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WH Strategy Session - Kids and Violence 5/10/99 [2]
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WH Strategy Session - Kids and Violence 5/10/99 [2]
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91
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Richard Socarides 05/09/99 02:50:11 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
Jeffrey A. Shesol/WHO/EOP
CC:
Subject: 1998-10-15 President's remarks at Conference on School Safety
see paras in bold
Forwarded by Richard Socarides/WHO/EOP on 05/09/99 02:48 PM
SUNTUM_M@A1
10/15/98 03:11:00 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
See the distribution list at the bottom of this message
CC:
Subject: 1998-10-15 President's remarks at Conference on School Safety
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October
15, 1998
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON SCHOOL SAFETY
The East Room
1:28 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Your kindness is interfering
with my determination to stay on schedule. (Laughter.) But thank
you very much. I want to thank Secretary Riley and Attorney General
Reno for their devotion and consistent work on this matter. I thank
the Vice President. He and Hillary and I are delighted to have all
of you here at the White House today, and the many, many people all
across America who are joining us, thanks to the technological
revolution.
I thank the members of Congress who are here. And,
Governor, thank you for coming -- and the mayors and the other
members of the administration, and all the distinguished citizens who
are here. Our good friend, Edward James Olmos, thank you for being
here.
I saw a survey, a public opinion survey a few months ago
that asked the American people what they thought the most important
story of the first six months of 1998 was, and dwarfing everything
else was the concern our people had for the children who were killed
in their schools. And I think that your presence here and the number
of people who are involved all across America, the quality of the
panelists and, indeed, the courage of many of them -- the mother of
one of the children killed at Jonesboro, Arkansas, in my home state,
was on the morning panel with Hillary -- this is truly a moving
thing. And it's a very important thing for our country.
You know, when I leave here -- and I hope I don't have
to leave before this panel is over, but I think all of you know that
we have been able to put together a conference for several days, a
meeting between the Prime Minister of Israel and the Chairman of the
PLO in our attempts to make the next big step toward peace in the
Middle East. And I got to thinking about it on the way over here
today, as I was walking over from the Oval Office, and all the things
I'm trying to get these people to lay down and get over and give up,
so they can go on with their children's future, so that we can stop
innocent children from being killed in the place in the world that is
the home of the world's three great monotheistic religions.
It's all a part of our attempt not to give up on anybody
and not to permit hatred or anger to destroy even one child's life
anywhere. And if we're going to do that elsewhere in the world, to
try to be a force for good, then we have to be as good as we can here
at home. And all of you are trying to help us achieve that, and I'm
very, very grateful to you.
Because this is the only chance I'll have to do it
today, and because all of you care so much about education, I'd like
to just take a moment to talk about where these budget negotiations
are on Capitol Hill. They're about to concluded, I hope -- they've
certainly gone on long enough. But we're not quite there yet.
However, even though there are still points outstanding, I believe
we'll succeed. And as the Vice President said, one thing we know
already, we know that now this budget will reflect a major commitment
to education and to the future of our children.
I am very pleased it will make the first installment on
our plan to hire 100,000 new teachers. (Applause.) You heard the
Vice President's catalogue of the class size issue, but the Secretary
of Education tells me that we haven't fully grasped it because,
unlike the baby boom, we think that this increase in our children
will go on more or less indefinitely, and we've got a lot of very
fine teachers in the classroom who will be retiring in the next few
years. So this is a huge challenge for us.
The United States has never before done anything like
this. And there were a lot of people who honestly thought I was
wrong to fight for this or they disagreed with me, but it seems to me
that we had enough experience when we put 100,000 police on the
street. I was told the United States had never done anything like
that before. We didn't have anything to do with telling the cities
where the police should go, but the results have been pretty
satisfactory. And everywhere I go, someone mentions it to me.
If it worked there and we have crime at a 25-year low,
how much more important is it to put the children in the classroom?
And this will make a major down payment toward our goal of an average
class size of 18 in the early grades -- very different from what has
been reported.
And I should also say that when the Attorney General and
the Secretary of Education went out across the country in the wake of
all of these school shootings, and they met with educators and they
met with people talking about how we can prevent these things from
happening in the first place, one of the things that they were told
was, get us small classes in the early grades so that we can get to
know these children, find out the ones who obviously have got some
serious problems, and try to get them the help they need before their
lives and others' are irrevocably changed. So this is a very, very
good day for the United States.
There were some other very important educational
initiatives that will be fully supported -- our child literacy drive,
to make sure every child can read independently by the end of the 3rd
grade; our college mentoring drive to help lower-income students
prepare for college and to be able to tell every one of them what
kind of financial aid they'll get if they stay in school and learn
their lessons and stay out of trouble.
It increases support for Head Start, expands the number
of innovative charter schools. There are now 1,000 of those schools
in America; there was one when I became President, and there will be
3,000 before we're done in 2000.
We will provide for half a million summer jobs for our
young people, a program that many had sought to eliminate. It will
provide for after-school programs for a quarter million young people.
And I think we all know how important that is.
I'm very, very grateful for the strong support I have
received from the members of my party in the Congress to turn away
attempts to actually cut funds from our public schools and instead to
renew our historic commitment to them, to more and better-trained
teachers, to smaller classes, to hooking up all those classrooms to
the Internet by the year 2000, for extra support for children who
need it, for accountability and choice.
This is what I mean by putting partisanship behind
progress, by putting people ahead of politics. And I am grateful to
all those in both parties who are responsible for pulling this
agreement together.
There's still a lot to be done. A lot of these teachers
we'll hire will have to hold class in trailers or hallways, or
crowded or crumbling classrooms. I proposed in the State of the
Union a targeted tax cut for school modernization that was fully paid
for, wouldn't take a dime from the surplus, won't create a single new
federal bureaucracy, but it will lower the cost of building these
buildings. It could mean as much as 300 new schools in Florida alone
next year.
If our children are learning in trailers and schools
with broken windows and where the wiring won't even permit them to be
hooked up to computers, then we're not getting them ready for the
21st century. So I do want to say, while I am profoundly grateful
for the 100,000 teachers, I am determined to see that we finish the
job next year in the next Congress. (Applause.)
Now, I also want to thank the First Lady for her role in
this conference. We've been at this a long time. In 1983, when I
was governor of our state, I asked Hillary to chair a commission on
school standards, and one of the things that we fought hardest for,
that was very controversial at the time, was to have a class size
limit of 20 in the early grades. And 15 years ago, it was a hard
fight, and we got it. And I haven't checked the numbers yet, but I
bet, given the growth in population in our schools, they're being
swamped and hard-pressed to meet it. And we really believe that
making this a national goal and sticking with it will pay major,
major benefits to our children all across the country.
Let me also say what I've already said a little bit of.
The American people -- if I had been polled, I would have been right
there with them. I think that all of us were shocked by the violence
we saw in Springfield and Paducah and Jonesboro and Edinboro and
Pearl. I think we're still disturbed when we see the sights of metal
detectors in school doorways or see gangs of young people who are on
the streets when they ought to be in the halls of their schools.
We know that there are still some schools where children
are afraid to go to school. And doing something about school
violence, therefore, is very important, but also we have to
understand the nature, the magnitude of the problem. Why do some
teenagers from some troubled backgrounds pick up guns and open fire
on their classmates? Why do some teenagers who don't appear to have
trouble at home do the same thing? What is at the bottom of this and
what can we really do?
You know, I have to say this -- and I'm not blaming
anybody because I've done it myself, so I will posit the fact that I
have done this -- but when people are in elected office and they hear
about a problem like this, and they know the people they're doing
their best to represent are afraid, the first impulse is always to
say, well, if we just punish them a little harder and a little faster
and kept them a little longer, everything would be all right. Now,
the truth is that some people are so far gone and what they have done
is so heinous that that is the appropriate thing to do. But I have
never met a police officer in my life who believed that we could
punish our way out of our social problems without other appropriate
actions -- not one time. And I think we're all here because we
believe in a good society we would stop more bad things from
happening in the first place.
The report that's being released today tells us that the
vast majority of our schools are safe, that the majority of our
children are learning in peace and security. But it also tells us
that in too many schools students feel unsafe. Even if they're not,
if they feel unsafe it's going to have a huge detrimental impact on
their ability to learn and grow and relate to their fellow students
in an appropriate way.
In too many schools, there is still too much disrespect
for authority and still too much intolerance of other students from
different backgrounds. Our schools, all of them, must be sanctuaries
of safety and civility and respect.
Now, here are some things that I think we can do to help
you meet the challenge. First, in the schools with the biggest
violence problems, security has to be the top priority. Today, I am
pleased to announce a new $65-million initiative to help schools hire
and train 2,000 new community police and school resource officers to
work closely with principals and teachers and parents and the
students, themselves, to develop antiviolence and antidrug plans,
based on the actual needs of individual schools. Community policing
has helped to make our streets safe; it can work for our schools,
too.
I'm also very pleased that Congressman Jim Maloney of
Connecticut has sponsored a bill to help schools use the funds
available for hiring the community police officers to hire officers
to work with the schools. This bill was passed by the House and
Senate and it will get up here to me in a day or two and I'll look
forward to signing it into law.
Second, we have to help schools recognize the early
warning signs of violence and to respond to violence when it does
strike. Today, I want to tell you that soon I will be sending to
Congress a plan to create a School Emergency Response to Violence,
the SERV Program, that will work just as FEMA does when it responds
to natural disasters. Project SERV will travel to where the trouble
is and help communities respond quickly to school violence, from
helping schools to meet increased security needs, to providing
emergency and longer-term mental health crisis counseling for
students, faculty and their families.
Now, let me just say a word here of appreciation to
somebody who is not here, to Tipper Gore, who, once she became 50,
fell victim to the Vice President and my propensity for leg injuries
-- (laughter) -- but, you know, more than any other person in America
since we've been here in the White House, she has tried to elevate
the importance of proper mental health care and the fundamental
dignity of it. And I think that we have got to, all of us, keep
working until we remove any last vestige of stigma that attaches to
getting treatment for children who have troubling mental problems.
We know that most of them, the vast majority of them, can be treated
successfully. And we know that it is not a cause for shame or denial
among families. And we have to keep working on that. And all of
you, I ask you to join Tipper Gore and others who understand this and
try to make that a part of our approach to this issue as well.
Third, we can't stop the prevention efforts at the
schoolhouse door. As I said, the budget agreement we reached today
will double or more the after-school programs that keep young people
safe after the bell rings. But if young people leave the safe school:
and enter an unsafe community, they're in trouble.
Today we want to announce two new steps to help them
meet that challenge. Our Safe Schools-Safe Communities initiative
will help 10 targeted communities develop plans to reduce youth
violence and drug use in and out of school -- not only more police,
but after-school programs, mentoring, counseling, conflict
resolution, mental health services, and more. We wanted to put
together in at least 10 places that don't have it now, a truly
comprehensive approach.
I'm also pleased to announce that in response to
constructive criticism and suggestions from many members of Congress
and educators and community leaders across this country, we're going
to overhaul our Safe and Drug-Free Schools program, which we have
dramatically increased in the last few years, to require schools who
get the funds to establish tough, but fair discipline rules; to put
in place proven drug prevention strategies; to issue yearly school
safety and drug use report cards to measure their own progress.
These methods have worked so well in cities like Boston, they can
work around the country, and it will guarantee that the money that's
being spent will actually achieve the results that it's been
appropriated to achieve.
Fourth, we have to expect more from young people
themselves. Given the facts, the resources, the encouragement,
almost all of them will do the right thing. This year we launched a
huge media campaign to tell young people that drugs are wrong,
illegal and can kill you. Now we have to tell them they, too, have
responsibilities to prevent youth violence, to help their fellow
students who are violence prone, to report trouble signs they see and
try to help kids get the help they need.
I am pleased that MTV is going to work with us to launch
a new campaign to encourage people to become mentors -- young people
-- to help their peers resolve their conflicts peacefully. And,
again, I'm very grateful and I'd like for all of you to join me in
thanking MTV for their willingness to invest in this important
endeavor. (Applause.)
Lastly -- I've spoken a little longer than I meant to
because I wanted to really hear the panelists, but I return to the
theme on which I began and what I will do when I leave here in
working for the peace process in the Middle East. We have got to do
more to teach our young people to have tolerance and respect for one
another; to understand the rich and only superficial dichotomy that
the more we appreciate each other's diversity, the more we reaffirm
the fundamental core values and existence we have in common.
The recent death of young Matthew Shepard in Wyoming
makes it all too clear to us that violence still can be motivated by
prejudice and hatred. Yes, we do need a new hate crimes law. And I
have directed the Education Department Civil Office to step up its
enforcement to stop discrimination and harassment against students.
But, again, ultimately, we have to be reconciled to one another. We
have to believe in one another's fundamental humanity and equal right
to be here and to become whatever they can become.
And I hope that all of us -- the young people of this
country, because our school population is more diverse than ever
before, and because to some extent they are unburdened by some of the
problems that their parents and grandparents grew up with, can go
either way with this issue. If they become the victims of a kind of
a current climate of prejudice and bigotry and a sense of opposition
and isolation, because of our increasing diversity it could wreak
total havoc in this country in a way that we can't even imagine and
even couldn't have imagined in the old days of the civil rights
years. But if they do what they will do left to their own better
selves, then the increasing diversity of America is something that
will guarantee us renewed strength, unparalleled opportunities in the
21st century world.
So I don't think we should forget that, either. In the
end, the human heart still counts for quite a great deal, and we
ought to bring out the best in all the ones we can.
Now, I would like to start the program -- and I'm going
to sit down to do it -- and I'd like to begin with Mr. Kent, Jamonn
Kent, who is the Superintendent of the Springfield, Oregon, public
schools, that I had the honor the visit after the terrible incident
there. And because we're running a little late, I'm going to do
something a little bit unconventional. I'm going to call on the all
the panelists to make their remarks and then open for questions,
starting with Mr. Kent. (Applause.)
*****
THE PRESIDENT: I don't want to violate my own rule, so
I won't ask a question, but I do want to highlight one thing he said,
because if it resonates with your experience, then we need your
feedback to the Attorney General and to the Secretary of Education,
ultimately to the Congress.
We now have a national policy of zero tolerance for guns
in schools. Last year, I believe the number of -- the Secretary of
Education can correct me if I make a mistake -- last year, I believe
there were 6,000 children who were found students who were found
with guns. Guns were taken, and they were sent home. This actually
happened in Oregon to this young man right before he came back the
next day and killed the kids.
So the question is what is -- we have to find the
constitutional fix here, and then the schools have to have the
resources so that you don't just take a gun and expel somebody
because there's obviously something going on inside the child that is
just as important as the physical manifestation of having the gun.
So that was the one thing that they've really done in Springfield, is
to sort of spark a nationwide reassessment of what we ought to do
with the children besides just send them home.
And they've proposed a period of 72 hours or some sort
of period of evaluation, and we're trying to work out the details of
it. But if any of you have any thoughts about this, I would ask you
to give it to us, because that's a very clear issue that was raised
in the Springfield case, that I must confess until I went and talked
to them had never occurred to me before.
I'd like to now call on Commissioner Paul Evans, the
Police Commissioner from Boston who led Boston's innovative operation
Cease-fire. I spent a half a day up there with the Mayor and the
Commissioner and others several months ago. And many of you know
that Boston went for over two years without having a single child
under 18 killed by a gun. That's astonishing. (Applause.)
And so I would like for Commissioner Evans to make
whatever remarks he'd like to make on this subject.
*****
THE PRESIDENT: I would like to make one brief
observation about what the Commissioner said, because I have spent a
great deal of time in Boston and I don't want to single them out
in derogation of the astonishing efforts that have been made
elsewhere, many of which have already been featured. But the thing
that strikes me -- it struck me when I spent asday up there and I met
with -- the Mayor's got a nun who represents him, who has this youth
council for the city. The city has its own youth council, like
others have the city council. But the thing that struck me about
Boston is they do things that seem obvious when you hear about them,
but a lot of people don't do it. The systematic contact that they
have in a personal, one-to-one way, with a huge percentage of the
young people in their cities is quite astonishing.
And if somebody asked me, in a sentence, why have they
been so successful, I would say they mobilize in a systematic way a
consistent contact with a huge percentage of the young people. The
idea of, you know, well, we hear we're going to have a gang problem
in middle school, why don't we go interview the customers. You know,
if you were running a business that's exactly what you'd do. But I
think they deserve a lot of appreciation, but also a lot of modeling
for that.
THE PRESIDENT: I have two brief things to say. First
of all, don't you feel better knowing that there are people like her
in the classrooms of America? (Applause.)
And second, I want to thank you for what you said about
school uniforms. When Secretary Riley and I set out to promote
school uniforms around the country, there were some here in
Washington who derided this as one of those "little ideas" that we
were constantly harping on. It may be a little idea, but I have
never been to a school that had them that didn't think it made a huge
difference in the lives of the children there. And so I thank you
for giving a boost to that endeavor.
*****
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I want to apologize to all
of you, and in particular to Mayor Corradini, who made a terrific
presentation, according to the First Lady. I got a call -- we just
completed our agreement on the budget and the negotiations --
(applause.). In a half hour or so, for the members of the press,
we'll have a statement about that.
But let me say, first, I think about Congressman
Etheridge, it is -- one of the things that we desperately -- that we
need so much in Congress Congress works better when there are
people in the Congress who have all kinds of different experiences
that are relevant. It's an incredible gift that we have a member of
the House of Representatives that was actually a state superintendent
of public instruction. And the influence he can have on other
members and the role he can play in the years ahead I think is
virtually limitless just because of the life he lived before he came
there. And I'm very grateful for what he said today and for what
he's done.
I would also like to thank Mayor Corradini for the
report, for the recommendations and for the Best Practices booklet.
I think that we need -- every single challenge we've got in this
country, we'd be a lot better off if everybody who was working on it
issued a Best Practices book, because one of my pet theories is that
everybody solved every problem somewhere, but we're not very good at
playing copycat when we ought to. So I thank her for that.
The only other thing I want to say, and then I want to
turn it over to the Vice President and let him ask a question, is
that the mayors recommended new youth counselors, and Bob talked
about other kinds of support personnel on security issues. One of
the things that we had to fight hardest for in 1983, that Hillary
convinced me we ought to do 15 years ago, was to require every
elementary school to have a counselor. But 15 years later, it looks
like a pretty good decision.
And I think we have to -- with people who have to pay
for these things, with the taxpayers and others who may not deal with
it, we need to let them know that a well-trained counselor dealing
with the kind of challenges these children face is a terrific
investment. And I appreciate the recommendation of the mayors and I
like forward to following up on them.
THE PRESIDENT: I would have an elementary school that
would have classes between 15 and 20 in the early grades. I would
have a maximum number of kids in the school of about 300. I would
have -- and about 1,000 for the high school. I would have the
support personnel, I'd have all the teachers trained, and I'd have a
parent coordinator that had huge numbers of the parents coming in and
out of the schools all the time.
And then I'd try to figure out how to make young people
like Liberty the rule rather than the exception. That is -- I was
sitting here when she was telling her story -- I was thinking about
she got to the Boys and Girls Club, and that's a good thing, but
there's a whole bunch of kids that live in the place where she does
that didn't get there, and that's not a good thing. And so I think
that would mean you'd either have comprehensive before- and
after-school programs and summer school programs for the kids
on-site, or there would be some system by which the school, in
effect, connected every child to responsible adult community groups
of some kind that Professor Earles says works so well.
I think those are the things that I would -- I basically
believe you've got to have problem-solving mechanisms, but I, think
the prevention approach is by far the best approach. And I think
almost all -- so that's what I would do.
In the high schools, it's more complicated. I'd also
have a uniform policy. I think they're very important. I'd be in a
community that had a strong antitruancy policy. If I had a violence
problem, I'd have a curfew. I'd be interconnected with all of the
churches and synagogues and other faith institutions. I would have
the school bringing people in in a systematic way, and I would be
connected with the police department that would do what the
Commissioner explained that they tried to do in Boston.
But I think -- in the high schools, I think that, as I
said, I'd make sure that we had programs that would keep every child
who needed it, give them all an opportunity to be in the school.
Let me just say one other thing that I think is worth
saying. It may have been put on the table while I was out briefly.
But twice -- if you read what the mayors say here, twice, they say,
they talk about the importance of the arts programs, the music
programs, the physical education programs -- not the kids that are on
the athletic teams, the other things. I have seen school after
school after school all across this country, because of the financial
burdens on the schools, have to abandon these programs. And I think
it is terrible.
I think that -- basically, all of these people are
saying you've got to treat the whole child here, deal with the whole
child, deal with the family situation, deal with the community
situation. And I just wanted to put in a little plug for that. I
think that there are a lot of ways to learn in this life, a lot of
ways to communicate in this life, and a lot of ways for people to
find greater peace and connection. And I think it's been a terrible
setback to American education that so many schools have had to
abandon their art programs, their music programs and their physical
education programs for the non-team athletes. Anything we can do
to advance that I think would also be positive. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Let me say, I wish we could stay here
another hour, but we have another panel. We don't want to deprive
them of the opportunity to make their contributions and to be heard.
Perhaps at the end of that, you could have a more free-flowing
question and answer session.
But again, let me thank all of you. And let me ask you
to join me in thanking all of our remarkable panelists for their
contributions. Thank you. (Applause.)
END
3:00 P.M. EDT
Message Sent To:
WHSO LAYOUT Draft 1
a/o 5/5/99; L. Schwartz
WHITE HOUSE STRATEGY MEETING ON CHILDREN, VIOLENCE AND
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE EAST ROOM AND STATEMENT IN THE ROSE GARDEN
Monday, May 10, 1999
East Room
Pool Press (opening remarks only)
3 (t) Social Aides for entry
Principal Time:
10:00 a.m.
Briefing in Map Room
10:25 a.m.
Proceed to Green Rom
10:30 a.m.
Event in East Room
12:30 p.m.
End Time in East Room
1:00 p.m.
Statement in Rose Garden
Number of participants:
Approx. 50 at u shaped table
(POTUS, HRC seated on South side of table
VPOTUS and MEG on legs of table)
Approx. 10(t) staff at north end of East Room for note taking
7:00 a.m.
WHCA arrives to set mics
9:00 a.m.
DPC staff to seat Round Table.
Contact: Karin Kullman and Justin Coleman
9:45 a.m.
Participants begin to arrive at the East Appointments Gate/East Visitor's Gate.
Contact: Bronson Frick
Participants proceed to the Grand Foyer and at the appropriate time are shown to
their seats in the East Room.
Note: Karin Kullman and Justin Coleman
Grand Foyer Set Up Notes: coat check in the China Room;
coffee/juice/pastries served in Grand Foyer; Staff at Cross Hall doors to direct
to seats with copies of seating chart; brass quintet under Seal outside Blue
Room for reception; soda's etc. available in Foyer during session tbd
10:00 a.m.
Briefing in the Map Room for THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE
VICE PRESIDENT AND MRS. GORE.
Map Room Briefing Participants:
Maria Echaveste
John Podesta
Richard Socarides
Bruce Reed
Attorney General Reno
Larry Stein
Secretary Riley
Jeff Shesol
Laura Schiller
Melanne Verveer
10:30 a.m.
THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE VICE PRESIDENT AND
MRS. GORE are announced into the East Room from the Green Room to honors.
Note: Brass quintet moves inside to the south end of the East Room and remain
standing to play honors - music holders on instruments (no music stands or
chairs).
THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE VICE PRESIDENT AND
MRS. GORE proceed to their seats.
PROGRAM
- THE PRESIDENT makes remarks from his seat at the table.
Press Note: Press Pool depart after THE PRESIDENT's remarks.
12:45 p.m.
THE PRESIDENT concludes meeting.
THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE VICE PRESIDENT AND
MRS. GORE proceed to the Map Room for briefing on the statement.
1:00 p.m.
THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE VICE PRESIDENT AND
MRS. GORE proceed to the Rose Garden accompanied by TBD.
1:20 p.m.
THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, THE VICE PRESIDENT AND
MRS. GORE depart.
Participants are escorted to the North Lawn for press interviews. (T)
EAST ROOM SET UP NOTES:
-WHCA announce from Green Room.
-WHCA toast lectern on South side behind table
-U shaped table
-Press set up at North side, stanchioned, 3 risers.
-Staff seats (** chairs) at North End
-Ushers: to provide some type of overlay for table setting (dark blue/black)
-WH note pads and pencils at places provided by Ushers Office
- Water around table
-Calligraphers: provide tent cards
ROSE GARDEN SET UP:
stage size/location tbd; blue goose; POTUS and American Flag behind blue goose from whca; announce from
colonnade, Chairs tbd; Press Risers opposite podium and one cut away; stanchions around press risers.
Newsweek
R
BEYOND LITTLETON
How
Well Do
You Know
Your Kid?
Heading
Off Trouble
THE
SECRET
LIFE OF
TEENS
70628 01134
Kiptright)
When Teens Fall Apart
Spotting the warning signs isn't enough. Parents also need help from
professionals-help that is not always forthcoming. BY SHARON BEGLEY
IKE so MANY PARENTS, KIP
ger of treating his schoolmates like targets
keep their innate tendencies from pushing
L
Kinkel's tried, and tried desperate-
in a videogame. Picking up the warning
them toward criminality, addiction or vio-
ly. For 10 years, Bill and Faith
signs is crucial. But it isn't enough. Parents
lence. Researchers have a pretty good idea
Kinkel regularly huddled with
who detect these danger signs and reach
of how to help these kids. Since 1981, com-
teachers to figure out why Kip
out to schools, social-welfare agencies and
munities in 49 states have contracted with
fought with fellow students at his Oregon
the justice system for help too often come
the "Parents as Teachers" program to
elementary school. They put him on Ritalin
up empty. Some families live in communi-
screen newborns and toddlers. The pro-
and then Prozac. They pulled him out of
ties that lack the resources or the will to of-
gram's "parent educators" teach mothers
seventh grade and home-schooled him.
fer prevention or intervention programs;
and fathers to help their child emotionally,
They begged the juvenile-detention center
others are simply turned away. There is no
socially and cognitively through simple
to keep their son there last May after he
mystery about which programs work. But
games, reading, talking and loving. But
stashed a loaded .32 pistol in his school
in order to tap into them, says Prof.
they reach only 500,000 of the 19 million
locker. Bill said he had "nowhere left to
Michael Nunno of Cornell University, "you
children under 5; that's less then 3 percent.
turn" in what was, in retrospect, a life-or-
need education and money and the moxie
"Society acknowledges that prevention is
death struggle. A year ago this month Kip,
to navigate the system. You must be willing
important," says executive director Mil-
then 15, killed his parents. Then he shot 24
to make it a full-time job and get past all the
dred Winter, "but won't spend a lot of
students at his school in Springfield, Ore.
people trying to tell you that everything's
money on it." Financial barriers have also
Two died.
fine. With anything less, you're out of luck."
limited "First Step to Success." This Ore-
In the wake of last year's school shoot-
Kids' problems start early, and so do the
gon-based program screens kindergartners
ings and now the Littleton massacre, edu-
problems of parents trying to help them.
for antisocial behavior and then spends
cators and parents alike have been flooded
Children who are unresponsive, impulsive,
three months turning around bullies-in-
with information on how to identify the
aggressive or otherwise difficult are the
the-making by rewarding good behavior at
child who is so aggressive that he is in dan-
most in need of competent parenting to
school and showing parents, in their
42
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
DIGITALLY
ALTERED,
PHOTO
BY
AP
homes, how to teach their prob-
lem child to cooperate, make
Intervention:
friends and develop confi-
A'Kheem Lipscomb, 14,
dence. First Step costs just
learns conflict resolution at a
$400 per child, but it's available
Boston counseling center
in only a few schools in 10
states, says codirector Hill
going to be shipped out."
Walker of the University of
Even if a kid brandishes a
Oregon: "Schools wait and see
gun, effective programs can
which kid actually develops a
yank him back from the brink.
serious problem in, say, sixth
Since 1986 Boston students sus-
grade before they do anything
pended for carrying weapons
for them. But by then the horse
have been required to attend
has left the barn."
the Counseling and Interven-
A gunman is as likely to be
tion Center, where they spend
the bullied as the bullier. Yet
five to 10 days learning anger
when parents of bullied chil-
management, conflict resolu-
dren report the taunts and
tion and other skills. Only 8 per-
pummeling to school authori-
cent of the program's graduates
ties, the institutional response
are caught again for violations.
is too often, You brought it on
Salt Lake City, Cleveland, San
yourself; you need to take care
Jose, Calif., and Rochester,
of it yourself," says psycholo-
N.Y., have or are developing
gist John Crumbley, who
comparable programs, but they
helped evaluate Kinkel after his
are the exceptions. "We've got
arrest. When one 13-year-old
families crying out for help, and
started skipping classes in her
the system is not responding,"
western Oregon school, she
says Philip Jackson, director of
was expelled. A truant officer
the Boston center. Similarly, an
appeared on the family's
doorstep to tell the parents that
SHAWN G. HENRY
approach called multisystemic
therapy has been shown to re-
if they did not work out a plan
duce rearrest rates of juvenile
to re-enroll her, they'd be fined
delinquents by up to 70 percent.
$1,000 for negligence. "They send someone
to threaten you but offer no help at all," says
Where to Go for Help
Three to five months of home visits from a
therapist, who works with parents as well
the distraught mother.
