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Show TheSalt Lake Tribune OPINION Friday, D 24, 1999 Civil Rights Laws Often Enforce Equality to the Detriment of Freedom ST. PETERSBURG,Fia. — In Herrison Bergeron, a short story set in 2081, sa Vonnegutspinsoutthe logical extreme ROBYN BLUMNER Teday, the ADA is used by everyone from college students with cognitive problems who demand extra time for assignments and tests to athletes who say 2 society where equality iia bigger value. the competitive rules have to bend to accommodate their physica! problems, Un- y ‘Handicapper with debilitating weights to counteract der the law, the freedomof social institutions to set standards of excellence loses their strength and grace; the smart are out to artificially induced equality. made to wear a mental handiesp radio that makes piercing sounds to interrupt their thinking: and the beautiful don hideous masks. Vonnegut was illustrating the rigid control necessary for absolute equality to exist. It is a tension between equality and freedom thatis notjust some figmentof a fiction writer’s imagination butthatis played out in American society every day. Whether justified or not, our bodyofcivil rights laws enforces equality to the detrimentoffreedom in a myriad of ways. States and counties decree that a proportion ofconstruction contracts be given exclusively to minorities and women in order to “equalize” the distribution of government work.Colleges with federally funded sports programs must provide equal resources to maie and female ST. PETERSBURG TIMES athletics, regardless of the actual demand. And the federal Department of Ed- ucation suggests that relying on standandized test scores such as the SAT for In the Aug.6 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, two Cornell University professors bernoaned this trend and how they had to give a handful of “learningeee students up to 24 times as long exam to compensate for their disability. As opposed to providing mechanical assistance such as ramps for college admissions may be discriminato- wheelchairs and readers for the blind,the But nowhere does government- squishiness of offering extra time for the learning disabled whenit’s impossible to know if the accommodation is compensa- ry, because certain minority groups don’t do as well as others, mandated equality flash closer to Harrison Bergeron’s world than in the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thelaw, passed in 1990, was initially thought of as a measure to give those in wheelchairs a way into office buildings. But like the “Chia pet” of law, it soon grew in absurd ways. authors expressed concern over the tory or advantageous. More to the pointis that these are students at an Ivy League institution claiming they're too slow to meet the requirements of the course.Yet, rather than being told to try another course or college, the law forces the standards downward to meet these students’ Gore’s Use of Sound Effects Cuts Campaign Down to Sighs . . So then said, ‘Sure, but our guy has a wardrobe palette that’s worth four “Tt looked fine. You didn’t overdo it, expression — the perfect mix of friendly and condesce’ ;” “I kept waiting for him to oeone of those elbowshe keeps talking abou “Tf it comes,it Ses—then westart talking temperament, ri on the button,” that sort of thing. We've got “Terrific! Where'd you learn to sigh like that? The guystarted to say anything that could've been a problem for us, there you were, sighing awayclear as a bell!” clear,all of us are born with some kind of there is no mandatory extra time, Dr. Ellen Julian, director of the MCAT,says, “We wonderthatas well.” She notes with resignation that the law gives her no choice but to offer the accommodations: “Tt is not an area that we mayapply our own reasoning. Wefollow theletter of the law; otherwise, there are stiff consequences.” Our own Handicapper General at work. In sports competition, where physical prowess is the very thing being measured, the ADA has forced changes in gamerules to make it easier for physically disabled athletes to participate. Casey Martin, whosuffers from a crippling circulatory disorderin his right leg, has cording to his Miamirelatives. And when xy called Gonzalez to let him know that Elian had survived but that Elian’s motherhad perished at sea, he didn’t de- mandElian back. “You liked the sighs better than the rueful chuckles? I worked pretty hard on the rueful chuckles.” Two days later — after the Cuban govcnet had raised a Babe stink — proclaimed his child had a kidnapped and elonged with him. “The rueful chuckles were good. We thoughtthe sighs were better.” “And the tongue clucks?” Might his governmenthave threatened him if he didn’t seek Elian? Americans unfamiliar with the Cuban “Not as good as thesighsor the rueful regime’s economic system might not understand just what a prime job Gonzalez chuckles. On the tongue clucks, you either haveto get the volumeup, or you have to wait till you're in the shot and combine it with the head shake.” “So the visual reinforces the sound?” “with the head shake . — is three, How about ‘whistiing? I totally confident here’ kind of whistly thing, That would really throw him off stride, don’t you “Maybe, but can you whistle under pressure? The last thing we want is you puckered up on network TV with nothing coming out — we've already got this whole gays-in-the-military thing. We don’t need IR “T’ve gotit!” “You do?” course as the rules require. When asked about what happens