February 1996 - Binghamton Review by Binghamton Review

Exclusive Interview with Lois B. DeFleur

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Contract on Binghamton? Today'!: Le!:!:on: Inequality BU J:aculty Political Affiliation: 76% Democtat 17% Independent/Otnet 7% Republican .-r~

Faculty Democrats Far Outnumber Independents and Republicans Student Association Grapples With Ethical Government Binghamton's EOP Officials Are Tight-Lipped About Summer Program

BINGHAMTON REVIEW . "GOd }'Iho gave us' life ~e us, .

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libertv" " • •

...:::.rnQmas Jefferson

BINGHAMTON REVIEW February, 1996

Volume 9. Nwnber 5

~',r

Departments

Editorial: Studenls should take this opportunity to ensure Iheir governmenl is operaling under Ihe highesl ethical slandards

AI Campus Prcsswatch reveals Ihe ravings of College qj;: Democrats and affi rmative action proponents

Find oul how Presidenl Clinlon and Ihe Washinglon D.C. pizza industry are relaled in Quibbles & Bits CopyEdlior Joilbua Tr~anl

Features Alex Galitsky shows Ihal diversily on Ihe basis of politeal alTiliation is nol prized al Binghamlon Universily

Truau,r u Gregory Pinkhasov (.. -t..t-

James Keane finds Ihal invesligaling Ihe BEP program is n e~t 10 impossible

AUbIon~B_~

M ...C..... J<J;alr1cBcarola

Nathan Wurtzcl talks with B.U. Presidenl Lois B. DeFleur aboul Ihe budgel. public safely. and Rethinking SUNY

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-) , Faculty'Advisor i AJdo Benu.'do BINGHAMTON RLVl tw iSM illdL~ j our.. , nat ofn~ an~)'$i$,. opinion. and coin.riil!:ntary. Students at "Biogl,1:uuhll UrUvenity receive theRtVl£W fre.e Of ebarSl'_ 81f"GHAM10N " RtVl£w ~ published on the fU'Sl Mooday of cveq mwth during the sdjOoI year (.~"'Pl Janu"yI . , Subficriptions to the R~vl[w Ilrc $2:0 P.e,r year .and can bO 0rdeNd1hrous/t dIe edilorialand basi· n,ess office,1~.at UU~ 164 or mail: .~

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Joshua Trallani reports on imporlanl elhieal legislalion pending before Ihe Siudent Assoeialion

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L. Gardner reports on Ihe latest shOIS fired in Ihe war over Ihe diversily requiremenl Dawn M'Ki bbin delves inlo old history in Ihe lalesl inslallmenl of her fanlasy epic "Kcilka"

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Anthon y J. Benardello lakes a shOI al salire-be Ihankful he's not shooling al us

Gordon Shaqlless would like 10 inform his legions of concerned fans Ihal "Sharper Image" will relurn next monlh. Gordon reported 10 B.U. laIc from winler break after a freak aceidenl in which he and a moose foughl an epic ballle over whelher or nol Bob Dole is. in fael. an animaled cadaver.

Next Issue • A modesl proposal for Ihe reform of student aclivily fee disbursement • A studenl runs afoul of Res l .ife 's anli·drug campaign • More politically ineorreel news, views and hUJJlor Available on Marc h 6

FEBRUARY 1996 •••••••••••••••••••••••••

EDITORIAL

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

• ••••••••••••••••••••••••

In Search of Good Government

fh3 P S no one past the age of ten seriously believes that a government can operate in a responsible and ethical manner. Certainly, there is enough evidence suggesting government cannot exist without self-interest and egoism---even training-wheel governments like the Student Association at Binghamton University. Nevertheless, students seem to think we need the Student Association, so we must accept the reality of its existence and instead concentrate on ways to make it work for the students instead of the bureaucrats in power. The Student Association sank to new 10ws---<jUite an achievement for this governing body-this semester in several areas: • Four students who were removed from the Off Campus College Student Assembly election as a result of breaking electoral guidelines were allowed to participate in a subsequent election and won seats on the Assembly. • A Judicial Board member was allowed to vote on a grievance calling his own election to a governing body into question. A second J-Board official voted on the grievance despite the fact it was filed by her housemate.

• The three students appointed-by whom remains unclear- to the Public Safety Advisory Conunittce had evidently made up their minds on the pending Public Safety legislation long before public input was solicited. Why bother holding hearings or questionably conducted public opinion polls if the input is meaningless? • The Student Assembly was not seated until late November due to incompetence and meaningless conflict within the Executive Board. This proved inconvenient for organizations that have no choice but to depend on the S.A. for funding and leadership. At press time, the Student Assembly was considering two resolutions which do not solve the problems embedded within the SA , but are a good start towards that goal. The first resolutionentitled "Do the Right Thing" -asks the Assembly to finally confirm the election of the Harpur College Council (HCC) delegates from Off Campus College. These elections were protested due to the fact that a write-in line was not included-a condition which is proscribed by SA, but not HCC guidelines. At tllis point, the prudent action is to acknowl-

edge tile delegation and make provisions to deny a recurrence of this controversy in future years. The second proposal-" A COinmon Sense Approach to Goverrunent"-addresses conflicts of interest and reconfirmation of J-Board appointees. We believe this resolution, though underreaching and flawed, should be passed as a down payment on the changes which need to be codified in the future. What else needs to be done? For starters, all political appointments made by the S.A. should be abolished in favor of direct election or deletion of position. Political appointments- no matter who grants the patronage- tend to be given to friends and allies, not the best people for the job. We also believe the student activity fee structure is patently unfair and needs serious reform (see our ncx1 issue for details). Chances are that our readers can think of many other ways to reform the Student Association. These ideas should be forwarded to your elected representatives, whose names and numbers are included below for your convenience. If we have to have a goverrunent, let's at least make it work.

BIN GHAMTON REVIEW

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J ANUARY

CAMPUS PRESSWATCH

1996

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Pipe Dream December 5, 1995

Gyncgra[Jh Fall 1995

IfYOII canjind all of th e misstatements,

No dOllbt, poet lallreate Carole Anthony

deceptions and olilrighllies in this Per-

was merely trying to laud the accom-

spective penned by College Democrats Mark Saltzman, Thomas Scotto and Rob Pitko/sky, we 'll send YOII a ji-ee subscription 10 the Review for the resl ofyour life upon graduation ...

plishments ofworking mothers, bllt gosh darn iI, don) they teach anything abolll history in fH:Jlllen

" When Dante contemplated Hell Or Shakespeare penned a sonnet, Did junior interrupt to say His cake had ketchup on it?

"Currently. the Republican Congress in Washington is proposing drastic Federal educational cuts. which could affect a large majority of students on this

"When Socrates was teaching youth And Plato wrote Phaedo, Were they the ones who cleaned !be mess The children made with Play-doh

campus and on others across tltis pation. Under their plans. higher education could be destroyed ... "Clinton 's [directloan j program has saved the federal government millions of dollars ... " In total, the Republican Congress wish [sicjto cut nearly $10 billion from Federal student loa n programs ... "President Clinton has vowed to protectthe interests of students ... as shown by his veto of the Congressional spending measure two weeks ago. This temporary spending bill was loaded with education and environmental cutbacks ... "The President is up against a hardlined Republican Congress who are [sic] destined to make higher education unachievable for millions of Americans." Pille Dream December 12. 1995

The real tragedy of this editorial is thaI Pipe Dream's E-Board had penned a well-reasoned and well-writ/en passage

concerning the J udicial Board jiasco immediately above the/allowing imporproclamation ...

talll

"TI13nks to a repeal of the Federal speed limit (55 mph for those of you who forgot it already). the state of Montana has essentially abolished all speed limits, deferring to drivers to use their best judgment on the safest speed for their cars. " In any state in the Northeast, a similar judgment would be absolutely disastrous. Most drivers here are already insane... "

s S(udies? ..

'' If Edmond ,sicj Burke had to work On all his kids' ablutions. Would he have had the time and strength To speak on revolutions?"