Scientists have identified dozens of pro-
as the child, costs $4,500 per child, but saves
Help can be especially scarce in schools
grams and policies that reduce the risk of
an estimated $12,000 in criminal-justice
with huge numbers of students. In the
1960s educators fell in love with big
antisocial behavior by children and juve-
costs by reducing recidivism. Yet the pro-
schools, figuring they could offer a wider
nile delinquency. Some of them:
gram exists in only a few communities in
15 states.
curriculum at lower costs. A school with a
graduating class of 50 is indeed unlikely to
1
Early-childhood intervention: pro-
An even greater problem is kids whose
grams such as "Parents as Teachers"
first offense isn't hiding a weapon in school
offer six languages and eight permutations
on math. But large schools dampen enthu-
and "First Step to Success" offer devel-
but using one. Carol Van Strum says her
siasm for extracurricular activities: if you're
opmental screenings of children up to age 5
adopted, biracial son Jordan was merciless-
and help parents cope with difficult
ly taunted with "n----- by both kids and
one kid out of 600, your chance of getting
children.
adults in their rural Oregon town. She
playing time on the soccer field or face time
could tell he was headed for trouble.
with the debate coach is much less than if
Zero tolerance for bullies: the littlest
"When I asked for help, the response was,
you're one in 150. In smaller schools-the
2
victims can grow up feeling alienated
'He hasn't committed a crime'," says Van
ideal four-year high school, say education
and ready for revenge. Schools should
Strum. In 1997 Jordan, then 15, killed a
researchers, is 600 to 900 kids-every stu-
monitor playgrounds and hallways to pre-
friend's grandfather. He was sentenced to
dent can be part of a group that includes an
vent bullying.
25 years in prison.
adult role model. And administrators have
We know how to help troubled children.
a better chance of getting to know each stu-
Smaller schools: high schools work
Yet "we don't put resources into meeting
dent. That might have made a difference to
3
best when enrollment is between 600
their psychological needs," says Marin
"Nick," who at 14 became fascinated with
and 900. In a school of this size, fewer
County therapist Madeline Levine. "We
knives and dark poetry, dressed in black
students are marginalized, and more kids
pay for computers in their classrooms but
and began smoking marijuana. When he
are likely to be part of an extracurricular
not counselors in their schools." Perhaps
cut classes, his southern California school
activity with an adult role model.
Littleton will change that. For now, howev-
chalked it up to adolescent angst, says
er, the gap between what we know about
Nick's father: "The school is large and
4
Multisystemic therapy: an innova-
prevention and intervention and what soci-
has a staff equipped to deal with two kinds
tive, at-home program in which a
ety puts within parents' reach is a yawning
of kids-the class president and the kid
therapist teaches parents how to en-
chasm-a chasm that is swallowing our
who is trying to burn the school down.
force rules, keep their kids from bad influ-
most vulnerable children.
Nick wasn't [either] so they didn't seem
ences and help the child hook into a sup-
With DONNA FOOTE in Los Angeles,
to care. What was made clear to us was
port network.
PATRICIA KING in San Francisco and
that we better shape him up or he was
LYNETTE CLEMETSON in Washington, D.C.
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
43
BEYOND LITTLETON
Sex, drugs and rock have worried parents for
decades. But now the Net, videogames and no-
holds-barred music are creating new worlds
that many adults can't enter. BY JOHN LELAND
The Secret
Life of
Teens
I, KIDS, DO YOU LIKE VIOLENCE? WANNA SEE ME STICK NINE-
inch nails through each one of my eyelids? Wanna copy me and
H
do exactly like I did?" The bleached-blond pixie could be a
refugee from the set of "Friends," all smirk and glimmer. He is
Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, whose debut rap
album has been near the top of the charts for the last two
months. In the secret lives of American teenagers, Eminem is
large. "By the way," he raps, "when you see my dad, tell him I
slit his throat in this dream I had."
Since they first emerged as a demographic entity earlier this
century, adolescents of every era have carved out their own secret worlds, invent-
ing private codes of style and behavior designed to communicate only within the
in group and to exclude or offend adults. It is a central rite of American passage.
But lately this developmental process has come under great strain. "In the past,
the toughest decision [teens] had was whether to have sex, or whether to use
drugs," says Sheri Parks, who studies families and the media at the University of
Maryland. "Those are still there, but on top are piled all these other issues, which
are very difficult for parents or children to decipher." New technologies and the
entertainment industry, combined with changes in family structure, have more
deeply isolated grown-ups from teenagers. The results are what Hill Walker, codi-
ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN CRAIG
rector of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior in Oregon, calls
"almost a virtual reality without adults."
With as many as 11 million teenagers now online, more and more of adolescent life
is taking place in a landscape that is inaccessible to many parents. "That is apparent
in the geography of households," says Marlene Mayhew, a clinical psychologist who
runs an online mental-health newsletter. With the computer often in the teen's bed-
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
45
BEYOND LITTLETON
Voices of a Generation
ON EASHION
"
The biggestithing here
Teens say their lives a stressful filled with pressures
is wearing name
especially aboutlooks and dress-worrie about safety and fears of
being stereotyp And of course sofne parent don't understand
brand clothes Ifyou even
think of wearing a non-name
ON CLIQUES
brand you have guts Looks
"
see people who don't
Marfsol Salguero,16 are realim
low themselves to grow
Junior, Alexander.
Hamilton High School
portant.
too
in certain areas even though
Los AP and!
If youre not
hono classes aca-
Julia Papastavridis, 15 they have tal
demiditutor
Freshman, the Paidela
pretty
School Atlanta
ent or skill,
people wont want to hang
Student's en on the
because they
discipl nam committee
out with you, Even the girls
chorus member,
feel that
with dark han usually dves
would be out of character or
their hair blonde Everythmg
that people wouldn't like them
IUS one big sompetition
if they changed Say you're
really at math, but your
friends say, Thate math It's
such a nerdy stupid subject You cant be good
at it because then you a nerdy brainiac person
And then you te el like you don' fitm.
ON MEDIAVIOLENCE
"Our generation is far more
desensitized to violence than any other generation
TVs raise children now more than parents do and
Chris Haley, 17
Junior, Lewisville High
television caters to children's violent
School) Lewisville,
Texas Founder of
fantasies. Parents are working more and
philosophy group,
loves classical muslo.
spending less time with their kids
room, Mayhew says, the power structure
The pop-culture industry, marketing
one drawn to the crimes? Making the proc-
in the family is turned upside down. "Kids
tribal styles through MTV and the Internet,
ess harder, teens have long been adept at
are unsupervised, looking at whatever they
makes it harder than ever for adults to read
lying, dissembling and otherwise conniving
please." A parent who might eventually
their kids, even parents raised on rock and
to hide their secret lives. Robyn Sykes, a
notice a stockpile of Guns & Ammo or por-
roll. Parents in the '50s could "read" the
senior at Jordan High School in Long
nographic magazines has fewer clues to a
ripe sexuality of Elvis-they just might not
Beach, Calif., reports that the skills are still
child's online activities. "We're missing
have approved. But what to make of the
sharp. "Some girls," she says, "leave the
the opportunity for an adult reality check,
much more densely encrypted messages
house wearing one thing, and then change
adult perspective on the stimulation [teens]
and camp nihilism of Eminem or Marilyn
into tight, short skirts when they' re here."
are getting exposed to. Kids have less ac-
Manson, who dare outsiders to take of-
Mike L., 13; from suburban New York, is
cess to parents, more access to potentially
fense? How to distinguish a kid drawn to
one of the unsupervised millions online. A
damaging information."
gangsta rapper DMX for the rhymes from
couple years ago his father spied on him
46
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
FROM LEFT: CHARLES FORD, ANN STATES SABA,
JONATHAN ALCORN ZUMA
ON FEAR
"
Insedtonot worry
about safety at my school.
But after the Jonesboro
shootings I started to hink
abouti more Tonesboro is*
Thomas James,17
just across the
Senior, Northside
High School, Ft. Smith,
state from here
Ark
Plays
trombone
Tjust started
In the band: does
volunteer work."
tothink if it
can happen there it can happen
here. This year we had two
bomb threats It wasa hoax
this time but it makes me think
that next time may not be.
DN APPEABANCE
341 went to a National
Honor Society induction. The parents
were just staring at me I think they
coulda believe someone with pink hair
could be smart IT want FC) be a high school
eacher out " afraidthat, based on my
Senior Blentirob South
appearance. they won thire
High Glenview,
him
National Honor
me Dont be afraid of us
Society:
ilternative!
091104
theater.)
roup.
Don't stereotype.us.
through a window, catching him in a chat
doesn't have it, he says, "one of my friends
on a $400,000 bedroom set. "I thought
room where people swapped pirated soft-
gets called down to the guidance counselor
[eBay] was just a site," he told NEWSWEEK.
ware. But now Mike has his own laptop
every day because somebody told a teacher
"It turned out to be a lot more than that."
and can do what he wants. Like many kids,
that he knows how to make bombs. He's
The vast majority of adolescents' online
he mostly sends e-mail and hangs around
not the kind of guy who would do it. But he
activity ranges from edifying to harmless.
chat rooms, where he encounters both
found out how on the Internet." Andrew
Though hard numbers on Internet use are
adults and other teens. "You go in, and
Tyler, 13, from Haddonfield, N.J., used his
notoriously suspect, Malcolm Parks, an
someone offers what they've got stored in
Internet freedom another way: two weeks
Internet researcher at the University of
their computer," he says. "And maybe one
ago, while his mother tended the family
Washington in Seattle, says that most teens
of the things is The Anarchist Cookbook',"
garden, Tyler placed bids on $3.2 million
use the computer to send e-mail or instant
a notorious handbook that includes in-
worth of merchandise via the online auc-
messages, visit chat rooms or fan Web
structions for building bombs. Though he
tion house eBay, including the winning bid
sites, do homework or download songs.
FROM LEFT: KEN SCHLES, SPENCER TIREY-ZUMA
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
47
BEYOND LITTLETON
ON SCHOOL AND PARENTS
Thescho lis divided
into different groups of
kids the break dancers, the
people.wholisten to heavy
metal. the pretty girls, the
ravers and the hop people,
But there's no pressure to be in
one or another If a
person is a break-dancer, they
can stilkchill with the ravers
Tma hip-hopper We wear
baggy jeans and sweatshirts
But it' m-really good friends
with a person in the heavy
metal group; cango chill with them and
Most kids parents don't know what they
justlike, whatever. don't sworry about
are doing talk mom about everything
Diana Leary, IT violence And Idon t-really
She shows up for every parents night,
Senior Memorial
High School.West
worry about peer pressure
sometimes she's the only one there It makes
New York NJ
Like you're at a party and you
me feel good that T have a mom who cares
Student council,
tennis team
don't drink that scool
about what is going on with me
For the most part, he says, "I worry more
passé. A new game, Kingpin, promises even
messages on television have been a small
about poor quality of information online,
hairier carnal gratifications. "Includes mul-
minority. But a small minority can cause
and students' lack of skills for evaluating
tiplayer gang bang death match for up to 16
serious havoc. If you're predisposed to vio-
information, than I worry about frequently
thugs!" coos the ad copy. "Target specific
lence and aggression, you can find like-
discussed evils like pornography."
body parts and actually see the damage
minded people who will validate your expe-
At Neutral Ground in Manhattan on a
doneincluding exit wounds."
rience. You can become part of an isolated
recent afternoon, other skills are in play.
The videogame business last year topped
group that family and friends don't know
The drafty, fourth-floor gaming room,
$6.3 billion, much of it dedicated for play
about, and that group can exchange in-
undetectable from the street, is a teen oa-
on the home computer. The more violent
formation on getting or making weapons."
sis, dotted with interconnected computers.
games are marked for sales to mature buy-
Brad Bushman, an Iowa State University
By a quarter to four, it is packed with ado-
ers only, but like R-rated movies, they are
psychologist, argues that violent computer
lescent boys. Robert, one of eight boys
easily accessible to kids. "The people usual-
games are more harmful than movies, "be-
glued to the screens, suddenly curses and
ly tell you you're not old enough," says Ed-
cause the person becomes the aggressor.
bangs on the table. "Die, you stupid
die, 14, a regular at Neutral Ground, "but
They're the one that does the killing."
whore," he shouts. Then, "I'm gonna go kill
they don't stop you from buying it." Eddie
In Santa Monica last week Collin Wil-
Sebastian now." Sebastian, three terminals
says most FPS games "make me dizzy," but
liams and his friends, a multiracial group
down, calls back: "You take this game way
he enjoys one called Diablo, which is not
of eighth graders, describe a numbing ef-
too seriously."
just another shoot-'em-up orgy. "It's more
fect. Sure, they shrugged, a tragedy like the
They are playing Half-Life, known in
like slice 'em up." His parents don't like the
one in Littleton could happen in their
videogame parlance as a multiplayer "first-
games but rarely engage him on it. His
school. Though they don't spend much
person shooter" game, or FPS. As Robert
mother, he says, "thinks it's too violent, so
time on computers, says Williams, 14, "we
pushes a key, a red fires from an on-
she doesn't watch."
see so much violence on TV and in the
screen shotgun; arms fly off, blood spatters
Most teenagers seem to process the may-
movies that it just seems like it's every-
on the walls. "Ifmy parents came down here
hem as mindless pyrotechnics. But not all
where. We don't go to school thinking
now," says Mike, pausing from the carnage,
kids react the same way, warns Dan Ander-
we're going to be killed. But maybe it's be-
"they'd probably drag me out." The best-
son, a University of Massachusetts psychol-
cause we're so used to it."
known FPS is Doom, the game reportedly
ogist who has studied the effects of TV on
The challenges for parents may be new,
favored by the Littleton shooters, but to the
children. "It's always been the case that the
but they are not insurmountable. Many
kids at Neutral Ground, Doom is already
kids who have been vulnerable to violent
psychologists recommend changing the
48
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
NAJLAH
BEYOND LITTLETON
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Parents once just had to contend with Elvis's pelvis thrusting on the family TV. Now
teens are off in their own garden of electronic delights. Here's what they're doing:
Roll:
Teen luv still conquers all. Amid the sour
stuff, candy like 'Dawson's Creek' and Britney
Spears tally sweet ratings and sales figures.
Shake:
Teen style has long strived
to offend adults. Yesterday's bobby-
soxer is today's pierced Goth.
10 "
50 200
Rattle:
Violent entertainments like the videogame
Half-Life and the rapper DMX both reflect and create a
harsher cultural climate for adolescents
way the computer is used. Put it in a family
MaMedia, highly recommends playing
cret. They are as unbounded as the Internet
room, where adults and teens have more
videogames along with your kids. Even in
and as plebeian as the Backstreet Boys, a
opportunities to discuss what's coming
violent games, she says, "there is learning,
daunting world for any parent to enter. But
into the house. Every Web browser re-
visualization; there is analysis of hints."
this remains the job of parenting. Today's
cords what sites users visit; parents can
Likewise, parents can either set limits on
teens command an electronic landscape
monitor their kids' activities with just ele-
their kids' pop-cultural diets or just talk to
more stimulating, vibrant and mysterious
mentary computer savvy. Filters, such as
the teens about what they're consuming.
than any before. They are the masters of the
Net Nanny, restrict which sites users can
Say: "I don't understand this kid Eminem.
new domain. But they still need adult guid-
visit, but smart kids can get around them
What's he about?"
ance on their travels.
often by using a friend's computer. Idit
Even with such interaction, the secret
With DEVIN GORDON, ANNE UNDERWOOD,
Harel, founder of the kid-friendly site Ma-
lives of teenagers are likely to remain se-
TARA WEINGARTEN and ANA FIGUEROA
47% of Americans say very few parents really know what their teens are up to;
60% say the government should restrict access to some Internet material
50
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
LEFT TO RIGHT. TOP TO BOTTOM: NORMAN JEAN ROY, ALPHA-CLOBE PHOTOS,
ALICE WHEELER, NO CREDIT, ANTHONY CUTAIAR LFI
BEYOND LITTLETON
Their Dark Romance With Risk
All adolescents take chances. Parents need to understand healthy and
dangerous risks, and how peers can influence both. BY DR. LYNN E. PONTON
HY DID THEY DO IT? WHAT MAKES KIDS LASH OUT LIKE
him that after the Colorado shooting, people kept mockingly asking
W
that?" "Should the parents have seen this coming?" In the
her where her black trench coat was. "Those guys weren't even
days since Littleton the whole country is asking these
Goths," she said. "They were fascists, and even if they had been, why
kinds of questions. And as a parent of two teenage girls, I
do adults assume one Goth is just like another? Or that one kid is just
too have my questions. But as a psychiatrist who has
like another?" "I don't," said her father. He was doing the right
worked with adolescents for more than 20 years, I am perhaps less
things: paying attention to the potential danger signals, taking her
shocked than others. To begin to understand Littleton, and the often-
seriously, asking questions and really listening to her answers.
murky world teenagers inhabit, you have to realize that all adoles-
Peers can influence risk-taking in both positive and negative
cents are going to take risks, and that even good kids can often fall in
ways. Kids get very concerned when they see friends taking bad
with friends who may lead them astray. Keeping kids on the right
chances. They don't want to "rat" on them to adults, but they will still
track means maintaining parental involvement, encouraging them to
confide in an adult whom they trust when they suspect a peer is in
take healthy risks instead of dan-
trouble. However, a "toxic" best
gerous ones, listening instead of
friend or group of friends can es-
lecturing. Parents also have to
calate bad behavior, especially
watch their own risk-taking be-
where there is no adult input.
havior-because teens are.
Jim was 15 years old when sev-
Taking on challenges in un-
eral bullying boys took him onto
charted territory is an impor-
the schoolyard and beat him up.
tant tool that young people use
Jim then struck up a friendship
to develop distinct identities
with another boy who had been
apart from their parents. So
similarly treated. They teamed
healthy risk-taking, such as
up and started beating up
playing sports or travel, is
younger children.
good for them. But at another
Years later, Jim told me in my
point in the spectrum, adoles-
office that he had longed to talk
cents define themselves
to his father about his new "best
through rebellion and anger at
friend" and what they were do-
parents or other adults, engag-
STEPHEN
ing. He had really hoped his fa-
ing in high-risk behaviors in-
ther would ask why he had
cluding drinking, smoking,
bruises on his face, or cuts on
drug use, reckless driving, un-
Signals:
Parents should watch for new or increased risk-
his hands. But his father never
safe sexual activity, disordered
taking by their kids, such as petty theft or simply lying more
did ask, and Jim didn't know
eating, self-mutilation, steal-
how to begin that conversation.
ing, gang activity and violence. Clearly Eric Harris and Dylan
Most kids don't give such obvious signs that they are heading for
Klebold were taking risks-and putting others at risk-on the ex-
trouble, but parents can detect other, subtler clues that a friend or
treme edge of this spectrum.
peer group is leading their child astray. Often they'll undertake new
What provokes aggression and violence among peers? Often it's
risks together, such as petty theft or lying. What can you do about it?
scapegoating, in which children and teens are bullied by and in
Discouraging contact with such friends can backfire, provoking re-
front of their peer group, leaving them excluded and humiliated.
bellion and bonding the buddies even more closely together. The
Several days after the Colorado shooting I was at a locked psychi-
best strategy is simply to increase your own contact with your teen.
atric hospital, interviewing a 17-year-old adolescent boy, Robert.
Conversely, ifa new friend or group is becoming a positive influence
He had put a gun to another boy's head. As he described it, he
on your child, you may see an increase in healthy risk-taking, such as
lowered his voice so much that I could barely hear him.
going on camping trips or even bungee jumping.
"Put it to whom?" I asked.
Parents and other adults should encourage young people to
"Put it to him, held it to his head."
take those kinds of chances, to help them grow and learn to as-
"How did you feel?"
sess danger. Even things as benign as running for school office
"Strong. Powerful." And then, "I ain't never felt like that before."
or attempting a new creative activity carry with them the possi-
As it turned out, Robert hadn't pulled the trigger, but he had held
bility of failure; so elders must be ready to offer them support
a gun to other kids' heads several times. Why? I asked. Revenge, he
and consolation. Adults also need to examine our own risk-tak-
said, to get back at kids who were picking on him.
ing patterns-kids are emulators, and they are watching us. Ulti-
Though boys who are unhealthy risk-takers often hurt others,
mately, teenagers, risk-takers all, need to be taken seriously. We
girls usually turn their shame and anger on themselves, engaging in
have to keep asking the right questions-and listen when our
self-destructive behaviors such as cutting or extreme dieting. The
children answer.
same day I interviewed Robert, I received a phone call from the fa-
ther of one of my patients. He was worried that his 17-year-old
LYNN E. PONTON, M.D., is a professor of child and adolescent psychia-
daughter, a self-styled, self-proclaimed Goth, was going to start cut-
try at the University of California, San Francisco, and the author of
ting herself again, something she hadn't done in six months. She told
"The Romance of Risk: Why Teenagers Do the Things They Do."
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
55
From who's in which
clique to where you sit
in the cafeteria, every
day can be struggle to
fit in. BY JERRY ADLER
T WAS ONE CARELESS MOMENT
in the cafeteria that she now be-
lieves will haunt her forever, or
at least until graduation,
whichever comes first. Blond,
smart, athletic and well off, she
must have thought she could get
away with sitting down with a
couple of gawky skaters from the
fringe of high-school society, if
only to interview them about hip-hop mu-
sic for the school newspaper. She should
have known that in high school, appear-
ance outweighs motive by 100 to 1. There
were giggles and stares, then loss of gossip
privileges and exile from her seat at the
center table next to the jocks. Now, a year
later, recovered from a bout of anorexia as
she tried to starve her way back into favor,
she has found new friends. But the former-
ly cool sophomore, too humiliated to bear
being identified, views her years in a West
Coast high school as "hell."
BEYOND LITTLETON
It should come as no surprise, given the
events of two weeks ago, that teenagers
can turn their social lives into a matter of
life and death. Since the invention of high
school, adolescents have been forming
cliques and mentally ranking them-it is,
says David Zinn, adolescent psychiatrist at
The Truth
Chicago's Beacon Therapeutic Center, ex-
cellent practice for an adult society "domi-
nated by hierarchies." The relative posi-
tions of some groups have shifted over
time, reflecting changes in adult society:
jocks are, like their adult models, bigger
than ever; cheerleaders are less exalted,
perhaps because girls are now playing
more sports themselves; while kids are
still doing drugs, they've lost some of their
demimonde glamor. In general, Zinn be-
High So
lieves, high-school kids are more tolerant
of differences than they were a generation
ago. Minority kids, penetrating deep into
KEN SCHLES
the heartland, are less likely to be regard-
ed as exotic freaks. But one of the biggest
changes, says University of North Carolina
they're usually at the top. "It's pretty com-
mon," says senior Lowell Crabb, a varsity
interview them. Now Chicago psychiatris
pediatrician William Coleman, is driven
by simple loneliness. As adolescents spend
football and baseball player at South
Marc Slutsky believes their aggression is
Pasadena High, near Los Angeles, "to see
response to the increased pressure they
less and less time with their parents,
cliques increasingly fill the emotional vac-
jocks picking on the fat kid or the wimpy
labor under. While schools have grown
uum, and the high-school game of accep-
kid, or anybody who's different." Jocks
more and more concerned with nurturing
tance or rejection is being played for even
were like that even in the old days, before
students' academic self-esteem, athletic
their games were broadcast on the school's
are becoming increasingly performance
higher emotional stakes.
in-house cable channel, their teams were
driven and professional. "These kids ge
Athletes enforce the social code at most
ranked nationally by USA Today and big-
the least sensitive treatment," he say,
high schools, which helps explain why
city newspapers sent reporters around to
"All that pressure on them saying 'don
screw up' gets displaced onto others
56
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
but
de
OOL
Once high schools were divided simply
Inclusive:
With 70 clubs and 23 sports, just about everyone at Glenbrook South
into the in-crowd and everyone else. But as
has a niche. For junior Heather Boehm, it's orchestra, drama and swimming.
ey have grown larger they have spawned
fabulous diversity of gangs, cliques, crews
shirts mark kids as preppies a thousand
cate than conform to how the cool kids
posses. These include athletes and
miles from Andover; baggy jeans signify
thought they should dress.
eppies and wanna-be gangsters; pot-
hip-hop on a Laotian kid in Iowa no less
In contrast to a generation ago, cliques
loking skaters and sullen punks; gays and
than on a homeboy straight out of Bed-
are much more likely to have both boys and
erds and, yes, morbid, chalk-faced Goths.
Stuy. Long before most people had heard of
girls in them, Zinn says, a development he
igues proclaim their identities with uni-
Columbine High School, the black trench
traces to early exposure to sexual imagery
this that are surprisingly similar from
coat was a potent symbol for kids in places
on television. "Familiarity with the opposite
to coast. Chinos and button-down
like central Texas who would rather suffo-
sex comes much earlier now," he says. "You
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
57
A Teen Who's Who
Jocks rule and nerds still struggle for ac-
ceptance just about everywhere. But many
schools have their own unique cliques. A
look at Illinois' Glenbrook South High:
Trophy-Case Kids Named for their hang-
out under the school awards case. They're
punkish in black hooded sweatshirts.
Wall Kids Mostly seniors, mostly popular.
Lots of preppies and "Abercrombies."
Their turf: a wall outside the cafeteria.
Bandles Musicians, they stick to them-
selves outside rehearsal room. Not espe-
cially cool or uncool, just good friends.
Backstage People Theater and arts types
(both genders) lounge on couches back-
stage to talk, do homework and take naps.
Student-Council Kids Clean-cut, popu-
lar. Lunch-time hangout: the council office.
KEN SCHLES
just a neutral fashion choice, but a way of
flaunting one's indifference to the ruling
cliques, which is precisely why the cool kids
Contact:
High school fills a need for connection among kids whose parents
find it so infuriating. But fitting in is also a gift.
and neighbors are seldom home, according to principal David Smith
To be popular, "either you have money, you
look good or you play football," says Steve
don't find as much mystery or excitement at-
in it, but they love it," she says. "OK, you
Walker, the gregarious captain of the football
tached to it."
can have your bench."
team at Merritt Island High School, 50 miles
The lush diversity of cliques has made
Must life be like this? Experiments in cre-
east of Orlando, Fla. Lacking those, you
student life more democratic. "This isn't like
ating egalitarian high-school cultures have
could try throwing a really great party, he
a pyramid with one group on top," says Eva
met with mixed results. The Paideia School,
says, but "other than that, I couldn't tell you,
Greenwald, a senior at Oak Park and River
founded in 1971 as a liberal alternative to the
because I've been popular all my life. As long
Forest High School near Chicago, popula-
white-flight academies springing up in At-
as I show up, the party's going to be OK."
tion 2,700. "Think of us as living in a lot of
lanta, sought to pre-empt jock culture by de-
In some ways, the system works, assign-
different bubbles." Conversely, in schools
creeing that every student had to be on a
ing kids the roles they' comfortable with.
this size students can live not just apart from
sports team. "I'm not a jock, I'm an athlete,"
As an experiment one day last month, Lau-
their peers, but almost unaware of them.
says junior Will Arnold, a distinction that
ren Barry, a pink-haired trophy-case kid at
Andrew, a senior athlete and honor student
might seem superfluous for the captain of
Glenbrook, switched identities with a well-
at Cal High School in Whittier, Calif., eats
the Ultimate Frisbee team. This system has
dressed girl from "the wall." Barry walked
his lunch with his friends every day in the
worked well, but it was tested last year
around all day in the girl's expensive jeans
quad. After four years at Cal, "I have no idea
when both the boys' and girls' basketball
and Doc Martens, carrying a shopping bag
what goes on in the cafeteria," he says. "I've
teams made it to the state finals, and hero-
from Abercrombie & Fitch. "People kept
actually never been in there."
worship reared its unfamiliar head. "It can
saying, 'Oh, you look so pretty'," she recalls.
Some students jealously guard their
be seductive," headmaster Paul Bianchi
"I felt really uncomfortable." It was inter-
turf. At Glenbrook South High School, in
says. "People like to see their names in the
esting, but the next day, and ever since, she's
the Chicago suburb of Glenview, the
paper." Glenbrook South, home of the wall
been back in her regular clothes. The lines
groups even take their names from their
kids and trophy-case kids, makes an extra-
drawn by teenagers are frequently unfair,
perches: the fashionable "wall people"
ordinary effort at inclusiveness, offering
often hurtful and generally enforced by
who favor a bench along the wall outside
something like 70 clubs and 23 sports and
physical and psychological intimidation.
the cafeteria, and the punkish "trophy-
both regular and alternative student news-
Which is why it's worth bearing in mind
case" kids who sit on the floor under a dis-
papers and theater groups. But still, says
that high school only seems as if it
play of memorabilia. When freshman
principal David Smith, there's no avoiding
lasts forever.
Stephanie Hernandez sat at the wall one
the fact that "adolescence is a tribal society.
With JOHN McCORMICK and KAREN SPRINGEN
day last fall, she was ordered off the bench
It's just the nature of the thing."
in Chicago, DANIEL PEDERSEN in Atlanta,
NADINE JOSEPH in San Francisco,
by a football player, and hasn't sat there
Fitting in is partly a matter of choice.
ANA FIGUEROA in Los Angeles and
since. "It's just a piece of plastic with holes
Wearing black trench coats to school is not
BETH DICKEY in Melbourne, Fla.
90% of Americans say parents aren't spending enough time with their teens;
56% say teens don't have enough places to go to help them stay out of trouble
58
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
Picture Association has been so com-
promised that it doesn't impose NC-17 for
even the most unremittingly violent films
ON THE CUSP
like "Natural Born Killers" (the alleged
inspiration for at least two real-life
murders), only for films showing sex.
As was said about the Holocaust: some
OF A CRUSADE
are guilty; all are responsible. If President
Clinton is going to have any credibility on
this issue- has to publicly read
the names of all the big companies (and their
CEOs) that make not just slasher films and
Real change comes when trouble touches the
gangster rap but also splatter software, the
kind that lets kids "virtually" kill people.
middle class. And violence is doing just that.
