Tuesday, January 23, IC35
Daily K:brc:kn
'JU y M ( J (f ; ,
i&DI
A 11 O
-j(LDirH. mm i
A
bill calling for a pay-ecjity study has again been proposed
Last year a similar rrcrccal failed by a 19-23 vets. Cut
this year, Nebraskjas should urga their senators to support the
study because it would bcr.c't SDckty, as well as women. Women
currently earn only 64 cents for each ddlsr earned by mm.
The pay-equity study would compare two dlaatodiarjobs and set
aalirlej based on numerical ratings. For example, pay equity
cenparts the duties of a secret?-" cad a carpenter. The jobs ere
assigned points cn factors such as efTbrt, skill, responsibility and
working conations. It both jobs receive ths sane number cf
points, a secretary sad a carpenter recdva the tame salary.
which was Introduced Jan. 15, would e:laM.;h a Fay
Equity Stecrinj Committee to oversea a study by aa Independent
firm. The study would determine whether ?a"C3 paid for men
dominated Jots are equal to those paid fcr comparable tycmen
dcmlnat:djcb3 la stats ccvcnroerX .
The committee also would develop a long-range plan to cermet
pay inconsistencies.
The study, which is expected to cost between $2CD,CD3 tr.d
t3C0,CC0 over three years, would cover all state agencies, irclud
ir.3 the University cf Nebraska.
In Nebraska, 75 percent of women government employees are .
messed into the 10 lowest-paying Jcbs cr.ee and clerical work.
At UNL, wcraea tho are massed into clerical fieij, s,id Eey
Loudon, administrator for personnel and. risk management.
Cf the 14 deans at UNL, only one is a woman. Hazel M. Anthony
is dean of the College cf Heme Economics, a traditional women's
field.
Of the top 10 executive cheers (clianeelicr, assistant vice
chancellor), cr.!y one is a woman.
Chancellor Martin A. K&ssengale recently appointed Janet
Krause as acting vice chancellor cf student affairs, making her the
highest-ranking woman at UNL
afTair3 and chairwoman cf the Chancellor's Commission on the
States cf Women, said a 1983-84 study by the commission showed
that cf 201 administrative positions, only 29 were filled by women.
' UNL cSce and service jobs were evaluated by Robert Hayes and
Associates in lS73t However, the Hayes Chssi2caiicn and Pay
Plan discriminates against women.
Fcr example, cn a salary grade scale with one representing the
lcsst-skillsd job and 13 the most skilled, a beginning staff secre
tary h rated fourth while a mason trainee is rated 10th. Thus,
starting sdiny is $5,785 for a staff secretary and 13,713 for a mason
trainee.
Licensed practical nurses are ranked ninth, while plumbers
tad pipefitters are ranked 12th. Thus, the starting salary is $3,994
for a nurse and $ 1 1,645 for a plumber.
The university, as well as the state, should encourage women to
enter men-dominated jobs. But because the infiltration will be
alow, Nebraskans should work forpay equity to help women and the
state's economy as quickly as possible.
"If pay equity were enforced in Nebraska, it would cost the state
mcr.ey. A Minnesota study found that pay equity increases would
amount to between 2 and 4 percent of the total budgeted for state
salaries. 4
But in the long run, pay equity would be cost effective. Pay
equity would make better use cf women in the economy. More
woman would enter the work force and would be motivated to
work harder for better wages. ; -
Job competition would increase, and employers world have
more hiring choices. . .
- If women were paid adequately, f :v-er si. ;'ei
ea welfare programs.
Better wages also would attract more men to tr- Iticnal
..female" jobs .and give both ..sexes a wider ranga cf career
opportunities. '.
Id be
77 ti Daily fs
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VteaRtttisa
Ths Daily Nebraskart (USPS 144-CSO) is published by the
UNL Publications Board Monday through Friday in the fail
end spring ssrnesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the
summer sessions, exespt during vacations. ,
Readers era encouraged to submit story ideas and com
ments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1 7S3 betwsan 9
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?,$ K'.trstte Union. u:o R St. Linco!n. Neb. C25S3-C443.
Vrr.cii pot!? -a r'iet Lincobi, NE 3510.
i r
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O
The I.TS23 Queation t n't United strictly
to the mintsi'. It occurred to rce, 3 1
the news Et-cr, th;.t na? civilian Araerican
rasa would rather le seen in public in his
underwear than in Ms outerwear.
