NEWS & FEATURES

Is awareness really being raised

about women’s rights on UPEI? March 8, 1994 -- International Women’s Day

BY REBECCA MOORE

WHEN PEOPLE SAY THAT THE women’s centre’s funding should be taken away and applied to a football team, | wonder if women at UPEI are really getting anywhere. As a woman | can truly say that not all of us want to rule the world. In fact, | think very few activists really want to have more power than anyone else -- they want EQUAL power; or should | even refer to it as power?

What is it that women want? What is it that men want? Women have been fighting a long battle to be accepted and considered as

equals. They still have a long way to go, but at

what cost? Many men feel hurt by the insults thrown at them because of their sex. Isn’t this one of the issues that women are working against? Generalisations on the basis of sex.

but | believe they are hurting the progress that women have made so far. | have had many people tell me that they agree with equality but they do not agree with feminism because of its

The Women’s Centre is not only for women, but also a place for men to learn about what women really go through.

race, or sexuality, are wrong, plain and simple.

Those women who are trying to raise awareness by putting down men are getting nowhere. In fact, I’m not only insulted by it,

radical side. In other words, people who would support the advancement of women don’t because of the negative actions they see from an extremist minority. Everyone has

a different view of what feminism is. | will give my humble definition (I am not.a scholar of feminism, just an everyday woman living in a patriarchal society): | believe that feminism is the movement that advocates the advancement of women until they achieve equality and complete freedom from restrictions caused by their sex. If this is what we really want, why do we need to put down men?

Of course, there are rapists and abusers who do not deserve our respect, but we cannot generalise from them to all men. We have to educate men about the issues, not put them down because they don’t understand them. That is what the Women’s Centre is for: not only for women to hang out in and feel safe, but also as a place for men to go so they can learnabout what women really go through in our society.

Sure, having a football team would be fun, but education is what we are here for. | would far rather have my money go to a centre that recognises the need for education.

Residence attacker charged after week of hiding

BY TOM BRODBECK WINNIPEG (CUP)

A STUDENT TURNED HIMSELF IN TO Winnipeg City police last Friday after students in University of Manitoba residences were terrorized by a series of late-night incidents.

A week-long police investigation into the sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman in a residence came to an end when the male Arts Student was charged with sexual assault and break and entry with intent.

arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.

Campus Police Deputy Chief Bill Philip said reports of other forced entries into residents’ suites that morning turned out tobe connected to the assault.

Philip said a man who fits the student’s description was identified in three forced entries in another residence sometime after the assault.

The student -- who was the main suspect during the investigation -- was in hiding

An investigation into the sexual assault of a 20- year-old woman in a residence came to an end when the male Arts student was charged with sexual assault and break and entry with intent.

The student, who allegedly spent a week in iding, was arrested by police and detained in Ustody overnight Friday in connection with

€ assault,

Police say the assault occurred at 5:00 a.m. ebruary 20 after the student allegedly forced 'S way into a residence suite and sexually Ssaulted the woman.

__The woman -- who was reported to be a ‘Stor on campus -- was staying overnight in r friend's suite and was sleeping on the floor t the time of the assault. Her scream woke her roommate, who *Portedly ordered the male student to leave * toom. Winnipeg police were called and

throughout the week before giving himself up to police. ; He was locked out of his Tache room and banned from residence after the alleged assault. Noel Veich, head of the residence student council, said students in residence were shaken up by the incident. He says there was a collective sigh of relief when the accused turned himself in, “It was getting a little tense at times.” “People were being really cautious [in residence], like travelling in pairs,” he added. Veich said police officers were seen perusing the halls of a residence last week during the investigation, while security was increased

throughout the entire week.

University spokesperson Bob Raeburn says the matter is now in the hands of the legal system and the university cannot prevent the student from attending class.

Nicholas Adagala, 20, was released Saturday

afternoon on $1000 bail and a promise to appear in court. He made his first court appearance Monday and is scheduled to appear again March 15.

Adagala has not yet entered a plea to the court.

SAN FRANCISCO (NSNS/CUP) AN AMERICAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS group has filed a court complaint against the country’s largest taxpayer-funded scholarship organizations, claiming they discriminate against female applicants.

The Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) charged that the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the College Board have violated federal equal education laws.

According to data provided by FairTest, a non-profit test-monitoring organization, the exam used by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to determine eligibility for more than $25 million in tuition aid each year is severely gender-biased against girls.

The complaint states that reliance on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) denies girls an equal opportunity to receive the awards. Each year more than three-fifths

American scholarships biased against female applicants

of National Merit Scholarships go to boys because they score higher on the PSAT, even though girls earn better grades in both high school and college.

“Federal intervention is needed to ensure that girls get a fair shot at these valuable scholarships,” said Cinthia Schuman, FairTest executive director. “For years, ETS, the College Board, and National Merit have stonewalled well-documented protests from women's groups, civil rights activists and academic experts,”

Title IX of U.S. education law prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex or significantly assisting in such discrimination.

“Young women are denied financial benefits, honors, status and prestige on the basis of a test ETS and the college board know to be flawed, said Marcia Thurmond, attorney for the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project.

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