The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 30

Comment cm Letters to the Editor Assembly Fails To Redistrict EIWOOD HAD A TOOTH PULLED HOVJV, OTHER THAN THAT THB KIDS ARE ALL MISS WU. TAKE CARE AND COME SOON. LOVE, A Conservative View AhWomen's Rights! By JAMES J. KILPATRICK Equality for All To the Editor: This letter refers to the case which' the' City of New Brunswick currently has pending against my brother, Patrolman Lester Gibson, who was suspended from the New Brunswick Police Department some time ago, and $ubs- quently reinstated to duty pending the outcome of his case. I am particularly concerned with the manner in which this entire situation has been handled, as opposed to other, similar cases.

I consider myself a patriot and believe in our great' judicial system. personally, admire and respect a great many of the members of the New Brunswick Police Department. I believe there are a good many officers in the department who are forthright and honest individuals. Still, there Is unrest within the department. It is my opinion tnat certain city employes imported from outside New Brunswick have contributed nothing but poor and dishonest leadership to the department and to: the To build and maintain a strong foundation in any organization, its leaders must set a fine, solid example.

This would, of course, include equality for all. As I previously stated in this column, I feel i my brother has been viciously discriminated against. The fact that serious incidents occur within the police department which are equal or surpass the serious allega- tions made against my brother, are overlooked and-br unre- ported substantiates my opinion. When Incidents have been reported to the news media in rare instances, they appear distorted from the actual facts. Incidents involv- ing serious charges are miraculously covered up or dismissed without due process of law.

Equality should mean justice for all; in the case of my brother and these other, unrelated situations, equality means having the power to decide who shall benefit by equality and who shall suffer. I appeal to the mayor and elected city officials to end this grave injustice against the citizens of the City of New Brunswick by truly practicing equality in bringing all illegal deeds to a just finish with due process of law. I further appeal to the mayor to investigate all the circumstances surrounding Patrolman Lester Gibson' and the obvious discrimination against him. WILLIAM GIBSON, New Brunswick Roberts Article Hit To the Editor: At the last meeting of the South Brunswick Board of Education held on March 20 at the Crossroads Junior High School, I took the opportunity to speak to the board in regard to seven major problem areas which I have encountered during my four years in high school. In your newspaper on the following day there was an article written by.

Pat Roberts entitled "South Brunswick: School of Thought," which was written in regard to the meeting of the night before. In this article Miss Roberts takes the liberty of interpreting my statements in what must be called a malicious and definitely incorrect manner. Because of this I feel it is imperative that my statements be clarified in print. However, the most important correction should be made in regard to a statement which the board president H. Eugene Speckman directed to me during my address.

The board president said "Brian, please sit down" in response to a statement that" I made, that being, "You should get rid of the students that talk loud like me. We talk loud because we know that if we do so our voice will be heard. It's time that you ask the quiet Wd, like my younger sister, what they want from the school." This was the statement that brought about Speckman's quoted response. The state- ment that he made was purely good-natured yet a person who had just read Miss Roberts' article would take it as being a direct order, that was then disobeyed, which therefore connotes a certain amount of lack of respect for rules and procedures. If one were to inquire with Speckman one would then see that this is the case.

In good journalism one does not misinterpret the facts because it makes for good copy, but rather one should build a story from the factual occurrences. Miss Roberts also states in her article, "He said that all students want more freedom, that teachers want more discipline, and that in the long run getting what the parents want reading, writing, and i What I actually said was, "You look at the results of the polls asking the teachers what they would like to see in the high school and they say more discipline, and because the kids don't want more of that they say that they want more freedom, and in the long run all you get is two groups of people very far apart the Educa- tional Goals Steering Committee Survey reports that most parents want the same thing that every parent wants for hia or her child, that being a strong background in the basics of education (reading, writing and arithmetic)." I only ask for justice where justice is due, a written copy of what was really said, free of all interpretations by a third party. That is the way it was- BRIAN WEINER, Class of 1972, South Brunswick High Vicious, Scurrilous Attack? To the Editor: George Otlowski's now famous remarks that the oppc- 1 nents of the Route 18 extension were G-D-screwballs pales to insignificance beside the recent vicious, surri- -lous attack launched in the editorial columns of The Home News. This attempt to appeal to people's emotions by suggesting that those against che Route 18 extension i would be responsible if loss of life resulted, due to am Not surprisingly, the New Jersey Assembly has failed to agree on a congressional redistrictihg plan. It was clearly too much to hope that the members of the Assembly could put aside their differences and approve an equitable, bipartisan redisricting plan which might have been acceptable to the entire legislature, And so, it appears, the court will, be' forced choose a redistricting plan from among the various and sundry ones offered.

