\
THE
ANTHOLOGY
OF
HARPER ACADEMIC WRITING
( I s sue I )
J
The Engl i sh Department o f Wi l l iam Ra i ney Harper College
Acknowl edgements
The Engl ish Department wi shes to thank
Roberta B . Cohen for her pen and ink cover des ign
and Lisa Larsen for typ ing the manuscript .
The contents o f thi s anthol ogy copyright , 1989
W i l l iam Ra iney Harper Col l ege
Cover artwork , copyright Roberta B . Cohen , 1989
Forward
The Harper Engl ish Department has l ong honored
student f i c t i on , p o etry , and d rama in the H a r p e r
l iterary magaz ine , Point o f View , and each year we
sponsor a writ ing contest for local h igh school stu­
dents .
I t ' s about t ime we honor the wr iting that most
expre sses the academic l i fe o f Harper Col l ege ,
the
writ ing students do in their courses .
The Antho l ogy
of Harper Academic Writ ing makes thi s honor .
The fol­
l owing pages contain some o f the best academic wr i t i ng
done at Harper Col l ege in recent semesters :
es s ays,
non- fiction stories , occas ional p ieces , reports , re­
search papers , arguments , a feature art icl e , an inter­
view , even an essay examination . Representing writers
from f ive departments , they i l lustrate the variety o f
writing done at Harper Col l ege .
We bel ieve you ' l l ad­
mire the ir wr it ing as we have .
I f you ' re a student ,
you may even take a few t ips for your own wr i t i ng .
Jo in with us in congratul at ing these writers .
Then
l ook for the next issue o f our Anthol ogy in Sp r i ng
199 0.
Prec ed ing e a ch s e l ect i on is the i n s t ruc t o r ' s
F o l l owing each is the
descr ipt ion o f the assignment .
instructor ' s eva luat ion .
At the end of the anthol ogy ,
the j udges for this is sue describe the standards for
good writ ing that influenced thei r cho ices .
i
Tabl e o f Contents
Nancy Arnold , "He Is Dead "
( Engl ish )
1
Helene Bene z it , " France and the Un ited State s "
( Engl i sh a s a Second Language )
3
Scott Bern icky ,
" Bonz "
( Engl i sh )
6
Jud ith Brinton , " One S tep Back , T wo S teps Forward "
( Engl i sh )
9
Debra Bul lock , " Backyard Jung l e" and "What i s
Writ ing? "
( Engl ish )
14
Barbara C ierny , Jean Grice , S tephanie McLough l in ,
Suz ann Zeger
"Aims Des ign Phase Report "
( Data Process ing)
18
Chery l Lynn Eyles , "Wheaton"
( J ourna l i sm )
33
Dav id Gayda , " Putting Amtrak on the Right Track"
( Engl i sh )
36
Di ane Hippensteel , " Once Upon a T ime "
Anna Hutch inson , "Nearing the End"
stuart Kravis , " Funding Facts "
( Engl i s h )
( Engl i sh )
Janet Levitzke , " Just Three Months "
Joseph M . Roth ,
( Engl ish)
40
43
45
( Engl ish )
56
" Bus iness Ethics Exam I"
( Ph i l osophy )
59
Jody S e wa l l , " Educat ion f o r the Future "
( Engl ish )
62
Jeanne V . Skarvan , " Anorexia Nervosa :
in a Tiny Package "
( Engl i sh )
66
ii
Big Prob l ems
John Sorrent ino , "Why S ome Dadd ies Don ' t Do Hugs "
( Engl i s h )
84
Emiko Uno , " The United States and Japan "
( Engl i sh a s a S econd Language )
91
Rabea Zayed , " Fighti ng Terrorism :
Are We on the
Right Path? "
( Engl ish )
93
ii i
He i s Dead
by Nancy Arnold
( Engl ish 1 0 1--Tierney )
The Ass ignment :
Write about a personal
experience that had a s igni f icance for
you .
Tel l the story concretely so that
readers can share the experience with
you .
For s ome sma l l rea son he went to t h e d o c t o r .
" Nothing much , " he was told .
" It ' s j ust a polyp .
We
w i l l have to remove it though . "
They did .
The polyp became a tumor , becaus e it
That was when he started to wither .
was mal ignant .
The c o l o r i n h i s cheeks w a s s l i p p i ng away .
The
sparkle in h i s eyes was dimmed a l ittle more each day
with the i ncreas ing pain .
I helped h im move his weakened body around the
house .
Three t imes a week we went down for the rad ium
treatments .
Their purpose was to check the growth o f
the mal icious disease , but the ir e f fect was t o dra in
H i s l eg muscles wou ldn ' t
him o f a l l his strength .
hold h im up any more .
Every movement was p a i nfu l for
h im .
H i s du l l b l ue ey es re g i s t ered every p a n g o f
pain .
Some days he would just s it motionless for hours
and stare out the window .
There wasn ' t anyth ing el se
he could do .
W e ta lked somet imes.
I could even make
I did more for him with those few ch i l d i sh
him l augh .
j okes than a l l the doctors and treatments .
For with
H i s eyes wou ld
the smi les came s igns of recovery .
sparkl e again and h is cheeks seemed to b e regaini ng
some of thei r original , healthy color .
But the t ime
for laughter too soon ended .
With the last radium treatment his body seemed to
rel inquish all cla ims on l i fe .
He never came home
from the hosp ital .
He couldn ' t get of f the t ab l e on
wh ich they had ski l l fu l ly l a id h im for h i s last , l i f e­
restor ing treatment .
They carried h im to a bed and
kept h im .
My h e a r t w a s
The n ex t day I went to s e e h im .
f i l l ed with terror when I saw h im , a l iving corpse
with sunken cheeks and bulging eyes .
The needl e s in
1
his arms pumped in the only nouri shment h i s body had
He turned and saw me s i tt i ng
the strength to accept .
there with tears in my eyes .
He took my hand and
I saw the smi l e.
Then he c l osed
grasped it weakly .
h i s eyes .
The doctor ushered me out of the room .
He i s dead .
The Eva luat ion :
I th ink Nancy ' s es say
succeeds so wel l because it i s powerfu l ,
authent ic and contro l l ed .
I never doubt
her pain or anger , but her organi zat i on
and dict ion avoid sent imental ity and
l ead the reader--and perhaps hersel f
as wel l --to acceptance of the death .
2
France and the United s tates
by Helene Bene z it
( Organi z at ional S k i l l s for Wr it ing ,
Engl ish as a Second Language--S loat )
Write a brief essay
The Assignment :
describ ing some of the s imi l arities
between your country and the United
States ; focus only on those which you
have personal ly not iced .
I ' ve been in Chicago for four weeks , so I have
had some opportun ities to compare American and French
cu stoms , the Ame r i can a nd French way o f l i f e , a n d
American and French hab its .
Although there are many
similarities between the two countries , there are some
d i f ferences .
Let us begin with the s imilarities between France
and the u . s .
France is s imilar to the U . S . in that TV
Every family has one TV .
takes a big pl ace at home .
Peop l e w at ch TV every d a y , a nd u s ua l l y for a l ong
t ime .
Moreove r , a l ot of Amer i c a n mov i e s o r even
American serial s , such as Hunter , Starsky and Hutch ,
and Hitchcock ' s movies , are shown in France .
So I ' m
not homes ick when I watch TV in the u . s .
Secondly , not only in my country , but a l so i n the
United States , there are a l ot of activit ies we can
do .
We can see movies , we can l isten to mus ic i n b ig
We can ' t get
parks , we can vis it interesting museums .
bored in these countries .
Like the U . S . , France is a democracy .
The French
aren ' t under a m il itary government , and ne ither are
the American people .
The French are free :
they can
read any newspapers , they can critic i z e the govern­
ment , and they can have rel ig ion , j ust as Amer ican
people can .
F i na l l y , F rench peop l e l i ke hav i ng f u n .
They
1 ike
j o i n i ng together t o c e l eb r a t e a b i rthday .
s imilarly , American people l ike speaking with friends ,
and they l ike laugh ing .
Neither American nor French
3
peop l e.re fuse opportunities to meet people for a drink
or a round .
But there are many d i f ferences between America
and F r a n c e .
F i r s t , I want t o t e l l y ou wh at the
Ame r i c a n t h i ng s wh i c h a re b e t t e r than the F re nch
things are .
The f irst one i s the kindness o f American
I think Americans speak very eas i ly with for­
people .
eigners .
On the other hand , I read in a newspaper
t h a t t h e F rench w e r e n ' t n i c e w i th f or e i g n e r s .
Ame r i c a n s have a n op en m i nd a nd a re n ' t shy .
They
don ' t hes itate to speak with peopl e .
For examp l e , I
went to a tennis court two weeks ago , and two ladies
were p l aying tennis .
They asked me if I wanted to
play tennis with them , and they took my phone number .
The day a fter that , one of the two women ca l l ed me and
asked i f I wanted to play .
The second d i f ference between France and Amer ica
is the opportunities that American people have to play
Tenn is courts are free here , but in France you
games .
have to p a y f iv e dol l a rs to p l ay .
I n Ame r i c a n
s c ho o l s , students have the opportun i t i e s t o p l a y
games .
There are big parks , tenni s courts , and swim­
m i ng p oo l s , b ut in F ra nce ,
espec i a l l y i n Par i s ,
school s don ' t have such b i g parks .
Th i s i s due to the
fact that there is a space problem .
The third thing that I not iced is that the stores
are open a l l the t ime .
Contrary to American stores ,
French stores are closed on Sundays and a fter 7: 0 0
p . m . every day .
But , a lthough some things are better in America ,
others are better in France .
Now , a French woman i s
I n France we can f ind old houses o r
going t o speak !
We feel
o l d castles that have a " soul " and character .
that these houses have l ived - they have a h i story ,
they keep s e c r e t s and my s t e ry .
But the Ame r i c a n
I n France , we
houses are a l l new , even the furniture .
keep our p a rent s '
furn iture ,
wh i c h i s f u l l o f
memories , whereas American people buy everyth i ng new .
Second , I would say that French TV programs are
more cultural and they have fewer ads wh ich a lways cut
into movies .
Moreover , I prefer the news in France
because it speaks more about internat ional countr i e s
and bus iness .
I n conclusion , I ' l l say that both countr i es are
nice .
I enj oy l iv ing in the U . S . and in France .
But ,
because I ' m French and patriotic , I pre fer l iv i ng i n
my home country .
4
The Evaluation :
Ms . Benez it wrote
exce l l ently from the v i ewpoint of a
neutral observer and a woman who i s
" French and patriot ic , " making her
essay both informative and persona l .
Her organi zation and syntax were out­
standing for her l evel of E S L .
5
The Bon z Episode
by S cott Bernicky
( Engl i sh 1 0 2--Nj us )
The As s ignment :
The purpose of the cha r­
acter assignment was for students to
discover what deta i l s would bring a
character to l i fe .
How would a character
be consistent without being static ;
bel ievab l e , yet capabl e of change?
Beer cans l ittered the room .
" Party Naked " was
written in beer tabs .
Centerfolds were stuck on the
wal l with el ectrical tape .
The fans roared ; the huge fat man on the te l ev i ­
s i on h a d j ust body sl ammed the skinny man .
A b e l ch
cut through the sound of the crowd .
A smi l e came to
Ben z ' s r e d f a c e ; he h a d j ust f i n i s h e d h i s s e v e nth
beer .
He was slumped s ideways in his torn green l azy
boy .
The bedroom smel led of beer , old socks and Aqua
Velva .
He only cl eaned when his parents vis ited , and
they hadn ' t v i s ited s i nce last summer .
Bonz reached over and s i l enced the te l ev i s ion .
" Hey Scooter , l et ' s go to A . T . Zero ' s ; they ' re hav ing
a twenty - f ive kegger . " We wa lked across the street to
a fraternity house .
A lot of peop le were there a l ­
ready .
Bon z y e l l e d , " Bruer!"
He h a d spot t e d a n o l d
fri end from his home town o f Kankakee .
Bonz is study­
ing physical educat ion at I . S . U .
Bruer wa s study ing
at Northern .
" Wha t ' re you d o i n ' up h e r e ?
Hey c a n I h a v e a
beer? "
Bonz grabbed the beer Bruer was drinking , "You
b i g p i e c e o f c rap , I haven ' t s e e n you for m o n t h s .
Geez . " As Bonz pol ished off his beer , Mark wa lked up .
Bonz spit a stream of beer out through his teeth .
" Oh
my God , what is th is . . . a damn h igh school reun i on .
Where ' s the Prom Queen? "
It was the fi rst t ime s i nce
"Now
high school the four of them had been together .
we can rea l ly drink some brewskys .
Hey you got some
dip? "
Bonz was always mooching dips off of us .
We
6
were a l l l ike brothers anyway .
"Why are you a l l dressed up Bonz ? " Mark said as
he pul led his dip can out of his back pocket .
Bonz was sporting a new T-sh i rt .
I t was printed
so it looked l ike overa l l s with tools hang ing out of
the pockets .
He took his Hawa i ian print hat o f f to
scratch his crew cut , sandy brown hair .
He had about
as much ha i r on his face as on h is head because he
" Let ' s go and throw br icks
hadn ' t shaved for a week .
at my car , " Bonz shouted .
We a l l thought he shoul d be
With great determinat ion we
a recruiter for the Army .
all staggered outs ide with Bonz in the l ead .
I didn ' t think that we could do much more damage
to the al ready damaged car .
The forest green paint
was barely v i s ible beneath rust that was slowly eat ing
S i lver duct tape
through the rema ining body pane l s .
held the window down , and the front bumper wa s held on
with coathangers .
" Ouch " wa s written in b l ack pa int
across one of the many dents .
Bonz threw the f irst brick .
We a l l began beating
We were having so much fun kicking and
up Bonz ' s car .
throwing rocks at the car nobody not iced that Mark had
passed out , except Bonz .
" Oh my God ,
the hos er i s p u ck i n ' a l l ov e r
himsel f ! "
Bonz ran over and cradled Mark i n h i s arms .
I rea l ly don ' t think he shou l d
" He ' s blue , S cooter .
be b l ue !
What should w e d o . . . oh my God what shou l d we
do ? "
Bon z l ooked re a l l y conce rned .
" O ne o f my
friends d i ed o f alcohol blood poisoning .
Swear to
God , j ust last month , " Bruer said as he shrank away
from the puke-sta ined Mark .
Without saying a word
Bonz carried his buddy to the car .
He drove us to the
hosp ital with Mark on his arm j ust l ike a g i rl friend ,
We w e r e a l l
but Bon z h ad never had a g i r l f r i end .
s i l ent in the car .
I had known Bonz s ince kindergar­
t e n , we a l l h ad , and none of us had ever s e e n h i m
serious .
When we got to the emergency room , Bon z carried
Mark in .
The nurse told Bonz to put Mark down on the
Bonz re fused to leave Mark ' s s ide ; he stayed
gprney .
th rough th e stomach pump ing .
B ru er and I h a d t o
leave .
I l iked Mark a lot , but seeing his stomach
contents in a bowl was too sick for me .
About two
hours later Mark came around .
Bonz was there , chew ing
Mark ' s dip and spitt ing in a bed pan .
The nurse came
by to check on the pat ient .
Bonz belched loudl-y , " Hey
ch ick , gotta Bud? "
7
The Eval uation :
Vivid deta i l s and hum­
orous dial ogue show us Bonz ' s puz z l ing
yet conv inc ing trans formation .
S cott ' s
conc ise comments add to the humor , as ,
"He [ Bonz ] only cleaned when h i s
parents v i s ited , and they hadn ' t
v i s ited s ince last summer , " or provide
counterpo int to the act i on , as " I
had known Bonz s ince kindergarten , we
a l l had , and none of us had ever seen
h im serious . " Present ing Bonz dramat­
ical ly , through his own act i ons and
words , S cott has created a character
who indeed comes to l i fe and rema ins
bel ievable throughout a trans format ion .
8
One Step Back , Two S teps Forward
by Judith Brinton
(English 101--Dodds)
The Ass ignment :
Write a personal exp­
erience essay in the part i c ipant ' s
role .
Make your essay the story o f
a journey you ' ve taken .
I t rna� b e an
actual journey , through space and
t ime , or a sp iritua l , emot ional , or
int ell ectual journey of d i scovery and
change .
Another school year has ended . I ' m exc ited about
being out of school but w i l l miss my friends and my
teacher , Miss Hausech ild .
The y e a r i s 1 9 6 6 ; next y e a r I ' l l b e i n th i r d
grade .
I ' ve l ea rned how to t e l l t ime a nd cu rs ive
writing ; what else is there? Miss Hausechi l d wants to
see Christ ina and me a fter school .
There ' s on ly a
hal f day o f school today , so she wants us to go home
and eat lunch f i rst .
I run up to the back door and
My eyes open
peek through the fingerprinted glass .
A peanut but­
wide ; Mommy has made my favorite lunch .
The peanut butter i s
ter and sweet p ickl e sandwich .
spread o n thick and ooz ing out the s ides .
The sweet
pickles are dripp ing their delectable juices a l l over
my pl ate .
I fl ing open the door and run over to my
mommy giving her a b ig hug and kiss .
Mommy smiles down at me and asks , " Did you see
Miss Hausechild yet? "
I r e s pond , " Sh e tol d Chr i s t i n a a nd me to come
She takes my hands and pl aces them
back a fter lunch . "
Her hands are soft l ike my favor ite
around my face .
teddy bear .
I look up at her as her eyes begin to
f i l l with moi sture and one single drop f a l l s onto her
cheek .
I ask , "Mommy is something wrong? "
Mommy s ay s , " No , no , not h i n g i s wrong ; you ' r e
I look up at the clock and
j ust gett ing so grown up . "
it says 12 : 4 5 .
No wa it a minute it says 1 : 1 � ; I a l 9
I ' l l have to
ways peem to have trouble tel l ing t ime .
hurry to be on t ime .
As I walk back to school , I f ind mys e l f almost
runn ing ; I barely notice how sweet the a i r sme l l s or
how the f l ow e r s a re un fo l d i n g i nt o f u l l , v i b r a n t
col ors and shapes .
My mind is rac ing frant ica l ly ,
try ing to f igure out why Miss Hausechild wants to see
me .
She has been my favorite teacher and has given me
a great deal o f attent ion .
Mommy ha d me ask wh a t
I ' l l bet she wants to thank me
color her kitchen was .
for the pretty kitchen towe l s .
J u s t a s I am r eady to w a l k i n t h e door I s e e
Suddenly I
Christina s itting with Miss Hausech i ld .
feel sad .
Christ ina has not done very wel l th i s year ;
I'm
s h e h a s h a d d i f f i cu l t y w i th h e r school wor k .
A s I l ook
a f ra i d she i s g o i ng t o b e h e l d b a c k .
through the window in the door , I think how pretty
Miss Hausech ild l ooks w ith her ha i r al l wrapped up on
I am
top of her head and her soft and sooth ing face .
a l so thinking how awful it would feel to be held back
a year ; the hum il iat ion and embarrassment would be a l ­
I see Miss Haus ech i l d stand ,
most too much t o bea r .
I step back and f ind mysel f
they must be f in i shed .
g l ued aga inst the wal l .
I don ' t want to see Chr ist ina
when she comes out .
It doesn ' t seem fair that I feel
The door opens .
so good and she feels so bad .
Chr ist ina looks me directly in the face with tears in
her eyes .
Be fore I can utter a word , she runs past
me , rustl ing the p ictures that l ine the ha l l , leav ing
me with a l ingering sensation of her pain .
M i s s H a u s e c h i l d mot i on s me i nto th e room , I
quickly forget about Christ ina and turn a l l my atten­
t ion to her .
My stomach has butterfl ies and my face
is f l ushed with excitement .
She begins to exp l a in , " This i s not easy for me . "
I think to mysel f , what ' s not easy?
She cont inues ,
" A f t e r a l ong d i s c u s s ion w i th your p a re n t s we ' v e
d e c i d e d t h at the b e s t t h i n g for you i s to r e p e a t
The butterfl ies i n my stomach turn
second grade . "
into a s ick feel ing ; the flush of color on my face i s
now embarrassment instead of excitement .
I want to
spe a k , but ca nnot .
A 1 ump beg i n s to sw e l l in my
throat , my l ips begin to quiver and tears we l l up in
my eyes .
I wonder , can she be talking to me?
As she
cont inues to speak , I see her l ips moving but I don ' t
hear what she ' s saying .
As I walk home my body i s numb .
The a i r i s no
longer sweet ; I sme l l only the sour aroma of the gar­
bage truck passing by .
As I take the short cut home ,
I hear the crush ing of flowers beneath my feet ; I ' m no
10
longer running but wa lking , barely l i ft ing my feet o f f
the ground .
When I arrive home , I aga in peek through the back
door .
Mommy has cl eaned off a l l the fi ngerpr ints on
the glass and I can see clearly now .
A l l that i s l e ft
from my l unch is a few crumbs on my p l ate .
As I open
the door I think , why me?
She
Mommy i s by my s i d e a l mo s t immed i a t e l y .
wants t o know i f I want t o talk about what h a s hap­
I
pened .
S h e wan t s to know i f I und e r s t a n d why .
th i n k t o mys e l f do I unde r s t a nd why , do I w a n t t o
talk?
NO!
But I say , " No Mommy , we don ' t need to
Miss Hausech i ld expla ined everyth ing ; th i s wil l
tal k .
be the best thing for me . "
I think to mysel f .
isn ' t that what you ' ve a l l dec ided?
I spend the rest
of the day in my room feel ing alone and withdrawn ,
knowing no one could ever understand what th i s has
done to me and rea l i z ing I could never let them know .
I ' m so scared .
Today is the f irst day o f second
grade for me , and the f irst day of thi rd grade for a l l
my friends .
I don ' t want t o go , I ' m not the same per­
son anymore.
Now I ' m d e f i ned by my i na b i l i t y t o
learn .
I look up from the s idewalk and f ind myse l f
directly in front o f the school ; I want to run but
I stand in
there ' s nowhere to go , nowhere to h ide .
Many of the other kids
the classroom door peering in .
My eyes begin to b l ur and
are al ready in the room .
Al l I see i s one enor ­
the ir bodies beg in to bl end .
mous creature looking down at me .
As I feel myse l f
be ing consumed , I hear someone cal l ing my name .
It ' s
Miss Mi l ler , my teacher ; she wants me to take my as­
s igned seat .
As I look for my cha ir , my eyes beg in to
clear and I notice al l the other kids look a s fr igh­
t e n e d a s me .
My h e a r t b e g i n s to s l ow a nd my body
begins to rel ax .
Maybe th is won ' t be so bad .
Al l of
Next thing I know it ' s t ime for recess .
the c lasses have recess together .
Th i s wi l l be the
f i rs t t ime I ' 1 1 s e e my f r i ends from l a s t y e a r .
Everyone dashes out the doors but me ; I l a g behind .
The pl ayground is f i l l ed with kids runn ing and j ump­
ing .
I not i c e two g i r l s w a l k i ng in my d i r e c t i on ;
they ' re waving .
I turn around but no one ' s there ,
they must be waving at me .
OH NO!
They ' re from last
year ' s class ; one of them is call ing my name .
I try
to act as though I don ' t not ice them , but i t doesn ' t
work .
Be fore I can react , they ' re standing bes ide me ,
out of breath and exc ited to see me .
