PERSPECTIVES The Michigan Daily Thursday, October 20, 1988 Page 5 Smeal's me BY MICHAEL LUSTIG Eleanor Smeal; the three-time past president of the National Or- ganization for Women, visited the University Oct. 5 as part of the Michigan Student Assembly's Wo- men's Issues Month. MSA spent lots of money for Smeal to come, yet no one heard what she had to say. What she did say should be suprising. Unfortunately, no one really had the opportunity to hear what Smeal said because MSA did no advance publicity. No posters went up on campus touting her visit, no ads were taken out in The Daily, nor was anything even submitted for The Daily's List, which is free. The Daily reported that about 30 people attended Smeal's talk. We were being generous. I counted 20, including myself, the reporter and photographer from The Daily who were covering the story, and MSA president and vice president. That left 15 other people. MSA spent lots of money to bring Smeal here. They flew her in from Washington DC, hired a white stretch limosine to drive her around all day, put her and her press secre- tary up in the Berkshire Hilton, where rooms run $85-105 a night, and paid her $4,000 for a speaker's fee. Since no one really heard S meal's message, I'll take it upon myself to tell you why she was here and what she stands for. Women and national politics Smeal began her own group, called the Fund for the Feminist Majority, after leaving NOW in 1987. In late 1987 and early 1988, she embarked on a nationwide tour called the "Feminization of Power" tour, where she encouraged women to consider politics as a career. The slogan of the tour was "5 percent," which is the percentage of the number of members of the U.S. Congress who are women. That's correct, 5 percent -23 representa- tives (out of 435) and two senators. The symbol is a little magenta-col- ored pin with a white "5%" on it. I wear one on my backpack. If you've noticed it, you now know what it means. Compared with other Western democracies, the U. S. fares badly. In Norway, the prime minister, al- most half of the cabinet, and 34 percent of the members of its par- liament are women. Women gained their position in Norway through a law that requires 40 percent of the candidates running for office be women. Such gender requirements also exist in West Germany (30 percent), Spain (25 percent), and Italy (20 percent). ssage4 The closest the U. S. comes to this is the Democratic Party's rule that one-half the participants in party conventions are women. That's why half the delegates at the Democratic Convention in Atlanta were women. The Republican Party does not have this rule, and only 22 percent of the delegates at their convention this summer were women. This does not mean that Demo- crats are better for women than Re- publicans. Of those 25 women leg- islators in Congress, 13 are Demo- crats and 12 are Republicans. In state senates, 11 percent of each party's representatives are women, and in state houses, more women are Republicans than Democrats. "A handful of women carry the legislation for half of the popula- tion," Smeal said. "If you have an atmosphere in which a certain group of people is excluded, those people cannot be represented." Ten states have never elected a woman to Congress. Fifteen other states have only elected one wo- man. Michigan has elected two wo- men to Congress - Lena Thomp- son was elected in 1950 and served two terms, and Martha Griffiths, the current lieutenant governor, was ( 9b ) eq elected in 1954 and served Only 16 women have serv Senate; 10 of them less t year. Abortion But back to Eleanor She's concerned about Mi Proposal A, the proposalv passed, would ban Medicai abortions. She urged peopl no, but worried that be confusing wording, peopl not clearly understand wha voting for. A "yes" vot prohibit the state from pa approximately 18,500 annu icaid-funded abortions. Smeal estimated that a million women have had a since 1973. She based the on a reported 1.5 million a a year, and estimates that the same number go unrepo A January 1988 poll co for the National Abortion Action League by Hickman Research and American V found that 64 percent of D and 58 percent of Republi pose a constitutional ame banning abortion. In 1984, million people re-elected Reagan, so if the 50 milli men who have had aborti uality 20 years. voted for pro-choice candi ed in the Smeal said, abortion wou than one longer be a debated issue. Women and camp politics Smeal. Smeal decided to exten chigan's Feminization of Power tourI which, if lege campuses when she four d-funded even though over half of all) e to vote ican college students are w cause of only 18 percent of student le might presidents are. The Universi t they're her first stop on the campus b e would Counting portraits on the ying for of MSA's assembly chamber ial Med- and its predecessor, the C Student Government, have h about 50 presidents since 1955. Four abortions been women. number On this note, Smeal lau abortions into her reasons for the cc at least campaign. She was inspired irted. rape at the University of Cali )nducted Los Angeles in 1986. Womer n Rights outraged when security officia n-Maslin women would be safest if iewpoint stayed inside at night. The % emocrats marched in the streets callii cans op- better lighting and emergenc! endment phones. only 54 But Smeal said, when it ca Ronald ion wo- ions all missed idates, taking active student leadership, ld no UCLA women were afraid. They refused to run for the student gov- us ernment presidency. They criticized their own qualifications, saying it id her would divide the vote of women and to col- that it was too expensive. nd that These are the same excuses that Amer- women who consider running for 'omen, national office say. t body The goal of the campus tour was ty was to dispell these myths about our. women running for office. No one walls ever accuses men of "splitting the ,MSA vote" if there are several men run- ollege ning for one seat. Fundraising has had 38 become a tremendous problem for r have any person planning to run for of- fice, and groups have formed spe- inched cifically to raise money for women ampus candidates. after a It's too bad that so few people fomia- heard what Eleanor Smeal had to n were say. My eyes were opened when I ds said took a job with her last summer, f they and I've tried to show others what I iomen gained from working with her. The ng for University was given an opportu- y tele- nity to learn what I did, but it was missed. I hope these words have am to helped. 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Weekly Meetings: Thursdays: 7:00 pm 219 Angell Hall Roosevelt University 430 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago IL 60605 Name John Neff - 971-9150(0), 747-8831(H) City State sZip Home Phone ________ Business Phone APPLY FOR UNIVERSITY-OWNED FAMILY HOUSING Juniors,Seniors &Grads... GI iE CREDIT ! APPLY NOW FOR YOUR VERY OWN... We will be October accepting family housing applications on: 21, 1988, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. No need to line up early, we will take all applica- tions from that one day (10/21/88) and hold a DRAWING. So your chances of a good position are the same whether you come in at 8 a.m. or 4 p.m. These applications are for family housing placement from December 15, 1988, through June 30, 1989. Apply in person at: The Housing Information Office 1011 Student Activities Building on October 21, 1988. If you have any questions, call 763-3164. e Bring a photocopy of your School 1.D. e No cosigner required APPLY NOW ON CAMPUS! Date: OCTOBER 20-22,1988 i