The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 15

Thursday, July 22, 1999 The Capital Times 15A LAURA DRESSER and JOEL ROGERS Wages show how much society values its members important than those giving daycare to our infant children. We think hospital doctors are about 25 times more important than the nursing assistants who actually touch their patients, and the CEOs of the large nursing home chains about 600 times more important than those who bathe and feed our dying parents. Which matters more to you: your children or your lawn? Dumb and insulting question, right? But not so fast. Measured by how much were actually willing to pay people to take care of our kids or take care of our lawns, it seems we value our lawns more. The recent Capital Times article on summer jobs (Gender Gap Indicated in Teenagers Summer Job Wages, July 5) made this point for teenagers.

We pay less for babysitting than for someone to mow the grass. Of course, as the article emphasizes, this is partly a gender effect. Since we pay women less than men in Wisconsin, on average, about 30 percent less you might expect that baby-sitters, who are mostly girls, would get paid less than lawn-mowers, who are mostly boys. But this doesnt truly explain anything. There are really two questions here.

One is why girls would sort themselves into jobs paying lower wages. The answer here is that most of the sorting is done to them through a lot of social pressure, informal and partially exclusive hiring networks, and, when that fails, overt discrimination. Even a girl seeking the non-traditional (for a girl) summer job of yard work wouldnt get anywhere with those employers, cited in the article, who are only looking for boys. The fact that such discrimination is illegal doesnt mean its not pervasive. But the other question is why, in the first place, do some jobs and occupations pay better than others? In some cases, the origin of such pay differences seems clear and defensible.

Work requiring high skill usually pays more than unskilled work, for example, but that makes economic sense. The higher wage of skilled workers is basically a return on their prior investment in becoming skilled. In other cases, though really, in most cases no such simple economic story can be told. Luck, informal connections, bargaining power, or sex often explain wage differences better than variations in observable skills. The story of the different treatment of girls and boys in summer jobs reminds us that the distribution of opportunity and reward in their summer jobs including baby nize, and what value or degrada- tion were prepared to assign and accept for different sorts of work, At present, to judge by the wage sitting than young men.

numbers, we think investment bankers are about 35 times more important to society than school teachers, and about 80 times more Young women often earn less at the economy are largely social choices about how people are sorted into jobs, whether workers are permitted a real right to orga- GAIL Budget process shows that state governments Budgets used to be designed to make the folks back home happy. Now the budget is more aimed to please campaign contributors. The pork used to be for voting constituents. Now more and more it feeds the cash constituents. executives not only gave generously to the governor, they contributed thousands more to key legislators.

If the Ashley exemption is still there when the smoke clears, most people wont notice. But its a classic example of how special interest donors get rewarded. The budget is full of such items. Another example is the much-publicized and intensely lobbied liquor distributorship amendment. This budget provision would make 'ho is valued for what, much less differences in that valuation, dont follow from any economic law.

We as a society could make different val-'. uations if we wanted to just as easily and simply as we as individ-. uals could give the baby-sitter a raise, or invite her to mow the lawn. Theres really no such thing as girl work only for some work, girl wages. Joel Rogers is the John D.

MacArthur professor of law, po- litical science and sociology at the University of Wisconsin, where he also directs the Center on Wis-! consin Strategy. Laura Dresser is the research director of the center. Wi for sale utors, and everyone knows it. Senate leader Mike Ellis was even moved to say what everyone close to the process is thinking: The budget were debating right now is literally for sale. Bf those chilling words dont stir us all to demand campaign finance reforms that will clean up the system, I dont know what will.

Gail Shea is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan statewide coalition of organizations and individuals that tracks money in politics and advocates for campaign finance reform. Shea has observed the state budget process in Wisconsin for 20 years. discriminatoiy quirement because thats where discrimination begins. Merely having a union status does not guarantee better performance and there is no evidence that union labor is more skilled or safer than merit labor. Just because some private owners discriminate against merit workers does not mean its OK for taxpayer-funded projects, for which we all pay.

Keep public projects open to all qualified bidders, regardless of union affiliation. Theres no place for any type of discrimination in the public sector. Stephen L. Stone Associated Builders Contractors Inc. are too vain to admit failure.

Such is Americas war on drugs. Next year we must elect a president and Congress that will pursue rational drug policies that bring home the prisoners and dismantle the police state apparatus that has unjustly demonized and targeted so many peaceful citizens. Gary Storck Madison SHEA it more difficult for liquor distillers to switch distributors. What on earth does this have to do with state taxes and spending? Again, not a thing. Yet this special interest plum virtually guarantees a monopoly to a handful of liquor wholesalers who, not coincidentally, have made tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations, including thousands in soft money contributions to an out-of-state committee that bankrolls campaign activities here in Wisconsin.

Rules that require Dear Editor: Mike Ryan of the Wisconsin Laborers District Council and other labor leaders continue to argue that Project Labor Agreements dont discriminate. Sorry, Mike, but they do. In his July 1 editorial, Ryan states, Any contractor, union or nonunion, can choose to bid the project. The winning contractor merely must comply with the terms and conditions of the contract. The terms of the contract specify you have to be a union contractor.

Thats what the Miller Park Project Labor Agreement explicitly states: Employees of contractors performing construction work on the stadium proper at the project site shall be required to become and remain members of an affiliate of the council. Voice of the People id The making of a state budget is not a pretty sight. Never has been. Theres always been some horse trading. Theres always been pork.