"Who is your third grade teacher , " one asks?
I
don ' t know what to say ; I open my mouth but noth ing
11
comes out .
One of the boys in my class runs beh ind me and
blurts out , "We have Miss M i l l er . "
K a thy a s ks , " M i s s M i l l e r , she t e a c h e s s e cond
grad e .
d i d you f l unk? "
I cou l dn ' t a n s we r ; I
didn ' t have to .
Tears wel l ed up in my eyes .
Th i s was
j ust the beginn ing , or was i t the end?
Going through second grade aga in made me feel in­
adequate and rej ected .
At the same t ime , I f e l t a new
surge o f conf idence and strength .
Miss M i l ler went
out of her way to make me feel " smart " and important .
Things tended to come eas i er for me .
I ' d seen and
I felt sure of mysel f ; as i f
done a l l of th is before .
I cou l d d o anything , but would thi s feel ing last?
The year is 1 9 7 6 .
I l ie in bed restless and un­
I can ' t bel i eve that I am--yes , me-­
abl e to s l eep .
represent ing my high school in the state compet it ion
There are two days
for a rt i st i c merchand ise disp l ay .
of test ing .
We started today by crit i qu ing window
We j udged everyth ing from a shoe d i splay to
disp l ays .
a perfume display .
Our assessments were then j udged
by a panel of experts .
Tomorrow there wi l l be a wr i t ­
It wi l l cover everyth ing f rom
t e n comprehens ive exam .
techni cal excel l ence to sel l ing power .
Th is compet it ion i s the first thing I ' ve rea l ly
I was
c a r e d a bout du r i ng a l l my y e a r s i n school .
never in any extra curricular act ivit ies ; there were
no dance or piano les sons .
I found it was eas ier not
to t ry than to try and fa i l .
I t ry to r eas sure my s e l f , know ing I ' v e worked
long and hard to reach th i s point .
I t doesn ' t work!
Al l I see i s that l ittle g i rl who couldn ' t even make
it through second grade .
I don ' t feel prepared .
I
shou l d have studied more .
I ' m scared !
I op�n the door and take a deep breath .
As I en­
ter the room fear sends an el ectrical shock through my
body .
I beg i n t o f e e l a l l the f a c t s a nd f o rmu l a s
sl ipp ing away .
The door s l ams behind me .
I l ook up
and there are four hundred other people here for the
same test .
My head goes bl ank .
A f t e r the t e s t i s comp l et ed I run b a c k to my
I begin r ipp ing and tearing pages from my text
room .
books , fee l i ng the same sense of fai lure I exper ienced
I thought I had come to terms wi th
so many years ago .
f a i l ing second grade and actua l ly bel ieved that hard
work was always rewarded .
The alarm r ings ;
it ' s t ime to get ready for the
12
award p r e s e n ta t i on s .
I dre s s q u i c k l y .
We w e r e
d i re ct e d t o w e a r " approp r i at e " a tt i re ,
suits or
dresses .
Feel ing depressed I wear faded j eans and an
old sweater , knowing I won ' t be on center stage .
The announcer steps forward and a hush f a l l s over
the aud i ence .
The p roce ed i ngs b e g i n w i th the a n ­
nounc ement o f the s ix f i n a l i s t s i n t h e d i s p l a y
category .
I have al ready prepared mysel f for the d i s­
appointment .
The l ights d im , a name rings out :
" The
first f inal ist in the display category i s Judy
Thompson from Arl ington High School . "
I ' m in shock ; did he real ly ca l l my name?
I 'm
para lyzed , I can ' t move , my body i s weak .
I make my
way up to the plat form .
As he p l aces the meda l around
my neck , tears of j oy f i l l my eyes cl earing away any
I f ina l l y rea l i z e
feel ings of sel f -doubt or fai l ure .
that i f I work hard enough and long enough a t anyth ing
I w i l l a lways succeed .
The Eva l uation :
Like a l l good personal
experience writ ing , Judy Brinton ' s essay
shares important discoveries .
And it
does s o through deta i l s both vivid and
reveal ing .
Remember the glass o f Judy ' s
back door , f i rst fingerprinted then wiped
cl ean? I do .
13
Backyard Jungl e
b y Debra Bul l ock
( Engl i sh 1 0 1--Sternberg )
Asked to describe a
The Assignment :
chi l dhood place , Ms . Bul l ock remembers
her f ather ' s garden where her imagina­
t ion f louri shed .
When a chi l d plays al one his companions a re im­
agination and curios ity ; with these companions I ex­
There
pl ored the jungl e that was my father ' s garden .
I found a world of adventure , and at the t ime I f e l t I
wa s the o n l y p e r s o n wh o c ou l d s e e what w a s r e a l l y
there .
The garden took up the bulk o f our backyard .
It
was a jungle o f tall cornsta lks , so numerous that at
ful l he ight there were dark passageways between them ,
just c a l l ing for me to come and expl ore .
I nto these
passageways I would carry my fearsome T inkertoy spear ,
packing a l ethal tip o f stra ight pins held on w ith
Scotch tape .
Smokey , my b l ack cat , wou l d somet ime s
appear in this jungle , h i s ebony coat s l i nk i ng a l ong
panther-l ike be fore me through the towering sta l ks .
I
would raise my spea r , t ip-toeing beh ind h im l ike the
experienced hunter I felt I must be .
Then he wou ld
f i nd s ome n i ce , s o ft d i r t , d i g , a n d s qu a t .
" Oh ,
Smokey ! 11 'I wou l d s a y , a n d he ' d b l i nk a t me c o n ­
t e n t ed l y .
I w ou l d never have dreamed o f a c t u a l l y
hu r t i n g Smokey , but h i s c a s u a l d i s re g a rd o f b e i n g
sta lked b y a m ighty hunter would put a dent i n m y fan­
tasy .
One day , whi l e hunt ing in the cornstalk j ung l e , I
saw a member o f an enemy tribe ; my s ister was standing
outs ide the garden , maki ng fun o f me .
I approached
the enemy , ra ised my spear and said , " I ' l l spear you!"
My s ister continued to shake with l aughter .
As I f elt
the warmth o f anger and humil iat ion run through me , I
d i d what any sel f-respect i ng hunter would do - I f l ung
my mighty spea r , and it struck her thigh .
On her l eg
I saw the red , round punctures , which looked l ike a TB
14
test .
At f i rst surprised that I had actua l ly done it ,
I then smi l ed a m i ghty h u nter ' s s m i l e . The en emy
retreated , screaming :
"Mom ! "
There was much to hunt and expl ore i n the back­
yard jungle .
In June the tal l hedge border ing the
garden woul d b l ossom into clumps of creamy ,
sweet­
sme l l ing f l owers , which attracted butterf l ies .
The
morn i n g a i r wou l d b e h eavy w i th the s c e n t o f the
f l owers as I ' d take my dad ' s f ishing net and scoop o f f
the exotic l ooking butter f l ies .
Once I had a but­
t e r f l y in the net I wou l d h av e to be qu i c k a b o u t
p l u c k i ng i t out , b e c a u s e w it h jus t a w ig g l e a n d a
twist a butterfly could escape the open weave o f the
f i sh net .
I would ident i fy the butterfly us i ng my
f ather ' s butterfly book , and unless it was someth ing
Somet imes th i s usua l ly
unusual , I would rel ease it .
benign form o f hunt ing had tragic results , for when
too much of the butterfly ' s powdery , meta l l i c dust
would come o f f on my f ingers , the butterfly was l e f t
with useless wings .
I f e l t very sad and gu i l ty when
this happened .
The g a rd e n w a s a l s o a g o od p l a c e f o r a n a r ­
chaeo l ogical d ig .
The earth had been churned deep , so
I n my
I f i gu red th e r e mu st b e f o s s i l s in t h e r e .
sol itary garden digs , ordinary stones became anc ient
bones , and cent ipedes were the st i l l -exist ing preh i s ­
toric creatures that onl y I knew ex isted .
Fu l l o f the qu i et movement o f i n s e c t s a n d t h e
s o f t ru s t l e o f the w i n d t h r ough the t ow e r i n g
c o r n st a l ks , the g a rden was my jung l e .
T h e r e my
curios ity and imaginat ion were as fert i l e as the s o i l .
My jungle adventures taught me respect for nature , and
showed me that contentment can be found i n sol itude .
Now I ' m grown up , and I don ' t have t ime for p l a y i ng
imaginary games .
But in my b ack yard , I have a gar­
den .
The Evaluat ion :
The voice o f the adu l t
recal l ing with irony and amusement a
place o f chil dhood adventure enriches
this descript ive narrat ive .
15
What I s Writing?
by Debra Bul l ock
( Engl ish 1 0 1--Sternberg )
The Assignment :
Ms . Bul l ock was asked
to d iscover a definit ion o f writing
through personal re f l ect ion on spec i f ic
writ ing experiences .
Who am I to exp l a i n what it means to write?
I 'm
just a freshman in col lege , taking my f irst compos i ­
t ion course - with my l ack o f education in the sub ­
ject , how can I tel l you what it means to write? Read
on , and you ' l l see .
I ' ve been writ ing in some form s ince I was about
11 years o l d ,
and since you ' re probably wonder ing ,
that was 1 6 years ago .
From the beg inning , wr i t i ng
f o r m e h a s b e e n mu ch more th a n the a ct o f p u t t i n g
Somet imes i t i s an exorc ism , re l e a s ­
words o n paper .
ing pa in-caus ing dev i l s from my heart and soul .
That
was the form my writ ing took at the beginning , pu l l ing
me through those f irst excruciating years o f ado l e s ­
cence .
I kept a diary during those years , and t oday I
can barely force mysel f to read and re-exper i ence the
pain o f discover ing boys and reject ion , bew i l de r i ng
c h a n g e s i n b ody and emot i ons ,
the cr i s i s o f my
s i ster ' s teenage pregnancy ,
and cur ios ity about my
brother ' s drug hab its .
Without the release that wr i t ­
ing p rov ided , I don ' t know how I woul d have surv ived.
Writing is not a lways a release of pain , but can
a l s o be an express ion of joy .
My writ ing took th is
turn when I fell in l ove .
I had been experiment i ng
with verse at the t ime , but when l ove overtook me my
w r i t i n g b e c ame a n emot i o n a l t o rrent , f l ow i ng i n t o
oceans o f paper .
I wrote reams o f verse reve l i ng i n
and wondering a t those t i d a l waves o f feel ings that
These are writ ings I l ike to
kept wash ing over me .
dig out and read over aga in , and when I get fed up
w i th my h u s b a n d they a r e rem i nd e r s o f what we ' v e
shared and why we keep at it .
S omet imes wr iting i s a way to document event s you
feel are important not only to you , but to someone in
the future .
Th is is what I did when my daughter was
16
born .
When she was just an infant , I wrote a series
of letters to my someday-teenage daughter describing
the event o f her b i rth , her f i rst accomp l i shments , and
my feel ings throughout those experiences .
I hope that
these writ ings not only g ive her a sense o f her own
personal history , but let her experience the un ique
feel ings a new mother has for her chi l d .
Writ ing is the form o f communicat ion I am most
I have suffered those a ilments descr ibed
suited for .
as " h o o f i n m o u t h d i s e a s e " a n d " t o n g u e t i e d"
I f I had a dol l ar for every t ime
throughout my l i fe .
I ' ve said somethi ng I wish I hadn ' t , the amount would
make Lo t t o l o ok l i ke sma l l change .
And a s k me t o
speak i n f ront o f a group of peop le , and you may get a
p o o r im i t a t i o n o f P orky P i g ( " b-d e e . . . b -d e e . . . b ­
dee , . . . . uh . . . that ' s a l l folks " ) .
I want peop l e to
know what I have to say , and with the tool s of wr it i ng
I can g ive them the message in the most e f f i c i ent way .
I can take t ime to choose my words carefu l ly , and I
c an t ry t o p o s i t i on them e f f e ct ive l y .
I f I wr i t e
someth i n g a n d t h en de c i de I d on ' t l i ke i t , I c a n
But you can never get rid o f
s imply throw i t away .
the spoken word - it ' s etched i n someone ' s memory .
Somet imes I wish we a l l communicated with notes and
l etters - it woul d sure help me avo id troub l e and em­
barras sment .
So ,
i s wr i t i ng s ometh i n g t o t a l l y g o o d and
pl easurabl e ? Is it a lways something I am eager t o do?
No , because I never know which form my wri t i ng w i l l
take .
I hes itate to begin a writ ing for fear it w i l l
exorcise some o l d dev i l , bringing t o mind some thought
or memory that g ives me pain .
But in the course o f
writing , it ' s a s i f the words are b l eeding through my
f i ngers , and i f there is pain , it bl eeds away onto the
paper .
I f there is joy , or memories , or ideas , they ,
too , are released through the f low o f words onto the
paper .
Fina l l y , I ' m left with a sense of rel i e f and
I n the e nd , I have c omp l e t ed my
a c c omp l i shment .
favor ite form of sel f-expression . . . writ i ng .
The Eva luation :
Sens itively chosen words ,
spec i f ic inc idents and metaphor convey
Ms . Bul lock ' s del ight in discovering
how writ ing has informed her l i fe .
17
Aims Des ign Phase Report
by Barbara C ierny , Jean Grice , Stephanie McLoughl i n ,
Suz ann Z eger
( Data Process ing 2 04 --Bender )
The Ass ignment and Evaluation :
In DPR2 0 4 ,
Advanced Systems Analys i s and Des ign ,
my students have to take a project from
from the start ( Study Phase) to the
comp l et ion where it is actual ly working
( Impl ementat ion Phase ) .
The students
write papers on each o f the four phases
( Study Phase , Des ign Phase , Devel opment
Th i s
Phase and Implementation Phase . )
paper is one that was submitted for the
Design Phase by one o f the teams .
I
f e l t it was an excel l ently prepared
paper in that it was c l ear , conc ise and
The team was very meticul ous
prec i se .
about making sure everything was present
and neatly done -- just l ike one would
need to be in the bus iness world if one
were present ing it to the user .
The
suppl ementa l information was a l so wel l
done .
Even though we had t o condense
it s ign i f icantly for thi s publ icat i on ,
I feel it is a good representat ion o f
the work that i s done i n our systems
courses .
18
I.
SYSTEM S COPE
A.
System Titl e :
App l icant I nqui ry
Matching System ( AIMS )
B.
Prob l em statement and Purpose :
The p r ob l em i s t h e unprodu c t i v e
amount o f t ime s p e n t l o ok i n g t h rough
s t a c ks of papers f o r names ,
back­
ground s , a n d ph one numb e r s .
Mu ch o f
the t ime spent s e a rc h i ng f o r a n ap ­
p l icant is based on hunches -- a vague
memo ry o f an app l i c a nt w i th a p a r ­
t icular type o f background -- and t ime
is spent reca l l ing h isjher name .
A new
job order is cal l ed i n and an appl icant
f r om a f ew y e a r s a g o m i ght be i n t e r ­
e s t e d ( o r know s omeone who i s ) a n d
the i r name and phone number need to be
retrieved in a timely manner .
T h e p u rp o s e i s t o d e v e l o p a
d a t a b a s e f o r app l i c an t i n f o rm a t i o n .
The i n d i v i d u a l r e c o r d f o r e a ch ap ­
pl icant would contain only vital in for­
mat ion such as name , phone numbers , ex­
p e r i ence , s a l a ry , a nd emp l o yer .
In­
qu i ry c a n b e made t o 1 i s t a l l ap ­
pl icants with a part icular type o f ex­
p e r i en c e .
The qu a l i f i e d a pp l i c a n t s
w i l l b e l i st ed a l phabe t i ca l l y o n the
screen andjor a report .
c.
Constra ints :
1.
2.
3.
4.
Development o f AIMS i s to be
compl eted by 1 2 / 0 7/ 8 8 .
The system must be able to add new
app l i cants and to modi fy or del ete
the exist ing data .
The system must provide secur ity
control mechan i sms .
The system des ign must be
conf igured for an I BM PC .
19
D.
Spec i f ic Objectives :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
E.
To reduce t ime spent retri ev ing
app l i cant data by 5 0 % .
To categori z e app l icants by the i r
experience with :
a.
Hardware/Operat i ng Systems
b.
Programming Languages
c.
Database
Data Communicati ons
d.
e.
Title ( l evel o f experience )
Type o f App l ication ( f ield o f
f.
experience )
To provide a l ist ing o f app l icants
with various comb inat ions o f
experience in a t imel y manner .
To match by inqu i ry an appl icant
with a job order .
To provide a complete l i sting o f
app l icant database .
Method o f Evaluation :
A fter AIMS has been operational for ten
( 1 0 ) days :
1.
2.
3.
II .
T ime spent retrieving app l i cant
data wi l l be recorded da i l y to
determine product ivity .
A printed report w i l l b e eva luated
for accuracy o f requested data
and to determine e f f ici ency o f
system .
A personal evaluat ion o f AIMS w i l l
b e obtained from the princ i p l e
user .
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A.
Conclusions :
The des ign phase activ i t i e s sub­
s t a n t i a t e the resu l t s o f th e study
phase act ivities , and no maj or changes
in the AIMS project are requ i red .
We
w i l l n o t p l a c e a n o r d e r f o r th e
hardware l i sted in the System Resource
I dent i f icati on section unt i l we are
20
able to demonstrate AIMS
ent ity to the user .
as
a working
No special problems were encoun­
tered during the des ign phase , and the
The
AIMS p roject i s on s ch edule .
des ign phase hours were 1 2 8 which is 3 0
hours l ess than the estimated hours o f
158 .
This was due t o the completion o f
certain des ign phase activities i n the
The study ph a s e h o u r s
s tudy pha s e .
w e r e 7 9 wh i c h exceeded t h e e s t i m a t e d
In cons idera­
hours o f 6 0 by 1 9 hours .
tion of the 3 0 hours we ga ined in the
des ign phase l ess the 19 hours we l ost
in the study ph a s e , we a r e curre n t l y
ahead of schedule by 1 1 hours .
The dev e l opment p h a s e p r o j e c t
hours were orig inal ly est imated t o be
3 1 5 a t 4 5 hours p e r week .
We h ave
decided to revise this est imate to 2 8 0
at 4 0 hours per week .
We feel th i s i s
more real istic and that we are capab le
of p e r f o rm i ng the act iv i t i e s in tha t
amount o f t ime .
A l s o , we have a n 1 1
hour buf fer from the preceding phases
that w i l l protect us in case we requ ire
more t ime .
B.
Recommendations :
I t i s rec ommended that the A I M S
project b e approved for the deve l opment
phase .
III .
DESIGN SPECIFICATION
A.
External Des ign Requ irements :
1.
Fl owcharts
Figure 1 i s an
information-oriented system flow­
chart for AIMS .
The accompany ing
narrative appears as figure 2 .
21
2.
System Output Requi rements
three AIMS outputs are :
The
a.
Job Candidate display f igures 3 & 3 a
b.
Job Candidate report f igures 4 & 4 a
c.
Appl icant Database report f igures 5 & Sa
A print chart and a data e l ement
l ist for each output are presented
in the f igures l i sted b e l ow .
3.
System Input Requ irements
AIMS are :
a.
b.
The two
Appl icant data
Job order
4.
Sys t e m I n t e r f a c e R e qu i r e m e n t s
Thi s i s not appl icab l e t o the AIMS
project as AIMS is a newly created
system where none has exi sted pre­
vious ly .
5.
System Test Requirements The sys­
tem tests w i l l be conducted i n two
stages .
The f irst stage o f test­
i n g w i l l b e run as i n an a ctua l
operat i n g s y s t em but u s i ng t e s t
input data .
The second stage wi l l
i nv o l v e the u s e o f a c t iv e d a t a .
A l l tests w i l l be performed by the
test team and be approved by the
user .
6.
A IMS
Equ ipment Spec i f i c a t i o n s
w i l l i n c o rp o r a t e t h e f o l l ow i n g
hardware :
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
One I BM 5 0 Personal Computer
One 3 0mg Hard Drive and Two
3 - 1/ 2 Disk Drives
One Hewl ett Packard Laser
Printer
One Keyboard
One Disp lay Terminal
22
7.
B.
P e r s o n n e l a n d T r a i n i ng Requ i r e ­
ments
N o add i t i o na! p e r s o n n e l
wi l l be requ i red .
Two four-hour
tra ining sess ions w i l l be requ i red
t o t ra i n the two u s e r s o f A I MS .
Re ference manuals w i l l be used to
fac i l itate the hands-on approach
of training .
I nternal Des ign Requirements :
1.
Computer program component design
requirements
a.
Fl owcharts The process­
oriented system fl owchart
is shown in f igure 8 .
The
narrat ive descript ion o f the
f lowchart appears in the
lower part of the same
figure .
b.
Expanded Fl owcharts Figure 9
dep i c t s the AI MS e xp a n d e d
process-oriented system f l ow­
chart .
The accompanyi ng nar­
The
r a t ive is f ig u re 1 0 .
d a t a f l ow d i ag ram , u s e d t o
develop the expanded process­
o r i e nted sys tem f l owcha r t ,
appears as f igure 1 1 .
F igure
12 shows the H I PO charts for
AIMS .
Data Base Requirements
The
AIMS master f i l es w i l l be i n ­
dexed f i l es .
E ach maste r
record w i l l contain 1 4 data
elements , for a total of 1 8 8
characters .
Figure 1 3 i s a
record l ayout .
c.
The memory reserved for th i s
project p rov i d e s e nough
storage capac ity for ap­
p r o x i m a t e l y 4 , 0 0 0 l o g i ca l
records , which al l ows amp l e
r o om f o r c u r r e n t s t o r a g e
requirements and expans i on o f
23
the s y s t em a n dj o r c om p a n y .
Refer to figure 1 4 for dBASE
I I I PLUS speci f icat i ons and
refer to figure 15 for f i l e
capac ity calcu l a t i ons .
d.
C o mpu t e r P r o o r a m C o n t r o l
Requirements
The AIMS com­
p u t e r p ro g r am modu l e s w i l l
prov ide
the
fol l ow ing
contro l s :
(1)
(2)
e.
2.
Edit a l l input data for
val idity
Author i z ed access by use
of passwords
Computer Program Component
Test Requirements The com­
puter program modu l e is to be
tested by the test team , as
devel oped .
Tes t i ng w i l l con­
tinue unt i l the ent i re com­
puter program modu l e has been
tested .
Tests wi l l i nc lude
both val id and inva l id data .
Comouter Prooram Des ign
ments - AIMS Program
Requ i re­
a.
Detai led Program Fl owcharts
The AIMS program components
are represented in f igures 16
and 1 7 .
b.
Transact ion Fi l e Requ i rements
The transact ion f i l e requ i re­
ments for AIMS a re shown in
f igure 1 8 .
Th i s f igure shows
the CRT d ispl ay for app l i cant
data .
c.
The
C o nt r o l Requ i reme n t s
data edit program must ed it
a l l input data for va l id ity .
Records that conta in i nva l id
data w i l l resu l t in a cho ice
for entry into the " Other"
24
field or entry into an exist­
i ng field upon correct ion o f
inval id data .
IV .
d.
Th i s
Interface Requirements
i s not app l icable to the AIMS
proj e c t a s A I MS i s a new l y
created system where none has
existed previously .
e.
