The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 08, 1987, Page 8, Image 8
I
Viewpoint 1 I
8 A Wednesday, April 8, 1987
GAMECOCK?"" mi ?iiiwwii mimm
Villain
Rnhv M iudee's name calling
- ' ? J ? O
was out-of -line and nasty
A little more than a week ago a judge in New Jersey ruled
in favor of William and Elizabeth Stern in the now
famous Baby M custody case. From a legal standpoint,
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Harvey Sorkow seems to
have made a valid, lawful decision concerning the 1-yearold
child. But, as a whole, the ruling became too broad,
too inconsistent, and most of all, coldly calculated against
the surrogate mother, Mary Elizabeth Whitehead.
A K4 DnoantKnl /\f Vl V/irt Titytoc CQlH "thp
/A. 1VI. IVUSVIIlIiai V/l 111W IV*, rr M vi n A ouiu^ HIV
Baby M case was a tragedy without villains until the very
end, and then the judge stepped in." Indeed, the judge did
become a villain. Instead of shutting his mouth after the
ruling against Whitehead, he had the audacity and the bitter
meanness to let Whitehead know exactly how he felt.
And it was totally uncalled for.
Sorkow called Whitehead manipulative, impulsive and
exploitative. What did Whitehead do to deserve such un
professional, nasty verbal abuse from a man wno snouia
have known better? Whitehead was not a criminal, only a
person embroiled in a desperate custody case and as such
deserved to be consoled, not attacked.
Not only did Whitehead lose her child, she lost her dignity.
She plans to appeal. But her chances to get her child
back will hinge closely on what happened in the first trial.
She must go in to the appeals process with the label of a
manipulator, an exploiter and an impulsive person. Good
luck, Mary.
The judge's ruling that the baby would be better off with
the Stern's was his motivating factor and he may be right.
The Sterns can give their daughter money, education
and all the advantages that come with it. But the decision
of the judge to "terminate" Whitehead and completely
strip her of all rights to see or be with the baby was unduly
harsh. After the ruling, the judge then railroaded through
an adoption process with the Sterns in his chamber ? ana
Whitehead's lawyers didn't even know what they were doing
back there. Such is Sorkow's brand of justice.
Judge Sorkow asserted too much dominance in his decision,
decided hastily upon it and managed to vilify a
woman that up to that point had had courage, fortitude,
and felt inside that her cause was somehow right and that
she could win. But Sorkow looked at surrogate
motherhood as if it were the equivalent of sperm donation,
which is just plain dumb.
The conclusion of this case has brought joy to the
Sterns. desDair to Marv Elizabeth Whitehead and
highlighted the cold insincerity of Judge Sorkow. It is unfortunate
that this trial had to occur.
Likewise, it is unfortunate that a woman must heed the
laws of the Constitution, which have been around for 200
years, over the laws of natural motherhood, which have
been around forever. But, if it served any purpose, it was
to show people the seriousness of surrogate motherhood
and that effective and sensitive guidelines must be set up to
ensure not only the cold legality of a contract, but more importantly
the reassurance that the surrogate have some
right to change her mind about keeping what had been a
narf r?f her fnr nine months.
j 1 " 'I
pphs
j f fY'HWffl >?j^?
I * I ?*-*> K4i-*iA /
i I 3r^kHUHfa?ty?J
i
P*u* Dhy *6 * "
OJ??O? PI?M S?vc?
( Cl??. 1 flSMRR5 ) f i ^
far- FWhW
V~- tWtBCtH j&Z cWFJ^LY Jg~ HWL
} 1 \ %i, jri^J ;? V??*
,? * f^miT
^C l^vl ^ .TO W . w
v^J Is?
M rt j- ^ W i?) &
J C.cMtQu (*ieu iwoce
I Tell us what's on your mind. Letters must There is a limit o
be typed, double-spaced and no more than the same writer.
250 words. Include name, address and We reserve the rij
telephone number for verification. Names on outdated topics
will not be withheld. Guest editorials are topics.
limited to 500 words. Indicate whether you Write to: Vi
are a student, USC staff member, or com- Gamecock, Drawei
I munity member in letters and editorials. Columbia, S.C. 29
m
THb? '
Newspaper's 11
When I was growing up in the Bronx, the
newspaper useu 10 dc a wonurous, magical
thing. Dad would bring one home each night
and read ine the funnies, only to find it gone
by the next morning. But Dad would bring
another home, and it would be a new paper.
