VIEWPOINTS
t PIT 0 R1A l S OPINIONS IHHHS TQ T Hf fOITOR
Courts fail to mandate
family communication
■ OUR OPINION: Most o!
the problems with
American families cannot
be fixed by fudge and fury
If you want to actually see
the breakdown of the Amor
lean family (instead of just
hearing about it). take a
look at the nation's family
courts.
lawt week in Oticago. a
family-court fudge throat
to fait a 15-year-old
girl and bar 12-year-old
limthur because they rafuMMi
to visit their father The
father said his rights are
being violated Tne children
say they would rather go to
fail than give in. The fudge
said the children arw in con
tempt of court.
Is this really going to
mend the rift between par
ent and child?
"Iluinks for the lesson.
l)«d How could I have mis
judged your love for me?"
More and more, this
nation is turning its person
al problems over to the judi
cial system Rather than
finding compromises or
accepting that we ( annul
control the actions of others,
we take our loved ones (and
ex-loved ones) to court
We've liet’ii hurt, and we
want court-mandated jus
tice.
The Chicago case illus
trates an interesting paradox
in American culture. Kver
since the divorce boom of
the DMM»s. thousands of
fathers have disappeared
from their children's lives.
Sociologists have begun to
define this country as a
fatherless society.
Yet. fur all that paternal
abandonment, no court has
required a father to visit his
children
So it's perplexm>> why
th»* same judicial system
would children »a ful
fill their father*' right* and
abandon their own. If the
|«irent ha* a right to deter
mine with whom he aaaod
ate*, why shouldn't hi*
teen age child?
The 15-year old daughter
*aid she i* mad at her hither
for abandoning the family.
As tui h. the court forcing
her to m*> him i*n't going to
rosolv* that issue or elimi
nate her pain. In fact, it will
amplify her anger.
What the father t* Imrking
for urnnot be dictated from
the bench.
Children distance them
selves from their jrarenls
everyday. Even living in the
same house, teen-agers stop
talking to their parents, dis
regaril curfews and break
rule*. This |**rt of growing
up for most young adults
cannot Ire resolved with
tougher rule* or screaming
matches. Crounding a teen
who hates being physically
restricted will probably
cause them to sneak out in
the middle of the night
Most problems in families
(and the world! are caused
by either an inability or an
unwillingness of people to
listen to one another That's
no surprise, but it seems to
elude the wisdom of the
court
The court should require
the children to attend indi
vidual counseling and then
family counseling with their
father. This way, the chil
dren will be able to resolve
their hading* of abandon
ment and Ire able to express
their feelings to their father
in a productive way
As it stands, no one is get
ting I he one right that is
most important the right to
be heard
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Wage hike hurts needy, working poor
W* *11 have them Bad day*. the blue*
— and teat her* we just can't stand
In one of my first classes, I met a
professor I couldn't comprehend
1 learned a lot in hi* cl*u About frustration,
about M’lt mlt*no>. but mo*t importantly. about
how a curve out < hang* a dismal Sfi percent
into a R« That * the thing about bell curve*; you
are rated not on your performance, but on the
}M!f formant e of your peer*
t found this profe*M!t » grading policy <•*(*»
dally maddening. If the cum c hallenged (mint*
given on any particular <p>**tnm. he would give
ail of u* all the point*.
Basically, it went like this
Oa*t "Hey. thu U the right answer *
Prof* *No. it isn't*
file** ‘ Ye*., it is.. ’
l»rof f ine, you all get ten extra point* Make
thet a hundred No, a million Everyone get* a
million evtr* points Happy r
I'd look around the tl**i astonished to aew
some fmm satisfied with a well fought battle
Other* were nek au pleased
An MCIWM in the minimum wage is a lot like
that Proponent* of ihe minimum wage increase
argue that it puls more money into the hand*
that need it most the working pour They
believe that giving all people earning only $4 75
an hour a whopping S® Ml an horn, gives thoee
worker* a full *1 75 worth of extra buying
pmm.
Unfortunately, thu u where tin* term 'chain
r*w»< turn* become* ail too applicable So. the
low est paid worker* get 51 75 more an hour
Many low paying fob* are in the service indu*
try. ao employer* start looking at what i* really a
needed* p>b Some g»b* would be almost Itnme
diately terminated
Remember usher* at movie theater*?
Me neither
They were considered unnecessary labor after
a minimum w age increase l can only wonder
what would be considered unnecessary labor
now11 Maybe the fry cooker at McDonald's —
automation could take over that People who
work at skating rink*, concession stand* and the
like aren't usually there because their employer
want* to give them a boost, but because (heir
fob* more efficiently done by humans than
machines.
But, they argue if the minimum wage was
hiked up more than $2 above the Federal mini
mum wage ($4 25 per hour), people would be
able to afford to give up that second |ob. They
would be making enough money to g»-t by on
only one fob,
Uh-huh. and Bill Gate* will start working at
Taco Bell because they offer such great employ
ee benefits
So, where would all this money come from? I
may be going out cm a limb here, but one thing !
have m it iced about business people is that they
like to make money, nol lose tt. In order to make
ihe **me amount of money, price* on service*
and good* provided by people affected by the
minimum wage increase would have to be
increased Thii touches fust about everything
from gas to grocene*
If the minimum wage w«* ini rwa***l that much,
that quickly (from $4 75 to $6 50 by 1909 — ODE.
Feb 8), we would see almost a
direct correlation tu'Uvwn the
raise In wage and the raise in
prices The percentage costs
would stay the same and the
Ciple employed by these low
el fobs would only be hurt
I suggest a more reasonable
increase such as President Clin
ton's proposal He propose* a
90 cent increase over two years
to a federal level of $5,15 per
hour ini* would only bo* 40 cent increase In
Oregon. Iml 11 would insure that now! number*
ol people would n.Jl come to Oregon Marching
(or the higher minimum wage
Whal Mare* me moti U the rhetoric that the
minimum wage mere*** will get people off wel*
iare and (educe poverty According to Hill
Kesmi.h (The Oregonian. Aug 25. 1993). *At
$4 75 an hour, even with food stamp* and the
Earned Income Tax Credit, a three p’tson family
with one minimum' wage earner live* below the
poverty line A raise to $5 50 mean* $1,500 net
year more in wage income, raising that family
above the poverty line And nothing in more
important to this country than reducing family
and child poverty What he fail* to mention, it
that due to cost inflation, the family will remain
in the same dim need as before hut may lose
tome assistance because they would no longer
be considered poverty stricken
The people making )us! above minimum wage
(in the $5 OO $t> 50 range) would lose out as
their employers would probably simply raise
them to the state mandated minimum wage
As any economics book would tell you. a sud
den influx of money does not bring prosperity,
but mass inflation When considering a wise of
the minimum wage, it must bn enough to honest
ly help the people receiving that wage, but not
enough to place them right back went they were
before — at the bottom As the minimum wage
reaches I hi all time buying power low in close to
40 years, we must rectify the situation Hut a raise
to $6 50 would only make the situation worse
When the Minimum Wage Coalition comes
knocking, tell them the truth — a minimum wage
hike it a groat idea, but a $2 25 hike above the
federal minimum wage will only hurt Oregon,
starting with the state's poorest and most needy.
Kay krmituhnd. a sophomore nuifonne in bkdo
{y. it a columnitt for the Emerald e mail
ayiMftladstane uoeeffon edu