T e s t Requi remen t s
The in­
d i v i du a l p r o g r a mm e r i s
responsible for initial test­
i n g of a p r o g r a m m o d u l e .
When sati sfied that a module
is p e rf o rm i ng a c c o rd i ng to
d e s i gn sp e c i f i ca t i on s , th e
modul e w i l l be, ava i l abl e to
the team members .
The test
team w i l l eval uate a l l test
data and resul ts .
PROJECT PLANS AND HOUR REPORTS
A.
Det a i l ed M ilestones - Study Phase
F igure 1 9 dep icts the detai l ed schedule
fo r the comp l e te d A IMS s tu dy pha se .
F igure 2 0 i s a graph of the est imated
a n d a ct u a l hours u s e d i n the s t udy
phase .
The hours were 1 9 h igher than
e s t imated a n d t h e s tu dy pha s e w a s o n
schedule .
B.
Deta iled M ilestones - Des ign Phase
Figure 2 1 i s the detai l ed schedu l e for
t h e c o mp l e t e d A I M S d e s i g n p h a s e .
F igure 2 2 is a graph of the est imated
a n d a ctua l hours u s e d in the d e s i g n
phase .
The hours were 3 0 l e s s than es­
t im a t ed and the d e s i gn ph a s e i s o n
schedule .
Detailed M ilestones - Development Phase
Figure 2 3 presents the deta i l ed projec­
t ions for the devel opment phase over a
seven-week p e r i o d .
F i gu re 2 4 i s the
25
accompanying cumulative hour est imate
for the development phase.
The total
development phase hours were revised
and are est imated to be 2 8 0 at 40 hours
per week .
D.
Major M ilestones - A l l Phases
Figure 24 is a schedul e for the ent ire
A I MS p r oj ec t .
The p r oj e c t is o n
schedul e with the seven-week deve lop­
ment phase schedul ed for completion on
1 2 / 0 7/ 8 8 .
The e s t i m a t e d cumu l a t iv e
hours f or the entire project i s graphed
in figure 2 6 .
The total hours are es­
t imated to be 4 9 8 .
V.
APPENDICES
A.
B.
c.
D.
Project Direct ive - Fig . 2 7
Cand idate Evaluat ion Matrix - Fig . 2 8 a
We ighted Candidate Evaluation Matrix Fig . 2 8b
Des ign Phase Report Figures - F ig . 2 9
26
PROCESS
ORIENTED FLOitiCHART
./
/
PROCESS
ATCHED
.
MATCHED
'L. I CANT
LIST OF
APPLICANT
SFLAV
AF'F'l.
F:EPORT
l CANTS
REPORT
SYSTEM FLOI�CHART NARRATIVE
1.
Applicant
�.
Data
3.
is
Data
and
input and
Job
the
Ord�rs are the
the
Matched
system
i nputs .
files are searched for appropriate data.
The three major outputs of
Display,
two major
the
Applicant
system are
the Matched
Applicant
Report
the List
Applicants
and
R'2fH.w·t.
Fig.
27
8
of
JOB
CANDIDATE
JOB
CANDIDATE
DISPLAY
REPORT
AIMS DATA FLOW DIAGRAM
Fig.
11
28
AIMS STUDY PHASE
PROJECT HOUR REPORT
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PERCE�T
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ACTUAL
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11/16 1 1/23 1 1 / 30 12 /7
Wheaton
by Cheryl Lynn Eyles
( Journal ism 1 3 0--Havl i c )
The Assignment :
Thi s 1 0 0 0 word repor­
torial proj ect requ i res the student to
interview a government o f f ic i a l and to
write a news feature about the most
important development .
P r o g r e s s may b e an i mp or t a nt p r o du ct t o the
General E l ectri c Company ,
but to many Wheaton area
res i dents it i s at the least frustrat ing and at the
most su f f ocat ing .
L i ke many ot h er DuPage County c ommun i t i e s , i n
1 9 8 8 Wheaton experienced constant growing pains .
Temp e r s o f te n f l a r e a s tra f f i c i n c re a s e s i n a
city wh ich has grown from a populat ion o f 4 6 , 3 2 7 i n
1 9 8 5 t o an est imated 4 9 , 0 0 0 in 1 9 8 8 .
A c c o r d i n g t o Wh e a t o n c i t y p l a n n e r B r u c e
Kan i ewski ,
that figure i s expected t o reach 5 0 , o o o
somet ime i n 1 9 8 9 .
Although student popul ation in Di strict 2 0 0 in­
creased by a l ittle over 4 0 0 students - from 1 0 , 4 6 3 in
1 9 8 7 to 1 0 , 8 6 7 in 1 9 8 8 - at least four and poss ibly
f ive o f Wheaton ' s ten elementary schools are a l ready
cons idered overcrowded .
I n addit ion , many students f ind themse lves be ing
bu s s e d to s cho o l s many m i l e s away as the c i t y ' s
popu l at i on spreads to outlying a reas .
Although l and
has been set aside for the construct ion of at l east
one new school , o f f ic i a l s bel ieve it wi l l be at l e a st
two or three years before they even cons ider putt ing a
new bu i l d i ng re ferendum on the bal l ot .
In thi s quiet , Christ ian-based commun ity that has
tra d i t i onal l y res isted rap id and mass ive growth , many
res idents question the apparent sudden change in that
status .
C it i ng the need for a f i rm tax base and the f act
that 8 5 percent to 9 0 percent of Wheaton ' s l and use i s
res idential , Donald B . Rose , c ity manager , de fended
33
the city ' s dec i s i on to expand .
"This w i l l g ive the c ity a better spread on the
tax base , " Rose said , " so we can hope ful ly reduce the
property tax we rely on to fund c ity operations . "
At p r e s ent t h e C it y o f Wh e a t o n t a k e s a l i t t l e
m o r e t h a n 1 0 % o f the p ro p e rty own e r ' s t a x b i l l o r
about $ . 9 4 4 0 per $ 1 0 0 o f assessed valuat i on .
"The growth in city and county has prov ided a l ot
o f opportun ity for a l ot o f people who l ive here , "
s a id Ros e .
" It is a s ign i ficant factor a f fect ing a l l
o f us , " he said further , " but we are trying t o i nsure
that the growth . . . [ that ] i s unfortunatel y somewhat
inevitab l e , is done so that it does not have a nega ­
tive impact on the community . "
One positive step is the revita l i z ati on o f the
downtown bus iness area .
I m p r ov em e nt s , m o s t o f wh i ch a r e c o sm e t i c , a r e
being made quadrant b y quadrant and are expected to
cost the c ity more than $5 m i l l ion over the next f ive
years .
" It i s by no means the only means o f salvat ion , "
Ro se s a id .
" It is only a part o f the process . "
He announced p l ans to h i re an Economic Deve l op­
ment Coordinator to study the poss ible reta i l use of
the central bus iness area as wel l as several of the
new commerc ia l comp lexes in Wheaton .
The populat ion growth in Wheaton poses one add i ­
tional prob l em .
According to state l aw , once a city ' s
population reaches 5 0 , 0 0 0 that community i s requ i red
to increase the s i z e of its c ity counc i l or e l ected
o f f i c i a l s unless the residents vote against such an
increase .
At present the Wheaton C ity Counc i l cons ists o f
the mayo� and four members el ected ent i rel y at-l arge ,
i n addition to the c ity manager .
That w i l l s o o n c h a ng e , howev e r , a s r e s i d e n t s
voted recently t o div ide the c ity into four d i stricts
and to increase the number of c ity o f f i c i a l s to seven ,
four o f whom wi l l be e lected by d i strict and three at­
large .
" The quest ion being proposed was rea l ly not a l l
that rout ine , " said city manger Donal d B . Rose .
Most
counc i l -manager forms of government el ect e ither a l l
at-large representatives or a l l from districts .
Few ,
i f any , comb ine the two .
Di strict ing would insure each community o f equa l
representation .
However , Rose said , "The at-large i s probab ly the
pre ferab l e methodol ogy from a manage r ' s standpoint in
that you are el ecting four to six peop l e at
34
large . . . who theoretically have a community v i ew on
i s sues . "
On the other hand , Rose did say that pol ari z at i on
"may not come into p l ay in Wheaton because the four
proposed d i stricts are very la rge d i stricts . "
The Evaluat ion :
Mrs . Eyles has done
an exc e l l ent j ob of gathering important
facts and deta i l s to support her news
peg .
She uses quotat ions e ffect ively
and has fol l owed the rules o f news­
paper style wel l .
35
Putt ing Amtrak on the Right Track
by David Gayda
( Engl ish 1 0 1 --Thoreson )
To write an ess ay that
The Ass ignment :
could appear on the editorial page o f
a serious and influential newspaper or
maga z ine a imed at an audience o f
readers ident i f iable by age , pol itical
out l ook , economic/educati onal l evel ,
and ( i f appl icab l e ) sex .
The pub­
l icat ion could be an actua l one
( e . g . , Time ) or a fi ctional pub l ic­
at ion o f the student ' s own creat ion .
As America ' s urban centers cont inue to grow and
the consumption o f polluti on-caus ing fos s i l fue l s by
automob i les goes on unchecked , we must ask ourselves
i f the cost of resurrect ing the passenger tra i n is one
burden the taxpayer absolutely must bear if we are to
ma i ntain our pos it ion as an economic leader .
The pas­
senger train and , indeed , ra i l roads in genera l p l ayed
a v ital and dynamic role in America ' s past , and they
may wel l be the key to our future .
To better understand where we need to go with the
restructur ing o f America ' s rail network , perhaps we
For many o f u s who
shoul d dwe l l briefly on the past .
grew up in America prior to the mid-s ixties , name s
such a s the Ca l i fornia Z ephyr , Super Ch i ef , and Twen­
t i eth Century Limited conj ure up s i lver fl ashes o f
e l e g a n c e pound i ng t h e ra i l s on t ra n s c ont i n e n t a l
v o y a ge s .
At a t im e when the l ove a f fa i r w i th t h e
automobi l e was already in ful l bl oom but the sa fety
a nd frequency o f scheduled a i r transportation hadn ' t
qu ite come into be ing , the way to travel cross-country
The ra i l roads helped s ett l e
i n America was by train .
and bu i ld America into a n industrial g i ant , and gener­
ations o f Americans grew up rid ing the ra i l s .
Al l o f thi s began to change a fter Worl d War I I
w ith the increas ing sponsorship o f h ighway and a i rport
bu i l d ing by the federal government .
Expand ing road
36
and a i r networks ,
coupled with the cont i nu i ng " b ig
brother" regulat i on o f the ra i l roads by the I nterstate
Commerce Comm i s s ion , began to spel l the death kne l l
for America ' s passenger tra in system and , i n some in­
stances , fo r ent ire corpora tions .
Certain ra i l roads
such as the Rock I s l and and the North Shore are no
more , and the o n c e v a s t emp i re s of the N ew Y o r k
C e n t r a l a nd P e n n s y l va n i a h av e c o l l a p s e d u n d e r
ba nkruptcy i nt o the a rms o f Unc l e S am ,
seek ing
sanctuary from those same hands that helped strang l e
the ra i l roads in the f irst p lace .
The net resu l t o f
the past three decades has been catastroph i c for a l l
ra i l pas senger tra f f i c , with tota l route m i l es shrink­
ing from 17 5 , 0 0 0 in 1 9 6 0 to j ust over 2 7 , 0 0 0 i n 1 9 8 7 ,
and w ith Amtrak hav ing taken over the runn i ng o f p a s ­
senger tra ins from the private sector i n 1 9 7 1 .
At a gl ance , many o f u s might be i ncl ined to say
that nosta l g i a i s f ine , but the tra ins have faded from
the s cene because a i rp l anes have outmoded them , a nd it
is a s s impl e a s that .
Why , then , shou l d we cons ider
pouring potent i a l ly b i l l i ons of dol l ars into someth ing
that has seemingly outl ived its use fulness?
The f act
of the matter i s , the ra i l road as a people-moving con­
veyance has never held more potent i a l to s olve both
ground and a ir tra f f i c congest i on problems than i t
d o e s t o day .
A typ i c a l a i r t r av e l e r m a y s p e n d a n
average o f three add it i ona l hours per trip s impl y t o
move from a c ity ' s bus iness center to the a i rport and
vice versa .
The ra i l roads , on the other hand , own
the i r own r ights-of-way d i rectly into v irtua l l y every
down t own d i s t r i ct i n Ame r i c a ,
s e g r e g a t e d f r om
automob i le tra f f i c b y either elevat ing or p l ac ing un­
derground the trackage in l arger c ities .
Although there i s l ittle to argue about when it
comes to fly ing from Ch icago to Los Ange les i n four
hours as compared to Amtrak ' s scheduled 4 0 -hour trip ,
short - d i st ance c o rr i d o r s between p a i r ed c i t ies can
employ h i gh-speed ra i l serv i ce wh ich can compete w i th ,
and even b e a t , b ot h the a i r l i n e s a n d the pr i v a t e
automob i le in both cost and schedule .
A s examp les ,
Amtrak ' s Northeast Corridor routes pas sengers between
Wash i ngton , New York and Boston on frequent 1 3 0 -m i le­
per-hour scheduled tra ins wh ich operate con s i stently
at or over capac ity .
Th i s area constitutes about two
percent o f total Amtrak trackage but brings i n a whop­
ping 3 7 percent of annual revenues .
Mul t i -r ide pas ses
cost less on average than driv ing and paying to park
( $ 2 2 . 5 0 round trip by ra i l v . s . $ 2 8 . 0 0 for gas , tol l s
and parking ) , and the ra i l t ime from Boston t o New
York actua l ly beats the a i rl ine t ime ( includi ng tran37
s it to and from a i rport s ) by an hour in each d i rec­
t i on .
There are numerous other corridors w ith great
potenti a l which a re now under research .
C ity groups
such as Chicago- Lans ing-Detroi t ,
Chicago-St .
Lou i s ,
Chicago-Milwaukee-st . Paul , Seattl e-Portland , and Los
Ange l e s - S an D i e g o a r e o n the t o p o f the l i s t f o r
potenti a l development for high-speed rai l service .
The c o st t o reap the b e ne f i t s o f th i s mode o f
t r a n s p o r ta t i on w i l l n o t b e s ma l l but w i l l b e w e l l
w o r t h the expend i t u r e .
Market s u rv ey s f o r t h e
Chicago-Detroit and Los Angel es -S an Diego corridors
show that h igh-speed ra i l service could immed iately
capture over 15 percent of the tra ff i c , with potential
The benefits in those as we l l
to grow to 35 percent .
reduction in the many
a s other corridors are obviou s :
thousands of automob i les on the roads and a i rcra ft in
the skies daily , along with a s sociated gasol ine con­
sumpt ion and pol l ut ion ( any succe s s ful ra i l l ine would
employ overhead e l ectr i f ication ) ; reduced trans it t ime
for ra i l , automobi l e and a i r travelers due to reduced
tra f f i c congest ion ; a decreased demand on foreign o i l
a l ong w i th a b o o s t f o r the u . s . c o a l i nd u s try t o
provide fuel for the electr i f ication ; and a n increased
product ivity base due to improved resource uti l i z at i on
and a work force with less commut ing-rel ated stress
and anxiety .
Additionally , the l ong-haul routes , a l ­
though not o f fering the potent i a l l y l arge bene fits and
pro fits of the corridors , should a l s o be cons idered
The ex i s t i ng Emp i r e Bu i l d e r
f o r i mp rovemen t s .
( Ch i ca g o - S e a tt l e ) , C a l i f o rn i a Z ephy r ( Ch i c ag o - S a n
Franc i s co ) , S o ut hw e s t C h i e f ( Ch i ca g o - L o s Ange l e s ) ,
S i lver Meteor ( New York-Miami ) and other tra ins are
running at ful l capacity throughout most o f the year ,
with man� travel ers being turned away due to l ack o f
space .
Additional rol l ing stock t o add or l engthen
trains during peak periods wil l greatly improve th is
If
s i tuat i o n wh i l e p r ov id ing add i t i on a l revenue .
Americans are wi l l ing to l itera l l y wa it in l ine for
space on these routes , then they should be cons idered
to h av e the same money-ma k i n g p otent i a l a s c ru i s e
ships .
S tops with l odging at maj or western nat i onal
parks and cities could be devel oped as a maj or mode o f
vacat i on .
As we approach the 2 1st century we must l ook at
our future and o u r i nd u s t r i a l b a s e a s one a n d t h e
same .
Our business competitors i n Japan and Western
Eu rope have had gove rnme nt - sp o n s ored ra i l s e rv i c e
s ince the end o f World War I I and virtual l y every c ity
and town with a population o f over 1 0 , 0 0 0 i s l i nked by
fast , frequent ra i l service .
Once in p l ace , a com38
parable U . s . network would rapidly grow to a money­
making operation , not only providing the prev i ously
ment i oned bene f its , but a l s o creat ing transportation­
related j obs and lessening tax requi rements by becom­
ing a pro f i t center for the Government .
We , as voters
and t a xp a ye r s , mus t en su re t h a t C o ng re s s p ro p e r l y
plans and funds thi s endeavor .
The t ime to act i s now
to put Amtrak on the right track .
average reader is from 25 to 60 years
Time Maga z ine
old , primarily conservative and would more than l ikely
be Republ ican .
Nearly all readers have at least some
col l ege education and a re in the mid-to-upper i ncome
level .
More than 5 0 % of the readers are mal e .
The Evaluat ion :
Dave ' s essay strikes
me as a model of a seriou s , wel l -ordered
argument ( capably buttressed by fact )
that sustains a tone appropriate to
both audience and subj ect .
39
Once Upon a T ime
by Diane Hippensteel
( Engl i sh 1 0 1--Mott l a )
The Ass ignment :
Write a 5 0 0 - 8 0 0 word
essay about an experience in whi ch
the narrator comes to a new awarenes s
o f h imsel f in relation t o others .
Aging , it happens to us a l l .
It ' s supposed to be
gradual , but I don ' t bel ieve it .
One day I was young
and v ibrant , the next I was an aging rel ic .
I st i l l
remember the day I became old .
I rol l ed over
The alarm c l ock sounded a s usual .
to shut it o f f and felt an ache deep in my shoulder .
"Musta s l ept funny . " I rat iona l i z ed .
I l imped i nt o the bathroom w i t h my h a n d o n my
l ower back .
I d idn ' t reca l l that aching before .
Did
I gl anced in the mirror and did a
I have the flu?
doubl e take .
Who was that in my m irror?
Someone put
I s aw l i ne s
a m i d d l e - a g e d f a t l ady i n my m i r ro r !
around my eyes and maj or crevices in other area s .
A
gray hair leered at me from the top o f my scalp .
My husband stumbl ed in .
" Who do you see in the mirror? " I demanded .
" You dear .
You look nice , " he mumbl ed with ha l f
closed eyes .
Look ! " I said as I held h i s face between my
"No !
f ingers , " I s that what I l ook l ike? "
" Uh huh . "
" I wa s n ' t that way y e s t e rd ay , " I s a i d a s I
released h i s face .
He gave me a strange l ook and shuffled out o f the
bathroom .
" Do I have gray hair? " I cal l ed a fter h im .
" Yep ! " s a id my perky , youthful daughter a s she
entered the ro om .
I w a s beg i n n i ng t o hate h e r .
" Here ' s a whol e bunch over here , " she said with glee
as she dug through my hair .
I was sure I hated her .
" Why don ' t you j ust leave? " I growl ed .
40
" Be n ice to your Mother , dear , " my husband s ai d
to her , " she ' s not hersel f today . "
" You can say that aga i n .
What happened to me?
Don ' t you remember when I was voted best l egs in the
They have blue and red
o ff ice?
Now l ook at them .
spiders a l l over them and my knees hang down over my
My thighs l ook l ike , never mind my th ighs .
shins !
Someone has sto l en my body ! "
I shu f f l ed to the bedroom and dressed without ut­
tering a word .
I grabbed my coat and said good-bye to
my mut inous family .
Th ere w a s a new g i r l a t the o f f i c e .
S h e wa s
young , pretty , bouncy .
" She must be twelve , " I s a id to my friend .
" She ' s twenty , " my friend repl ied .
" Twenty? I was much olde r when I was twenty . "
I ' m Susie !
I l ike your suit , " the ch i l d
" Hel l o !
gushed , " I wish I could wear that styl e .
I t l ooks s o
good on mature women . "
I r e s t r a i n ed m y s e l f f r om rapp i ng h e r i n t h e
mouth .
I went to the dent i st
At lunch I broke a tooth .
and he took an impress ion for a crown .
He even had
the nerve to suggest a bridge from some other teeth
that were going .
" A bridge? " I yel l ed , " That ' s j ust a hop , trip ,
and a stumb l e away from dentures ! "
I picked my chi ldren up from school and ran into
Mrs . Youngbody .
" Emily i s having a party .
can your g i rl s come? "
she a sked .
" By the way , I real ly admire how we l l you
handle work , school , kids , and everything .
I don ' t
I don ' t have the energy and I ' m
know how you do it .
hal f your age ! "
I toyed with the thought o f runn ing her down with
my car and wondered i f a j ury woul d conv i ct me .
At the dinner tab l e the kids began their review .
" Oh no !
N ot mea t l oa f !
Why d o we have t o e a t
meatloaf? "
" We always have meatloaf on Tuesday , " I remi nded
them .
" Carrots !
I hate cooked carrots !
Why do we have
to eat carrots? "
" Because carrots give you good eyes ight .
Now eat
your dinner !
There are chi ldren starving in India , "
I couldn ' t bel ieve what I had said .
I had become my
mother .
That night I crawled into bed , not yet ready to
s igna l de feat .
Perhaps it was a dream and I ' d wake up
41
in the morning and brush my wa ist-length ha i r and put
a short skirt over my s l eek thighs .
The bed groaned
under my weight .
My husband fluffed hi s p i l l ow .
" Do you st i l l think I ' m pretty? " I asked .
He smi l ed and kissed me .
" O f course I do . "
"As pretty as when we fi rst met? "
" You ' ve improved , " he l ied .
" You th ink I ' m old and ugly , " I said as I fe l l
into my p i l l ow crying .
" No dear .
You ' re be ing s i l ly .
You ' ve had four
ch i l dren , t ime goes on .
What do you expect? "
" I want t o b e twe nty aga i n !
I wa s t ed i t the
f irst t ime and now it ' s gone ! "
He kissed me on the cheek .
" Goodnight dear . "
" I am n o t
I s t opped sobb i n g and r o l l ed ove r .
" Everything wi l l be a l l right
o ld ! " I s a id to myse l f .
in the morning . " Suddenly a l oud snore j olted me from
I thumped my husband on the back .
my s l eep .
" Ro l l over !
You ' re snor ing ! "
" N ot me d e a r .
I t ' s yo u .
Y o u r s n o r ing ' s b e e n
keep ing m e up lately . "
Oh Lord , I am old .
The Evaluat ion :
Ms . Hippensteel takes
seriously the writer ' s need to connect
with her audience .
Here , in a p iece rich
in comic energy , she shows u s our own
reflections in the mirror .
42
Nearing the End
by Anna Hutchinson
( Engl ish 1 0 1--Mottl a )
The Ass ignment :
Write a 5 0 0 - 8 0 0 word
reflect ive essay after those in our
Be certain that your paper i s
text .
based o n personal experience , but that
it a l s o moves beyond the persona l ,
into an acknowledgment o f some general
truth of human experience .