Simply meeting with gun and entertainment
executives will accomplish little; individuals
must be named and shamed. Because that is
unlikely to happen in Washington, it will be
BY JONATHAN ALTER
up to Americans to mobilize with selective
boycotts. A little of this gets a lot accom-
OR ALL THE CARNAGE, THERE
plished, especially when it's done by
F
just might be a silver lining in
angered moderates, not the usual right-
the Littleton tragedy. Even if
wing suspects. To start educating them-
next week's White House
selves, parents can consult Web sites like
summit is a bust, you can sense
www.screenit.com, which tell them the
the political weather changing. Both the
content of what their kids are watching
NRA and Hollywood are running for
The NRA has been on the offensive late-
cover, and it's no longer acceptable to
ly, but now gun-control advocates have an
mindlessly say that only one of them is to
opening. The goal should be to start with
blame. The 1989 school shooting (by an
Clinton's modest package, which includes
adult; five dead) in Stockton, Calif., led to
ERIC
cracking down on gun shows and limiting
assault-weapons legislation. Littleton has
handgun purchases to one a month, which
the potential to leave a deeper mark,
Legacy of a tragedy:
will inhibit some traffickers. The best way
across a wider range of problems. The
to make gun control a first-tier political
challenge is to look beyond what
Memorial crosses to the Littleton victims
issue in 2000 is to steer clear of politically
might have prevented this particular
hopeless ideas like handgun bans and
rampage-maybe nothing-and use it to focus on concrete reform.
concentrate on "smart" guns, which use fingerprint recognition to
Some of the ideas of recent days are useful; arming
prevent anyone but the owner from firing it. The goal should be to
teachers-are dangerous. But at least America is finally paying
mandate that all guns must be "smart" by a certain date. Because
attention. The hard truth about social movements in this country is
they will be more expensive, that may even require a government
that they don't gather strength until the comfortable white middle
subsidy for gun makers- useful basis for compromise.
class is engaged. When white civil-rights workers were beaten and
Beyond the entertainment and gun industries, lots of other
killed in 1964, the civil-rights movement moved to a new level.
ideas are percolating to the surface. Many parents simply need
When college students began to be drafted, the Vietnam antiwar
parental-skills training. A long-term study at the University of
movement ignited. And when Archie and Veronica are worried
Colorado shows that home visits to young at-risk mothers cut
about being shot, "violence prevention" and "youth development"
child abuse by 80 percent and later arrest rates by 50 percent.
can become real American crusades, not just platitudes.
With juvenile crime tripling between the hours of 8 and 8 p.m.,
For years now, an average of roughly 40 teenagers a week have
increased funding for after-school programs is essential and has
been murdered in this country, nearly 90 percent of them killed by
proven effective in cutting violence (see www.fightcrime.org).
guns. That's the equivalent of 150 Littleton massacres a year. But
Churches must do more to open their doors to youth programs.
they happen mostly one by one, off school grounds-no national-
High schools need to ask whether they've gotten too big and
news potential there-and slightly more than half of the teen
should be broken up into schools within schools so kids don't slip
killers and victims have been black. Those figures still hold true,
between the cracks. The whole school-guidance system des-
but the gruesome school shootings are changing the picture. In the
perately needs to be rethought so that students are assured of
1980s youth violence was associated with poverty and crack. It
regular one-on-one advice from designated faculty advisers. Right
wasn't politically correct to say, but it was usually someone else's
now the ratio is more like one guidance counselor for every 150 to
children. Not those at Columbine High. You can regret that double
200 students- recipe for trouble.
standard but still use it to build momentum for change.
Last month I visited a terrific after-school program in South-
Not all the ideas floated lately make sense. In most places, metal
Central Los Angeles called A Place Called Home. The kids and
detectors do no good; kids just wait until after school to assault
staff were mourning a good kid killed the night before in a drive-by
someone. "It increases fears without reducing risks," says James
shooting. An astonishing number of kids came up to say they would
Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University. The new TV
be dead, too, ifit weren't for this safe haven. Imagine: every day
ratings have caused barely a ripple; in fact, they may make kids
certain adults actually rechannel student anger and save young
want the forbidden fruit more. Movie ratings like NC-17 (today's
lives. The culture of violence in America isn't going to disappear in
"X" equivalent) are enforced and potentially important, because
our lifetimes. But with any luck, any justice, the campaign against it
that's where the worst screen violence is. But Jack Valenti's Motion
is at long last underway.
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
59
The Death of a Good Idea
Kosovo is teaching relief workers a bitter lesson: there are no humanitarian
solutions to humanitarian problems. BY DAVID RIEFF
HEN WE THINK OF THE PHENOMENON THE MILITARY
knew it. But though the discovery of these contradictions quickly
W
rather primly call collateral damage, we usually think
became the subject of anguished debate within the aid community,
of civilian casualties and shattered buildings. But
the public retained the impression that humanitarian action was a
ideas can be destroyed as well. The war over Kosovo
successful ingredient in international relations.
offers ample proof. A conflict that was undertaken on
The Kosovo crisis demonstrates that we were kidding ourselves. It
humanitarian and human-rights grounds may well signal the death
is one thing to insist that humanitarians want to do good. It is another
of humanitarianism as a movement that can set the agenda of in-
to believe that they have either the resources or the power to do so. As
ternational politics.
one American aid worker in Albania told me recently, "You can't de-
On the surface, events in Kosovo seem to dictate the opposite con-
feat ethnic fascism of Milosevic's stripe with humanitarian aid. You
clusion. After all, NATO's first "hot" war in its 50-year history was
have to do it with military force." And the problem goes beyond the
not undertaken as an act of self-defense in any conventional sense,
truth that groups like Doctors Without Borders and the International
nor out of any treaty obligation. The war is being fought, as President
Rescue Committee are not soldiers. Once the shooting started in Yu-
Clinton rightly said at the NATO summit in Washington, to prevent
goslavia and the refugee exodus began, the aid agencies found that all
"the slaughter of innocents on [NATO's] doorstep." And yet in pros-
their traditional norms of neutrality and impartiality, like their desire
ecuting this war, the ideals of humanitarian action as they have been
to be able to move across front lines, had been blown to pieces.
painfully developed over the past three decades have been chal-
It was NATO that took care of the refugees in Albania and Mace-
lenged, and their limits exposed.
donia. Only a military organization
Modern humanitarianism dates
had the money, the logistical capabili-
not from the 19th century and the
ty and the political muscle to build
founding of the Red Cross, but
camps for hundreds of thousands. If
rather from the Biafran war of 1967,
NATO were to withdraw from the
when the Nigerian Army prevented
camps in Macedonia, where the
relief supplies from getting through
Kosovar refugees are hated by the
to secessionist areas. It was then that
ethnic Macedonian majority, a new
a few young French physicians
catastrophe would be all but a certain-
formed Doctors Without Borders.
ty. The relief agencies, which seemed
They were indignant at the implaca-
so essential only a decade ago, have
ble neutrality the Red Cross insisted
functioned more like subcontractors
on maintaining, and convinced that
in this crisis a trend that is only like-
the conflict required moral activism.
ly to accelerate as private companies
Contemporary humanitarianism's
like Brown & Root and Bouygues bid
creed was not to bring "develop-
for contracts to build and maintain
ment," or to offer relief as the Red
camps the way they bid for other con-
Cross had done; the idea, rather, was
struction projects.
to look after civilians displaced, in-
Only NATO, and certainly not
jured or traumatized by war, and to
the relief agencies, can resolve the
bear witness to atrocities. Young ac-
worsening refugee crisis-one that
tivists jettisoned the discretion of the Red Cross, publi-
will grow worse so long as Kosovo remains in the
cized what the Nigerians were doing and hoped to pres-
A meal amid
hands of Milosevic's thugs. Relief agencies would
sure and shame the governments of the rich world to act.
harsh conditions
have to negotiate access with the very murderers
Organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnes-
at a refugee
who caused the disaster. The bitter lesson of Kosovo
ty International used much the same tactics. And for
camp in Albania
is that there are no humanitarian solutions to human-
more than 20 years they worked brilliantly. With the end
itarian problems. In future disasters the central role
of the cold war, however, the limitations of this kind of activism-
will be played by private companies that have the expertise and
client states may no longer do what Washington or Brussels tells
governments that have the power.
them-have become apparent.
Whether this turns out to be desirable remains to be seen. In
Humanitarian workers have found themselves in a cruel dilem-
Kosovo, the world cares enough to devote blood and treasure to
ma. They thought that bringing aid to suffering people was an
setting things right. But what about Angola, Sierra Leone or Tajik-
unimpeachably good thing to do; but in places like Ethiopia, the
istan? The end of humanitarianism leaves those nations even more
Congo and Bosnia, they discovered to their horror that they had
bereft than they were already. But it is already clear that if humani-
become logisticians to the war efforts of belligerents. If a warlord
tarianism is to contribute to solving the world's most awful prob-
knows that he can depend on a relief agency to feed his civilian
lems it must find a different paradigm, both operationally and
population, he may be freer to act solely on the basis of his military
morally. The old way of doing things is dying in Kosovo.
imperatives. It is not that the relief workers were acting in bad
faith. To the contrary, whether it was in the camps of central
RIEFF is the author of "Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the
Africa or in Sarajevo, they were in a lose-lose situation and they
West." He is completing a new book on humanitarian aid.
MAY 10, 1999 NEWSWEEK
65
signs. Last week Freeh told the
Senate Intelligence Committe
that back in 1982, the FBI inter
cepted a phone call Lee made to
another Chinese scientist who
worked at the Lawrence Liver
more Nuclear Laboratory in
California-and who was sus
pected of leaking neutron-bomb
secrets to Beijing. At the time.
the man was in hot water for de
livering a scientific lecture in
China without his superiors
permission. Lee offered to help
him out., Why was Lee reaching
out to a suspected spy? The call
was noted in his permanent se
curity file, but senators question
whether the FBI followed up)
the lead with sufficient vigor.
Lee came to the Feds' atten
tion again in 1994. Freeh told
the committee that Lee unex
Cracking the codes: The compromised files simulate explosions of MXs and other U.S. nukes
pectedly appeared at a meetin
of Chinese officials who wen
ESPIONAGE
visiting Los Alamos. The for
eigners seemed to know hin
The Slow Boat to China Crew
well. He warmly greeted sever
al of the scientists, and hugge
the Chinese intelligence offici
Did the Feds take too long to investigate the Lee case?
accompanying them. The Fed
believe Lee likely met the
at scientific conferences he
tended in Beijing. Senator
By MARK HOSENBALL
on suspicions that Lee may
want to know why, given apparent clue
AND DANIEL KLAIDMAN
have been leaking secrets-
like these, the FBI didn't identify Lee as
OUIS FREEH COULD
despite warning signs that
potential security risk earlier.
L
hardly believe his ears.
spanned nearly 20 years.
Lee was certainly no stranger to the FBI
In the summer of 1997
(Lee has not been charged,
spycatchers. His wife, Sylvia, a Los Alamo
the FBI director called
and his lawyers maintain his
administrator, was herself an FBI inform
a secret meeting to discuss a
innocence.)
ant at the same time he was allegedly leakin
problem that was just com-
Last week the case took on
secrets to the Chinese. And Wen Ho I
ing to his attention: ap-
new urgency when The New
was questioned three times by FBI counte
pallingly lax security at the
York Times reported that Lee
intelligence agents who asked if he'd
nation's nuclear-weapons
transferred supersecret "leg-
ticed any suspicious activity at the lab.
labs. Notra Trulock, the En-
acy codes"-strings of num-
Yet it wasn't until 1996 that the vario
ergy Department's deputy AP
bers that simulate how each
notations in Lee's file got serious attentic
director of intelligence,
Under suspicion: Lee
nuclear weapon in the U.S.
The FBI, looking for the source of
warned Freeh that scientific
arsenal explodes-to an un-
weapons leak at Los Alamos, began seriou
exchanges between U.S. and foreign labs
secure computer system at Los Alamos.
ly scrutinizing Lee's activities and trips
were jeopardizing nuclear secrecy. Trulock
Sources tell NEWSWEEK that the transfers
China. But even then, the agency was
left the room. Freeh, stunned at the lack of
took place sporadically between 1983 and
pered by bureaucratic obstacles. Twice
security, turned to his deputy, William Es-
1995. The Feds shouldn't have been entirely
Justice Department refused FBI requesti
posito. "Forget about [spies] sneaking
surprised. Two top security officials at the
wiretap Lee, saying agents needed more
around the back door," Esposito said de-
Energy Department, Glenn Podonsky and
idence. A secret panel of federal judges
spairingly. "The front door is wide open."
Edward McCallum, secretly warned their
authorize national-security eavesdroppi
Freeh may have been shocked by the En-
superiors in the early 1990s, sources say,
and Justice didn't want to endanger
ergy Department's security lapses, but he is
that files in the classified computer system
standing with the judges by bringing a
now facing tough questioning about whether
were vulnerable. The warnings were ig-
request; in 20 years, the department
his own agency mishandled an explosive
nored. In fact, according to administration
never been turned down. Law-enforcem
case of alleged nuclear espionage. Did the
sources, when Podonsky urged increased
sources complain that Justice should
bureau fumble its investigation of Wen Ho
security at all the labs, officials rejected the
been willing to take that risk. After being
Lee, the Los Alamos scientist who was fired
idea, saying the risks were acceptable.
glected for years, the facts about the
in March under suspicion of leaking nuclear
Podonsky told NEWSWEEK: "The comput-
Alamos leaks are only now coming into
secrets to Beijing? Government officials tell
er-security issues we identified in 1994
cus. But in Washington, the haggling
NEWSWEEK that both the Energy Depart-
have been corrected."
who's to blame is well underway.
ment and the FBI failed to act aggressively
Those issues weren't the first danger
With GREGORY L. VISTICA in Washi
66
NEWSWEEK MAY 10, 1999
AMERICA'S HOTTEST NEW THEME PARK
Littleton
& WORLD REPORT
Remembers
The Long
U.S.N
OWS
Air War
MAY 10, 1999
Ahead
Killer
Bacteria
Because of overuse, many
antibiotics are powerless
against deadly microbes.
This boy survived-but
many others may not
Digital TV
THHIL
7
Comes of Age
A New Plan
for Social
Security
$2.95
Pat Buchanan
Punches Away
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www.usnews.com
COMMENTARY
The vocabulary of evil
Why we have such a hard time talking about what's truly bad
BY JAY TOLSON
the Greek philosopher's argument that people erred "in their
choice of good and evil from a defect of knowledge." If igno-
he tragedy in Littleton is appalling for many reasons-
rance causes evil, the reasoning went, knowledge could ban-
T
not least for the torrent of banalities that it has un-
ish it. Such confidence, refined in the 18th-century Enlighten-
leashed. As Washington Post media columnist Howard
ment, inspired a goodly part of the American creed.
Kurtz noted, one professor went so far as to send out a
To be sure, Enlightenment confidence in human perfect-
press release declaring, "Littleton Shootings are Symptomatic
ibility gave rise to a partly laudable optimism and to a host of
of Male Identity Crisis." Quips University of Chicago philoso-
progressive policies, from penal reform to public education.
pher Jean Bethke Elshtain: "When we need Reinhold Nie-
But as Ralph Waldo Emerson and others transformed it into a
buhr, we get 50 Dr. Joyce Brothers." And the chasm between
kind of civic religion, that optimism revealed its limitations.
our TV-savvy pundits and the great midcentury theologian
"The problem," says cultural historian Jackson Lears, "is that
just keeps getting wider.
it leads to a stupefied response in the face of palpable in-
So why is it that the nation's vast explanation industry
stances of evil."
seems to miss the point of what happened in Littleton-not to
As progressive optimism, armed with a host of psychologi-
mention Jonesboro, West Padu-
DAVID BUTOW-SABA FOR USN&WR
cal theories, swept aside a real-
cah, and other towns now too
ism grounded in religion-even
numerous to name? Have we
in the pulpits, Elshtain says,
lost a vocabulary adequate to
"the language of syndromes re-
the enormity of the evil and
placed the language of sin"-
ended up with threadbare theo-
new explanations were needed
ries ranging from "society (or
for the evil that persisted. From
bad families or genes) made
the early 19th century on, Goth-
them do it" to "those kids are
ic literature and sensationalistic
monsters"? Some have suggest-
true-crime reporting attempted
ed that the vacuity of the an-
to satisfy that need, depicting
swers actually contributes to the
murderers as monstrous "oth-
problem. Psychiatrist and au-
ers" and reassuring normal
thor Robert Coles puts it direct-
folks that they weren't like that.
ly: "Part of the evil is all these
The growing dominance of
experts coming out with their
psychobabble, on the one hand,
shrinky comments."
and demonizing representa-
Those comments would not
tions of criminals, on the other,
have satisfied earlier genera-
Mourning for Columbine High, where the unspeakable occurred
has finally yielded a set of expla-
tions of Americans. They pos-
nations both titillating and un-
sessed a vocabulary that balanced religious and humanistic
convincing. "Psychology cannot explain the enormous varia-
traditions in a way that never fully absolved individuals from
tions of behavior," says Robert Coles, "including the fact that
responsibility for the good or bad they did. Call those tradi-
millions of kids listen to the same rock music or see the same
tions, in shorthand, the Augustinian and the Socratic-though
videos that Harris and Klebold did and never commit murder.
most Americans had other, simpler shorthands for the combi-
The greater mystery really is that most people don't act this
nation of the two, including the all-purpose "common sense."
way. But you can understand the fear of families, and why
Personal choice. From St. Augustine came a distillation of
they can't accept that evil is around every corner." And so they
Old and New Testament teaching: Evil is what results, he
consume the explanations, even though most people finally
wrote, "when the will abandons what is above itself, and turns
don't buy them-not even many evildoers themselves.
to what is lower-not because that is evil to which it turns, but
That fact comes through most powerfully in Cries Unheard,
because turning itself is wicked." For Augustine, the emphasis
English journalist Gitta Sereny's new profile of the English
on will and choice was crucial. People were imperfect crea-
child murderer Mary Bell, who at age 11 killed two younger
tures, disposed by their natures to turn from the good for self-
children and subsequently served 12 years in prison. Now in
ish reasons. But that, says Elshtain, is precisely what contem-
her late 30s and a mother herself, she says she understands
porary experts are reluctant to consider in their discussions of
the social and psychological factors that pushed her toward
misunderstood kids, genetics, and inadequate counseling.
the deeds-fatherless, poor, she was brutally abused by her
"We want to avoid talking about the falling away from the
prostitute mother, who twice tried to kill her. But if Bell could
good, the habituation to evil. Why can't we come to grips with
today stand as a prime example of the unfairly condemned
the fact that some people want to be like this?"
child criminal, she refuses to accept any exoneration that de-
We can't, in part, because of our Socratic heritage-or at
nies her own responsibility and freedom of will. "Nothing can
least a corrupted version of it. That tradition originated with
justify what I did," Bell told Sereny. "Nothing."
22 U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, MAY 10, 1999
U.S. NEWS
SCALZO FOR USN&WR
for government programs or a con-
sumption-promoting general tax
cut would limit economic growth.
Letting workers choose from a
menu of investments should satisfy
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan, who (with most of the
public) worries that direct private
investment by the government
would lead to political interference.
"This is a doable thing," says
Sperling, "but it's going to require
an emerging effort on all sides to
search for a bipartisan consensus."
Hill Democrats had no doubts
about whom to blame for the fail-
ure thus far: the Republican leader-
ship. "[House Speaker Dennis]
Hastert has made it very clear he
has no intention of doing any-
thing," says an aide to House Mi-
nority Leader Richard Gephardt.
Hastert's office, however, denied
What does Richard Gephardt want? The Social Security debate may come down to that question.
abandoning reform efforts. Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott's
spokesman, John Czwartacki, says presi-
The exaggerated death
dential leadership was the "missing piece
of the three-legged stool." Republicans
argued it's in their own interest to make a
deal lest Democrats batter the issue all
of Social Security
the way to control of the House in 2000.
"The Democrats have an illustrious rec-
ord of demagoguing on Social Security,"
says Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery.
A crafty new plan revives the reform debate
No, we want a deal, too, say the Demo-
crats. "There's no question about it," says
Charles Rangel, the Ways and Means
BY JODIE T. ALLEN
players seemed most interested in avoid-
Committee's ranking Democrat, "having
ing blame for the reform effort's demise.
a bipartisan plan before the election
ocial Security reform poked its
Still, after all the unspecific talk, there
would be a good thing." Ironically, Ran-
S
head from an early grave last week
is finally a Republican plan on the table.
gel says, Archer's very efforts at compro-
when two powerful Republicans
Archer and Shaw would give workers an
mise invited attacks from all sides. These
outlined their plan to guarantee a
income tax rebate equal to 2 percent of
were not long in coming. AFL-CIO Presi-
secure old age for the national pension
wages covered by the Social Security pay-
dent John Sweeney blasted the plan as a
system. The creative proposal, by Ways
roll tax. The rebate would be earmarked
"pig in a poke." Liberals worried that in-
and Means Committee Chairman Bill Ar-
for an individual "Social Security Guaran-
dividual accounts would lead to privatiza-
cher and subcommittee chair Clay Shaw,
tee Account" invested in a corporate
tion. Conservatives complained the ac-
seemed to startle even the usual critics of
bond/stock index fund selected by the
counts weren't independent enough since
the GOP approach to Social Security.
worker from an approved list. At retire-
workers couldn't pick unapproved invest-
"Chairmen Archer and Shaw have made
ment, workers could choose between re-
ments or pass gains on to their heirs un-
a serious effort to extend Social Security
ceiving an annuity based on their accu-
less they died before retirement. Others
solvency, unlike some Republican lead-
mulated savings or the currently
noted that Archer relied on the private
ers," says White House economic policy
guaranteed benefit.
market to solve all Social Security's prob-
chief Gene Sperling. "Any criticism from
Something for everyone. The plan aims
lems while President Clinton at least rec-
us should be constructive on the policy
to placate a full spectrum of political in-
ognized benefit cuts were also needed.
merits." Says a Democratic economist: "If
terests. For liberals worried that individ-
Still, says Rangel, criticism is to be ex-
John Kenneth Galbraith had proposed
ual accounts are a stalking horse for pri-
pected. Archer's real problem is that "po-
this, Democrats would say, 'Way to go!"
vatizing the system, there is the benefit
litically he went at it in the wrong way,"
It was a tenuously promising finish to a
guarantee and the allocation of all trust-
failing even to secure the endorsement of
week that began with flat declarations of
fund money plus a major part of general-
his own leadership. "This isn't a bill, it's a
death and a partisan search for assassins.
fund surpluses to Social Security. The tax
Joan Rivers 'can we talk?' paper." But, he
Still there's much suspicion about the
rebate addresses the GOP's desire for tax
adds, chuckling, "What the hell, let's talk.
true agenda of the many interested par-
cuts. Earmarking rebates for private sav-
But what's the next step, I don't
ties. With few months left before the
ings meets concerns of Treasury Secre-
know." Neither, it seems, does anyone
2000 campaign begins in earnest, key
tary Robert Rubin that using surpluses
else in Washington.
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT. MAY 10, 1999
29
JESSE'S
RESCUE MISSION
Today's kids dwell in
a world of computers
and videogames.
Here's howparents
can help them make
the right.choices
Growing Up
Online
NATION
CYRUS MOUNTAIN
Battling the Columbine Copycats
TRE PAIN DOD 80X
S
tered oward he foor Phone School Tabery mall
ii diad Someone have guny
under He atte: londents Elter the and de dropout whipped
out the killing a tay intal wounding mother.
am IS the would hav beenho rible enough, But coming us eight
days the the of I week of copy
cidentsat the continent Authorities rounded scores of kids
or allegedly blotting to blow up their schools sneaking gunstonto campus for
threatening to off her enemies Some schools hired guards canceled
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS- SYGMA
saltage her Then no felling exactly how many of these the were serious.
that the least has eventroub and misguide kids
attention Most kids Inter this stuff Blke
Benedek professor of clinical psychiatry the University of Michigan b.But
the are happy, ones
who want their moment in the
THE the HISA to doit.
time the that stalmost
surely
Wimberle Texas where four
year old boys were arrested
April X for allegedly plotting to
blow.up Danforth uniortHigh
School houghthe blot was
tiated well before the Golorado
massacre. attleton was proba-
bly what's spun fellow stu-
dents to report the boys after
h
would do the trick, and Dylan seemed to
overhearing them bragging.
agree. Just a few days before the shooting,
Authorities who searched their
1.
Dylan told his friend Terra Oglesbee that
homes said they found gunpow
he "couldn't wait to graduate." He was
der and building instruc-
or
playing in his beloved fantasy baseball
tions downloaded from the In
it
league until the night before the siege,
ternet The eighth-graders were
r-
making plans to trade players on the day he
charged with aconspiracy to
y
killed so many and then died. Was this a
manufacture explosives and
masterful cover, or did his mind fail to
commit murder and arson.
AFTERSHOCKS Texas authorities arrest four
process what the killing spree would
Other incidents were more
eighth-grade boys for allegedly plotting to
mean? Why would he follow Harris into
ambiguous. Five teens at Wil-
blow up their junior high school
y
hell on earth, laughing as they slaughtered
ham McKinley Junior High
or
or maimed people he knew, people he in
School in Brooklyn, N.Y. were arrested after boasting about plans to blow up their
er
some cases truly cared about?
school on graduation day. The students insisted they were just joking. Authorities
1-
People like Rachel Scott, a beatific
slapped them with conspiracy charges nevertheless. Schools in Hillsborough,
le
presence at the high school who hoped to
N.J., were shut down for a day when students received e-mail warnings, "If you
e
become a missionary. After she had been
think what happened in Colorado was bad, wait until you see what happens in
buried, some of Scott's classmates recalled
Hillsborough Middle School on Friday In Bakersfield, Calif authorities yanked
IS
a talent show last year in which she did a
a 13-year-old boy out of school after his classmates spotted him loading a 40-cal.
in
mime dance portraying Simon of Cyrene,
handgun. He had a hit list of 30 names with they deserved to die' scrawled at the
d
who carried Jesus' cross along part of the
bottom. The epidemic has put school administrators in a tough position. "Now
JI
Via Dolorosa. Midway through her perfor-
everyone has to be serious about everything,' says Paul Houston, executive di-
d.
mance the music cut out, leaving her
rector of the American Association of Administrators in Arlington, Va., "because
to
stranded. The guy in the sound booth, who
they' afraid if they aren't, they might be jeopardizing children." At the same time,
S
obviously liked her, scrambled to hook up
the American Civil Liberties Union has been deluged with complaints from par-
a reserve tape deck in time to save her per-
ents whose children were suspended for wearing black or making provocative
in
formance. The sound guy was Klebold.
statements on their web page. "There is a danger that schools are interpreting be-
How does the same boy have fun carrying
ing different as being dangerous," says ACLU attorney Ann Beeson. "Any noncon-
out the massacre that took her life?
formist kid fits some sort of profile of a killer."
-By Tammerlin Drummond.
er
"If Dylan can do this, who isn't capable
With reporting by Hilary Hytton/Austin and Andrew Purvis/Toronto
e
of it?" asks Brooks Brown's father Randy, a
le
longtime friend of Tom and Sue Klebold.
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
29
NATION
STEVE LISS FOR TIME
After the Grief: The Lawyers
LISABETI KUBU ROSS HAS DELINEATED STAGES to
death: from denial acceptance but in America there ts a sixth litigation:
Just days after the Columbine shootings, the father Usaiah Shoelsia slain
18- year old. madea call to ney Geoffrey Fieger, famous for defending
Jack evorkian, about representing his family No suits have been filed yet and
Colorado bars lawy from soliciting clients for 30 days after an incident But
itis probable that a wave of lawsuits is coming from the victims families and from
those injured the shootings What is less certain is what good they will do.
Who could be sued?? he killers parents are obvious Many findat
hard to believe the Harrises and Klebolds didn't have a clue that their kids were
buying guns, making bombs and spending a year plotting the rampage, the
law makes it difficult to prevail insuits against parents for the of children
And even if the plaintiffs beat the odds, the families' assets and homeowner san-
surance wouldn tgo far The schooldis is another possibility, if itsis shown
that Columbine, High officials ignored that Harris and Klebold were
troyed
the memorials for the two killers last weekend
thre Among those warning signals videotape the two boys made mulating
chool loodbath and some verbal threats made by Yet if the
school blundere Colorado gives the government immunity exceptin rarecases.
bol
Randy Brown. "He had a strong, manipu-
Then there are the police. The efferson County has beenfaulted
a-
lative personality. He could convince his
for failing to followupon complaints by the parents of Brooks Brown that Har-
te,
dad of anything." After Harris cracked
ris had thr eatened their Police have also been criticized for not acting
ell
Brooks' car windshield with that ice ball
faster on April 20 to storm the school and top the shootings The strongest
ou
last winter, for instance, Harris told his fa-
claim could come from the family.of Dave Sanders, the teacher who bled to
go,
ther that he thought he was throwing a
death while waiting three hours for help Yet any suit against the police would
er-
harmless snowball. His dad believed him,
again run into immunity problems, as well as the reluctance of courts to
out
but Judy Brown didn't. "You can pull the
second-guess police on tactics not like Waco, wheredaw enforcements
ea,
wool over your father's eyes," she told Eric,
own action produce the death," says Denver trial lawyer Bill Keating
of
"but you can't pull it over mine." He pre-
A few individuals could be liable: the gun seller whom police are inves
ed
tended to be offended. "You calling me a
tigating for selling a semiautomatic that may have been used in the killing,ra
liar?" he demanded. "Yes, I suppose I am,"
pizza-parlor worker of Har
a
she said. Harris stomped away.
ris and Klebold who may have
ay,
In March, according to Harris' web-
been the middleman in the
its.
site, he and Klebold were busy making
gun sale; and Robyn Ander
on
their first pipe bombs. But they gave few
son: Kleböld's prom date, who
er,
clues to the people around them. Appear-
police say bought three guns
nd
ing before Jefferson County magistrate
used in the massacre But
nk
John DeVita on March 25, after being ar-
probably none of them have
ys
rested for breaking into a car and stealing
enough money to justify the
ne
electronics equipment, Harris and Klebold
time and effort of a suit. The
ew
made like latter-day Eddie Haskells: "Yes,
victims might turn to bigger
to
Your Honor
No, Your Honor." That per-
culprits. Victims of the Jones
tle
suaded DeVita (who knew nothing of Har-
boro, Ark., school killings have
re
ris' website) to agree to put them in a juve-
sued gunmakers, and victims
it
nile diversion program, and charges were
of the Paducah, Ky., shooting
a."
dropped in return for their performing
are suing Time Warner and
in
community service and enrolling in "anger
PolyGram, the maker of The
to
management" classes.
