Campus Editorial
Barbie fails math(ematicians) Bill Clinton's record
October 7,1992 page two
What a putdown! I’ve been
a fan of Barbie since I was a little
girl, andl always wished she could
talk to me. Now, finally, she can,
but this, of all things, is what she
has to say: “Math class is tough.”
Let’s face it: Barbie personifies
many stereotypes with her blond
hair, blue eyes, and tall volup
tuous figure, but she doesn’t need
another supposed attribute to add
to her list.
Maybe
mathemati
cians are mak
ing a moun
tain out of a
mole hill over
Barbie’s little
announce
ment, but I can
see where
they’re com
ing from. Being a math major at
Meredith, I have had to fight long
and hard against the old cliche
that “girls don’t do math.” When
I tell people my major, some seem
surprised that Meredith even of
fers such a degree, and then they
say, “Oh, are you going to be a
teacher?” For some reason a lot of
people consider applied math
ematics to be unfeminine.
I think the main problem
with Barbie’s declaration is that
it’s too matter-of-fact Shedoesn’t
say, “Math class can be tough.”
She says, “Math class is tough.”
Little girls think Barbie can do
anything. I fear some little girls
will say to themselves, “If Barbie
thinks math is tough. I’d better
not even try it.” Also, the state
ment is unnec
essarily nega
tive. She could
say, “Math
class is fun and
challenging.”
This would still
convey the idea
that math can
be difficult
without sug
gesting that
math is impossible for girls to
comprehend.
Mattel assumed an enor
mous resposibility when it de-
see EDITORIAL, page seven
Meredith Herald
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Submitted by College Demo
crats
The Clinton Record on
Education
• Under Bill Clinton test
scores in Arkansas for elemen
tary reading and math skills have
gone up 35% and 40%, respec
tively.
• Under Clinton, high school
graduation by seniors in Arkan
sas has risen 34%.
• Clinton has set higher stan
dards for all Arkansas schools,
requiring intensive instruction in
basic skills, offering a broader
range of advanced courses,
strictly limiting class sizes and
regularly testing student and
teacher performance.
• In 1991, Clinton provided
teachers with an average $4,000
salary increase, the highest per
centage increase in the nation
that year.
• Governor Clinton created
the Arkansas Academic Chal
lenge Scholarships to provide
college scholarships to middle
and low-income high school stu
dents who achieve a 2.5 GPA in
a college-core curriculum, score
19 on the ACT, and stay off
drugs.
Clinton will establish a set of
national standards for elementary
and high school students and will
inaease Chapter One funding to
reduce class size in schools serv
ing children from lower and
middle-income families.
• Clinton will fully fund Head
Start.
• Clinton will establish a Na
tional Service Trust Fund, making
college tuition available to all
Americans. The money may be
paid back as part of their income or
through community service.
The Clinton Record on Jobs
and the Economy
• Bill Clinton has created manu
facturing jobs at ten times the na
tional average, and Arkansas leads
the nation in job growth.
• Arkansas citizens are enjoy
ing income growth at twice the
national average.
• Clinton has balanced eleven
consecutive budgets since taking
office.
• Far from a tax-and-spend lib
eral, Governor Clinton has helped
17,000 welfare recipients in Ar
kansas to move from welfare rolls
to payrolls.
Letters to the Editor-
Computer director responds
to editorial
I agree with Amity Brown
on the fact that some things at
Meredith don’t work BUT that is
primarily because PEOPLE don’t
make them work. As Director of
Academic Computing it is my
responsibility to manage the
computer labs. Note that I said
manage— my belief is that the
labs belong to the college—each
student needs to take responsi
bility for her computer use. When
you use a typewriter, you don’t
expect someone to put paper in
the typewriter. Why then do
students insist on putting signs
on the printers saying the printer
is broken when the printer is out
paper or when the paper is loaded
incorrectly? Yesterday, I re
ceived a complaint that “None
of the printers in the Harris 102
lab were working.” Within 10 min
utes every one was working. None
was really broken. Problems were
no paper, paper not loaded correctly,
ribbon not loaded correctly, printer
switch (printer shared by two com
puters) not set correctly.
I believe that complaining does
absolutely no good UNLESS you
tell the correct person. I also believe
in doing something to correct situa
tions and doing something so the
situation does not happen again.
So, in the Harris computer labs.
see LETTER page seven