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Perspectives
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Laura Cadiz
U.S. fails to care
for mothers
A recent report indicates the United States fails to
mandate adequate maternity leave or to protect the
rights of pregnant women
<s>
he United States has usu
ally prided itself on being
different from the other
nations of the world.
Even in this age of increasing glob
alization, the U.S. government insists
on calling itself the world's last super
power.
Unfortunately, when it comes to social
services and employment benefits, the
United States is different. Unlike most in
dustrialized nations, the United States
consistently imposes policies that place
life’s burdens solely upon the workers.
This trend is exemplified by our treat
ment of working mothers, as shown in a
recently released report by the Interna
tional Labour Organization. The report
examined maternity benefits in more than
150 nations.
Of those, over 120 mandate paid mater
nity leave, including most industrialized
nations, according to the report. Left off
the list — none other than the United
States.
U.S. law requires employers at compa
nies with more than 50 workers to pro
vide at least 12 weeks of unpaid leave.
While admirable for being gender neutral,
this mandate is far short of being an effec
tive childcare provision.
The problems with current legislation
are numerous. Most signifi
cant, of course, is the
unpaid nature of
the leave. Many
women cannot af
ford to take 12
weeks off work
without pay; the re
port indicated that
all women who opt
not to take leave do
so because of the cost.
Some individual com
panies and states do provide paid leave.
Until this is universally mandated, how
ever, many of those who can least afford
the lost pay will be the most likely to
suffer under the current law.
After all, it is usually lower-paying
jobs, such as those in the service industry,
that are unwilling to provide paid leave
and other employment benefits. Women
who work in these jobs usually don’t have
sufficient savings to take time off or to pay
for alternate childcare.
There are other problems with materni
ty benefits in the United States and
worldwide as well. Among the difficul
ties cited in the report is a lack of job se
curity.
According to The Associated Press,
women who take time off to have chil
dren are not guaranteed they won’t lose
their job, be placed in a lower position or
sacrifice the opportunity for promotion.
In addition, women who continue to
work while pregnant are often subject to
discrimination when they are passed up
for advancement or are moved away from
publicly visible positions.
Although U.S. law does provide some
protection, provisions should be added
that guarantee women will not suffer job
discrimination of any kind because of
pregnancy. Such laws exist in almost 30
nations, according to the ILO report.
Another problem many women face is
an inability to find childcare when they
do return to work. Even if women are al
lowed to take paid time off and keep their
current positions, they are often unable to
return to work because they cannot afford
care for their infant.
President Clinton has made some pro
posals that would improve this situation,
but until these are approved and more
steps are taken, lack of childcare will re
main a form of workplace discrimination
against parents in general and mothers in
particular.
Finally, a lack of health care protection
specifically tailored to pregnant women
and families with young children is trou
blesome. Universal health care that in
cludes prenatal care would come close to
solving this, but such a proposal is a long
way off.
For now, clear regulations requiring
businesses to protect the health of moth
ers while on the job, as well as childcare
facilities that include both prenatal and
infant care, would serve to allow women
to continue working without risking their
health or the health of their children.
Overall, the United States needs to in
troduce a range of federal mandates that
would improve maternity benefits and
function to dramatically reduce discrimi
nation against pregnant women. Doing so
would make us stick out at the interna
tional level not because we mistreat our
workers, but because we protect them.
That is the sort of international leadership
role we ought to be fdling.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial Ixtard. Responses may be
sent to ode@oregon. uoregon edit
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
OSPIRG budget large
After being mildly harassed by an
OSPIRG volunteer today, I was glad
to see this dinosaur of student orga
nizations — second only to the
ASUO Executive in funding — is fi
nally doing something with their
gargantuan $147,000 allocation of
student incidental fees. Their “pesti
cides kill" campaign (etymological
ly redundant, no less) is virtuous,
and I greatly respect their efforts, but
do agendas like these really cost
such a heaping wad of cash?
Their Streamwalk initiative is one
I fully support as well, but can some
thing of this nature cost that much
more to organize? I thought these
were volunteer organizations; how
much could their stipends possibly
pay? And do posters and sidewalk
handouts really cost that much to
print? I can’t imagine they do ...
Like I mentioned, out of all stu
dent groups, only the ASUO Execu
tive gets more money. OSPIRG gets
more in student fees than the Emer
ald, the Women’s Center, Student
Legal Services, the Oregon Marching
Band and numerous other programs
that are much more visible and use
ful to the campus community.
How does a volunteer organiza
tion such as OSPIRG justify such an
enormous budget? I agree with many
of OSPIRG’s objectives; I just don’t
see how $150,000 per year in stu
dent money helps it to do them any
better.
Andy Combs
Political science
Evaluations informative
As a freshman, I have been explor
ing possible fields of study and look
ing for good professors and courses. I
found choosing classes for fall and
winter term to be a matter of sched
uling by class times, not according to
instructor or class quality. Asking
other students about their previous
course experiences generated the
most helpful feedback, although I
couldn't always find someone who
had taken the classes I was interest
ed in.
With the help of the
“Professor/Course Evaluations”
book, I can find out what other stu
dents thought about every class on
campus as well as the quality of the
professors teaching them. Hopefully,
this information will also help other
students in deciding which courses
to take for spring term.
Helen Stockl in-Enright
Intern, ASUO legislative team
Thumbs
TO U S. DISTRICT i
JUDGE THOMAS j
HOGAN:
In a decision that j
makes perfect legal j
sense to us, Hogan j
declared the line- I
item veto unconsti- j
tutional. The veto j
allows the presi- j
dent to slice so- j
called “pork," or j
district-specific |
spending, from any j
bill. President Clin- j
ton exercised it
against a few pro- !
posals passed by !
Congress last year,
and the groups
who were affected
brought suit. Now
Clinton can appeal
to the Supreme
Court; we hope it
finds the same way
Hogan did and
continues to main
tain the separation
of powers called
for in the Constitu
tion.
TO VOTERS
IN MAINE:
In a recent special
election, voters ap
proved a Christian
Coalition-backed
proposal to repeal
the state’s protec
tion of the rights of
homosexuals. We
have always ar
gued that provi
sions that ensure
gays and lesbians
receive equal treat
ment are not only
fair but also neces
sary in a discrimi
natory society.
This represents a
disappointing vic
tory for the forces
of fear and igno
rance.
TO MARK
ANDERSON:
The Arizona state
legislator had the
gall to suggest that
a woman who
sought state help
in caring for her
children should in
stead consider
finding a new hus
band for the finan
cial benefits such a
move might incur.
Clearly, this man is
both ignorant and
offensive.