The phrase " The End" initiates cur ios ity i n a l l
o f us .
What was it that ended?
Was it the end o f a
good b ook , the end of a marr iage , the end o f an era ,
or the end o f one ' s l i fe .
Last week my grandma arrived in thi s country from
Canada .
Upon her request , we immed iately took her to
the church she rel igiously attended in her ch i l dhood .
She wanted to feel at home aga in , and she wanted to
pray .
You see , my grandma i s nearing the end :
she i s
dying o f l eukemia .
The steps to the church were very steep .
With me
on one s ide o f my grandma and my mother on the other ,
we a s s i s t ed my grandma i n t o the church c o r r i d or .
I wa s
Echoes o f a Spani sh sermon f i l l ed the room .
be ing g iv e n the oppo rtun i t y t o s e e a p a r t o f my
grandma ' s ch i l dh o od ,
s ometh i ng I ha d nev e r s e e n
I felt as i f my grandma was try ing to reach
be fore .
back in t ime .
A t ime when she d idn ' t have many cares
and a t ime when she wasn ' t saddled with her terminal
How d i f f icult it must have been for her to
diseas e .
see l i fe in her old ne ighborhood cont inue a s usual .
Yet , she was about to enter the hosp ital and face the
most d i f f icul t period o f her l i fe .
I t brought tears
to my eyes .
How l ong would it be before she wou l d be
peaceful aga in?
Would the few weeks that we had l e ft
be worth the torment she would have to susta in?
Entering through the doub l e doors that l ed us in43
s ide the church , my grandma released our hands and en­
tered by hersel f .
It was now time for her to let go
of her family support and seek the support o f God .
She dipped her f ingert ips into the Holy Water and out­
l ined the cross on her body .
She was now cleansed o f
the outs ide world .
I watched a s my grandma made her
way to the cruci fix where she kne l l ed to pray .
Mass
The organ moaned and the parishioners bel­
had begun .
l owed unaware o f her presence , a s she was unaware o f
My grandma looked s o innocent and f i l l ed with
the irs .
1 i fe .
H owever , it was e a s y to s e e the week s o f
chemotherapy had taken thei r tol l .
Once aga in I asked mysel f i f i t woul d be worth
the p a i n ful struggl e that my grandma wou l d have to en­
The odd s were s t a cked a g a i ns t h e r ; yet s h e
dure .
prayed t o become a winn ing stat i st i c in her brutal
battl e aga inst cancer .
A battle not many victims win .
T h e m a s s c o n c l uded a nd the p a r i s h i o n e r s were
On the way out each i ndividual
f i l ing out the door .
said good-bye to the priest .
The i r good-byes seemed
so minor and ins ign i ficant compared to the good-bye my
family and I had to face .
As we p r ep ared t o dep a rt f rom the church , I
ki s sed my grandma good night .
She held me in her arms
and s a i d , " I love you , Anna . "
I cried as I watched
them d r ive away .
I then rea l i z ed ho w much my
A l l the pain and su f fer­
grandma ' s l i fe meant to me .
ing of the days ahead would be worth it provided they
could keep our grandma from leav ing our l ives forever .
My grandma is holding on to every p iece o f hope
she can f ind .
I f she has the stamina and des i re to go
through the torture that lay ahead of her in hopes o f
a miracl e , then s o should I .
Li fe i s too prec ious to
ever g ive up on .
The Evaluation :
Ms . Hutchinson ' s re f­
l ective essay was to c omb ine auto­
b i ograph ical anecdote with general truth
or perception .
Neither the grandmother ' s
courage and devot ion , nor the narrator ' s
l ove are isolated to thei r respect ive
characters .
44
Funding Facts
by Stuart Kravi s
( Engl i sh 2 0 1 --Dodds )
The Assignment :
Gathe r the infor matio n
and autho ritat ive exp lanat ions that
wil l answer your research quest ions
and l ead to sound conclu s ions about
rour subj ect . Present your f indings
1n a formal report .
Higher Educat ional Funding Facts
Statement of the Probl em
I was pl anning on trans ferring to the University
of I l l ino i s .
But over the last several months I have
learned from the media that a l l of I l l ino i s ' publ ic
univers ities have suffered from a l ack o f fund i ng .
According to reports , univers ities have ra ised tu i t i on
and cut enrol lment , programs , and sta f fing to compen­
sate for the lost money .
Depending on the severi ty o f
the funding l a ck and the probabi l ity o f the c r i s i s
being remedied , my trans fer pl ans may change .
I a imed
to learn how the cris is impa irs the educational oppor­
tunities of students and how I l l inoi s compares educa­
tional l y with other states .
But most importantl y I
aimed to l earn why the government has cut funding and
what steps the government can take to increase school
funding .
Background
Research Method
To f i nd the answers to th e s e que s t i o n s I c o l ­
lected Chicago Tribune articles from Harper ' s l ibrary .
These articles dealt with a variety o f funding c ris i s
aspe c ts re l evant t o m y que st i o n s a n d r e p r e s en t e d
opinions from a l l s ides of the issue .
I had art i c l e s
45
from the frustrated univers ity pres ident to the con­
cerned j ourna l i st , as wel l as ones from the blamel ess
pol it ician .
To make sure the information wa s rel iable
I veri f ied the art icles ' stat istics by comparing them
to those in a book o f nat ional educational fund i ng
statistics that I found in Schaumburg ' s l ibrary .
I
expanded my sources and f i l l ed the informational gaps
that the art i cles l e ft by conduct ing several i nter­
v i ews . I p e r s o na l l y i nterv i ewed F r a nk J . S o l a n o ,
Harper ' s d irector o f f inanc ial aid and phone i nter­
v i ewed C a ro l i ne Eme r s o n , o f the Board o f H i ghe r
Education ; Dean Hacker , o f the I l l ino i s State Scholar
Commiss ion ; and friends from several col leges .
The
information I rece ived supported that which I a l ready
had .
And I acquired detai l ed i l lustrat ion o f e f fects
of the funding crisis that were prev iously unava i l ­
abl e .
H i story
The fund i ng c r i s i s ha s dev e l oped rec ent l y .
Higher educat ional funding in I l l inois had i ncreased
stead i ly for the last twenty years .
And in October o f
1 9 8 7 Governor Thompson had recommended , for the 1 9 8 7 8 8 f iscal year , an increase o f about $ 1 0 0 mi l l i on i n
state app r op r i a t i o n s f o r h i gher educa t i on ( T ru s t e e
Nov . , 8 7 ) .
But when the I l l i no i s general ass emb l y
failed to p ass a tax package in June , that money wa s
lost , along with an additional $ 6 0 m i l l ion in fund ing
( a four percent cut ) ( Camper ) .
Thompson ' s 1 9 8 8 - 8 9
budget recommends no tax increase and no addit i onal
money for h igher educat ion .
With inflation at a round
four percent a year , the un ivers ities wi l l have l ost
about twelve percent of the ir purchas ing power in two
years ( e ight percent from inflati on and four percent
from the 1 9 8 7 - 8 8 cut ) ( Camper ) .
The scho o l s est imate
that they are $ 6 0 0 m i l l ion short of fundi ng ( Dav i s ) .
The inadequacy has caused them to freez e facu l ty and
sta f f salaries , cut back on academic programs and en­
rollment , ra ise tuit ion and fees , and dip into the i r
financ i a l reserves ( Trustees Nov . , 1 9 8 7 ) .
Important De finit ions and General In formation
Per capita income is the income o f a population
o f people divided by the number o f peopl e .
The B o a r d o f G overnors o f S ta t e Co l l eg e s a n d
U n iv e r s i t i e s ove r s e e s N o rthern I l l inoi s Un ivers ity ,
Ch icago State , Governors State , and Eastern and
46
Western I l l ino i s Univers ities .
The Board o f Regents i s the governing board o f
I l l ino i s State University , Northern I l l ino i s , and San­
gamon State University .
Body
I l l ino i s ' s Lack of Competit ion
Ac c o r d i n g to the Chanc e l l o r of the B o a rd o f
Governors , Thomas D . Layzell , and an article written
by John Camper , I l l inois was at the nat iona l med ian o f
educat ional funding ten years ago .
Unfortunate ly ,
over the l ast decade ,
we ' ve been s l ipp ing ever s ince .
the nat ional average o f state tax support for higher
educat ion increased 1 2 1 percent .
The average increa se
in tax support for higher education in states ne igh­
boring I l l inois was 1 0 3 percent .
I l l ino is has in­
creased its state tax support for higher education
only 7 1 percent in the last ten years .
Tied with We st
Virginia , I l l inois has had the sma l l est increase o f
the whole country .
Also , I l l ino is is one o f only four
states to reduce state aid for higher education last
ye a r ; the others ar e A l a ska , Lou i s i a n a and No rth
Dakota .
And by many other measures I l l ino is ranks
near bottom .
We ' re 4 1 st among the fi fty states in
state aid per ful l t ime student , 4 4 th in state aid per
cap ita income , and 4 4 th in state a id per $ 1 , 0 0 0 of
personal income .
Adverse Af fects Caused by I l l inois ' s Lack o f Compet i ­
tion
Because our funding isn ' t keeping pace with that
of other states , ne ither are our teachers ' salaries .
The chart below shows how I l l inois compares to the na­
t i onal average .
Average teacher pay at pub l ic univers ities
Nation wide
$ 3 8 , 1 0 0 I l l ino is State
33 , 600
2 8 , 9 0 0 SIU-Edwardsv i l l e 3 3 , 8 0 0
Chicago State
2 9 , 3 0 0 SIU-Carbondale
33 , 900
Eastern I l l ino is
Northeastern I l l ino i s 3 0 , 1 0 0 Sangamon State
34 , 000
3 0 , 8 0 0 U o f Chicago
3 9 , 900
Western I l l ino is
Northern I l l ino is
3 3 , 1 0 0 U o f ! -Urbana
44 , 900
Governors State
33 , 300
source :
I l l ino is Board o f Higher Education
47
Teachers ' salaries l ag ma inly because teachers
have not had a pay ra i s e in twenty months .
The ab­
s e n c e o f a p ay ra i s e f or so l ong h a s c a u s e d w i de
s p re a d anger among t e a ch e r s a t a l l twe l v e s t a t e
universities accord ing t o John La Tourette ; Thomas D .
Layzel l ;
Stanley Ikenberry ,
University o f I l l inois
pres ident and Roderick T . Groves , chancel l or of the
Board o f Regents .
And s i nce there are no indicat ions
from l eg i s l ators of a funding increase , many of the
best empl oyees are l eaving for univers ities o f fer ing
more competitive salaries and more support ive resea rch
and teach ing environments .
The res ignation rate has
doubl ed at many schools over the past yea r , even at
the Un iversity of I l l ino i s , whose average teachers '
s a l a ry i s we l l above t h e n a t i o n a l med i a n { Camper ,
In fact , U of I o f ­
Tribune Editorial 10 Apr . , 8 8 ) .
fers a stunning example .
According to Carol ine Emer­
s o n , " a t o t a l o f 2 4 6 f a cu l ty have rec e i v e d f i rm
employment o f fers from out of state univers ities s ince
July , 19 8 7 . 11
Of these o f fers ,
1 3 6 faculty members
have resigned , 2 6 have taken l eave of absence without
p a y ( wh i c h i s u s u a l l y a n i n d i c a t i o n o f f u t u r e
re s i gn a t i o n ) , and 6 8 have d e c ided t o s t a y .
The
What espe­
rema ining 1 6 cases are s t i l l undec ided .
c i a l ly concerns the univers ity i s that 86 of the o f ­
f e r s w e n t t o f u l l p ro f e s s o r s , o n e s a t t h e h i gh e s t
academic rank ( Emerson ) .
O f the 8 6 , 4 1 have a l ready
res igned and 11 have taken l eave without pay .
"The
Univers ity ' s Medical School has had a particul arly bad
experience ; a l l 3 0 of the o f fers made to faculty by
other s cho o l s re s u l ted in r e s i gna t i o n s . "
Stanley
I k enbe rry b r i ng s t o l i ght t h e c r i p p l i n g e f f e ct o f
l o s ing teachers :
" Our school s are only as good as the
teachers , the qual ity o f education we o f fer is wa lk ing
r i ght out the d o o r , a n d i t ' s the student s who a r e
los ing out . "
T h e s� u d e n t s a r e o n l y t h e p r e s e n t l o s e r s ,
S ince students tend to take j obs where they
however .
are educated , the whole state of I l l ino i s wi l l suf fer
in the l ong run ( Layz el l ) . Wel l educated peopl e help
get and hold industries and enterprises for the state
( Tribune Editorial 1 0 Apr . , 8 8 ) .
S ince we ' re fal l ing
beh i nd educat i o na l l y ,
we wi l l a l s o f a l l b e h i n d
"We ' re making a statement
economica l ly ( La Tourette ) .
to the rest of the nat ion that I l l ino i s is not serious
about e c o n o m i c d ev e l opment , " s a i d ange red N . I . U .
" The l ong term
pres ident John La Tourette ( Camper ) .
consequences are that we w i l l increas ingly become a
backwater state in economic devel opment , because
48
ev e r y o n e i s d o ing b et t e r than w e a re . "
Th om a s D .
Layze l l , chancel lor o f the Board o f Governors , adds ,
" A generat ion o f poorly educated young peop l e wi l l be
incapab l e o f meet i ng the r igors of globa l , and na­
�i�na� c�Thpe�i�ion . �
Students are Los ing Opportunities for Educat i on
Because o f the decl ining number o f emp l oyees at
all I l l inois pub l ic univers ities , enrol lment , adm i s ­
s ions and programs have been cut back .
Sadl y , the
popu l a r un iver s i t i e s o f f er the m o r e s t a r t l i n g i l ­
l u s t r a t i on s .
Ac c o r d i n g t o D av i d S t r an d , I l l i n o i s
State Univers ity has cut its undergraduate enro l lment
from 1 9 , 5 9 1 to 1 7 , 3 9 8 , " turning away over 2 , 0 0 0 stu­
d e n t s who meet a dm i s s i on s requ i rement s " ( C ampe r ) .
Al s o , I . S . U . had r e c e ived approv a l f rom th e S t a t e
Board o f H igher Educat ion for two new programs that
students wanted ( a doctoral program in school psychol ­
ogy and a master ' s i n appl ied computer science ) . But
these programs cannot be o ffered because the univer­
s i t y d o e s no t have e nough f a cu l ty t o t e a c h t h em .
Northern I l l ino is Univers ity has cut its enrol lment
from 19 , 5 0 0 to 18 , 5 0 0 , wh i l e comp l etely cutt ing i t s
between-semester admiss ion period ( Camper ) .
And E a s t ­
ern I l l ino is Univers ity h a s cut i t s enrol lment from
10 , 0 0 0 to 9 , 0 0 0 ( Camper ) ..
Al so , Eastern I l l inois had
to stop accept ing app l icat ions from high schoo l stu­
dents for the 1 9 8 8 - 8 9 school year on Nov . 1 , 1 9 8 7 , the
earl iest date in its h istory , because it a l ready had
more s t u d e n t s t h a n i t c ou l d a f f o rd t o e d u c a t e
S ta n l ey I kenb er ry a nn o u n c ed t h a t t h e
( Camp e r ) .
Univers ity o f I l l inois i s pl anning o n downs i z ing i t s
enrol lment and may cut i t s between- semester admi ss ion
period ( Camper ) .
But U o f I ' s ma in concern i s its
col l apsing medical program .
Even though schools had decreased the i r student
numbers , Roderick T . Groves and Davi d Strand predicted
that the univers ities would st i l l have to o f fer fewer
and l arger classes so they could get by with fewer
faculty members .
They a l so said that some requ i red
classes would be f i l l ed before a l l the students that
needed them could take them .
The unfortunate students
would have to take summer school o r a f i fth year to
make up the lost credit .
I phoned Glenn Mas lankowski
from U of I , Chris Kle iner from S . I . U . , Tom sutter
from N . I . u . a nd C a ro l i ne Eme r s o n o f the B o a r d o f
Higher Educat ion to f ind out i f these pred ictions had
come true .
Class s i z es were s igni f icant ly l arger .
Ms . Eme r s o n s a id t h a t s tudent - te a c h e r rat i o s h a d
49
cl imbed to 2 7 - 1 at most school s , a lmost twice as high
as those found at private col l eges .
Thi s caused in­
convenience for everyone according to the three stu­
dent s .
The students found it harder , i f not impos­
s i b l e , to c o n t a c t the i r t e a ch e rs .
And s i n c e the
teachers had a heavier l oad to grade , it took them
l onger to return l ess carefully graded ass ignments .
The three students said that most teachers seemed d i s ­
couraged and worn out .
The students added that the
clas srooms were crowded and according to Gl enn , " their
atmosphere was suffocat ing . " But thi s wasn ' t the only
p red iction o f Roderick T . Groves and David S trand . to
come true .
Both Gl enn and Tom have to take summer
school to make up for a required course that they were
bumped from because incoming freshmen have priority .
N o t o n l y h ave s tudents l os t l ea r n i n g opp o r ­
tunit ies from poor teach i ng environments and the l ack
of good teachers , some have lost the opportunity to
attend school a ltogether because tuition rates have
r i s e n wh i l e f i na n c i a l a i d h a s f a l l en
( H a cke r ) .
" Without an increase in state funding , st i l l another
round of tuition increases w i l l be l ikely for a l l o f
the state univers ities , a fter l ast year ' s j ump that
averaged 1 2 . 2 percent " { Tribune Editorial 1 0 Apr . 1
88) .
Students pl anning on going to U o f I were espe­
c i a l l y displeased :
" As recently as 1 9 8 2 , the Univer­
s ity of I l l ino is ranked eighth in the Big Ten in tu i ­
t i on and fees ; this year it i s fourth , at $ 2 , 3 6 5 1 a
1 3 . 5 percent increase over l ast year" { Camper ) .
A
Tribune editorial expresses that " it is cruc i a l these
great school s not be priced out of reasonable reach o f
I l l inois young people ,
espec i a l ly now that p rivate
c o l l ege t u i t i o n h a s b e come una f f o rda b l e f o r many
fam i l ies " ( 1 0 Apr . , 8 8 ) .
But even the pub l i c univer­
s ities may become una f fordable for some fam i l ies be­
cause state , scholarship money i s not keep ing pace with
the i ncreased tuitions .
Dean Hacker o f the Board o f
Higher Education told me that although the Monetary
Award Program , which is I l l ino is ' primary need-based
state schol arship program , had an increase o f f i fty
dol lars per grant , the number of recip ients is ex­
pected to drop from 1 0 0 1 o o o to 9 4 , 0 0 0 .
Mr . S o l ano 1
Harper ' s director of f inanc ial aid said that it i s
l ikely many o f the 6 , 0 0 0 excluded students would not
be able to attend col l ege .
50
Proposed S olutions to the Probl em
S i nce 7 5 percent o f the money for h igher educa­
t ion comes from state taxes ( Solano ) , ra i s ing them is
the most popular solut ion to the funding shortage .
With I l l ino is per capita income at number nine in the
country , Thomas D . Layz el l po ints out that it makes no
sense to have our higher educa tional spending at num­
b e r f orty f o u r .
He s a y s " th e mode s t t a x i nc re a s e
educa t i onal l eaders throughout the state are s eeking
will pay handsome returns . " The reason a tax increase
is so a p p r op r i at e , Lay z e l l e xp l a i n s , is that t h e
" I l l ino i s income tax rate h a s been fundament a l l y u n ­
changed s ince 1 9 6 9 and is e ffectively the l owe s t o f
any state that l evies an income tax . "
Al s o , I l l i n o i s
cit i z en s have been rel ieved o f many other taxes du r i ng
the last several years .
" I l l inois pol itical l eaders
e l im i n a t ed the i nh e r i t an ce t ax , cap p ed t h e p ub l i c
ut i l ities tax and exempted from sales tax items such
as food , medic ine and manu facturing equipment . "
S i nce
the state now funds many more programs than it did i n
1969 ,
it ' s n o wonder h igher educat ional fund ing i s
fal l ing short , concludes Lay z el l .
Even the citi zens o f I l l inois support a tax hi ke
to keep th e i r u n ivers i t i e s s t r ong .
A state wide
tel ephone survey t o see how I l l inoisans f e l t about
having taxes rai sed was conducted by Sangamon State
Univers ity and reported in the August-September is sue
of the I l l ino is Is sues maga z ine .
Of the 1 , 0 0 0 peop l e
pol led , 5 6 percent s a i d that they would support h igher
taxes over reduct ions in state programs and services .
Just under 3 8 percent said that they opposed any in­
More than 8 0 percent ind icated that
crease i n taxes .
they woul d favor ra is ing c igarette and l iquor " some "
or " quite a b i t " i f increased state taxation shou ld
become necessary .
Ra is ing corporate income tax wa s
also popular , with nearly 7 8 percent o f the respon­
dents support ing a tax h ike in th is area .
Only 4 3
percent o f those pol l ed support an increas e in per­
sonal income tax , however , but thi s percentage rose to
53 percent when such an increase i s combined with an
increase in income tax exempt ions , and to 59 percent
when combined w ith a guaranteed cut in l ocal property
tax .
Wh i l e the genera l r es p on se i s t o ra i s e t a x e s ,
author o f Po l i t i c s o f H igh er Educ a t i on a n d f o rme r
state legis l ator , James D . Now lan , argues that th is
approach wi l l not be suf f ic ient .
He c l a ims that " even
in the event of a s igni f icant tax increase a range o f
other c l a imants--some with needs more compel l ing than
51
those o f higher educat ion--wi l l l imit the gains for
For ex­
any one sector to rather modest i ncreases . "
amp l e , N ow l a n s a y s that on l y 6 , 0 0 0 out of 1 1 2 , 0 0 0
n e edy p o o r c h i l d r e n are rece i v i ng e a r l y ch i l dh o o d
serv ices cal led f o r by the state ' s 1 9 8 5 educat ional
re form .
He adds that " $ 3 0 0 m i l l ion to $ 6 0 0 m i l l i o n a
year in new money wil l be needed to provide a decent
l evel of services to the mentally i l l and d i sab l ed . "
More money wi l l a l so be needed for " cost increases in
health care for the indigent and aged . "
Nowlan a sserts that the solut ion l ies " in thi nk­
ing beyond next year ' s budget , to a future that makes
even better use of a r icher mix o f funding source s . "
He a l so says that there is a need to change the struc ­
ture o f higher education in I l l inois .
He exp l a i n s
that s ince faculty rewards a r e based o n research , not
teach ing , there is a tendency for a lmost a l l univer­
s it i es to " emul ate a handful o f expens ive graduate re­
search inst itut ions . " This is ne ither appropr i ate nor
He
a f fordabl e for coming decades , concl udes Nowlan .
adds that " construct ive changes in educat ion w i l l not
come eas i ly . "
And we need the higher l eve l s of our
s t a t e l e ad e r s h ip , from out s i d e as w e l l a s i n s i d e
higher education , to evaluate the opt ions for change .
He says that it ' s been twenty years s ince the l a st
maj or outs ide eva l uat ion of h igher educat i on in I l ­
l ino is .
