The adage 'Don't shoot the messenger' applies here

October 13, 2003 Grand Junction Free Press Page 10

(c) Copyright 2003, Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall, All Rights Reserved
Grammy's Axioms, Special to the Free Press

By Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall

Axiom: People value truth -- but hate those who tell it. Is it any wonder we see so little of it?

     I get upset about claims of racism more easily than a lot of people. I have good reason. My son married a black woman and my beautiful granddaughters are half black.
      I must tell you that their academic achievements place them in the top 2 percent of all Colorado students. In addition, my 14 year old granddaughter occasionally writes articles that appear in The Denver Post. I must say it because I'm proud of them, not because their achievements have anything to do with this column.
     As a journalist, I have always believed it important to seek truth. I get easily upset when people play games with it... political games, racial games, any kind of game. Racism and lies are about the only two things that upset me big time.
     In my opinion, one of the greatest problems we have in the new millennium is a lack of respect for truth. It exists in all areas: Business, family, media, sports, the arts, etc. If we have come to the point where truthful statements are racist, then political correctness has gone too far. Way too far.
     Because of these two things -- racial insensitivities and lying -- I was particularly interested in the news story of last week: Rush Limbaugh Makes Racist Comments. Was it true? It doesn't have to be to achieve what those who created the story want. It just has to be able to be a catalyst in libeling the conservative talk show host.
     Limbaugh did not attack Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. He simply stated that McNabb was, in his opinion, being given unearned kudos by some members of the media who are using him to create a black quarterback hero. His negative comments were addressed at the media, not the quarterback.
     Limbaugh said -- very accurately, I believe -- that some members of the dominant establishment press are too race-conscious. He said some sports reporters wanted a black quarterback to succeed so badly, they were willing to overstate McNabb's achievements.
     If McNabb is playing like a superstar, he deserves all of the positive press he gets. If he is not, and if the media is singing his praises as if he were, then the media is guilty of reverse racism.
     I have never tried to hide the fact that I am a conservative... I believe in being truthful, remember? So you know where I'm coming from, when Rush Limbaugh first became a conservative radio talk show host in the early 90s, I listened to his program with periodic regularity. I have not listened to Rush for well over five years, however. I will also say that in the eight years I listened to Limbaugh, I never heard him make a racist comment.
     Frankly, insufficient information has been published by the media, written or electronic, to determine if a racist comment was made. It is very possible Rush just told the truth about a black athlete.
     It seems to me that fair and balanced news reporting requires research. Since the sports media seems disinclined to provide people with statistical data, I decided to go back to my days as a sports reporter for the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne (1957) and do the research myself.
     The following statistics come from the Web site of the Philadelphia Eagles. For those who are not football fans, Donovan McNabb quarterbacks for the Eagles.
     In the following data, I gathered statistics for Bronco quarterback Jake Plummer (just because he's one of ours). I also tracked statistics for each quarterback who placed first in each category, and the quarterback who placed 12th in each category. I picked #12 because it represents average performance. When possible, statistics are given by AFC and NFC performance.
     According to statistics from the American Football Conference (AFC), the highest rated passing quarterback is Tommy Maddox of Pittsburgh with 1304 yards. Bronco quarterback Jake Plummer is ranked 11th with 904 yards passing. David Carr of Houston ranks 12th with 880 yards.
     National Football Conference (NFC) statistics place Patrick Ramsey of Washington in the number one slot with 1307 passing yards. The 12th ranked quarterback is Marc Bulger of St. Louis with 734 yards. Donovan McNabb is in 14th place with 664 yards passing.
     As a passing quarterback, McNabb is below average. The statistics say so.
     Donovan McNabb is first in rushing in the NFL. He has rushed 25 times for 174 yards resulting in 7.0 yards per carry. He has fumbled the ball four times while rushing but scored four rushing touchdowns.
     By comparison, Jake Plummer of Denver -- with less time on the field for the Bronco game against Pittsburgh has rushed 18 times for 119 yards (or, 6.6 yards per carry). He fumbled twice and scored 5 rushing touchdowns.
     How many passing touchdowns have top-rated quarterbacks made at this point in the season?
     In the AFC, Peyton Manning of Indianapolis is first with 9 touchdown passes. Jake Plummer is ranked 2nd with 8, and Tommy Maddox of Pittsburgh is 12th with 5 touchdown passes.
     In the NFC, Brett Favre is #1. He has passed for 9 touchdowns. Joey Harrington of Detroit is #2nd. He has passed for 7 touchdowns. Donovan McNabb is ranked 18th with 1 touchdown pass.
     AFC overall quarterback points rank Tony Banks of Houston #1 with 104.7 points. Jake Plummer is ranked sixth with 92.5 points. Jon Kitna of Cincinnati is ranked 12th with 78.4 points.
     NFC quarterback rankings place Todd Bouman of the New Orleans Saints first with 126.0 points and Patrick Ramsey 12th with 80.9 points. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is in 22nd place with 51.3 points.
     Looking at McNabb>s statistics, if he has been praised by the media as an outstanding quarterback, Rush Limbaugh was correct. The media was trying to make a quarterback hero out of a less-than-average quarterback... though he appears to be a hell of a running back.
     Limbaugh's comments do not appear to be racially motivated -- not even racially insensitive. People who are paid to tell the truth about the performance of others are, as long as they tell the truth, not racists. Nor are they responsible for the overly-sensitive reactions of others.
     Are people who are offended by Limbaugh's admission of an addiction problem to pain medications last week showing a bias toward white people with drug problems because the truth bothered them? Of course not!
     I understand the sensitivity to skin color... I've been known to be sensitive to the shape of my skin when competing in an all male industry. I got over thinking I had snivel rights long ago, however. Others should try learning that lesson. It sets you free.
     The truth is never insulting. Neither is it racist. It is just truth.