Asian Outlook December 1995

Have any of yo II ever thollght, "Gee, the plight ofAsial1-Americal1S today is a lot like the plight of Jews dllring the Holocallst?" We never have either. bill

Asian Outlook December 1995

Another month passes... another magazine is released by a campus c ultural

gro llp ... another piece defending the horror of legalized discrimination ap-

pears. Life is too predictable ...

slIch is reality in Ihe worlel according

to Sis; Maw ... "Changing names during war time is common. During the Holocaust, many Jewish people fleeing Hitler changed their names. This was out of sheer necessity to live. But by changing their names. the Jewish people camouflaged their identities as Jews. After Jewish families changed their last names, they lost their true ones . My friend who changed her name because of persecution lost part of her family history. She cannot trace her family before Hitler 's rule. The consequence of changing her name was severe. She has lost a part of herself in history. "1 am drawing a parallel between what happened to the Jewish people and what is happening with Asian people

in America. "

" Many need to be educated about Affirmative Action-this includes the majority alld minority. It is important to understand why Affirmative Action exists and who benefits. It was set up to provide equal opportunities to groups who are traditionally oppressed. These groups include people of color, women, QS well as \vhites who do not enjoy the

same economic privileges and access to opportunities as others ... ':My frustrations come from the mi-

norities who have benefited from Affirmative Action and want to close the door to the rest of under-represented groups ... Some of these people believe that since they know what it is like to have as much money as other white kids, they can sympathize with the conservative rhetoric and claim that EOP is wasting the money of whites."

Billghamtoll Ulliversity'sjacliity is 1I0t diverse whell it comes to political affiliatioll By tudents at BU have a va riety of classes to choose from, taught by professors of diverse backgrounds, races, and colors, It might be interesting to examine the political affiliations of some of these professors, in order to gage the level of i.deological diversity which exists at our university. An analysis of public voter registration records for some of Binghamton University's professors registered in Broome County clearly shows that the faculty is domina ted by Democrats, Of the nine departments surveyed, three had only one faculty member who was registered as a Republican, and four additional departments had no Republicans at all (refer to table for complete data). In total, the results for the nine departments show 9 1 Democrats (76%), 8 Republicans (7%), a nd 20 Other (17%). On the other hand, according to a survey conducted by u. , the national college magazine with the highest circulation, (including on our own campus), 55% of college students consider themselves conservative, while only 35% consider themselves liberal. Certainly, merely the fact that the vastmajority of BU's faculty members"a re registered Democrats docs not necessarily mean that they all indoctrinate only left-wing ideology and propagandize liberal ideas. Most ofBU's faculty are outstanding professors who teach their courses with as little bias as possible, and do not penalize students with opposing views,

Alex Galitsk y

Department

Democrat

Republican

Other

History

Political Science

E nglish

Economics

Philosophy

Anthropology

Psychology

Sociology

Geological Science

FEDRUARY

BINGH AMTON RE V IE W

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COVER STORY

Yet. we are living in the subjective

cations the professor looks at. which in tum might depend upon the professor's ideology. Many professors deliberately try to hide their ideology in order to appear more fair to eve!)·body and facilitate discussion . But the uncertainly can only hurt the students. It seems that despite the apparent diversity among Binghamton's faculty.lhe intellectual diversity ofBU's professors leaves much to be desi red. The university is committed to ensure "equality of treatment and opportunity on the campus regardless of race, sex. color. marital status, disability, or Vietnam-era status." What about political orientation? Haven 't we heard enough about diversity on tltis campus? For years, BU's administration has been t!)'ing to instilute yet another requirement. which is s upposed to make all s tude nt s multicultural. Thomas Sowell. a promi-

world. and there are very few things that can be taught with no bias at all. One can imagine this with the followi ng hypothetical situation: the class is 20th centU!)' American Histo!)'. On the multiplechoice test the students are asked the following question : Which is true about the 1980 's? The choices are a) the rich got poorer, the poor got poorer; b) the rich got poorer, the poor got richer: c) the rich got richer, Ole poor got poorer; d) the rich got richer, the poor got richer. While nobody would question that the first two choices arc wrong. the right answer. whether it is c) or d). might depend on professor 's political perspective. If the professor is more liberal the correct an swer would most probably be c). If the

professor is morc conservative the

COf-

rect answer would most probably be d). Tltis might not be the result of a purposeful bias on the part of the professor, but instead a result of the evidence that the professor is most likely to show in class. These are dependent upon which publi-

nent "conservative spokesman in the African-American community. in his rccent book Inside Ameri can Education:

1996

•••••••••••••••••••••••• The Decline, the Deception. the DoglIIas writes. " Is there any evidence that colleges that have go ne whole hog into multiculturali sm have ocHer relations among th e various groups on campus? Or is it precisely on such campuses that separatism and hostility are worse than on campuses that have not gone in for the multicultural craze?" This is something to think about at Binghamton University. What if Harpur Co ll ege Council co nsisted not of a vast majorit), of liberals? What if it consisted of more conservative professors? Who knows, maybe we would not have a problem with diversity requirement at all . The imbalance of Democratic and Republican professors on this campus, and many others, is a problem. The students do not get the full spectrum of ideas . T he Democratic party is "ofthe many one"the magnet of allegiance of the faculty on this campus. Where is the diversity?

Alex Gnti/sky is a junior mnjoring in politicat science nnd his/01:V.

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he 9lwt1re" Getting information on an EOP summer workshop proves to be impossible

By James Keane fore I begin writing, I should obably apologize for the content~r rather lack thereof-in this article. What I mean by Hcontent" is facts, quotations, and an ultimate conclusion. Unfortunately, this article will contain little of the above. You're probably wondering just what I'm talking about, so I guess I should explain what I wanted to talk about in the first place. In early November of last year I was asked to look into two documents obtained by BINGHAMTON REVIEW. These outlined in some detail the agenda for a workshop to be conducted during the BEP program for EOP students. For those of you who are unfamiliar with BEP, it is a program run by the EOP office which prepares incoming Educational Opportunity Program students for the rigors of college academics. Binghamton Enrichment Program is approximately six weeks long, is free for the students, and is justified by the fact that most incoming EOP freshmen have SAT scores and high-school averages far lower than the rest of the student populations. The program also consists of many workshops which help the students become aware of the organizations on campus. The workshop outlined in the documents in question was called the Student Organizing Workshop, was quite different than the other workshops. While most of the workshops focused on academic organizations, this one fo-

cused on political organizations. Select political organizations. To try to find out more about this workshop-and BEP in general, I contacted the BEP office, which send me to Admissions, which sent me to Financial Aid, which sent me back to the BEP office. Anne Hamlett, who works with fmancial aid for EOP students, was the first person that I actually sat down and talked to. I walked into her office expecting to leave with nothing, but Mrs. Hamlett turned out to be the most informative person I talked with. She spoke quite openly about the requirements for admission into the EOP program, and especially about the financial requirements. However, when I began asking about the BEP program, she only knew its purposes and the requirements for attendance. She said she knew nothing about the workshops run during the program~r any other specifics for that matter. She said that to learn more about that I should contact the EOP admissions director, or the BEP office itself. She seemed surprised when I told her they sent me to her. Still unclear about the nature of the program in question, I decided to try to find students who actually attended the program. I found four. They were very clear as to what happened at the meeting. According to the students, all of whom wish to remain unidentified, the Student Organizing Workshop was held

to introduce students to certain political organizations on campus. The documents obtained by the REVI EW were accurate in that only select political groups were invited to participate in the workshop. It is interesting to note that every organizations invited to participate represented a political or cultural minority -like the Caribbean Student Association, Latin American Student Union, Black Student Union, etc. When I asked what other student groups were represented, I was told there were none there. No one could answer why. With the knowledge that the program existed, I once again called the EOP office, this time asking to speak with Steve Duarte, the Academic Advisor and Curriculum Specialist for the EOP program. I was told that he was too busy at the time and would call me back. 1\\'0 days later I called again, this time insisting that I speak to him. When I finally spoke with him, I found out that I knew more about the BEP program than he did. He said he wished not to answer any of my questions unless I had an application submitted for the EOP program. He denied my request for any type of statistical information on the EOP class or BEP students. Most importantly, however, he denied the existence of the Student Organizing Workshop. When I explained that I not only spoke with students who attended the路 meeting, but also had documents in my possession to prove its existence, he refused to

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

FEBRUARY

1996

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MORE KEANE

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answer more of my questions. He said that if I wanted more information I should speak with Colleen Morris, Assistant Director of Admissions. Colleen Morris handles all of the incoming EOP students. When I explained that I had tried to get in contact with the Admissions office, he said he could not help me any further. So, I tried once again to

contact the Admissions office. Once again I was told that Mrs. Morris was unable to speak with me. I called another three times before I actually spoke with Mrs. Morris. When I finally spoke with Mrs. Morris, it was apparent that Mr. Duarte had spoken to her about our conversation a few days before. She refused to provide any statistical in-

formation about EOP students, refused to answer my questions about BEP, and even accused me of lying to her, Mr. Duarte, and Mrs. Hamlett in order to gain information. She offered no apology for the lack of help she gave me. and seemed angry that I had called at all. Three weeks after I first began asking questions about the Student.Organizing workshop held during the BEP for EOP students, I was left with little more information than I began with. Thus I am unable to report. facts. quotations, or anything useful. What I can tell you is that I was left with the impression that somebody somewhere has something to hide about BEP, and specifically about the Student Organizing Workshop held during the BEP program.