S o he proposes " an as sembly o f state l eaders
and n a t i on a l t h i nkers wh i ch wou l d c o n c l u d e w i th
speci fic recommendat ions on how to maintain su f f i c ient
educat i on a l fund ing i n a context o f 1 i m i t e d
resources . "
The Government ' s Plan to Solve the Funding S hortage
out o f a l l my re s e a rch , I c o u l dn ' t f i n d o n e
s t a t em ent that sh owed h ow t h e gove rnment p l a n s t o
solve the funding shortage .
I did , however , f ind th is
" Governor Thompson says he real ly wants to
cop-out .
ra ise taxes but that i t is up to the univers i t i e s - ­
a l ong w i th w e l f a r e , ment a l -h e a l t h , ch i l d c a r e a n d
other lobb i es--to generate publ ic pressure on l eg i s ­
l ators t o make it poss ibl e " ( Camper ) .
I have s o much
informat ion on educational funding because the un ive r­
s ities have been a nd sti l l are l obbying in the form o f
newspaper articles to generate pub l i c pressure .
Most ,
i f n ot a l l , o f t h e i n f o rma t i o n c i ted w a s " u s e d b y
educational l obby i sts for new conferences i n Ch icago
and in l arge c ities downstate so that the publ i c wou l d
understand the ser iousness o f the fund ing shortage "
( Camper} .
Furthermore , university faculty , sta f f and
52
students have ra l l ied at the state Cap itol to draw
publ i c attention to the need of more school funding
( Trustee May , 8 8 ) .
F inal l y , the pol l c ited shows that
a maj ority of people are a l ready in favor of having
taxes ra ised .
Conclus ion
Governor Tho��son and otneL state l eg i sl ators can
no l onger use this cop-out .
Professors are l eav ing
schoo l s ,
students a r e l o s i n g educat i o na l opp o r ­
tun i t i e s , I l l i n o i s econ om i c c omp et i t i v en e s s i s i n
j eopardy , and the pub l i c knows about i t and i s w i l l ing
to chip in .
The government i s not only go ing to have
to raise taxes , it is a l s o going to have to assemb l e
the group o f l eaders Mr . Nowlan spoke o f i f' we are to
have a l ast ing sol ut ion to thi s dil emma .
Works Consulted
Camper , John .
" State Col l eges Feel ing F i scal Crunch . "
Chicago Tribune 3 Apr i l 1 9 8 8 , sec . 1 : 1 .
Carlton , Chad .
" Bi l l to L imit Tuit ion Defeated . "
Ch icago Tribune 2 1 Apr i l 1 9 8 8 , sec . 2 : 3 .
Dav idson , Jean .
" Schools Share o f Budget Decl ining ,
Study Shows . " Chicago Tribune 2 4 May 1 9 8 8 ,
sec . 2 : 4 .
Davis , George .
"Where wi l l a l l the money go "
I l l ino i s Trustee May 1 9 8 8 , 2 .
Egler , Daniel .
S chool s . "
sec . 2 : 3 .
"Madigan :
Sweeten Budget for
Chicago Tribune 6 May 1 9 8 8 ,
Emerson , Carol ine .
1988 .
Tel ephone interview .
7 October
Gri f fen , Jean .
" 2 I s sues at Stake in Leg i s l a t tve
Debate over Educat ion . " Chicago Tr ibune 12 June
19 8 8 , sec . 2 c : 1 .
Groves , Roderick T .
" I l l inois ' s Retreat from Educa­
t ional Opportunit ies . " Chicago Tribune 2 8 June
19 8 8 , sec . 1 : 1 3 .
Hacker , Dean .
Te lephone interview .
53
7 October 1 9 8 8 .
" Higher Education Begins Push for I ncreased State
Funding . "
I l l ino is Trustee November 1 9 8 7 : 1 - 3 .
House Republ ican Sta f f . H igher Educat ion .
Hioher
Educat ion Finances .
Springfield 1 9 8 8 .
" Keep I l l inois Univers ities S trong . " Editorial .
Chicago Tribune 10 Apri l 1 9 8 8 , sec . 4 : 2 .
Kleiner , Chr is .
1988 .
Telephone interview .
8 October
Klemens , M ichael D .
" Education and Taxes :
Th i s
Ye a r and Last Year . "
I l l inoi s I s sues March
198 8 :
2 8 -3 1 .
La Tourette , John .
" Ra i se Taxes Now or S u ffer
Later . " Ch icago Tribune 2 7 May 1 9 8 8 ,
sec . 1 : 2 1 .
Layz el l , Thoma s .
"We Al l Bene fit from Wel l Funded
Univers it ies . " Chicago Tribune 2 7 May 1 9 8 8 ,
sec . 1 : 2 1 .
Mas lankowski , Glenn .
1988 .
Telephone interv iew .
8 October
Nowl an , James D .
" H igher Educat ion Looking Beyond
Next Year ' s Budget . " Ch icaqo Tribune 8 June
1 9 8 8 , sec . 1 : 17 .
Nowlan , James D .
Pol itics o f Hioher Education :
Lawmakers and the Academy o f I l l inois .
Univers ity o f I l l ino i s Press , 1 9 7 7 .
Nowl an , James D .
" Rerout ing Higher-Education
Dol la rs . " Chicago Sun-T imes 7 November 1 9 8 7 ,
sec . 3 : 4 .
" Po l l F inds Support for Higher Taxes . "
I l l inois
Trustee September-August , 19 8 8 , 3 .
S o l ano , Frank J .
1988 .
Personal interview .
7 October
" S tate Univers ity Faculty S a l aries Lag Compared with
Other states . " I l l inoi s I ssues March 1 9 8 8 : 2 5 .
54
Sutter , Tom .
Telephone interview .
8 October 1 9 8 8 .
" Tax Handbook for I l l inois Leg i s l ators " I l l ino i s
General Assembly , May , 1 9 8 8 .
Urbanek , David .
"Univers ity pay f l unks out . "
Da i ly Herald 28 S eptember 1 9 8 8 , sec . 1 : 1 .
Letter to Representative James
Voge l , Mitch .
Kirkl and .
2 1 January 1 9 8 7 .
The Evaluation :
stuart Krav is ' s report
is f i l l ed with rel iable information , i s
obj ective in its point o f view , cl ear
and convent ional in its report format ,
and sound in its conclusi on .
55
Just Three Months
by Janet Levitzke
{ Engl ish 1 0 1 --Sternberg )
The Assignment :
Asked to write an ex­
tended definition on " some fundamenta l
l i fe experience that h a s shaped your
attitude toward yoursel f , " Ms . Levitzke
d iscloses the pro found impact of her
miscarriage .
Th i s w a s n ot the b l o od o f month l y m e n s e s .
My
uterus cramped and grabbed at t issue , try ing to hold
o n , t ry i ng to e xp e l .
H o rmo nes were s e nt err i n g l y
through my body , j ust i n case .
I was so very ti red ,
my body f ight ing to be pregnant , f ighting to abort .
I
held on w ith wavering fa ith .
Women b leed and del iver
perfect bab ies a l l of the t ime .
It ' s not unusua l to
have some " spotting " right at three months .
Tests conf irmed that we had l ost our baby .
I was
having a miscarriage .
An inaudible "What? " demanded
answers to countl ess questi ons .
My doctor proceeded
to c l a r i fy the s ituat ion .
I n e xp l a n a t i on , we were t o l d th at f o r unknown
reasons the fetus didn ' t thrive , in fact had d ied , and
that my body , as was nature ' s way , was try ing to expel
this now unwel come mass from an inhosp itable womb .
Cold , cl inical facts , told in neutral vo ice , ex­
" . . . a miscarriage can
pla ined the s ituat ion further :
There is
You d id nothing wrong .
happen to anyone .
noth ing wrong with either one o f you .
No , there is
nothing you cou ld have done d i f ferently ; i t j ust hap­
pens somet imes .
You ' re sti l l young .
You can have
other ch i ldren .
You should be aware o f what t o expect
I heard my doctor ' s voice a s though
now that
"
from the end of a long hal lway imagined j ust before
succumbing to the fog of anesthesi a ; a f i sh-eye- l ens
of a voice , coming from miles away , yet thrust rude l y
in my face , not to b e ignored .
Somehow we got home ; somehow we got on with our
l ives .
Phone cal l s were made to now ex-grandparent s­
to-be , aunts and uncles and wel l meaning friends .
.
•
.
.
56
F ive days l ater , a fter undergo ing a qu i ck surg i ­
cal procedure , my body was rel ieved o f thi s troub l i ng
mass o f t issue , and I was sent home .
Home as I knew
i t was gone .
Under a n e s t h e s i a , much m o r e t h a n a
failed pregnancy was scraped from within me .
I t is
Miscarriage is not the loss o f a fetus .
I
the loss o f dreams .
My chi ld was taken from me .
had a l ready held this baby in l ov ing arms , sang it to
Th i s
sl eep and breathed deeply its sweet baby scent .
I ' d even taken
ch i l d had been named and p layed with .
this chi l d t o its f irst day of schoo l .
Miscarriage is inconsolable grief . I t i s the l oss
o f many things ; a l i st with no beginning and no end .
Miscarri age i s a body frought with hormones no longer
needed , sti l l rul ing sleep and appet ite , st i l l cha s i ng
/
emot ion down endless dark passageways .
Miscarriage is the deepest sense o f fa i lure im­
aginable .
Rats and j unkies have babies , but not me .
I can ' t even reproduce , how the hel l am I supposed to
drive a car or balance a checkbook? I am noth ing .
Miscarriage is the true test o f l ove between a
man and a woman .
There is no study ing for th i s test ;
it is a pop qui z g iven out o f nowhere .
We ' ve wa ited
six months to see how we fared on that test , and have
yet to know the results .
Mi scarriage is a grief that takes a huge b ite out
of one ' s very soul , then cont inues to gnaw and gnaw
and gnaw .
The initial shock is confronted and the
l o s s a cknowl edged .
M a t ern i t y c l o th es a r e qu i c k l y
washed , folded and stored i n the furthest reaches o f
the least-used cl oset .
The baby ' s room i s returned to
its former state , a study once more .
My l i fe i s once a g a i n t i dy .
On I go , back t o
work , back t o smi l ing , back to the practica l iti es o f
day-to-day l iving .
I can ' t seem t o lose mysel f in
rout ine because there are babies , babies everywhere .
How can I shop?
Were there always so many proud new
moms cooing at infants as they were being carted from
soup to soap?
Why , when I turn down the next a i s l e ,
am I met by wal l s o f Pampers and In fami l ?
Bab ies can not be avo ided by homing- in ; the phone
rings with babies and the ma i l is pos itively burst ing
with new-born j oy .
The Baby ' s Room cal l s to see i f
ash i s O . K . i n s t e a d o f o a k .
Wou l d I l i k e t o j o i n
prenatal cl asses a t my chosen hospita l ? From the same
Hasn ' t anyone
address comes the b i l l for my D and C .
ever thought to cross-check a pat ient ' s name on the
computer , j ust in case?
The park district ca l l s to
see if I w i l l be attend ing the next " trimester" o f
My new copy o f American
pregnancy exerc ise classes .
57
Baby arrives neatly sandwiched between insurance forms
and maternity-shop f lyers .
Miscarriage is an avers ion to other people ' s hap­
piness . I ache when I hear of my dearest friend ' s new­
born or my nephew ' s l atest accomp l i shments .
The three
o f us had been j oyously pregnant together and it ' s
I l ook
hard to separate the ir happiness from my loss .
at these beaut i fu l chi ldren and see what I don ' t have .
Mostly , miscarriage is an overwhelming empt ine s s ;
o n e t h a t c a n never b e f i l l ed w i t h a n othe r b a by o r
hea l ed by t ime , for i t is truly the loss o f a l oved
one ; someone known in your soul , for a l l time .
The Eva luation :
Vivid , concrete deta i l s ,
strong sentence variety and a repeating
pattern of de f in it ion intensely convey
the pain of miscarrying .
58
Bus iness Eth ics Exam I
by Joseph M . Roth
( Ph i losophy 1 5 0 --Stone )
The Assignment :
a ) compare and con­
trast rul e util itariani sm and Kant .
b ) apply rul e uti l itarianism to the
American Cyanamid case , el aborating
the moral strategy , facts of the case ,
r
and spec i fic moral j udgment .
c ) apply Kant to the s ame case ,
aga in elaborating the strategy , facts ,
and spec i f i c j udgment .
d ) g ive
a comparative evaluat i on of Kant and
rule uti l itarian ism , i ncluding thei r
appl icab i l ity to the American Cyanamid
case .
a . Rul e uti l itarianism concentrates on rules that
will produce the greatest util ity .
Kant attempts to
show that there are certain moral rights that everyone
possesses ,
regardless of any uti l itarian bene f its .
Rule ut i l itarianism focuses on the external act ions or
accompl i shments o f a person or group .
Kant focuses on
Both the o r i e s a r e v e r y
the i nt er n a l mot ivat i o n .
genera l .
They can b e d i f ficu lt t o apply i n spec i f i c
situat ions , and c a n fal l v ict im to counter-examples .
b . I Moral Strategy
American Cyanamid ' s act ions were based on ru l e
uti l itarian concepts .
Management had a mora l ob l ig a ­
tion to protect the workers , but not bankrupt the com­
pany in the process .
II
Facts of the Case
Amer ican Cyanamid felt that it had an obl igat ion
to p ro t e c t f e t u s e s f r om p o s s i b l e h a rm due to l e a d
toxic ity ,
and protect the company from costly l aw­
suits .
The alternatives were :
59
a.
cl ean up the haz ardous areas and
make them s a fe
b.
ban pregnant women from hazardous
areas
ban a l l women o f chi ld-bearing age
from haz ardous areas , unless they
surgically steri l e
c.
They chose ( c ) as the least expens ive and most e f fec­
t ive al ternative .
Four women working in an area o f
the W i l l ow I s l and Plant c l ass i f ied as hazardous chose
to have ster i l i z at ion to keep thei r pos i ti ons rather
than trans fer to l esser paying positions .
The women
f i l ed an OSHA l awsuit , c l a iming that the i r rights were
viol ated because the company forced them to choose be­
When that
tween keeping the ir j obs or steri l i z ation .
action was d i smissed , they f i led a sex d i scrimination
suit , c l a iming that lead was harmful to both men and
women and the company should have spent money t o c l ean
up the p l a nt .
The c omp any event u a l l y s et t l ed the
case , never admitting any wrongdo ing .
I I I Spec i f ic Moral Judgment
From a rul e ut il itarian v i ewpo int , the company
By banning women capab l e
wa s j us t i f ied in its action .
o f bearing chi ldren from haz ardous areas , it was f u l ­
f i l l i ng i t s mora l obl igat ion to protect fetuses and
producing the greatest ut i l ity by not spend ing enor­
mous amounts o f money to c l e a n up the p l a nt , t h us
sav ing j obs .
Moreover , the company states that the
women chose ster i l i z at ion and that the company d i s ­
couraged them , feel ing that i t was unnecessary s i nce
they were o ffered other posit ions .
c)
I
Moral Strategy
,
Empl oyees have the right to be protected from
actual and known potent ial haz ards in the workp l ace .
II
Facts o f the case
See b I I
60
III
Spec i f i c Moral Judgment
The second formu lation for Kant ' s categorical im­
perat ive impl i es that peopl e should not be treated as
obj ects incapabl e of free choice .
" By this princip l e ,
an emp l oyee may legitimately be asked to perform the
unp l easant ( or even dangerous ) tasks i nvol ved in a j ob
i f the emp l oyee freel y consented to take the j ob know­
ing that it would involve these tasks . "
( Vel asquez p .
93)
This impl ies that the company was wrong in not
a l l owing the women to make a dec i s i on based on the
The company made an arb itrary
knowledge o f the facts .
dec i s ion based more on concern about f inanc i a l cost
and potent i a l l iab i l ity rather than the rights of the
/
empl oyees .
d)
Rul e util itarianism lends itsel f to the
criteri a emp loyed by people when discuss ing mora l con­
duct a nd by bus iness to j ust i fy economic dec i s i ons ,
such a s c o s t -b ene f i t a n a l y s i s .
I t p r ov i d e s a n
adequate j usti f ication for the company decis ion i n the
American Cyanamid case .
At the cost of e ight d i s ­
placed workers , the company was abl e to protect unborn
ch ildren and avo id a costly cleanup .
The maj or weak­
ness of rul e ut i l itarianism is that it can ignore or
The Pinto case i s a good
abridge indiv idual rights .
e x a m p l e o f t h e m i s a pp l i c a t i o n o f c o s t - b e n e f i t
analys i s .
Kant ' s t h e o ry ov e r come s the w e a kn e s s o f r u l e
ut i l itarianism by recogni z ing that peop l e have mora l
rights that may override ut i l itarian bene f its . I n the
American cyanamid case , whi l e it does recogn i z e that
the women should have been g iven the cho ice to work in
the haz ardous areas , the company ' s dec i s ion to exclude
them because of the potent ial risk is more compe l l ing .
However ,
i n m o s t c a s e s such a s C a l t e r a n d S o uth
Africa , Kant presents a better argument .
The appl ica­
t i o n of h i s t heory p ro t e c t s i n d i v i du a l r i ght s and
promotes greater ut i l ity by applying the criteria o f
universal l iab i l ity a nd revers ibil ity .
The Evaluation :
C l ose to the " r ight
answer , " these c l early presented ideas
apply course concepts to a case not
covered in class .
S ix words ( e . g . ,
" evaluat ion" ) in the question were
addressed correctly .
Grammar and
spe l l ing help to present the ideas .
61
Education for the Future
by Jody S ewa l l
( Engl i sh 1 0 1--Thoreson )
The Assignment :
To write an essay that
could appear on the editorial page o f
a serious and in fluent i a l newspaper
or maga z ine a imed at readers ident i f iabl e
by age , pol itical outl ook , economic/
educat ional level , and ( i f appl icab l e )
sex .
The publ icat i on could b e an
actual one ( e . g . , Time ) or a f ictional pub l icat ion o f the student ' s own
creat ion .
A ch ild is born .
He comes into the world com­
pletely helpless .
Everything must be done for h im .
Everything must be taught to h im .
I t i s the parents '
j ob to do these things .
Ideal ly , a l l parents wou ld be
abl e to handle the j ob .
Un fortunately , thi s i s not
always true .
In my f ive years as a l aboratory tech­
nician in a pediatric o ff ice , I have come across more
people who should not be parents than I ever thought
possible .
Some l ack the common sense needed to ensure
the sa fety o f their children .
Others re fuse to take
cha rge o f th e i r c h i l d ren and g iv e them the p ro p e r
gu idance and discipl ine .
And many times , innocent
ch ildren are · negl ected by parents who don ' t have the
t ime for them .
Though most of these people l ove the i r
ch i ldren and want to b e good parents , many o f them do
not possess the knowledge and understanding to do the
I strongly feel that tra ining courses for
j ob right .
p a r e nt s - to -b e , wh ether spon s o red by pub l i c h e a l t h
departments ,
hospita l s ,
or univers ities ,
shou ld be
made ava i l able to the pub l ic .
Wh i l e p a re n t h o od i s supp o s e d t o be l e a r n e d b y
trial and error , many mistakes can b e detrimenta l t o a
chi ld ' s hea lth and wel l -be ing ;
some can be deadly .
Take the case o f Mrs . Davis .
The doctor could not un­
d e r s t a nd why her s o n , M i ch a e l , had g a i ned s o much
weight .
Upon further question ing , it was di scovered
62
that she was feeding Michael concentrated formu l a for
two weeks .
On the formu l a can , in two places , in big
letters , are the words , " ADD WATER BEFORE FEEDING . "
on the
Mrs . Dav i s saw this and chose to ignore i t .
other extreme , Mrs . Smith insisted on breast feeding
her chi l d even though she had no milk and the baby had
l ost a pound h i s first month .
When asked why , she
s i mp l y r e p l i e d ,
" I t ' s the n atu ra l t h i n g t o d o . "
Another ch i l d was brought i n because he was choking
This was because he was eat ing cereal
when he ate .
from a spoon at two weeks of age .
Although an improper diet in an in fant is more
l ikely to cause immediate problems , an older ch ild ' s
d i et i s o f e qu a l imp o rt a nc e .
A ch i l d who i s n o t
taught good eat ing habits early may devel op serious
h e a l th p r ob l em s l at e r i n l i f e .
Re c e nt l y ,
Mrs .
Goldberg had her chi ld in for a repeat cho l esterol
test .
He had had one a few months be fore wh ich was
very h igh .
At that t ime , she was instructed to ex­
c l ud e f o od s that are h i gh i n cho l e st e r o l f rom the
ch ild ' s diet , mainly red meats and da iry product s .
When her son ' s cholesterol l evel was st i l l very h igh ,
the doctor asked her i f she had been fol l owing the
diet .
She went on and on about how he only eats food
what is good for h im ; fruit , vegetables , and turkey .
On her way out , she asked t o use the phone t o order
dinner for the kids .
I couldn ' t bel ieve my ears when
she c a l l ed I rving ' s and ordered hotdogs and cheese
fries .
Even though
More serious are medication errors .
high fevers can cause l i fe threatening sei zures in
ch ildren , many people refuse to g ive Tyl eno l , wh ich
will reduce the fever and make the chi ld more com fort­
They
able , unt i l they are at the doctor ' s o f f ice .
think we won ' t bel ieve the chi ld is s ick .
Then there
was the woman who , instead of g iving her chi l d three­
qu a rt e r s o f a t e a sp o o n o f a nt i b i o t i c t h r e e t i me s
da ily , gave her three to four teaspoons three t imes
daily .
Another mother , whose child had an ear in fec­
tion , put the ant ibiotic , which was supposed to be
taken by mouth , into the child ' s ear .
Fortunat e ly ,
mistakes such as these are usual ly caught and cor­
rected b e f o r e they can do i rreparab l e h a rm to t h e
ch ild .
An other prob l em a r ea f o r many p a re n t s i s d i s ­
cipl ine .
This includes teach ing the ch ild not only
right from wrong , but a l so responsib i l ity and values .
Mrs . Anderson brought her son in for a bl ood test one
day .
Understandabl y , he was very upset when they got
63
to the o f f ice .
Trying to explain h i s behavior , Mrs .
Anderson said , " He ' s mad because I l ied to h im . " Most
They can
o f what a ch i l d learns is from his parent s .
not e ffectively punish a child for doing someth ing
wrong when the child learned the behav ior from them .
Many t imes , ch i ldren have thrown temper tantrums
in our o f f ice , only to have the parents g ive in to
them .
Many o f the procedures we do requ i re the ch i l d
to b e restra ined f o r h is own sa fety .
Occas iona l ly ,
the parent w i l l refuse necessary tests because they
do n ' t w a nt to h o l d the c h i l d down .
A l th o ugh i t ' s
somet imes hard , a parent must learn to stand up to hi s
ch i ld .
Perhaps the worst problem faced by chi ldren with
untra ined parents is neglect .
Many t imes I ' ve heard a
mother say she can ' t bring her s ick chi l d to the o f­
fice because she has a beauty shop appointment or a
bowl ing tournament .
One day , Mrs . Schwartz brought
She had had too
her chi l d in late in the a fternoon .
many things go ing on that day to keep the ch i l d home
so she sent her to school with a temperature of 1 0 4 .
The doctor told her that she should have sent her in
an ambul ance .
Some children are ma lnouri shed because
parents don ' t bother to g ive them enough to eat .
