Many Acts still hold
varying interpretations
I_ — —I
The status of women in soci
ety today is a far cry from where
it was in the last century, when
an 1845 Alabama statute allowed
a man to strike his wife, so long
as the stick was no thicker than
his thumb.
Although women were
granted the right to vote by the
\ 19th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution in 1920, a similar
constitutional amendment to
grant equal rights for women
failed to muster approval from
the requisite two-thirds of the
states by the lime of its expiration
in 1982.
The most distinctive differ
ence between men and women
— their ability (or inability) to
conceive — has been a point of
contention in the law for years.
The Supreme Court proclaimed
abortion to be a fundamental
right in 1973, and despite two
decades of assau It by subsequent
decisions, Roc v. Wa destill stands
as the law of the land.
Under the Civil Rights Act of
1964, gender discrimination in
employment is illegal. Interpre
tation of the act by the Supreme
Court is, however, anything but
clear. In a 1989 case, the court
fragmented in a case brought by
a woman denied partnership in a
brokerage firm. The court ruled
that once gender was shown to
be a factor in employment dis
crimination, the employer had
the burden of showing that it
was not. Just what amounted to
evidence of discrimination was
left unclear.
However, if gender goes to a
See EQUAL on 11
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Chancellor’s Commission gauges
climate for women on campus,
works for gender equity, safety
- iinMPiM -—— ———— m——■—METl
Robin Trimarchi/DN
Claudia Price-Decker is an administrative technician in the department of psychology and
chairperson of the Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of Women.
n. . _■ a_n•_ i • J .1_ __N ti/r»
□y oneiiey
Staff Reporter
Women at UNL have friends in
high places—they just don’t know
it.
For 20 years, the Chancellor’s
Commission on thcStalusofWomen
has worked to improve conditions
for women at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln through research
and planning designed specifically
with women in mind.
Claudia Price-Decker, chair
woman of the Chancellor’s Com
mission on the Status of Women,
said the commission had made
considerable strides in the last three
years.
“Our mission has evolved,” she
said. “We deal specifically withgen
der issues such as equity and safety.”
Price-Decker said the commis
sion was originally founded in 1973
and designed to advise the chan
cellor on issues concerning women.
I---1
omec men, rncc-i/ctnei mv
commission had been working pri
marily in the area of equity, dealing
with the comparisons of the salary
levels between men and women at
the university.
“We make recommendations to
the Chancellor to help close salary
gaps between men and women in
faculty and managerial professions.”
The ongoing goal of the com
mission at this point, Price-Decker
said, is to have the salaries of men
and women in thefaculty and mana
gerial professions monitored on a
yearly basis as opposed to every
once in a while.
Price-Decker said the commis
sion worked on a broader scale in
reference to women’s issues rather
than focusing on one cause. The
commission works closely with u ni
versily offices like the Affirmative
Action and Diversity Office and the
Women's Center.
“We try not to lake on one
UUOUIIi) VAilOV, • • —
do try to help them by sending
them in the right direction."
By working closely with campus
organizations and also through
open forums on campus, Price
Decker said the commission was
able to gauge the climate on cam
pus. This, she said, was important
in order to make the correct recom
mendations to the Chancellor.
With the addition of UNI. Chan
cellor Graham Spanier to the ad
ministration in the last year, Price
Decker said the commission’s work
has become more satisfying be
cause the concerns and views of
the commission are important to
Spanier.
“The focus has shifted a great
deal with Graham Spanier. We are
really excited about working with
him,” Price-Decker said. "Last year
we saw tremendous strides toward
what we were trying to do."
Contributions in tyyz
lead to a better world
1 subscribe lo the basic funda
mental principle that women should
have political, economic and social
rights equal to those of men.
I guess that makes me a feminist.
According lo one fellow staff
member at the Daily Nebraskan,
that makes me a “femi-Nazi."
But then again, he worships Rush
Limbaugh.
1 have a problem with the catch
phrase, stereotype, sexist-slur,
“femi-Nazi."
Firslofall.it makes no sense: It’s
a complete oxymoron. A feminist
seeks equality — political, social,
and economic — at the exclusion
of none. Nazism is a by-product of
facism — excluding people on an
aggressive, militaristic, nationalis
See ANNE on 11