607

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81-83 Su.tp St. Binghaulton

James Keane is a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering.

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An Interview with the President inghamton University president Lois B. DeFleur has been characterized alternately as a visionary leader, a dedicated administrator and a doormat for leftist special-interest groups to wipe their feet on. In search of the truth, REV IE W editor-in-chief Nathan Wurtzel and jack-of-all-trades Lee Markiewicz, wearing his photographer 's cap for the day, spent an hour with President DeFleur on the morning of Thursday, January 18. Lois B. DeFleur is a former Professor of Sociology who specializes in deviant behavior and occupational socialization. She was provost at the University of Missouri-Columbia before coming to Binghamton University in 1990. She is a pilot who has flown for more than 25 yea rs and the owner of a Comanche 260 airplane. Following are excerpts from the January 18 interview:

So there 's a combination of about th ree additional Ulings to be added on to that. .. For Binghamton [the cut] is $4.9 million which really knocks your socks off, I' d say. On top of everything else we' ve reduced- I've reduced the budget every single yea r except one and midyear also . ... It would be extremely difficult. We've already done things- taken a couple million out of energy-related utilities. We don 't purchase equipment. We've done early retirement time and time again. It would just be very, very difficult. Each year we have had a budget cut, I have differentiated the amount of the cut according to the areas. For example, even though the academic affairs is 66 percent of our budget, last year I assigned them the lowest percent reduction and then I had to assign the administrative and fiscal affairs area a six percent cut last year. Our goal obviously is to preserve particularly the

By Nathan Wurtzel Photographs by Lee Markiewicz classes and the library- things like that. Our history over the last few years is that. Wurtzel: In his State of the State Address, Governor Pataki suggested that control of SUNY sllending be taken away from the state legislature and given to the Board of Trustees. Do you think that's a good idea? DeFleur: J think the campuses very, very much need the kind of flexibility, autonomy, moving funds around, carrying over funds. I've worked in public higher

WurtLCI: Tbe biggest issue right now is probably tbe state budget. This year, Governor Pataki 'proposes to cut $83.7 million from SUNY. How are these cuts going to be administered? DeFleur: Actually, the figures which the campuses have received from the system administration when they add in a variety of things that are in the executive budget amount to $98 million .... Part of it has to do with a revenue target we get from the state. We have to meet enrollment. Last year they did not meet enrollment and that leaves a six or eight million dollar gap. This ycar they have not lowered the enrollment target again and they do that for the system as a whole.

President DeFleur clarifies her positions on the budget, Public Safety and Rethinking SUNY for R EVIEW Editor-in-Chief Wurtzel

F EBRUARY

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

education in two states-this is the only state where 1 haven 't had that kind of flexibility. 1 don't want to get in between the governor and the legislature. I,';ould hope they would come together and see that more flexibility and autonomy is in the best interest of education and they still obviously have a lot of ways in order to exert influence. Wurtzel: One of the interesting ideas in the Rethinking SUNY pro,)osal is differential tuition for SUNY campuses. What do you think of that proposal? DeFleur: I've been very ex-plicit from the beginning about that. I know that we ' re the only [state] that doesn't have differential tuition at their research universities. What has happened over the years is that it costs more to educate students at research universities beeause the laboratories and the libraries are much larger. And so in other places the costs have reflected that and it costs less to go to an arts and sciences school or a two-yea r junior college. The schools Olen get to keep most of that. So I'm not opposed to the concept-what I've been very vocal about is it is unfair... if this all goes into the state budget or into

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the SUNY general budget. That I find is the worst possible scenario. Wurtzel: Some of the proposed increase in revenues is going to be channeled into financial aid ... DeFleur: That is important- that is very important. Plus, the second part of itI just believe that it is fundamentally unfair for you to be paying more so that we can keep open some two-year school that is struggling. Wurtzel: Another proposal in Rethinking SUNY is the idea of granting individual campuses greater management autonomy... DeFleur: I agree with that-absolutely. You have no idea-the fornls, the crap-I've never seen anything like it. Wurtzel: Then is there any need for SUNY Central? DeFleur: Yes . I believe that a systemthere arc advantages to a system. You bring together in this state- uniquelycommunity colleges, the specialized schools, the research universities, the colleges. In other places I've been I probably wouldo 't even know the presidents of those other schools or we would not know as much about their programs. It offers opportunities for us to develop partnerships, to work together. Right now, we formed a Route 81 alliance wjth the Health Science Center, Environmen-

~ ,fP (;

tal Sciences and Forestry and Cortland. We hope maybe by the fall, certainly by next spring, to offer to a lot of our students opportunities through distance learning or even some campus to take the courses. For environmental courses we ad not been able to hire any additional people and that was about our third largest or fourth largest major. I feel there are some real advantages to having a system ... but what you need to understand is that the research centers are better able to manage their own affairs. WurtLel: You were the presidential representative on the structure committee of Rethinking SUNY and one of the interesting recommendations was the elimination of programs of questionable quality as well as those with low enrollments and high costs. Can you think of any here at B. U. that may fall under that? DeFleur : We ' ve gone through that analysis . They identified programs where we hado't graduated more than five people and it had so many faculty appeared to be dedicated to it. There was a geophysics major or something like that...and we eliminated it. There's not much money when you eliminate that. There were some music-about four degrees available and it turned out most of our students were in three of them. There weren ' t a lot- in fact we had fewer probably than most places, but there were a few and 1 believe that we

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probably should have been on top of that earlier, butthere'sjust so much to do. It doesn 't save a lot of money, but it is educationally important. WurtLel: Given the fact that EOP students statewide have a graduation rate 25 pereent lower than non-EOP students, do you think it's fair that this program remain untouched in this ye"r's budget? DeFleur: They already experienced a 25 percent reduction last year... Wurtzel: Altbough it didn't result in a 25 pereent reduction of students ... DeFleur: They treated us differentially there because we make that whole program look good. So we did not experience a reduction, in fact, we got it a little bit, but other places got very substantial reductions. So that was differentially

administered. I would say there are places where they' re not doing a good job- either reform them or you shouldn 't continue it, but we have really, really worked hard ... We have managed through a lot of hard work and tutoring to provide opportunities with people and I mean, when I interact with a lot of the students .o r even some of their... a lot, not all, but a lot come from single-parent families. I mean, it is phenomena l that they come ... thatthey arc achieving and that they ' re here and they have the opportunity. I' m not familiar in depth wilh programs of other schools, but I know about ours and I've fought hard for ours. Wurtzel: Is tbere any way tbe program could perbaps better identify ~1udents more likely to graduate? ,DeFleur: Yeah, there are some ways-I lhink inilially they cost money. [Some

schools have outreach programs] that are in U,Ose high schools and Ihey begin very early 10 identify sludents and take them and work wilh them after school. We don't have Ihe money to do Ihat kind of really early identification. Early identification and early opportunities-I believe Ihal most of us probably grew up in environments thaI are so different from whal you find these young people growing up in. To me, when Ilaik wilh some of the parenls and Ihey teU me some of Ihe problems, I Ihink iI 's a wonder Ihal we reach in and are able to have success with as many as we do. I think lhis is a fundamental problem in our society in lerms of U,ose Ihal arc in very slum, poor, terrible conditionsare they always going 10 be sort of apart and alienated from our soeiety or what are the ways that we begin to make them productive? If we had Ihe answers, we'd all be revered- and if we had the power to implement Ihem.