If its for our area, its the good stuff. If its for someone else, its bad pork. Having said that, its worse now. The budget is uglier. The process that constructs it has degenerated.

Even the pork is a different cut. You dont have to believe the budget used to be pristine or that the 'budget process used to be saintly to notice a big change. Budgets used to be designed to make the folks back home happy. Now the budget is more aimed to please campaign contributors. The pork used to be for voting constituents.

Now more and more it feeds the cash constituents. Priorities skewed on Frautschi gift Dear Editor: The announcement from Jerome Frautschi revealing that he is giving a second $50 million to create an arts district in Madison is surely great news for our city. Certainly, accelerating the arts program in Madison is a welcome idea and many people, well-off enough to buy expensive tickets, will benefit from the increased venues in Madison. But, some of us cant get the picture of our hungry and homeless citizens out of our minds. At the same time as Frautschi made his announcement, it was revealed that our state is last among the 50 states in food made available for school breakfasts.

Children who have had breakfast tend to show up for school more often and once there, get better scores on tests. Additionally, we keep hearing threats of schools cutting the arts classes from the curriculums. Perhaps another of our Mr. Wonderfuls could come up with some funds for our disadvantaged children. Where are our priorities? Jody Schmitz Madison A similar policy actually passed in Illinois.

The ink was barely dry when distributors announced plans to raise their prices, backing down only after threats that the law would be repealed. But what the wholesaler protection measure might mean to those sitting on the barstools hasnt been an important consideration even for opponents of the idea. Theyve fretted about how it could affect Miller Brewing another huge political donor. The key to the final deal was to find a way to give the liquor distributors their monopoly without screwing up Millers distribution system. Consumers interests werent part of the equation.

The state budget has never been an elegant creature. But it is intolerably ugly now. Its not about bringing home the bacon to your hometown anymore. Now its about rewarding a few big contrib union workers are It goes on to say: The Joint Venture or its subcontractors shall not contract or subcontract work on the Project except to an employer who is signatory to a local agreement(s) with the appropriate affiliate of the Building Trades Council. Union-only deals (on public and private jobs) are signed by owners because labor unions threaten pickets, job stoppages, and labor unrest to secure the entire job.

Thats great if youre a union member but its discrimination against four out of every five construction workers who choose not to belong to organized labor. State and local governments deserve only safe, quality, on-time construction. To accomplish this, set standards that ensure it. But dont make union affiliation a re the discussion. He later said his e-mail was running 10-1 in favor of his stance.

The Salt Lake Tribune editorialized: Even when a war is being lost and a reasonable leader decides ft is time to make peace, there are others who will continue to prosecute it, either because they are too dull to know their cause is doomed or because they A case in point is an obscure provision giving special treatment to a furniture maker in the little town of Arcadia. Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. wants to expand its plant on up to 15 acres of wetlands. The Department of Natural Resources rejected the firms plan to build on the protected land, so Gov. Tommy Thompson gave Ashley Furniture the go-ahead in his proposed budget.

What does this have to do with state taxes and spending, you ask? Not a thing. So what gives? Ashley Furniture executives to the tune of more than $30,000 to the governors campaign fund. When the Legislatures budget-writing Joint Finance Committee caught wind of this cozy arrangement, it was stripped from the budget. But in the 11th hour, legislative leaders sneaked the Ashley exemption back in. Why? You guessed it Ashley Wmy THAT? YOUDlPNTmt 1 THE OTHER ABOUT I THE CEREMONY, PIP YOU tural covenants that severely limit individual expression.

What appears to be quaint today will in 10 years assault the eye with the same dreary sameness that permeates the hundreds of acres of Midland developments that grace our fair city. Americans are forward-looking. Why did the developers of Middle-ton Hills select an architectural style that was popular at the turn of the last century? I find it hard to believe that we havent learned to design better housing in the last 100 years. its er ea ar ms m- ub to ro- to but aur pir 4B Elect president, Congress smart about war on drugs Dear Editor: In recent weeks, honest appraisals of the failure of the so-called war on drugs have been appearing in some surprising places across the nation. New Mexico Gov.

Gary Johnson, a Republican, called for honest talk about the war on drugs. Calling it a miserable failure, he suggested that decriminalization of some drugs should be part of The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder NO, SIR. I I SEE. SO TOUT 7HEM WHEN AJERE A30UT7HE YOU60NG RAW SEWA6E. TDTEIEME? anti-American Americans believe in democracy.

Why then does a home in Middleton Hills come with the added burden of a hefty yearly fee for parks and green space? Isnt that what we pay taxes for? Or do the residents of Middleton Hills believe that because they pay for their parks, the hoi polloi are not welcome? Middleton Hills is not the American of 1999 or even 1899; its Disneyland: trite, contrived, and expensive. Paul A. Sherman Madison Middleton Hills development is trite, Dear Editor: I found it ironic that The Capital Times chose to publish an article on the Middleton Hills development on Independence Day weekend. Middleton Hills is a prime example of antidemocratic and anti-American values. While the basic concept of a compact, pedestrian-friendly development is certainly the wave of the future, Middleton Hills fails on many counts.

Americans believe in individuality. Middleton hills has architec.