. It was not long before




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Americans became disenchanted with the whole Poland to provoke war with Britain and France, as Americans and as some other nationality) hav-
thing, and realized the entire war had been a despite their war guarantee to Poland. (They had ing undue influence on foreign policy. These opin-
sham. The Versailles Treaty which ended the war violated similar treaties before.) Hitler, in fact, was ions have done nearly as much as the World War 11
would eventually be blamed for everything that not prepared to fight Britain or France at the time, discussion to overshadow and obscure the rest of
happened later, and the view of the war as a blun- and Britain and France were not prepared to the book.
der and travesty of justice would continue to this defend themselves. There was a standoff at the Buchanan believes that immigrant com-
day. In this evaluation, Buchanan's detailed criti- Maginot Line for a year, then after France was con- munities have a substantial impact on American
cisms of the war are hardly controversial. quered, a standoff across 0 Sforeign policy. 1o a cer-
the English Channel. By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN tain extent, this is clearly
World War II 1940, Britain had won the true: think of the Cuban
The most controversial part of the book is air force battle with and Vietnamese exile
clearly the part dealing with the Second World Germany, and the tide was communities in this
War. Buchanan's opinion here is that Germany already beginning to turn. country, who demand
was not a threat to Western Europe in 1939, and if Yet, had Britain and France that America continue to
war had not been declared by England and France, waited until Germany was battle the Communist
Germany would have moved east in its goal to a direct threat to them- dictatorships, even when
conquer Russia. Had this happened, the Nazis selves, they would have such battling alienates
and Bolsheviks would have fought and weakened had time to rearm, and they America from her other
each other, leaving the victor in no position to would have been better able allies. The Jewish com-
attack Western Europe for several years; by this to defend themselves and munity, at least the por-
time, England and France could have built up their the countries of Western tion which involves itself
armaments to make their countries less susceptible Europe from the Nazis. heavily in foreign policy,
to attack. The U.S. could have entered later, or not Hitler's explicit plan was fully supports and cam-
at all, since Hitler not only had no plans to attack always to go to war with the paigns for nearly every
the U.S., but had no capability of doing so either. Soviet union, and Dy the Israeli policy. Yet,
This view of the situation, while held by time that war was over, -UBF.C-, " American foreign policy
many historians, is rejected by many politicians even if he had won, he S is arguably far more
and political commentators. This makes sense,
perhaps: the more one understands history and
would have been much N OT A m1E P influenced by economics
weaker, not stronger. Thus than by the petitioning of
the multiplicity of interpretations, the less likely he would have been easier ReclaimigA: eric~as Destiny ethnic-nationalist com-
one is to pursue a political career, for fear of mak- to defeat, when the time munities, and Buchanan's
ing matters worse. Thus, only the ignorant do not came. raising of the "hyphen-
fear their own power. The question when dealing with World ation" issue serves more to distract and incite than
To understand Buchanan's interpretation War II is not (at least in Buchanan's book) whether anything else.
of events, we must understand what Germany's we should have gone to war in 1941, after Hitler The truth is that at the time, Hitler's inten-
foreign policy goals were. They were not "world declared war on the U.S. Of course, Buchanan tions were not known. When Hitler became a
domination"; although Hitler surely dreamed of says, at that point war should have been fought. threat, the U.S. should fought him; but this idea of
such a thing, he certainly had no plan to achieve it. But the common point of view among the arm- continued "pre-emptive" war to stop young
His immediate goals in the late 1930s were to chair warmongers is that not only was it right to Hitlers is untenable. The difference between fight-
