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:Page 4-Sunday, March 16, 1980-The Michigan Daily
Ninet l Years of Editorial Free(dom
k
Vol. XC, NO. 130
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Papa Bo really blew it
s HOW MANY Michigan football
players were suspended last
Monday by Wolverine Coach Bo
Schembechler? How many were put on
probation? Who was involved? Were
the players suspended for 'smoking
marijuana? for using cocaine? for
shooting heroin? Are the suspensions
permanent?
These are just a few of the questions
that needed answers after the Daily
learned Monday that something big
was up over at Ferry Field. And, these'
are just a few of the questions that
Schembechler absolutely refused to
answer until after wildly
conflicting-and damaging-reports
were broadcast and printed around the
state and the country.
Schembechler refused to comment
on one of the University's most
important sports stories presumably to
protect his players from media
larassment. Yet, not surprisingly, this
-Paternal concern backfired:
,incriminating rumors about members
bf Bo's flock were published as facts in
A he Ann Arbor News, the Detroit News,
.ad the Detroit Free Press; parents
,first learned of their sons' suspensions
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on late-night, long-distaice phone calls
from reporters; and several of the five
players almost spoke at" a news
conference-that Bo should have
held-to try to clear themselves.
Schembechler clearly called the
wrong play. The Wolverines are more
than a mere college football team
requiring protection from the story-
hungry media by a concerned coach;
they are a living legend in this state,
and as such are media celebrities.
Schembechler should not have been
amazed that rumors of suspensions
would spark intense media interest.
The coach owed the media-and
thousands of Wolverine fans-the
courtesy of a clarifying announcement
as soon as rumors started flying. He
did not have to mention that drugs
were somehow involved in the
suspensions, He did not even have to
elaborate any reason for his actions.
But to have waited until days after the
suspensions to comment is
inexcusable.-
Had Papa Bo really wanted to
protect his players, he shouldn't have
left five of them to fight off the media
monster all alone.
Q: When will a male pill become available?
A: Unfortunately, not for a while. The
development of a drug for men analagous to
oral contraceptives for women is still in the
experimental stage. Research efforts are
directed at developing a drug, in either pill,
injection, or under-the-skin capsule form,
that will interfere with the hormonal signals
that control the production of sperm in the
testicles or will interrupt the sperm
maturation process.
The ideal contraceptive for men is one that
eliminates or drastically reduces the amount
of sperm produced in the testicles and leaves
no sperm partially inactivated, which could
possibly result in genetically-damaged
offspring. Also, a good male contraceptive
has few unpleasant or serious side effects
and is completely reversible.
Two such contraceptives being investigated.
in this country and Europe are testosterone
enanthate (TE) and a combination of this
hormone and another hormone called
danazol.
The testosterone in TE signals the body to
stop producing two substances crucial to the
development of sperm. This hormone, when
given by weekly injections, has lowered (or
eliminated) the sperm count in 95 per cent of
men tested, and reversal of the contraceptive
effect has occurred within three to 12 months
of discontinuation of the drug. Mild side
effects that have been reported are weight
gain of approximately four pounds, breast
and body hair growth, and acne. The more
serious side effects usually associated with
taking male hormones, such as. higher
cholesterol, abnormal glucose tolerance, and
higher blood pressure have not been found.
The studies of the combination drug TE
with danazol have shown results similar to
those for TE alone. The advantage to this
combination drug is that monthly, rather than
weekly, injections are given. The danazol is
taken orally every day.
'rPill "fo
men in
future
The most exciting development, however,
has not been in the United States or Europe but
in China. Since 1972 Chinese scientists have
been studying gossypol, a constituent of
cottonseed oil that has an antifertility effect.
So far, clinical trials have yielded promising
results.
Health Service
H0ndbook
Gossypol is taken every day in a pill form,
initially at large doses but at smaller
maintenance doses once the sperm count falls
to a contraceptive level. A study of 4,000 men
reported in 1978 in the Chinese" Medical
Journal showed gossypol to be effective in
99.89 per cent of the men tested.
Gossypol's mechanism of action puzzles
Western investigators. The only
determination they have made is that it does
not work by altering blood hormone levels as
the previously mentioned contraceptives do.
Although long-term study on gossypol's
potential for causing toxic reaction in the men
taking it or genetic damage in their offspring
has not been done, one recent study carried
out at the University of California School o
Public Health and reported in the August
1979 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine determined that gossypol, when
subjected to a standard testitig procedure,
had no harmful gene-altering effects.
Apparently, the Chinese investigators are
ready to begin large-scale trials of gossypol,
but there is uncertainty about the men's
acceptance of this drug.
American scientists are carefully watching
these developments in China (and some
collaborative research has begun), but moe
feel they can not even make an educated
guess on how soon this contraceptive
innovation will be exported to the United
States.
Q: Is alcohol a good source of nutrients?
