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Deadline, rulings put ERA on the ropes
How swiftly the hour draws nigh — and the spectre
of defeat looms large before the backers of the Equal
Rights Amendment. The deadline for ratification
remains June 30 of this year and three states needed for
the 38 states required are no where nearer to ratifica
tion than before.
ERA has suffered many setbacks in the last two
months. One court decision has nearly destroyed all
possibility of ratification.
An alternative to a constitutional amendment exists
which ERA backers need to examine. The Civil Rights
Act of 1965 is presently in the Congress for reenact
ment. The possible inclusion of a statement banning
discrimination also based on sex is an avenue to
eliminate sex bias. Granted, ERA backers will see this
as a weak recourse to a Constitutional amendment;
though, with the amendment's stalled progress, it may
be the only means to ensure sexual equality.
A U.S. District Judge in Idaho only last month
tossed a spanner in the works by ruling Congress
lacked authority to extend the ratification deadline and
that five states acted within their right when they
rescinded approval. The states seeking to reverse their
position on ERA are Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky,
South Dakota and Nebraska An appeal is in process,
but if Judge Marion Callister's decision stands, ratifica
tion may be quite impossible If these states are allowed
to rescind ratification a trend may develop among other
states that previously ratified the amendment.
Callister's ruling is being appealed to the Supreme
Court by the National Organization for Women. NOW
argues that Callister, formerly a high-ranking official in
the Mormon Church, had a decided conflict of interest
in the case. The Mormon Church is staunchly against
ERA.
The most recent setback to ERA was delivered by
the legislatures of Georgia, Oklahoma and Illinois
In the Georgia House, despite the influential pre
sence and support of Presidents Carter and Ford, their
wives, and entertainer Alan Alda, the measure was
defeated by a 2-1 margin The Oklahoma Senate
rejected the measure by a 27-21 vote. And Illinois has
put off dealing with the ERA until March, even closer to
the June deadline. The Governors of Oklahoma and
Illinois are ERA supporters, yet even they can’t move
the amendment through their state Houses
The deadline is five months off, but due to the
recent actions of these states many are calling the ERA
cause lost.
Oregon has remained steadfast in its ratificiation of
the ERA. But feminists in Oregon must cease sitting
smug in satisfaction over Oregon's progressive legisla
tion. The struggle for ratification of this important
amendment will come to naught without those needed
states.
Letters to persuade the legislative bodies of those
unenlightened states need to be written Groups and
organizations must go on record supporting ERA and
condemning states that do not.
The ERA is down and facing a short count — but it is
not out. Short of a constitutional amendment there is
the Civil Rights Act of 1965 which is amenable to a
sentence outlawing discrimination based on sex.
Regardless of whether the ERA is ratified, the fight for
sexual equality will continue
letters
Ignorance
There is a new old mean spirit
which has taken wing once
more across this land In its
centuries-old unreconstructed
ignorance, it is mocking our no
bler aspirations and finer sen
timents. And it is today teaching
us its pusillanimous and bitter
lesson: do not make Ozyman
dian promises to your children
Upon the archway facing the
foyer in the EMU is painted this
now-darkening assurance:
“The University of Oregon
Established by an enlightened
state for service and inspira
tion...”
David T. Mason
Graduate, political science
Unethical
I read with some surprise and
perhaps twisted amusement the
letters of Jan 20 concerning the
University athletic department. I
tend to forget the naive outlook
of some under-informed
students (and the public at
large) who have been led to
believe that such things as fair
play and sportsmanship exist in
'big-time' college athletics Both
Paul Blikstad and Robert
Sheahon question the ethics
(“manners,” “integrity”) wit
nessed recently in connection
with one of the major, or
"revenue-producing,” pro
grams — in this case, men's
basketball.
Instances of deviant, immoral,
and unethical acts have sur
rounded the athletic depart
ment's revenue-producing pro
grams for at least the last few
years The University is not un
ique in such acts of questiona
ble integrity In fact, some lead
ing sport sociologists (Frey,
1978; Santomier, 1980) argue
convincingly that such deviance
has become organizationally
accepted, even encouraged, by
those in the university athletics
establishment, in order to
"remain competitive.” They
postulate that deviant actions
are not limited to a few in
dividuals who happen to get
caught, but that there is more of
an “All the President's Men"
phenomena in operation
For those interested in read
ing more about institutionalized
deviancy in big-time university
athletics, see "White Sock
Crime: Organizational Deviance
in Intercollegiate Athletics” in
the Fall, 1980 issue of Sport and
Social Issues
Bill Howard
Graduate, P.E.
Ma Bell
The Saturday morning news
paper this last weekend held
some pretty unsettling images
As a student of the social
sciences the daily paper often
presents me with dilemmas
which indicate the nature of the
times, and the direction in which
further developments are taking
us
One such dilemma is the
development of severely in
creasing financial burdens on
the consumer In the back
ground are steadily rising un
employment and inflation rates
In the foreground are announ
cements of actions that will be
taken by Pacific Northwest Bell
as a result of a federal anti-trust
suit and subsequent reorgan
ization of AT&T. AT&T will
divest its assets from certain
areas of regional and local
operations, but will remain
"competitive" with Bell in long
distance services The resulting
decline in profits from long dis
tance revenues and removed
subsidies will be offset by Bell
by raising the cost of basic
phone service by 300 percent
This is estimated to exclude ap
proximately 7 percent of those
who currently use the phone
system from that opportunity
The consumer collectively
losses, and the low income
consumer picks up the tab The
access to a basic service is thus
narrowed, becoming a service
which is increasingly a privilege
of the more wealthy
The frustration of the recent
cost hike for payphone use from
10 to 25 cents is compounded
for me by this new development,
and by economic developments
of this nature Consumers —
especially low income — are
backed into a corner People
end up paying out the nose to
regional monarch Bell tele
phone anyway, and now for ac
tions which restrict the
concentration of power and
wealth of international giant
AT&T
Curtailing access to basic
services in a society which has
the means to distribute those
services presents some inter
esting questions The gains
made at the expense of those
who can least aftord to loose are
difficult to reconcile For those
hit most severely, recourse is
limited and choice is restricted
And Democracy ? The dir
ection of these and like deci
sions indicate regretably the
direction of certain priorities,
and prerogatives
Cheryl Wold
Senior, history
letters policy
The Emerald will accept
and attempt to print all letters
containing fair comment on
issues, ideas and topics of
interest to the University
community
The letters must be limited
to 250 words, signed and the
identification of the writer
must be verified when the
letter is turned in to The
Emerald offices, EMU 300
The Emerald reserves the
right to edit any letter for
length, style or content Pub
lication is dependent upon
space available
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