Question Of Values
Rarely have we found it easy to agree 4*
with the ideas and philosophy'of President
Reagan’s Secretary of Education William
Bennett. However, in a recent meet of the
Education Writers Association in Baltimore
Bennett said something that we whole
heartedly agree with and hope that the
parents and teenagers 'of America will
agree with. Bfr. Bennett tpld the writers
that school-based birth control clinics are in
effect an “abdication'of moral authority”
and is therefore an idea thpt if or should be
repugnapt to'our society. t
Bennett said further, “birth-control
clinics in schools may prevent some births.
That I won’t deny. The question is, what
does it teach? What lesson does it teach?
What attitudes does |t encourage? What f
behaviors does it foster?
These questions should be thought pro
u voking reminders 'of what such public
school “health clinics” really represent -
that is - an abandonment of our basic moral -
values'of what is right and what is wrong.
Such clinics, which already exist in
Chicago, Washington, H.C., and a few'otber
large northern cities, in effect wave a flag
that says, “If you must engage in sex don’t
get pregnant; here, take this contraceptive
device to avoid the problems of mother
[ Bdod.”\ \ ;
Providing contraceptive devices'of any
kind to single girls 'or hoys is simply to
encourage and expand the sexual
promiscuity so prevalent in'our Society.
These “clinics” appear to be saying be
*• damned morality and what is decent and
k healthy spiritually and physically Jftave fun,
have sex and don’t tforry about the don
sequences because we have something lor
you to prevent the possibility'of pregnancy.
Furthermore, the assumption' of those
who support those immoral clinics is that if
young people are going lo engage in gex
anyway let’s at least help them to do it
My—
What Mr. Bennett and some right
thinking people' on this subject are saying is
that the only advice to' offer yoythful people
about sex before marriage far don’t do it
because it is mentally, physically and
spiritually wrong.
- Undoubtedly, some adults reading this
column may wonder what is going" on, why
have some public scfidols found it neces
sary to assume that they need these io
calied clinics and what has happened to'our
sense' of decency?
The answers arp two-fold. First, the
whole issue' of sex education and how these
clinics in the public scfidols have arisen
largely because of the apathy and 'or
inability at parents to discuss in candid
terms the issue' of sex in the personal lives
of their children. Secondly, the'bpen and
uninhibited sexual attitudes'of American
society as evident in our television pro
gramming, magazines, the personal lives' of
tdo many movie and TV stars and the design
of women’s clothing with emphasis 'on
revealing more and more of the human
- body.
In summary, uninhibited nudity or provo
cative half dress has become the accepted
norm 'of modern fashion. Television is
crowded with lewd sex, either implicit'or
explicit and homosexuality has been recog
nized by some psychiatrists as tiormal sex
behavior.
The permissivefeex values that the public
school clinics can only compound in the long
run is the already deplorable fact that 54
percent'of all black babies are born'out'of
£'.? wedlock. Parents, teachers, school admin
istrators, church and civic leaders and, yes,
many of 'our youth too must wdric to
revive morally right values 'or the two
parent family will become less than the
norm and millions'of children will wander
throughout life with ho sense'of identity.
This then, a return to traditional values, is
the new American challenge, and the'only
hope for saving" our children.
TW Washburn Case
ckson, the All-American Auburn
ty Football player, said upon being
pick in the rational
. make his o^SwlaJ.
won’t be necessary For anyone to sedond
guess what he'ought to do with his life and
his Career.
Jackson's latter remark was apparently f.
in reference to muchTof the press coverage
being given to hf.C. State basketball player
Chris Washburn’s decision to turn profes
sional after less than two seasons"erf college
level roundball play. Sport columnist Ron
Green noted this when he wrote recently,
“So disturbing was Washburn’s decision
that it has moved off the sports pages to the
editorial pages. An editorial in the Observer
regretted the decision. A Raleigh Times
editorial, in effect, said good riddance.”
What all the comment about Washburn
. .. -v *>_f.‘ 1 \ -i
came down to are a few simple hard facts.
