Back When Bias Related Incidents Were Sexy

Do you remember the '80s? I sure don't. I was all but two when they ended and as far as I'm concerned, good riddance.

But hey, the '80s apparently weren't too bad. Happy 19th anniversary of CMC Strippergate

Campus Life: Claremont McKenna;Striptease At Salad Bar Provokes Protest The New York Times November 12, 1989, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Copyright 1989 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
November 12, 1989, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 1; Part 2, Page 55, Column 1; Style Desk

LENGTH: 1102 words

HEADLINE: Campus Life: Claremont McKenna;
Striptease At Salad Bar Provokes Protest

DATELINE: CLAREMONT, Calif.

BODY:
A freshman, Phuong Nguyen, was enjoying a Halloween lunch in the Claremont McKenna College cafeteria with 500 other students until the meal was interrupted by a woman who began dancing and disrobing near the salad bar.

''She stripped down to a G-string and bra,'' Miss Phuong said. ''People were screaming, 'Take it off,' and stuff.''

The stripper, who had been hired by the father of a student at Claremont McKenna as a birthday surprise for his son, began dancing with the shocked young man.

''She took off her clothes, danced around, danced with the guy,'' a freshman, James Kwon, said. ''She was young, maybe about 18 or 20.''

People stood on chairs and tables to get a better view, Mr. Kwon said, adding: ''I was standing on a chair. I didn't think it was a big deal.''

A number of Claremont McKenna students, however, protested the incident. They circulated a petition condemning the incident and sponsored two forums. About 130 students signed the petition, which called the striptease sexist and degrading to men and women. The petition asked administrators to join in condemning the incident.

Reaction by President

''If they can take a stance and say they oppose racism, then they should take a stance and say they oppose sexism,'' a senior, Chris Welniak, said. ''We want the administration to officially acknowledge that sexism exists on this campus and to say that they do not condone sexism.''

Claremont McKenna administrators had initially shied away from a condemnation. Later, however, the president of the college, Jack K. Stark, appointed a committee on sexism.

In an interview early last week, Mr. Stark, an alumnus of Claremont, said, ''At this stage I just don't want to comment on the incident, whether it was or was not degrading to women, whether it was or was not degrading to humanity, whether it was or was not an attack on the college.''

In a memo to students posted in the cafeteria, the dean of students, Torrey Sun, wrote, ''C.M.C. has a standard of conduct which imposes some restraints upon activities which impede an individual's normal, daily routine,'' but stopped short of criticizing those involved with the striptease.

''To be honest with you, I'm not sure'' whether the striptease was sexist, Mr. Sun said. ''I'm sensitive to the concerns of those on campus who view it as such, and I guess, personally, it's not something I would have arranged.''

The first student forum attracted 40 students and the second more than 100. At the second, Mr. Stark announced that he was appointing the committee on sexism, made up of two administrators, two faculty members and two students. The panel is to report by March 1.

''I graduated from an all-men's college and went straight into the Marines afterward,'' he said. ''Both of these aren't institutions known publicly to be sensitive. There is less sexism here, it seems to me, than at any college I know. But I may not be the best person to judge this.''

Claremont McKenna, which recently became coeducational, is one of the five undergraduate Claremont Colleges. The others are Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps, which is for women only. The director of public relations, Robert Daseler, said 35 percent of the 850 students at Claremont McKenna are women. Claremont McKenna Striptease At Salad Bar Provokes Protest CLAREMONT, Calif. - A freshman, Phuong Nguyen, was enjoying a Halloween lunch in the Claremont McKenna College cafeteria with 500 other students until the meal was interrupted by a woman who began dancing and disrobing near the salad bar.

''She stripped down to a G-string and bra,'' Miss Phuong said. ''People were screaming, 'Take it off,' and stuff.''

The stripper, who had been hired by the father of a student at Claremont McKenna as a birthday surprise for his son, began dancing with the shocked young man.

''She took off her clothes, danced around, danced with the guy,'' a freshman, James Kwon, said. ''She was young, maybe about 18 or 20.''

People stood on chairs and tables to get a better view, Mr. Kwon said, adding: ''I was standing on a chair. I didn't think it was a big deal.''

A number of Claremont McKenna students, however, protested the incident. They circulated a petition condemning the incident and sponsored two forums. About 130 students signed the petition, which called the striptease sexist and degrading to men and women. The petition asked administrators to join in condemning the incident.

Reaction by President

''If they can take a stance and say they oppose racism, then they should take a stance and say they oppose sexism,'' a senior, Chris Welniak, said. ''We want the administration to officially acknowledge that sexism exists on this campus and to say that they do not condone sexism.''