reverse the Versailles treaty, in order to regain ter- go to war with Hitler, but we should have done so ing for pressing concerns and fighting for future
ritory from Czechoslovakia and Poland. What long before Hitler actually declared war upon us. comfort is the difference between Republic and
must be understood is that the British, on the And it is this which makes the World War II debate Empire.
whole, thought Hitler's plans for regaining relevant today (in case you were wondering):
German territory were quite reasonable. They because so many people think we should have Summary
regretted the Versailles treaty and wanted it dis-, known better back in 1939 or earlier, we should Although Buchanan's foreign policy
mantled, believing that the Germans had been have gone to war then. And because they regret stance becomes much less reasonable during the
cheated. Although they disagreed with Hitler's our delayed entry, they now advocate war against Cold War (he advocates the Korea, Vietnam, and
tactics, they thought his cause was just. any small-time authoritarian who might aspire to even Grenada wars, and does not understand the
What should also be understood is that regional domination, in the hopes of stopping a contradictions between this advocacy and his ide-
while Hitler's genocide of the Jews, Gypsies, and future Hitler. It is the warmongers who make ological positions; perhaps this is his own ego, as a
Slavs in Germany was monstrously evil, and per- World War II relevant again and again, by declar- former Nixon/Reagan staffer), his current recom-
haps could have ig Manuel Noriega, Saddam mendations are very reasonable, with the excep-
been perpetrated by Hussein, and Slobodan tion of his argument that limitations on immigra-
no other individual, Milosevic to all be the tion would somehow affect American foreign pol-
his foreign policy equivalent of young Hitlers. icy. (However, for a more consistent and princi-
was unexceptional And it is because they (and pled Old Right antiwar history, I recommend
among Germans. the American public) do not Joseph Stromberg's column on antiwar.com over
Any other German understand the real issues at Buchanan's.)
leader would have stake, that they do not ques- What I think makes this book so valuable
done more or less tion whether a comparison to the war and foreign policy debates is the fact
the same things with Hitler is a suitable jus- that many of Buchanan's positions stem from
with neighboring tification for war. They hear nationalism and practicality, yet end up being
countries. This doe the name "Hitler", and they quite similar to the antiwar and anti-imperialist
make his toreign policy right, but it must also be turn ott their critical reasoning skills, and cry, "No positions of the left. It has been a long time since
understood that the Holocaust was not what moti- more Munich! Down with the dictator! any prominent right-winger had a real antiwar
vated most people to oppose Hitler; it was rather Negotiation is appeasement!" But the better we message for modern political situations, and I
the foreign policy which virtually all Germans understand the real situation and the debate that think the antiwar left would be foolish to ignore
agreed upon. When we argue over whether the went on, the better able we are to see through this the large numbers of people who will listen to this
United States should have entered the war to save irresponsible bloodlust. message when conservatives say it. The book, if it
the Jews from the Holocaust, we are creating a successfully unites conservatives with the princi-
debate that never existed. Had Hitler not tried to Immigrants and their "Passionate Attachments" pled and pacifist left, in a new single-issue
expand the German frontier, no nation would have "America First"-type of antiwar movement, could
been willing to fight solely for the Jews. Even Towards the end of the book, Buchanan be, as Raimondo hopes, a real manifesto for anti-
when the war was eventually declared, it was not throws into the book his anti-immigration views. war Americans.
at all fought for the Jews. This is morally wrong, He quotes Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow
but a historical fact, largely undisputed. Wilson's cartoon of Pat Buchanan (left)
complaints about "hyphenated
Hitler did not expect his invasion of courtesy of www.salon.com
Americans" (those who identify themselves jointly