Basketball Diaries, a movie
MOURNING The family of Isaiah Shoels, buried
ne
A week after Harris yanked his ven-
in which a student imagines
last Thursday, has already made inquiries
e-
omous website offline, he had replaced it
shooting his classmates.
nd
with an equally venomous secret diary-
Ironically, it is the survivors of the Columbine massacre, rather than the
he
the one in which, authorities say, he plot-
families of the dead, who may stand the best chance of collecting. The
at-
ted his campaign to take out Columbine
grimmest TV footage out of Littleton was of a badly injured boy dangling out
ast
High. The diary hasn't been made public.
of a window until he could be rescued by a SWAT team. Patrick Ireland, 17,
ad
But in the months of late 1998 and early
was shot in the brain and is partially paralyzed on his right side. He is likely
tit
1999, there were many preparations: guns
to have enormous medical bills for years. If victims like him were to seek re-
ili-
to acquire, bombs to make, locations to
dress in court, it would take a jury with a heart of stone to send them home
ar-
scout, timing to perfect. In the fall of 1998,
empty-handed.
-By Adam Cohen. With reporting by Richard Woodbury/Littleton
al,
Klebold and Harris made a video for a class
ys
project-a video in which they dress in
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
31
NATION
trench coats, carry guns and blow away
game Doom he had customized. In Harris'
out of ammunition dies first. Inside
jocks, a murderous fantasy stoking a mur-
version there are two shooters, each with
Columbine, that was never an issue. But
derous reality. For Klebold, the planning
extra weapons and unlimited ammunition,
maybe one of them ran out of fantasy first.
and prep may have taken on an abstract
and the people they encounter can't fight
"I think Dylan would have snapped out of it,
quality: something he and Harris talked
back. When Harris and Klebold went into
while Eric was still in the moment," says
about only to each other, something that
Columbine on April 20, says an Internet in-
Brown. "Maybe that's when they get into
fueled their relationship, something they
vestigator associated with the Wiesenthal
their own gunfight." Rumors are swirling
would plan forever but that would never
Center, "they were playing out their game
among the students that the end did not
actually happen. Until it did happen.
in God mode."
come with a double suicide. "I keep hearing
Brooks Brown makes much the same
that Eric's bullets were found in Dylan's
HEN HARRIS WAS TURNED
point. "What they did wasn't about anger or
body," says Terra Oglesbee. Another ver-
down by the Marines on
hate," he says. "It was about them living in
sion has Harris and Klebold counting to
W
April 15, it was because
the moment, like they were inside a video
three, then executing each other; some law-
of his antidepressants.
game." As long as they were rolling with the
enforcement sources say it could even be
A day before, Brandi
plan, Brown argues, the slaughter didn't
true. Though ballistics results have not been
Tinklenberg had turned
seem real to them. But that explanation ab-
released, District Attorney Dave Thomas
down his invitation to
solves the killers too easily: Is it really pos-
told TIME that the forensics suggest double
the prom. Did these fail-
sible that the flesh and blood of the maimed
suicide. But given the location of one wound
ures set him off? It's impossible to say. But
and dying was no more real to them than
and the fact that the bullet that passed
five days later, he and Klebold started
pixels on a video monitor? Brown thinks so.
through Klebold's head has not been recov-
shooting. Fittingly, they had already com-
"Then they can't get out of the library, and
ered, he doesn't dismiss the possibility of a
puter-modeled their crime. The Simon
they have a moment of overwhelming re-
murder-suicide. Says Thomas: "We may
Wiesenthal Center, which tracks Internet
morse," he surmises. "Or maybe one does,
never know." Game Over. -With reporting
hate groups, discovered last week in its
while the other is still lost inside the game."
by John Cloud, S.C. Gwynne, Maureen Harrington
archives a copy of Harris' website with a
Harris' customized Doom game was
and Jeffrey Shapiro/Littleton; Elaine Rivera/Platts-
version of the bloody shoot-'em-up video
programmed so that the shooter who runs
burgh; and Richard Woodbury/Denver
Dropithe Stigma
Our
of
movies
and
Police
rest
and
full
-
And
the modia and 4a indeo USE for headlifies
But what EN MY of giving No
just days after the Columbine through I visited - high
school and to immagring Amount Christ fram and Nac-
CM
you
times. AZ of them not they law kids who were troubled.
seeds
2
make
Most knew kids who were depensed or had attempted no-
this
promote
$
cide. Some know kids who were openly discussing violence-
because,
on
every
is
to the point that the speakers - Brightened of them Our
every
I
student told me, "My friends know they need help. and we
them
:
need
to
keep
know they and help. but they are schemed to come forward
because they fear being labelind."
The Vice President's wife
If we are andous about stopping the violence and helping
" . ingtime absociate of
and daughter resulted
the
of
the
our children, we as adults need to cease the digns that pro-
membel Amail reform
shooting
32
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
PUBLIC EYE
Margaret Carlson
An Outrage That Will Last
The public has had its fill of politicians who won't touch the gun problem
F SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN HAS SHOWN WHAT HE IS MADE OF
"national dialogue" by religious and other leaders that would
by becoming shadow Commander in Chief during the war
"inform the nation about modern culture and its impact on
in Kosovo, Al Gore may do the same during the war in the
youth." Senate majority leader Trent Lott seemed intent on
schools. Unlike so many others, he didn't single out culture
keeping his earlier vow that gun control legislation would
or guns for blame, but immediately addressed both. He and
never pass on his watch. He called the renewed push for gun
Tipper were for values before it was cool. If his below-radar
control a typical "knee-jerk reaction" to the shootings and
efforts last week are successful, the man who clumsily
staved off for at least two weeks an effort to have a vote, in
claimed to have created the Internet may be the one to clean
the hope that emotions will cool. The House, heavily mort-
it up, getting the biggest players to voluntarily keep the worst
gaged to the gun lobby, has scheduled no bills. House Re-
sites from children.
publican whip Tom De-
Gore came out square-
Lay, whose office was the
ly for gun control, even as
SHA
site of the murder of one of
the President initially hung
the two Capitol guards
back. While the Republi-
slain by a crazed gunman
cans pandered to the pow-
ON T
last summer, accused Clin-
erful gun lobby, which tar-
NR
ton of exploiting tragedy
gets heretics for defeat,
for political benefits.
Gore spoke eloquently at
FOR
Republicans are betting
the memorial service in
that this too will pass, that as
Littleton (even if he does
TIME
with Jonesboro and Paduc-
mistake shouting and arm
ah, Pearl and Springfield,
chops for animation). The
My son Daniel
once the white coffins are in
raw sadness of burying
the ground and the cameras
children had temporarily
died at Columbine.
gone, the outrage will sub-
alleviated his stiffness, and
side. But maybe not this
he plaintively asked, "What
He'd expect
time. In town meetings and
say we into the open muz-
talk radio, the public has
zle of this tragedy, cocked
OLUNTEER
and aimed at our hearts?"
ere today
had its fill of politicians talk-
ing resignedly about our
At a campaign stop in
gun cûlture, as if there's
the living room of a turn-
nothing to be done about a
of-the-century house in
subgroup that finds school-
Dubuque, Iowa, he told
yard massacres an accept-
how the father of a dead child had asked
able cost for its right to be armed to the teeth.
him in a whisper to promise that his child
Arms and the Boys
But if the Constitution speaks of a "well-
and the other had not died in vain. Gore did.
Daniel's father Tom Mauser
regulated militia," why don't we regulate it?
If his words rang true, it may have been
protesting the N.R.A.
Surely the sanest teenager isn't militia mater-
because Republicans hit so many false
convention in Denver at the
ial. Gun ownership should not start until age
notes. Dan Quayle led the clanging chorus,
steps of the Colorado capitol
21, and it should require a background check
warning that the massacre should not be
at every purchase point, and a waiting period.
used "as an excuse to go and take away guns." He sounded
Just as no one has a right to a machine gun, no one should have
like gun lobbyist Neal Knox, who fretted that "fresh victims"
a right to a semiautomatic weapon, or a gun that can be altered
bring out the "anti-gun" fanatics. The other Republican
to become one. Of course guns should have safety locks.
presidential contenders avoided blaming weapons in favor of
Just a year ago in Jonesboro, teacher Shannon Wright,
blaming the culture, except McCain, who flicked at the gun
mother of a two-year-old, stopped a bullet for another moth-
problem in a joint letter with Democrats asking for a White
er's child. Two week ago, Dave Sanders bled to death after
House summit on the entertainment industry. Texas Gover-
directing kids to safety. And we're supposed to think gun
nor George W. Bush found himself doing another waffle. Re-
buyers can't endure a little red tape, a little delayed gratifi-
sponding to Littleton, he said he supported background
cation in making their purchase? Without guns, Eric Harris
checks for people buying weapons at Texas gun shows or flea
and Dylan Klebold were menacing misfits in trench coats
markets, but a bill to that effect had just died in committee
feasting on Internet swill. With guns, they became merciless
without his support. Asked if he planned to revive it, he said
mass murderers. We're hungry for a politician who can stand
no because it was "flawed." Then the candidate of small gov-
up to the gun lobby and convince it that burying Isaiah
ernment said maybe Congress should take up the issue.
Shoels last Thursday in the graduation gown he would have
In Congress, while Democrats were pushing stringent
worn to his commencement this month is unacceptable in a
legislation, the boldest move by Republicans was to call for a
civilized society.
-With reporting by Karen Tumulty/Dubuque
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
35
FAMILIES
RAISING KIDS
ON
WHAT CAN PARENTS DO?
We want our kids to use the Net but worry about what
they'l find. Here are some ways to steer them straight
By DANIEL OKRENT
into mass-murderers as about something more persis-
tently troubling: that even if our kids aren't playing
N THE MORNING OF TUESDAY, APRIL 20, AS
blood-soaked computer games or plotting violence in the
the sun rose over Littleton, Colo., more
dark crannies of an online chat room, they are plunging
than 14 million American teenagers
into a whole world of influences and values and entice-
punched off their alarm clocks, scarfed
ments that is, most of the time, hidden from our view.
their breakfasts, brushed their teeth,
At any moment, those same kids exploring jungle
rushed off to school and did not kill their
fauna
or
listening to Baby One More Time are just
a
classmates. On that day, like other days,
few keystrokes away from Pandora's hard drive-from
40% of those teenagers-a number that has
the appalling filth, unspeakable hatred and frightening
doubled in the past two years alone-logged on to the
prescriptions for homicidal mayhem that the Littleton
Internet. The vast majority did not encounter recipes for
massacre evoked. If you listened to the conversations at
pipe bombs or deranged rants about white supremacy.
PTA meetings and around Little League diamonds last
Most were getting sports scores, downloading the most
week, it was as if we'd already forgotten that the Inter-
recent Britney Spears cut, chatting with friends. Some
net brings us vital medical information, cross-cultural
were even doing their homework, tapping into colorful
dialogue, vast stores of learning and beauty and virtue.
libraries of information on the rain forests, data about
Yet what comfort is that to a parent who came across a
particle physics, essays on Hamlet.
website last week in which the index included the fol-
These are things, true things all, that we try to im-
lowing entries: "Counterfeit Money," "Hot-Wiring
press on our children, and ourselves, as we struggle to
Cars," "Breaking into Houses," "Thermite Bombs,"
come to terms with the slaughter in Colorado and the
"Tennis Ball Bomb"? Such is the power of Web tech-
vivid gash it has left in our psyche. We know that the In-
nology that the simple act of listing the phrases here will
ternet couldn't possibly be the source of the demons
make it possible for anyone to type these words into a
that drove the two killers. We want our kids to use the
search engine and immediately locate the site that
Net; we know that this technological wonder, every bit
houses them.
as revolutionary as the light bulb or the telephone, is go-
Read this page, then burn it.
ing to shape all our lives in the century ahead.
Would that it were so easy. The Internet is as persis-
And yet we worry, because we are parents and be-
tent as it is potent, an indelible and uncontainable pres-
cause we are citizens. Since Littleton, we worry not so
ence in the culture. In fact, the Internet isn't separate
much about our kids' or their classmates' being turned
from the culture at all; it is the culture. All the trash, flot-
38
Illustration for TIME by Matt Mahurin
It just makes it forbidden fruit."
If there is a war to be
fought, the critical beachhead
is in the home. For the wonder
and the horror of the Web is
not that it takes you out into
the world; on the contrary, it
TIME
brings the world-in all its glo-
rious, anarchic, beautiful, hate-
ful variety-into your home.
We'd all prefer that the porn,
the neo-Nazis, the viölent
misogynists and all the other
floating trash of a cacophonous
culture not wash up into our
living rooms. But because they
do, we are at least able to know
the enemy. We can devise
strategies to steer our children
away from what's worst on the
Net, and toward what is best,
even as they grow up much,
much too fast.
I think I first felt the
parental quiver of fear when I
had my initial encounter with a
chat room-that invisible meet-
STRONG parental
ing spot where the impression-
control is the best
able encounter the unknow-
way to be sure
fingers are not
able. Web fans say that the
wandering too far
Internet, and chats in particu-
lar, force interaction, engage-
ment, connection. The favored
sam and spillage of our society gets its mo-
don't feel they perceive the dangers in any-
term for all the Web's weightless, disem-
ment there, where the tiniest obsession has
thing like the way adults do."
bodied conversation is community. But in
its spot on the shelf, right next to Bach and
And it's not as if governmental action
fact, the Web provides only a shadow of
charity and sunsets. The Internet lets a mil-
can really make any difference. The Inter-
community; the interaction with another
lion flowers bloom, and a million weeds.
net is too diffuse, too international, too
human being that is held out as the great
One might wander through the rank
much the cat that long ago escaped the
virtue of Web community is actually inter-
reaches of this garden for a reason: a
bag. Besides, as Brenda Laurel, a Silicon
action with the facsimile of a human being.
teacher or a parent who feels the need to
Valley veteran and mother of three girls,
I remember passing through the study
know how bad it can be out there. Or
says, "Resisting open access to the Inter-
in our house when my 13-year-old daughter
maybe a racist searching for kindred spir-
net isn't going to be an effective strategy.
was engaged in a chat with someone who
its, or someone lusting for
said she was a 15-year-old
images of brutality or sex.
Californian named Cheryl.
Often; though, you wander
TIME/CNN TEEN POLL
Do your parents have rules
It occurred to me-and I
because you're 13.
about your Internet use, and do
suggested to my daughter-
Where an earlier gen-
Do you use the Internet
you follow them?*
YES
Yes, and always follow
31%
that her chatmate, with
eration of children sneaked
for things like e-mail, chat
whom she was sharing the
hygiene texts off library
rooms or visiting websites?
82%
Yes, but don't always follow
26%
sort of intimacies a 13-year-
shelves to giggle over draw-
No, parents don't have rules
43%
Have you ever seen websites that:
old will indulge in, could
ings of the human repro-
Are X-rated or have
Have you ever encountered
just as likely be a 53-year-old
ductive system, our kids
sexual content
44%
people online who:*
backwoods hermit named
can now cruise through
YES
Have Information about
You suspect are
Earl. It was a nauseating
unspeakable swamps. But
GIRLS
BOYS
hate groups
25%
pretending to be
thought to both of us.
ask Michael Thompson, a
someone they're not
72%
57%
Teach how to build
And it was frightening
clinical psychologist based
bombs
14%
Say offensive things
66%
54%
evidence of how, as the
in Boston, if the kids he sees
Show where or how
Want personal
medium has matured, its ar-
think of themselves as im-
to buy a gun
12%
Information like your
chitects' noble commitment
periled. "Because there's a
address or phone
to the user's privacy was be-
lot of omnipotent thinking
What do your
A lot
38%
number
58%
39%
coming inverted. What was
in adolescents," he says,
parents know
A little
45%
From a telephone poll of 409 American teenagers 13 to 17 years old
once a protective shield has
"and because the dangers
about the web-
taken for TIME/CNN on April 27-29 by Yankelovich Partners Inc.
Nothing
17%
Sampling error is +4.8% "Not sures" omitted
now morphed into an ob-
are somewhat more ab-
sites you visit?*
*Asked of the 341 who use the Internet; sampling error is * 5.3%
scuring cloak of anonymity.
stract than climbing trees, I
Inventive screen names and
40
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
In 1998
17 million kids ages
FAMILIES
2 to 18 were online.
coy e-mail addresses have
That number is expected
what others are saying
says Ed Donnerstein, co-director of the
replaced those convention-
to grow in five years
about them.
Center for Communication and Social Pol-
al signs of identity: a name,
to more than
Everyone agrees that
icy at the University of California at Santa
a face. Under the banner of
42 million
the most effective way to
Barbara, explaining why we seem so un-
privacy, Internet anonymity
monitor kids' online activity
done by the perceived threats of the Web.
has become the ultimate plain
is
to monitor it. Literally. To
But it doesn't take a degree in electrical en-
brown wrapper. Some parents
stand beside the computer from
gineering to know, for instance, that your
who decline to monitor their kids' on-
time to time when your son is at the
kids should be admonished never to reveal
line chatting liken it to eavesdropping on
keyboard, watching his every mouse click,
personal information to anyone online
their phone calls, which they say they
mindful, of course, that when he starts typ-
without your permission-the digital
would never do. But there's a difference:
ing numerals-1,2,3,4-he could be using
equivalent of not taking candy from
when your child's on the phone, she knows
the chat signal that says "parental unit
strangers. Or that something as simple as
who's on the other end of the line.
nearby." If the count reaches five, he's
the computer's placement in the home can
S
Privacy can be as dicey an issue within
telling his chat partners there's a parent
be an effective way to keep an eye on
the household as it is out on the Web itself.
reading the screen.
where your kids are going. One of my col-
y
There are thousands of families in which
Every parent should also take advan-
leagues has put his family's computer on a
reading the kids' e-mail, monitoring their
tage of the wonderful excuse the Web has
balcony atop the stairs. Whenever the kids
e
chats and tracking their Web travels is a
given us to keep credit cards from our
are surfing, Dad can see where they're go-
solemn parental obligation. "I have every
teenage kids. Entry past the first or second
ing from his reading chair, and Mom can
right to read their e-mail," says Bruce Co-
level to most porn sites-and to other be-
check in by leaning out the door of the up-
hen, a Reno, Nev., father of two. "Legally,
yond-the-pale operations of hustling Web
stairs study, where her computer lives. And
I'm responsible for them until they're 18."
entrepreneurs-is governed by the ability
the kids can see them.
Yet many others believe that invading an e-
to key in a valid card number.
As kids get older and are likely to de-
e
mail file is no different from opening a pen-
But beyond random shoulder surfing
mand a little more privacy, some basic
I
and-paper diary that your daughter keeps
and convenient-credit-card denial, we par-
technological know-how comes into play.
a
under lock and key in a dresser drawer. A
ents have a more potent range of options
Surprisingly few parents realize how easy it
lot of parents-not to mention kids-find
than we may be aware of. "A lot of parents
is to find out where their kids have been
that a breach of parent-child trust.
might be somewhat computerphobic,"
surfing or to make effective use of simple
But even if e-mail is considered
inviolate, there are tactics by which
the alert parent can control it.
America Online, the Internet ser-
vice provider used by nearly 17 mil-
lion households, allows parents to
limit incoming e-mail to a finite list
of correspondents. In any e-mail
program, a scan of the senders' ad-
dresses can give you a good idea of
the nature of your kid's correspon-
dents. The proliferation of mailing
y
lists being such a Web common-
r
place, what's coming in can some-
times tell you what's been going out:
even unsolicited e-mail-from, say,
a Ku Klux Klan site-can be a clue
that someone's been surfing some
pretty scary pages.
In fact, this sort of Web trans-
parency can actually be a boon to
worried parents. If your teenager is
going places in the material world
and doing things that you wouldn't
approve of, you may never know it.
If he's connecting with the world's
ugliness on the Web, you may have
a chance to track it down. Some par-
DAVID FOR TIME
ents make a regular practice of typ-
ing their kids' names and nicknames
into a search engine, which gives the
parents a shot at discovering what
S
the kids are saying on their own
S
websites or on message boards and
THE WEB brings the world with all its
glory-but also with all its evils-into
your living room. Who polices It?
FAMILIES
software that would block
Borsecnik, the senior AOL
access to taboo sites. Dale
TIME/CNN TEEN POLL
official involved in the de-
Berger-Daar, a Chicago ear-
velopment of the service's
ly-childhood professional,
How much do you trust the
GREAT
NOT
generally laudable parental
information you get from:
DEAL
SOMEWHAT
AT ALL
says she can't check up on
controls, acknowledges that
her 13-year-old son's activi-
Your parents
83%
16%
1%
"if I have a middle school
ties even if she wants to.
Teachers
61%
35%
3%
child who's going to do a re-
"He set the whole computer
Religious leaders
55%
32%
11%
search report on breast can-
up," she says. "He can do
Friends
48%
49%
3%
cer"-a child with kids-only
whatever he wants." Tom
TV news and newspapers
39%
53%
7%
AOL access can't view sites
Horan, a New Mexico
The Internet
13%
62%
24%
with even straight medical
lawyer and lobbyist, doesn't
information about breasts-
check his teenage sons' e-
Do you think it is a good Idea
NO
GOOD
BAD
DIFFERENCE
"I might want to turn off the
mail simply because, he ac-
or bad Idea for teenagers to have
access to the Internet?
78%
13%
8%
filters" while helping the
knowledges, he doesn't
child with the research.
know how. At least Berger-
Yet the most advanced
Daar and Horan are honest. While more
otherwise objectionable. In both instances,
filters available make it unnecessary to do
than 70% of parents in a recent Jupiter
the filter will almost always work like a
so. CyberPatrol, a piece of retail software
Communications survey asserted that they
blunt instrument. If you tried to get to the
from the same company that manages
set at least some restrictions on their kids'
home page of the Almaden Valley (Califor-
AOL'S Web filters, is a customizable system
Internet activities, a TIME/CNN poll of
nia) Youth Soccer League and you had a fil-
that allows parents to choose which types of
teenagers last week indicated that the kids
ter, you would be blocked because the filter,
sites to block based on the parents' criteria.
see things somewhat differently: 62% said
tuned to look out for pedophiles, might
I may not want to block my. children from
their parents know little or nothing about
have the phrase "Boys Under 12" on the
information about gay and lesbian politics,
the websites their kids visit.
proscribed list. If "sex" is labeled taboo, you
but let's say you do: CyberPatrol accom-
I think we know whom to trust. Par-
can't read the poet Anne Sexton. Katherine
modates. So does Net Nanny.
ents who tell a pollster they're keeping an
eye on things may really be relying wish-
fully on someone-anyone-else, probably
at school. But schools and libraries stake
a claim on too little of the child's time, and
Pokémon: The Cutest Obsession
inescapable First Amendment issues make
it unlikely that any public agency
AS VIDEO GAMES GO,
likely to spur kids to pur-
came the highest-rated
will be or should be able to play
Pokémon is a far cry
chase assault weapons. But
children's show in the U.S.,
an effective role in controlling
from Doom.
it has inspired the kind of
first in syndication and
Net access and con-
Rather than anni-
obsessive acquisitiveness
now on the WB network.
tent. That can happen only
hilating demons
not seen since-well, the
Nintendo has sold 2.5 mil-
at home. One family
with an arsenal of
Beanie Baby. When Poké-
lion Pokémon Game Boy
may respond to the Web's en-
firepower, kids ma-
mon was introduced in
cartridges in seven months,
ticements by disconnecting the
nipulate a group of
Japan in 1996, the charac-
making it the fastest-selling
phone line; another may simply make
cloyingly cute critters
ters immediately captivat-
product in company histo-
them a regular topic of dinner conver-
whose primary form of
ed the preteen set, particu-
ry. Since January, 850,000
sation. And because we're each entitled
battle is a glorified version
larly young boys. Pokémon
Pokémon trading card sets
c
to cleave to our own parenting ideology,
of rock, paper, scissors.
creatures such as Pikachu
have been sold in the U.S.,
ir
both would be right.
There are no guns, no
(a yellow catlike mite) and
and kids flock to malls to
h
But both should also understand that
blood-no one even dies.
Poliwhirl (a disk with
participate in official trad-
there are tools that can make the task easi-
Players choose a starter
bulging eyes) were soon
ing bazaars. So preoccu-
P.
er and more effective, chiefly filters that
Pokémon (short for pocket
presiding over a media
pied are kids with the trad-
ly
bar access to offensive or dangerous con-
monster), then nurture and
juggernaut, including an
fa
tent and monitors that tell you where the
train it to battle other mon-
animated TV show
W
browser has been browsing. America On-
sters using such "weapons"
and trading cards,
Nintendo
ol
line, despite all the odious get-rich-quick
as water, fire and electrici-
and appearing on
a
or get-horny-quick e-mail that it can't
ty. After defeating a foe,
everything from cell
fc
atchemiall!
seem to keep out of my own mailbox, has
the original monster be-
phones to hot-dog
I
been particularly effective in helping par-
comes more powerful. The
packages.
ents give their children an online experi-
aim is to become a "master
Now the fever has
ence under the firm guidance of its editors:
trainer" by vanquishing all
spread to the U.S.
a "kids-only" AOL account blocks young
150 challengers.
Within a month of its
users from all but full-time-monitored chat
With its benevolent
debut last September,
rooms and prescreened kid-friendly sites.
characters and empower-
the TV series-less a
Many other filtering systems work dif-
ing ethic of "whatever
cartoon than a half-hour
ferently from AOL'S, dumbly applying a list
doesn't kill you makes you
exercise in Pokémon
of forbidden words against the content of
stronger," Pokémon is un-
product placement-be-
BLUE
VEDCION
any site the user tries to see or simply block-
ing access to a list of sites ruled obscene or
42
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
In 1996
there were two
(crude) Internet filters
Many parents don't realize that a sim-
to a website that discusses
on the market. The
is leading a campaign to
ple click on the "history" tab on a browser
alcohol abuse, and the par-
number of Net safety
make information on the
S
tool bar will produce a list of links to every
ent finds out, what hap-
tools available today:
growing pool of safety tools
site the computer has visited recently. It's
pens then?"
true that any canny 13-year-old knows
120
more widely available on the
Many Internet service
Web. Parents need to be able
how to delete potentially incriminating
providers offer filtering ser-
to find this information in a
evidence from the history files. Already,
vices. But because of the need to
central, organized place, says ex-
though, there are several programs avail-
appeal to the largest audience, they
ecutive director Jerry Berman.
able, such as Cyber Snoop (at least the
may go much further in their proscrip-
Still, even the best of these tools, de-
'S
manufacturer doesn't euphemize), that
tions than some parents would want. Amy
ployed with the greatest care, work only
create a tamperproof database-a trail of
Bruckman, a computer-science professor
when they're coupled with bold parental
bread crumbs, as it were-so parents can
at Georgia Tech, points out that "a lot of
involvement. Bonnie Fell, of Skokie, Ill., is
examine every Web address the computer
these filtering companies are not making
the family Internet cop, making certain at
has visited since the last time Dad checked
clear what their values are, their method
least once a month to open all the files that
in. But consider this evidence of the com-
for deciding what is acceptable and what
have been downloaded by her two teen-
d
plexity of the privacy issue: Susan Getgood,
is not." That's why it's so important to buy
age sons-which she'll do, she says,
o
a vice president of the company that makes
a filter that can be tuned to your family's
"whether the boys are there or not. And
e
CyberPatrol, suggests that monitors have
values.
they know it." Carleton Kendrick, a fami-
:S
their own problems. "If a preteen is a child
The Center for Democracy & Technol-
ly therapist in Medfield, Mass., suggests
n
of an alcoholic parent," she asks, "and goes
ogy, a Washington advocacy organization,
that accompanying your child to a website
he frequents is no different from "check-
ing out a playground where your kids go,
n
JAMES KEGLEY FOR TIME
to see that it's safe, to see who hangs
around there."
Of course, if your kids are teenagers,
they're eventually going to find ways to
get online when you're not around. Or
they'll have learned how to disable every
filter but the one they cannot break on
their own: the human bond between par-
ent and child. "I'm C.J.'s mother, so I'm
responsible for what he does," says Kelley
Jones, a Detroit single mom who general-
U.S.,
ly allows her 13-year-old son to browse
just about any website he wishes on the
rk.
computer in the living room, as long as he
mil-
discusses what he finds. Says Jones: "It's
loy
a waste of time to blame technology for
nths,
parents' mistakes." Or, as Jim Lynch,
alling
who manages message boards
isto-
for the Boston-based
.000
Family Education Net-
I sets
COLLECTORS: For fans of Poliwhirl, there's a TV show, a video game-and trading cards
work, says, "Parents
U.S.,
ting cards, some schools
the Family, thinks it's pos-
Pokémon I play it
are the ultimate filter."
to
have banned them.
sible. The technology be-
whenever I can get my
As they always have
rad-
For most parents,
hind most video games, he
hands on it," says éight-
been. Consider this picture: a
u-
Pokémon seems a relative-
explains, is based on a psy-
year-old Chad Boecke of
kid sits alone in front of his
trad-
ly benign, if exasperating
chological principle called
Kenosha, Wis. Joshua Tu-
computer, cruising the Inter-
fad. But could it be a gate-
"operant conditioning"-
nis, also 8, of New York
net. In the background a CD
way to more dangerous
essentially, stimulus-
City, would play every
player blares misogynistic obscen-
obsessions? David Walsh,
response-reward. "Re-
waking moment if his par-
ities. In another room, the television fea-
a child psychologist and
search has shown that
ents didn't set a kitchen
tures a teenage heroine contemplating vio-
founder of the National
operant conditioning is a
timer to signal the game's
lence against her classmates. The local
mall!