BIN GHAMTON REVIEW

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Wurtzel: The big issue on campus last semester was the legislation involving Public Safety and basically you-{)n the recommendation of PSAC-sent back a letter saying that you wanted

DeFleur: Look at it the other way. What it automatically would have done is that it would have granted a whole series of powers-I think some of those we need. It said, ' if you became police officers, these are the powers they'd have. ' I know it still said the arming [was at the discretion ofthe campus president], but I think it would be unrealistic once they had all of those other powers- I think it 's unrealistic to think that you wouldn't have to also have them have arms. I think the arming is not the central issue ...

concerned that the public safety-the whole arming- is only one small facet of safety on campus. We have worked very. very hard on a number of safety issues and this is one that is very contentious and it will keep coming up. I have no doubt about that.

more autonomy in making decisions. What was in there that you wanted added or you didn't like? DeFleur: They way I read it, they would propose two models at opposite ends of the continuum. Obviously, we callnot have just a closed security force and we have something that is closer to a police force. I guess the evolution from a public safety to a police force should be tied more to the individual campus conditions. We' re not in the middle of Buffa 10, [but] this is not an idyllic place where there's no crime, but we are not comparable to a Stony Brook or Buffalo. There's also an important difference in terms ofthe employment conditions and pay and retirement. I suppose if that ' c change were mandated then I imagine they would say the campuses would pay for it. So there are fiscal implications. Safety is a real concern and what I want to do is evolve with the various issues regarding safety and it's much more than just armillg-l mean, arming is one little part of it- l want us to have the ability to evolve and change as appropriate to Binghamton. I guess it boils down to some autonomy and flexibility aga in.

Wurtzel: Which is pretty much the way we rellOrted it [in December) ...

WurtLel: If it comes to the point arming is warranted-if the opponents of

arming mount a serious demonstration-a rc they going to have an influence in those terms? Will emotion outweigh absolute need?

DcFleur: You know what responses from certain groups will be. If I and my seDeFleur: I know. You were probably the nior staff- because I really rely a lot on only publication that reported it accu- their judgment- really believe that it 's ratcly.. .. Guns and the arming associ- the important thing- the right thing to ated WiOl it are very emotional and deep- do--we will do it. We will try to manseated-and it really has very sharp ra- age, to work with groups to get them to cial differences .. .different kinds of understand, but we will makejudgments groups. particularly minorities, ill fact ' in the best interes t of this instltuilon. tend to have different experi ences . It brings out some very fundamental di vi- Wurtzel: An article appearing in this sions on the campus alld those are never edition of the REVIEW shows among the going to go away. faculty in the departments surveyed, registered Democrats outnumber regWurtzel: Are you in favor of arming istered Republicans by a ratio of at this time? cleven to one. Can a student realistically get a politically inclusive, let DeFleur: I see some changes that I think alone balanced education with this are worrisome. It's a judgment call- l type of disparity? probably wouldn't right today dramatically change that. I U,ink that if we move DeFleur: We all have a social perspecin that direction-and probably ulti- tive and a political perspective and I Wurtzel: What could have you not mately we will if the trends in the gen- don 't believe that you can separate have done in terms of that prallosal eral society even though crimes are those out completely-you have to try that you would like? down in New York. .. mos t of all, I' m to be fair. What we want to ensure is that faculty are up front about what they ' re going to teach and the books Are you paying downstate rates instead oflocal rates? they' re going to require so students .have a choi ce. Students have rights. If you look at our free speech commission, we talked about students ' rights. That needs to be up front. There needs to be You're in good hands. an atmosphere where students can exchange ideas. They can challenge and Edward M. Valdes that 's what we' re ensuring. In America, Account Agent we co uldn ' t say when we ' re hiring people, " What is your political affilia1903 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY 13850 tion or orientation?" That would sim786-8000 ply be untenable.

Allstate

A Call for Good Government By

Joshua Trapani

elcome back to another fun and productive semester of student governmenL everyone! I know-yippee I Let's rehash what's gone on since last time. and then look ahead to the future. As readers may or may not remember, elections for positions on our Student Assembly for Off-Campus College were first held in October. The elections were invalidated by the S.A. J-Board -whose existence at the time was questionable at best-due to an absence ofa write-in line. Also involved in that election was the distribution ofan illegal campaign flyer. Elections were held again in mid-November, winners annouced, and since then the S.A has begun to meet and pass resolutions. It is interesting, however, that the names of four current acc representativesFelipe ~vala, Jessica Flores, Liz Thompson, and Josh Waterston-appeared on the illegally distributed campaign flyer. This flyer was distributed to students during the first election within 100 feet of polling places inside the Union, and urged students to vote for a particular set of candidates. No one-including the S.A Executive Board and the extremely overzealous S.A Judicial Board---ever dealt with the issue of the flyer, and no one was punished for distrIbuting it. It might make sense to ban people who break election rules from running in future elections, but this wasn't done. In addition, in early December, the S.A. Judicial Board-now unquestionably in existence since they'd been approved by the Assembly-had a "closed meeting" with the S.A Executive Board Reporters from the REVIEW and Pipe Dream were

barred from attending. No one from the JBoard ever explained why this was done. and they evidently believe no one remembers this incident and no action will be forthcoming. WeIl~ surprise, surprise~ some ofus remember. As for the Assembly itself, it has been surprisingly productive, passing resolutions-including an opinion poll on arming ULED which actually went through without a hitch, keeping the meeting times to less than five hours (pretty amazing. huh?), and not trying to impeach any of its members-yet. Whatever bad might be said about the whole process. at least now that we have an Assembly and committees, student groups can get chartered and funded. That: after all, is the main reason the S.A. exists. Clearly though, the S.A faces one overwhelming task this year: cleaning up its own act. Events of the路 last semester have shown that the S.A Constitution and ByLaws are ambiguous and outdated, the JBoard is completely out of control, the elections process is a shambles~ and no one seems to know just who has the authority to do what: It was quite instructive to watch the faculty members on the Harpur College Council express their disgust at a student government unable to elect representatives, and then unable to agree on the validity -of the election. The S.A cannot hope to be taken seriously by the other governing bodies ofthe Universitylike HCC and the Faculty Senate-and the administration, let alone the state officials they are continuously trying to lotby. when it is so disorganized. HerearesomeideastheS.A couldtake into account for getting itself back on

Neil/ler the Student Association Executive Board or Judicial Board seem to have a clue as to /,ow to run a responsible and ethical government Alt/,ough some reforms have been proposed, don't bet your life-or your wallet-on self-reform track. First. the Elections Committee needs to revamp the elections process: pr0ducing a "how-to" guide on running student elections. These procedures need to walk the fine line between being ambiguous and unnecessarily burdensome to the point ofbeing impossible,in practice. The new procedures need to maximize the ease and fairness by which elections are held while minimizing the potential for grievances. The second priority should be the S.A J-Board. The S. A might appoint a special committee to examine the l-Board and, if need be, revise the procedures relating- to its appointment. tenns of office, and powers. My own recommendation would be that no one on the current JBoard be allowed to sit on the committee. The most important thing that must be decided is if and why the J-Board should exist-its "~ssion" and "purpose." Right now, it is supposed to check the powers of the Assembly and mediate disputes. but so far it is caused more problems than it has solved

FEDRUARY

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•••••••••••••••••••••••• n,e next thing the S.A. needs to get straight is just who does what. And that goes for not only the J-Board, but the EBoard members. the Committees. and the Assembly itself. Someone needs to sit down and draw up just who checks whom. who has say when, and what the procedures are in C.1se of disagreements. Another special committee, perhaps-{)r the Assembly as a whole? n,e SA also needs to evaluate its Constitution- a document alternately cited as law and spumed as irrelevant (and often totally useless)-<lepending on the situation. The SA might appoint yet another special commillee to review its Constitution and recommend changes- actually, such a commillee is being formed. All of these changes should be made openly. and by popular vote, on the Assembly floor. Special commiltees, if appoi nted. need to prepare recommendations which the Assembly should consider, provide feedback on. and perhaps pass. This is similar to the procedure adopted by special commillees appointed by the Harpur College Council. Everyone needs to be prepa red to sacrifice a bit of power for the greater good-a student government lIlat at least sort of works. Finally, the SA needs to clean up its own ethies. Co ntrary to popular belief, the S.A. Office is not there so a select group of people have somewhere to sit and figure out how to get themselves a larger stipend-{)r how to rearrange the furniture for ne~1 week- it is there for students and student groups. The purpose of the whole machinery-from the E-Board to the Assembly to the J-Board and on down- is secondary to the smooth and proper functioning of student groups'. Certain S.A. reps and E-Board members arc currently taking steps to improve the elllies of our student government via a set of resolutions-this is hopefully a first step in the right direction. All in all, the time is right fo r the SA to get itself back in gear. Whether it doesor whether it remains business as usual over there- is yet to be seen.