OCTOBER 13, 1999 PAGE 17

Ftom R sse w ih Love
SFrom: Dawn Villacci
This notice is being sent by Campus
Dining Services as a reminder for you to use your
resident points.
Got Resident Points? Use "Em, Don't Lose "Em!
As of Wednesday morning, October 6, you
did not use any resident points this week.
Your Resident Point balance is high and you run the
risk of losing thirty (30) resident points by the end
of service on Sunday, October 10. Resident Points
can be used in Kelly, Roth or Campus Connections
at H Quad. Your resident points balance should be
at or below 300 no later than Sunday night, 10/10.
Hours of operation for resident locations are as fol-
I n rc*

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(a la carte, grab & go, grill to order)
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(Monday - Friday) 11:30 am- 2 am
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If you have any questions or need help
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-Jack and Hil went

p the hil lookingfor
,..some:. camp..us feedback.
Al....a-s, laKhywere
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Here it is folks, the long awaited homosexuality article. We, my personal- "My judges are going to understand that marriage is between a man and a
ities, and me have decided to present a little 10.% theory. We've all heard of it, but woman-not two men," said Gary Bauer, one of the Republicans who's planning to
what does it mean? run for the Presidency
The most scientific surveys of human sexuality and sexual attitudes have dis- The general stance of society is that homosexuality is disgusting, evil and
covered that approximately 10% of the population are totally homo. In addition, wrong. Churches denounce it, standing by the viewpoint of the Bible. Many parents,
only, 10% of the population has never had a homosexual thought or act in their upon finding out that their children are gay, refuse to believe and/or accept it, some-
lives; they're the totally heteros (AKA breeders). times even disowning them. The question I have is this: Should we avoid homosexual-
Using my trusty TI-82, I calculate that 80% of the population is neither homo ity based on society's view of it? Of course not.
nor hetero. Think of the balance knob on your stereo. At one extreme, the music is We've all had homosexual thoughts cross our minds. Don't lie to me! More
on your left; at the other extreme, the music is on your right. Bisexuals are right in importantly don't lie to yourself. Don't tell me that you've never looked at someone of
the middle. The rest of us fit in between the left and the middle or between the right the same sex and wondered, "What if?"
and the middle. Now that we've established the fact that everyone's considered it, no matter
Hypothetically speaking, if you get a woody 16oking at your naked roonmmate, how slightly, I need to address the fact that some people act on these thoughts while oth-
that doesn't make you gay. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that if, after a night of heavy ers don't. This decision is based on the difference between thinking and doing, between
drinking, in the heat of the moment, you blow your roommate, you still aren't gay. fantasy and reality.
You are merely exploring an avenue of sexual expri )wever, if you decide not to act on your homosexual fantasies based on
choose as a way of life. ink society would want you to do, you need to realize that the country you
Let's face it. We're still kids. We can still explo s itself on promoting individuality. Every psychology or history textbook
dren. Don't wait until you are married with 3 ki( Sus that we are a country that focuses on individualism rather than collec-
healthy sexual fantasy. I know too many 30+ men t:Do what you want, not what others tell you to do.
and women who are just realizing that they are vould like to introduce the idea that having a homosexual experience does-
not hetero. I think it's .great that they are being n't necessarily mean that you're gay, rather, it is another way of expressing
honest with themselves now, but most of them both lust and love.
have husbands, wives and kids who aren't as In terms of lust, sleeping with somebody of the same sex is just
impressed with their sexual liberation. another way of experimenting. Just as I have encouraged trying out dif-
The Greekls considered homosexuality to be a ferent orgasm techniques, masturbation and dildos, I also encourage hav-
normal aspect of sexual expression and a means ing a homosexual experience under your belt.
for personal growth. Imagine a culture where peo- And in the case of love, I know many friends of the same sex who
ple thought you were weird if you weren't buggei wanted to express how much they meant to each other in a way more than
ing a little boy. Now, I certainly am not advocatin words. This doesn't mean they were gay or in love; however, it suggests
a return to the Greek "tutelage" system, but we ca that something physical was an extension of that emotional bond. Is this
and pretend it didn't exist. Many European arist( m an artist painting or a dancer performing? We should feel free to express
their wives and the hottest little palace page. And :any way that we want, verbal or sexual.
Bonobo Chimps. You are just as likely to get a "h >,if you want to shove a cucumber up your friend's twat, go ahead (with her
shake from these frisky, furry, friendly, flip-fucker! of course!). Which brings me to an even tougher issue: how to get what you
ry, affection could be acceptably shown towards r latter how comfortable you might be discussing most situations, this one
I nearly forgot to talk about the Catholic Ch you tighten up like virgin pussy
men who spend all their time tol Alax. Here are some steps you can take to remedy this situation.
e you and your fantasy lover are open with each other about .
ity in general. How will you ever discuss the two of you if ;:
lk about sex at all?
bring it up. Ask your fantasy lover how they "hypotheti-,
bout engaging in homosexual activity. Take it from there.
k and start playing touchy-feely Start with a pat on the
ntil t
o can
:it. Ye
All pictures on this pa[
courtesy of "Sex For 01
The Joy of Self-loving"
Betty Dodson, Ph.D.

OCTOBER 13,1999 PAGE 19

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