He would take it away, and when he returned,
he'd had it updated. It was magic.
It seemed to be a big brother as well, looking
over my shoulder, watching out for me
and teaching me. I remember when the Son of
Sam was stalking the streets of New York,
killing indiscriminately. It was frightening,
but it seemed the only link between this madman
and the rest of the world was the New
York Daily News.
Specifically, it was columnist Jimmy
Breslin who was trying to talk that madman
into surrendering himself. But everyone was
scared. The Son of Sam could at any moment
decide to stop talking to Breslin and the only
link to him would be lost.
But he was caught, and it seemed to be the
climax of an Erroll Flvnn movie, where the
hero would rescue the fair maiden. I was
young and impressionable and fe" for it. That
feeling that it was magic stayed with me, even
when 1 was working for my high school
I Letters to the
in I mi mi mill nil i mi ii
School isn't au;x t
part of Oxford I
To the editor:
We read with interest the article
in the March 25 edition of The S
Gamecock concerning the USC
Summer School at "England's
Oxford University." We are both ? T C
graduate students at Oxford
University spending the academic
year in Columbia and are
delighted that USC students will
have the opportunity to spend a To the ec
few weeks in our beautiful city. After
Summer schools are a wonderful speeches
idea, and Oxford is the perfect ci- speakers
ty to absorb British culture. this past
However, the article was the distin
significantly misleading, and con- countries
tained an error that should be earth" if
corrected. Manchester College, ministati<
where the summer school is to be Central /
held, is not part of Oxford My ant
University. I was a tutor in of the C
American history at Manchester when I
College and am distressed that presence
such a false impression has been Moscow
given. Manchester College is a class tha
private, independent college ? of rumor, f
which there are a number in the CIA to ji
city of Oxford. Only a handful of port of t
Manchester's undergraduates in Guat
take Oxford examinations, while Salvador
the majority recieve their degrees The sp
from the University ot London. Monday
J To describe Manchester College the same
~1 The
f . , .. . , txlitor In Chkf
f two letters ner month hv
? M\ isrii i/iu nM/Mt
> Mmmxlnn Kdllor
ght to stop printing letters Amy DelPu
; to make room for new %Tpto*G$Voyle
AiulMtnt Copy
ewpoint Editor, The DeskCWef
A, Russell House, USC, nm^r
208. fan la Wethtn%ton
J
,m am m ! ? n ,
nagic replaced
HHH
newspaper. Sure, we would slave over the
paper for a week, but we would send it out. It
took us about a week to get it back, so we had
forgotten most of what was in there.
But the magic is gone now. When 1 started
i a i i*?..
worKing ai uat s newspaper, me sneer reaniy
of journalism hit me like the rock of
Gibraltar. I know what it is now to put in a
full day of editing and layout and see the
finished project the very next day waiting outside
my door.
But the magic is gone. When I read a story
in a paper ? if I read a story in the paper ? I
read it with the knowledge that I have already
! editor "
HilHMftriMiMtftttiiMillfltfMhMrlMMMMMIMiBllililMiMMMMiffMliiMtitiHidMtfililMlMMMtfflllnMlfN
the colleges that make that President Urte
iversity is fanciful, and Sandanistas are j
;nts should be informed gentlemen, never do
harm the people, ai
evil in Nicarauga is A
John Hall to the Contras.
Annette Steigerwald This all reminds n
it. Catherine's College, saying that goes soi
Oxford University this, "Oh what a tan
weave, when at firs
deceive." 1 guess or
* te|j wh0 the true hei
r?rnr true villains were, an
Ly WI 1011^ was deceived and wh
the deceiver, right?