Joshua Trapani is a senior majoring in

geology.

Pro• • •d 1.0 Plverse Money and power concerns cloud curricular debate

By Amy L. Gardner

oughout last semester debate over the diversity requirement monopolized the Harpur College Council meetings. The debate was expected to end when the requirement was passed last spring, but was brought to the forefront once more this semester by the presentation of the proposed implementation procedure. Many of the old arguments concerning the requirement have been heard, along with new arguments over the implementation procedure. Before· the proposed implementation procedure could be discussed, there was an attempt by Professor John Arthur, of the Department of Philosophy, to get rid of diversity requirement. His motion failed by a vote of21-14. The motion was not a total failure, because during the course of debate some interesting information revealed. The diversity requirement has often been called an "oppression requirement." During the debate over Professor Arthur's motion, Professor Warren Wagar of the Department of History admitted that he believed it was an oPPlession requirement, but he did not see anything wrong with that Professor Wagar is a proponent of the diversity requirement, and he believes oppression is a worthy topic for students to be required to study. Opponents of the diversity requirement have often believed that the purpose ofthe requirement was not to promote diversity, but to gain finances for certain departments, such as Africana Studies and LACAS. Professor Darryl Thomas admitted during debate that without this requirement departments such as these might go bankrupt There are not enough students interested in these classes. The professors in these departments are hoping the diversity requirement will increase enrollment in their courses since most of the courses in these departments would satisfy the requirement. Certain professors

in these departments were especially in- was too cumbersome, and that some prostrumental in getting the diversity require- fessors would not bother to fill it out. A ment passed. Are they really concerned suggestion was made to let professors deabout diversity, or are ~ey simply ttying cide for themselves whether or not their to protect their own interests? course meets the criteria for a diversity Proponents of the diversity require- course. This suggestion was rejected by ment have said that the student body over- many who evidently believe that the prowhelmingly supports such a requirement. fessors here are not smart enough to know This appears to be a lie since only two if their courses are diversity courses are students in this yeats elected student del- not. egation voted to keep the diversity reOne section of the proposed implemenquirement. These representatives were tation procedure which has not been diselected on the basis of-among other cussed yet is how the Harpur College dithings-their opposition to the diversity vers~ty requirement will overlap with the requirement. . All College "global visions" requirement The claim of ovenvhelming support for The committee, which set up the prothe diversity requirement brin~ us to the posed implementation procedure, did not next issue of debate in the HCC. SA Aca- have enough time to work with the Facdemic Vice President Jeff Golant made a ulty Senate to try to maximize the overmotion to have the diversity requirement lap. In the proposal, the committee asked brought to a referendum, in which all Har- for an extension to December 13 to work pur administrators, faculty, and students with the Faculty Senate. That date has would get to vote on it. The motion failed, come and gone, and the issue of how the but one has to question "Why?" If the re- two requirements will overlap has gone quirement has such overwhelming support, unresolved. Until that issue is resolved th~ should be nothing to be afraid of if it . the diversity requirement should not be was brought to a referendum. However, implemented. Satisfying both requireproponents ofthe requirement were afraid ments could place an undue burden on It would appear that there is not as much students. They could end up having to support as they would lead you to believe. take more courses than necessary. Debate over the diversity requirement A referendum could save everyone a lot of time. Ifprofessors do not want to teach di- is far from over. Essential parts of the versity classes and students do not want to implementation procedure have not even take them, it makes nQ sense to have a di- been discussed yet. The implementation versity requirement, because it will end up procedure will continue to be debated throughout the semester. It seems unfailing. Harpur College Council eventually got likely that the diversity requirement will around to discussing the proposed imple- be implemented in the Fall of 1996, as mentation proCedure. This brought up was expected. The issues over the implenew issues, and discussion over the mentation procedure will not likely be implementation has j1;lst started. The solved in time to be printed in the 1996HCC has not discussed manY of the key 1997 Bulletin. It is better to delay a year than to implement a faulty diversity reportions of the implementation. There were some concerns over the ap- quirement. plication process to get a course approved as counting towards fulfilling the require- Amy L. Gardner is ajunior majoring in ment. Some thought the application fonn philosophy, politics and law.

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KEILKA

Jana had been gently called "the sibs", were not natural born teasing Keilka about children like Keilka and his older how he had hooked up brother Stahl shein, but the family tenwith Julia at a party in sions were little different from K' Jana 's December all during own. Finally, they ate dinner just like nner at the everyone else. Somehow, K' Jana had Nastargixyn'shousein Vermont. Appar- pictured something, oh, weird, maybe ently. Keilka had neglected to tell his and in keeping with the usual notion that family how he had danced the night the breeders didn 't wor~ or care about away with the girl and about their mu- their children or whatever. Despite evtual infatuation. His visiting "grand- erything, however~ the Nastargixyns mother" and "grandfather", as well as appeared to be an incredibly and utterly the rest of the family found K' Jana 's. normal~ upper middle class family. "Time to work~" Amtal said tersely account highly amusing; Keilka was annoyed. through his telepathy which he conK' Jana knew that his friend was an- stantly used, as he and Stahl. also a mute noyed because Keilka kept picking on and given to using mental instead of K' Jana during the rest of the meal for sign communication, stood to clear their little quirks. like drinking milk at the dishes from the table. As the two men table-almost all of them were deathly donned their coats to go outside to the allergic to dairy products although they renovated milk shed where they worked, lived on a former dairy farm-and the Syntal pointed to a pan full of sticky way he said words like "out" and buns and cookies that a neighbor had "about." K'Jana had seen this behavior given them for the holidays. Hecho's often enough before to disregard it, and business could wait a little longer. besides, Keilka would be off to work K 'J ana said something as they sat with his mother as a pilot for Nor 'Star back down, and Keilka again picked on Airlines in the morning. By the time he him for his accent. "You're Canadian?" got back from his rotation-and from Syntal queried. "I've been meaning to spending the weekend in Florida with ask you about that. Stahl said something lulia-it was quite likely he would have about your brother playing hockey for forgotten the whole thing. Cornell." That thought in itself jarred K' lana. "Uh~ huh, " K' lana answered between He wasn't really sure Why. Maybe it had bites of his sticky bun, "he graduated to do with the fact that Keilka was a few with a degree in microbiology. but he months younger than him, but already plays for Quebec and says he will until had a commercial pilot's license as of his knees give out or they won't sign his eighteenth birthday just a few weeks him any more. Then he'll go to grad ago. He had damn near grown up in a school." Unlike most people, the cockpit learning early from his mother Nastargixyns hardly seemed phased by and the family's friends andprotectors~ K'Jana's overachieving family. "Ironic Guy Wylder, Gen. Lanther and Capt. really." K'Jana continued, "my grandBereli. parents met at McGill in Montreal, and Yet, as K' lana analyzed his feelings settled there for a while. After the spliton the subject a little more deeply~ he . and K' Jana m~nt the Canadian onerealized that this was not the source of the anglophones had a very rough time agitation. Perhaps it had more to do with of it. Eventually, my grandparents the fact that the family was so strangely moved to London, Ontario. My parents . normal. Both parents worked, indeed the got a job offer in Buffalo just after they whole reason for K'Jana's visit was so were married, so I was born here, but I he could intern with the software com- spent a lot of time with my grandparpany Keilka's father, Amtal. helped ents." found. They had children, just like ev"1 didn't know there were black eryone one else, albeit the youngest five, people in Canada," Kia' mi, the middle It

