Wimp of the Month – Education Commissioner David Driscoll

Girls still lag behind the boys on SAT tests in Massachusetts. So . . . Commissioner David Driscoll gulped last month, afraid like many Massachusetts men from the ‘60’s to tell the ultra-feminists the truth. Instead, he wimped that the gender gap is "problematic" and continued, "We will try to make extra efforts where we can." 

The whole episode revealed that it’s Archie Bunker time again. Some people say the SAT test is "unfairly designed to favor a male problem-solving process" . . . a male problem-solving process? Does this mean that Archie was right when he said that boys and girls are different?

The ultra-feminists wanted Driscoll to explain. "Why is this happening? It’s unfair!" They said everyone knows that girls are smarter than boys, even in math, because girls get better math grades than boys in high school, including Advanced Placement math courses.

If the boys do better in the SAT test and the girls do better in other tests, why do the feminists and Driscoll assume that the tests which favor the girls are more reliable? Do the math grades from high school where the girls do better include a subjective rating by the teacher, so that a girl who smiles gets a higher grade? 

The real villain here is the silent, unspoken fact that girls are outperforming boys in verbal skills in larger and larger numbers. Is anyone concerned about that, Commissioner? Why didn’t the Boston Globe even report the differences in the sexes on verbal skills?

SAT Scores Were Not An Improvement

Although the educators and the press ballyhooed that the SAT scores this year were a great improvement for Massachusetts because our students increased three points in verbal and math, this doesn’t mean our students are any smarter than last year. The press didn’t reveal that since 1995, the scores are based on a curve taking into account the performance of other students across the country. As a result, we can’t compare what our students did this year to what our students did last year. We can only compare what our students did this year compared to the other students across the country. All of the students could be getting smarter or dumber.

Globe Reads MassNews

We told you last month that the Globe was busy writing a story on "visitation centers" after seeing our story about fathers who are forced to pay from $20-$80 per hour to visit their own children. We were right: It appeared on September 4 as the lead story in the Metro section. And we were wrong: It was not an investigative story. Instead, it was a "puff" piece that approved the centers and said they are becoming more and more popular with mothers and judges – but not with fathers. 

WGBH Still "Doesn’t Get it"; Alan Solomont Remains

Even though the president of PBS resigned last month down in Washington amidst a report that their stations across the country had swapped their donor lists almost exclusively with Democrats, there is no shame at WGBH which started the scandal. They continue to leave Alan Solomont as a Director at the station even though he is an important fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee and "Gore for President." According to a Boston Globe story, a spokesman for the Congressman who is in charge of funding for PBS said the PBS president was forced to walk the plank because of the scandal. He said, "If they’re going to force someone to walk the plank, they should start with station management at WGBH."

Meanwhile, the president of WGBH, Henry Becton, told the Globe, he agreed with the Congressman. "I accept responsibility," he said. But what does that mean? Apparently not very much. Sounds like a Bill Clinton apology. Was Becton a guest at Solomont’s home this spring when Clinton visited there?

Minuteman Library Network Is Stubborn - Still Recommends Pedophilia

It appears that the Minuteman Library Network wants us to examine every link on their website for them. When we advised them last April that they were recommending a pedophilia site to teenagers, we assumed that they would examine their entire website. But they are stubborn. After a four-month brouhaha and complaints from parents and library trustees, they finally pulled-the-plug on "All About Sex." But they continue to recommend another site, "Coalition for Positive Sexuality," which is so bad that it complains that the school "administrators" in Chicago "resist" them and the principals confiscate the literature they try to distribute at schools. If the Chicago schools are resisting this group, why would the librarians believe that the suburbs of Boston should welcome them with open arms? Do the librarians need parents to examine every link on their website? Can’t they do their job? Or, to be more basic, why are we paying our taxes to librarians to advise us where to go on the Internet? 

"Oh, it’s not all our money. Some of it comes from the state and federal government." One must wonder who pays those taxes?

Mass Discrimination Commission Proves It’s Nutty

If you want proof that the Mass Commission Against Discrimination is nutty, listen to this. A trucking company can be sued for refusing to hire a man as a driver because he takes medication to control seizures. That’s what Comm. Douglas T. Schwarz ordered all businesses to realize in an article in the Boston Globe last month. Never mind this Schwarz guy. Do you want 18-wheelers or even small trucks being driven on our highways by someone who might lose control? Would you want to be the employer who worries about that every day?

