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Big Media’s taice on the candidates
BY Whitt Flora
Editorial Viewpoint
Should we have RU-486 on campus?
Knight-Ridder Tribune
WASHINGTON - When you go to the
polls on Nov. 7, remember one thing: Big
Media will be looking over your shoulder
with justifiable concern.
Big Media, in case you haven’t noticed
it, is getting a trifle anxious about the out
come of this fall’s election. It has a lot at stake
after aU; it has spent most of the last two years
trying to educate the public about the differ
ences between the two candidates.
Actually, just make that “the difference”
between the two candidates. One candidate,
you see, has the intellect of an Aristotle; the
other is type-cast for a starring role in the
next retn^e of “Dumb and Dumber.”
One sure way you can tell the non-pre-
ferred Big Media candidate is leally dumb is
by the clumsy and often incoherent way he
expresses himself.
Since Big Media is getting a little put-off
by polls showing that you, Joe and Jane Six-
Pack, aren’t picking up on The Difference,
here’s a snap quiz to help you do the right
thing when you enter the voting booth:
Which candidate said the following re
ally stupid things:
“If we don’t siKxeed, we run the risk of
failure.” “Mars is somewhat the same dis
tance from the sun, which is very important.
We have seen pictures where there are ca
nals, we believe, and water. If there is water,
that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that
means we can breathe. ” “I believe we are on
an irreversible trend toward more freedom
and democracy - but that could change.
“We’re going to have the best-educated
American people in the world.” “A low voter
tumout is an indication of fewer people go
ing to the polls.” “(It’s) time for the human
race to enter the solar system.” “We are ready
for any unforeseen event that may or may
not occur.” “Quite frankly, teacheis are the
only profession that teach our children.” “It
isn’t pollution that’s hamiing the environ
ment. It’s the impurities in our air and water
that are doing it.”
And finally, this gem:
“People that are really very weird can get
into sensitive positions and have a tremen
dous impact on history.”
If you’re stiU a bit puzzled, here’s a final
clue. Those remarks weren't uttered by Big
Media’s designated Big Dummy, George W.
Bush.
Those are all publicly recorded quotations
ftom the mouth of A1 Gore during his two
terms as Vice President of the United Slates.
Many of them were uttered directly to Big
Media at press conferences or during one-
on-one interviews.
Yet Big Media is worried that you may
vote for the really stupid candidate when you
go to the polls. In fact, Washington Post me
dia critic Howard Kurtz recently noted that
many Big Media pundits are so upset by
Bush’s showing in the polls that they have
begun writing columns suggesting he not
only is unqualified, but a moron to boot.
He cited The New York Times' Maureen
Dowd, The New Republic’s Martin Peretz,
The Boston Globe's Tom Oliphant, Slate
Editor Michael Kinsley and Nation
magazine's David Core as some of those
bemoaning the cerebral deficiencies of
George W. He could just as easily have added
another battahon of names including nation
ally syndicated columnists Molly Ivins, Tom
Teepen, Richard Cohen and Marianne
Means.
Now, no one would suggest that George
W. Bush is a later-day Thomas Jefferson or
Ben Franklin. He probably won't be invited
to join the Austin chapter of Mensa. He does,
at times, have difficulty consttucting a simple
sentence. Gore isn't much better. At times,
indeed, he is even worse.
Truth be told, the leading third-paity can
didates - Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan and lib
ertarian Harry Browne - are all more articu
late and less mealy mouthed than either Bush
or Gore.
Yet there's something unseemly about
major journalists suggesting either major
party candidate is a moron or worse. It's a
sign of political desperation and, peihaps
despair, when they ab^on discussion of the
issues and launch ad hominem attacks merely
to appease their ideology.
Both Gore and Bush are reasonably in-
With the approval of the abortion
pill RU-486, many colleges and uni
versities have been faced with the
difficult decision of prescribing the
drug in university health centers.
Although the majority remain unde
cided, several universities - almost
moments within the approval of the
drug - openly announced that they
would not support the RU-486 pill,
which seems as though not much
consideration was given to all to the
pros and cons of this pill.
The main reason the already de
cided universities are not support
ing the pill is mostly because of
medical reasons rather than moral
and ethical reasons, however the
universities have an obligation to
the students that pay fees to provide
them with adequate health care,
abortion or no abortion.
First one must look at the fact
that if health care clinic's are justi
fying not offering the RU-486 pill
due to lack of personnel and trained
physicians, then they need to
strongly consider training more
physicians and hiring more person
nel for other medical purposes other
than an abortion pill.
Most university health care clin
ics have less than two Medical Doc
tors on staff,which is a frightening
thought, considering that is (in the
case of our campus health clinic)
teUigent, reasonably good men with a pen
chant for occasionally misspeaking. After a
graeling 18-hour day on the campaign trail,
pepper^ by questions from reporters, it’s a
wonder they don't make even more bloop
ers.
America’s voters have a better under
standing of this than Big Media with its
dents. Granted, most of all student
health visits can be handled by a
nurses assistant, but generally, more
than one doctor on staff would prove
to be beneficial for everyone.
Secondly, when a campus like our
own is composed of 60 percent fe
males, campus health clinics have a
greater responsibility to accommo
date a woman's need for personal
health care especially since the uni
versity health clinic serves as the
primary source of health care to
many college students. Not pre
scribing the RU-486 pill does noth
ing but hurt female college students
that depend on their health care
clinic for all types of treatment.
If a health care clinic is going to
offer birth control pills, condoms,
and the morning after pill, then they
should also be prepared to offer the
RU-486 pill. Students depend on a
health care clinic that can provide
the services any average doctor's
office can offer, but are there to
strictly serve college students. Col
lege health care clinic's should not
be so quick to decide against some
thing new just because it goes
against the norm, and instead ask the
student body, see what they want,
and if necessary make the changes
needed to better serve the students
who are in fact the ones who the
health care clinics are there for.
“gotcha” mentahty. The differences between
the two candidates that they'd like to hear
more about between now and Election Day
are substantive ones on Social Security, mih-
tary preparedness, health care, tax-cuts and
other major issues.
Big Media should get back to basics.
one Medical Doctor to 10,000 stu-
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