Page Two
THE SALEMITE
Friday, February 25
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Viewpoint
ERA Would Give Women Full Citizenshi
D
FHitorv • s. Wade Purcell, Elizabeth E. Jones
News Editor Margaretta Yarborough
C , CJ-. .... Beth Kinney
REPORTERS’
Laura Benfield Janet Jones Mary Todd Mackenzie Mary Sparks
Anne Beidleman Penny Jordan Jettie McCollough Sandra Spear
Jill Henon Linda Joynes Kay Simpson Kathy Watkinson
Artist
Business Manager
t .. Kj, Debbie Schroeder
.... “ Sa e Gamble
ni , L ... Karen Smith
Office Hours 3:30-9:00 P.M. Monday,- 4:00-6:00 P.M. Thursday
Student Service Examined
Salem College encourages its students to fulfill thein-
selves as human beings as they pursue academics. Students
are involved in important decision-making processes which
affect the entire college community. Recent attention has
been brought to one of our greatest national resources,
women. This resource abounds at Salem, where students and
faculty laud this woman’s college because it not only en
courages, but forces young women to take active position
in the direction of the school. At Salem, Fire Marshals,
Advisors, Student Government Association Officers, Club
Officers, and publications editors must be women. Sadly,
many women give a limp reason for pursuing an office. If
just one officer seeks her position because “it will look good
when I apply for a job,” then the objectives of Salem College
are not being upheld. Knowledge and service are two tradi
tions worth retaining. —S. Wade Purcell
What, nobody wants to petition?
Elections are a few weeks away. I yawned as I thought
of the petitioning period; the same old names will head
the petitions, only the titles will have changed.
Our student offices are suffering from such iron poor
blood that not even an overdose of Geritol would help.
Wouldn’t it be nice to introduce new blood into the system?
Some unknown little leprechauns could peer out from be
hind their tree stumps and become contributing mernbers
of society. How nice it would be to challenge the established
hierarchy at Salem C.
I began to perk up as I thought of the hoard of Salemites
rushing to run for offices. The fervor of a competitive elec
tion would be wholesome addition to this campus. But vvhy
disillusion myself ? I yawned again as I came back to reality.
I thought of the plaintive cries of the Chairman of the Elec
tions Committee urging people to please sign petitions; and
of the people who win their offices uncontested.
I wandered off into the ozone again and thought of a
science fiction story Salem style. Wouldn’t it be great if no
body petitioned for any offices? We would not be fifty dol
lars poorer at the beginning of the year, we would not have
SGA meetings, we would not have Honor Council or Inter
dorm. Oh, how wonderful!
No rules could be enforced because no one would be in
office to enforce them. None of us would have her hands
slapped for signing her date out two minutes late or imbibing
too much on a Saturday night. We could cheat, lie and steal
and not be accused for doing so. Who would care? If there
w'ere no rules to be enforced then we could do anything we
wanted. Of course we wouldn’t have the newspaper, or
Sights & Insights, or Incunabula, or dances because we
would have no SGA fees; but who needs those anyway?
Think of all the things we wouldn’t be able to do! The
prospect is tempting but. . .
Down out of the ozone again, down to reality. Of course
somebody will petition for something; but please, oh please,
let’s add some excitement, some new blood to elections this
year I PETITION — you are as good as everyone else I
Beth Jones
Defining Budget Organizations
By Kathy Kirkpatrick only serve a small percentage of
Recently the subject of clubs organiza-
necenuy me suoject or ciuos responsibility to
and organizations has become a P ^ J
controversy on campus. A defini- ...
tion that will have to be estab- mainrUv m ° ^
fished is the role of various if im '
organizations as either clubs or Kpra,,(,p nf P^^sen condition
councils To differentiate between of a general lack of inter-
the two! Executive Board main S“■-ma”''*
ml sponsoring”™ S‘s^ “,h 'V'T “’Ti
specific activity for the benefit of Lpv liam
its members, whereas a council is F as self-
made up of a few persons whose S.ifh If' ^
responsibility is sponsoring any ^
specific activity for the benefit of f ^
a larger group. Ideally the bud- A ^ a u -eu
geted organizations on campus Tb « issue must be dealt with
should act as councils because Ztl i
they are funded by every full-time J.°i^ next year will be set
student. This, then, is the issue- IZ" f "P™®!
