editorial
Comparable worth
an important goal
It is called comparable worth and it is defined as having
the same pay for jobs where knowledge, effort, responsibili
ty and working conditions are equal. In a society such as
ours, which claims to uphold the principles of “equality and
justice for all,” the concept of equal pay for equal work
should be readily accepted. But it is not. The chairman of
President Ronald Reagan’s civil-rights commission calls the
idea “loony.” Other critics heve labeled it a violation of free
market principles.
In Oregon, the issue of comparable worth is picking up.
In a joint hearing before the House and Senate labor commit
tees on Monday, a state-appointed task force presented the
findings of a year-long study to determine if pay inequities
existed between men and women employed by the state.
After evaluating 32,000 state jobs, the task force found
gender-based pay inequities in entry level and support posi
tions. Women earned 32 percent less in these classifications
than men. It is now up to the Legislature to decide whether
the state should devise a system that would require an even
relationship between pay and the way the job is evaluated.
Gov. Vic Atiyeh has included $25 million in his proposed
1985-87 budget to start such a program.
Critics of comparable worth have argued that the “free
market” should decide what a job is worth. But the “free
market” has consistently segregated women into low salary
jobs, regardless of their experience and education. This is
reflected in the findings of the task force, which reported
that no pay inequities were found at high-level state jobs
because these jobs are nearly devoid of females, therefore no
comparisons could be made.
The key issue is whether there should be equal pay for
equal work. While most people agree with this in principle,
in practice large gaps in the pay scales of men and women
still exist for jobs that require the same knowledge and
skills. Comparable worth guidelines are quite clear and they
must be followed if women are to be given equal rights in the
work place.
The moaning death ’ gets
put to use in El Salvador
American GIs called it “Puff the Magic Dragon”; the
Vietnamese called it “the moaning death.” To the U.S. Air
Force, it is nothing more than an “airborne fire support plat
form.” The name really doesn’t matter. What does matter is
that in January, President Ronald Reagan escalated the
potential for mass killing in El Salvador by supplying that
nation’s Air Force with two deadly gunships. The weapons
are capable of hovering over a target for hours at a time, put
ting bullets in every square foot of the soil below.
The gunships are equipped with night-vision that
operates by detecting heat sources on the ground, but it is
unable to distinguish between guerrillas, civilians or
livestock. Since much of the fighing in El Salvador occurs in
highly populated areas, the potential for mass slaughter is
greatly increased. Reagan assured protesting human rights
groups that use of the aircraft would be tightly controlled.
But within weeks of receiving these new war gifts, the
Salvadoran Air Force used them both, breaking an agree
ment between Congress and the Reagan Administration that
only one would be used until their impact on civilian
populations could be determined. This breach of agreement
apparently hasn’t troubled Reagan very much. He has
already requested an additional $72 million in military aid
to El Salvador, above and beyond the $120 million already
approved for 1985.
Oregon doily
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letters
Harsh reality
To Vince Adams (ODE, Feb.
22). the guy who’s “kinda tired
of all this ‘women’ crap”:
Why don’t you try explaining
to that 6-year-old girl you refer
red to in your letter why our
society lets such violent attacks
against women exist, instead of
just wishing that it wasn’t there
so that you won’t feel “uncom
fortable”? Why don’t you ex
plain to her that not only will
men leer at her when she grows
up in the same way they leer at
other women in that
Playboy of yours, but that
something called child por
nography already caters to the
sexual fantasies (and perhaps
realities) of men who would like
to have sex with her right now
at age 6!
Let her know what sort of
“crap,” as you put it, is in store
for her. Let her know that she
may be walking to the store one
day and some “kinda guy who
thinks women are beautiful”
might kidnap, rape, and then
strangle her just because it gets
him off! I really hope you were
pushed too far by the display
showing just one of the ways in
which our “free” society uses
media to perpetuate the repres
sion of women.
Ask one of these women that
you open doors for and send
roses to what it’s like to have a
man come on to her in a
dominating sexually aggressive
way. Maybe then you will
understand why the Women’s
Referral and Resource Service
would strike such a radical
blow for equality.
Tom Pettitt
F rench/Soci ology
Prejudice
Prejudice is in-born and bone
deep
Begot with the father’s seed
Or lodged in Adam’s rib
An original sin shared tyy ail
Be it against race or sex
Or both
As practiced in our School of
Law.
But the law of the nation
Demands indiscrimination and
declares
Equal opportunity of
employment
Especially in “enlightened"
areas
Such as
The System of Higher
Education.
Women in high places
Be they on the bench or in
administration
Fail to see a pattern of their
elevation
Through their tunnel vision
And feel the need to disclaim
discrimination
To insure their position where
man remains to master.
They proffer “sweeping vic
tory” to their controller
In the unreal world where the
torchbearer of Liberty
Is carved in stone and
Not of woman born.
Angela Jung
East Asian Languages
What purpose
Once again the Women's
Referral and Resource Service
has gotten off their broomsticks
to further discredit their own
organization in an antagonistic
presentation of pornography,
anti-male. The wonderful let
ters and photographs were
creative and original, especially
the paste-together of a 6-foot
erection placed into a woman’s
mouth. The prints show women
tied up, but who tied them up,
women or men?
Pornography is a problem.
but what on earth was the
WRRS trying to prove? Where
did they get the photographs
and letters from? Why did they
only present one side of the
Debusk episode? Is the WRRS
purpose to antagonize, insult,
and exert effort towards women
and pornography, or is their
purpose to share positive
aspects of their organization
and provide referral service and
social support for women? Why
don’t they show positive
achievements and aspects of
their organization, or maybe
they don’t have any.
Paul Rimov
Health Education
Domination
Laura Romano and her hench
men — excuse me, henchper
sons — need to soften their at
tacks a bit and stop holding
each and every male responsi
ble for a discrimination problem
that is far from rampant. Not
every man in this world is out to
dominate every woman,
regardless of what Ms. Romano
seems to believe.
In my eighteen years. I’ve
seen many females dominate
males, perhaps as often as I've
seen males dominate females.
Ms. Romano and Company
should make a few concessions
in their quixotic quest to rid this
world of the “womanizing, sex
starved male community" and
wake up to the fact that domina
tion and discrimination are in
deed two-way streets.
Ms. Romano can continue in
her crusade, but needs to realize
that without the contribution of
one particular male, there
would never have been any
Laura Romano. Then again, if
that were the case, maybe we’d
all be better off.
Bill Kelter
Eugene
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