Some
ch i ldren get repeated infecti ons because the parent s
don ' t bother to keep them cl ean .
S ome chi ldren get
frostb ite or sunburn because the parents don ' t bother
to d re s s t hem r i gh t .
S omet imes , the r e s u l t s o f
neglect can be devastat ing .
One mother l e ft her two
daughters in the care o f a man she had j ust met so she
could go shopp ing .
Th is man ended up k i l l ing one o f
O ften
t h e g i r l s a n d s eve re l y i n j u r i n g t h e othe r .
times parents don ' t mean t o neglect the i r ch ildren .
They j ust don ' t know how to g ive them the proper care .
As w e a l l know , ch i l d r e a r ing c a n be o n e o f
l i fe ' s most pleasurable and grati fying experiences .
But parent ing is a j ob wh ich requires intel l igent ,
caring people .
When parents can not or w i l l not ful ­
f i l l the i r obl igations to the ir ch ildren , the results
can be disastrous .
I t ' s often been said that none are
as innocent as children .
Parents owe it to them to
teach and guide them in a f irm but l oving way .
If
tra in ing courses were ava i l able to the publ ic , many
would be much more capable of doing j ust that .
Parent ' s Maga z ine
Age 2 5 - 4 5
S ex- Fema le
Midd le class
Liberal to conservative
64
The Evaluation :
The great strength
of Jody ' s essay ,
it seems to me ,
is
its deft and grace ful use o f spec i f i c
inc idents/anecdotes to support her
maj or points .
I n addition , her top ic
i s orig inal and interesting :
it
a l l ows us a " backstage" peek at a s ide
of pediatric workers we don ' t o ften
see--the frustration and pain o f
deal i ng not j ust with thei r young
patients but with misguided parents
as wel l .
65
Anorexia Nervosa :
Big Problems in a Tiny Package
by Jeanne V.
Skarvan
Professor Tierney
July 1 3 , 1 98 7
The Assignment :
A traditional research
paper : 1 5 0 0 - 2 5 0 0 words , at least seven
s ources , and proper form and documen­
[ The fol l owing proj ect has
tation .
been arranged and typed to i l lustrate
one correct format for col lege wri t i ng ,
the Author/ Date system . ]
66
Ano rexia Nervosa
ii
Abs t ract
Anorexia nervosa seriously interferes with the l i fe of the v i c t im
and arises due to a great number of interact ing problems ,
Severe
changes occur in the vi c t im ' s bod i l y funct ions and in the personal i t y ,
wh ich c a n p rove t o be fatal ,
Biology plays a minor role wh i l e
psychology plays a maj o r role i n causat ion .
Fau l ty metabolism and
biochemical imbalances may b iologically predispose one to anorexia ,
but more research is needed here .
problems in the persona l i ty ,
the fami ly ,
rol e .
More l ikely ,
the psychological
the mot her-daughter relat ionsh i p ,
and
along with the values of socie t y , play a more concrete
Recovery involves intense t reatment
in the
intervention and psychotherapy , wh ich may last
67
form o f med ical
several years .
Anorexia Nervosa
Big Problems in A Tiny Package
Anorexia Nervos a :
I was s t arving to death .
"I was dying .
because there was no fat
could not
sit
in my feet
for more than
[her
I h a d a c u t e c h e s t pains .
see a l l the veins in my body •
parent s '
]
cont ro l l ing me ,
• •
that
You
! could not bear their
crying when they would see me .
about suicide a l l the t ime .
I
to cushion the bones .
1 0 minutes because my bones wou l d
hurt--! h a d nothing to s i t on .
could
I could not walk
I was thinking
I f in a l l y realized that it was
I couldn ' t commit suicide even i f I
wanted because I was already dying , " admi t s E l l en Cash , a
young woman with anorexia nervosa
("St arving Disease , "
1982 ,
p. 47) .
Anorexla nervosa ,
a serious and potent ial ly fatal eating d isorder ,
is gaining more and more p ub l ic attent ion every day due to
continual
increase in incidence
usua l l y a n int e l l i gent , white ,
c l ass home ,
(Levenkro n ,
1 98 2 ) .
fema l e adolescent
its
The vic t im ,
from a mid d l e t o upper
becomes obsessed with d ie t ing unt i l she risks dying from
starvat ion and i ts many harmful e f fe c t s on the body .
About one to four
out of every hundred young women in high school and c o l lege su f fe r
from anorexi a .
These high incidence rates and the fact that
they are
increasing become even more devastat ing when one considers the
accompanying high mo r t a l i t y rate
can·' t
he l p
of about
1 0 - 1 5 % (Brown , 1 9 8 5 ) .
One
but wonde r what could motivate a young lady to torture
her body to such an ext reme ext ent ,
Overal l ,
proves to be a serious i l l ness , Lansky
j ust as anorexia nervosa
( 1 98 5 ) and several other
autho r i t ies contend that a variety o f factors from both ins i d e and
68
Anorexia Nervosa
2
outside o f the vic t im exist
that are deeply interwoven to cons truct
the fabric o f this disease .
Sympt oms of Anorexia Nervosa and i t s Diagnosis
In o rder to underst and anorexia nervosa bet t e r ,
i t helps to
have some background information on the medic al , behavioral , and
psychological symp toms .
Most
of these warning signs result
rigorous diet ing and other aspe c t s of t he vic t ims '
Anorex ics have haggard
from the
l i festyles .
faces that are qu ite pal e , with sunken eyes
and cheeks , and deep t r iangular l ines or creases around
the mouth .
The ir l imbs become quite sc rawny and t he i r clo thes wi l l engul f their
emaciated bodie s .
They wil l dress in layers o r wear baggy c lothes
so they look heavier than they are and do not
t ion t o the i r il lness .
f,at ,
a t tract too much atten­
Due to their malnu t r i t ion and lack of body
they experience amenorrhea
(cessat ion of t he menstrual cycl e ) ,
a l t e rnat ing diarrhea and cons t ipat ion , decreased immuni t y to infect ions ,
and fainting and d i z z iness because of low blood pressure .
common i s dull hair , which starts to
fal l out in c l umps .
Interest ingly enough ,
about being cold a l l o f the t ime .
try t o conserve what heat they have l e ft
downy hair on the rest of their bodies ,
anorexia nervosa p rogresses ,
( "Anorex ia , "
1 984 ;
Also
They comp lain
their bodies
i n them by growing a soft ,
c a l led lanugo .
Thus , as
i t s symptoms become quite noticeable
Schweisheime r ,
1 984 ) .
In add i t ion to the biological changes , many psychological and
behavioral changes occur during this deadly dietin g .
The anorexic
becomes very sensitive about her appearance and the commen t s made
about
it .
She becomes qu i t e skilled at act s such as pretending
69
Ano rexia Nervosa
3
to eat
food and secretly buying over-the-counter drugs such as diet pi l l s ,
laxa t ives ,
d·iur e t ic s , and eme t i c s i n order t o aid weight loss ,
body image becomes quite distorted and she wi l l c l aim she is
even when she is qu i t e underweight ,
is only
in the advanced stages
fat
Lying becomes a common pract ice ;
she w i l l c l aim she is full after only having eaten a b i t e ,
it
Her
that
Actual ly ,
the appe t i t e disappe ars ,
wh i l e in the meant ime she actually experiences ext reme hunge r ,
Food is o ft e n thought about ,
looked a t , and p layed wit h , but
seldom
As diet ing and exercising bec ome the main focus in he r l i f e ,
eaten .
For example ,
t ime and energy are t aken away from other activities .
her previously excellent grades p l ummet and she becomes
more isol ated ,
increasingly
t o the point where she has no social l i fe inside or
outsid e o f the home .
All in a l l , when anorexia occurs , a comp l e t e
� hange t akes p l ace in every a r e a o f the l i festyle and persona l ity
( "Anorexia , "
1 984 ; Crisp , 1 980 ) ,
De spite this entourage of symptoms ,
exist
some basic criteria must
before a diagno s is wil l be usually made by a doctor .
p ro fess ion�!
fol low the guidelines set up in the Diagnos tic and
S t a t i s t ic a l Manual of Mental Disorders , Third
Edition
written by the American Psychi atric Association .
DSM- I I I ,
the
A.
Most
(DMS- I I I ) ,
According to the
following must exist :
Intense fear o f becoming obese , which does not
diminish as weight loss progresses .
B.
Dis turbance o f body image ,
fat " even when emac iated ,
70
e.g. ,
claiming t o " feel
Anorexia Nervosa
4
c.
Weight loss o f at
or ,
if under
least
2 5 % o f original body weight
18 years o f age , weight loss from
body weight plus proj e c t e d weight gain from growth
charts may be combined to make the
D.
Refusal
t o maintain body weight over a min imal
normal weight
E.
25%.
for age and height ,
No known physical i l lness that would account
weight loss
(p .
for the
69 ) .
Many eat ing d i sorder therapi s t s also d i s t inguish be tween the two main
t ypes of anorexia
type .
that exist ,
the restrictor type and the bulimic
The rest r i c t o r prac t i ce s constant
food abst inence , whi l e the
bulimic anorexic wil l diet rigorously but regularly binge on
· '
large quant ities of
food and use drugs
such as laxatives , d iuret i c s ,
dr amphetamines , or
induce vomit ing , or part icipate in excessive
exercise to counteract the usual weight gain
p.
67) .
(McNurlen ,
1 98 5 ,
Thus , c lear , universal guidelines and categories exist
pert aining to the diagnosis of anorexia .
Pred isposit ions! Factors
The factors whi c h p redispose a young woman to anorexia must be
explored in order to uncover the e t iology o f the mental i l lnes s .
In
s t udying and treat ing anorexia nervosa , many professionals have
noticed several recurring trends in their patients which have helped
shape their theories relat ing to the causes o f anorexia .
factors tend to
fall
into
two main categories :
external influences .
71
the
These
internal and the
Anorexia Nervosa
5
Inte rnal Influences
Internal influences are those wh ich arise from within the
ano rexic hersel f , no t from those a round her .
These internal factors
c an be broken down into two main categories :
the biological aspects
and more important ly , the psychological aspec t s o f the personality .
Biologic al Factors ,
in the biological area .
Two main predispos i t ional factors prevail
For a few people , keeping weight o f f and
maintaining a normal weight prove to be a d i f ficult chore , even
t hough they do not eat excessively .
Dr . David Lansky ( 1 98 5 ) ,
a cl inical psychologist in p r ivat e pract i c e who specializes in the
treatment o f eat ing d i sorders , feels that for a small percentage
of people , anorexia and bul imia ( t he bing�purge syndrome) provide
a s t r ategy t o cont ro l a "biological propensi ty to gain weight eas ily
cir lose weight wi t h great d i f f iculty" (p . 4 ) .
Ano ther main fac tor
found in much research deals with bra in chemi s t ry .
Early experiments
tested the hypot he s i s that various endocrine (hormone ) imbalances
or abno rmal i t ie s of the hypothalamus , a small part of t he brain
that �gulates met abo l ic processes , body t emperature , and emo t ion ,
could be partially responsible for the onset of anorexia .
Although
many o f these changes proved to be the result of the weight loss
i t sel f (Garner and Garfinkel , 1 98 2 ) , many authorities s t il l feel t hat
further research must b e done t o completely uncover and und erstand
all chemical fac t or s , '
All in all , even though organic influences
have not been concretely proven , one cannot d ismiss too has t ily
the poss ibi l it y o f t he i r influence .
72
Anorexia Nervosa
6
P sychological Fac tor s .
More substant ial proof exists in the
o ther internal domain o f the individua l .
similarly that ,
as in other i l l nesses , a stereotypical p a t t ern c an
be found in their thinking and b e l i ef s .
for acceptance are maj o r themes
high
Most anorexics thi nk so
Perfect ionism and a desire
1 984 ) .
(Horosko ,
She set s ext remely
goals for hersel f which she pursues with great
dedicat ion .
intensity and
Low self e s teem and a feeling of never being good
'
enough result when she does not achieve everything to perfec t ion
(Life Skills Educ ation ,
1 98 3 ) .
"al l -or-nothing thinking ,
horrible ,
"
Dr .
Lansky
( 1 985 ) labels thi s
for she sees herself as e i ther great
with no degrees o f d i f ference in between
(p .
5) .
or
She
worries not only about fail ing her s e l f but perhaps more about
failing
others , wh ich in her terms o f t hinking , means that they would no
longer love her
(Mc Nurlen ,
As a resu l t , she exhib i t s extreme
1 985 ) .
complianc e , which along with her usually excellent achievement in
most areas o f her l i fe , o ften resu l t s in her being dubbed by her
parents a s "the best l i t t l e girl in the world "
( Kinoy ,
1 98 4 , p . 2 7 ) .
The d ie t ing and body obsession become the solut ion to these worries
and problems .
The rigid i ty and ext reme will-power she s tarts to
exert over her
food become a source of pride and confidence
because in this arena she can achieve what she has desired and do
it hersel f ,
instead o f relying on others
(Horosko ,
the anorexic ' s faulty thought patt erns and
ideas
1 984 ) .
that exist as
part of her persona l i ty p l ay an important role in her pred i sp o s i t ion to the eating d i sorder .
73
Thus ,
Anorexia Nervosa
7
External Influences
External influences also p l ay a very large role in the development o f anorexia nervo s a .
These influences originate from areas
outside of the anorexic ' s body or mind .
the mother-
They cons i s t of :
daughter rel a t ionship and the need to mature into an adul t ,
family s t ructure as a whol e ,
and
the
the society one lives in ·
The Mother-Daughter Relat ionship .
Upon close scrut iny ,
problems in the mother-daughter relat ionship become apparent which
may bring about d i f fi c ul t ie s in the growth and maturation o f the
anorexic .
Kinoy ,
( 1 984 , p .
35) d e s c r ibes their mut ual ly dependent
relat ionship perfect ly as "intertwined . "
Individual ident ities no
longer exis t , wh ich result s in a relat ionship based on guil t , anger ,
dep endenc y , and a lack of t rust
( Levenkron ,
1 982 ) .
Anorex i c s
frequently s e e thei r mothers are unhappy and oppressed , wh i ch s t irs
up great fears in the daughters that they ,
too , wi l l have the same
future , a further resul t of t he i r dependent relat ionship
( Kinoy ,
1 98 4 ) .
This phobia becomes generalized to the point whe re the daught ers
'
not only experience anxiety about
becoming l ike their mothers but
about developing into women at a l l
(Kinoy ,
her p resent emotional age or regre sses ,
1 984 ) .
she avoids
If she s tays at
this possibili ty .
Consequent ly , as the anorexic loses weight , amenhorrhea
(cessation
o f men s t ruation) oc curs and the womanly curves she developed in
puberty d isappea r ,
thighs
( "Anorexia , "
so that she ends up with no breas t s , no hip s , or
1 98 4 ) .
This fear o f becoming a woman also
explains why many c ases o f anorexia start a t points in l i fe whe re
74
Ano rexia Nervosa
8
independence should deve lo p ,
such as during puberty or when t he
young woman leaves home for college
(Brown ,
1 98 5 ) .
She o f t en feels
she is j ust not ready t o be an adult and these crisis t imes cause
the fee l ings to become s t ronger and more obvious .
Thus ,
the same
mother-daughter relat ionships s t irs up ambivalent feelings : a
need
for independence and self-identity coupled with feelings o f
dependence d u e to the c loseness to t h e mother
(Brown ,
1 98 5 ) .
Ano rexia
delays this t ime of stress and turns the clock back to a time of
secur i ty , which further reinforces weight
loss
(Life Skills Educa­
1983) .
t io n ,
Family Pressure s .
Just a s a typical persona l i ty and mother­
daughter relat ionship exis t s , a common pat tern evolves in the family
Often the parents are overly
of the anorexic .
�norexic ' s l i f e and make all of the decisi ons
A psychologist rec a l l ed
such a cas e .
involved in the
(Horosko ,
"One t eenage pat ient couldn ' t
even go t o a store and pick out c lothes for hersel f .
l i t e rally needed her mother to make the dec isions ,
to buy"
(Brown ,
1 98 5 , p . 1 65 ) .
1984 ) .
She
to t e l l her what
Simult aneous l y , parents guard the i r
o wn emot ional d isplays , result ing i n a lack o f awareness among
family members o f each othe r ' s emot ional needs
(McNurlen ,
Parents may negle c t this child who never causes problems
1 9 84 ) .
In this way ,
although present ,
1 98 5 ) .
(Kinoy ,
the anorexic finally receives d is torted ,
attent ion and recognition when she diet s , whi ch
also further perpetuates the d ieting
(Levenkron ,
Two other family traits become apparent .
1 98 2 ) ,
Weight problems
or obsessions in family members other than the anorexic o ften
75
Anorexia Nervosa
9
exis t .
In her book , When Will We Laugh Again?
( 1 984 ) , Barbara
Kinoy , Ph . D . , c ites that hal f of the fami l ie s she studied of eating
d i sorder p a t ients showed the p resence of a high emphasis on
Half also reported a weight problem in one or
phys ical appearanc e ,
both parent s ,
As a resul t , p arent s proj e c t thei r wo rries about
their we ight onto thei r chi ldren so that any weight gain in a
child results in undue concern and c r i t i c ism .
some anorexi c s start out
Interes t ingl y ,
f ive t o ten pounds overwe i ght a t the onset
of t he d ie t ing and probably experience constant
stress
to lose
weight , which i s magni fied as a result of their oversens i t ivity
t o others '
remarks
(Brown,
1 985 ) .
another c ommon charac t e r is t i c .
Kincy ' s study also points out
These fam i l ies usually have at
least one member suffering from depression and /or alcoholism whi c h
c ould add s t ress i n family c ommunicat ion .
Such problems can
further detract from the a ttention g iven t o the child and o ften
cause her add i tional stress ,
(Kinoy ,
1 984 ) ,
Thus ,
as she feels gui l t y for the s i tuation
the anorexic usually s i gnifies that there are
problems in her famil y .
Societal Factors .
Not only does pressure come from within -the
anorexic and her family , but current soc iety cont ributes as wel l .
Ame rican culture p l aces s o much importance o n t he body that i t has
seemingly become more important than the personal i ty and tal ent ,
espec ially in women
(Life Skills Education ,
1 983 ) ,
Being
f i t and
t r im equates to suc ce s s , pride , self-con f idence , and happ iness ,
wh ile being seen as overweight means one
no self-control
(Life Skills Educat ion ,
76
is sloppy , boring , and has
1 98 3 ) ,
As a result , many
Anorexia Nervosa
10
girls and women develop a growing insecurity about their bodies so
that a woman who i s o f a normal weight sees herself as fat
(Garner and Garf inkel ,
1 985 ) ,
Interestingly , men appear to be less o f
a target i n t h i s area , which may exp la in why only
are males
example ,
(Lansky ,
1 985 ) ,
These values show up everywhere .
For
the number of diet articles in six maj or women ' s magazines
increased by
70% from 1 969 to 1 9 78 , as found by Garner and
( 1 985) .
Garfinkel
Anot her
1 980 study by Garner , Garfinkel , Schwartz ,
and Thompson studied changes in women ' s tota l
from
5 - 1 0% o f anorexics
1 95 9 to 1 978 ,
ideal body images
Both Miss America contestants and Playboy
bunnies bec ame less curvaceous as evidenced by a dec rease on t he
average in bust and hip measurements with a simultaneous increase
in height .
The Miss America contestants in
1 96 1 , 1 962 , 1 96 5 , and
f966 were the heaviest during the twenty year period , weighing
in at
89% of the average we ight for women , as determined by actuarial
tables .
These a lready below normal weights further decreased to
the point that ,
in
1 9 78 , the last year in the study , the average
contestant ' s we ight measured
the actuaries , wh ich ,
78% o f the corresponding weight in
interest ingly and sadly , comes very c lose
to the low body weight found in anorexic s ,
1 982 ) ,
Furthermore,
e f fec t s of obesity
7 5 % (Garner and Garfinke l ,
society has simultaneously catas trophi zed the
(Lansky ,
1 985 ) .
Dr,
Lansky reve a l s the stress
on the change in women ' s current roles .
She is supposed to raise
the children , hold down a suc:·c essful full-t ime j ob , maintain a
great marriage , and handle a l l the household chores .
77
In the face
Anorexia Nervosa
11
o f this new "superwoman " status ,
the anorexic unconc iously rebels
against this imposed perfe c t ionism, which scares her because she
knows she c annot measure u p to these incredible standards .
Treatment
The combination of these internal and external influences
wh ich predispose one to anorexia are devas tating in that the physical
health of the anorexic is greatly j eopardized by the abuse o f her
body .
The med ical d oc tor must
therefore p l ay a role
process and correct much deterioration .
s tarved
in t he recovery
The anorex i c ' s body ,
for calorie s , eventually s tarts feeding o f f of i t sel f ,
especially in musc le prot e i n .
When the heart weakens from this ,
i rregularit ies in heart rhythm or even conges tive heart
occur .
Other hab i ts of the anorexic also do much damage .
vom i t ing can cause elec t rolyte
charges in the heart )
failure can
Habitual
(chemicals responsible for electr ical
imbalances , dehydration , tooth decay , and gum
disease due to the hydrochloric
(s tomach ) acid vom i t ing brings up ,
internal bleeding due to tearing of the esophagus , and swollen
sa l ivary gland s .
and malnu t r i t ion .
Frequent fasting can result i n kidney p roblems
Heavy use of laxatives can predispose a person
to irritable bowel syndrome and constipat ion when they are not used .
Laxative abuse can also cause ulcers , hernias , and a physical
dependence in which laxatives must be taken to maintain even a
normal numbe r of bowel movements
Quite obviously ,
( Schweisheimer ,
1 984 ; Seligman , 1 98 3 ) .
the med ical doctor has a lot on his hand s .
Most o f this damage can b e taken care o f through treatment ,
but early recogni tion and t reatment p rove vital
78
(Crisp ,
1 982 ) .
Ano rexia Nervosa
12
I n the advanced stage, i n whi c h i s usually when he l p i s sought ,
hosp ital i zation is necessary
Hos p i t a l ,
1 98 0 ) .
(Palme r ,
At Johns Hopkins
as in othe r ho spitals , pat ients spend three months ge tt ing
round-the-clock med ical and psychological care .
Food
l ike med i c ine with dosages tai lored to each pat ient .
usually start at
is prescribed
These diets
1 500 calor ie s , gradually build up to 4000 calories ,
and then t aper o f f to a maintenance level
(Sel igman ,
1 98 3 ) .
the sake o f comparison , whi l e the average body needs about
calories a d ay , anorexics c onsume only
most
(Crips ,
1 98 2 ) ,
Thus ,
For
2000
600 calories a day at
in t he hosp i t a l ,
the doctors comple tely
take over control of the anorex ic ' s body and health in order to
keep her al ive ,
Outlook
Some anorexics will go through years of therapy whi le
remaining severely undernourished .