Do all budgeted organizations now : existing organ
on campus act as councils? ^ tions to do things that may or
may not interest more people? Or
As it stands now any special should we let these organizations
interest group can organize on die? Perhaps apathy has reached
campus as long as its constitution epidemic proportions — but is this
is approved by Legislative Board, not a sign of the times apparent
Some people feel that some of the on every campus across the
budgeted organizations in reality nation?
by Sara Engram
Alice Paul is 92 years old.
Since 1910, when she was 25, her
sole commitment has been the
movement to gain full equality
for women. Initially she focused
on the struggle for women’s suf
frage. Then, in 1923 as leader of
the National Women’s Party,
she drafted the Equal Rights
Amendment. Thus she began the
long, continuing effort to amend
the United States Constitution in
order to guarantee that neither
the federal government nor the
states can abridge a person’s
rights because of sex.
Alice Paul has never believed
that suffrage is all women need;
she sees the web of laws designed
to protect women as a trap which
denies them the full rights of
citizenship. The purpose of the
Equal Rights Amendment is to
establish as federal law the prin
ciple of full citizenship and equal
ity for women as well as men.
The North Carolina House of
Representatives approved the
Equal Rights Amendment Febru
ary 9 by a vote of 61 to 55. Before
the vote was taken. Representa
tive George Miller, who sponsored
the bill in the House, made a brief
statement. He pointed out that if
he presented a laundry fist of
things the amendment will and
will not do, the Legislature would
never reach agreement. The ERA,-
like other amendments, states a
general principle. Representative
Miller urged approval of the ERA
to affirm the principle that men
and women are entitled to equal
protection by the law.
Except for the 19th Amendment,
which guarantees women the right
to vote, the Constitution does not
explicitly prohibit discrimination
on the basis of sex. Because the
intent of the law is taken into
account in the interpretation of
the Constitution, amendments
which read as though they might
prohibit sex discrimination do not
in fact grant that protection.
For instance, the 14th Amend
ment declares, “No State shall
make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the
United States ... nor deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.” But
no one has won an appeal to the
Supreme Court basing her defense
of the 14th Amendment and alleg
ing that her rights as a citizen
have been abridged on the basis
of sex. The 14th Amedment was
written in the 19th century, be
fore women could vote or have
full property rights. The intent of
the amendment was to extend
the protection of the Constitu
tion to all males. Women, by
virtue of their sex, were not full
citizens, and the men who wrote
and ratified the amendment had
no intention of changing that situ
ation. The 14th Amendment,
therefore, grants no one immunity
from discrimination on the basis
of sex.
Under current law, any person
who charges that she has been
discriminated against because of
her sex bears the burden of prov
ing that the discrimination does
exist, and she mush show how it
abridges her rights. Proving sex
discrimination can be difficult,
especially when the Constitution
does not explicitly prohibit such
discrimination. Ratification of the
Equal Rights Amendment would
shift the burden of proof Tt
party charged with sex discri!'
nation would need to proved
yond_ a reasonable doubt £
discrimination did not exist T
the victim of discriminati
would no longer be respon i
for proving that she is, in f!
a victim.
It is ironic that
inany crit®
of the Equal Rights Amendm,
point to the progress women haw
made in recent years as J|
that the ERA is not really new
sary. Much of this progress
be attributed directly to the wo.
posed amendment and to
discussion and debate about
Representative Henry Frye no
the influence of the Equal Rigilts
Amendment in a statement to
the House before the members
voted to approve the amendmeot,
He pointed out the wording of the
amendment. “It says that the
amendment goes into effect two
years after ratification. This is
to give the states a chance to
try and clean up our own laws
and correct them. Some states
like North Carolina are alreadj
beginning to do that and general
ly we’re doing a good job. If ERA
had not been proposed, I
to you we would not be as far
along as we are now.” (Quoted ii
the Greensboro Daily News
Thursday, February 10, 1977.)
During the 54 years since Alice
Paul first drafted the Equal
Rights Amendment, women have
overcome many barriers to
citizenship. Ratification of the
ERA will affirm the full citizen
ship of women, as well as
equality before the law of
Americans, whether female or
male.