Or it could simply wash its hands of the whole affair and direct at-large congressional election in November. It is to be hoped that the court will select an equitable plan 'or combination, of. plans, rather than order an at- large election, for an at-large election would serve New Jerseyans less well than even the poorest re-districting plan. But when the legislature fails to perform its constitutional duty to redistrict, it must accept the blame and the responsibility-for whatever results. The legislature having failed to redistrict (barring some last minute it must at the very" least establish a bipartisan commission to draw up the next congressional districts' probably' 10 years hence.

Setting up the machinery for such a bipartisan commission on redistricting" is "going to be a. low1 priority, item for many legislators once the cur- rent redistricting is accomplished by whatever means. It ought not be. This legislature has demonstrated it is not up, to the task of redistricting, but it could make up for its failure by making certain we are all spared round, of legislative- bickering about portionment. It could and should now turn the job over to a commission that can get the job done next time.

Easton Avenue Agreement Reached Agreement arrived at by Somerset County freeholders and Franklin Township officials looks toward a satisfactory reconstruction of dangerous-and congested Easton Avenue in the township. The county will press for construction of four jughandles and a center dividing barrier on Easton -Avenue from John F. Kennedy Boulevard to the Route 287 interchange. The jughandles are to be at JFK Boulevard, DeMott Lane, Willow Street and Cedar Grove Lane. The total program includes preventing access to Easton Avenue at three streets, and changing two connecting arteries from two-way to one-way.

Somerset Freeholder Thomas E. Maggio believes that blueprints for the sorely needed improvement can be ready this year, that construction can start next year and that we can look forward to completion of the whole improvement program in 1974. It is good to see agreement finally reached on this improvement, and if the project can possibly be speeded to completion earlier. than the dates now projected, hosts of motorists will be grateful. to all involved in the speed-up process.

They Just Want The Check, Mates The one-time "enfant terrible" of chess, Bobby Fischer, has replaced temper tantrums with dollar-deliriums. But for one raised in capitalist United States, that's not strange. Fischer, who admits he moves pawns these days only for money, is seeking the most profitable ideal he can get to meet the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky for the world title. The plan was to split the matches between Ice- land and Yugoslavia. All was going well, when Fischer decided he wanted more.

What he wanted was for Spassky and himself to split all the money left after the cost of the matches. Both Iceland and Yugoslavia said no. The Com- munist Yugoslavia representatives argued that the organizers, bearing the financial risk, were entitled to any profits that ensued. Comrades, you sound like a pack of capitalist dogs. WASHINGTON It was late on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 22, when the Equal Rights for Women amendment finally came to a vote in the Senate.

Delaware's William Roth happened to be presiding. "On this vote," he announced, "the yeas are 84, the nays are 8. Twothirds of the senators present having voted in the affirmative, the joint resolution is passed." The packed galleries broke into happy applause. It took several minutes of gavel-pounding to get things quieted down. After more than 50 years of unrelenting effort proponents of the ERA' had swept the field.

By Thursday morning, Hawaii had become the first'state to ratify. Half a dozen others since have leaped aboard. The ERA may well break the 100-day record set last year, in ratification -of the 18-year-old vote amendment. There is no army so irresistible, as they say, as an idea whose hour has come. A Grim Prediction Very well The amendment, by its own terms, will become effective two years after ratification.

This would' indicate an operative date in the summer of 1974. A prediction may be ventured: By the summer of 1976, the jubilation singing will have died; March 22 of 1972 will be denounced here and there as Black Wednesday; and you will be hearing anguished cries for repeal. The amendment is unmitigated folly. It cannot be compared with the 19th Amendment, which in 1920 guaranteed that women should have an equal right to vote. The legal effect of that amendment was clear, crisp, and incapable of misunderstanding.