The first newspaper article written under Marilyn MacGruder's byline appeared in the sports pages of The Denver Post in 1952. Frank Haraway was sports editor. The article gained a front page banner headline for the 16-year old. At age 15, MacGruder started the first women's baseball league in Denver. In 1957, MacGruder reported sports for the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. She was one of the first women in America to write sports under a woman's byline. When young, she was a competitive swimmer, a horsewoman, a bowler, a baseball player and general lover of sports.

Balance in our institutions of higher learning

September 23, 2003 Grand Junction Free Press Page 10

(c) Copyright 2003, Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall, All Rights Reserved
Grammy's Axioms, Special to the Free Press

By Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall

Axiom: We all have a place in time. Nature achieves balance by pitting two forces of equal strength in opposition to one another.

     One of the more interesting news events recently is the defensive and fearful reactions of liberals to Governor Bill Owens' open minded approach to education.
     The Governor expressed a willingness to consider an idea by one time admitted communist turned conservative, David Horowitz, about discrimination in the ranks of our universities and colleges.
     A local journalist wrote one of the most specious articles about the Horowitz plan I have read. Few facts were present... but much misguided opinion was.
     She did accurately discuss how dominant the Republican party is in this state. She explained that Republicans own the governor's office, Colorado house, Colorado senate, U.S. senate and five of seven U.S. house seats. Reasonable people might see why taxpayers who elect such a Republican majority might want their children to learn conservative political philosophies.
     Unfortunately, there is no reasoning with most liberals and facts apparently count for little.
     When my son took a government course at C.U. in the 1980s, he spent an entire semester hearing about Central American politics from a socialist professor's point of view. It was billed as an American government course... how the executive, legislative and judicial branches function. That's what he paid for. The course description said nothing about Sandinistas and how evil conservative President Ronald Regan was. That, however, was the majority of course content.
     David Horowitz has proposed an Academic Bill of Rights. It is what has so many liberals up in arms. The Horowitz plan forbids university faculty from being hired, fired, and granted or denied promotions or tenure on the basis of political beliefs.
     Most fair minded people who see the broad picture will welcome a balanced presentation of our political culture to young people. Those who view themselves as having progressive attitudes would, one might think, applaud the creation of such a teaching environment. Those who claim to be progressives are anything but in their views about leveling the field for liberal and conservative college and university instructors.
     Objective research clearly shows the liberal domination of our colleges and universities is not the figment of anyone's imagination. A solid majority of professors and other instructors on campuses nationwide describe themselves as being either liberal or "far left." Less than one third consider themselves middle of the road and 15 percent described themselves as conservative. Many times, that translates to fiscally conservative, socially liberal.
     My theory about liberal professors who call themselves moderate is this: college environments are so far left, moderate liberals consider themselves to be conservative. They consider moderate conservatives radical extremists.
     The latest research data can be found in the August 29th issue of Chronicle of Higher Education. It tells us that among those voting in the 2000 election, three percent of Ivy League professors called themselves Republican. We must keep in mind that a large percentage of Republicans are moderate, not conservative.
     Almost 60 percent identified themselves as registered Democrats. Of this mix, 84 percent voted for Al Gore; 9 percent voted for George Bush, 6 percent for Ralph Nader.