First, N-C. State University accepted
Washburn supposedly as a student with a
,jfuU awareness of his questionable academic
&WWies because'of Ws basketball skills.
These skills^theutiiversity knew couldquite
^ vPoa8i0R i^d ^ ^c6691,s basketban team
to an NCAA national championship. Not lost
in the minds of the Wolkpack supporters too
is the fact that Patrick Ewing’s lour years
at Georgetown University netted the school
over $12 million and quadrupled their
freshman application interest. In addition,/
& the Atlantic Coast Conference’s basketball
prestige will slip a notch with the loss'of
Washburn. ;
* •
Undoubtedly, Washburn like any" other 20
year'old youngster may need to be more
mature before leaping into the world 'of
work. Afterall, if he were a non-athlete who
'' had had a run-in with the law and eventually
left school to go to work it would have dot
merited" one line-of newspaper Copy.
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Crime b A Prewing Problem In The Black Community
Fruit Loops Or Special I
By Sabrina Johnson
Special To The Post
A walk down the cereal
aisle' of the supermarket can
be a lesson in decision mak
ing. Stacked high and
deepen the shelves with their
colorful boxes and zany cha
racters'or simple boxes with
r*-kprig of wheat are hiln
dreds of choices in cereal
brands. All are competing
for the consumer spending
dollar and to do that the
cereals are targeted. Ffom 6
a.m. to 10 a.m.'on weekday
mornings,'one can view, any
given number of “adult”
cereal advertisers; Satur
days are saturated with
cereal adver
l ‘ ipp
cereal
aisle becomes a lesson in
memory and decision mak
ing. If the ad stands out in the .
mind *br the jingle is
hummed, more than likely
that is the box that will be
.chosen. The battle is Won.,
Well, maybe hot The big
.idea being marketed by cereal
'manufacturers is nutrition.
It seems as though sombooe
decided it’s nutrition consum
fters want in their cereal
primarily which is followed
by taste. Today’s consumers,
i health-conscious consumers,
Vi VJaA L' •» V ^ ’r^ *
want more from their cereals
than snap, crackle and pop.
fas^viTO
Granola, the once super
popular cereal, has been re
placed with high-fiber and
calcium-enriched cereals.
[The manufacturers of
cereals are answering the
call. Kellog Ms moved lo a
campaign linking it* high
fiber cereals lo a high-fiber
diet tMt reduces cancer
risks. Pet: Inc. has intro
duced a Calcium-enriched
cereal tMt Hopes to appeal to
women concerned with
enough calcium in their.
. diets, tyutri-Grain is selling
MiVer Says:
Kean’s Recipe: H The UJS. Senate
By ShermaivN. Miller
Special To Hie Post
r often feel that the modus
operand! at Republican
Party gatherings exclude
rather than include lower
socioeconomic groups.
Speaker introducfions are
skewed towards depicting
people as the shakers and
makers. These pedantic in
troductions often leave me
Wondering if thme speakers
had any real ifyderstanding
of the needs' of the pdor.
Each time I come away
from'one'of these Republican
gatherings I lament at bit
because I feel that black
America may never be In
cluded in their agenda* Bid
recently Governor Thomas
H. Kean of the state'of New
Jersey gave me renewed
hope. He received oVer 60
percent'of the blacft vote in
hie reelection effort.
I felt compelled to under
stand what Kean did dif
ferently ffom' other Republi
can candidates, «o I asked
him to comment on his re
election effort.
‘‘We spread the message...
(that) opportunity should be
there for everybody, and we
have to footer in govern
ment, whether it is state'or
federal government, that
kind of message, ” said Kean.
Kean alio felt that one
t Sherman
should not make empty pro
mises but they ought to have
substantive programs to help
minorities progress. •7,
\?‘We had programs to
carry lt out. Whether It was
fostering urban enterprise
zones in the cities which gave
small business an'opportuni
ty, having set-asides for
minority business‘on state
Contracts, helping Some
minority business people
* who were having a hard time
get over Some hurdles. In
any number of areas, we
tried to promote that, to
show, first'of all, dot"only in
tha black Comunity but every
Community, we are willing to
stand behind opportunity and
where barriers existed, state
government was there to
break down those barriers,”
Contends Kean.
