4 OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, January 18, 1984 The Michigan Daily4 Edited and ianaged by students at The University of Michigan XCIV-No. 89 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board A matter of equal pay ' ESPITE what you think we've got to face the facts: We're not all equal," said the male bank president to some of his female employees in the television movie A Matter of Sex. The remark comes after the women question the promotion of a male employee instead of a more qualified woman. The movie dramatized a true event on national television Monday night. It points to a tragic problem facing women: Sexism in the workplace. This movie and recent statistics demonstrate that despite the gains of the women's movement in the 1970s, women are not treated as equals in the job market. Although women are in the majority in the United States, new statistics show they have reason to fear job discrimination. The Census Bureau's latest figures indicate that there was more wage discrimination against young white women entering the labor force in 1980 than in 1970. These numbers also offer ample reason for women to fear that past gains are not secure The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was sup- posed to prevent wage discrimination. It forbids employers from paying lower wages to women performing "equal work" requiring "equal skill, effort, and responsibility" as men. But a law can only work if it is enforced, and the Equal Pay Act has not been en- forced. But that may be changing. In December, a judge in Tacoma, Wash. ruled that the state of Washington unlawfully' discriminated against 15,000 women with raises, back pay, and improved pension benefits - which could total $1 billion. This is the first time the courts have enforced the law. It should not be the last. Critics say that it is not economically feasible to compensate women for past inequalities. Yet this is just a way of avoiding 20 years of illegal activity. The time when women's job com- mitments and educational backgroun- ds were questioned should have passed a long time ago. Yet the Census Bureau statistis prove thisis not true. The final change could come as women prove to be a more potent political force. They obviously have not been able to get equal pay and respect as a result of a few unenforced clauses on a job application. WASHINGTON (UPI) - There is an axiom in politics that ad- vises those in power to "reward your friends and punish your enemies." That is the essence of what the New Right has been telling President Reagan for three years. The argument from ultra-right has been that Reagan has given too much influence and position to Republicans in name only, who qualify as liberals in all but name. The New Rightists appear to find moderate or liberal- leaning Republicans more objec- tionable than most Democrats, a phenomenon not unlike the im- placable hate of communists for socialists. These people, say the super conservatives, should be driven from the councils of the mighty and shunned like the lepers of old. An example: GOP Sen. Charles Percy of Illinois has a New Right Republican primary opponent this year and the ultra- conservatives here much outraged in 1983 whennReagan went to a Chicago function honoring Percy but gave no en- couragement to his opponent, Rep. Thomas Corcoran. HOWEVER, now comes infor- mation from a reliable source in- dicating that under the rule of reward and punish, which might be called "Mayor Daley's Law," Reagan should be wreaking' vengeance in the Senate on Gor- don Humphrey of New Ham-. pshire, Jesse Helms and John East of North Carolina, and Steven Symns of Idaho. They are, of course, four of the Senate's most conservative members. But with only one ad- The Senate 's righ t- win gers wrong Reagan By Arnold Sawislak took a position last year, Hum- phrey led Senate Republicans in oppositions to .the president, bucking him 42 percent of the time. Helms and Specter, (the only one of the top seven who, fluke. The first five were followed by such stalwarts of the Right as William Armstrong of Colorado, Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Mark Andrews of North Dakota and Robert Kasten of Wisconsin. The Republican presidential opposition situation was just the opposite in the House, where liberal and moderate GOP mem- bers such as Reps. Claudina Schneider of Rhode Island, Silvio Conte of Massachusetts, Frank Horton of New York, James Leach of Iowa and Stewart McKinney of Connecticut oc- cupied the top five spots. And where were the Senate's GOP moderates and liberals? Lowell Weicker of Connecticut was 10th with a 31 percent op- position, but Charles Mathias o Maryland, John Heinz of Pen- nsylvania, Mark Hatfield and Robert Packwood of Oregon and William Cohen of Maine, all were below 30 percent and John Chafee of Rhode Island was down to 18. Percy, who has made conser- vatives froth for years, opposed Reagan on 15 percent 'of the issues. His opposition figure was higher than Corcoran's 10 per- cent in their House, but in CQ's compilation of votes actally sup- porting the president, Percy beat his primary opponent, 80 percent to 70 percent. Sawislak is a reporter for