to these “learning-disabled” doctors when they confront a medical emergency where seems in Cuba. Those who want 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez returned to his father immediately — noifs, ands or buts — are taking the fatherat his word. That’s naive. Juan Miguel Gonzalez had talked about wanting to leave Cuba before, ac- “So sighing is one, rueful chuckle is two, tongue cluck — PGA to allow him to use a cart during tournament play rather than walk the comprehension. Here’s the deal: Nothing is what it “You think? It felt pretty good from which was the key thing. And your facial successfully used the ADA to force the In the nameof equality, we no longer havethefreedom in this country to design a sport, maketherules and openthefield of play only to those who can compete on BY MYRIAM MARQUEZ ‘THE ORLANDO SENTINEL RICK HOROWITZ where I was sitting.” “Practically on top of him, you mean?” “Well, you said I shouldget in his face.” “And you did a greatjobofit! That noads proposal really caught him by surprise. And that handshake — “Hey, I just kept it out there, just like you said. He didn’t know whether to shakethe thing orspitonit! ‘it’s aploy!” he you; we'll get back to you tomorrow.” Fair enough. So how'd you like the rest of it? Tapping him on the arm look ' OK?” The law school admissions test, the LSAT,and,believe it or not, the medical college admissions test, the MCAT,also offer learning-disabled students up to double time and more to compensate for their problems in reading and those terms. As Vonnegut’s story makes starkly disability. Whether in intelligence, looks, musical orartistic talent, or athleticism, weare notall equal, and society has to be free to set up systems to filter out those whoexcel in particular areas. Jt may be inherently unfair that someoneborn with a learning disability will not be able to become a surgeon, but that unfairness wascaused by the genetic roll of the dice and notbysociety’s irrational prejudice. It is not somethingthe law can correct. At the end of Harrison Bergeron, the title character defies the Handicapper General bycasting off his weights and is shot dead. No freedom is allowed to survive whenequality is the goal. It looks like 2081 is closer than we ‘ink. Does Elian’s Father Mean It? In Cuba,It’s Never That Simple points, minimum.’ And then he — Al! C’monin, we’re just getting started. Great jobin the debate!” says. Well, duh! Isn't that what the kids say? ‘Well, duh'?” “Al, it was a great move! And it led all the coverage, just like we figured. He did getoff that one good line, though: ‘I'm not someone who’s interested in tactics; I'm ‘ interested in the direction this country is taking.’ Not bad.” “Can Luse that?” “Let's poll it first, see how it plays for abilities. Al Gore “Forget whistling — how about armpit noise? You know, where I put my hand under my armpit and —” “It’s got possibilities. You probably couldn’t use it more once or twice a debate, you know, so you'd really have to pick your spets. no question it would “As long as you are.” “Then we're set. Great meeting!” “Great meeting!” shift boat. Elian’s case poses a special circumstance but not a uniqueone. Twenty years ago, ae -old Ukrainian boy sought to stay in the United States. His family had been here six months, but his father had decided to go back to the Soviet Union.Atthe time, the fatherinsisted that his son mustjoin him. “I refused to return to a life of suppression and poverty, to a country where we waited in lines for scraps of food and had no freedom of religion, movement or speech,” Walter Polovchak wrote in The Wall Street Journal last week. Polovchak’s struggle in the courts became more than a doctor, engineer or lawyer. After the Soviet Union's collapse, the truth came out. “Even my father is happy I stayed,” Polovchak stated. “We need to In Cuba’s upside-down, tourism- dependent, U.S.-dol economy, though, Gonzalez can earn more than pe ee, thanks to tourists’ tips in vas said it before: Father and son should be together. What people with Cuba’s repressive system under- stand, though, is that a moot issue when he turned 18. remember we are dealing with a communist country and that Elian’sfather is under a lot of pressure, as my father was from the Soviets.” The federal courts eventually ruled in Polovchak’seeAap oie have human rights, that can protection from can. mess up his timing, and that’s what fortable with that?” pick uphis wife and Elian. Instead, Cuban authorities caught him and put him into jail. Once out, the man started plotting a way to get back here, turning pieces of aluminum and motorparts into a make- has. Here, a hotel doorman won't earn counts,” “OK, so where are we?I've got sighing one, rueful chuckle two, armpit noise three, tongue cluck four. Everyone com- Elian’s own stepfather had arrived i2 Florida 18 months ago in a raft. monthslater, after workingin a car ‘ach and raising all the money hecould, he grabbed a boat and headed back,hoping to The Cuban soughtvisas to move to the United States since a 1994 agreement allowed 20,000 to leave eachyear.Atthatrate, it could take a quarter-century to leave.Is it any wonike that Cubans are jumping on anything thatwill float to get out? enot Just as absolute. nt, if it is so se- cure thatits political and economic sys- tem is fair to all, should have no problem allowing Gonzalez to leave, with his sec- ond wife and baby in tow,to makehis case for Elian in our courts. 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