I sensed that Kean had
first-hand experience tfork
ing v'ith disadvantaged i
people. Since he understood
the black community’s pri
ority, I asked Kean to'offer
^ guidance to Republican can
didates acfoas the United
States. •
“First we’ve got to remem
ber that the Party was foun
ded by Abraham Lincoln on
the idea of 'opportunity for
all. Sometimes I think we
have forgotten that in the
past; we can’t forget it in
the future. Secondly we sim
ply have got to reach out.
One'of the things that seems
fn Qi irnriio ruwwviA in r
th k ^ P^P*® ,s. J WW t
tunlty to meet with leadenfof
to answer their concerns,
lfiiiyor iv en viosoni 111
Newark said once *t do
pyof ctr\n c\ KaIam <
ever gone Devore.
respond, ine DiacK com*
« ***“^00H claims
. >.v- vawt
•asraetA'uL1' - -
Since the U.S. Senate is up
for grabs in the November
election, the black lead
ership has a golden opportu
nity to make the Republi
cans be responsive to black
issues. The Republican
Party ago has an oppor
tunity to makS significant
infoads in the U.S. House'of
Representatives. Will the
black dbmmuhity get' a
chance to benefit from the
1986 Political Reconcilia
fipn’of the traditional black
leadership and.fte Republic
can Party?
m m
w ; ■ ■ ■
the idea that cereal can be
good for you and taste good,
Granola has lost its ground
because it is high in satyrat
ed fat and brown sugar, and
contains added salt and low
amounts 'of vitamins and
minerals. Today’s consum
ers want to know what’s in
the bowl,
Not" only have ceireal com
*panies added new products to
•their lines, they baveriSdS
fled others. Kellog’s ever
popular Sugar Ffosted
name but the 2.8 teaspdonsof
sugar in an average 'one
ounce serving remains the
*df rthefl the __
Smacks for Honey Smacks r
sugar, notHoney, is still used V
as the sweetner. General
Foods’ Post Super/-Sugar
Crisp has a new name Ido,
Super Golden Crisp.
cereal companies are
aggressivley marketing the
high-fiber cereals, the low
salt-sodium cereals and the
Fitness cereals-but they are
alio marketing the old stand
bys such as Corn Fty&es,
Rice Krispies, and Ffoeted
Flakes.
Old reliable Quaker Oats
Company has added a new
product called Ohls which is
oat rings with fioney
graham or crunchy-nut
centers and its selling well
despite its marketing of taste
ancf hot health benefit.
Among the debate of the
cereal Bowl is the debate of
hof or cold cereal: Hot cereal
oatmeal, has ho sugar or
salt, oat fiber can help
reduce serum cholesterol
levels in a low-fat diet. Nutri
tionists believe oatmeal is
one 'of the beet breakfast
cereals along with Shredded
Wheat. L f
Nutritionists alio state
if one does hot have time
to eat a cdoked breakfast
cereal (i.e., oatmeal) then
chose a cereal low in sugar
and salt but high in fiber.
Breakfast should be high in
carbohydrate-starch and *
fiber, hot sugar, . !
kfaybe a compromise can
be met here. If adults and
children eat high fiber cereal
kfonday through Friday with
skim or low-fat milk and ho
added sugar; watch the news
- will it then be'okay to pop
open a., box'of Cap’n Crunch,
Fruit LdopS' Or S’mores on
Saturday thorning, pour
whole milk on them in a
Bowl, watch cartdons and
plague the Body with all the
stuff that is bad for it but
tastes iogdod in the mouth?
Will nutritionists go along
with this? Besides, If the
sugar cereals were hot sell
ing why would the compan
ies manufacture tiVf^ i