Nutr i t i on must be restored as
soon as possible because being underweight can cause insomnia ,
irri tabil i t y and poor concent rat ion , all of which can hinder psycho­
therapy
( "Anorex ia , "
1 98 4 ) ,
The main d i f f i c u l t ies in psycho­
therapy a re the init ial d i fficulty in obtaining the trust of the
anorexic ,
gett ing the anorexic to see she has an i l lness ,
perhaps mo st d i f ficul t ,
and
showing the anorexic that she is using her
behaviors as a camouflage for a mul t i t ude of painful feelings ,
therefore ,
these must
(Garner and Garfinkel ,
be rel inquished
1985 ) ,
if she is to
All in al l ,
a lot o f work ahead of him ,
79
and
ful ly recover
the therap ist
also has
Anorexia Nervosa
13
The prognosis i s better i f treatment s tarts a s early as possible
because the longer the anorexic has used this mechanism, the more
d i f f icult it will be to give it up (Crisp , 1 98 2 ) .
Unfortunately ,
anorexia is s t i l l one of t he leading causes o f death of those who
suffer from psychological i l lnesses (Seligman , 1 982 ) .
Those who
d i e usually do so as a resul t o f cardiac abnormalities , but some times
commit suic ide due to s evere depress ion (Kinoy , 1 984 ) .
Generally ,
it takes at least a year of outpat ient therapy to get the patient
to begin eat ing normally and to feel better about hersel f , though
some improve a fter a few weeks or months .
and mone tary costs are usually quite high .
There is no fast cure
At Johns Hopkins
Hospi tal , hospital izat ion a lone for three months costs about
$ 3 5 , 000 ( " S tarving Disease , " 1 98 2 ) .
Health insurance usually
covers part of the ·cos t s . but treatment is almost always a great
financial burden on the family (Kinoy , 1 9 84 ) .
Nonethe less , all of
t he money and hard work that go into therapy are worth i t if a
human l i f e can be s aved .
In the final analysis , anorexia nervosa is an escape from all
o f the many problems a girl or young woman faces .
Like alcoholism
o r drug abuse , ano rexia provides escape for a person who has no
psychological resources to rely upon .
As in al l of t hese o ther
abuse d i sorders , b iology may play a role in the e t iology of
anorexi a , but more research is needed for conclusive answers
(Garner and Garfinkel , 1 9 82 ) .
Psychological factors in the
anorexic , her family , and soc iety de fini tely contribute great ly to
80
Anorexia Nervosa
14
the development o f anorexia nervosa and other eating
(Lansky ,
1 985 ) ,
disorders
The refor e , treatment o ften focuses on these areas .
Individual psychotherapy and family and group
therapy are often
coordinated in a mul t i-faceted t reatment plan which lasts a couple
of years
(Lansky ,
has increased ,
1 9 85 ) .
Just as the rate o f eating disorders
so has the number o f therapis t s , c l i nics , and
reference gruops that specialize in this area
Garfinkel ,
1 98 5 ) ,
(Garner and
With al l o f these resources to draw from ,
the
anorexic can eventually lead a "normal " l i f e in whi c h she can be
an independent young woman who wi l l have bet ter coping and social
sk i l l s and be able to rel inquish her dependency and her attitude
of perfect ionism.
81
Ano rexia Nervosa
15
References
Ame rican Psychi atric Assoc iat ion . Diagnos t i c and s tatist ical manual
o f mental disorders , third ed ition .
U . S . A . : Press Synd icate
of the University o f Cambridge , 1 980 .
Anorexia nervo sa .
( 1 984 ) .
The Marshall Cavend ish i l lustrated
encyclopedia of family heal t h , London : Marhs all Cavend ish
House .
Brown , K.
( 1 98 5 , Apr i l ) . When d ieting goes berserk .
pp . 1 6 0 , 1 6 2 , 1 6 5 , 1 6 7 . 1 68 ,
Crisp , A . H .
( 1 98 2 ) . Anorexia nervosa :
Grune & Strat ton Inc .
Let me be .
Parent s ,
Orland , FL :
Garne r , D . M . , & Garf inkel , P , E . ( 1 98 2 ) . Ano rexia nervosa ; A mul t i ­
New York :
d imensional perspec t ive .
Brunner/Mazel , Inc .
Garne r , D . M . , & Garfinke l , P . C . ( 1 985 ) . Hand book of psychotherapy
for anorexia nervosa and bulimia .
New York : Guil ford Pres s .
Horosko , M . ( 1 984 , January ) .
Eating d isorders , part one :
too l i t t l e . Dance Maga z ine , pp . 88-89 .
Consuming
Kino y , B . ( 1 984 ) . When wi l l we laugh again : Living and deal ing
New York :
Columbia
with anorexia nervosa and bul imia .
University Pres s .
Lansky , D . ( 1 98 5 ) . The nature and treat ment of eat ing d i sorders :
A guide for pat ients and their fami l ies .
Treating and overcoming anorexia nervosa .
Levenkro n , S . ( 1 982 ) ,
New York : Charles Scribne r ' s Sons .
Anorex ia :
Life Skills Educ ation , Inc .
Weymouth , MA; Author , 1 98 3 .
A lonely st arvat ion .
McNurlen , C . ( 1 985 , May ) . Anorexia nervosa :
I s the family to
blame? Can the famil y he lp ? Bet t er Homes and Gardens ,
pp . 65 ' 6 7 ' 68 .
Palmer , R . L . ( 1 980 ) ,
their famil ies .
Schwei sheimer , B .
Anorexia nervosa : A guide for suf ferers and
Midd lesex , England : Penguin Books Lt d ,
( 1 984 ) ,
A brief guide to eating d i sord ers .
Sel igman , J , ( 1 98 3 , March 7 ) ,
Newsweek , pp . 5 9 , 60 ,
Anorexia and our socie ty ,
82
Anorexia Nervosa
16
The starving d isease : Anorexia .
World Reports , pp . 4 7 , 48 .
( 1 98 2 , August 30) .
u . s . News and
The Evaluat ion :
Jeanne has done an
exce l lent j ob o f research , handled
a complex medical and psychological
problem ful ly and thoughtful ly , and
written with clarity and grace and
authority .
83
Why Some Daddies Don ' t Do Hugs
by John Sorrent ino
( Engl ish 1 0 1 - -Dodds )
The Ass ignment :
Write a thesis/
support essay in the teacher ' s role .
Write an essay
Speci fic ass ignment :
to those who st i l l bel ieve the old
myths of mascul inity . A im to g ive
them a new set of idea l s .
What ' s
wrong with these myths? What new
ideals of mascul inity should they
admire instead?
A few years ago I overheard two fathers tal king
a ft e r a l i t t l e l e ague b a s eb a l l game .
O n e wa s
boast ing--as fathers sometimes do--about h i s son ' s im­
press ive performance on the f ield that day .
The other
l i stened pat iently and then remarked that the boast ing
father must be very proud of h i s l ittle boy , to wh ich
he repl ied :
" Yeah , I ' m proud o f h im a l l right , but
don ' t tel l h im I sa id so .
I wouldn ' t want to swe l l
h i s head o r anything . "
Du r i ng my four years a s a c o a c h I h e a r d m a n y
similar statements , but it wasn ' t unti l I became a
f a t h e r t ha t I re a l i z ed the prob l em t h o s e type s o f
statements revealed :
the intent ional withholding o f
praise and a ffection by fathers from the ir sons .
Most
of the fathers I became acqua inted with were warm , a f ­
f e ct i o n a t e men w i t h g o o d i nt e n t i o ns f o r t h e i r
They rearranged the i r schedules to a l l ow
ch i ldren .
the ir sons ' participation in the league and they were
always there to help with coaching duties .
O ften I ' d
see one o f them holding a younger child in h i s arms or
When it came to
giving a daughter a kiss and a hug .
the ir sons , however , these same men suppressed the ir
feel ings , fearing that express ing warmth and emotion
might somehow cause their sons psycho l ogical damage .
I n the ir ef forts to foster healthy individual i sm and
strong survival inst incts in thei r sons , many fathers
84
actual ly deprive their sons o f one o f l i fe ' s vital
survival ingredients :
the abi l ity to freely express
the ir emot ions and their humanity .
When a man is granted the priv i l ege o f father­
hood he begins to unconsciously evaluate the fathering
techniques of others :
the first step in forming h i s
own phi losophy of fathering .
When I became a _ father I
remembered the dads whose sons I had coached in l ittle
l eague and I knew I didn ' t want my son to su f fer from
a l ack of fatherly l ove .
But I a l so knew that those
basebal l dads wanted the best for their sons , too , and
I wondered what made them hold back .
Much of our attitude toward fathering is sha p ed
by external forces that we may not even be aware o f .
Soc iety has undergone some maj or changes in the past
few decades .
More women are working outside the home
than ever be f o re , crea t i ng a gap i n the a r e a o f
Society expects men to f i l l that gap even
ch i ldcare .
though we ' ve been told for years that we ' re not very
good at it--at l east not as good as women .
Some o f the int imidation that we feel regard ing
ch ild care stems from the sex role stereotyp ing thrust
Th e
upon us by the med i a - - espe c i a l l y t e l ev i s i o n .
typ ical telev i s ion male is violent , seductive , and ad­
venturesome .
Mascul inity i s directly proport ional to
stoicism , inversely proportional to humani sm .
Ma les
are u s ua l l y p o rt rayed a s bumb l ing i ncomp e t e n t s i n
They can barely survive unt i l
domestic s ituat ions .
the l ady of the house gets home .
Think about some o f the shows you ' ve seen in the
past .
How many can you think of that show domest i­
cal ly competent men?
Now try to think o f programs
that show us as violent , ruthless , and compet i t ive .
See what I mean?
The stereotyping o f male domestic
incompetence is not a new concept .
In the 1 9 4 0 ' s f i lm
Daddy' s L i tt l e D iv idend ,
Spencer T racy p l a y s a
grandfather who , when l eft on his own to babys it , ac­
New to the ma l e in­
tua l ly misplaces his grandchild .
The husband on
competence support group is Roseanne .
the show i s shown a s a b l u e c o l l ar , out o f wo rk ,
uneducated , beer guz z l ing sl ob .
He can ' t handl e the
kids , he can ' t handle a j ob , and he can ' t handle h im­
About the only thing that he does wel l i s drink
sel f .
his beer .
The woman o f the house is a working mom who
is constantl y portrayed as a materna l miracle worker .
Early reviews b i l led the show as " an enl ightened ver­
si on of blue col lar rea l i ty . "
Because o f the influence o f televis ion , we men
fight an unconsc ious battle between what we ' re told we
should be , as portrayed by insens itive or bumbl ing TV
85
characters , and what we know in our hearts we rea l ly
are--warm , sens itive humans .
I t ' s a d i f f icult battle
to win , and televis ion i sn ' t our only enemy .
The absence o f a positive mal e rol e model in our
l ives is another factor that contributes to our fee l ­
ings o f domestic inferiority .
When I was a ch i l d my
father worked twelve to fourteen hours a day , . s ix days
Like most o f us , my father wanted a better
a week .
l i fe for me than the one he had , and that des ire was
his j us t i fication for spend ing so much t ime away from
He a lways l e ft for work before I woke up for
home .
school and he usua l ly came horne a fter I was as l eep for
the n i ght .
On the o cca s i on s when he d i d get horne
before my bedtime , he was usual ly so aggravated and
t i red that the least l ittl e thing would get on h i s
nerves .
My dad was caught in a trap .
H i s intent ions
were good , his methods misgu ided .
Dads , what your
kids need more from you is your time .
I can ' t remem­
ber a t ime when my dad held me in his arms and told me
I can ' t remember a time when I saw
that he l oved me .
I can ' t forget a l l the games and
him cooking a mea l .
toys that were designed to toughen me up and get me
boxing gloves , body bu i l d­
ready for the real world :
ing sets , toy guns .
I can ' t forget a l l the t imes when
he told me I shouldn ' t cry .
Whether we know i t or not , o u r f a t h e r i ng
ph i l os ophy i s i n f l uenced by the ph i l os ophy we i n ­
herited from our own fathers . These trans-generat ional
One dad I
e f fects can be e ither positive or negative .
know thinks that tenderness in a mal e i s a qua l ity
that can be exploited by bus iness compet itors .
He
doesn ' t want his son to suffer exp l o itation when he
enters the bus iness wor l d so he intent i ona l l y does not
His own bel iefs w i l l have a nega­
model tenderness .
t ive e f fect on his son , even though he has good inten­
tions .
Before going any further , l et me say I ' m not sug­
gest ing we shed al l of our father ' s influences .
There
are many valuab l e things I l earned from my father .
But how many of us can truthful ly say we agree with
When we cons ider
everything our fathers taught us?
our own fathering techniques we need to be honest with
ourselves .
S omet imes our efforts to counteract an inherited
influence that we cons ider negative can actua l ly harm
our sons even more--especi a l ly i f we ' re m i s informed .
For example , because my father spent so l ittle t ime at
home , we ' re not as close as a father and son should
be .
I didn ' t want my rel at i onsh ip with my own father
to have a negative influence on my rel ati onsh ip with
86
my son .
To counteract the pos s ib i l ity , I made a con­
scious ef fort to build a close relat ionship with my
son phys ica l ly and emot iona l ly .
I tell h im I l ove h im
every day .
We kiss and hug each other o ften , and I
do n ' t shy away from any o f h i s phys i c a l n e e d s .
I
change h i s d i apers , bathe h im , and rock h im to s l eep
The phys ical aspect o f our rel ationsh ip i s
at night .
s o c l ose that a t one point I began t o worry about its
My
e f f e ct p r e d i s p o s ing him t oward h omo sexua l i ty .
unea s i n e s s p rompted me t o do s ome re s e a rch , wh i c h
eventu a l l y p ut m y f e a r s t o re s t , but unt i l then I
found mys e l f h o l d i ng back the n a tu ra l impu l s e f o r
My original inten­
physical closeness with my son .
tions , making sure my son knew I l oved h im , resulted
from my des ire to counteract the absence of fatherly
love in my l i fe ; my misinformati on , th inking fatherly
love could promote homosexua l ity , caused me to deny my
natural fathering instincts .
With so much opposition from the media , from the
influence of our own fathers , and from our own good
but sometimes mis informed intenti ons , you ' d think that
becoming a more loving father is an overwhelming task .
It i sn ' t .
There are ways to beat the odds .
Eva l ua t i ng your present b eh av i o r i s the f i r st
step toward nurturant fathering .
How much t ime do you
and your son spend together?
Many o f us spend time
with our sons phys ica l ly whi l e mental l y we ' re m i l e s
away .
People need focused attent ion and chi ldren are
people too .
We a l l forget that sometimes .
When my
s o n wa s b o rn I b e c ame v e ry aware o f h i s need f o r
focused attent ion .
Maintaining that awareness takes
cons c i ous e f f o rt .
As t ime went on I found I was
l os ing the ab il ity or perhaps the des ire to keep my
attent ion focused on my son when we were together .
Ch i l dren interpret hal f-hearted involvement as dis in­
terest and relate that dis interest to the ir own sense
of sel f worth .
While hurriedly putting my son to bed
one night so I could return to some household chore ,
two year old Tony l ooked up from his crib and said :
" I miss you Daddy .
Can you play with me tomorrow? "
That ' s when I rea l i z ed our time together wasn ' t hav ing
the ef fect I had intended .
We had j ust finished p l ay­
ing together for more than an hour , yet Tony felt as
though we hadn ' t been together at a l l .
Giving your son the undivided attention he needs
and deserves won ' t a lways be easy s imply because o f
the d i f ference in your ages .
Many o f the th ings that
i nterest h im won ' t interest you .
When that happens ,
try focus ing on the unique qual ities of your ch i l d
rather than o n the activity and the rest w i l l usua l ly
87
f a l l into p lace . Notice how much he enj oys be ing with
Try to discover how it makes you feel to put
you .
as ide some press ing obl igation to
spend t ime with
There are some things that can be done we l l
your son .
even when done grudgingly , but fathering is not one o f
Spend less t ime doing what you think a good
them .
father would do and more t ime feel ing what _a l oving
f a th e r f e e l s .
Fathers natura l l y l ove the i r s o n s .
Don ' t suppress that love , l et it show .
Listen to what
Jed D i amond s a i d in " I Too Crea te Li f e , " f rom M en
Freeing Men :
" I found more and more o ften that when
I ' d try to do what I thought a good father should do ,
our i nt er a ct i on s r a r e l y turned out we l l .
Wh en I
reached down from my here-and-now feel ings and acted
from that part of me , our interacti ons began to blos­
som . "
Pra i s i ng your s o n i s another important s t e p
Children need pra i s ing in
toward loving fatherhood .
healthy doses .
If you ' re not accustomed to pra i s ing
your son , you may feel a l ittle uncomfortable , so here
are a few suggestions to make pra i s ing feel eas ier and
more natura l .
Whenever you praise , pra i se spec i f i ­
ca l ly .
Tel l your son exactly what you found pleas ing
about s ome thing he ' s done .
Te l l h i m h ow you f e e l
about h i s actions o r behavior and how he ' s made your
l i fe a l ittle easier .
Pra ise mundane tasks , too-­
every son c a n ' t be a footba l l s t a r .
Remembe r the
story about the l ittle league dad who was a fraid that
too much pra i se would go to his son ' s head? Wel l , you
needn ' t worry .
There ' s a b ig d i f ference between
pra ise and fl attery .
Flattery grati f ies vanity .
It
can compl iment only a person ' s physical appearance ,
intel l igence , or wealth .
Pra ise , however , is based on
a person ' s character or deeds .
Pra is ing your son ' s
character or deeds is a good way to strengthen your
relat ionship with him whi l e bui lding his sense o f sel f
worth .
Another step toward nurturant fathering is to a l ­
l ow y o u r s on t o s e e you p e r f o rm i ng trad i t i o na l l y
f ema l e r o l e s .
Don ' t j us t c arve the turkey o n
Thanks g iv i ng , t ry cooki ng i t one year .
Mayb e you
could tackl e baking a cake together , or possibly iron
You might
a patch over the hole in his blue j eans .
d i scover some hidden talents of your own , you ' 1 1 be
taking a positive step toward breaking down sex-ro l e
stereotyp ing , and you ' l l probably make your wi fe happy
too !
Once you begin spending more focused time with
your son and prais ing l ittl e things that he ' s done ,
you ' l l f ind it much eas ier to express your feel ings
88
phys ical l y a s wel l as verba l l y .
After a wh i l e some
men enj oy the ir new relat ionships with the ir sons so
much t h a t they b e g i n t o make adj u s tments i n the i r
I n " One
schedules to a l l ow more t ime for fathering .
Ha l f Day Off a Week" from The Fathers Book , Gera ld M .
Tuckman describes the results o f changes he made in
his work schedule to al low him more time to be with
h i s s on :
" Th e t imes we ' ve [ my ch i l d and I ] spent
together have bonded us in special ways .
We g et i nto
our share of struggles , but our j oys come frequent ly
and provide us with a great deal o f pleasure . "
One o f the greatest rewards o f nurturant father­
ing is knowing that you ' re making a positive contribu­
t i on to the f o rmu l a t i on of your so n ' s v a l u e s and
standards .
When the t ime comes for h im to form h i s
own ph i l osophies o n fathering , he ' l l b e one step ahead
because you took the t ime to be a good model .
As fathers we need to decide what ideals we want
to g ive our sons .
Do we a l l ow the traditional va lues
of mascul inity to inhibit free expression of fatherly
l ove , or do we cha l l enge or even abandon tradition in
I f you need help f ind i ng
favor o f our sons ' wel fare?
the answer to that question , I hope the wisdom of th i s
poem w i l l help you .
Li sten to what L . Wyse writes
regarding real manhood in " One Two Make a
Musc l e "
from I ' m Glad You ' re My Son .
You have grown up
When you know
It is more important
To prove your humanity
Than your maleness
Bibl iography
Diamond , Jed .
" I Too Create Li fe . " Men Freeing Men
Ed . Francis Bauml i . New Jersey :
New Atl antic
Press , 19 8 6 . 156
Tuckma n , Gera l d M .
" O ne Ha l f Day a Week . "
Th e
Fathers Book Ed . Carol Kart and Ronnie Friedl and .
Boston :
G . K . Hal l & Co . , 1 9 8 6 , 1 1 8 - 1 19
Wyse , L .
Son
" One Two Make a Muscle . " I ' m Glad You ' re My
New York :
Doubleday & Co . , n . pag .
89
The Evaluation : John Sorrent ino o f fers
detai l ed and thorough support for h i s
thesis--the indispensabl e ingredient
for succes s ful explanatory writing . .
And he writes in a voice that makes
me want to l isten to thi s expl anation .
I t is warm but authoritat ive , f i l l ed
with the wisdom o f direct observation
and experience .
90
THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN
by Emiko Uno
( Organi z ational Ski l l s for Writing
Engl ish as a Second Language--S l oat )
·
The Assignment : Write a brief essay
describing some o f the s imilarities and
d i fferences between your country and the
United States ; focus only on those wh ich
you have personal ly noticed .
Today , Japan is closely rel ated with the U . S . , as
you know .
S i n ce Wo r l d War I I , many Jap ane s e i n ­
Al so ,
dustries have tried to catch u p with the u . s .
many Japanese people have taken American l i fe styles
into the ir l ives , such as c l othing , food , home ap­
pl iances , etc .
So there are some similarities between
the United States and Japan ; however there are st i l l
several very important d ifferences .
Like Ame r i cans ,
a l mo st a l l J ap a n e s e p e o p l e
usua l l y wear western clothes instead o f kimonos .
A
It was rare
l ong t ime ago , they always wore kimonos .
to see people who wore western clothes at that time .
Another s imilarity is that both countries have four
b e a u t i fu l s e a s on s , except p a rt i cu l a r a re a s in the
United States . My favorite season in Japan is spring ,
when cherry blossoms bloom .
When I see them every
year , I feel that winter is over . I couldn ' t see them
th is year because I was l iving in the United States ;
howeve r , I c o u l d f e e l that w i nter was over .
Why ?
When spring came , new leaves sprouted up everywhere .
Also , tul ips began to bl oom beaut i ful ly .
After that ,
color changed from dark to bright a l l over the place .
On the other hand , there are several great d i f ­
ferences between the United States and Japan .
F i rst ,
Am e r i c a c on t r a s t s w i th Japan i n regard t o country
size .
When I came to the United States l ast year , I
thought how wide it was here at first .
For example ,
there were wide roads , large houses , and wide back­
yards .
These things must be common for Americans , but
not f o r me .
J ap a n i s a s l a rge a s C a l i forn i a , s o
Japanese people can ' t get l arge houses and wide back
yards eas ily .
Second , when they pay for something , Americans
91
use cash , credit cards , and personal checks ; on the
other hand , Japanese use only cash or cred it cards .
I t i sn ' t common to use personal checks individual ly in
Japan .
Companies and stores usual ly use them .
S ince
I came to the United States , I have a lways been us ing
It is very convenient .
We can use them to
checks .
I n Japan people use_ cash to
pay any kind of b i l l s .
pay b i l l s by themselves , or banks pay thei r b i l l s from
the ir accounts instead of them .
Thi s way i s al so con­
ven ient , but I pre fer the American way to the Japanese
one .
F i n a l l y , Ame r i c a n s a r e m o r e f r i e n d l y t ha n
Japanese .
There are many races in the United states ,
so Americans don ' t hes itate to make friends with for­
e i gn p e op l e .
on the other hand , there are o n l y
Japanese i n Japan , s o they aren ' t accustomed t o mak ing
friends with strangers .
In addition , when we move to
a new house , American and Japanese customs are very
d i f ferent .