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sib, said. "There are," K' Jana said in a didactic tone addressed to the sibs, "some, like my father's family are descendants of escaped slaves from the American South. You do know how Africans were imported and forced to labor before the American Civil War?" "Just like we would' a been if Guy Wylder and Lynne Hama hadn't helped us," the sib Craig Criith answered. K' Jana nodded. "And still might be if Phar and Ridley manage to repeal the 33rd Amendment," Amtal warned mentally without missing a bite of his dessert. Yes, K'Jana could have forgotten the fragility upon which all Amtal and Syntal had built rested as easily as he had Amtal and Stahl's reliance upon telepathy to communicate. "No!" Keilka exclaimed belligerently. "Besides~ they owe us freedom at least for what the two of you have suffered on every one's behalf. The old leaders will protect us," Stahl reasoned while his mind lead everyone to look at the terrible laser scar from the "Mission to Asia" which still disfigured his father's arm. "First of all," Keilka thundered, "in case you haven't noticed, Aunt Lynne, Uncle Brian and Uncle Bran aren't exactly young, and they won't be around forever. If you don't believe me today~ you will after you see them next week at the Hecho dedication. It's time we got out from under their shadows and fended for ourselves. Second, 'they' don't owe us anything except a choice, just like everyone else. That's good enough for me." "But there are so few of us," Bewar~ the oldest of the sibs, interjected. "SOT' Keilka said forcefully. "I'm tired of this dependence and pack mentality. This will end!" With that, Keilka slammed his fist down on the table, so much like his real grandfather that all regarded him in surprise, and like the grandfather he so strongly resembled in word and deed all chains and restrictions galled him. Indeed Amtal had even said that the drive for freedom had

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KEILKA

been the only good and natural desire he had inherited and his second son had received more than his share of that patrimony. " I don 't think you ... " " 1 understand a lot better than you do. brother. I'm not the one who works for Hecho. I don 't go to college at NCUR so that Uncle Bran can keep tabs on myevel)' move. I' m not going to spend the rest of my life ferrying snotty passengers around for Nor ' Star. and I don 't want to have to go scurrying back to Lynne Hama. Bran Maastricht and Brian Bereli or their kids for the rest of Illy life! " "But you will." Stahl prophesied With that. Keilka raised himself from his scat in preparation for another tirade. Amtal gave a meful snort and intervened to defuse the situation saying in a dry. mental voicc, "Liberl)', cursed be thy name ... "That cowardice and reticenee should renderl All that we have achieved in

vain." Keilka interjected bitterly. "That's not how j' goes!" young Dahua chided. " No." Amtal replied in a tone as didactic as K' Jana had been. "the verse on The Conspirators' Sign read: Libert}'. cursed be thy namelThat I should stmggle so hardland suffer such painIYet ne 'er draw ncar your bright name." "Excuse me, but what exactly was The Conspirators' Sign?" K' Jana asked politely. 'Tve read about you. but mainly bychancc while researching my family 's history." K' Jana couldn't help but recall his disappointment at how a search ofthe libral)"s computer had sent him to a book entitled The Underground Railway at lO.OOO Feet. It obviously had nothing to do with his ancestor 's experience, and though intrigued, he did not regard it as a harbinger of thing to come. Amtal,

Cfiin9hamton's

in an cXl'rcssive mood, and wishing to quell what he felt was self-righteous and self-pitying anger in Keilka, forcefully

sourc~

for

Sci~nc~

1996

•••••••••••••••••••••••• overrode any opposition "ith his mind and began. " Sometimes 1 used to walk through the streets of Philadelphia when we weren 't in training or studying or othem;se occupied. Bereli had already begun to loosen the Oligarchs' hold on the city long before President Striker and his regime's perestroika and detente . The market under The Grand Hall of the People, actually a late republican convention center that had been made from an unused train shed, was the origin of almost everything new and exciting in those days. It became a free zone where

dissent. economic initiative and even discrect misbehavior were at least tolerated if not, according to Bereli's mood. actively encouraged. "One day, I was in the Market by myself. and Bercli happened to be there with a delegation ofleaders from dilferent cities. I saw one wandering around lost in the press of shoppers until anotller man. dressed in a marketeer's costume with the

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FEBRUARY

1996

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KEILKA .

apron and all, brushed past him and whis- out loud, "We left Philadelphia by way pered, 'Meet me at The Conspirator's of an airshuttle from our building that Sign and get your shoes shined. ' appeared to be on a routine. authorized "I knew what and where the sign was. flight, but of course, that was rigged. As It's in the back of the market behind all we were flying, Am, Dad and 1 slipped of the stalls, and it's an old mural of the on the blockers, and then loaded ourSigning of the Declaration of Indepen- selves into some crates from a hydropondence, or maybe the Constitution. 1don't ics farm outside the city. Mine had a layer remember which-anyway, it's lots of of peppers on top of a false bottom. " guys in wigs and waistcoats. Underneath "Mine had radishes." Brahms, their it is a shoe shine booth that's probably white-haired "grandfather" and creator been there for the two centuries the said with extreme distaste and a wrinkled market's been open. Some years before nose. BereH came to Philadelphia, agents "At a point during the flight. Jackie chased a dissident through the market. Gandes, the pilot, signaled Chicago that As he hid at the shoe shine booth, quite she had a malfunction. She was sent to a certain that he only delayed the inevi- special hangar for repairs. We didn't table, he defaced the mural \\ith the words know it but luck was on our side. A few of the poem and the edge of a metal key. hours before. Pres. Striker had come to Since that time, it's been called The Chicago to make the first major speech Conspirator's Sign. and it's been a mag- of his presidency. He had just announced net for all those who 've had cause to the reforms and detente with the ceded whisper in the dark. areas despite Maastricht's actions. "And then what happened?" K' Jana "When Wylder's plane came roaring asked eagerly. across Chicago's approach patterns that "I followed him at a discreet distance night, the deputy warden, acting on his until he met another man posing as a shoe own authority. not Brian Bereli or Pratt shiner. They gestured to him to have a Nastargixyn's as had been so carefully seat on one of the stools to have his soft planned. ordered Wylder to be talked shoes cleaned. They spoke in a whisper do\\n and sent to the same repair hanwhile the man worked, but I could un- gar. Although the deputy had no idea derstand them. The men talked about a about the conspiracy, he abetted it nonesmuggled device that could block the the-less with his overzealous endorsetrackers and taggers that officials had ment of the nascent reforms and detente. implanted in their body. I knew we had As he entered the plane that we were them too, so 1 paid close attention. aboard. we heard him say that he was "When the carrier found me and gave aware of how the terrible recession in the me the postcard from Dr. Gray a few free world of four years before still afmonths later, 1 knew where to go to fur- fected all o~ the ceded areas except upther the cause. You see that's why it took state New York, and that only because it them so long to find us. Well, that and was so close to Canada and Quebec. Since Maastricht's reaction to the violations of the man knew that Wylder was from the airspace restrictions. They had to Utah, but of course, not that he was a dischose whether they wanted to lose us or sident from that state's government, he fully laden aircraft. Once we had left, Dr. asked if Wylder would accept some small Gray removed the implants and gave token of assistance in the name of peace them to Sara Nolson who tossed them out between the two peoples. Though he was of her car window into the sage brush on insulted, we gave Wylder the strong comthe way to Cheyenne just as they were pulsion to say yes. "As the deputy went on with his naive becoming active once more." A form of littering of which I ap- drivel, we made sure that he felt a strong compulsion to give Wylder crates of pepprove!" K'Jana said. Syntal smiled. Then she caught pers, radishes and tomatoes. Then we K' Jana 's unvoiced question and answered were lifted from the shuttle to Wylder's <4