Iitor:
attending two of the Ell
by our distinguished Political scien<
from Central America
week, I came away with
ct impression that these jSrillSH O.
would be "paradise on x
the big, bad Reagan ad- 813-1*1 ?ID?tl
3n would just get out of *
America. To the editor:
hropology class had one I am writing in
o-Madres speakers and Stephen Guilfoyle's
asked her about the April 3, which sugj
of Cuban soldiers or British "invented" i
advisers, she assured the an American with
t this was just a false European links, I
jrobably started by the offended by Mr.
jstify the American sup- gross misrepres<
he present governments unreferenced fact, t
emala, Honduras, El embarrassed that a
anrl Pnsfa Him truman nf mini* r
eaker on Nicarauga last such an ignorance c
night presented us with appear to have no
: theme. He assured us apartheid means, es
Gamecock
?: ^
Assistant News Ml I or a Sports Editor
Todd Hines Jeff Shrewsbury
Hrenda lilyth Assistant Sports Editor
viewpoint Editor Wayne Washington
Hal Millard Photography Editor
Money Editor Thomas Humphrey
Candy Burr Aultlanl Photography fullio
Feature* tailor Nick Leoncavallo
Tamara Willis Graphics Fdltor
Assistant Features Fdllor Robb Lane
Patrick Jean
591 LATEST
BSrl JAPANESE
?"? ? 11 MICROCHIP
SI , DESIGN
' I 1 (k^Af^KllClROl
nrjimuj |-;i ^ v-?- ,
california g
honqudlu |
stlool^j j j}
oglaia j
helena. ^
l <-uaw
1 !
oy journalism
read everything at least once, and usually
twice. I know and love the business end of
journalism, but 1 wish I could work it and still
have the magic. I wish I could go home after "T, ,
work and forget everything 1 have read during
the day, so that when I open the paper the
next day I could, "Gosh, wow." But it's anticlimactic,
without the magic.
The magic has brought me far though. I am
beginning to get a sense of wonderment in
people as they read the paper.
It is just a thrill to know that what I wnte ,
about is to be read by maybe 22,000 people, ;
three days a week. ;
It is incredible when someone comes up to
me and says, "I really liked your column to- I ^
day, it was funny," or "How in the hell could !
you have written such trash without talking to
me first. IT WAS ALL LIES!"
It is incredible to see that scores of people
can and have worked themselves into a frenzy
because I wrote something. Just because I
wrote something.
It is incredible to know that my ideas, hated
or loved, cursed or worshipped, have been
transmitted to Deonle I will never see.
It's magic. t ^
' " ' ' J !
- :
&*<>ziJM,
I. ii*( i - rm II mm fftrwiljh <J !
ga and the have many visitors at USC who '
all perfect come from South Africa and 1
anything to Great Britain, indeed, were he '
nd the only aware of the history of the world, ;
America's aid Mr. Guilfoyle might see that '
what he represents as apartheid ?
le of a little was practiced in the serfdom of '
nething like Russia, in the ancient dynasties ;
i&led web we of China and Janan. nerhnns ?
it we try to even in this country when
ily time will thousands of Native Americans (<
roes and the lost their homeland.
d which side
lich side was I think the most classic case of !
apartheid, previous to the ;
disgusting situation in South ;
izabeth Ham Africa right now, may be found
:e, freshman in the story of a people who were
enslaved, stripped of all dignity, \
; a n forced into thousands of years of *
IOH I hard labor, and today still suffer
a ? , in many ways ? their story may
rtneia be f?un(l in the first five chapters I
of a book known to Mr. '
Guilfoyle: the Old Testament. \
response to ?
"article" on To compare the plight of the \
?ests that the blacks in South Africa with the 1
apartheid. As Irish dissent is totally ridiculous \
many Anglo- and I suggest that Mr. Guilfoyle
was not only concentrate his energy away from ?
Guilfoyle's areas in which he is uninformed ^
:n tat ion of and put it into history and ethics i
>ut 1 was also classes. Maybe The Gamecock J
fellow coun- could send him to South Africa |
:ould display and Ireland on assignment.
>f history and !
idea of what Marcy Krkh
pecially as we English graduate student ; ^ ^
Dalcbook Editor IMrector of
Katherlne Gilbert Bill Clements
Comic* Editor Production
Tracy Mixson Chuck Norris
Wire Kditor Son Ha
Oillian Smith Advtrtittag Mui|?
r A^vUcr Margaret Mlchels
Bill Rogers AnMuI Advtrtktet
Graduate AutoUal Manager ,
Mary Anne Banich Jan Hodges'
J <1
>
. S