Institute on Media and
powerful shaper and influ-
end Like most fads, Poké-
sixplex is playing a film that spills more
encer of behavior," says
mania will undoubtedly
blood than a slaughterhouse hoses down in
Walsh. The obsession is
fade. But there are no signs
a month. And in most states, if you can't buy
not about violence; it's
of that yet: the Pokémon
a gun with a few phone calls and a couple of
about how engrossing the
movie is due out around
hundred bucks, you haven't really tried.
game becomes."
Thanksgiving.
By Michele
Now you go into that kid's room, un-
Walsh stresses the
Orecklin. With reporting by
plug the computer and walk out. What have
need to balance children's
Autumn De Leon/New York,
you really accomplished?
-Reported by
activities, which is not so
Erik Gunn/Kenosha and Jeanne
Maryanne Murray Buechner/New York, Nichole
easy when it comes to
McDowell/Los Angeles
Christian/Detroit, Wendy Cole and Maggie Sieger/
Chicago, Nancy Harbert/Albuquerque, Michael
Krantz/San Francisco and Elaine Marshall/Reno
TIME, MAY 10, 1999
43
HOW RALPH REED BECAME THE GOP'S HOTTEST HIRED GUN
K STREET'S TOP 10
MAY 1, 1999 NUMBER 18
National
CTION
THE WEEKLY
ON POLITICS AND
GOVERNMENT
VINGS BANK
HE FOLLOWING:
URED C.D.
NATL.
LOANS
Breaking Banking's Barriers
'OANS (00)
URED
ST
'ONAL
SSE
10
8
STATE
7
The framers of the banking reform bill that is heading to the Senate floor had a
chance to cement a crack in the wall between banking and commerce that allows
companies. such as Ford and General, Electric, to own savings-&oans. But they
left the crack open. And some fear t.will widen over time.- BY-JULIE KOSTERLITZ
Inside Politics
A GOVERNOR Is AT WAR. GUESS WHO?
BY JACK W. GERMOND AND JULES WITCOVER
T. PAUL, Minn.-With less than three weeks before the
S
hole card, and everybody's posturing around betting. But at
scheduled adjournment of the Minnesota Legislature,
some point, you've gotta turn it over, don't you?"
Reform Party Gov. Jesse Ventura is not mincing any words
If spending bills aren't passed in time for the new fiscal year,
with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the
Ventura says, "then we start systematically shutting down the
Democrat-led Senate. If they don't send him a budget that gives
government. If I agree to [the amount of] the House's cuts,
him what he wants on education, rebates a $3.3 billion state tax
then they have to come forward and say what are we cutting. I'm
surplus, and furthers spending cuts, he says he won't hesitate to
not going to let them just make the cuts and run home, and
shut down the government.
then they leave me [to decide] what's going to be eliminated."
"I'm not going to call a special session," he says resolutely
Although Ventura sounds like a man ready to call his oppo-
from behind his desk at the State Capitol. "You never say never,
nents' bluff, there are some signs that in the end he may not
but it's highly unlikely that I would. I was under a time limit to
have to. Members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, in par-
get my budget to them
I could have waited until the last day
ticular, are close to his position on deep tax cuts-that is, hold-
[for submission]. I didn't do that. I gave it to them two and a
ing off on them in deference to any economic downturn-and
half weeks ahead of time. So for them to even insinuate that we
they back him on using the $1.3 billion in tobacco industry
should have some kind of special session is ludicrous."
money (won in a law suit) for health-related endowments rather
He goes on: "If they don't have the bills done, well, all I can
than for rebates; as the Republicans want.
say is, 'Remember what happened to Newt when they shut the
But the Republicans, too, are moving his way on some issues.
government down?' He refers to the strong public reaction to
The GOP-controlled House has just voted to spend more for
then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., in the federal shut-
grade-school education than he asked, and he notes with satis-
down during the winter of 1995-96. "He didn't come out on the
faction that they have dropped their longtime push for voucher
good end. I think the President came out on the high side on
payments to private schools, a program Ventura firmly opposes.
that one, and I think the same thing will happen here, that I, the
"Two years ago, it was vouchers out of the same group of
Governor, will come out on the high side and the Legislature
[Republican] people. I said in my campaign I wanted to outlaw
will be the losers."
the word 'voucher.' Apparently I've done so."
It is determined talk from the political outsider who upset the
The DFLers reacted even more sharply to the November
Republican and Democratic candidates last November-and has
result, he says. "The Democrats took a shellacking. They lost the
yet to convince the skeptics that he is up to the job. He displays
House, Hubert [H. "Skip"] Humphrey [III] came in third place
no doubts about himself after four months of dealing with the
with only 28 percent of the vote. They're not dumb. They saw
split-party Legislature. What he has found, Ventura reflects, is
that they needed to change their position. I'm centrist and
that "it's very much a power game with those two parties. The
that's not a bad word. The Democrats have just [moved closer]
great majority of their focus is on holding
to a centrist position."
or gaining their caucus power rather than
For all of Ventura's tough talk, he ap-
doing what is best for the state of Minneso-
pears to be winning tentative acceptance
ta. They want their people in line
Many
from leaders of both major parties. Sen-
may be freethinkers who come over here
"THEY COCK-A-
ate Majority Leader Roger D. Moe (DFL)
with the attitude that they're going to vote
says he thinks Ventura sees himself more
their conscience. But then they're almost
as an "arbitrator" toward the legislation
steamrolled into line by the party caucus."
DOODLE-DO AND ACT
than as an initiator, and that it's "wise" to
Ventura, complaining about "the pom-
be cautious in his first budget. With
pous arrogance of the two parties," com-
opposition parties in control in each
pares them to "my little bantam roosters I
REAL TOUGH," JESSE
house, Moe says, he thinks Ventura can
have out at my farm. They kick the dirt up,
achieve more without legislative action,
and puff their chests out, and they cock-a-
using his popularity to be "the state's
doodle-do and act real tough, and posture
VENTURA SAYS OF
chief ambassador."
around at the people's expense."
House Speaker Pro Tem Ron Abrams, a
In response, he says, "the only thing I'm
Republican, praises Ventura for the quality
able truly to do is take my case to the peo-
HIS LEGISLATIVE
of his cabinet appointments, for halting
ple, and I will do that. I can't answer for
budget growth, and for his directness. Both
everything, because it is a poker game.
Abrams and Moe say he deserves more
OPPOSITION.
They're used to playing bluff poker.
time to show what he can do. Whether he
Pretty much all the cards have been dealt
can get a satisfactory budget by May 17 will
now, and everybody's sitting with their
be his first real test.
1202
NATIONAL JOURNAL 5/1/99
Political Pulse
AMMUNITION FOR LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES
BY WILLIAM SCHNEIDER
I
n human terms, what happened in Colorado last week was
hard to do much without violating someone's rights. Pass gun
tragic. In political terms, it was ironic. Colorado has been
control laws, and people will complain you're violating their
trending Republican. It was one of only three states that voted
gun rights. Pass laws to regulate the culture, and people will cry
for Bill Clinton in 1992 and then switched to Bob Dole in 1996 (the
censorship. Pass laws to promote family values, and people will
others were Montana and Georgia). Now that Colorado has a
complain you're trying to tell parents how to raise their kids.
Republican Governor and a Republican state legislature for the
An overwhelming majority of Americans-nearly 80 per-
first time in 12 years, the National Rifle Association has decided to
cent-reject the view that Littleton was an isolated event. They
showcase its clout in Colorado. Starting with its convention in
believe it means that something is seriously wrong in the coun-
Denver this week.
try. But the public is divided over whether government and soci-
Prodded by the NRA's 60,000 Colorado members, the legisla-
ety can do anything to prevent such tragedies. Something's
ture was ready to pass new gun laws. One law would have made
deeply wrong, and Americans doubt they can do anything about
it easier for citizens to carry concealed weapons. Another would
it. Hence, the frustration. And the anger.
have wiped out local gun regulations, including Denver's highly
In Colorado, community leaders are taking out their anger
restrictive laws that banned the display of assault weapons at the
on the gun culture and its foremost advocate, the NRA. Gun-
NRA convention. Republican Gov. Bill Owens was expected to
rights advocates argued that the Littleton tragedy was caused
sign those new laws. "The American Constitution does give peo-
more by bombs than by guns. Gun control supporters, like Sen.
ple a right to keep and bear arms," Owens has said. The NRA
Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., answered right back: "If high pow-
expected to come to Denver in triumph. Especially after suffer-
ered weapons with big clips weren't available, at the very least
ing a bitter defeat on April 6 in Missouri, where voters narrowly
they would have killed fewer people."
defeated an association-backed ballot proposition that would
Gov. Owens blamed "the day in and day out demeaning of
have lifted that state's ban on concealed weapons.
human life that we see in this country, where euthanasia is
Then came Littleton, and everything changed. After such a
excused, where infanticide is excused, where violence is glorified."
bloody event, gun control always gets thrust onto the public
Gun control supporters, like Vice President Al Gore, responded:
agenda, and it's happening now. Last week's Gallup Poll asked
"In times past, it was not uncommon for kids who fell into anger
Americans where they place the blame for tragedies such as the
and got on the wrong path to break windows with bricks or get
one in Colorado. More than any other single factor, people
into fistfights. But now, with the availability of these semiautomatic
blame the easy availability of guns (60 percent). Next come
weapons and pipe bombs, the consequences are truly horrific."
parental shortcomings (51 percent) and popular entertain-
The legislators who sponsored Colorado's new gun laws
ment-"TV, movies, and music" (49 percent). Guns, family,
quickly got the message and pulled their bills. "We. could not
culture: There's the agenda. With guns at the top.
rationally. deal with this bill this year and come up with good
The debate has begun to take on a pre-
policy," one sponsor said. The NRA got
dictable quality. Liberals blame the guns.
the message, too. After initially blaming
Conservatives blame the culture. "It's notà
the parents and the school, association
gun control problem. It's a culture control
President Charlton Heston wrote to his
problem," argued Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., an
AFTER THE
members that the organization would
NRA board member.
"modify our schedule to show our pro-
You know how President Clinton likes to
found sympathy and respect for the fami-
steal issues from Republicans? So does his
BLOODBATH IN
lies and communities." The convention
wife. Speaking at a teachers conference in
was scaled back to one day.
New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton (who
But it's only a tactical retreat. In the
might or not run for that state's open Sen-
LITTLETON, COLO.,
end, the gun lobby is likely to have the last
ate seat) blamed guns first: "Why on earth
word. That's because, as many politicians
would we permit any young person access
have learned, public anger. over gun vio-
to the firearms those two young men
GUN CONTROL IS
lence is usually not sustained for very long.
brought into that school?" Then she
By election time, the only people who vote
blamed the culture, in remarks that
the issue are gun owners. They remember
echoed Bob Dole's 1996 anti-Hollywood
BACK ON THE
every vote for gun control as an infringe-
campaign: "We can no longer shut our eyes
ment on their rights. As one gun-rights
to the impact the media is having on all
advocate said last week-insensitively, but
PUBLIC AGENDA.
our children, and the potentially violent
not incorrectly-anti-gun groups "make
impact it is having on some of them."
their headway only when there are fresh
So what is to be done? The truth is, it's
victims" of gun violence. Like now.
1210 NATIONAL JOURNAL 5/1/99
BusinessWeek
MAY 10, 1999
A
PUBLICATION OF THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES
AT&T VS.
Comcast
THE REINCARNATION OF
The
battle for
MediaOne
MIKE MILKEN
Jim
Barksdale
A close-up
and his quest
Life
after
look at his life,
to cure cancer.
"ДО"
Netscape
his education
PAGE 92
Kosovo
business,
The economic
fallout
The
Internet
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the
rules?
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News: Analysis & Commentary
EDUCATION
trapped in the country's worst schools.
"The public-school system is a monopoly
that delivers bad products at high
prices," charges Forstmann. "We need
ITCHING TO GET OUT
to open it up and allow competition to
create innovation."
OF PUBLIC SCHOOL
Talk like this has thrust Forstmann
into the national debate over how best
A new scholarship fund heats up the debate over vouchers
to shake up public education. He is care-
ful not to endorse vouchers explicitly-
Q
uantina Samuels, a
the idea of allowing
single mother of
parents to spend pub
two honor stu-
lic tax money on pri-
dents in Washington,
vate schools. But advo-
D. C.,'s public schools, is
cates and critics view
proud of her offspring.
Forstmann's scholar-
But she wishes they
ships as a spur to the
could have the attention
voucher movement.
she knows private
Forstmann may be
schools lavish on their
wise to soft-pedal any
pupils. "I want someone
link. Polls show the pub-
to treat my children
lic is deeply divided on
with concern, to push
vouchers, and despite
them," says Samuels, a
years of debate, only
medical secretary.
Cleveland and Milwau-
Until late April, the
kee have adopted pro-
promise of private
grams. California and
schools was no more
other states have re-
than a dream. Now,
cently rejected vouchers.
Samuels can hardly be-
The political momentum
lieve her good fortune.
also has slowed at the
Thanks to the largesse
national level, where Re-
of financier Theodore J. Forstmann and
erage incomes of just $22,000
LARGESSE
publicans are leery of
investor John T. Walton, Samuels' chil-
a year, vied for the funding.
championing such a di-
dren will join some 40,000 other kids
The winners are now sifting
Financier Forstmann
visive issue as they try
from low-income families to receive
through literature on private
has given $50 million.
to soften their image.
around $1,000 a year over the next four
schools in their neighbor-
Schools, he says, must
Vouchers are also un-
years for private or parochial schools. "I
hoods. Catholic schools will
"allow competition
der legal challenge.
was speechless," says Elizabeth Carver,
grab the bulk of the kids.
Since most private
a single mother of two in Chicago,
The program is far more
to create innovation"
schools have some reli-
whose scholarship application was se-
than Education Lotto, how-
gious affiliation, using
lected in the national drawing. "I'm SO
ever. Forstmann, who tapped a list of
public money to send students to them
excited-and my kids are, too."
luminaries from Barbara Bush and An-
strains the doctrine of separation of
VAST. No question, the Forstmann-led
drew Young to Senate Minority Leader
church and state. Last year, Wisconsin's
Children's Scholarship Fund has excited
Thomas A. Daschle (D.-S.D.), has struck
Supreme Court upheld Milwaukee's
parents, educators, and politicians across
a chord that cuts across party lines. De-
plan, and the U.S. Supreme Court de-
the country. Its sheer size-more than
spite years of education reforms, in-
clined to review the decision. But on
$160 million raised, with Forstmann and
cluding new standards for teacher and
Apr. 27, Maine's Supreme Court reject-
Walton kicking in $50 million each-
student accountability, the number of
ed a suit by parents who sought to
dwarfs all other private scholarship pro-
parents eager to bail out of the public
overturn the state's policy of restricting
grams. Then there's the outpouring of
schools shows that the efforts haven't
vouchers to nonreligious schools. (Both
applicants: 1.2 million families, with av-
done nearly enough for poor students
Maine and Vermont have decades-old
How the
FUNDING
PUBLICITY
SELECTION
RESULTS
With backing from
Applications distrib-
The CSF receives 1.2
Winners receive
Children's
financier Theodore
uted over the Net and
million applications,
information packets
Forstmann and in-
through churches and
representing 44% of
Scholarship
identifying local
vestor John Walton,
stores. Income limit is
eligible parents in
schools that have
Fund
the Children's Scholar-
$51,975 for a family
Baltimore and 29%
places available.
ship Fund raises $160
of five. Word spreads
in New York. Lottery
Counseling for fami-
BRACK/BLACK STAR
Works
million for 40,000
through public service
selects winners of
lies is available from
families to spend on
announcements and
four-year scholar-
40 local organizations
private- or parochial-
Forstmann's appear-
ships. Parents chip in
scattered around the
school tuition.
ance on Oprah.
$1,000 a year.
country.
38 BUSINESS WEEK / MAY 10, 1999
News: Analysis & Commentary
voucher programs for farm children liv-
ing far from public schools.)
COMMENTARY
Still, the voucher movement may be
By Steven V. Brull
picking up steam. On Apr. 27, Florida
Governor Jeb Bush and Republican leg-
islative leaders agreed on a plan to let
FOR ALL THAT TOBACCO MONEY,
children in the worst-performing schools
use state money to transfer to private
DON'T STINT ON THE SMOKING WAR
ones. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is.
trying to ram through a small voucher
xperts say that there has never
their budgets to fund tobacco-related
experiment, which the chancellor of the
been a more effective antismok-
Medicaid costs. So it's reasonable to
city's schools bitterly opposes. And New
ing campaign than Florida's.
use some of the settlement windfall
Mexico's Republican governor, Gary
Over the past year, a series of com-
for general expenses. Indeed, even
Johnson, has threatened to veto the
mercials portraying the tobacco
the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
state budget unless it includes vouchers.
industry as sinister and manipulative
is only recommending that about 25%
"VARIANCE." It's not clear that break-
helped cut smoking rates among mid-
of the money go toward smoking pre-
ing up the public-school monopoly is a
dle-school students by 19%, accord-
vention and control programs. Any-
solution for the country's most troubled
ing to the Florida Dept. of Health.
thing more would be overkill-pro-
schools, however. In Milwaukee, sur-
Yet on Apr. 27, the Florida legisla-
ducing diminishing returns.
veys show parents and students are
ture voted to slash funding for
Still, states would be
pleased with vouchers, which are being
the program nearly in
shortsighted not to give
extended to allow 15,000 students to at-
half, to $41 million.
prevention programs ad-
tend religious schools. But the evidence
It's an ominous
equate funding. Tobacco
is inconclusive on whether the voucher
sign. Florida's $70
use in the U.S. causes
students actually do better academically.
million program,
more than 430,000
In fact, a study by Princeton University
funded with just a
deaths and runs up $50
economist Cecilia Rouse shows that low-
trickle of the $13 bil-
billion to $73 billion in
income kids in public schools with small-
lion the state won
medical expenses yearly.
er class size and more parental involve-
from the tobacco in-
Each day, 3,000 teen-
ment outperform voucher pupils in
dustry, had raised
agers become smokers;
reading and equal them in math.
hopes that a signifi-
one in three will eventu-
Nationwide, private schools, which
cant chunk of the $246
ally die of smoking-relat-
educate 10% of the country's 53 million
billion the tobacco
ed diseases, the Center
children, do show better test scores.
companies will pay to
for Disease Control and
But "there is as much variance in pri-
all states over the
Prevention says. "It's ex-
vate-school quality as in public" ones,
next 25 years would
tremely frustrating to see
says Columbia Teachers College profes-
go to improving public
us turn our backs on what
sor Pearl Rock Kane. And the data
health. Yet in 16 states
is an immense opportuni-
don't show whether scores are better
and the District of Co-
ty," says Washington State
at schools costing less than $4,000 a
lumbia, politicians pro-
Attorney General Christine
year, where low-income students such as
pose to spend less than
0. Gregoire.
those on Forstmann's program go.
2% of their tobacco
Florida's program shows
Experts seem to agree on why pri-
funds on smoking preven-
that "if you run a program
vate schools do better. They note that
tion and control, according
that's big and aggressive, it
private schools attract better students
to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free
will save lives and money," says
and those with the most involved par-
Kids.
Stanton A. Glantz, professor of medi-
ents. And they can reject students with
REVAMP THE MORGUE? True, some
cine at the University of California at
learning or social problems. As a result,
states plan to spend the bulk of their
San Francisco. An $18 million ad cam-
private schools could lose their edge if
money on health. Washington, which
paign showed how teenagers were be-
vouchers flooded them with deprived
is getting $330 million over the next
ing manipulated by Big Tobacco. In
kids. With vouchers, "private schools
two years, will set aside $100 million
one ad, a 17-year-old girl phones the
might become more like public ones,"
for prevention programs. The remain-
makers of Lucky Strikes and asks if
says Jack Jennings, director of the Cen-
ing $230 million will go toward basic
"you could tell me what is the lucky
ter on Education Policy in Washington.
public health. But in many states, the
part about Lucky Strike? Is it that I
But, as the response to Forstmann's
windfall has set off a scramble to fund
might live?"
scholarship program shows, many low-
anything but tobacco-related pro-
The tobacco settlement has created
income Americans want to see their
grams. North Dakota may renovate
a historic opportunity to fund tobacco-
schools fixed-even if that means using
its state morgue, while Los Angeles
prevention efforts. If citizens and
vouchers to prod faster change. "I'm
Mayor Richard J. Riordan wants to
groups such as the American Cancer
not spending my energy trying to block
build new wheelchair-friendly side-
Society challenge politicians more ag-
vouchers," says Paul Vallas, chief exec-
walks. New York, Louisiana, and Ida-
gressively, such efforts won't get
utive of the Chicago public-school sys-
ho plan to reduce state debt.
snuffed out.
tem and a leading reformer. "We're still
Certainly, states have a right to
going to need to fix public schools."
use tobacco money for other things.
Brull covers tobacco issues from
By Richard A. Melcher in Chicago
For years they had to find money in
Los Angeles.
ROBERT
and Aaron Bernstein in Washington
40 BUSINESS WEEK / MAY 10, 1999
Washington Outlook
EDITED BY PAULA DWYER
GUN CONTROL: EVEN AFTER LITTLETON,
THE NRA WILL KEEP IT AT BAY
H
as public outrage at long last pierced the National Rifle
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) promised that
Assn.'s full-body armor? One would think SO in the af-
they will be able to offer a package of anti-gun provisions, in-
termath of the Littleton (Colo.) school massacre, a shoot-
cluding Clinton's proposals and others, as a floor amendment
ing spree that left 15 dead. As Americans watched grue-
in May. But with elections looming, some Dems fear that the
some footage of the carnage at Columbine High School, the
issue could backfire by galvanizing pro-gun voters. Some of
NRA was put on the defensive-forced to scale back its Den-
the party's toughest races next year will be in the gun-
ver convention and look on in silence as politicians readied a
friendly South and Mountain States. And Dems don't want a
barrage of anti-gun legislation.
replay of 1994, when two dozen House candidates lost after
But SO much for defining moments: When the rhetoric sub-
voting for the Brady Law.
sides, the NRA will still be standing-maybe not
BACKPEDALING Senate Minority Leader Thomas
as tall, but in the same feral crouch that has
A. Daschle (D-S. D.), usually an outspoken lib-
kept it one of the nation's most resilient lobbies.
eral, sent a chill through gun-control advocates
That's not to say that Littleton hasn't hurt.
when he said: "I'm not sure that gun legislation
It has. The massacre had NRA-loving lawmakers
is what we need" to prevent future Littletons.
from Colorado to Florida keeping a low profile
Daschle's survival instincts may be kicking in.
and snatching back pro-gun bills. In early April,
Just a few weeks before Littleton, South Dako-
Missouri voters defeated an NRA bid to allow
ta lawmakers joined four other states to pass
concealed weapons. And President Clinton was
laws prohibiting cities and towns from suing
quick to respond to the tragedy: On Apr. 27, he
gun manufacturers for abetting violent crimes—
unveiled proposals that seek to limit gun pur-
the latest tack of anti-gun forces. Even after
chases to one a month and make parents re-
the shootings, the NRA was able to push a simi-
sponsible for some gun crimes committed by
lar bill through the North Carolina House.
their children.
The NRA has also persuaded 31 states to lib-
STATE STRATEGY. Yet the ability of the 2.8
eralize statutes to make it easier to carry
million-member NRA to weather such challenges
concealed weapons. It expects several more to
can hardly be overstated. Armed with a slick
follow suit this year. In Colorado, however,
grassroots organization and löbbyists adept at
CLINTON: Limit gun buys
the future of concealed-weapon legislation
battling for "the right to keep and bear arms,"
looks doubtful.
the NRA has managed to withstand six years of an anti-gun
For now, NRA reps in Washington are walking softly. But
Democratic Administration and make major progress at the
the gun-control crowd shouldn't be misled by the lull. The or-
state level. In fact, President Charlton Heston has kept NRA
ganization has lots of campaign cash to throw around. The
membership stable and its bank account full: The group has a
NRA and like-minded groups donated some $4.2 million to
$150 million annual budget and a $100 million cash cushion.
federal candidates and parties during the '98 elections, up 25%
Even the Brady Law requiring background checks of gun
since '94. In the near term, anyway, the disarming of Amer-
buyers has proven porous: Only 10 people have been prose-
ica will remain a pipe dream.
cuted under the law in five years, according to the NRA.
By Lorraine Woellert, with Richard S. Dunham and
True, Senate Democrats made headway on Apr. 27 when
Amy Borrus
CAPITAL WRAPUP
FUND-RAISING DOs AND DONTs
PENTAGON PORK
A NEW CAMPAIGN-FINANCE IDEA
Haunted by the '96 Donorgate scan-
Hill Democrats have seized on a
Venture capital's Jerome Kohlberg
dal, Vice-President Al Gore is taking
new General Accounting Office study
a leading advocate of campaign-
no chances in his 2000 Presidential
showing that lax Defense Dept. pro-
finance reform, wants Securities &
bid. Gore is not only refusing PAC
cedures resulted in the loss of some
Exchange Commission Chairman
money, he's alsotaking care to avoid
$3 billion worth of Navy gear, includ-
Arthur Levitt Jr. to require publicly
"st aff mistakes" like the one that had
ing missile launchers and night-vision
traded corporations to discloset
him attending a fund-raiser at aLos
devices, from 1996 to 1998. It's Exhib-
political donations in quarterly or
Angeles Buddhist temple. Gore 2000
it A in the Dems effort to stop the
annual reports. On Apr. 28, Kohlberg
finance aides must sit through a legal
GOP from loading money for base con-
asked that the SEC require disclosure
briefing on fund-raising dos and
struction, spare parts, and military
of both hard-money gifts to state
don ts and take home for further
pay onto Clinton's $6 billion Kosovo-
pols and unlimited soft money to:
study a three-ring binder packed with
emergency request. Those GOP good-
political parties. SEC insiders doubt
details on federal fund-raising laws.
ies could send the tab to $13 billion.
Levitt will act.
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP/ WIDE WORLD
BUSINESS WEEK / MAY 10 1999
47
Legal Affairs
COMMENTARY
By Mike France
THE NET: HOW TO HEAD OFF BIG-TIME REGULATION
S E-commerce blossoms into a
A
makes sense in theory, it's not work-
now, but as the Web becomes a big-
trillion-dollar business, there's
ing out as well in practice. Unlike
ger part of everyday life, they're
only one thing that seems capa-
traditional government, such quasi-
likely to find this imbalance intolera-
ble of slowing it down: politics. Wor-
governmental organizations operate
ble. Just as citizens demand account-
ried about the Internet's potential to
outside the public eye and have few
ability from officials making impor-
invade people's privacy, separate
rules about due process. Their lead-
tant decisions about highways, phone
them from their money, and cause
ers aren't always required to talk to
lines, and other key parts of the eco-
untold additional havoc, politicians
the press, open up their meetings, or
nomic infrastructure, they're going to
around the globe are con-
demand a voice in the gover-
sidering new laws to pre-
nance of the Internet. And if
vent the revolutionary com-
they don't get it, they're apt
munications channel from
to chuck Magaziner's vision of
being misused. That im-
self-regulation and ask elected
pulse, in turn, is making
representatives to take
many business executives
charge of the Web-the exact
worry that their dream of a
thing business wanted to
frictionless, worldwide elec-
avoid.
tronic marketplace will be
WEB TRADEMARKS. The trans-
ruined by a patchwork of in-
parency problem shows up
consistent local regulations.
clearly in one of the first big
Imagine how much harder
Net policy dilemmas: cyber-
life would be at Ama-
squatting. That's when a pri-
zon.com if the com-
vate speculator seizes a valu-
pany were forced to
able corporate brand name on
comply with every-
the Internet-say, "business-
thing from Kuwaiti
week.com"-and sells it back
decency standards
to the company at an exorbi-
to European privacy
tant price. Because Web ad-
laws to Iowa sales
dresses are critical to online
taxes.
branding, companies want to
For the moment, com-
establish a rule that they are
panies have avoided this
entitled to any domain names
nightmare. But it could
using their trademarks-no
easily happen down the
matter who gets there first.
road, and that's why busi-
But because the Net is
nesses have pleaded with
used for more than just E-
government to let them po-
commerce, many consumer
lice themselves. The Clinton
advocates say this rule would
Administration heard this
message loud and clear-much to
When Net rules get
unfairly restrict the rights of schools,
museums, political parties, and myri-
Corporate America's relief: In 1997,
made behind closed
ad other noncommercial Net users. If
its resident cyberguru, Ira C. Maga-
an astronomy club or a New Age re-
ziner, wrote "Framework for Global
doors, the public
ligious sect is first to register "Sat-
Electronic Commerce," a blueprint
urn.com," they reason, why should
for Internet governance. Because of
usually loses out
the car company later be able to
the Net's global reach and evolving
boot it off?
technology, Magaziner argued that
The group the Administration ap-
regulation should be kept to a mini-
pointed to resolve this important dis-
mum. In the few areas where rules
let critics participate in their deci-
pute was WIPO, an arm of the U.N.
were needed, such as privacy and
sion-making-and often they aren't
But ever since the agency began
taxation, he suggested that politi-
even elected.
considering the issue of cybersquat-
cians bow out and let policy be made
That's bad news. As a practical
ting last July, its deliberations have
by such quasi-governmental groups
matter, this lack of transparency is
been attended mostly by multination-
as the World Intellectual Property
making it harder for consumers to
al corporations such as Ford, Mi-
Organization (WIPO) or the Organiza-
shape the way the Internet is gov-
crosoft, and Time Warner-just
tion for Economic Cooperation & De-
erned-and much easier for big com-
about the only groups that could af-
velopment (OECD).
panies to dominate the process. Few
ford to have staffers study the tech-
While Magaziner's philosophy
people may be complaining right
nicalities of the issue, write formal
PHILIP ANDERSON
BUSINESS WEEK / MAY 10, 1999 89
www. economist.