Claremont McKenna administrators had initially shied away from a condemnation. Later, however, the president of the college, Jack K. Stark, appointed a committee on sexism.

In an interview early last week, Mr. Stark, an alumnus of Claremont, said, ''At this stage I just don't want to comment on the incident, whether it was or was not degrading to women, whether it was or was not degrading to humanity, whether it was or was not an attack on the college.''

In a memo to students posted in the cafeteria, the dean of students, Torrey Sun, wrote, ''C.M.C. has a standard of conduct which imposes some restraints upon activities which impede an individual's normal, daily routine,'' but stopped short of criticizing those involved with the striptease.

''To be honest with you, I'm not sure'' whether the striptease was sexist, Mr. Sun said. ''I'm sensitive to the concerns of those on campus who view it as such, and I guess, personally, it's not something I would have arranged.''

The first student forum attracted 40 students and the second more than 100. At the second, Mr. Stark announced that he was appointing the committee on sexism, made up of two administrators, two faculty members and two students. The panel is to report by March 1.

''I graduated from an all-men's college and went straight into the Marines afterward,'' he said. ''Both of these aren't institutions known publicly to be sensitive. There is less sexism here, it seems to me, than at any college I know. But I may not be the best person to judge this.''

Claremont McKenna, which recently became coeducational, is one of the five undergraduate Claremont Colleges. The others are Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps, which is for women only. The director of public relations, Robert Daseler, said 35 percent of the 850 students at Claremont McKenna are women.

Pitney Delivers the Marching Orders

Professor Pitney delivers the marching orders at National Review for Republicans that want to retake the majority. They are reproduced below.

But finding such a person to head the G.O.P. will be difficult. In the amorphous world of the internet, you cannot command-and-control the information flow about your candidate. And you shouldn't bother. Better to take a page from the Left (and al Qaeda) and operate our party through the use of cells -- both kinds.

Also, I think we need to get real about the party leadership. It's time for all of them to go. They lost two consecutive elections and need to be replaced by some fresh blood. It is a disgrace that the G.O.P.'s most senior Senator is now a felon. More to the point, Palin, who Pitney favored for the VP months before, is now something of an embarrassment. She's going to need a significant rebranding before we pick her up once more. The G.O.P. needs to be the party of excellence. We should shoot for the geniuses, the billionaires, and the generals, not the hockey-moms. When you start playing the Left's games of picking candidates based upon identity politics, you'll lose. The Left is better at these games than we will ever be because conservatives are by nature suspicious of symbolism in a way that the Left is not. As such, there are no women, black, gay, or minority Republicans if they are true Republicans. There are only American Republicans.

That is not to say that presentation does not matter, but that substance must come before form.

I agree with his final bit the most-- on the use of humor to mock the Left, but feels as if its advice better suited for our candidates than to the activists. If Bobby Jindal (or Mitt Romney or whoever else) wants to be elected President, they need to smile more and make jokes. Reagan did it; Gingrich did it. And it seems to work.

November 12, 2008, 5:00 a.m.

Here Are Your Assignments
The road to political recovery.

By John J. Pitney Jr.

Okay, class, by now you’re over your post-election hangovers. It’s time to get back to work. Here are your assignments.

To the conservative media: do more investigative reporting. The Obama administration will produce its share of blunders and scandals. Do not count on congressional committees to expose them. (Would Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid really allow a probe into ACORN’s federal grants?) The mainstream media will not do the job, either. Leave aside pro-Obama bias. As newspapers and magazines slash staffs, they lose the capacity for investigative journalism. The conservative media must fill this gap. One might suggest cloning Byron York and Stanley Kurtz — except that conservatives oppose cloning.

To the Republican National Committee: get a wartime consigliere. Three times in the past half-century, defeats pushed the GOP deep into the wilderness. And each time, a skillful chair helped bring the party back. After the 1964 Goldwater loss, Ray Bliss rebuilt the party organization and quelled infighting. In the 1970s, following Watergate and Carter’s election, some commentators wondered whether the GOP could even survive. Bill Brock revived the party with innovations in technology, campaign finance, and policy development. Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory seemed to reverse the GOP’s Reagan-era gains. Haley Barbour then revamped state organizations, and helped Newt Gingrich launch the Contract with America. Today the party needs a leader who can articulate policy messages, replant the grassroots, and outflank the Democrats in cyberspace. In light of Bliss, Brock, and Barbour, it would also be lucky if the leader’s last name began with B.

To the House Republicans: remember that freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. You cannot pass major bills. Lacking power or entrée to the White House, you cannot raise money from access-hungry interest groups. On the upside, there is less risk of another Abramoff scandal, since you’re not worth bribing. You can regain political support only through the power of your ideas. Your liberation from governing responsibility means that you have the time and flexibility to craft creative policy proposals — just as your predecessors did in past wilderness periods. (Reaganomics owed much to Representative Jack Kemp’s work in the late 1970s.)

