Show Stereotypical education benefits no one by Mac Webster opinion editor egjtjmate 1JTY " I consider myself to be a moderate feminist meaning I believe and Midterms are finally over at least for most of us If you happened to be a woman during the testing week and you were suffering from premenstrual tension cramps or other physical side effects there is a good chance you have not finished your midterms Allowing female students to take their tests at dates that will accommodate their men- strual cycle has taken place since 1923 In 1923 tests were taken among many college women to deter- mine the physical and mental problem experienced during the paramen- strum and the intermenstrum The study subjects were asked to report if they had a list of symptoms resulting from their menstrual cycle These women reported that they were suffering from these symptoms and that they were interfering with their ability to perform in class These stud- ies were released and colleges and universities all over the country altered their testing procedures for women In the 1970s America experienced the Women's Movement and with that movement came a new series of tests The difference between the new tests and the old tests was the method of testing Instead of hav-ing women report their symptoms they were tested during their cycle not knowing that they were a part of the menstrual tests The results were shocking women were scoring higher on these tests than they did without their menstrual symptoms These studies were released and col- leges and universities did nothing The lack of acknowledgement of the new studies has impact on two different levels The first is quite apparent women are not getting the fuU benefit of their college experience These women should be tak- ing their test during their menstrual cycle in order to perform their best The second level of impact is even more severe act in conjunction with the beliefs of other moderate feminists The problem I see with testing alterations is that they are entrenching the idea that women are inferior When I am sitting in a class and I see a woman get up and leave the room not wanting to take the test it by Matt Moncar angers me Men go through a cycle also only we don't have the physi- - tfY writer cal problems that women do but I don't get to a take my tests on differ- - "For both Hill and Thomas it was the hardest ent days My perception then is somewhat skewed in terms of the ordeal of their lives But strength and ability of women sse of them was shoulder- in perception men hare of www and rhany the nr fhe burden unfairl- yof society in general 9 fdopted politically W9iyn H may never be known correct standards of speech and writing This see-mto be missing the —Time which one" target Shouldn't we be faming on the reason for this perception rather than the perception itself? Using the terms "waitron" or "herstory" is October 21 1991 It is something Americans rarely imt going tn ? hang ftu have pf pnH jiny women Spelling woman "womban" or "womyn" isn't going to change have the opportunity to watch u The United States Senate on live ftw that perception either inured of placing a £? TV But when political games should take measures to get rid of the problem all together get in the way of individual rights I am a strong believer in the rights of women Based on what 1 watching the senate can become a have seen women on the average have more endurance and are cer-spectacle This was the case tainly equal if not superior to men in terms of intellect I also realize the Clarence Thomas con-that in tnmr phyir! pin awiatpd with mC"ttnia- - during tion is unbearable Rjt those women who are sufferins from incredible Tumation hearings last month At amounts of pain something should be done for themTo assume that the time of his nomination I was the entire gender is in need of special consideration is both incorrect and aganrt Mr Thomas joining the elite on our nations high court I antithetical to the positive perception of women The way I see it there are three changes that need to be made tela- - had my doubts about his qualifi- cations and I must confess that I tive in thU tnpie First that many r nyn iwd miH n laHrati Bymptnma am hamd nn thrir f flffts had hoped beyond hope that Bush tw f would appoint someone who was continued on page eleven SSSSr Life liberty and the right to die? by Sam Pittman Eagle editor Wednesday October 23 was an unseasonably warm day in Oakland Township near Detroit Michigan Five people gathered in a lakeside cabin two of them would not leave alive Sound like a scene from Friday the 13th 7 Close but the circumstances are true to life or should I say true to death Marjorie Wantz and Sherry Miller could no longer live with their pain Miller suffered from Multiple Sclerosis Wantz from pelvic adhesions a disease that causes internal organs to stick to the body's inner linings Though pelvic adhesions are not fatal and Multiple sclerosis rarely is both women were in such pain that neither wished to continue living These women chose to die Enter Dr Kevorkian an angel of mercy who could provide a way for the women to leave this worid in a quiet and dignified manner According to Cheryl Smith staff attorney for the Hemlock Society a right to die organization Kevorkian "has done the nation a service by demonstrating that certain people in hopeless medical situations wish to be helped to die” Many think that Kevorkian should be jailed and tried for murder for helping to terminate our most precious commodity life This docs not demonstrate clear thought but rather thought clouded with emotional and ideological considerations I would begin by challenging the premue thal life bourmosl precious commodity The men and women who have died fighting our nations wan are proof that life is not our most precious commodity I propose that the most precious commodity in our nation is our freedom The freedom of religion speech and like it or not the freedom to die There are certain religious groups that refuse modem medical care If they should become ill do we throw them in prison and force them to accept medical attention? The argument has been presented that no one who desires death can be of sound mind and body There is a rationale that says we should value life above all and anyone who does not subscribe to this rational must be mentally incompetent Because someone does not subscribe to your values does not make them insane in many cases value system is the only sane action going ggainst the accepted I I I y M M I M iI I I H I 1 V 4 VVT I I I would like to think that should my suffering on earth become to great that my family and friends would support me in my efforts to end it We do not even allow our pets to lay and suffer when they are in great pain instead we do the "noble" thing we put them out of mud in the national media in such a manner that his suffering alone led me to support his bid for the vacant seat on the supreme court Things were rocky from the start for Judge Thomas The day after President Bush made the nomination Virginia Governor L Douglas Wilder made news when he criticized Judge Thomas's religious views in the national media He argued that Thomas's Catholicism required scrutiny because of that particular church's stance Wilder apologized pro-lif- e a couple of days later when Thomas's actual religious background was revealed He was bom Baptist converted to Catholicism attended Catholic schools and now attends an Episcopal church in Virginia Now as I recall from my studies of the United States constitution the first amendment protects freedom of religion Mr Thomas's religion shouldn't hare had anything to do with the issues at all Just about any American would be offended if jbetr Religious views were critico&nfthe national media Tragically for Thonuri and the United States the attack on his character would only get worse The entire mood of the "Special Committee hearings on Charges continued on pag eleven their misery Wantz wrote in her suicide note "After three and a half years I God won't find I can no longer go on with this pain and agony come tome I'm going to find God 1 can't stand it any longer” Were this plea made to you directly and it was your decision to allow her death could you force her to continue a life of pain and suffering I do not care what religious or legal justification you give it is callous and inhumane to force a person in this much pain to live The right to die has been defended on the premise that we the people are entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness This premise leaves much room for debate who can say if we are happier after death Jf It is coming to the point where we need a constitutional amendment defending the right to die Death could be regarded as a religious exercise and would be protected under the first amendment but this again leaves interpretation open to ideological judgements The fourteenth amendment comes closest to protecting that right saying that "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States: shall uy Slate (fcprivetny perm of lifejibcnywprointv without due process of law" ur Death is a liberty Without death there cannot be life only existence Death is the natural consequence of life as inalienable as life liberty and the pursuit of happiness The question is not wether I will die but rather am I free to choose the when where and how of mv death In cases like the one involving Miller and Wantz these women have led full active lives They hare done their duty raised their children and been active members of their communities The pain of their afflictions caused them lo choose to end their lives They hare earned that right and no man or government has the right to deny them I I I ( I l‘l 1 1 I I 4 11 - I M 111 I I |