Do yoa ftmff.brr the recent pictures
front tha (kuta Recotiatiew? You could
tell cur f ;ys from their r.ys by the
htai;:rr. l :-,s Ecltts were the ones with
fur on their hsa; the Americans were the
cr.es with hdr. At !:::t sce cf theia had
Army1s-jimihrella--poUi
stirs soggy cowmemary
pTT he Amy has decided that real men
... II do't cany umbrellas. - ;
ii Ti e rulir.g'qn s racist matter
earr.e last week Kheh the Army Clothing
and Equipment Board asked whether it
wasn't time to allow men in uniform to
come in out of the rain. They weren't
talking about men in the trenches, mind
you; they were talking about men on the
bases or around the Pentagon
- : Goodman'
Well, the poor board must have been
suffering an tndrtQT attack. They must
have been reading too many articles about
the new sensitive man and his overshoes.
In any case, the issue of the umbrella
to be or not to be dry went all the way
up to the Secretary of the Amy and the
Array Chief of Staff. These are men whose
pates haven't been touched by a raindrop
since the invention of the chauffeur.
Predictably and officially, they "disap
proved." It was, we are told, a matter cf
fcssge of male Army cfaccrs wslkltj around
with umbrellas is somehow intrinsically
unmilitary."
Td3 would just be mere proof that the
military is ail wet, but I have learned not
to take the messages wrapped in nuf.i so
lightly. After' all, the Army is a last
preserve of real manhood, cne cf the last
places where you are supposed to express
your rank and suppress your fadings. It
turns out that cne of the.feelins you are
supposed to suppress is dampness.
According to the rules, it's til riht for
women in uniform to-csry -usibrsSks.
Nobody calls a woman a wimp. It's all riht
for Air Force men to carry umtrdi&s. The
Air Force has been suspect ever air.ee it
allowed silk scarves. But brdlies c-snthna
to be banned for Arry, Navy and L!rfce
men because it's an admission cf weakness
for them to be bothered by Mother Nature.
The whole siiiy thing reminds rae cf a
recent piece in the Atlantic in which
humorist Roy Eiount tells about the time
he almost got caught hanging diapars
while in uniform: "Keguiations prohibited
doing such a thing without channg into
fatigues or Ch ilian clothes." Perhaps there
image. As a source put it, they 'feel the is a dampness phobia goins cn here.
h
The hiici the rarks men aspire to in
civilian life, the zz clcthinj they are
fdlowed to wja. Hot c!r.ce the term of
John Kcnnjdy haj cay" president been
photographed in a fedara. Caps, yes.
. Hardhats, yes. tovvboy hats, yes. A real live
man's hat, no. At the ether end cf the body
politic, v.e've sen a 1st cf Western boots.
Eut when was the l:.:t tire you saw a
president in i!esh3.
During the list c::.v;d the Democrat
arid the EepsbHcsa men running for high
cScAlP?tiel'y,peif3;5da striptease
in the naze cf xHVty. Topcoats started "
disappearing alspj with glwts. Everyone
seemed to his portrait windblown
against the elements. I had the sense that
pretty seen we would be treated to chest
hair cn the trait.
At the inauguration, contrary to rumors,
the committee did not cancel the march
because so many cf the guests came with
California in their veins. It was because
the president couldn't appear in public
with hat, mittens and a ski mask. As the
man in the Pentagon said, it is a question
of image.
The theory behind this male-itary
image-making is inherited from the days
when mad dogs and Englishmen went out
in the mid-day sun. No;? leaders and
soldiers have to prove that rain drops will
bounce c3cf true pit esd never rust the
' metal cf a tout gsy.
Presumably if the Soviets were to see a
satellite picture cf American soldiers with
UTibrei'as ever their heads, tanks would
roll across Eastern Europe. However, we
expect them to be Unified by the vision of
hundreds of soldiers with rain running
down their cheel.