In the case of the ERA, though thousands of pages of law review articles have been written about it, the legal effects are beyond calculation. Harvard's Prof. Paul Freund, a great constitutional scholar, has said that the Equal Rights Amendment "will open a Pandora's box of legal complications," but the hoary allusion paints an inadequate picture. What we are talking about, in terms of this amendment, is "equality of rights under the law." Such equality henceforth shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The phrase has a beautiful bell-like ring.

Who could oppose equality of rights under the law? Sen. Sam Ervin could and he had the courageous assistance, at the last ditch, of Senators Bennett, Buck- ley, Cotton, Fannin, Goldwater, Hansen and Stennis. Mississippi's James Eastland was paired against the resolution. Time will prove their apprehensions and reservations well founded. They perceived that the ERA, as part of the supreme law of the land, necessarily must impose sexual equality by law upon a society that does not want sexual equality in fact.

Take one of the simpler legal complications. Under Social Security, women may retire at 62, men at 65. This distinction must now be obliterated. To achieve tion by lowering the male retirement age would create serious social and economic consequences, and would play havoc with the actuarial soundness of the Social Security system. But to raise the women's age would set off political explosions.

Draft Talk The Senate debate heard much talk of compulsory military service for women. Once the ERA becomes effective, every 18-year-old girl will have to register for the draft. These" young women then must be called into service under precisely the same terms and conditions now applied to men. This means combat duty; anything less would be constitutionally impermissible. As Hawaii's Sen.

Hiram Fong uneasily speculated, the privacy that might be accorded women, if any, "is uncertain." Legal complications at the federal level, by compari-' son with those in state legislation are models of simplicity. The Equal Rights Amendment overnight will abolish hundreds of protective statutes-dealing with inheritance, marriage, child support, and industrial life. Some of the state laws are foolish. These laws might have been repealed through the normal legislative process. But the effect of the ERA will be to dump them all rest per-; iods, maternity leave, occupational limitations, the whole It is futile to object.

The rush for ratification is on Hawaii, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Delaware, Idaho, Florida. Senator Ervin is no King Canute. The tide rolls in. But three or four years hence when the impact of the ERA begins to be felt, a great many women will be finding that this beautiful equality is not so beautiful after all. Viewpoint Journalism and Our Schools By THOMAS E.

ENGLEMAN Executive Director The Newspaper Fund, Inc. To foster quality student publications. To alert students to evaluate journalism as a future profession. In effect, The Home News has brought to the public's attention another problem for the education establishment. If school administrators think about the question at hand, they will see clearly that the journalism teacher and school newspaper adviser occupies one of the most critical positions in the school.

Students do read their school newspapers, and they react to what is With untrained or uninterested advisers to these publications, it stands to reason that tensions in the schools often flare, and misunderstandings often arise because of faulty reporting by student editors and newspaper staffers who haven't been counseled by a trained or legally certified journalism teacher. As we see it, the problem is deeper than the reasonably simple job of sending teachers back to school for a few weeks or months of college study. The Newspaper Fund is interested primarily in identifying and encouraging bright young people to consider careers in the news. Neither our job nor the broader problem can be accomplished without qualified teachers in the high schools. The Newspaper Fund, whose address is P.O.

Bex 300, Princeton, is a foundation supported by Dew Jones to encourage careers in journalism. Drug Abuse Study A Major Puzzle The Home News lead editorial last Sunday directs a bright ray, of light on the school newspaper adviser-jour-t nalism teacher in virtually all of New Jersey's public high schools. i 5 'In support of that editorial, I might add that many New Jersey journalism teachers have contacted my of- fice for help and information about additional college work for themselves, as well as college study for their students who are interested in media work as a career. The Newspaper Fund is a foundation which, among other things, sends high school journalism teachers and newspaper, advisers back to school for additional study. -We have helped a sizable number of New Jersey teachers in the 13 years the foundation has been operating.