To the Senate Republicans: use the filibuster when necessary, no more, no less. On the one hand, you don’t want to hamper functions such as national defense. On the other hand, you do want to stop bad legislation and nominations. The Democrats will call you obstructionists, but so what? When you ran the chamber, you threw that epithet at Harry Reid, and it didn’t scratch him. Swallow your pride and thank the remaining members of the Gang of 14 for stopping the “nuclear option.” Ponder President Obama and Vice President Biden using it to put Laurence Tribe on the Supreme Court.

To Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas, and (yes) Kennedy: stay healthy. No explanation is necessary.

To leaky McCain staffers: shut up. Some of you are shifting blame to the candidate and his running mate in hopes of preserving your job prospects. It won’t work. Nobody wants to hire disloyal little weasels.

To Sarah Palin: Return to your roots. You must be feeling temptation to savor your newfound fame. Resist it. Wipe the stardust from your eyes, and get back to the humdrum business of governing Alaska. While you might have an appointment with destiny, two things could make you miss it. First, neglect of your duties could cost you reelection. Second, celebrity could kill the source of your appeal: your down-to-earth hockey-mom demeanor. The disloyal little weasels are spreading tales about your alleged extravagance. Quash these stories by shopping at the Wasilla Wal-Mart.

To Bobby Jindal: Watch your back. The stardust thing goes for you, too. Democrats know that you could be a tough opponent in 2012, so they will try to destroy you. Avoid giving them ammunition. Visit Iowa if you want, but don’t spend too much time away from Baton Rouge.

To conservatives in general: lighten up. The Obama administration will give many occasions for outrage. Sometimes it will be important to voice that outrage, but yelling should not be standard operating procedure.As the 2008 campaign showed, President-Elect Obama and his followers know how to parry angry attacks. Whenever appropriate, use humor. Mockery drives them bonkers.

Take this approach for your own good. It’s going to be a long four years, and you shouldn’t spend it drowning in bile. The road to political recovery does not run through High Dudgeon.

— John J. Pitney Jr. is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of American Politics at Claremont McKenna College.

Free Eric Yingling: J-Board Shouldn't Punish Him For Acting Properly

Teddy Bingham PO '11 Ought To Be J-Boarded Or Suspended Instead

Yesterday was Veterans Day and it goes without saying that Eric Yingling, one of the veterans who take classes with us, deserves our respect for his service in the Marine Corps during the Iraq war. (In the coming days, expect a Claremont Independent article authored by him on his experience overseas.)

Unfortunately, on a day when a veteran ought to be celebrating, Yingling was writing up his recollection of events that occurred nearly six weeks ago for a J-Board that will occur this Friday. 

Teddy Bingham PO '11 had been drinking when Eric Yingling CMC '12 approached him and three other students at around 1 in the morning several weeks ago. Yingling spotted Bingham, drunk, with a shopping cart trying to fill it with stones taken from the dedication field. This is a serious offense as the stones represent those of sports-supporting alums who have passed away. The stones pay respect for those alums.

When Yingling confronted him, several of the other students scattered. Yingling asked him what he was doing and then Bingham lunged at Yingling, and Yingling punched him once in the head, rendering him unconscious with one punch. (Remember Yingling is a Marine and a Football player.)

Later that night, Bingham's friends were reportedly out looking to get even with Yingling who has since retired for the evening. 

Rather than lick his wounds, Bingham has started to make a big deal over his own shortcomings and has advocated for Yingling to be punished.

Initially, Yingling wasn't going to be brought to a J-Board at Claremont McKenna. Nevertheless, Dean Huang counseled him that under Inter-Campus policy, Bingham did have the right to a J-Board of another student at another college. (One wonders why Dean Huang then didn't advocate for the J-Boarding of Pitzer students after our fountains were destroyed, but I digress.)

So Bingham, along with his family, went to the Claremont Police Department to file a report. The police laughed them off for suggesting that it was Yingling, not Bingham, that they ought to be arresting.  Teddy's mother is none other than Beth Bingham, who serves on the Town of Claremont's school board. One wonders what she's doing instructing other people's children, when her own so lacks moral education. I'd be willing to bet that she was the one who went to the Police, but I have no evidence for that assertion. 

(The photo, incidentally, is from Teddy's time on Claremont High School baseball team. I couldn't find another photo on Google Image.)

There are several questions that present themselves immediately.

 Why is Yingling being J-Boarded for defending himself? Why isn't Bingham being punished? Can Yingling counter-J-Board?