Committee Passes Three Proposals Energy Sensibility
By Kathy Watkinson
The Curriculum Committee met
on Feb. 3 to discuss three pro
posals. They were approved and
passed on for faculty approval,
which was obtained on Feb. 8.
The Chemistry Department re
quested that Chem. 201: Physical
Methods be split into two one-half
credit courses, one in the fall and
one in the spring. There would be
one lab and one lecture per week.
As it stands now, Chem. 201 is a
one-credit course with two labs
and two lectures per week. The
change will make it easier for the
student to fit the course in her
schedule.
Election Revisions
By Kathy Kirkpatrick
Elections for the principle offi
ces for the 1977-78 school year
will be held in less than a month.
The Elections Committee has re
viewed and made a few revisions
in the elections process. They have
reduced the time that the entire
process takes from five weeks to
three weeks, thus quickening the
process for anxious candidates
and reducing the required involve
ment for the student body. The
committee has proposed active
campaigning for these positions
which will lead students to sell
themselves to their fellow stu
dents. Active campaigning could
include posters, stuffing dorm
boxes, holding debates, rallys, etc.
The committee feels this will show
those students that are interested
in the position and want to do a
good job.
Elections Schedule
Sunday March 6-9
Petitioning in Lehman each day
from 12:00-1:00 and 6:30-7:30 to
file see Dawn Scott in Bitting.
Thursday March 10
Primary to be held at dinner if
necessary to narrow any ballots
to five candidates
Tuesday March 15
Secondary Ballot at required
The Department of History-
Political Science will delete Politi
cal Science 260: Modern Political
Unity and Ordination, and add a
new course. Political Science 240:
American Foreign Policy. The
catalogue will read: “A study of
United States foreign policy and
of the decision making process in
the American foreign affairs es
tablishment. Analysis of American
foreign policy trends and contem
porary political economic policies.
Offered in 1977-78 by Dr. Pubantz.”
This course will differ from Dip
lomatic History which will
changed to a historical survey
for one semester and a problems
course for the next semester.
be
The Psychology-Education De
partment unanimously proposed
that the Psychology and Educa
tion Departments be divided into
two separate departments. The
Education department will be a
department but will not offer a
major; the proposal was made
with the stipulation that a major
will not be formed. There are
strong feelings against such action
from the administration and the
Education faculty. In order to
pull the Special Education Center
closer to the department of Edu
cation, it will be administered
under this unit as one of four
teaching specialties. James Bray
will be appointed chairman of
Education. This proposal will be
come effective in the fall of 1977
by Sandra L. Spear
In the Spring of 1974 Americans
waited in fine for gasoline to nin
their cars and said that there was
an energy crisis. In the winter oi
1977 we shiver under blankets as
we turn our thermostats down to
65 degrees. Again we say there is
an energy crisis, but this one
seems to be costing more than a
few extra minutes at the gas
pump; it is costing some Ameri
cans their livelihoods and, h
scattered instances, even their
fives. For most Americans, in
cluding Salemites, the energy
crisis costs money.
Salem uses fuel oil to heat botl
our buildings and our hot water,
and this oil is both short in supply
and high in cost. Despite drastic
conservation measures which Sa
lem has instituted since 1972, »
projected utility budget for ’76-"
is 81 percent higher than t«
utility outlay for ’72-’73.
figures were provided by Wilha
Talbert last fall before the co
weather hit and are expected
be much higher by the end o
year.
It is the responsibility of * ®
students at both the College
the Academy to help in
this cost down. If your room is
cold, try keeping your door c
as much as possible to
heat in your room. If .
is too hot, don’t open .
dow. Call the maintenance dep
ment to repair your radiaw-
:j. Ipnfft
hot
money
Also, try to limit the length ^
your
water.
showers to conserve
Electricity costs
too, so turn
off unnecessa^
SGA
Thursday March 17
Speeches at required SGA
Tuesday March 22
Elections at required SGA
Thursday April 7
Installation
fights and appliances,
the appliances such as
li u
curlers, hair dryers and
which use the most electric
; electricity
doing your part to keep
costs lower, you can hejP ^^^,5
tuition and room and bo
lower too.