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bush plane along \\ith other . gifts of peace.· .. With that, Amtal resumed the story mentally, "After some waiting. about an hour or two, it's hard to tell in total darkness, Wylder was informed that his instruments had been repaired. When final formalities were completed, he taxied out of the hangar and was quickly airborne. We flew for quite some time until Wylder was sure that no one pursued us. Then he called out our password "Liberty, cursed be thy name..... and began to dig away at the tomatoes on top of me. '"'I've the plane on auto pilot,' he said as if to relieve the tension, "'sides, it's flat and desolate here. • Then I could hear him take a bite out of one of the tomatoes. "Uhl What a crud ball. Tomato's s'posed to have taste!' I heard him step away for a second, probably to find somewhere to spit out what he had bitten of into. He had removed enough of the leaden vegetables that I could lift up the bottom and peek out over the top of the crate to catch a glimpse of him reclined against a passenger seat and wiping excess juice from his mouth. ""Hullo there,' he said causally and not a bit alarmed. 'thought I'd gotten a whole case of the nasty things. Ughh! this all y'eat? No wonder why you want out.' At the time I was a little too disoriented to respond to humor. He quickly cleared away the rest of those excuses for tomatoes, and helped me out of the tiny crate. After 1 had completely stretched my cramped body. he said, "You must be hungry or thirsty or something.' Then he threw me an apple that had been sitting on the passenger's seat and said, 'Welcome to the free world' Even K' Jana knew the rest of the story. but he was not adverse to listening to· it from the mouths of two people who had been so important to the course ofevents. Syntal continued on. telling them how Lynne Hama had taken them in those first few days and taught them the few survival skill, like back country skiing. that they didn't already know. Then she gave or bought them rifles, bows. tents. skis and all other gear necessary for winter

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

FEBRUARY

1996

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KEILKA

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in the back country. After a few days of acclamation, she drove them to as remote an area of Bridger-Teton forest as the snow would alloW. and wished them luck. She hoped that .she could picked them up once the furor had died down, but... Amtal and Syntal had been very much aware of the avalanche their coming had precipitated even though they camped high in the lonely forest. A pocket radio kept them informed of "Wylder's Ride~~' a chase across the Rocky Mountains and Desert Southwest that could have been drawn from half a dozen cowboy epics if both the black hats and white hats had been on horses not airplanes. The haughty Oligarchic authorities, chasing Wylder who flew too low to be tracked accurately. often rudely intruded upon people who would have been all too willing to give Wylder up because of his dissent in Utah. Insult and intrusion, however, tipped the balances in favor of Wylder and lead to resistance instead of collaboration. The situation quickly escalated and violence ensued, though to K'Jana it seemed that now both sides bore the blame. The authorities would not use a bit more courtesy and tact, and the westerners were too wound up for a fight to show common sense anymore. The violence turned fatal at a place called Rock River Ranchjust a little over half a month after Amtal and Syntal's escape. Maastricht soon called the western gov-. ernors and the Chiefs from the 30-yearold League of Peace to discuss this situation. When the Conference met in Telluride, possible commanders for a united defense were invited as well, but all five, though they were better qualified or better behaved or more religious or ideological1y palatable than Lynne Hama, had been ejected from the room in short order by the quarreling officials. Only she had managed to quiet the hornet's nest . and force everyone to talk about pertinent issues, and for that she was rewarded with a command that she assuredly did not want. When they heard that, Amtal said that he thought they would be forgotten in the press of larger affairs, but even burdened

with stopping a suicidal war while seeming to fight it, she reached out to them by setting them up with the now mountain "ise old dissident Charles Zigrana. She assured them that their cause and their freedom would be in the forefront of the issues because it was, as she had said before, a symptom of their sick times. She meant it too, and on that kept her word even when the crisis took a sharp turn away from the local rebellion it had been. Indeed, even as discontent with the leadership and losses by the Coalition in the .on-going world war as well as with the Oligarchy erupted to the surface and forged this small band of malcontents, who had abducted breeders in an effort to free themselves of convoluted entanglements in the own struggle for religious freedom in Utah, into the spearhead of a revolution for liberty known simply as "The Alliance", Amtal and Syntal re. mained symbols. Their recapture two years later nearly provoked irrevocable action. The refonners, still alive, but caught between a rock and a hard place decide on a gamble which could destroy the reason d' entre for both the hard-liners and Alliance: send Amtal and Syntal on a mission which could end the war. They offered their prisoners freedom in return for their cooperation. "The Mission to Asia" succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams as it destroyed all of the enemy's advanced defense capabilities and because an aircraft carrier the Alliance had captured from the Navy and given to a needy Coalition nation in return for their good will had been steaming toward enemy territory when the defenses went down. With the 'big war' over, the two American sides could get down to fighting, but another surprise lay in store. A. group of outwardly loyal Oligarchic retainers sprung a trap on their masters and abducted most of them. A battle across the length and brea~ of the continent ensued only to finally end days after Pres. Striker conceded that his side, the reformers, had been defeated and needed the Alliance's help in sul:xfuing their mutual enemies. With his invitation to fonn a provisional government, the "Season of

Aftermath", the reunion and painful refonns, that gave birth to the present peace and prosperity had begun. The "Season of Aftermath" had been no picnic, and Hama and allies had to often stoop to base political maneuvering and trickery to survive and bequeath a free, viable economic and political system to the country. At the end of six and a halfyears ofintense pain, it had worked. The nation recovered beyond all expectations, and out of the shadow had come a gaggle of little companies which would someday rise to be giants. Hecho, started by 5 young hackers, including Amtal, in the basement of a drafty house in Syracuse with $600 dollars they had borrowed from Gen. Hama, had been one of them. Northstar Airlines was another, but their headquarters had been on the second floor. . That would soon change, and K' Jana knew that Amtal had procured him a ticket to the dedication of the newly renovated office tower that would take the place of Hecho 's basement. He knew that all of the leaders of the Alliance would be there too, and wondered what he would feel once in their presence. Would he ask himself, as he had when he studied his daring ancestor, could I do this if I had to? Would I bring myself to do as the slave who fled from Bulow Plantation in Florida, the breeders, the rich oil heiress and the bush pilot had done? Could I say in the face of opposition even from the entire world, the words Lynne Hama had used upon hearing Amtal and Syntal's plight, "This must not be!"? If she, who the world regarded as the epitome of amoral nihilism for her actions could make such" an intensely moral decision, indeed the only such one of that sick time, then surely it lay within his capabilities as well, right? His answer to this question nagged at him, but still, he. was grateful that he never had, and most probably never would have the chance to find out for sure if he would join the struggle or have cOwardice and reticence make all in vain. Dawn McKibbin is a .free-lance writer living in Jackson, "yoming.

By Anthony]. Benardello ,at a holiday season! After a grueling semester, I was cer tainly looking forward to a relaxing Christmas with friends and family. We had the usual contingent of both at our house for the annual Christmas Eve festivities that begins with a traditional dinner. continues at midnight mass. extends to opening our presents Christmas morning and culminates with a festive dinner that evening. I left Binghamton on December 19 in a severe snowstorm in which others were afraid to travel. I- in my brand new 4x-l--made it to Long Island in my usual three hours. Speed limits apply to others-not me. I can't drive 55: hell, I can 't drive 75. Ifl ain 't going 90. I ain't happy. My story started as myoid friend and business partner from Israel came over for dinner on Christmas Eve. His name is Zvi- being from Israel, he came over with his Galil assault rifle. which made me very nervous . As I crossed the Tappan Zee bridge the week before, I told Zvi. a station wagon full of Hasidic Jews had broken down in the snow and I had offered to help them fix their flat. Walking from my truck , I heard one of them yelling at me to go away. Confused, I had returned to the truck. "Oh sure, after two thousand years of persecution from you goys, you think fixing one flat tire is going to fix . things?" said Zvi , starting to work himself up. !-lave another drink, lvi. "And another thing," he continued, starting to wave his Galil around, ''I' m tired of you people blaming us Jews for