     Liberals are still claiming that Gore won the election. They just don't seem to understand how the electoral college works. To settle this issue, keep the following statistics in mind:
          The number of counties won by Al Gore in 2000 was 677; Bush won 2,434 counties.
          The total population of counties won by Al Gore was 127 million; Bush counties totaled 143 million in population.
          Al Gore won an area of soil on which American voters live that totals 580,000 square miles. George Bush won 2,427,000 square miles.
          Al Gore won 20 states; George Bush won 30.
     Maybe we would have heard more of this if fewer than 45 of the 78 political science professors at Colorado's state colleges were registered Democrats. Nine are Republicans.
     The local journalist to whom I earlier referred laughs about how ridiculous it is to think a professor of nuclear physics would have the time or interest to influence students' political attitudes.
     My brother-in-law was the youngest member of the Manhattan Project. He has two Ph.D. degrees... one in physics, another in nuclear physics. He doesn't think it is ridiculous.
     Yale University Professor Bruce Shapiro (who admits to being a card carrying far left liberal) argued on the Fox News program, Hannity and Colmes, that a professor's ideology has no bearing on most courses. (The local journalist agrees with him.)
     Shapiro pressed, "When you say 10 to 1 liberal, are we talking math professors? Is there a liberal way to teach math? Are we talking about Aristotle versus Plato, or Bush versus Gore? Are we talking about, perhaps, biology professors? What is the relevance of how professors or anybody else votes?"
     If he'd had more time, Horowitz could have directed Shapiro's attention to a few examples. He might have mentioned Professor Michael Dini at Texas Tech who refused to write medical school letters of recommendation for students unless they declared their acceptance of the theory of evolution.
     Or, he might have looked into records at San Francisco State University. SFSU decided that Professor Dean Kenyon, a leading national authority in chemical evolutionary theory, was not suited to teach introductory biology. What disqualified him? He exposed students to points of dispute among scientists on theories of evolution versus creation. Many highly qualified biologists, says Kenyon, admit to the existence of evidence for intelligent design in the universe.
     The local journalist or Yale's Shapiro who deny a physics or math professor really has no time or reason to influence the political attitudes of students might want to look at what happened to Professor Nancy Bryson at the Mississippi University for Women. She was asked to resign as head of the Division of Science and Mathematics because she taught students the scientific flaws in Darwinian thought.
     At the University of South Carolina, a course titled "Women's Studies 797: Seminar in Women's Studies," required students to "acknowledge that racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism and other institutionalized forms of oppression exist" or they could not attend the seminar.
     A course in Marxism is offered at the University of Virginia. It proposes that the work of Karl Marx is the "standard against which all subsequent social thought must be judged."
     Politically incorrect (conservative) speech on many campuses is forbidden.
     Thus, though more than half of the nation's conservative population pays the "higher education" tab, they have no control over professors teaching their children liberal philosophies. Didn't we have a tea party about taxation without representation one time?
     I agree with Gail Schoettler when she recently said, "Playing politics with colleges and universities will wreak havoc on our children's education. It is time for the mind police to deal with the serious problems facing our state, not with forcing their own narrow ideology into the minds of children."
     It is time liberals stopped dominating classrooms. It is time they let a little conservative light into classrooms. It is time to stop forcing narrow ideologies into our children's minds. It has, indeed, wreaked havoc on their educations.
     The best we can do is let young people know both sides of issues and trust them to develop opinions best reflective of their personal philosophies.
     It is time to look at what Horowitz proposes. Good for Bill Owens! Right on, Governor!

