'Radical feminist,' tattooed villain top news

Items you may have missed from the Rusty news file:

?The first news item appeared in an Associated Press story with a Boston dateline about a Boston University professor, Mary Daly, called by the AP a "radical feminist." I didn't call her that, the AP did. I would never be so politically incorrect as to use such an inflammatory label.

Once again, I demonstrate my commitment to all things politically correct. Ho. Ho.

The professor has been ordered by Boston College administrators to admit men to her courses. In an age of gender equality, this doesn't seem too Draconian. But the professor refused the order and is on a leave of absence while, I guess, she thinks about it.

The whole thing came to a head when she refused to admit a male student, Duane Naquin. She says he doesn't have the prerequisite to enter the class. He countered by suing the college; he may win by default because there was no way he could have taken the prerequisite because she won't allow men to take any of her courses.

If I were a woman, I'd be insulted by the reason she gives for banning men from her classes. She believes women tend to defer to men whenever one is in the room.

Of co-ed classes, she said, "Even if there were only one or two men with 20 women, the young women (I'm not making this up; note the quotation marks) would be constantly on an overt or a subliminal level giving their attention to the men because they've been socialized to nurse men."

In other words, according to this "radical feminist," women are so weak that they can't keep their eyes and their attention off of men, therefore, for their own protection, they must be shielded from men.

Based on my college teaching experiences, this, er, ah, how to say it ... nitwit (that should do it) professor is just that, a nitwit.

Women more than hold their own against men! To say otherwise, as does this "radical feminist" is to insult all women.

?This story is about the winner of the Dan Quayle Spelling Bee. A 23-year-old college student and former Marine, Lee Williams, is suing Eternal Tattoos of Roseville, Mich., for $25,000 because the word "villain" was spelled "villian" on a tattoo on his arm. Maybe this was nature's way of telling Williams that he shouldn't write on his arm, especially when it can't be easily erased.

You need to understand that Terry Welker, the owner of the parlor, wasn't the only one who couldn't spell villain. At the time of the tattoo application, discussion ensued among Williams, Welker and others at the tattoo parlor. Apparently they all agreed, including Lee Williams, on "villian."

As luck would have it, a friend who knew how to spell made fun of Williams' tattoo. Plastic surgery followed, costing $1,900 and leaving a scar as long as his forearm. I think the tattoo parlor will win the lawsuit because Williams agreed to the spelling at the time.

Wouldn't you think that if he viewed himself as some sort of a villain to the extent that he wanted it forever engraved on his arm, he would have looked up the spelling beforehand? I wonder what his college major is? I sure hope it isn't English or journalism.

?From the Idea Whose Time Has Come Department: A bill is making its way through the Illinois House that would assign an orange license plate to anyone with two or more drunken driving convictions. This is a good idea. It must be good. Civil libertarians have raised questions about its fairness.

After considerable discussion, the Illinois House Constitutional Committee narrowly voted to pass it on to the full House. I suppose the issue is whether habitual drunk drivers have a constitutional right to the same color license plates as everyone else.

It isn't often that a legislative body has the opportunity to do something sensible. Go for it, Illinois.

?Finally, Mississippi is considering a bill intended to ban Amish carriages from highways at night. Actually, the bill would ban any vehicle that travels less than 25 mph. Golly, this law would have kept my grandmother off the highways. Shoot, Amish carriages passed her like she was standing still.

That's the news.

(Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury College and a Springfield public relations consultant.)

[[In-content Ad]]