A: Alcohol pr vides calories (and plenty of
them) that have no nutritive value., (It may
,providevery small amounts of some vitamins
and minerals, but the amounts are
negligible.) This- is wh-y alcohol is said to
consist of "empty calories." If too much
your diet contains calories that provide no
too few nutrients, you will either suffer a
nutritional deficiency or, more likely, will
consume extra calories. These extra calories
translate into extra pounds.
Health Service Handbook will answer a
variety of health-related questions each
Sunday on this page. Questions should
be directed to Gail Ryan, Health.
Educator, eUniversity Health Service
207 Fletcher A ve.
Beating kids in U. S. schools
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1 HERE COULD be no more diffi- quite understandable. But however
cult time than today for human the desire for revenge may be,
ponents of the death penalty to there are certain human traits and
affirm their stand. An astoundingly desires which the law ought best not to
il mass murderer, John Wayne serve. Bloodlust is one such desire.
icy, has just been sentenced to die The burden of proof should be on
r the slaughter of 33 boys and young proponents of capital punishment to
en. But none of the events of the past show why society needs that barbarous
3ek have changed the fact that tool. Some argue that capital
pital punishment dis a Wuseless ,punishment isthe only way to ensure
nseless, vicious, and iminoral that first degree murderers (the only
swer to even the imost heinous deeds. killers who may be=executed) do nott
e magnitude of Gacy's crime may ever have the opportunity to kill again.
11 justify his being locked up for the But there are places in this country
st of his life; but nothing justifies where existing provisions for the
Id-blooded, state-sponsored murder. imprisonment of convicted killers,
rhose who would have the state of along with the careful process of
inois put Gacy to death generally scrutiny applied before parole, have
en't interested in the deterrence eliminated the problem of repeat
ue. If they were, they would find offenders. The state of Michigan is one
it of the many empirical studies that such place.
ve been done, only one has indicated Michigan has been without capital
at the death penalty is a more punishment for more than a century
ective deterrent to murder than and a half. Since 1938, when the current
prisonment. That study, guided by parole system was instituted, some 560
iiversity of Chicago economist Isaac convicted murderers have been
irlich, has been spurned by Ehrlich's released from prison. Of these, only
n colleagues as being severely ten ex-cons have returned to prison.
.ilted, both in its data-gathering Five of these were jailed for technical
ethods and other technical issues. parole violations. None were jailed for
Clearly, deterrence is not a concern murder.
the 70-some per cent of the Capital punishment is not a superior
aerican public that favors capital deterrent; it is not a sensible answer to
nishment. The central concern of society's fears. It is cruel and unusual
ecution proponents is retribution. manifestation of the worst aspects of
at's a euphemism for revenge. human nature. The time has come for
Humanitarians certainly feel this nation to follow the other civilized
acern for the survivors of murder nations in this world, and put it aside,
timQ - indApd the finir thV f P;P .+ once and for all.
A Corning, New York teacher
recently punched a child so hard
in the eye that emergency-room
treatment was required. When
the child's parents took the
teacher to court, a judge ruled
that the educator had acted
within the law because in the
Empire State, corporal punish-
ment is permitted in the public
schools so long as the force ap-
plied is less than "deadly." Ob-
usly, this student was still
alive.
A Camden, Delaware fifth-
grader was beaten, so severely
that the bruises on his back and
buttocks were still visible several
days later. The teacher had exer-
cised her lawful right to assault
the child because he had stayed
in the bathroom too long. The
teacher had neglected to find out
that the boy was constipated.
NOT ALL CORPORAL
punishment is used to "punish"
school children. 'Often, a paddle
or some other blunt instrument
is administered to backsides and
other parts of the body in order to
"motivate" students. In Beggs,
Oklahoma, for instance, children
with learning disabilities are now
being "mainstreamed" into
regular classes. In order to keep
them up to the mark, those who
fall behind in their studies or
keep misspelling words are
whacked by a paddle on their
thighs, arms, elbows, and
backsides.
Official child-beating is prac-
ticed in all but three states-New
Jersey, Massachusetts, and
Maine. Hawaii has declared a
moratorium on corporal punish-
ment while evaluating charges it
has been abused. In nearly 'all
other nations, however, the
beating of school children has
long since been abolished. Poland
did away with it in 1783, and during
the next century France, the
Netherlands, and Finland
followed. Corporal punishment is
also illegal now in Japan, Israel,
Italy, Sweden, Denmark, and the
entire communist bloc Indeed,
the only major nations that con-
tinue to allow child abuse in
the schools are West Germany,
England, and these United
States.
In England, attempts to end
corporal punishment have been
beaten back from 1669 (a
"Children's Petition" to
Parliament) to the present. On
January 16 of this year, in a
plebiscite by the National Union
of Teachers, 90 per cent of 258,000
British pedagogues polled
vehemently supported the con-
tinued use of child beating as an
essential weapon inmaintaining
oraer in the classrooms. So too, in
America, where a considerable
majority of teachers vociferously
insist on the need to use force an
an educational tool. When Los
Angeles abolished corporal
punishment four years ago, the
teachers' union there pledged to
get it reinstated; this past
February 2, it succeeded.