THE NRA'S
The
MOSES
LEXINGTON, page 30
Economist
KOSOVO'S FOILED
DIPLOMACY
MAY 1ST - 7TH 1999
pages 17 and 45-49
IS WATCHING YOU
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7
The
Economist
MAY 1ST 1999
The end of privacy
R
EMEMBER, they are always watching
have no privacy. This will constitute one of
you. Use cash when you can. Do not give
the greatest social changes of modern times.
your phone number, social-security number
Privacy is doomed for the same reason
or address, unless you absolutely have to. Do
that it has been eroded so fast over the past
not fill in questionnaires or respond to
two decades. Presented with the prospect of
telemarketers. Demand that credit and data-
its loss, many might prefer to eschew even the
marketing firms produce all information
huge benefits that the new information econ-
they have on you, correct errors and remove
omy promises. But they will not, in practice,
you from marketing lists. Check your medical
be offered that choice. Instead, each benefit-
records often. If you suspect a government
safer streets, cheaper communications, more
agency has a file on you, demand to see it.
entertainment, better government services,
Block caller ID on your phone, and keep your
more convenient shopping, a wider selection
number unlisted. Never use electronic toll-
of products-will seem worth the surrender
booths on roads. Never leave your mobile
of a bit more personal information. Privacy is
phone on-your movements can be traced.
a residual value, hard to define or protect in
Do not use store credit or discount cards. If you must use the
the abstract. The cumulative effect of these bargains-each at-
Internet, encrypt your e-mail, reject all "cookies" and never
tractive on their own-will be the end of privacy.
give your real name when registering at websites. Better still,
For a similar reason, attempts to protect privacy through
use somebody else's computer. At work, assume that calls,
new laws will fail-as they have done in the past. The Euro-
voice mail, e-mail and computer use are all monitored.
pean Union's data protection directive, the most sweeping
This sounds like the paranoid ravings of the Unabomber.
recent attempt, gives individuals unprecedented control over
In fact, it is advice being offered by the more zealous of today's
information about themselves. This could provide remedies
privacy campaigners. In an increasingly wired world, people
against the most egregious intrusions. But it. is doubtful
are continually creating information about themselves that is
whether the law can be applied in practice, if too many peo-
recorded and often sold or pooled with information from
ple try to use it. Already the Europeans are hinting that they
other sources. The goal of privacy advocates is not extreme.
will not enforce the strict terms of the directive against Amer-
Anyone who took these precautions would merely be seeking
ica, which has less stringent protections.
a level of privacy available to all 20 years ago. And yet such
Policing the proliferating number of databases and the
behaviour now would seem obsessive and paranoid indeed.
thriving trade in information would not only be costly in it-
That is a clue to how fast things have changed. To try to
self; it would also impose huge burdens on the economy.
restore the privacy that was universal in the 1970S is to chase a
Moreover, such laws are based on a novel concept: that indi-
chimera. Computer technology is developing so rapidly that
viduals have a property right in information about them-
it is hard to predict how it will be applied. But some trends are
selves. Broadly enforced, such a property right would be anti-
unmistakeable. The volume of data recorded about people
thetical to an open society. It would pose a threat not only to
will continue to expand dramatically (see pages 21-23). Dis-
commerce, but also to a free press and to much political activ-
putes about privacy will become more bitter. Attempts to re-
ity, to say nothing of everyday conversation.
strain the surveillance society through new laws will inten-
It is more likely that-laws will be used not to obstruct the
sify. Consumers will pay more for services that offer a privacy
recording and collection of information, but to catch those
pledge. And the market for privacy-protection technology
who use it to do harm. Fortunately, the same technology that
will grow.
is destroying privacy also makes it easier to trap stalkers, de-
tect fraud, prosecute criminals and hold the government to
Always observed
account. The result could be less privacy, certainly-but also
Yet here is a bold prediction: all these efforts to hold back the
more security for the law-abiding.
rising tide of electronic intrusion into privacy will fail. They
Whatever new. legal remedies emerge, opting out of in-
may offer a brief respite for those determined, whatever the
formation-gathering is bound to become ever harder and less
trouble or cost, to protect themselves. But 20 years hence most
attractive. If most urban streets are monitored by intelligent
people will find that the privacy they take for granted today
video cameras that can identify criminals, who will want to
will be just as elusive as the privacy of the 1970S now seems.
live on a street without one? If most people carry their entire
Some will shrug and say: "Who cares? I have nothing to hide."
medical history on a plastic card that the emergency services
But many others will be disturbed by the idea that most of
come to rely on, a refusal to carry the card could be life-threat-
their behaviour leaves a permanent and easily traceable
ening. To get a foretaste of what is to come, try hiring a car or
record. People will have to start assuming that they simply
booking a room at a top hotel without a credit card.
THE ECONOMIST MAY 1ST 1999
15
LEADERS
In a way, the future may be like the past, when few except
ready looks like a mere historical interlude. There is, however,
the rich enjoyed much privacy. To earlier generations, escap-
one difference between past and future. In the village, every-
ing the claustrophobic all-knowingness of a village for the rel-
body knew everybody else's business. In the future, nobody
ative anonymity of the city was one of the more liberating
will know for certain who knows what about them. That will
aspects of modern life. But the era of urban anonymity al-
be uncomfortable. But the best advice may be: get used to it.
Britain's welcome devolution
Scotsmen, Welshmen and Englishmen may live together more comfortably
as a result of devolution
T
HE last time there was a parliament in Scotland, Louis
peace and stability are missing the point. Yes, Britain has
XIV was on the throne of France and George Washington
been enviably stable. But that is because it has been governed
had not yet been born. On May 6th Scotland's voters will elect
pragmatically, by politicians prepared to adapt the system in
the first parliament to sit in Edinburgh for almost 300 years.
response to popular pressures-for example in the series of
At the same time the Welsh will be voting for the first elected
reform acts, which widened the franchise and ushered in
national assembly in their history. These developments do
mass democracy. Setting up a Scottish parliament is squarely
not signal the rebirth of Scotland and Wales as independent
in this tradition of judicious adjustment to popular pressure.
countries. But they do signal an historic-and welcome-shift
More broadly, the English should welcome a decentralisa-
in the way Britain is governed.
tion of power that may help to invigorate peripheral parts of
It is easy to sketch out post-devolution scenarios that are
Britain. It is probably no coincidence that Britain's golden
both pessimistic and plausible. The most common is that a
age in the 19th century was also a period of powerful provin-
Scottish Parliament will simply prove a way-station on the
cial cities. But this century, and particularly the past 20 years,
road to Scottish independence and the break-up of Britain.
has seen an unhealthy concentration of political, cultural
Another frequently touted idea is that there will be an English
and economic power around London and the South-East.
nationalist backlash against the new powers for a Scottish
The palpable sense of new confidence in Edinburgh and the
Parliament-as the English come to resent the continuing
rebuilding of Cardiff-both linked to devolution-are good
Scottish presence at Westminster, and the higher level of gov-
for Britain, and may also provide a model for the revival of
ernment spending in Scotland. And do not neglect Wales in
some English provincial cities.
this gloom-mongers' guide. The Welsh voted to set up an as-
Devolution will not, however, be the answer to every Scot-
sembly only by the narrowest of margins; and it will not have
tish prayer. The Scots will have to face some difficult ques-
the legislative or tax-raising powers of the Scottish Parlia-
tions. If, as many Scots believe, their education system is
ment. So the Welsh Assembly can easily be envisaged as a
markedly superior to that of the English, why are so many
white elephant in the making.
Scottish children leaving school without qualifications? Are
All of these things may come to pass. But, encouragingly,
Scots really more public-spirited than the English, and if so
they are looking increasingly unlikely. There is nothing inher-
are they prepared to pay higher taxes? Facing up to these is-
ently wrong with the idea of Scottish independence. But
sues will introduce a welcome new realism into Scottish poli-
many Englishmen would regret the break-up of Britain, and
tics, and should weaken the ablame the English" culture.
the most recent polls suggest that a majority of Scots also re-
Wales's challenge is rather different. The first task facing
ject the idea. As for the much anticipated "English backlash",
an assembly in Cardiff will simply be to overcome the in-
it has made good journalistic copy, but there is precious little
grained scepticism of many Welsh voters about the assem-
evidence of it in reality. Rather, the English seem to be react-
bly's utility. That has been made all the harder by Tony Blair's
ing to the coming of the Scottish Parliament in an admirably
decision to prevent the Welsh Labour Party from opting for a
relaxed fashion. And Wales? An energetic, if peculiar, election
leader who showed dangerous signs of being capable of inde-
campaign (see page 56) suggests that the assembly may yet
pendent thought. But even the relatively toothless Welsh As-
catch the popular imagination.
sembly will have the powerto scrutinise and alter the admin-
istration of Wales, and so give its people a greater sense of
Think positive
participation in their own government. If it does that job
So while it is only realistic to acknowledge that devolution
well, the Welsh may opt to give their assembly Scottish-style
could "go wrong", the reality is that the new parliaments in
powers over taxation and primary legislation.
Scotland and Wales are more likely to invigorate Britain than
These benefits for the the Welsh and the English will
enfeeble it. In different ways, the English, the Scots, the Welsh
add up to a general for Britain as a whole. If devolu-
and the British as a whole stand to benefit from devolution.
tion works it will suggest that Britain's traditional gift for cre-
Take the English first. They will gain if the new parliament
ating political stability hib humoderation and pragmatism
in Edinburgh eases the political tensions created by an alien-
still exists And foloomy oredictions of the break-up of Brit-
ated Scotland. If Scots have more control over their own af-
ain" prove to b unded heriotion of Britishness could
fairs, they are less likely to agitate against "rule from London".
well ay aproven ability to accommo-
Traditionalists who see a Scottish parliament as a dangerous
date
diversenational
and
new
centres
of
power.
change to a system which has delivered Britain centuries of
16
THE ECONOMIST MAY 1ST 1999
THE END OF PRIVACY
DOB:
DRIVERS
LICENCE
HOME
OWNER
Prement
Interne
INCOM
ment databases has grown by leaps and
The surveillance society
bounds in recent years along with ad-
vances in computer technology. The
United States, perhaps the most computer-
ised society in the world, is leading the way,
but other countries are not far behind.
Advances in computing are having a
twin effect. They are not only making it pos-
New information technology offers huge benefits-higher productivity, better
sible to collect information that once went
crime prevention, improved medical care, dazzling entertainment, more con-
largely unrecorded, but are also making it
venience. But it comes at a price: less and less privacy
relatively easy to store, analyse and retrieve
this information in ways which, until quite
"T
HE right to be left alone." For many
vacy has been eroded for decades. This
recently, were impossible.
this phrase, made famous by Louis
trend is now likely to accelerate sharply.
Just consider the amount of informa-
Brandeis, an American Supreme Court jus-
The cause is the same as that which
tion already being collected as a matter of
tice, captures the essence of a notoriously
alarmed Brandeis when he first popular-
routine-any spending that involves a
slippery, but crucial concept. Drawing the
ised his phrase in an article in 1890: tech-
credit or bank debit card, most financial
boundaries of privacy has always been
nological change. In his day it was the
transactions, telephone calls, all dealings
tricky. Most people have long accepted the
spread of photography and cheap printing
with national or local government. Super-
need to provide some information about
that posed the most immediate threat to
markets record every item being bought by
themselves in order to vote, work, shop,
privacy. In our day it is the computer. The
customers who use discount cards. Mobile-
pursue a business, socialise or even borrow
quantity of information that is now avail-
phone companies are busy installing
a library book. But exercising control over
able to governments and companies about
equipment that allows them to track the lo-
who knows what about you has also come
individuals would have horrified Bran-
cation of anyone who has a phone
to be seen as an essential feature of a civi-
deis. But the power to gather and dissemi-
switched on. Electronic toll-booths and
lised society.
nate data electronically is growing so fast
traffic-monitoring systems can record the
Totalitarian excesses have made "Big
that it raises an even more unsettling ques-
movement of individual vehicles. Pio-
Brother" one of the 20th century's most
tion: in 20 years' time, will there be any pri-
neered in Britain, closed-circuit TV cameras
frightening bogeymen. Some right of pri-
vacy left to protect?
now scan increasingly large swathes of ur-
vacy, however qualified, has been a major
Most privacy debates concern media
ban landscapes in other countries too. The
difference between democracies and dic-
intrusion, which is also what bothered
trade in consumer information has hugely
tatorships. An explicit right to privacy is
Brandeis. And yet the greatest threat to pri-
expanded in the past ten years. One single
now enshrined in scores of national con-
vacy today comes not from the media,
company, Acxiom Corporation in Con-
stitutions as well as in international hu-
whose antics affect few people, but from
way, Arkansas, has a database combining
man-rights treaties. Without the "right to be
the mundane business of recording and
public and consumer information that
left alone", to shut out on occasion the pry-
collecting an ever-expanding number of ev-
covers 95% of American households. Is
ing eyes and importunities of both govern-
eryday transactions. Most people know
there anyone left on the planet who does
ment and society, other political and civil
that information is collected about them,
not know that their use of the Internet is
liberties seem fragile. Today most people in
but are not certain how much. Many are
being recorded by somebody, somewhere?
rich societies assume that, provided they
puzzled or annoyed by unsolicited junk
Firms are as interested in their employ-
obey the law, they have a right to enjoy pri-
mail coming through their letter boxes.
ees as in their customers. A 1997 survey by
vacy whenever it suits them.
And yet junk mail is just the visible tip of an
the American Management Association of
They are wrong. Despite a raft of laws,
information iceberg. The volume of per-
900 large companies found that nearly
treaties and constitutional provisions, pri-
sonal data in both commercial and govern-
two-thirds admitted to some form of elec-
THE ECONOMIST MAY 1ST 1999
21
THE END OF PRIVACY
tronic surveillance of their own workers.
Image Data, a small New Hampshire firm,
then be observed and traced with ease.
Powerful new software makes it easy for
had received finance and technical assis-
The burgeoning field of "biometrics"
bosses to monitor and record not only all
tance from the American Secret Service to
will make possible cheap and fool-proof
telephone conversations, but every key-
build a national database of photographs
systems that can identify people from their
stroke and e-mail message as well.
used on drivers' licences. As a first step, the
voices, eyeballs, thumbprints or any other
Information is power, so it is hardly sur-
company had already bought the photo-
measurable part of their anatomy. That
prising that governments are as keen as
graphs of more than 22m drivers from state
could mean doing away with today's cum-
companies to use data-processing technol-
governments in South Carolina, Florida
bersome array of security passes, tickets
ogy. They do this for many entirely legiti-
and Colorado. Image Data insists that the
and even credit cards. Alternatively,
mate reasons-tracking benefit claimants,
database, which would allow retailers or
pocket-sized "smart" cards might soon be
delivering better health care, fighting
police across the country instantly to match
able to store all of a person's medical or
crime, pursuing terrorists. But it inevitably
a name and photograph, is primarily de-
credit history, among other things, together
means more government surveillance.
signed to fight cheque and credit-card
with physical data needed to verify his or
A controversial law passed in 1994 to
fraud. But in response to more than 14,000
her identity.
aid law enforcement requires telecoms
e-mail complaints, all three states moved
In a few years' time utilities might be
firms operating in America to install
quickly to cancel the sale.
able to monitor the performance of home
equipment that allows the government to
It is always hard to predict the impact of
appliances, sending repairmen or replace-
intercept and monitor all telephone and
new technology, but there are several devel-
ments even before they break down. Local
data communications, although disputes
opments already on the horizon which, if
supermarkets could check the contents of
between the firms and the FBI have delayed
customers' refrigerators, compiling a shop-
its implementation. Intelligence agencies
ping list as they run out of supplies of but-
from America, Britain, Canada, Australia
ter, cheese or milk. Or office workers might
and New Zealand jointly monitor all inter-
check up on the children at home from
national satellite-telecommunications traf-
their desktop computers.
fic via a system called "Echelon" that can
But all of these benefits, from better
pick specific words or phrases from hun-
medical care and crime prevention to the
dreds of thousands of messages.
more banal delights of the "intelligent"
America, Britain, Canada and Australia
home, come with one obvious drawback-
are also compiling national DNA databases
an ever-widening trail of electronic data.
of convicted criminals. Many other coun-
Because the cost of storing and analysing
tries are considering following suit. The
the data is also plummeting, almost any ac-
idea of DNA databases that cover entire
tion will leave a near-permanent record.
populations is still highly controversial,
However ingeniously information-pro-
but those databases would be such a power-
cessing technology is used, what seems cer-
ful tool for fighting crime and disease that
tain is that threats to traditional notions of
pressure for their creation seems inevitable.
privacy will proliferate.
Iceland's parliament has agreed a plan to
This prospect provokes a range of re-
sell the DNA database of its population to a
sponses, none of them entirely adequate:
medical-research firm, a move bitterly op-
More laws. Brandeis's article was a plea
posed by some on privacy grounds.
for a right to sue for damages against intru-
sions of privacy. It spawned a burst of pri-
To each a number
vacy statutes in America and elsewhere.
The general public may be only vaguely
the recent past is anything to go by, are
And yet privacy lawsuits hardly ever suc-
aware of the mushrooming growth of in-
bound to be used for monitoring of one
ceed, except in France, and even there they
formation-gathering, but when they are of-
sort or another. The paraphernalia of
are rare. Courts find it almost impossible to
fered a glimpse, most people do not like
snooping, whether legal or not, is becom-
pin down a precise enough legal definition
what they see. A survey by America's Fed-
ing both frighteningly sophisticated and
of privacy.
eral Trade Commission found that 80% of
easily affordable. Already, tiny micro-
America's consumer-credit laws, passed
Americans are worried about what hap-
phones are capable of recording whispered
in the 1970s, give individuals the right to
pens to information collected about them.
conversations from across the street. Con-
examine their credit records and to de-
Skirmishes between privacy advocates and
versations can even be monitored from the
mand corrections. The European Union
those collecting information are occurring
normally imperceptible vibrations of win-
has recently gone a lot further. The EU Data
with increasing frequency.
dow glass. Some technologists think that
Protection directive, which came into force
This year both Intel and Microsoft have
the tiny battlefield reconnaissance drones
last October, aims to give people control
run into a storm of criticism when it was
being developed by the American armed
over their data, requiring "unambiguous"
revealed that their products-the chips and
forces will be easy to commercialise. Small
consent before a company or agency can
software at the heart of most personal com-
video cameras the size of a large wasp may
process it, and barring the use of the data
puters-transmitted unique identification
some day be able to fly into a room, attach
for any purpose other than that for which it
numbers whenever a personal-computer
themselves to a wall or ceiling and record
was originally collected. Each EU country is
user logged on to the Internet. Both compa-
everything that goes on there.
pledged to appoint a privacy commis-
nies hastily offered software to allow users
Overt monitoring is likely to grow as
sioner to act on behalf of citizens whose
to turn the identifying numbers off, but
well. Intelligent software systems are al-
rights have been violated. The directive also
their critics maintain that any software fix
ready able to scan and identify individuals
bars the export of data to countries that do
can be breached. In fact, a growing number
from video images. Combined with the
not have comparably stringent protections.
of electronic devices and software packages
plummeting price and size of cameras,
Most EU countries have yet to pass the
contain identifying numbers to help them
such software should eventually make
domestic laws needed to implement the di-
interact with each other.
video surveillance possible almost any-
rective, so it is difficult to say how it will
In February an outcry greeted news that
where, at any time. Street criminals might
work in practice. But the Americans view it
22
THE
MAY
1999
THE END OF PRIVACY
as Draconian, and a trade row has blown
information between consumers and other
the level of privacy that most people have
up about the EU'S threat to stop data exports
companies, giving consumers privacy pro-
assumed they now enjoy in traditional (ie,
to the United States. A compromise may be
tection and also earning them some reve-
paper) mail.
reached that enables American firms to fol-
nue for the information they are willing to
Away from the web, the technological
low voluntary guidelines; but that merely
release about themselves. If consumers
race between snoopers and anti-snoopers
could create a big loophole. If, on the other
were willing to pay for such brokerage,
will also undoubtedly continue. But tech-
hand, the EU insists on barring data ex-
infomediaries might succeed on the Inter-
nology can only ever be a partial answer.
ports, not only might a trade war be started
net. Such firms would have the strongest
Privacy will be reduced not only by govern-
but also the development of electronic
possible stäke in maintaining their reputa-
ment or private snooping, but by the con-
commerce in Europe could come screech-
tion for privacy protection. But it is hard to
stant recording of all sorts of information
ing to a complete halt, inflicting a huge cost
imagine them thriving unless consumers
that individuals must provide to receive
on the EU'S economy.
are willing to funnel every transaction they
products or benefits-which is as true on as
In any case, it is far from clear what ef-
make through a single infomediary. Even if
off the Internet.
fect the new law will have even in Europe.
this is possible-which is unclear-many
Transparency. Despairing of efforts to
More products or services may have to be
consumers may not want to rely so much
protect privacy in the face of the approach-
offered with the kind of legalistic bumf that
on a single firm. Most, for example, already
ing technological deluge, David Brin, an
is now attached to computer software. But,
have more than one credit card.
American physicist and science-fiction
as with software, most consumers are likely
In the meantime, many companies al-
writer, proposes a radical alternative-its
to sign without reading it. The new law may
ready declare that they will not sell in-
complete abolition. In his book "The
give individuals a valuable tool to fight
formation they collect about customers.
Transparent Society" (Addison-Wesley,
against some of the worst abuses, rather on
But many others find it more profitable not
$25) he argues that in future the rich and
the pattern of consumer-credit laws. But,
to make-or keep-this pledge. Consumers
powerful-and most ominously of all, gov-
also as with those laws-and indeed, with
who want privacy must be ever vigilant,
ernments-will derive the greatest benefit
government freedom of information laws
which is more than most can manage. Even
from privacy protection, rather than ordi-
in general-individuals will have to be de-
those companies which advertise that they
nary people. Instead, says Mr Brin, a clear,
termined and persistent to exercise their
will not sell information do not promise
simple rule should be adopted: everyone
rights. Corporate and government officials
not to buy it. They almost certainly know
should have access to all information. Ev-
can often find ways to delay or evade indi-
more about their customers than their cus-
ery citizen should be able to tap into any
vidual requests for information. Policing
tomers realise. And in any case, market so-
database, corporate or governmental, con-
the rising tide of data collection and trad-
lutions, including infomediaries, are un-
taining personal information. Images from
ing is probably beyond the capability of
likely to be able to deal with growing
the video-surveillance. cameras on city
any government without a crackdown so
government databases or increased surveil-
streets should be accessible to everyone, not
massive that it could stop the new informa-
lance in public areas.
just the police.
tion economy in its tracks.
Technology. The Internet has spawned a
The idea sounds disconcerting, he ad-
Market solutions. The Americans gener-
fierce war between fans of encryption and
mits. But he argues that privacy is doomed
ally prefer to rely on self-regulation and
governments, especially America's, which
in any case. Transparency would enable
market pressures. Yet so far, self-regulation
argue that they must have access to the keys
people to know who knows what about
has failed abysmally. A Federal Trade Com-
to software codes used on the web in the
them, and for the ruled to keep an eye on
mission survey of 1,400 American Internet
interests of law enforcement. This quarrel
their rulers. Video cameras would record
sites last year found that only 2% had
has been rumbling on for years. But given
not only criminals, but also abusive police-
posted a privacy policy in line with that ad-
the easy availability of increasingly com-
men. Corporate chiefs would know that in-
vocated by the commission, although more
plex codes, governments may just have to
formation about themselves is as freely
have probably done so since, not least in
accept defeat, which would provide more
available as it is about their customers or
response to increased concern over pri-
privacy not just for innocent web users, but
workers. Simple deterrence would then en-
vacy. Studies of members of America's Di-
for criminals as well. Yet even encryption
courage restraint in information gather-
rect Marketing Association by indepen-
will only serve to restore to Internet users
ing-and maybe even more courtesy.
dent researchers have found that more
Yet Mr Brin does not explain what
than half did not abide even by the associa-
would happen to transparency violators or
tion's modest guidelines.
whether there would be any limits. What
If consumers were to become more
about national-security data or trade se-
alarmed about privacy, however, market
crets? Police or medical files? Criminals
solutions could offer some protection. The
might find these of great interest. What is
Internet, the frontline of the privacy battle-
more, transparency would be just as diffi-
field, has already spawned anonymous
cult to enforce legally as privacy protection
remailers, firms that forward e-mail
is now. Indeed, the very idea of making pri-
stripped of any identifying information.
vacy into a crime seems outlandish.
One website (www.anonymizer.com) offers
There is unlikely to be a single answer to
anonymous Internet browsing. Electronic
the dilemma posed by the conflict between
digital cash, for use on or off the Internet,
privacy and the growing power of informa-
may eventually provide some anonymity
tion technology. But unless society collec-
but, like today's physical cash, it will proba-
tively turns away from the benefits that
bly be used only for smaller purchases.
technology can offer-surely the most un-
likely outcome of all-privacy debates are
Enter the infomediary
likely to become ever more intense. In the
John Hagel and Marc Singer of McKinsey, a
brave new world of the information age,
management consulting firm, believe that
the right to be left alone is certain to come
from such services will emerge "info-
under siege as never before.
mediaries", firms that become brokers of
THE ECONOMIST MAY 1ST 1999
23
UNITED STATES
with other organisations and community
groups. "We are always looking at who we
can collaborate with," says Mr Evans.
Among the Boston force's partners are the
local US attorney, probation officers (who
have started evening home visits, and have
raised the rate of compliance with probation
terms from 30% to 70%), local employers
and the 10 Point Coalition, a group of black
clergy. The Boston Police Department has
backed its co-operative talk with cash,
awarding substantial grants to helpful non-
profit organisations.
The Boston model has worked to great-
est effect in tackling the teenage gangs re-
sponsible for a sharp rise in drug-related kill-
ings in the early 1990S. Meetings between
police, probation officers and clergymen
identified the main people involved; these
offenders were then told that the Police De-
partment would use all its legal powers
against them unless the killings stopped, a
message that was reinforced by the proba-
tion officers and the clergy. "We told them
First safety, then civility
we'd rather see them in jail than conduct
their funerals," says the Rev Jeffrey Brown,
a co-founder of the 10 Point Coalition. This
policy, a big part of which was reducing the
number of guns in circulation, helped to
lower gun-murders of under-24-year-olds
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
from 51 in 1990 to only 16 last year.
Nobody involved in the Boston model
New York's troubled police force can learn from its counterpart in Boston
claims to have got everything right. In the
past few months there has been an increase
U
NTIL Amadou Diallo, an unarmed
plemented many reforms at the NYPD before
in teenage gang violence, as new groups have
African immigrant, died in a hail of po-
falling out with Mr Giuliani, was previously
started to fill the vacuum created by the suc-
lice bullets on February 4th, the Big Apple
police commissioner in Boston, where he
cessful attack on the old gangs. Even so, there
was celebrated around the world for its suc-
had laid some of the foundations of its com-
is much confidence that the co-operative ap-
cess in beating crime. Now that reputation is.
munity-policing policy. Both forces deploy a
proach will stop these new problems getting
in tatters. Daily protests are still going on
heavy, visible presence on the streets, partic-
out of hand. Plenty of Bostonians reckon
outside the Police Department. Rudolph Gi-
ularly in spots known for crime. Both try to
that the NYPD could learn useful lessons
uliani, New York's mayor, who took most of
disperse decision-making and accountab-
from their experience.
the credit for the fall in crime, has seen his
ility away from headquarters to individual
This is despite important differences be-
popularity plunge. Howard Safir, the police
precinct captains. Both have moved away
tween the two cities. Boston has a popula-
commissioner, has suffered the indignity of
from reactive policing driven by emergency
tion of around 550,000 compared with New
a vote of no confidence in his leadership by
calls to a pre-emptive approach in which of-
York's 7.3m. The Boston police force has
his own officers' biggest union.
ficers meet regularly to identify crime hot-
2,200 officers; the NYPD has 40,000. Last
Increasingly, New York's style of polic-
spots and concentrate on them.
year there were 35 murders in Boston, com-
ing is being contrasted unfavourably with
As for "zero tolerance"-the notion that
pared with 629 in the Big Apple. Teenage
that of other cities, particularly Boston. Like
police should crack down even on minor
gangs accounted for a large part of Boston's
New York, "Bean Town" has seen a dramat-
breaches of the law, in order to discourage
crime in the early 1990S; in New York, the
ic fall in crime during the 1990s. Unlike New
major ones-Paul Evans, Boston's current
sources of lawlessness were much broader
York, it has managed to achieve this success
police commissioner, thinks the idea should
and more diverse.
without increasing the city's racial tensions.
be employed with discretion. When he iden-
Nevertheless, lesson number one in
Whereas in New York falling crime has gone
tifies a problem that needs solving-an out-
both cities is for the police to treat the public
hand-in-hand with a rise in complaints
break of gang violence, say-the police will
with respect. The NYPD'S stop-and-frisk pol-
against the NYPD, complaints against the
use any leverage the law gives them to sort it
icy is extremely unpopular with minorities,
Boston police have fallen steadily (see chart
out. But Mr Evans thinks it makes no sense
who feel they often get stopped by police of-
on next page).
to arrest a homeless person each time he has
ficers for no good reason. The NYPD admits
The differences between the two ap-
a drink in public.
that minorities are disproportionately in-
proaches can easily be exaggerated. William
What makes Boston's crime-fighting dif-
spected, but says this is because they are dis-
Bratton who, as police commissioner, im-
ferent is the willingness of the police to work
proportionately involved in crime. More-
THE ECONOMIST MAY 1ST 1999
25
UNITED STATES
not helped, and may have played into the
Bean Town viBig Apple
hands of New York's more extreme minor-
Murders
Complaints
ity leaders. According to Fred Siegel, a New
1990=100
1990=100
York historian, Mr Giuliani needed to be
100
180
confrontational at first, because nobody be-
New York
New York
160
lieved he could restore law and order in New
80
4962
140
York. But once he started to succeed; his ego
120
may have blinded him to the need for a sec-
60
100
ond more collaborative or consensual
Boston
80
40
phase. "You cannot lower the crime rate be-
Boston
60
low what a community sets itself without a
629
20
215
40
35
serious political backlash," Mr Siegel says.