United Press International 'Under the rule of reward and punish, which might be called "Mayor Daley's Law," Reagan should be wreaking vengeance on . . . the Senate's most conservative mem- bers.' ded starter, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, they lead the 1983 Congressional Quarterly list of Senate Republicans most in op- position to Reagan's policies. According to CQ, which com- piled congressional voting recor- ds on issues on which Reagan. could be described as moderate* or liberal) were tied for second with 41 percent, East was fourth with 38 percent, and Symns fifth with 35 percent. THIS convergence of Senate Republican conservatives at the top of the opposition list was no Sinclair 5&tA 4- Kroc: Fast food for thought NE OF THE surest signs of age is the feeling of nostalgia for a time long (or not so long) past. With the recent death of Ray Kroc - the foun- der of the McDonald's corporation -an, entire generation came -of age. Past generations had their corner candy store or ice cream parlor, but with a good dose of sentimentality ours can look back at those golden arches. The culture that McDonald's helped to define suffered from a lack of heroes. Kroc could very well have ser- ved as a hero for all the kids weaned on Big Macs and chocolate shakes. He reinforced those traditionally American, but not often exhibited, traits of individualism,. humanitarianism, and even motherhood - feeding that many kids is no easy task. Those lucky enough to have grown up in the Chicago area in the early 1960's witnessed the birth of an idea that would transform the shape of our culture. Fast food didn't arrive. with the Pilgrims, it was envisioned in classic American style. While many view that vision as a nightmare, its impact cannot be denied. Spawned were the likes of Burger King, We-ny's and even Ken- tucky Fried Chicken. Ten or fifteen years ago you could feed yourself for under a dollar and be on your way within fifteen minutes - conveniences to which Americans eagerly respon- ded. Kroc didn't lead the trend toward mediocrity in food preparation, he ex- ploited a need for it. But Kroc did more than create a fast- food empire. He dist4nguished himself with his numerous humanitarian effor- ts, among them the founding of the Special Olympics, and numerous Ronald McDonald houses, which aid families with hospitalized children. They showed him to be.a man who did more than just talk about helping others. One has to wonder, though, if Mc- Donald's is as fun as it used to be. After all, now we have the choice of Chicken McNuggets, filet of fish, Mc- Donaldland cookies, and Shamrock shakes. In marking the passing of Ray Kroc, we also mark the passing of a simpler time. Just a burger, fries, and chocolate shake, please. 'Rio QAINt., 71i (Ott - ----. r-- _ = LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Opposing school prayer in spirit - I To the Daily: The First Amendment to our Constitution is probably the most ingenius statement ever con- ceived to guarantee personal freedom of belief, speech, press, assembly and petition. Recurrent attempts to modify or ignore its clear meaning emphasize the validity of the warning, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." There have been previous assaults on the principal of separation of church and state such as the ill fated Becker Amendment attempt to mandate prayer and Bible reading in the public schools twenty years ago. But each generation must learn again the devious ways of some politicians. Gary Wills spoke devotedly to this issue on August 26, 1982 and I quote from that column: "The School-Prayer issue is not really about prayer at all. It is about other people's having to pray in public, or paying atten- tion to advocates as they pray in public. It. is about getting one's prayer amendment say it violates the Constitution. Maybe so. But I am less sure of this than that it violates the Christian gospel. It is clearly opposed in spirit to the Spirit, which breathes where it will and sur- prises us when we are least religious in the ritual sense." Thus it is evident that most in- sidious threats to freedom are not the well * advertised ones from abroad but those from within which are proclaimed, either through ignorance or malevolent design, as crusades for freedom. And since I have personally referred many bf the most vocal advocates of public prayer to their alleged supreme authority (inasmuch as they call them- selves "born again" Christians), they cannot readily plead ignorance. The fact is that they are not, as Wills points out, concerned about praying. They simply cannot spell or tell the truth. The interest is political and has everything to do with preying upon and shearing the sheep Jesus ad- monished them to feed. - R.F. Burlingame January 16 We encourage our readers to use this space to discuss and respond to issues of their concern. Whether those topics cover University, Ann Ar- bor community, state, national, or international issues in a straightfor- ward or unconventional manner, we feel such a dialogue is a crucialfun- ction of the Daily. Letters and guest columns should be typed, triple- spaced, and signed. -'WA , * * - V, l ifIfm R i 'i;; il WI 7