IN THE APPALLED minority
of abolitionist teachers is Edith
Oldham, who recently retired af-
ter 30 years in the Louisville,
Kentucky public schools. Writing
in the Louisville times, she
declared: "ishave witnessed
many terrifying acts, I have seen
children lifted and pulled and
dragged by their hair;
youngsters slammed violently
against a wall so hard that they
fell down on the floor; children
struck by pointers or yardsticks
that broke from the im-
pact... (Yet) students who are
most often targets for corporal
punishment are those with very
low self-esteem. Being paddled
(and otherwise abused) only
makes them feel more helpless,
self-rejecting, and angry. It is,
plain and simple, child abuse."
Cases in the files of American
Civil Liberties Union affiliates
and various youth advocacy
groups around the country un-
derline Edith Oldham's point that
corporal punishment often does
become child abuse.
After all, as Brandeis Univer-
sity social policy professor Dr.
David Gil emphasizes: "Rarely,
if ever, is corporal punishment
administered for the benefit of
the attacked child .. . Usually it
serves the immediate need of the
attacking adult who is seeking
relief from his uncontrollable
anger and stress.''
FOR EXAMPLE, in a small
New York town, a fifth-grade
boy, afflicted with arthritis, is
kicked to the floor by a gym
teacher for refusing to do his
exercises. Because his knees
lock, the boy can't do those exer-
cises, but the teacher insists that
he could if he tried.
By Nat Hentoff
Professor David Friedman of
the University of Southern
California School of . Medicine,
and Alma Friedman, a Los
Angeles Schools pupil services
counselor, recently conducted a
survey of the physiological harm
that fearsome teachers and prin-
cipais actually can inflict onj
children. they included: "severe
tissiVe damage, lower spine in-
juries, sciatic nerve damage, and
A similar bill is now before the
New York State legislature.
During a learing to determin
whether there is a need for such
a law, Jeffrey Hull, a nine-year-
old boy from Rochester testified.
He had been beaten twice, in the
same day, by his principal for
"making noise." The first time,
the "noise" happened because
the child had yelled when a
schoolmatehkicked him. The
second time, the boy had acciden-
tally fallen over his desk, with
CHILDREN LIKE THESE face beatings at the hands of teachers and
school administrators across the country each day. Corporal punish-
ment is-still an accepted form of child abuse, even in 1980.
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even blood clots due to paddling.
Recent evidence leads to the
suspicion of possible whiplash in-
jury especially in younger
children."
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT,
they add, "inhibits learning 'and
interferes with the accomplish-
ment of the important develop-
mental tasks of children .. . It
should be considered as child
abuse and prohibited in all
schools."
One route has been closed to
those parents and child-care
professionals who are trying to
prohibit official child-beating. In
1977, the Supreme Court con-
sidered a corporal punishment
case, Ingrahan v. Wright, in which
the two junior high school victims
had been paddled so severely that
one had to stay in bed, face down,
for a week and the other lost full
use of his arm for roughly the
same period of time.
Nonetheless, in a 5-4 vote, the
High Court decided that corporal
punishment in the schools, no
matter how severe, did not
violate the Eighth Amendment
prohibition against cruel and
unusual punishment.
THAT RULING, however, did
not prevent abolitionists from
working to have corporal
punishment done away with in
individual states, cities, towns,
and school districts. And, during
the past couple of years, child-
beating has been ended in, among
other places, Portland, Oregon ;
Kalamazoo, Michigan; Urbana,
Illinois; and Groton, Connecticut.
Groups carrying on this battle
to end child abuse in their schools
resultant commotion. He was
paddled so hard both times that
when he came home that nigh4
his buttocks were bleeding. The "
parts not bleeding were black and
blue.
THE CHILD'S father, Sergeant
William Hull of the Monroe Coun-
ty Sheriff's Office, brought the
principal to court on a charge of
third-degree assault. The case
was dismissed because, said the
judge, the principal had acted
within the:law. He had not usee
deadly force.
"I just don't understand," said
Sergeant Hull, "how they can
keep this corporal punishment
law on. the books. Nobody should
have the right to beat anybody
like that, especially a kid.
Nobody. Not teachers, not prin-
cipals. Nobody. In my job. I don't
have the right to beat prisoners.
even though some of them ar4
real sickies. And I shouldn't have
that right. Why is it that only
school kids can be legally
beaten?"
Theisame question was asked
in 1853 by a judge on the Indiana
Supreme Court: "The public
seems to cling to the despotism in
the government of schools which
has been discarded everywhere
else . . . The husband can no
longer moderately chastise hi'
wife, nor. . . the master his ser-
vant or his apprentice. Even the
degrading cruelties of the naval
service have been arrested. Why
the person of the schoolboy 'with
his shining morning face' should
be less sacred in -the eyes of the
law than that of the apprentice or
the sailor, is not easily ex-
plained,"
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