20
"Even successful programmes sometimes
0
0
have to be modified."
1990
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
1990
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
Yet Mr Giuliani's ego may now give him
Sources: NYPD: CCRB; Boston Police Department
the motivation to change. After all, he would
dearly like a safe New York to be his legacy.
over, stop-and-frisk is a vital part of the
community", according to Mr Brown. In
There is every chance that if the Democrats
anti-guns campaign being waged by the con-
New York, by contrast, recent tragedies
regain the mayoralty after Mr Giuliani steps
troversial Street Crimes Unit (scu), which
have tended to deepen rather than weaken
down-and New Yorkers rarely elect two
was responsible for the Diallo killing.
black leaders' indignation against whites.
Republican mayors in a row-they will re-
Boston used to have an equally unpop-
Lastly, New York's politics does not en-
verse many of his policing policies. Unless,
ular stop-and-frisk policy, but by 1989 it had
courage co-operation as Boston's has done.
that is, he can persuade the minority com-
got out of hand. To reduce public hostility,
Mr Giuliani, a Republican, reversed the pol-
munities to support these policies as Bos-
the Boston police subsequently required of-
icing policies of a man who was not just a
ton's minorities do. In the past month, Mr
ficers to have a reasonable suspicion before
Democrat, but the city's first black mayor.
Giuliani has hinted that he now under-
stopping a suspect, and to record every
Boston's mayor is the latest in a long line of
stands this. He has met black leaders-and,
search. According to Mr Evans, "A lot of the
white Democrats who have been re-elected
at a healing service in St Patrick's cathedral,
problem goes if there is mutual respect, if the
unopposed. In a city still dominated by the
even embraced the Rev Calvin Butts, a rela-
police explain why the search is being done."
Irish, not even minority leaders expect Bos-
tively moderate black leader who had called
The NYPD commissioner, Howard Safir,
ton toelect a black mayor any time soon. Asa
him a racist. If Boston is any guide, such
now seems to recognise this need. Although
result, black leaders have had more reason
symbolism will need to be followed up with
he claims that the NYPD, of all the city police
to try to get along with the powers that be.
lots of hard work in private. Certainly, it will
forces in America, is the most restrained in
Mr Giuliani's prickly personality has
take a lot more than hugs.
its use of force, he "pleads guilty" to failing to
treat the public with enough respect. "The
NYPD'S problem is not brutality, it is civil-
Immigration policy
ity," he says. Since the Diallo killing, all offi-
cers have been given cards telling them how
The next masses
to address the public appropriately ("Sir",
"Ma'am", even "Sorry"). But being polite
BOSTON
will not come easily; like most New Yorkers,
NYPD officers are seldom civil even to each
W
HAT does America owe the Kosovars
other.
now? At a minimum, a bit of shelter.
An even bigger challenge will be for the
On April 22nd, Vice-President Al Gore an-
NYPD to work with other agencies and, in
nounced that America would bring as many
particular, with minority groups and their
as 20,000 Kosovar refugees to America.
leaders. At present, although New York's
Most of them will probably wind up in De-
black leaders privately admit that they now
troit, New York and Los Angeles, where they
have better communication with the police
can join sizeable Albanian-American com-
on drug problems, they say that this has not
munities. America is also planning to look
turned into any broader co-operation. One
after another 20,000 Kosovars in Albania.
problem, admits Mr Safir, is that New York's
"It's a meaningful contribution," says an ad-
precinct community councils do not include
ministration official, "which indicates to
a broad enough range of minority opinions.
Macedonia and our allies that we're making
In Boston, the task was made easier by
a commitment to burden-sharing."
the fact that the police force is more racially
It will also say something about how
representative. A third of the Boston Police
America sees its obligations to the people on
Department is non-white, the same propor-
whose behalf it is dropping bombs but not
tion as the general population; whereas in
sending troops. The White House's first plan
New York, where one-third of the NYPD is
was to put those 20,000 Kosovars in a naval
also non-white, this represents only half
base at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba. "It was
their share of the general population. The
ready made, already on the shelf," says an
SCU is more than 80% white.
administration official. Because the Koso-
Another boost to Boston's policy was the
vars would not be in America proper, they
decision, by black leaders, to stop blaming
would not be able to make asylum claims
crime on race and instead to take a role in
that would let them stay. The administra-
"tackling moral problems within our own
tion was told it was being callous, and the
How many can you take?
26
THE
MAY
1ST
1999
UNITED STATES
The outcasts reply
"Nothing I've been taught in school inter-
ests me as much. And believe me, the gam-
ers who (try to) kill me online all day are a
N
ONE can say the reaction was not
violent computer games are the easiest way
lot closer to me than the kids I go to high
swift. In most schools in Colorado, in
to communicate. While not condoning the
school with."
the week after the massacre at Columbine
killings, they are outraged that parents and
Not all the news about teenagers is dis-
High School, pupils were suspended if
teachers have responded by clamping
couraging. The Alan Guttmacher Institute
they turned up at school in trench coats.
down both on trench coats and on the
reports this week that levels of teenage
The killers at Columbine had worn such
computer games favoured by the killers.
pregnancy are continuing their downward
coats. Therefore, the threat was clear.
One Slashdot reader summed it up:
trend, partly because of "responsible sex-
In the suburbs of Chicago, a girl called
ual decision-making". And new research
Anika was stopped at the school door for
by two academics at the University of Chi-
wearing a trench coat, and was told to take
cago ("The Ambitious Generation", by
it home. When she refused, security guards
Barbara Schneider and the late David Ste-
made her take the coat off and searched it.
venson, published by Yale University
She was then called into the principal's of-
Press) shows that more than 90% of teen-
fice, "and he asked me if I was a member of
agers expect to attend college, compared
any hate group, or any online group, or if I
with 55% in the 1950s.
had ever played Doom or Quake." Anika
Yet the Chicago study also notes a
didn't play those games, but, as she ex-
downside. Today's teenagers are far less
plained defiantly on a website called
likely to form "strong, long-term bonds
Slashdot, "I love geek guys, and there aren't
with a group of friends". Instead, they
many of us."
change friends frequently, and spend
The reverse seems true; to judge by the
about 20% of their time alone. They do not
outpouring of feelings on various teenage
think they are alone, of course; they are
websites round the country, there are
chatting or fighting in their virtual worlds.
many solitary pupils, alienated from their
But, judging by their e-mails, they under-
schools, for whom Internet chat sites and
stand all too well how isolated they are.
White House quickly reversed itself.
ing from right-wing Latin American dicta-
Thailand. America then took the Hmong in,
America took the lead on military action
torships, or small and poor countries forgot-
with communities growing in California
against Yugoslavia, but is not yet as bold in
ten in geopolitical rivalries.
and Minnesota, where Lutheran church
taking in refugees. True, its new promise to
There is another, subtler pattern, often
groups tried to help out.
take 20,000 Kosovars is matched only by
obscured when it overlaps with anti-com-
There are now about 180,000 Hmong in
Turkey; but so far Germany has already tak-
munism. America has a habit of opening its
America, roughly a third of them clustered
en in 10,000 of these unhappy people, and
borders as a gesture of shame and responsib-
in Minneapolis and St Paul. The transition
Turkey 5,000. Against the total of 78,000 ref-
ility after a foreign debacle. When the Soviet
has been wrenching. Trying to leap from a
ugees from around the world that America
Union crushed Hungary's uprising in 1956,
peasant society to industrial America, many
was already planning to take in this year,
a flood of desperate Hungarians poured into
Hmong ended up in poverty or on welfare.
20,000 Kosovars is a modest figure. And
Western Europe. Distressed by America's
And conservative Minnesotans have tended
against a total of displaced and refugee Koso-
inability to rescue Hungary, President
to look askance at Hmong traditions such as
vars reckoned at around 925,000 people, the
Dwight Eisenhower used a new immigra-
polygamy and animal sacrifice. But, for all
American number is tiny.
tion law to allow 38,000 of them to come to
the difficulties, the principle of sheltering the
The country's refugee policy has always
America.
Hmong is a decent one.
been deeply politicised. The people who
Vietnam was the next big responsibility
Under Bill Clinton, there has been an ef-
have the best chance of getting a new life in
case. When America lost the war there, the
fort to change the emphasis. Now the push is
America are those who have made common
problem was not just South Vietnamese sol-
more towards straight humanitarianism,
cause with America against a foreign foe,
diers and officials who would now be ex-
says Alexander Aleinikoff, who was general
and are suffering for it. In practice, this has
posed to the wrath of the victorious commu-
counsel for the Immigration and Naturalisa-
usually meant being against communism. If
nists. Large numbers of ordinary Viet-
tion Service under Mr Clinton. But old hab-
the Kosovars now get truly generous treat-
namese wanted out, too. So, from 1975 to
its die hard. The State Department's list of
ment, the change will be plain. The common
1980, America let in almost half a million
countries singled out for priority for refugees
foe will not be communism; it will be Slobo-
people from Indochina. Similarly, Ameri-
still has a strong whiff of the cold war. Amer-
dan Milosevic's brand of ethnic hatred.
ca's sympathy for Cuban refugees stems at
ica favours human-rights-minded Cubans,
Which refugees has America preferred?
least in part from American shame over the
Jews and evangelical Christians in the for-
During the cold war, American policy cater-
failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
mer Soviet Union, Iranian religious minori-
ed chiefly to refugees from communist
But the most striking cold-war respon-
ties, and Vietnamese who spent more than
countries. According to a 1953 law, anyone
sibility story is that of the Hmong. Until the
three years in detention camps because of
from a communist or communist-dominat-
war in Indochina, the Hmong were a small,
their pre-1975 ties to America or the defunct
ed country in Europe had an automatic
isolated community of farmers living in the
South Vietnamese regime. This year, Amer-
claim to be a refugee. It was not until 1980
highlands of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
ica will run special refugee services in Hava-
that a new law rubbed out any reference to
But during the war the CIA recruited the
na, Ho Chi Minh City and Moscow, so that
communism in America's definition of a ref-
Hmong to fight against the Vietnamese and
people in those places can start the process of
ugee. The old definition was good news for
Laotian communists. In 1974, the trium-
becoming refugees without actually leaving
Soviet Jews and dissidents, Vietnamese, and
phant communists turned on the Hmong,
their countries.
Cubans; it has been less good for those flee-
many of whom fled to refugee camps in
The emergence of true post-cold-war
THE:ECONOMIST MAY 1ST 1999
27
LEXINGTON
Charlton Heston's tablets of stone
E
VEN the best actor can occasionally fluff his lines. But some
frighten them I believe that in your heart you already know something
fluffs so distract an audience that it loses the plot. Has Charlton
is profoundly wrong. When bartenders are responsible for drunk drivers'
Heston (not one of the greatest actors, but a good one nonetheless)
acts, and gunmakers are responsible for criminals' acts, and nobody is re-
committed such a gaffe? "If there had been even one armed guard in
sponsible for O.J. Simpson's acts, something is wrong.
the school," Mr Heston announced the day after teenage gunmen
Lest this version of "truth and consequences" seem a trifle too
killed a dozen fellow students, one teacher and finally themselve in
rabidly right-wing, Mr Heston reminds his audience that he once
a Littleton, Colorado, high school, "he could have saved a lot of lives
marched with Martin Luther King (his critics say his civil-rights
and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly."
activism has grown in the telling). And, lest it seem a trifle sim-
Well, actually no. There was indeed an armed guard at Colum-
plistic, he reminds them that "passing laws is what keeps politic-
bine High School, he exchanged gunfire with the teenagers-and he
ians' careers alive. Enforcing laws is what keeps you alive."
failed to prevent the tragedy. The obvious conclusion is that Mr
It is a shrewd mantra, intoned to discredit even the most
Heston's script, or at least his sense of timing, has gone awry. But is it
modest attempts to restrict Americans' access to weapons of per-
equally obvious that the play is ruined, and that Mr Heston is
sonal destruction. Remember Bill Clinton's 1994 crime bill stop-
doomed to lasting embarrass-
ping the transfer of handguns
ment when he presides over this
by adults to uveniles? "His Jus-
weekend's annual meeting of the
tice Department bothered to
National Rifle Association
prosecute only five people in
(which, by bitter irony, is being
1997 and six in 1998." Or the
held in Denver)?
ban on semi-automatic guns?
Clearly the risk is there: the
Just four prosecutions in 1997
NRA has resisted the plea of Den-
and four in 1998. Or "that
ver's mayor to cancel the event,
media love-child, the Brady
but has shortened it from three
Bill"? Just nine people convict-
days to one "to show our pro-
ed out of the quarter-million fe-
found sympathy and respect for
lons who attempted to buy
the families and communities in
handguns. Look, by contrast, at
the Denver area in their time of
THOU
the NRA way: the imposition of
great loss." Moreover, making the
SHALT
punitive federal law for fire-
accident of the calendar still risk-
HAVE
arms offences and the right
ier for the NRA are the days of tele-
GUNS
(available now in 31 states) to
vised mourning that have preced-
carry a concealed weapon. The
ed it: heart-wrenching funeral
MOSES
result, say some scholars to the
scenes and countless hours of
NRA'S delight, is both lower
electronic punditry.
crime and better economics
Tragedy in Colorado hits
(Sterling Burnett of the Nation-
home in a way that tragedy in Ko-
al Centre for Policy Analysis
sovo does not. Yet, sadly for those
impressively calculates that the
Americans dismayed by their society's addiction to guns, the risk to
deterrent effect of "defensive gun use" confers a net benefit rang-
the NRA'S standing is probably less than it appears. One reason is
ing between $1 billion and $38.8 billion a year).
that in the land of attention-deficit disorder the media cannot sus-
Say all this enough times and the audience will doubtless for-
tain its focus for long. Horrendous acts of schoolboy violence, for
get the distraction of Littleton. When 53% of adults polled-after
example, are regular occurrences, but they fade all too quickly from
Littleton-by CBS oppose a ban on the sale of handguns to civil-
public memory (the killings by Littleton's "Trench-Coat Mafia"
ians, this week's call by the Washington Post for just such a ban
were the seventh such incident to have captured the TV cameras in
looks, sadly, like wishful thinking. So too, alas, does the incre-
the past 18 months). The bigger reason, however, is that Mr Heston's
mentalist approach of that other American actor, Bill Clinton.
script, for all his recent mistakes of timing and delivery, is one that
This week, in what the Senate Republican leader Trent Lott
cannot be dismissed out of hand. Instead, it has to be listened to
dismissed as a "typical knee-jerk reaction" to Littleton, the presi-
when the actor is on form.
dent proposed legislation requiring child-proof locks on all guns
Take, for example, Mr Heston's speech (just four days before the
sold; background checks on people buying from private dealers
base is important to know that unit prices reflect the value of the underlying assets of the funds and so can go down as well as up. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Where a fund Invests in overseas securities, the unit prices may also rise and fall purely account of exchange rate fluctuations. Interest
rate or us Federal Fund Target Rate until 29th June 2001 which rates will be reviewed but will be no less than the prevailing Bank of Scotland Offshore savings interest rates applicable at the time. The use of the word 'Guaranteed' refers only to the obligation of Bank of on Scotland Offshore to apply rate of interest to the savings rates part are of the Save guaranteed & at Invest 1.50% over Account Bank that of is no less England
Littleton killings) to the students at Yale. To their parents, Mr Hes-
at gun shows; a lifetime ban on owning guns for violent juveniles;
ton is an American icon, somehow embodying the heroism of his
a three-day waiting period for all handgun purchases, with the
roles of yesteryear: Ben Hur in his Roman chariot; Moses bearing
minimum buyer age raised from 18 to 21; a ban on the possession
aloft God's ten commandments; El Cid defying the Moorish
by juveniles of semi-automatic assault rifles; and a limit (as in
hordes. Today's students are too young to be influenced by such ep-
Virginia) on handgun sales to one per person per month.
ics (though some will remember Mr Heston's cameo appearance as
Can such puny measures really be what the White House
the boss of the CIA, intimidating Arnold Schwarzenegger in "True
calls "the most comprehensive gun legislation in 30 years"? Un-
Lies"). Perhaps they see simply an old man, further over the hill
fortunately, yes. But, as Mr Clinton pointed out, guns are part of
than Clint Eastwood (a mere 68, compared with 74-year-old Mr
America's culture and cultural change comes hard. Mr Heston's
Heston) and with a ridiculously poor toupee. But when they listen,
NRA straddles two streams of the nation's consciousness: the
they hear one of America most inspiring voices, awakening all the
huntin' and fishin' of America's idyllic past and rural present,
atavistic longing, felt even by the young, for a simpler, better nation:
and the "Dirty Harry" violence of its inner cities. What a pity the
Here I am still in the chariot The thought police do not frighten me. I hope I
combination is so durable-and so deadly.
30
THE MAY 1ST 1999
May 09 99 11:25a
p.1
FAX COVER
TO: JEFF SHESOL
WH
FROM: JULIA COHEN
ROCK THE VOTE
PAGES: 7
As PER VOICEMAIL
PLEASE (AUL 202- -
466- 1885 (LCCR)
IF PROBLEMS W/FAX OR
QUESTIONS.
May 09 99 11:25a
p.2
ROCK
THE
OTE
Leadership Conference
Education Fund
ye
Contact: Brian Komar, (202) 466-3311
Meri Danquah, (310) 237-2011
John Chambers, (202) 333-6181
MEDIA ADVISORY
"LOCAL AREA YOUTH TO PARTICIPATE IN DIALOGUE
WITH YOUNG CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS ON
THE URGENT NEED TO ADDRESS THE RISE OF HATE CRIMES
AND VIOLENCE AMONG YOUTH"
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 5, 1999) - A group of approximately twenty five local area high school students
will participate in a dialogue with young civil rights leaders about increasing the civil rights community's
relevance to the lives of young adults and the urgent need to address the rise of hate crimes and violence
among youth.
Students from Banneker High School, Georgetown Day School, and Woodson Senior High School will
participate in the forum convened by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the Leadership
Conference Education Fund (LCEF), and Rock The Vote (RTV).
This forum, entitled, "Clvil Rights And the Next Generation: New Voices, New Leaders," will be
moderated by Tavis Smiley, Host of Black Entertainment Television's BET Tonight. It is part of
"WORKING TOWARDS ONE AMERICA" a day and a half civil rights policy conference that Is being held
in conjunction with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights' Annual Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights
Awards Dinner.
When:
Monday, May 10, 1999, 12:00 noon - 2:30 p.m.
Where:
311 Cannon House Office Building, Capitol Hill
Confirmed Participants Include:
The Honorable Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), U.S. House of Representatives; Reverend Jamal Bryant,
National Youth and College Director, NAACP; Patricia Campos, Assistant to the Executive Director, Labor
Council for Latin American Advancement; Christine Chen, Project Director, Organization of Chinese;
Americans; Jeff Cohen, Legislative Correspondent, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA): Marco Davis,
Director; Leadership Development, National Council of La Raza; Ingrid Duran, Executive Director,
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Foundation; Stephen Friedman, Vice President of Public Affairs, MTV
Music Television: Frank Luntz, President, Luntz Research: Hans Riemer, Executive Director, 2030
Center; Guila Franklin Siegel, Association Director for Domestic Concerns, Jewish Committee for Public
Affairs: Elizabeth Toleda, Vice President - Action, National Organization for Women; Angela Wheeler,
Publisher & CEO, Who Cares magazine; Victoria Wright, Legislative Associate, National Congress of
American Indians: and, Jonathan M. Young, Associate Director, Office of Public Liaison, The White
House.
May 09 99 11:26a
p.3
FROM : LCCR-LCEF 1629 K ST NW
202 466 3435
1999,05-03
21:49
#536 P.08/11
"WORKING TOWARDS ONE AMERICA"
Civil Rights and the Next Generation: New Voices New Leaders
DRAFT PROGRAM
12:00 noon
Conference attendees and students receive box lunches and materials
12:15 p.m.
Wade Henderson, Executive Director, LCCR introduces Tavis Smiley
12:20 p.m.
Tavis Smiley welcomes everyone and thanks them for coming
Suggested Comments:
1)
Mentions LCCR and LCEF's commitment to engaging young adults in conversations about
how to make the civil rights movement more relevant to young adults
2)
Mentions how pleased we are to be working with Rock the Vote and that today's event
marks the first in a series of events leading up to the 2000 elections in which LCCR and
LCEF will be working with Rock the Vote and other organizations serving youth to support
and encourage young people to realize and utilize their power to affect change in the civic and
political lives of their communities. Our particular focus will be educating about civil rights,
and its role in shaping the country in which young people will live, work and raise their
children.
3)
Tavis introduces participants (see enclosed bio summaries) and explains the structure of the
session to the participants.
4)
There are four suggested segments with time allotted for audience participation at the end,
not between segments. It time runs short, by 1:30 p.m. we should move to hate crimes and
youth violence and allow at least ten minutes at the end for Q & A.
First segment will be a "Reality Check" - a discussion of the current status of civil
rights,
Second segment will focus the discussion on young adults - what they know about
civil rights, how they acquire that knowledge, what's important to them and
highlights recent polling data about youths and civil rights, and their involvement in
the political process.
Final segment will focus specifically on hate crimes and youth violence with particular
focus on MTV's recent survey.
Fact sheets with background information on all segments are enclosed.
12:30 p.m.
SEGMENT ONE- A REALITY CHECK
May 09 99 11:26a
p.4
FROM :LCCR-LCEF 1629 K ST NW
202 466 3435
1999,05-03
21:49
#536 P.09/11
We believe that in order to have an honest conversation about civil rights and the next generation,
it is important to assess the current status of social and economic justice.
ONE AMERICA DISCUSSION President Clinton said repeatedly during his year-long Initiative
on Race that as we approach the 21" Century, America is once again a nation of new promise, with
the opportunity to become the world's first truly multiracial, multiethnic democracy. The President
continually highlighted that there are great challenges but also great opportunities. If we are to have
an honest conversation about the great opportunities within the challenges, we must better understand
the context in which we find ourselves at the dawn of the new millenium.
I.
Current status of civil rights at the dawn of the new millennium according to key indicators
- education, employment, economic status, health - ("The Best and Worst of Times").
II
Demographics of the nation's the country's increasing diversity.
III.
Suggested Questions
A.
Given that the nation has never resolved the black-white dilemma, nor its treatment
of Native Americans, what is the outlook for a country that is growing even more
diverse with growing Hispanic and Asian populations?
B.
How do we bridge the economic and educational divide? Is there a role for
educators, government, nonprofits?
C.
What role do whites have to play in the debate and the solutions.
D.
How important is intergroup interaction given the nation's racial and ethnic
segregation in neighborhoods and schools?
E.
What are the best venues in which to generate such interaction?
F.
Are their useful models for 21" Century? (Coalition building - LCCR as a model -
are there other model around the country?)
G.
Is there reason to believe the next generation will do a better job of building an
multiracial, multiethnic, multireligious democracy then the previous generation?
TRANSTION INTO SEGMENT TWO: YOUNG ADULTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS: A
REALITY CHECK
The focus of the panel in on youth, so lets turn our attention to young people and in particular their
knowledge of civil rights and involvement with civil rights organizations.
Young people were a major force in the civil rights movement (SNCC, Freedom Riders). All over
the South, teenagers went to jail during the movement and, in the process, many of them helped get
their parents involved. This is the thirty-fifth anniversary of Freedom Summer and the Mississippi
Summer Project when hundreds of college students arrived in Mississippi to help with voter
registration and the denial of other rights. It is also the 35th anniversary of the murders of James Earl
Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three young adults who sacrificed their lives in
an effort to secure the right to vote for disenfranchised African Americans.
May 09 99 11:26a
p.5
FROM :LCCR-LCEF 1629 K ST NW
202 466 3435
1999,05-03
21:50
#536 P. 10/11
I.
Research suggests that college students are interested in civil rights but admit their knowledge
is limited (see enclosed sheet)
II.
Suggested Questions
A.
Why is it that young adults know so little about civil rights?
B.
How can the traditional civil rights organizations do a better job of reaching young
people? What about educators?
C.
What will Make this Generation March?
D.
What are the issues about which young people are passionate.
TRANSITION INTO SEGMENT THREE: YOUTH ACTION, LEADERSHIP AND
COMMUNITY SERVICE
I.
See enclosed research on how young adults define leadership and the role they are playing in
their communities. While the media has written at great length about the lack of interest in
careers in public service by today's youth, the findings from the Public Allies Survey provide
encouraging news about their commitment to redefining the concept of leadership in our
country, working together to provide direct assistance to others, and reaching out to people
from different backgrounds to collectively forge new solutions to social problems.
II
Suggested Questions
A.
Based on your personal and professional experience, are young people eager to
devote themselves to public service work?
B.
How would you characterize the support and/or encouragement for them to do so?
III.
Research on young adults involvement in the political process (see enclosed sheet)
A.
Youth turnout in 1996 elections was disturbing low. Most estimates put 18-24 year
old turnout at about 29 percent - down from about 37 percent in 1992 and roughly
the same as the historically low youth turnout rate in 1988. In raw numbers - nearly
2 million fewer young people voted in 1996 than in 1992.
B.
Yet turnout for all age groups was down in 1996 total voter turnout was 49 percent
versus 55 percent in 1992 (the lowest turnout rate since 1924, and second lowest
since 1824). Some analysts say that what is happening is part of a larger problem of
alienation from the political process and civic involvement. However, turnout dropped
even more precipitously among young people than among other voters. In 1992, 18-
29 year olds, made up 21 percent of the voters but just 17 percent in 1996.
IV.
Suggested Questions
A.
Why is participation down? Why to young adults not vote?
B.
What do we know about effective models to improve participation?
C.
What impact does this have on public policy?
May 09 99 11:27a
p.6
FROM : LCCR-LCEF 1629 K ST NW
202 466 3435
1999,05-03
21:50
#536 P.11/11
D.
Disconnect between civic engagement and involvement in political process - -
seemingly contradictory - on one hand, indications that young adults are more
involved than ever before, at same time, extremely low participation in the political
process - why not voting?
E.
Implications for public policy - Social Security for example (Hans)
F.
How to encourage involvement?
TRANSITION INTO SEGMENT FOUR: COMBATING HATE CRIMES AND YOUTH
VIOLENCE
Research on the perpetrators of hate crimes, suggests that a surprisingly large number may be
youthful thrill-seekers, rather than hard core haters. According to a study conducted in 1993 for
Northeastern University, 60 percent of offenders committed crimes for the "thrill associated with
victimization." Often, the perpetrators hoped their acts of violence would gain respect from their
friends - a feeling that explains why so many hate crimes are committed by gangs of young men. On
the other hand, there are hard-core fanatics, imbued with the ideology of racial, religious, or ethnic
bigotry and often a member of, or a potential recruit for, an extremist organizations. And increasingly
these groups and individuals are advancing their views through the Internet.
I.
Big Issue is violence - aftermath of Colorado, etc MTV poll RTV Materials
1.
Hate Crimes Poll
2.
More details II
3.
More details III
CLOSURE SETH MATLINS, PRESIDENT, ROCK THE VOTE
May 09 99 11:27a
P. 7
LC
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
ye
and
cef #ducation Fund
CR
The Leadership Conference Education Fund
Annual Civil Rights Policy Conference
"WORKING TOWARDS ONE AMERICA"
May 10-11, 1999
On May 10-11, 1999 the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the Leadership Conference Education
Fund (LCEF) will convene a 11 day conference in Washington, D.C. focusing on important civil rights policy issues. The
conference, entitled, "WORKING TOWARDS ONE AMERICA" will be held in conjunction with the LCCR's Annual
Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner and the LCCR National Board Meeting. Issues covered at the
conference will include of firmative action, the 2000 Census, hate crimes, emerging technology issues, and repositioning
the civil rights movement to be more relevant to young adults. The conference will be held on Capitol Hill and at the
National Press Club.
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS!!
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: THE DEBATE CONTINUES
This two-part session will review the latest empirical research on affirmative action in higher education as
well as continue the discussion on the merits of of firmative action policies and programs.
PART I.
Affirmative Action in Higher Education: Debunking the Myths
The debate over affirmative action in higher education too often has relied on rhetoric rather than hard empirical
evidence. By examining the admissions policies of several institutions and following the fortunes of their minority
graduates over a period of years, The Shape of the River strikes a blow to those who are rallying against firmative
action. William Bowen, President, Andrew Mellon Foundation and Former President, Princeton University, will present
the findings from The Shape of the River, which he co-authored with Derek Bok, Immediate Past-President, Harvard
University, and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
PART II.