WM we have here is another chapter in
the current strip-fcr-strcngth defense of
our country. The first thing that our
leaders take off is common sense. But at
Jeast the Army has its pride to keep it dry.
liZZ, Esstsa GUbt Newspaper
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' Tl
'Statecraft as Soulcraft' revives Burkean ideas
Tm TT :S F-f
JbJ XS -M
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mi m m
s
everal weeks ago I Cndly had an
opportunity to peruse the contents of
vkJ conssrvattve columnist George Will's
latest and, so fsr, caly book, "State
craft as Soulcra." Will, afonnerpelitieal
science professor, posited the goal of
reviving the Burkean tradition within
modern conservative thought through the
fcftftlr. f think h rftrA hi m htvt fho
book is nonetheless ultimately disappoint
Moge
rs
The force of Will's pen is aimed at both
the current ideas of modem liberalism as
well as against the strong individualistic
tendency ofAmerican conservatism. Against
the latter he appropriately writes that
"true conservatives hava a soft spot in
their hearts far organic collectivity." But
: I'm getting ahead of myself.
The essence cf how Will understands
the Burkeaa tradition in conservative
thought is accurately captured by his title:
"Statecraft as Soulcraft." His thesis is
mors forcefully articulated within, the
bock as the proposition that statecraft Li
. always soulcraft By this curious turn of
the phrase, Will attempts to communicate
an Idea almost completely lost upon the
Ancdasa islsd bsesisg. of its torcuts
faicslcstioa in tas lSth century liberal
(i.e., utiiitarian) nctian that a ephera cf
n!2triy exists la politics. Will's con
trasting thought is namely that hrsr is net
neutral, but rather it in fact structures a
. community's vision of reality. Or to usa
Will's language, the notion is that the
state is never "irrelevant" to the 'Inner
Mves" cf its citizens. t.
Tm feportance cf Will's claim, if Irce,
is difficult to underestimate. To the rest
that it is true, the structure cf law and the
institutionalized violence of the state is'
always employed as a means cf directing
the inner consciousness cf its peeplo. The
question then facing the polity is never
whether the state shall or shall not incul
cate values into and celebrate the vakes
. of the dominant set of controllers, but
rather which values are in fact to be incul
cated. A pluralism without Wands, thus,
is never, according to Will, ever even logi
cally possible.
From this point, Will argues that the
modem state, whetherguided by modern
liberals or egotistic conservatives is always
employed in support cf the baser aspects
of the human race. Appetite,, he argues, is
considered a virtue, and the role cf the
- modern state is vieivod as that of merely
supplying the demands of the human
belly. '
. Ti?8 Kcsshanied facilitation cf hedon
ism in politics, Will rigues, his debased
"both the population and the state. In its
stead, Will would see an explicit reaffir
maiion cf the traditional Greek virtues as
understood by Burke. Self control, moder
ation, strength and beauty, among others.
t
Jha continued existence cf the state. This
h done through welfare paymeRts to the
poor if no other dtcrasthre is possible.
The substsnce cf Will's normative vision
is without a doubt the most disappointing
aspect cf the bosk, it is in his explicit use
fifth Pire-pk rtmtv'it lt th Rtat is the
only legitimate parveyor of a normative or
demptlve vision for tlie community uiai
r
he
Fcr esan:pl2,'h3 writes cf the state
"atcicstir4, its rcrpcxibiUty for incut
cstlns vaises to the church during the
Middle At:3. Zy the Est of this sort of
language, Will demonstrates a fundamen
tal insensltMtjr to the developing non
statist socisl cocsciooanss among mod
era conservatives, lie secm-s, lamentably,
all too willing to allow the stats through
its mechanisms cf Institutionalised vio
lence to be the lone determiner of the
redemptive vision cf a culture. Thus, com
DleteW nedectinf anv reference to alter-
m k - 'ir -f 9
ve visions posited by insular minomj
R
Gcmmunities within the polity
Instead, as fsr as is possible, the struc
turing of reality through the "mediating"
institutions xffarily, church and neigh
borhood should be facilitated. Because
these institutions inculcate through
cr.rra.'.kn r:.th:r thm Crcuh the
dtn.cti"o pr"r cf the stats, a more
psaetTd t" J just r::i:ty is ksursd ever
11 it a V,".J ; V..11 : :z: to miss
tis ri.-.t Cr.ri c:"T-:iv browse cf
1.13 :.c:?:;le c:z;;:rcr.t to tJe
n mi::: s p::Ljs th m::t exciting
"r3 m im wm's recc-i zrj extant ii c xrri csnservaave p
Sion, and all citiaens are ven.a stake la drcirs c'-ae th ? r: cry cf Purke. I
WMiiut3 li.s Lsi. .a sense or celentm'' Li
J,