Most teachers nowadays" must have graduate school credit, in order to maintain the basic teacher certification standards of the state. Because the teachers we work with are interested in journalism education, they generally choose to do their study in journalism or mass communications. Major Problem There is one major problem, though. There is no graduate program in journalism or communication, in the state of New Jersey. Therefore, the teachers have to attend school out of many times in the Midwest.

When they return to New Jersey they find their credits are accepted as general graduate credit, but they do not count toward certification in the academic area the teacher studied. The reason? New Jersey has no certification require-ment specifically for journalism The Association for Education in Journalism, the national organization of college journalism professors and department chairmen, has prepared a booklet of suggested guidelines for effective student publications and journalism instructional programs in high schools. The colleges are interested in improving the quality of high school journalism teaching, because of the increasing need for a broad understanding of the role of the media in society. New Jersey educators are welcome to ask The Newspaper Fund for this r. These specific requirements for high school journal- ism teachers are suggested by the association: (1) An official journalism teaching certificate or license issued according to his state's teacher certification regulations.

(2) Either a journalism major, or minor in journalism. Once the teacher has met these suggested minimum guidelines of preparation, he or she would be prepared to teach in a journalism program with these purposes: The Purposes To introduce the scope and function of mass media, so students can become effective users of the media. To place in perspective, the role of journalistic ms-! dia in democratic society. To motivate students to achieve effective communl-l cations. i To encourage responsible, independent thought based on research and the journalistic principles of fact, truth, objectivity, social responsibility, good taste and fairness.

BERRY'S WORLD bulance delay, is a crude attempt to influence tne local populace and fools no one. At Landing Lane Bridge, congestion and resulting delays can only be blamed upon those totally responsible for road conditions throughout the city and county areas, those self-same officials who are trekking down to Wash-" ington to seek solutions to problems generated by their, negligence. Some of the delays suffered could be alleviat-. ed if traffic lights were temporarily installed on both, sides of the river until a new Landing Lane Bridge can be built. Contrary to popular belief, mere building of the one-mile section of Route 18 Extension across the river is not going to automatically solve all the traffic problems" in this county.

In fact, when freeways are Created, city thoroughfares prove entirely inadequate to carry the increased traffic generated and emergency delays continue at some other juncture. Whom will the editorial critics blame that on? The state Department of Transportation sought to avoid compliance with federal standards, costing the New Jersey taxpayers $12 million, which otherwise would have been allocated by the federal government. The fault for delay of an improved river crossing, therefore, lies also with their negligence. Full investigation of the impact on those living upstream and nearby to the proposed route should not be hurried. All of us should appreciate the opportunity to stand back and see a total design.

Questions, -iuch as these deserve answers: Where will all the traffic end up in Piscataway, (a residential type neighborhood)? Is this one-mile freeway design, as it stands now, ending a traffic light on Metlars Lane? Is this not to be a major trucking route with distribution centers sprin--kled all over central Jersey? Is this not a grand scheme to uproot and cause relocation of minority groups living along Memorial Parkway, disrupting their normal pattern of life in favor of road building business (big business from the contract estimates quoted). Mayor Sheehan's statement that the needs of her constituents are her first concern seems incongruous in the light of her thrust for this giant road building scheme. Mayor Ted Light's recent statements as to "obstructionists" cause one to question his motives in seeking increased truck traffic through his neighborhood. MARY N. DE JONG, Secretary Citizens Committee for Environmental Protection What the President's Commission" on Drug Abuse seems to have told us puzzles us no end.

And there must be hosts of others similarly puzzled, The commission seems to be saying that it, should be illegal to sell or transport marijuana or use it publicly. But you can smoke all the mari-. juana you choose, the commission if you dp so privately. But how does one get the marijuana to smoke privately? It certainly does not fall, like the biblical manna or the Shakespearian gentle rain; from heay-en. The commission's logic completely eludes us.

Could it just be that when the report was written the commissioners themselves were actually No, we couldn't suggest that. The Home News; Sunday newspaper, established 1786 Daily newspaper established 1879 HUGH N. BOYD, President and Publisher 30 THURSDAY, MAKCH 30, 1972 "I've got an idea lor putting the mogie back in our marriage. This evening lefs watch shows wo never normally watch!" Aifc..