Of course, as Schwarz points out, no one really knows what the law is in this regard because the Supreme Judicial Court might overrule the MCAD. So a business in Massachusetts has to guess - "Do I hire the guy even though I might get sued for millions if he kills someone? If I don’t hire him, I’ll be out a half million in lawyers fees even if I win; if I lose, I’ll have to pay all sorts of damages to the "victim" in addition. Why won’t someone tell me what the law is?"

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that this person cannot sue and many people have urged the MCAD to simply adopt that ruling. But Schwarz says "the heyday of federal court leadership on civil rights is past." He wants to make the rules. He thinks this type of ridiculous, law school exercise is fun – for him. Who put him in charge?

UCC-Congregational Church Leaders Want to Hide

We wrote in our August issue about the tragedy of the UCC-Congregational Church leaders in Massachusetts. They’re continuing to run a political church which takes stands on legislation that requires that a Christian be a Democrat. This forces other churches to be "Republican" churches. In order to get a dialogue going on this subject between Christians, we asked the President of the Massachusetts congregations, Rev. Bennie Whiten, if he would like to respond in an interview which would not be edited in any way. Whatever he said would be taped and reported exactly as he said it – no changes. But he doesn’t want any dialogue.

He said, "I wonder where Mr. Pawlick got his facts." He already knows they all came from an interview he gave to the Boston Globe.

Mass. Public Works Costs Make Headlines

The Pioneer Institute made headlines in the New England section of the Wall Street Journal with a study which showed that public construction in Massachusetts takes fifty-five percent longer than originally estimated as compared with seventeen percent in Florida, twelve percent in Texas and six percent in Indiana. The average cost of a project increases over eleven percent as compared to just one percent in Indiana. Our projects take longer and go further over budget because of regulations which are purportedly aimed at fraud and abuse.

Another Republican Joins the Libertarians

The President of Boston’s Republican City Committee, Bradford White, has switched to the Libertarian Party. "The other two major parties are a blur. Libertarianism is more than a political party; it is a definable philosophy that you can live by," he said. He joined Bob O’Keefe, former GOP Deputy Director, who has also defected, saying, "I have come to realize after ten years in politics that I have always been more Libertarian than Republican. Now I’m working with a party where I truly belong, both at the state and national levels."

There’s a "mole" at the Boston Globe; Against Gun Control

There has to be a mole at the Globe! A headline last month said, "Gun bills no help in shootings; none of the proposals would have curbed recent violence." And the story quoted both sides, saying that "gun control supporters and opponents agree" on that one. Admittedly, the story came from the Washington Post news service, but some editor had to decide to run it. Editorial Page editor Renee Loth had better take Ellen Goodman with her when she investigates this one. They’d better hurry, though. If this isn’t nipped in the bud, some of those men in the newsroom might try to play basketball at lunch again.

All Jews Do Not Favor Gun Control

When the American Jewish Congress announced on the State House steps last month that federal gun control should be modeled after Massachusetts laws, the headlines said "Jewish leaders" seek gun control. But no one bothered to ask Aaron Zellman, Executive Director of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. We did ask him. His response: "There is no good reason for Jewish leaders to support police state policies. Can the AJC name one police state where the people are armed? This is one hell of a lousy thank you to the American veterans who put their lives on the line during World War II and freed Europe and saved the Jews in Nazi concentration camps."

Catholic Radio To Promote Traditional Family Values

A new group of Catholic radio stations in Boston and Springfield are being started by Peter Lynch, the former head of Fidelity’s "Magellan Fund," and Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza. "We are trying to make America a better place in which to live," said the new CEO, John T. Lynch. The stations will have an all-talk format. One of the hosts will be Ray Flynn. The stations must still have the approval of the FCC. Another station in Providence and three in Maine are also planned.

A Conservative in Cambridge???

"How to be a conservative in Cambridge" is the name of a course being taught this fall at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. The description is: "This course is designed for everyone who is growing bored with the traditional Boston-Cambridge liberal orthodoxies but have been afraid to admit it. What do you really think about gender politics, political correctness, multiculturalism, campus speech codes, social engineering, ‘postcolonial studies,’ et al? Join us for a lively, unguarded critique of liberal pieties and an examination of alternatives. We will look not only at politics, but also at all of the cultural and social biases (and taboos) that the liberal intelligentsia entertains." The instructor is Richard Kaplan, a retired U.S. diplomat.

Biological Attack Is Expected

Emergency personnel in Boston, Worcester and Springfield are being trained to respond to a biological terrorist attack. They are part of a network of 120 cities across the country undergoing similar training. The first decontamination unit in the region was at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Recent ominous pronouncements by President Clinton and Defense Secretary Cohen say such an attack is inevitable, the question is only when or where. The most probable agent would be anthrax, plague or smallpox.
 

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