May
23, 2003
Front-Page
News
Keep It Simple
"You Call This Tax Relief? I Don't," an essay by John
Fox, was published in the "Outlook" section of the May
18 Washington Post. Fox, a visiting lecturer in complex
organizations at MHC, points out inequities in Congress's approach
to the "monstrously complex" tax code that penalize
lower-income citizens while rewarding the well-off. "The
war in Congress is over how many hundreds of billions in tax cuts
should be adopted—not whether any tax cut at all makes sense.
Our lawmakers are fully united in one respect, though: Under no
circumstances will they gather the political courage to fight
the war to give Americans what they really deserve—a reasonably
simple, fair and economically sound income tax. It is as though
Congress suffers from what I call SARTS (Self-serving Avoidance
of Reasonable Tax Simplification) syndrome." Fox contrasts
the burdens on two taxpayers, a single woman making $11,000 a
year and a married couple who make $80,000, as an example of how
"the law abounds with so many incongruities, contradictions
and absurdities that it defies reasonable predictions of who will
end up paying what." The entire article can be read online
at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2716-2003May17.html.
Contribution to the Town On May 13, the Republican reported
on a contribution the College is making to South Hadley in this
difficult fiscal year for Massachusetts cities and towns. The
contribution was reported to town meeting members by town leaders
May 10. The following is an excerpt from reporter Sandy Constantine's
story: "Mount Holyoke College has agreed to donate $25,000
to the town's stabilization fund, the Board of Selectmen
and Town Administrator Patricia A. Vinchesi reported at Saturday's
annual Town Meeting. A joint news release from selectmen and Vinchesi
provided the details of the gift, noting that for the past 2 1/2
years, they have met with Mount Holyoke College officials to share
information and discuss issues of mutual concern. 'These
meetings have been extremely informative and have helped educate
both parties on the issues and challenges of their respective
constituencies,' the release stated. 'A large part
of our recent discussion has centered on the town's budget
cuts and Mount Holyoke's interest and desire to assist us
during this difficult period.' The news release stated:
'This voluntary act on the part of the college speaks volumes
to the cooperative working
relationship we have with Mount Holyoke and its supportive and
continuing interest in our community.' The release went
on to thank President Joanne V. Creighton; Mary Jo Maydew, college
vice president for finance and administration; and Kevin McCaffrey,
college associate director of communications."
On the Job Scott C. Brown, director of the Career Development
Center, Christine S. Karoczkai '03, Lindsay E Theile '04,
and Molly Gower '04 spoke to News 40 correspondent Jade
McCarthy '02 for a story that aired May 7. Her piece focused
on searching for jobs and internships in today's economy.
Brown told McCarthy, "We help students figure out what they
want, how to directly connect their backgrounds with the needs
of an organization, and connect them with key resources, people,
and opportunities."
Flowers for
Mom, a Tie for Dad Research by Nicole Gilbert '99,
a graduate student in the College's psychology and education
department, was reported on in the National Post of Canada
on May 10 and the Chicago Sun-Tribune on May 11. Gilbert
is the author of a study comparing Mother's Day with Father's
Day and examining how the two holidays tend to reaffirm traditional
gender roles. An article by Chris Lackner titled "Mother's
Day a Letdown: Study," reported, "Most mothers report
feeling disappointment on Mother's Day, despite receiving
more attention than fathers do on Father's Day, a new study
has found. 'Mothers have higher expectations of how the
day should go,' said Nicole Gilbert . . . . 'Fathers
don't have expectations and are less likely to be disappointed.'"
Gilbert "also found even those couples who expressed egalitarian
ideas on gender roles in marriage embraced traditional stereotypes
when it came to their celebrations. 'There's a difference
in belief and [action],' she said." Gilbert was also
interviewed during a live radio program on CFRB, an AM station
in Toronto, May 12.
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