Commentary
September 19, 1991
Page 3
Other
Voices
Qubtables
Thoughts from Parker J. Palmer on
learning:
"The dominant theory of education
is that students are vessels that need to
be filled up with external knowledge and
wisdom. I want to argue that this a
vCTy backwards notion of how we ou^t
to live and how we ought to teach and
leam.
The best kind of higher education
draws out the wisdom of the students,
the pains of the students, and encourages
them to live in the world from the
inside out"
From an interview with John Teague,
Second Monday
Thoughts about human rights and the
United States
"America did not invent human
rights. In a very real sense, it is the other
way around. Human rights invented
America."
Jimmy Carter
Excerpts
On conservative newspapers on college
campuses:
The recent proliferation of
conservative newspapers on university
campuses has some liberals bothered.
Right-leaning editors are challenging such
campus sacred cows as non-traditional
*^®*ii'ses and funding for gay and black
student groups.
But if you believe in a free market of
ideas — if you believe, that is, that all
voices should be heard and the best ideas
will eventually prevail — then the
®***crgence of competing new^wqjefs can
only be considered progress. No one has a
monopoly on the truth.
Newspapers have a great tradition as
ihc vehicle of dissent On college
campuses, the greater variety of
newspapers, the better. But if campus
•newspapers - reduce themselves to a
mouthpiece for attitudes rather than living
to their potential as a medium for
^^ughtful give and take, then they are not
”)^'ng full use of their franchise.
’’om the Greensboro News & Record
• TrM«*
mH0fmu6«T.Ti€
Blondie takes on work world
Employers
ignoring
women
In recent weeks we have heard
a great deal about the dismal
prospects of the United States in
the next century. Our high school
students fare
poorly in inter
national com
petition. Their
Scholastic Ap
titude Test
scores are dis
mal. Every
thing is getting
soft, and the
country is
going to the
bow-wows.
James
Kilpatrick
Universal Press
□
On Labor Day Morning, 1991, Blondie
Boopadop Bumstead, 35 years old and holding,
had an qjiphany over hw coffee cup. Worn out
from cooking and cleaning lo these many
the suburban housewife of comic strip
fame suddenly figured a way out of her
domesticity. "I could go out and get a job."
Bing! Light bulbs flash! Cameras roll!
Sweetheart, give me "The Today Show"!
Not since Nora left the Doll's House, has
one wife's change garnered quite this much
attention. But Nora was ahead of the time.
Blondie isn't exacUy a trendsetter among her
peers More than three quarters of the women
in her age group (where she has lingered longer
than Jack Benny) are already in the workforce.
Nevertheless, this is something of a
landmaric. Blondie began comic strip life over
sixty years ago as a gold-digging flapper. Back
then Dagwood Bumstead was the daffy heir to
a railroad family that owned, as it was said, the
right side of the tracks, the wrong side, and the
tracks themselves.
When the Depression deepened, these true
lovers got married despite Poppa Bumstead’s
disapproval. Disinherited, Dagwood got a job.
ThS moved to the suburbs, had two kids, a
doR and remained in their 30s ever after.
In some ways the Bumsteads have been
emblems of the American family and the
American economy. Dagwood, for all of his
ditziness has had one job his enure work life.
Even in the Ws, as other American companies
downsized and streamlined, tins long-abused
white-collar worker kept his job. While other
companies were being taken over. Dithers and
Co^thered along. Even Dagwood s
metabolism and eaung habits managed to stay
X'for Blondie. over the years this white-
collar wife also kept her supportive role. She
Sver did get proper credit for her invention of
^e DagwLl sandwich. She never got any
kudos for getung her husband out of the house
Ellen Goodman
Washington Post Writer's Group
Maybe so, but a couple of
reports from the U.S. Department
of Labor suggest that not all is
lost. American employers, for the
most part, are overlooking a
every morning and into the carpool. resource that could make a
But now that she's decided to get a job, tremendous difference over the next
she's doing the "nets." making all the talk 49 years. They are ignoring
shows. Even the secretary of labor is
interested in how this newest entry will fare in
the workplace: "Some of the skills Blondie
had will have to be re-honed." Indeed.
Once again, Dagwood and Blondie are
women. This is, when you think
about it, a thoroughly dumb thing
to do.
Last month's report on the
"glass ceiling" in business and
getting back in touch with what s happening to well-publicized,
the American family that lives paycheck to
paycheck: two paychecfe Adelman, "Women at
How then can we help Blondje to marie her .
momentous enti^ into the woricing woman abundance of facts to support the
worid after all these years? A few tips and
a variety of reasons,
tidbits are m order. well-qualified women tend u> rise to
The good news is that thmgs are better for ^ ..
working women. The gap between male and
female wages has narrowed. The bad news is
that one reason it's narrowed is because men's The glass-ceiling study looked
wages are falling. closely at nine Fortune 500
Despite all those years at home with companies. These were scattered
Dagwood and the kids, Blondie's earning across the United States. They
capacity won't be much worse than that of ranged in size from 8,000
other women. If she is typical, her earnings employees to more than 300,000
will peak at about age 40-45 at $22,000. This employees, but they showed an
is, however, just about what the average man identical pattern. Within these
earns between 25 and 29. companies, qualified women run
On Sept. 9, this longtime kitchen worker into artificial baniers that prevent
decided - - at least for the moment - - to them from advancing to top
become a caterer. She will be joining the positions in management,
fastest growing part of the American economy. , . . .
women-owned small businesses. Some o t e arriers are
This will supply her with a lot a organizauonal Most top executive
flexibility. She can be there when Alexander filled rom wit in. an
and Cookie get home from school or from the most promotions depen viyon
mall. But she'll get none of the perks: Typical y, a ig mg
vacations, pensions, health insurance. If executive will have served ye^
Dagwood can hold on at dithers, if Dithers ^ company. Promotions a so
See Goodman, Page 4
See Kilpatrick, Page 12