Past shared experiences forge lifetime bonds

September 23, 2003 Grand Junction Free Press Page 10

(c) Copyright 2003, Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall, All Rights Reserved
Grammy's Axioms, Special to the Free Press

By Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall

Axiom: We all have a place in time. How productively we use it may follow us through eternity

     . Do you want what you build in this life to follow you into the next?
     Members of my generation were born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There was no radar, credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens.
     Pantyhose had yet to be invented. We had no air conditioners, dishwashers, or clothes dryers. I washed and then hung clothes in the fresh air on a clothes line. It was particularly stimulating in the winter when I had a new baby and diapers were laundered either by a diaper service or at home. There were no Huggies. The diapers often froze in the basket before I could get them on the line.
     Cars had no air conditioning and a drive through the plains of Kansas or Nebraska during summer months was not an experience to be envied. Jet engines were not yet discovered when I was born and men did not walk on the moon until I was in my 30s.
     Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments -- whether we espoused any religious convictions and affiliations, or not -- good judgment, and common sense.
     We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong -- it was black and white in the good old days, not relativist gray. We were taught to be responsible for our own actions. If we failed, the entire neighborhood would help us feel shame with looks of disappointment (or disgust)in us.
     We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. Long hair meant classical music. Computers were things about which comedy movies were filmed. We listened to Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and Kay Kayser on our radios ... political conventions and speeches, too. Our music was about love and romance, not sex and violence.
     Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. Coke was a drink; pot was something I used for cooking.
     Last year, I found three classmates I hadn't seen in fifty years. It was a very meaningful experience. Because we came from the same generation, we had built-in reasons for having things in common.
     I found them through the Classmates Web site. They have lists of schools across the country and their alumni by years of graduation.
     When I found the name of an old friend at the Classmates Web site, I sent him an e-mail. He wrote me back, then put me in touch with three other classmates from Lincoln Elementary, Byers Junior and South High Schools in Denver.
     When I went to Denver for a book signing last November, I scheduled lunch with Jim, Dick, and Cliff. Bill now lives out-of-state and couldn't join us. It was one of the most enjoyable times I've had in years. What is there about roots that makes us feel more fulfilled, happier... more connected?
     Though I have not seen my friends since our lunch last November, we've e-mailed back and forth. There is nothing that brings people together more than living through historic eras with one another. They knew what it was like to see a blue star surrounded by red and white rectangles. A neighbor had lost a son in the war.
     They share the knowledge of childish fear when air raid sirens sounded and lights had to be turned off as black blinds were pulled down over windows. I think none of us realize it at the time, but experiences we share with others make them a part of our lives forever.
     We all remember our high school football games at the University of Denver stadium and ice skating on the tennis courts at Washington Park (frozen for us from Christmas until spring weather demanded a melting), the Confederate high school newspaper and our Johnny Reb annual filled with pictures (and signatures) of classmates and friends.
     Cliff, Dick Jim and I were not close friends in the good old days. Girls weren't close friends with boys in those days. It just wasn't proper.
     It was wonderful to learn my classmates had successful careers. We went around the table, each giving a short biographic overview of personal and professional achievements.
     In elementary, junior high and senior high school, Dick was a very bright, somewhat serious person. As a big boy, he was one of Denver's better-known radio personalities. He worked with Gene Amole (a friend of my family's, too) in making Denver's first classical music station successful. As a kid, he seemed a bit intense. The e-mails he sends now make me laugh out loud. I now realize what I perceived as intensity was a very dry sense of humor.
     Cliff was a kind of John Wayne -- Silent Man -- type with a Clint Eastwood voice. His career was teaching. All we had to do was listen to him talk about kids and his experiences to know he was good at what he did.
     Jim was shorter than I until we got to high school, one of the all-time nice guys. He was smart, friendly and interested (which made him interesting). He was a person who cared. He spent his adult years as a career realtor. He helps prepare test material for those seeking Colorado realtor licenses.
     For some strange reason, learning what they had done with their lives made me feel proud to have known them -- proud to be part of their memories and backgrounds all those years ago.
     I felt pride. I felt gratitude. I felt satisfaction. On that afternoon we met for the first time in 50 years, we were close. How could that be? How could people who had never been close friends feel so close after not seeing one another for fifty years?
    It's good to touch the green, green grass of home