killing your God. If we could kill God, Lisa elbowed me hard in the stomach. that would tell you how powerful we "Did you and Lisa pray last nightT really are. Don' t mess with us! " Mom asked. "Good point. Vm, Zvi, can you stop Before I could answer, Grandma shot waving that danmed rille around-we in. "Oh. yes. they prayed all night. I have kids here and someone could get heard Lisa calling God's name until five hurt: ' this morning:' "What?! " he shouted, "I have a conGee, thanks Gram- next lime I will stitutional right to keep and bear arms! check on YOIl like 1 was supposed to. Are you trying to deny me my rightsT' The kids were tearing apa rt the wrapGeez, Zvi. you sound like this gun ping paper and the boxes as they were wacko lip at B. U. - Anlhony something eager to get to their presents when my or another. Beller move on with the environmental wacko. ceo-terrorist, story. New Age, dirt-worshipping younger As we all got ready to go to midnight brother started bellowing his usual manmass. I told everyone that I was going tra about the damned environmeni. to pick up my new girlfriend. Lisa, and "You' re killing trees to box and wrap that we were going to pray by ourselves presents for a capitalist. big business and keep an eye on Grandnla, seeing day," he whined. 011 shut up, YOII communist- and how she was sleeping and would be all alone. Everyone seemed to buy that one. . walch your mouth. Having had enough Heh heh. of his crap. I did just what I always doChristmas morning-there's nothing I threw everything out and put it in the like it. The kids woke up first and made same ga rbage can. Like I really care sure that no one else CQuid sleep so it about separating garbage- it all goes was futile to try and buck the tide of into the same dump. Gee?., some people children running around. yelling and fall for every do-gooder idea that some screaming. As I went downstairs to su- socialist dreams up! The hell with pervise the chaos, I saw that everyone trees-they just make a mess for me to was up and having colfee as the kids clean up in the fall . Cut them all down opened their presents. After saying good and see if I care. As dinner approached. my friend and morning to all, I started to introduce Lisa around. Grandma, always the nosy one. stockbroker Reggie Jackson came over to share in the festivities. Reggie's real asked her who she was right away. name was Abdul Mohammed Skyhook "Lisa," I muttered, "Lisa Donut. " "Oh," said Grandma, "is she Italian?" Sahib Ayatollah Gadhafi or something weird like that. Reggie immigrated to "No, Gram-she's Danish." "You never bring home Italian girls- America with his parents when he was three years old and changed his name how come?" " If I could find an Italian girl who to that of his hero- Reggie Jackson. could do what L. .. " I lost my breath as Reggie wanted to change his name and

BINGHAMTON REV1EW

FEBRUARY

BENARDELLO .

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God--committing unspeakable acts of terrorism while proclaiming that God was on their side. But most of all," he continued, "I realized that every time they went to war with Israel, they got their ass kicked! Not once or twice, but every time! 1 then realized that if a God was on their side, it was obviously the wrong God So 1 figured 1 would join the winning team." I didn't have the heart to tell him 1 thought be still was on the wrong team. But all that aside, he is a pretty good guy. 1 turned on the television to watch the All in the Family marathon. God, 1 love Archie Bunker. Dinner was fast approaching and 1 could hardly wait. There's nothing like a meal of dead animals to get you in the Christmas spirit. As the relatives started arriving, 1 realized my worst nightmare--cousin Meredith was with them. God, she annoys me. She is one of those animal rights wackos. She actually

religion so as to be what he called "a regular American." Can't say 1 blame him. 1 asked him if he celebrated that African holiday, Kwanzaa. "There is no such thi~g," he replied "What!" "You see, it was invented in 1966 by a guy named Maulana Karenga." "Really?" 1 replied. "Oh yes, it's a mythical celebration based on socialist principles to get blacks away from what Karenga considered a 'white man's day.' There is no such thing in Africa." "So, it's just crap, then?" "Yes, I'm afraid so-it's just another attempt to separate blacks from whites in America," he said How sad/or America, 1 thought. "I always did want to know why you changed your religion to Judaism," 1said "Well, 1 started noticing that people in my religion were killing people and blowing up buildings in the name of

1996

• ••••••••••••••••••••••• thinks that animals have rights. Meredith started asking right away, "What's for dinner?" "The usual," I answered, "the deer and turkey I shot during the past hunting season." "What?" she screamed. "Stuffit," 1 said, "I don't want to hear any damn stories about Bambi. 1 killed his father and that's that-eat your dinner and like it." As I sat at the table listening to my brother and cousin whine about the environment and animals, 1had all 1could stand. 1 got up, kicked the dog, threw another log on the fire, sat back down, lit a fine cigar and enjoyed the rest of my dinner in peace as everyone fled the cigar smoke. Ahh. it don r get no better than this.

Anthony J. Benardello is a junior majoring in philosophy and philosophy. politics and law.

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FEBRUARY

1996

••••••••••••••••••••••••• It Takes a Village Idiot The jacket of Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book on child-rearing. it Takes a 'til/age, provides tills illuminating revelation, " Hillary Rodham Clinton is America's first lady. A longtime child advocate, she lives in the White House with the president and their daughter, Chelsea." We ' re glad the publishcrs cleared that one up. [Washington Tillles Week(y, January 22-28, 19961 Swift One, Pat GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan recently pulled a New Hampshire television commercial featuring the exploding space shuttle Challenger after residents complained that he was exploiting the tragedy for political gain. Ncw Hampshire is the home of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was killed in the 1986 accident. [New fork Post. January 12. 19961 How About "Blanks" The Washington Bullets. a professional baskctball team, has announced it is looking for a new nickname with " less violent connotations," The University of Massachussets is also reportedly set to change its mascot from " Minuteman -, to "Temporally Inclusive Perso n." I The American Spectator. January 1996 1

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Fat and Frugal A pizza chain reports that deliveri es to the White House decrease by ten percent whenever Bill Clinton is away. Tips. however, increase by fifteen percent during those periods. [1f0shington Times Weekly. Janua ry 1-8. 1996 1 Birds of a Feather Flock Together Louis Fanakhan took a trip to Lib)'a in mid-January. where he met with terrorist leader Moammar Gadhafi. Gadl13fi later told a reporter he has "found a loophole to enter IAmerica] and to confront it fTom within." Gadl1afi also pledged to spe nd $1 billion on Muslim causes in thc Uni ted States. But heck, we all know Farrakhan is a great civil rights leader. so why should anybody worry about this arrangement? IPress & Sun-Blllletin, January 27. 1996 1 Education-Unabomber Style A sixth-g rader in Philadelphia was assigned to write a letter to a company about animal testing. A rew days later. AlfTed Zcien. the chairman of Gillette, received this: " If you hurt another animal...l ' ll bomb your company. P.S. Watch your back. " Zeicn says he gets hundreds of similar letters from adolescents every year. II/eader Digest. January. 1996 1

BIN GHAMTON RE VIE W

Education-Secular Style Tennessee ninth-grader Brittney Kaye was assigned a research paper. so she wrote about the Ii fe of Jesus Christ. Hcr tcacher nunked her. saying that Jesus is not an appropriate topic for a public school. " Wake up'" said Ohio Democrat James Trafica nt in response. ",.. the Constitution neve r intended to separate God and the America n people. " rH'ashington 7illles Weeklv. Dccember 18-25. 19961 We Knew It A poll conducted by Frank Luntz reveals th at liberals arc more likely to admit havi ng taken a hotel towel and are morc likely to slecp around as opposed to conscrvatives. Liberals arc also more likely to believe that they arc better tha n thei r fellow man . INational ReView, December 25. 1995 1 Stupid Govern ment Tricks Redux Federal laws prohibit the fo llowing heinous crimes: making fal se crop reports: mailing o f injuriolls animals. plants. and pests: issuin g a check for less than $1: and interstate transport of unli ce nsed dentures. Overheard: "They can pry these false tee th from my cold dead hands ' " IPolicy I/eview. January I February 19961

Shooting the Messenger David Scott, a law student and columnist for the newspaper Res Ipsa Loquitur at the University of Miami, recently was given documents proving that underqualified black students arc being admitted to the UM law school. The response? Mr. Scott-not the admissions office-is under investigation. [Campus Report, December 1995] Putting Cougars Fi rst A mountain lion killed a California woman named Barbara Schoener in 1994 . In response. donors rai sed $2 1,000 to care for the couga r 's cub, which was orphaned when wildlife authorities killed the animal. but only $9,000 to care for Schoener's two children . [New.week, January 8, 19961

'.. ~D 'tOO KIps·· ~O PAAY\~ ",,,,

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CONTEST!

PIPE DREAM

Burely Mu n ugin g Idiot Keith Garnish

M iol in Ch ief Lora Donut

WRI,. JOUR ow,.

Out of Business Mu nug('r Brcnt Sauerkraut

Adnrti"i in g Dud{' Bradley SmiUl

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B INGHAMTON R~VlEW _

PO. Bo," 6900 " Bingb3n)li!D, NY l3902 (N'o:sla!nP is necessa,ry if}'ou useaun~ p,us-I,nail)

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BIOCH EM ICAL WEAPON

Both parties are being selfish and all the

LAWN ORNAMENT

and

should come to us.

HUMJ\ N WASTE PRODUCT

BINGHAMTO N REVI EW Binghamton University P.O. Box 6000 Binghamton, N.Y. 13902-6000

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