I n America , neighbors come to a newcomer ' s
house to b ring cakes or cookies for wel come ; however ,
newcomers j ust say " hel l o " to the ir ne ighbors with a
These ways are very inter­
l ittle present in Japan .
esting for me .
I think Americans ' actions are in­
f l uenced by Chr i s t i a n i ty .
A lmo st a l l p e o p l e are
The center o f Jesus Christ ' s
Christian in America .
t e a c h i n g i s l ov e , s o they b eh ave p o s i t ive l y .
Of
course , Japanese have rel igions , too ; however , they
a r e o n l y c eremon i a l re l ig i on s , and they d o n ' t i n ­
I can ' t say whether it i s good
fluence people wel l .
or not .
In conclus ion , there are many d i f ferences between
the United States and Japan , so people sti l l might be
mi sunderstanding each other .
I was able to d iscover
th is because I was able to l ive in the Un ited States
j ust for a while .
We w i l l have to understand each
other more , and I would l ike to help as much as pos­
s ible , even though it might be only a l ittle bit .
The Eva luation : Ms . Uno displ ayed a
genuine effort to communicate some
interesting personal experiences and
op inions . The content was wel l -devel oped ,
and both syntax and organi z ation o f
ideas were excel lent for thi s l evel o f ES L .
92
F ighting Terrorism : Are we on the Right Path?
by Rabea Zayed
( Engl ish 2 0 1--Dodds )
The Ass ignment :
Write a persuas ive
essay to a spec i f ic audience . Aim to
change your readers ' opinions , behav ior ,
Your persuasi on should employ
or both .
argument , emotional appeal , and the
appeal o f your person ( the personal ity
you proj ect through your writing ) .
Imagine a country that provides mil itary , f inan­
cial and moral support to an organi z at ion that has
b e e n a cc u s ed by Amnesty I nterna t i on a l , Ame r i c a ' s
Watch , the I nternat ional Human Rights Law Group and
various church sponsored human rights organizations o f
grot e s qu e human r i ghts abus e s .
Ima g i n e th i s s ame
country ha s a doubl e standard which ignores the ter­
rorism committed by its a l l ies whi l e it denounces the
Its government
terrorism committed by its opponents .
cries about " terrorism" --about how "barbaric " it is ,
and how the " c iv i l i zed nat ions o f the world" no l onger
c a n t o l e ra t e such f o u l behav i o r .
Yet ,
its
government ' s de f i n i t i on o f terro r i sm h a s d i f f e r e n t
st andards , o n e f o r p o l i t i c a l a nd i d e o l og i c a l o p ­
ponents , another for a l l ies .
Wouldn ' t this imaginary country be hypocr itical?
You bet !
Would this country have any moral cap ita l to
ask for our support in the f ight aga inst terrorism- -or
a s i t de f i n e s terrori sm?
No !
Yet , the imag i n a r y
The organ i z a ­
country does exist--it is our country .
t i on supp orted b y our c ountry d o es e x i s t ,
the
Contras--the N icaraguan rebel forces .
A double stand ­
ard does exist , terrorism by a l l ies , such as the Con­
tras and I srael , are j udged by more elastic standards
than the stateless terrorism of some Palestinians .
s u ch a n ant i -terro r i st p o l icy d i re c t e d o n l y
aga inst pol itical and ideological opponents not only
93
e l iminates the impart ial ity that is the essence o f l aw
and j ustice but a l so damages the credibil ity o f the
U.s.
H ow can we expect any support from the world
commun it ies in the fight aga inst terrori sm when we
ourselves support terrorists?
The March 1 9 8 5 report , Violations o f the Laws of
War J2y Both S ides in Nicaragua , by the human rights
o rga n i z a t i on the Ame r i ca ' s Watch s t a te s ,
" Contra
forces h a v e s y s t emat i c a l l y v i o l ated t h e a pp l i c a b l e
They have at­
l aws o f war throughout the confl ict .
tacked c iv i l ians ind iscriminately ; and they have tor­
ture d a n d mut i l a ted p r i s on e r s ;
they have t a k e n
hostages ;
and they have committed outrages against
personal d ignity . "
S im i l a r f i n d i ng s were obt a i ne d b y R e e d B r o d y ,
former As s i stant Attorney General o f the State o f New
York .
Reed Brody ' s report Contra Terror in N icaragua :
Repo rt on g F a c t F i n d i ng M i s s i o n , S ept emb e r 1 9 8 4 January 1 9 8 5 , was independently veri f ied in a j o int
i nv e s t i g a t i o n b y the W a sh i ng t o n O f f i c e on La t i n
America , a private church supported , human rights or­
gan i z a t i on , and by the International Human Rights Law
A number o f incidents chosen at random from
Group .
Brody ' s report were corroborated by the New York T imes
and by CBS News .
Brody ' s report states that Contra
act ivities o ften include attacks on purely civ i l ian
targets result in the ki l l ings of unarmed men , women ,
ch i l dr e n ,
a nd the e l d e r l y ; p remed i t a t e d a c t s o f
bruta l ity inc luding rape ,
beatings ,
mut i l at i on and
t o rt u r e ;
a n d i n d iv i d ua l a n d ma s s k i d n a pp i n g s o f
civ i l ians .
A l t h ou gh the c l a im s a c cu s i n g the C o nt r a s o f
numerous atrocities a re substantiated by hundreds o f
w i tn e s s e s i n un imp e a ched reports , t h e Re a g a n Ad ­
mini strat ion routinely di smisses the charges by in­
s i s t in g t h a t t h e y a r e a S a n d i n i s t a s p o n s o r e d
propaganda campa ign a imed at deceiv ing the American
pub l ic .
President Reagan not only de fends the Contras
but a l s o p ra i s e s them as " f re edom f i ght e r s , " " our
b r o t he r s " a nd " the mora l e qu a l o f o u r f ou nd i n g
fathers . "
In addit ion to moral support , the Admini strat ion
has prov ided the Contras $ 7 0 m i l l i on in f inanc i a l a nd
mil itary a id s ince 1 9 8 2 .
Presently , President Reagan
is request ing from Congress approval for $ 1 0 0 m i l l ion
Thi s a id i s to be spread out
in a id for the Contras .
over the next 18 months .
Addit ional mil itary a id has
been p ro v i d e d t o the Contras by the CIA wh i ch h a s
helped tra in and equ ip the Contras based in Hondura s .
94
The CIA has also prepared ( Psychol ogical Opera­
tions in Gueri l la Warfare ) a deta i l ed manua l o f ter­
rori st techniques for the Contras .
The manual i n ­
structs the Contras o n " Se lective Use o f Viol ence f o r
Propagandistic E f fects " and o n " Impl ic it and Expl i c i t
I nstead o f be ing shocked and outraged b y the
Terror . "
CIA manual ,
Pres ident Reagan sought to dis_miss the
r e s u l t i ng f u r o r c a u s e d by the p ub l i ca t i on o f t h e
manual as "much ado about nothing . "
Another exampl e o f the Administrat i on ' s doub l e
standard in deal ing with terrori sm i s in the Midd l e
The Reagan Adm i n i s t ra t i on h a s c o n s i s t e n t l y
East .
e ither ignored or supported I srae l i terrorism in the
Middl e East whi l e at the same t ime condemning Arab
terrorism .
F i rs t l y , the u . s . gave t a c i t approva l , n o t t o
ment ion substant ial m il itary support , t o I srael dur ing
the 1 9 8 2 invas ion o f Lebanon , which according to I n ­
ternat ional Red Cross estimates , l e ft 4 0 , o o o peop l e
k i l l ed or wounded and 7 0 0 , 0 0 0 people homel ess .
Former
Pre s ident J immy Carter wrote in h i s book The B l ood o f
Abraham , "As a private c it i z en I was deeply troub l ed
when I srael invaded Lebanon in June , and I immed iate l y
expressed my concern t o some I srae l i leaders who had
part icipated in the Camp David negot iations that the
attack was a violat ion of the accords .
Back came a
d i s turbing reply from Jerusalem :
"We have a green
l ight from Washington . "
S e c o nd l y , the u . s . d i d no t c ondemn I s r a e l f o r
I s ra e l ' s i nd ir ect i nv o l vement i n the m a s s a c r e o f
hundreds o f Pal estinians in the refugee camps o f S abra
and Chat i l l a in 1 9 8 2 .
The I srae l i army had total con­
trol o f the areas surrounding the camps and had a l ­
l owed their a l l ies , the Christ ian Pha l ang ists , t o en­
ter the camps .
The Phalang i sts were a l l owed to enter
the camps a few days a ft e r the i r l ea d e r ,
Bash i r
Gemayel , was kil led by a bomb explos ion .
The Pha l a n ­
gists accused the Pal estinians o f p lant ing the bomb .
Knowing the enmity that ex i sted between the Pha l a n ­
g i sts and the Pa lestinians , only the most na ive and
ignorant o f Middle East observers--of wh ich I s rael is
ne ither--could not have foreseen the horribl e con­
sequences of a l l owing the Phal angists to enter the
Pa lestinian refugee camps .
Thirdly , the Admini stration has cons i stentl y sup­
ported I s r a e l ' s reta l i a t o ry a nd preemp t ive s t r i k e s
aga inst " terrorist" targets i n Lebanon and wherever
" terrorists " may be . As o f thi s writ ing , there have
b e e n th r ee I s ra e l i a i r ra i d s a g a i n s t Pa l e s t i n i a n
" t e r ro r i s t " t a rgets i n Leb a no n th i s y ea r .
Th e s e
95
" terrorist" targets that the I s rael i s refer to are
P a l e s t i n i an r e fugee camp s .
The c a s u a l t i e s i n t h e
three I srael i raids have amounted to at l east twenty
dead and over s ixty wounded .
The I srael i j ust i f ic a­
t i on f or t h e l at e s t r aid w a s p r ov i d ed by I s ra e l i
de fense Minister Y i tzhak Rab in who sa i d , " Th i s raid
re fl ects our pol icy o f hitting terro rists wherever and
whenever we can . "
On S eptember 2 5 , 19 8 5 , three I srae l i s were mur­
dered in Lanarca , Cyprus .
Israel charged that the PLO
S ome Arabs repl ied
had k i l l ed i nnocent c iv i l ians .
The PLO s a i d
that the I srael is were secret agents .
that whatever the three were , it d.j.d not ki l l them .
M o r e ov e r , an a n t i - P LO P a l e s t i n i a n s p l i n t e r g r o u p
c l a imed respons ibi l ity f o r the k i l l ings .
Nonethe l e s s ,
on october 1 , 19 8 5 , I srael retal iated by bomb ing PLO
headquarters near Tunis , Tuni s i a , ki l l ing seventy-two
Pres i dent Reagan
P a l e s t i n i ans and Tun i s i ans .
responded t o the I srae l i ra id by stat ing that the ra id
was a " legit imate response" to terrorism .
Were a l l the people k i l l ed i n the I srae l i ra ids
on Lebanon and Tun is ia terrorists or cou l d some of
Mi l ton Viorst ,
them have been innocent c iv i l ians?
f o rm e r Und e r s ecr et ary o f S t a t e i n the C a r t e r Ad ­
ministrat i on , wrote in response to Reagan ' s statement ,
It appears that the President reached h i s
c o nc l u s i o n w i thout h e a r i n g ev i d e n c e o n
e ither s ide .
H e accepted the I srael i j us­
t i f ication and dec ided the Arabs were l y ing .
But s uppo se i t w a s the o t h e r way a r o u n d .
I s r a e l w ou l d n ot b e the f i r s t s ov ere i g n
s t a t e t h a t h a s l i ed t o c o v e r i t s e l f .
If
terrorism i s de f ined as the use of ind i s ­
criminate violence against c iv i l ians for a n
ov e r r i qi n g p o l it i c a l purpo s e , wh o i s t h e
terrorist? O r don ' t Arabs ever count as in­
nocent civil ians?
( "V i ctim" )
Those Palest inians who k i l l ed c iv i l ian trave l ers
in the a i rports at Rome and Vienna are no more de fen­
s ib l e than are I s rael i air force o f f i cers who bombed
Pa l e s t i n i a n r e fugee camp s , o r I s ra e l i t r o o p s tha t
d e s t royed ent i re · Leb a n e s e v i l l ag e s i n a " S c o r c h e d
E a rt h " p o l i cy o r N i ca raguan C on t r a s w h o a t t a c k e d
c iv i l ian targets .
The results are the same , the k i l l ­
ing and maiming o f unarmed men , women and chi l dren for
overrid ing pol itical reasons .
Terrorism is rarely de f ined by those who denounce
it for the s impl e reason that any serious de f i n i t i on
and condemnat ion o f terrorism would have to conclude
96
that Amer ican and I srael i fore ign pol icymakers use
terrorism a s o ften as the badly spl intered Pa l e s t i n i a n
national movement .
Clarence Page ,
Ch icago Tribune
column ist , states in a May 7 , 1 9 8 6 editori al , " I f the
West is to j o in forces , as it must , aga inst terror i sm ,
it must have a definition that covers with some degree
o f cons istency the very d i f ferent s ituat i ons in S outh
Africa , Northern I reland , Afghanistan , N icaragua , An ­
g ola , with the Palest in ians , in the Basque reg ion o f
S p a i n a n d c ou n t l e s s o t h e r s c e n e s o f p o l i t i c a l
violence . " Page further states , "Ultimately , we wi l l
have t o f i nd a way t o deal with the ' terrorists ' we
l i ke a s we l l a s the ' freedom f ighte r s ' we d o n o t
l ike . "
Terrorism is a comp l ex problem that has n o easy
Yet , the Reagan Admini stration i s seeking
solut i ons .
s imp l e s o l ut i on s .
N o t o n l y d o e s th e Re a g a n Ad ­
m i n i s t r a t i on have an ant i - t e rr o r i s t w i th a d o u b l e
s t a n d a rd ,
i t h a s a p o l i cy b a s ed o n b l u s t e r a n d
reta l i ation which dea l s w ith the symptoms rather than
the causes o f terrorism .
Maybe there i s no solution
that could eradicate terrorism but unless we start
deal ing with terrorism in an even-handed way our ant i ­
terrorist p o l icy w i l l rema in ineffect ive .
By us i ng one set o f standards to deal with ter­
rorism , the underlying issues that are the root causes
of t e r r o r i sm w i l l n ot b e i g n ored o r d i sm i s s e d a s
read i l y and a s eas ily as they currently are .
For examp l e , the Reagan Admin istrat i on seems un­
able to l earn that the pol itics o f the Pa l es t i n i a n
issue are what terrorism in the Middle E a s t i s a l l
about .
I nstead , the Reagan Administration has con­
veniently b l amed Libya ' s Colonel Muammar el -Qadda f i
for sponsoring and supporting a l l acts o f terror i sm i n
the Middle East and Europe .
A s Al exander Cockburn
argues in h i s art icl e " Superfiend , " in the Apr i l 2 6 ,
1 9 8 6 issue o f the The Nat ion , "The Administrati on has
magn i fied Qadda f i , a d iminutive figure on the world
stage , i n t o a m a s t e r t er ro r i s t and supe r f i e nd , a
monster whose end has to be achieved by any means . "
Does t h e Re a ga n Adm i n i s t r a t i on r e a l l y b e l i ev e
t h a t by remov i ng Qadda f i t e r ro r i sm w i l l d i m i n i s h ?
Does the Reagan Admin istrat ion bel ieve a m i l itary , or
any other , solution to terrorism is pos s ib l e without
address ing the underlying issues that are the root
causes of terrorism?
M i l itary responses to terrori sm
should be used only in extreme ci rcumstances and only
a fter a l l politica l ,
diplomatic and economi c mea ns
To use mil itary opt ions as the
have been exhausted .
standard response to terrorism is use l ess .
I srael ' s
97
pol i cy o f retal iation and preemptive strikes has been
inef fective and has only l ed to an esca l at ion o f the
vici ous cycl e of v i ol ence that exists in the Midd l e
East .
Otherwise , why are the I srae l is , a fter adhering
t o t h i s p o l i c y f o r o v e r t h i rty y e a r s ,
st i l l
" retal iat ing " and l aunching " preemptive " strike s ? Why
with I srael ' s superior f irepower have they been unab l e
t o stop the attacks against them?
I f terrorism could
be i s o l ated and eradicated by surg ical strikes o r a
c o n c e rt e d m i l i t a ry camp a i g n why w a s w o r l d op i n i o n
overwhelmingly aga inst the U . S . a fter our a i r str ike
aga i nst Libya?
The Reagan Administrat i on ' s response to Midd l e
E a s t terrorism is a s impl istic approach which ignores
one o f the r o o t c a u s e s o f t e rr o r i sm in the M i dd l e
East- -the l ack o f a j ust s oluti on to the Palestinian
probl em .
An ef fect ive ant i -terrorist pol icy should
contain prov i s ions to actively combat terrorism not
only by us ing economic , pol it ica l and m i l itary means
but a l s o by address ing the underlying i s sues that are
the root causes of terrori sm .
With an ant i -terrori st
pol icy that has only one set o f standards the u . s . is
more l ikely to address rather than ignore t h e Pa l e s ­
t in i an probl em .
Fact and reason won ' t be casua l l y
thrown out the window i n favor o f fear , prej udice and
j ingo i sm .
Fina l ly , by using one set o f standards in j udging
and responding to terrorism , whether the terrorism is
comm itted b y friend or foe , the U . S . wi l l have a con­
s i stent ant i -terrorist pol icy .
Thi s cons is tency i s
es sent i a l in enl ist ing the support and cooperation o f
the world communities .
Sources Consulted
Amnestv I nternat ional Report .
163 .
1983 .
132-137 ; 159-
Brody , R .
" Contra Terror in Nicaragua :
Report o f a
Fact-Find ing Miss ion , Sept . 1 9 8 4 -Jan . 1 9 8 5 "
1985 .
Cabestrero , T .
Carter , J .
Bl ood o f the
Innocent .
The Bl ood o f Abraham .
1985 .
1985 . 1-4 .
Cooper , M .
" It ' s Time to Cut Off the Contras . "
Ch icago Tribune Perspective 6 Feb . 1 9 8 6 .
98
" Desperately S eeking Solutions . "
July 1 9 8 5 .
Egan , J . P .
Commentary .
7 Jan . 19 8 6 .
Ch icago Tribune Perspect ive
" High Cost o f F i rm Act ion . "
" Hij ack Backwash . "
19 8 5
The Nat ion 6 - 1 3
The Nat ion 7 Dec ; 1 9 8 5 .
Editoria l .
The Nat ion
2 6 Oct .
" The Month i n Revi ew . " Current History Jan . 1 9 8 5 :
4 2 - 4 8 ; Mar . 1 9 8 5 :
1 3 9 - 1 4 4 ; Aprl . 1 9 8 5 :
1881 9 2 ; S ept . 1 9 8 5 ; 2 8 2 - 3 0 3 ; Oct . 1 9 8 5 :
348-352 ;
Nov . 1 9 8 5 :
3 9 4 - 4 0 0 ; Dec . 1 9 8 5 :
4 3 8-44 3 ;
Jan . 1 9 8 6 :
4 3 -4 8 ; Feb . 1 9 8 6 :
9 0 -9 6 .
Neie r , A .
" Ru le s o f Law . " The Nation 2 6 Oct . 1 9 8 5 .
Reed , s .
" Puni sh ing Friends . "
198 5 .
The Nation 2 6 Oct .
" U . S . Pol icy in the Middle East . "
Jan . 1 9 8 5 .
Current H i story
" U . S . Pol icy in Central and S outh America . "
H i story Jan . 19 8 6 .
" U . S . Pol i cy in the Middle East . "
Feb . 1 9 8 6 .
Viorst , M .
" I s Peace a Vict im? "
2 6 Oct . 19 8 5 .
Current
Current H i story
The Nat i on
"Violat ions o f the Laws of War by Both S ides in Nic­
aragua . " The America ' s Watch Report .
March
198 5 .
The Evaluation :
Rabea Zayed ' s argument
is l ogical ly developed , coherently
organ i z ed , and thoroughly supported .
H e makes h i s case persuas ive by the
feel ing with which he write s , a
feel ing conveyed in h i s clos ing
paragraphs by the rhythm o f h i s
s entences and the a l l iterat ion o f h i s
words .
99
What Makes Writing Good?
The Anthology Judges G ive The i r Standards
Rex Burwe l l
I l ook for c l ear , preci se , economical prose that
d e v e l o p s i mp o r t an t t op i c s i n l og i c a l and a rt i s t i c
ways .
For me , writing i s good whi ch " understands " the
reader and seeks to serve , report to , a f fect , and per­
I f that writing a l so suggests the mystery ,
suade h im .
and contradict i on o f humankind ,
i t ap­
complexity ,
proaches Art .
J ack Dodds
Wh enever I r e a d I l o ok f o r d et a i l s , d e t a i l s ,
deta i l s appropriate to the writer ' s purpose or the
o c ca s i on :
d e s c r ipt ive d et a i l s ,
f r e sh f a c t s o r
f igures , supporting instances , ins ightful observat ion
or explanation .
Good writing i s dense with informa ­
t ion .
Good writ ing is a l so a l ive with vo i ces :
the
writer ' s vo i ce ( persona ) , dialogue , quotat ion , and a l ­
lus i on .
Good writ ing always talks to me .
Barbara Nj us
In an auth e n t i c VO I CE ,
u s i n g e f fe c t i v e a n d
f i gurat ive language ,
to an estab l i shed purpose and
a u d i ence ,
f rom a c l ea rl y o rg a n i z ed THE S I S ,
GOOD
WRITERS DEVELOP I DEAS i n a coherent , conc i se , uni f i ed
es say us ing S PECIFIC evidence from readings and from
p e r s o n a l exp e r i e n c e t o a na l y z e o pp o s i ng p o s i t i o n s
a b ou t t op i c s hav i ng S TRONG S I GN I F I CANCE f o r t h a t
writer , that may involve the writer i n taking RISKS
a nd that the writer w i l l resolve and eva luate from a
CONS ISTENT po int o f view .
100
Peter Sherer
Wr it ing that f o c u s e s a nd b o l d l y g o e s wh e r e i t
I l ike wr iting
promises to go alerts and engages me .
that is intell igent , cons istent in its l ogic , and con­
crete in its deta i l . I l ike examples and I want to
hear an honest vo ice which speaks to me in sentences
wh i ch are fresh , cr a fted , v a r i ed , e c o n om i c a l , a n d
mus ical .
Joseph Sternberg
I l ike writ ing that l ets me touch the writer- -the
I want to f eel a
real writer or the created persona .
person--a person through his words .
I l ike wr iting
that f i l l s me with deta i l s ; I ' m a glutton for them .
And I l ike writing whose sentences make my tongue and
throat and 1 ips move :
strong , powerful sentences ,
grace ful , shapely sentences .
Gi lbert T ierney
c l ear ,
A good student essay has a cl ear focus :
e f f e ct ive o rg an i z at i o n ;
c oncret e ,
spec i f i c
devel opment ; correct , clear language ; and a writer who
is involved in the paper .
A supe r i o r e s s ay g o e s beyond th e s e a nd h a s a n
authentic voice ; a n e f fective title , l ead , and end ;
t e l l i n g f a c t s and d eta i l s ;
and g r ac e fu l ,
fresh
l anguage ; i t has a power that comes from the writer
taking r isks , tackl ing s igni f icant top ics , and see ing
oppos it ions and tensions and resolving them .
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