EDITORIAL
Clinton’s presence
proper at memorial
It was more than President Bill Clinton's right to visit
the Vietnam Vetorans Memorial Monday. It was his duty.
Years ago. Clinton evaded the Vietnam War draft
because he was opposed to the government's interven
tion in Southeast Asia. For Clinton and other youths like
him. the war represented America at its worst — a nation
devoted to fighting an increasingly non-existent com
munist threat while ignoring the many social problems
that existed within our own country.
For people apposed to the war. it was senseless to sac
rifice American lives — not to mention the lives of the
South Vietnamese people who didn't always appreciate
America's efforts — on a frivolous war wo couldn't win.
The bottom line is that Clinton committed no crime.
He simply exercised the rights given him by the U S. Con
stitution to protest the
government’s policies.
In many ways, he
observed the true spirit
of patriotism: to show
concern for the direction
of his country, to not
blindly accept policies
that could be detrimen
tal to America’s well
being.
Clinton did not violate
the respect of troops
who either had served or
were serving. By enlist
ing in the military, they
were following their
moral consciences. By avoiding the draft, Clinton was fol
lowing his. And both sides deserved and deserve resjxH t
for following their principles.
Many veterans held signs Monday protesting Clinton's
presence. A few examples: "Disabled and Dead Accuse
You." “Thu Truth Convicts You" and '"OnThis Wall is
the Name of Those Who Took Bill Clinton’s Place." But
these veterans, despite their bitterness, need to put hard
feelings behind them and respect the fact that Clinton had
the resolve to question his country's actions.
And regardless of whether one believes Clinton should
have served in Vietnam, it was Clinton's moral duty to
respect those who died for their government's actions.
He holds the office that makes the most important deci
sions in this country — decisions that could cost peo
ple their lives — and thus must approc iate the dedication
and bravery of the people who served.
The fact that he is the only president in the last 12 years
to attend a service at the Vietnam memorial signifies
his understanding of both the sacrifices made and his
responsibility to honor those individuals.
In addition, his choice to evade the draft does not mean
ho doesn’t have the right to observe the deaths of his corn
nidus. Those who died in wartime should be remembered
by all, not by a select few.
In the end. that is the true purpose of a Memorial Day
— to honor those who died fighting. It is not to belittle
those who chose not to serve.
Regardless of
whether one
believes Clinton
should have served
In Vietnam, it was
Clinton's moral
duty to respect
those who died for
their government’s
actions.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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COMMENTARY
Facts don’t support requirement I
By Henry N Goldstein
Tint physical sciences .ire
largely free from ideologi
cal preconceptions.
Though mathematicians. physi
cists and t hemists undoubtedly
have their disciplinary squab
bles at any given time, within
their areas of expertise, they
agree on the true, the false and
the uncertain
Things an' different in the (so
called) social sciences, where
differing perceptions of truth
and significance ore subject to
persisting dispute, are ( olored
in ideological considerations
and are difficult to resolve by
controlled experiments.
Marx's interpretation of histo
ry differs radically from that of
Macaulay, Schumpeter or
Keynes. Milton Friedman and
lames Tobin have froth won the
Nobel Prize in economics, but
their views on optimal Federal
Reserve policy differ 180
degrees.
is tile search for truth and sig
nificance in tile social sciences
therefore hopeless? Surely not.
Critical evidence can often l>e
assembled to support one line of
explanation and reject another,
and when this happens, scholars
of integrity will adjust their
views accordingly. Thus, the
failures of socialism and central
planning in the former Soviet
Union. China. India. Vietnam.
Latin America and Africa
should tel! every thinking per
son something about the relative
merits of capitalism and alterna
tive economic systems when
both ore tried "in the real
world” with real human beings
as players.
Nonetheless, ideological pre
conceptions are bound to
remain. and "disputation
unending" is as likely to charac
terize the social sciences in the
future as it has in the past
Accordingly, we should view
any given "expert's" views in
these areas with skepticism.
Today's accepted wisdom is
very likely to be tomorrow's dis
credited fallacy.
I am opposed to the multicul
tural requirement because I
believe that the factual assump
(ions and ideological viewpoints
of most of its proponents are
mistaken and he< ause the new
faculty that would be hired
under the proposal would
almost certainly share their erro
neous prei onceptions.
let me illustrate. Suppose we
are exploring this question:
"Why is it that tenured faculty
in departments of physics,
mathematics and economics at
ail leading U S. universities are
mostly males'"
The typical politically corne t
explanation will run along these
lines (a) For historical reasons,
men constitute the overwhelm
ing majority of tenured faculty
m these departments; (b) In a
variety of subtle and not-so-sub
tle wavs, these established male
faculty discriminate against
women — first, as students in
their undergraduate and gradu
ate classes, second, in selecting
new colleagues, and third, in
their treatment of any women
who happen (despite all the
ohstac les) to become fellow fac
ulty members; (c) The problem
in these academic departments
is male prejudice; and (d) The
remedy is "Affirmative Action."
Hut here is a very different.
non-PC explanation; (a) Suc
cessful study and research in
mathematics, physics and eco
nomics requires strong quantita
tive abilities; (b) For reasons not
well understood, women (at age
1H) have, on average, much
weaker quantitative abilities
than men. (In the 19(H) and 1992
entering freshmen classes at the
University. 19 percent of males
had SAT math scores of 650 or
higher; for entering women stu
dents, that number was only 6
percent.); (c) Accordingly, rela
tively few women choose to
major in those disciplines, and
relatively fewer still choose to
take graduate work in the sub
ject; (d) Moreover, a woman’s
scholarly career in the critical
early-adult years tends, on aver
age, to he handicapped (to a
greater extent than a man's) by
child-rearing distractions; (e)
Thus the paucity of females as
senior academics in these three
disciplines mainly reflects sup
ply-side considerations and has
little to do with (largely non
existent) discrimination by
males and (f) Hence, "Affirma
tive Action” is no remedy foi
this problem — if it is a prob
lem lis tile scarcity ol white
professional basketball players
"a problem”?)
1 submit that this latter. non
PC explanation is far more plau
sible than the former. PC expla
nation Hut what is the chance
that mv preferred explanation
would surface m a discussion of
this issue in (say) a women’s
studies class led by a new
"approved" faculty member?
Slender to non-existent, I would
bet.
.So I am really questioning the
pruliable intellectual substance
of an expanded "multicultural
curriculum." 1 do so because 1
question the intellectual sub
stance of existing sources in
women's studies and ethnic
studies This, you might say. is a
simplistic, uninformed preju
dice My defense (or is it
offense?) consists of the follow
ing figures:
Henry N. Goldstein is a pro
fessor of economics at the Uni
versity.
Percentage Distribution of Undergraduate Grades
in Selected Departments, Spring Term 1992*
Women's Studies 49.9 43.1 6.6 0.4
Folklore & Ethnic Studies 81.5 17.8 0.7 0.0
Economics 23.8 36.8 29.4 10.1
Mathematics 24.9 30.2 30.6 14.3
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eictudu gradw o< P NP . W I X and Y Oca o< Raoa»ar. Urwartty o(
Oagon. 4 Proawo»Stooantt * »»a Owarwfy& Oapon, Nov '982 T^n*3 t.pp 51-52