Continuing The Discussion
Marcia Greenberger, Co-President, National Women's Law Center and Abigail Thernstrom, Senior Fellow, Manhattan
Institute for Policy Research will continue the discussion about af firmative action in an interactive session moderated
by Karen Narasaki, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium.
SPECIAL LUNCHEON SESSION IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ROCK
ROCK THE VOTE!!!
CIVIL RIGHTS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION:
OTE
NEW VOICES, NEW LEADERS
Ever wonder what will make the next generation march? Tavis Smiley, host of Black Entertainment Television's BET
Tonight, will moderate this special session that will focus on the civil rights movement's outreach and relevance to
young adults at the dawn of the new millennium. The participants will be young activists, advocates, and leaders who will
share their ideas on how civil rights organizations can become more effective in addressing the evolving needs of
today's youth. Particular emphasis on how organizations can support and encourage young people to realize and utilize
their power to affect change in the civic and political lives of their communities.
May 09 99 11:27a
p.8
"WORKING TOWARDS ONE AMERICA"
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS CONTINUED
CENSUS 2000: POWER AND MONEY
Census data provide the statistical basis for determining the political contours of federal, state, and local governments.
In addition, these data fect the annual distribution of over $180 billion dollars from the federal government to states
and localities. Much rides on the outcome of the 2000 census. This session will examine some of the policy implications of
an Incomplete count with an eye on how the census of fects real people in real communities around the nation. Richard
Riley, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education: Antonia Hernandez, President and General Counsel, Mexican American
Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and, Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children's Defense Fund hve
been Invited to participate.
THE CONTINUING BATTLE AGAINST HATE CRIME VIOLENCE
The recent murder of Billy Jack Gaither in Alabama and the horrific 1998 deaths of James Byrd in Texas and Matthew
Shepard in Wyoming serve os a painful reminder of how beastly attacks against innocent citizens, driven by nothing but
irrational hatred, threaten the very soul of America. We believe hate crimes are a more serious problem than is generally
recognized and that the problem requires a unifled and determined response by all sectors of our society. This session
will examine how various organizations and institutions are responding to a call for action.
PUBLIC EDUCATION: THE ELUSIVE SEARCH FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
The discussion will focus on the practical meaning of equal educational opportunity in the context of the reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) during the 106th Congress. The ESEA was first enacted in 1965
to provide federal assistance to disadvantaged children and Title I of ESEA is the largest federal education program
designed specifically to serve our nation's poorest children and their families- reaching nearly every school district in
the country -- and providing nearly $8 billion annually to improve the educational achlevement levels of low-income
students. Invited to the discussion are: Robert Chase, National Education Association: Kweisi Mfume, NAACP; Raul
Yzaguirre, National Council of La Raza; and, Nancy Zirkin, Chair, National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education
(NCWGE). The session will be moderated by Civil Rights Attorney William Taylor, LCCR Vice-Chair.
LUNCHEON KEYNOTE
STEVE CASE, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, AMERICA ONLINE
THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
USING THE NEW MEDIUM TO BUILD ONE AMERICA IN THE 21ˢᵗ CENTURY:
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Steve Case, Chairman and CEO, America Online, will address the future of telecommunications In the new
millennium, with a particular emphasis on under-served communities. Bridging the technological divide is
critical toward achieving One America in the 21" Century.
TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE OR TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE
CONTACT: BRIAN KOMAR, LCCR/LCEF, (202) 466-3311, [email protected]
President Clinton:
Announces Comprehensive Legislation to Keep Guns Away
From Youth and Criminals
April 27, 1999
Today, President Clinton will announce new legislation to strengthen federal firearms laws and
make it more difficult for kids and criminals to have access to guns and explosives. The
President's proposed bill will include new proposals to: (1) reduce illegal gun running by
limiting the purchase of handguns to no more than one per month; (2) raise the age of the youth
handgun ban from 18 to 21 years of age; (3) ban the juvenile possession of semi-automatic
assault rifles; (4) halt the importation of large capacity ammunition magazines; (5) require Brady
background checks for the purchase of explosives; (6) help law enforcement trace more crime
guns to their source; and (7) authorize repeat inspections to crack down on gun dealers involved
in illegal gun trafficking. The President's package represents the most comprehensive gun
legislation any Administration has put forward in 30 years.
BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS OF, THE BRADY LAW. Since taking effect in 1994, the
Brady Law has prevented over a quarter of a million felons, fugitives, stalkers, and other
prohibited purchasers from buying handguns. In November 1998, the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) took effect, allowing access to a fuller set of records that law
enforcement officials can use to conduct checks of all prospective gun purchases -- not just for
handguns. To date, NICS has conducted over 3.4 million background checks on gun purchasers,
and the FBI has stopped over 36,000 illegal gun sales. The President's legislation will propose
strengthening the Brady Law by:
Extending the Brady Law's requirements to purchases of explosives. Under current
law, no Brady background check is required to buy explosives. The President's bill will
help cut off easy access to explosives by requiring Brady background checks before the
sale of explosives, and by extending the same prohibitions in our gun laws to prospective
purchasers of explosives. The bill will also prohibit convicted felons from purchasing
any quantity of black powder, which is used to make most pipe bombs, and require all
explosives dealers to keep records of their sales of black powder.
Closing the gun show loophole on Brady background checks. In 1998, there were
more than 4,000 gun shows held in states across the country as well as flea markets and
other events at which guns can be traded anonymously. An estimated 25-50 percent of
the sellers at these gun shows are unlicensed and the guns sold by the unlicensed sellers
are not subject to background checks. As a result, gun shows can provide a forum for
illegal firearms sales and gun trafficking. In fact, a recent review by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) of 314 gun show investigations found that 46
percent of these investigations involved the purchase or sale of firearms by felons, and 34
percent involved the sale of firearms later used in serious crimes, including homicides. To
end this policy of firearms being sold at gun shows on a "no questions asked" basis, the
President's bill will require : (1) Brady background checks on all firearms transferred at
gun shows, with the assistance of federally-licensed dealers; (2) vendors to report
information on firearms sold at gun shows to the ATF, so that they can be traced by law
enforcement if they are later used in crimes; and (3) gun show promoters to register with
the ATF and notify it of all gun shows.
Creating a mandatory Brady waiting period. Although the NICS has generally
improved law enforcement's ability to conduct background checks, a mandatory waiting
period will provide a cooling-off period for handgun purchases and allow local law
enforcement officers to check additional, non-computerized records. Accordingly, the
President's legislation will: (1) require a minimum 3-day waiting period for all handgun
purchases; (2) add up to an additional two days to the waiting period if law enforcement
officers need more time to clarify arrest records; and (3) provide authority for dealers to
notify local law enforcement officials of all proposed handgun purchases.
Extending the Brady Law to violent juveniles. Although violent youth convicted in
adult courts are barred from owning firearms as adults, the same is not true for youth
convicted of serious violent crimes in juvenile court. Violent juveniles should be treated
as adults for their adult crimes, and stopped from getting weapons to hurt again. The
President's legislation will permanently ban all violent juveniles from buying guns, so
that they cannot purchase a gun on their 21 st birthday.
RESTRICTING YOUTH ACCESS TO GUNS. Keeping guns out of the hands of juveniles
has been one of President Clinton's top priorities. He fought for and signed legislation
prohibiting the juvenile possession of handguns, requiring "zero tolerance" for guns in schools,
and establishing the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) to help identify and arrest
adults who traffic guns to children. The President's bill will do even more to restrict
unauthorized youth access to guns by:
Raising the age of the youth handgun ban to 21 years of age. In 1994, President
Clinton signed into law the Youth Handgun Safety Act, which generally banned the
possession of handguns by juveniles under the age of 18, and prohibited adults from
transferring handguns to juveniles -- except in limited circumstances. A separate
provision of the 1968 Gun Control Act also prohibits federally-licensed gun dealers from
selling handguns to any one under 21 years of age. However, it is perfectly legal for 18-
20 year-olds to possess handguns -- and even to buy them from unlicensed sellers, such as
from a neighbor who is a private collector. Additionally, ATF gun trace data show that
the more crime guns are traced to 18 and 19 year-olds than all other age groups. The
President's legislation will extend the provisions of the youth handgun ban to youth
between 18 and 21 years of age.
Banning juvenile possession of semiautomatic assault rifles. Although the Youth
Handgun Safety Act generally banned the possession of assault pistols, it did not include
assault rifles and large capacity magazines manufactured before the Assault Weapons
Ban went into effect. Thus, it remains legal for juveniles under the age of 18 to possess
these deadly weapons and ammunition. The President's bill will prohibit their possession
by juveniles in any instance.
Holding adults responsible for child access to guns. Child Access Prevention (CAP)
laws promote gun safety and responsibility by holding adults responsible if they allow
children easy access to loaded firearms. According to a study published by the Journal of
the American Medical Association, CAP laws help reduce fatal unintentional shootings
by an average of 23%. The President's legislation will impose felony penalties on adults
who knowingly or recklessly allow a child to have unlawful access to a gun that is later
used to cause death or injury. Individuals sentenced under this provision could be
imprisoned for up to three years, fined a maximum of $250,000, or both.
Requiring child safety locks for guns. Child safety locks and other devices can reduce
the unauthorized use of handguns, by a child at play or a teen looking to commit a crime.
Many youth have to look no further than their own home to get their hands on a gun: it is
estimated that one third of all privately-owned handguns are left both loaded and
unlocked. To address this problem, the President's bill will require federally-licensed
firearms dealers, manufacturers, and importers to provide a child safety lock or device
with every gun they sell.
Increasing penalties for transferring guns to juveniles. The President's bill will
increase penalties for adults who transfer handguns to juveniles knowing that they will be
used in a violent crime -- establishing a new mandatory minimum sentence of at least 3
years and up to 10 years.
CRACKING DOWN ON ILLEGAL GUN TRAFFICKERS. In 1996, President Clinton
launched the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) in 17 cities to help trace crime
guns to their source, as well as identify and arrest the adults who traffic firearms to our children.
Since that time, YCGII has been expanded to 20 more cities and conducted more than 200,000
traces for local law enforcement. Additionally, over the last two years the President has
proposed hiring more than 280 new ATF agents and more than 40 new federal prosecutors to
arrest gun traffickers and violent criminals, and crack down on illegal gun sales.
Reduce illegal gun running by limiting handgun sales to no more than one per
month. The President's legislation will crack down on gun trafficking by limiting
handgun sales to a maximum of one per month. Gun runners should not be able to
circumvent Brady background checks, and employ "straw purchasers" -- or persons not
prohibited from purchasing firearms -- to buy guns in bulk and divert them to the street.
The President's bill will implement a national system as soon as practicable to limit
handgun sales to one per month.
Allowing law enforcement to trace all firearms used in crimes. Under current law it is
much more difficult for law enforcement to trace used firearms that are later used in
crimes. To improve law enforcement's ability to trace crime guns, the President's
legislation will require that federal gun dealers also report the manufacturer, model, and
serial number of all used guns sold to ATF's National Tracing Center. No information on
the purchaser would be provided to ATF unless the gun later became the subject of a
crime gun trace.
Doubling the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII). Over the past 2
years, the President has expanded the YCGII initiative to 37 cities -- helping them to trace
all crime guns to their source, to identify illegal gun markets, and to crack down on gun
traffickers. Last year, ATF initiated over 300 investigations in these cities, which
involved over 3,300 illegally trafficked firearms. The President's bill will increase the
number of cities participating in YCGII over the next 4 years to a total of 75.
Increasing penalties on gun kingpins. To send a strong message to gun runners that
their illegal gun trafficking will not be tolerated, the President's bill will double the
maximum penalty for illegally selling firearms without a license (from 5 to 10 years of
imprisonment), and instruct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to enhance the current
penalty for offenses where over 50 firearms have been illegally trafficked.
Cracking down on gun dealers involved in illegal gun trafficking. While most gun
dealers are not associated with unlawful activities, some are involved in the illegal gun
trade. The President's legislation will allow for more inspections of federal firearms
licensees (from 1 to 3 per year), tougher penalties for serious violations that interfere with
trafficking investigations, and suspension of a gun dealer's license for willful violations
of the Gun Control Act.
STRENGTHENING THE ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN. In 1994, the President fought for
and signed into law legislation to ban the manufacture and importation of the 19 deadliest assault
weapons, their copies, and large capacity ammunition clips. Last year, the President also to took
action to ban the importation of over 50 models of modified assault weapons. The President's
bill strengthens the assault weapons law by:
Banning the importation of all large capacity ammunition magazines. Although the
1994 assault weapons law banned the future domestic manufacture and importation of
large capacity ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition,
those manufactured before the law's enactment were grandfathered. Because of the
difficulty in determining when large capacity ammunition magazines manufactured by
foreign companies were made, it has become relatively easy for foreign gun
manufacturers to circumvent the ban. As a result, the President's bill will close this
loophole by banning the importation of all large capacity magazines -- regardless of when
they were manufactured.
culture.wpd
Page 1
Families, Children and the Media
"The ability of the United States to make the 21st century the age of greatest possibility in
our nation's history depends in no small measure on our ability to build strong families
today; to help our parents to succeed not only in the workplace, but in their most important
job, raising good, well-educated, well-balanced, successful children."
-- Remarks by the President at the Children's Television Conference,
July 29, 1996
Giving Families A New Tool -- A Content-Based Television Ratings System.
Striving to protect children from violence and adult content on television, the
President and Vice President garnered a breakthrough agreement from the
television industry to create a content-based voluntary ratings system. The new
system went into effect October 1, 1997, giving parents the information they
need to determine if TV shows are appropriate for viewing by their children and
identifying which programs they want to block from their homes through
screening technology (the V-chip). The voluntary rating system includes age-
and content-based ratings.
Helping Parents Control What Comes Into Their Living Room with the V-Chip.
Four years ago, President Clinton and Vice President Gore used the Family Policy
Conference in Nashville to call for V-chip legislation -- to give parents new tools
to help them screen out television programs that are not fit for their kids. Under
strong leadership from the White House, the following year saw Congress enact
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which included V-chip legislation. Now,
by January 2000, all new televisions are scheduled to include this screening
technology.
Hosting the White House Conference on Children's Television. In July 1996, the
President and Vice President convened the White House Conference on
Children's Television to improve and expand education television for children.
Conference participants included parents, industry representatives, advocates,
experts and advertisers. At the Conference, the television industry joined with
the President and agreed to air more educational and instructional children's
shows.
Encouraging More Educational Television. At the President's urging, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) adopted clear and concrete rules to
encourage the development and promotion of TV programming that would be
both welcomed by parents and watched by children. The rules require three
hours of regularly scheduled, half-hour weekly educational and instructional
programming as a requirement for license renewal.
culture. wpd
Page 2
Promoting a "Family Friendly" Internet. The President and Vice President have
worked to make cyberspace a safe place for children. The Administration has
enlisted the assistance of numerous stakeholders, including industry leaders,
teachers, parents, Internet users and librarians to work towards the creation of a
"family friendly" Internet. The Administration's three part strategy includes: (1)
industry commitments to provide blocking, filtering and labeling technology for
use by parents and teachers using the °Net; 2) effective enforcement of existing
laws; and 3) increased parental awareness and involvement. This strategy is
designed to give parents and teachers the tools they need to prevent children
from getting access to inappropriate material on the Internet, and to guide them
towards high-quality educational resources.
value$2.wpd
Page 1
Families, Children And The Media:
The President's Leadership In Working To Give Parents The Tools To Protect T
Children
The President, Vice President, First Lady and Mrs. Gore have each worked
for years to give parents more tools to control what their children are exposed to in
our popular culture. Below are excerpts from some of President Clinton's major
statements on this topic.
June 30, 1993
Letter to Television Networks on Use of Program Violence
Warnings
"Millions of parents are rightly concerned that their children are
exposed to far too many graphic pictures of murder and mayhem
For the health of our society and the American family, we must
continue to find ways to limit the excessive portrayal of violence in
our television programming."
December 4, 1993
Remarks at the Creative Artists Agency Reception in
Beverly Hills, California
"There are few things more powerful in any time and place than
culture. The ability of culture to elevate or debase is profound And
so / ask you, while you entertain the rest of us, let us together do
something to rebuild the bonds of community, to restore the spirit of
these children We must rebuild this country fundamentally. And we
need to have the support of people who can shape our culture to do
it.
January 24, 1995
Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the
State of the Union
"For people in the entertainment industry in this country, we applaud
your creativity and your worldwide success, and we support your
freedom of expression. But you do have a responsibility to assess the
impact of your work and to understand the damage that comes from
the incessant, repetitive, mindless violence and irresponsible conduct
that permeates our media all the time."
July 10, 1995
Remarks at the Family and Media Conference in Nashville
"It's commonplace to say that most of us believe that there's too
much indiscriminate violence in various parts of our media today. /
believe the question is, so what? What we ought to be talking about
today is what are we all going to do about that?"
September 18, 1995
Letter to the Chair of the Federal Communications
Commission on the Children's Television Act of 1990
"I believe the public interest should require broadcasters to air at least
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three hours per week, and preferably more, of quality children's
programming at reasonable times of the day."
January 23, 1996
Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the
State of the Union
"To the media, / say you should create movies and CD's and
television shows you'd want your own children and grandchildren to
enjoy. / call on Congress to pass the requirement for a V-chip in TV
sets so that parents cans screen out programs they believe are
inappropriate for their children."
February 8, 1996 Statement on Signing the Telecommunications Act of 1996
"I am especially pleased that the Act requires new televisions to be
outfitted with the V-chip, which will empower families to choose the
kind of programming suitable for their children."
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February 9, 1996 Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion on the V-Chip With Families
in Alexandria, Virginia
"Just this week we have seen another major study chronicling the
destructive impact on young children of hours and hours and hours of
mindless violence and the so numbing impact it has on our young
children. So that's what the V-chip is designed to do [l]t will
rapidly come to be a very important part of American family's arsenal
of tools for raising children."
February 10, 1996
The President's Radio Address on Families And Our
Future
"Just this week, another national study confirmed the destructive
impact on children of being permitted to watch excessive violence on
television for hours and hours a day, year after year after year. We
must do a better job of dealing with these challenges. Just this
week / signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law which
gives parents the V-chip so they can take greater responsibility for
their children's lives and help them to kick the degrading influence of
excessive television violence "
February 29, 1996
Remarks Following a Meeting With Entertainment and
Media Executives
"I am pleased to report on a breakthrough voluntary agreement to help
parents protect their children from violence and adult content on
television. Our purpose in this meeting has been to find out how we
can help parents raise their children in the right way and to protect
them as they raise them.'
March 1, 1996
Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion With Families on Television
Programming
"We wanted to have you in here today because we want to get a feel
and we want the country to get a feel for what kinds of things
parents feel about this [television] rating system and the V-chip
And of course, we have some advocates and professionals here who
can talk about the impact of this on child-rearing in America and on
childhood."
March 2, 1996 The President's Radio Address On The Entertainment Industry's
Agreement To Implement A Voluntary Television Rating System
"With the V-chip and the [television] rating system, we mark a sea
change. We are harnessing technology, creativity, and responsibility,
bringing together parents, business, and Government to meet a major
challenge to our society. After all, it doesn't do a family any good to
have a nice television if the images it brings to our children erodes
their values and diminishes their future."
June 24, 1996
Remarks to the Family Re-Union V Conference in Nashville,
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Tennessee
"I want to take my hat off to the people in the entertainment industry
who are coming to grips with this really tough problem of rating
television programs [l]t's a move in the right direction."
July 29, 1996
Remarks at the Children's Television Conference
"We're here for a clear purpose: to improve and expand educational
television for our children That's why it gives me great pleasure to
announce that the four major networks, the National Association of
Broadcasters, and some of the leading advocates for educational
television have come together to join me in supporting a new proposal
to require broadcasters to air 3 hours of educational programming a
week."
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October 15, 1996
Remarks on the Second Annual Report on Television
Violence and an Exchange With Reporters in Albuquerque
"Nothing is more important than strengthening our families and
helping our parents to teach their children good values. We know that
television can be a positive force or a destructive force in the lives of
our children. Every parent knows that exposure to TV violence can be
numbing and send the wrong message to their kids
Everyone
has
a
responsibility in bringing this kind of change: parents, the
entertainment industry, government, each of us as individuals. Step
by step, working together, our administration [has] worked to make
television better for our families We will continue to sit down, to
work with entertainment leaders, to fight for the public interest. I'm
confident we will continue to make progress for our families. "
November 9, 1996
The President's Radio Address on Helping Parents As
They Try To Raise Their Children
"Today / want to talk with you about what we can do as a nation to
help parents as they try to raise their children American parents are
working overtime to set good examples only to have the full force of
popular culture make their work harder. That's why we gave parents
the V-chip and a television rating system so they can keep televised
violence and explicit sexuality out of their young children's lives."
December 19, 1996
Remarks Following a Briefing on the Television Rating
System
"I want to thank the industry leaders for the television rating system
which they have proposed today. Earlier this year, in February, /
asked them to do this. They said that they would and that they
would do it by January 1st. They are on time, and they have done
what they said they would do. And they are going to give America's
families more help in choosing appropriate television programming for
their children."
July 10, 1997
Statement on the New Television Rating System
"Two years ago, Vice President Gore and / challenged Congress and
the television industry to give parents new tools to control the
television children watch. We were pleased with their response. Last
year, Congress passed legislation giving American families the V-chip
and the industry developed a voluntary system of ratings for television
programs. Today these tools are being made stronger. The television
industry, working with parents, has strengthened its original rating
system by agreeing to assign new ratings that will better help families
choose appropriate television programming for their children."
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Promoting School Safety & Preventing Youth Violen
The Clinton-Gore Administration Record --
Making Our Schools and Communities Safer and Drug-Free
Hosting the White House Conference on School Safety. Convening experts,
parents, principals, students, law enforcement and local community leaders, on
October 15, 1998, the President held the first-ever White House Conference on
School Safety to provide an opportunity for Americans to learn more about how
they can make their own schools and communities safer. The Conference included
members of communities affected by school shootings and was linked by satellite
to schools and communities across the nation.
Creating a New Federal Response for Violent Deaths in Schools. President Clinton
has proposed a $12 million School Emergency Response to Violence -- or Project
SERV -- in his FY 2000 budget to help schools and local communities respond to
school-related violent deaths, such as those that occurred last school year in
Jonesboro, Arkansas; Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi; and Springfield,
Oregon. Developed with input from local officials and educators in these and other
communities, Project SERV will enable the federal government to assist local
communities in much the same way that the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) assists in response to natural disasters.
Hiring School Resource Officers, Targeting Assistance to Schools with Serious
Crime Problems. To help give schools with crime problems the tools they need to
put the security of our children first, at the White House Conference on School
Safety, the President announced a new $65 million initiative to hire up to 2,000
community police and School Resource Officers to work in schools -- and to train
police, educators and other members of the community to help recognize the early
warning signs of violence.
Forging School-Based Partnerships Between Schools and Law Enforcement. Under
the School-Based Partnerships grant program, the Clinton Administration released
$16.4 million in grants to 155 law enforcement agencies in September 1998. The
School-Based Partnerships grants will be used by policing agencies to work with
schools and community-based organizations to address crime at and around
schools. This initiative emphasizes using principles of community policing and
problem-solving methods to address the causes of school-related crime. The grants
will help forge or strengthen partnerships between local law enforcement and
schools to focus on school crime, drug use and discipline problems.
Launching a Community-Wide Response to School Safety and Youth Violence. To
help communities throughout the country promote a coordinated, comprehensive
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response to school safety, the President launched a new Safe Schools/Healthy
Students initiative designed to help 50 cities develop and implement
community-wide school safety plans. In April 1999, the Departments of Justice,
Education, and Health and Human Services announced that they will provide over
$180 million this year, and a total of $380 million over three years through the
Initiative for communities to fund comprehensive school safety plans that include
anti-truancy initiatives, mentoring, mental health services, conflict resolution
programs, school resource officers, and more -- helping to promote healthy
development and to prevent youth violence before it occurs. Communities will
have until June 1, 1999 to apply for the funds.
Helping to Make All Schools Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free. In 1994, President
Clinton expanded the Drug-Free Schools Act into the Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Act, making violence prevention a key part of this program. Safe and Drug-Free
Schools provides support for violence and drug prevention programs to 97 percent
of the nation's school districts. At the White House Conference on School Safety,
President Clinton announced his plan for a significant overhaul of the nearly $600
million Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program. Under the
President's proposal, schools will be required to adopt rigorous, comprehensive
school safety plans that include: tough, but fair, discipline policies; safe passage to
and from schools; effective drug and violence policies and programs; annual school
safety and drug use report cards; links to after school programs; efforts to involve
parents; and crisis management plans.
Responding to the Early Warning Signs of Troubled Youth. President Clinton
directed the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General to develop a guide to
help teachers and principals identify and respond to the early warning signs of
troubled youth that can lead to school violence. In August 1998, the Departments
of Justice and Education released Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe
Schools. This guide provides schools and communities with information on how to
identify the early warning signs and take action steps to prevent and respond to
school violence. More than 200,000 copies of the guide have been distributed, and
additional copies may be obtained through the websites of the Departments of
Education and Justice.
Issuing the First Annual Report on School Safety. In December 1997, President
Clinton called for an Annual Report on School Safety, which was released on
October 15, 1998 and sent to every school in the nation. The report includes: an
analysis of all existing national school crime data and an overview of state and local
crime reporting; examples of schools and strategies that are successfully reducing
school violence, drug use and class disruption; actions that parents can take locally
to combat school crime; and resources available to schools and communities to
help create safe, disciplined and drug-free schools.
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Enforcing Zero Tolerance for Guns and Other Weapons in Schools. In October
1994, President Clinton signed into law the Gun-Free Schools Act, requiring states
to have in effect a law requiring local education agencies (LEAs) to expel students
who bring guns to school. The President issued a Presidential Directive later that
month to enforce "zero tolerance" for guns in schools, a policy requiring the
expulsion of students who bring guns to schools. In school year 1996-97, the U.S.
Department of Education estimates that, under zero tolerance policies, 6,093
students were expelled from public schools for bringing a firearm to school.
Supporting Civic, Community and Faith-Based Organizations. Recognizing the
important role that civic, community and faith-based organizations can play in
reducing crime, the Administration launched a new Values-Based Violence
Prevention Initiative to make $2.2 million in grants available to 16
community-based collaboratives, including religiously-affiliated organizations, that
target youth violence, gangs, truancy, and other juvenile problems by promoting
common-sense values and responsibility.
Providing Safe After-School Opportunities for More than a Million Children a Year.
Last year (FY98), the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program was
expanded to $200 million. This funding is already supporting hundreds of
school-based after-school programs in rural and urban schools in 44 states and the
District of Columbia, including weekend and summer programs. This year, the
President proposed to triple this initiative -- to $600 million -- to provide safe and
educational after-school opportunities for up to 1.1 million school-age children in
communities across the country. In addition, the Education Department released a
report in June 1998, titled Safe and Smart: Making the After-School Hours Work
for Kid. This report shows that after-school programs can lower juvenile crime and
improve academic performance. Safe and Smart was sent to every school district
in the country.
Cracking Down on Truancy. Truancy prevention initiatives have been shown to
keep more children in school and dramatically reduce daytime crime. The Education
Department issued a guidebook to the 15,000 school districts nationwide which
outlines the central characteristics of a comprehensive truancy prevention policy
and highlights model initiatives in cities and towns across the country. Since then,
the Education Department has provided grants to local school districts to develop
innovative truancy prevention programs of the kind described in the guidebook.
Encouraging Schools to Adopt School Uniform Policies. School uniforms have been
found to be a promising strategy to reduce violence while promoting discipline and
respect in school. Because of this, the Clinton Administration has encouraged
schools to consider adopting school uniform policies by sharing with every school
district a school uniforms manual prepared by the Department of Education in
consultation with local communities and the Department of Justice. Since the
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President highlighted school uniforms, a growing number of schools have adopted
these policies including: New York City, Dade County, San Antonio, Houston,
Chicago and Boston.
Supporting Curfews at the Local Level. Community curfews are designed to help
keep children out of harm's way and enhance community safety. Because of their
success, President Clinton has encouraged communities to adopt curfew policies.
A 1997 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors has shown that 276 of 347
cities surveyed -- or 80 percent -- had youth curfew laws, up from 70 percent in
1995.
Developing a Comprehensive Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Strategy. President
Clinton has proposed a comprehensive strategy to (1) target gangs and violent
youths with tougher punishments and by expanding anti-gang task forces and the
use of racketeering statutes (i.e., RICO) for gang-related offenses; (2) crack down
on kids and guns by prohibiting violent juveniles from buying guns and increasing
penalties for selling handguns to youths; and (3) keep kids off the streets and out
of trouble by expanding after-school programs and promoting anti-truancy initiatives
and youth curfews.
Keeping Guns Out of the Hands of Children. A number of laws and initiatives are
keeping guns out of the hands of children and away from criminals. For instance,
since the Brady Law's enactment, 250,000 felons, fugitives and stalkers have been
denied handguns, and the 1994 Crime Bill banned 19 of the deadliest assault
weapons and their copies -- keeping assault weapons off America's streets. The
Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) is cracking down on the illegal gun
markets that supply firearms to juveniles and criminals in 37 target cities. The ATF
has already traced more than 77,000 crime guns in the YCGII cities, which has led
to the investigation and arrest of hundreds of illegal gun traffickers supplying guns
to juveniles and criminals. The Administration's FY 2000 budget proposal proposes
adding ATF agents to new YCGII cities to assist in gun trafficking investigations. In
addition to these programs, President Clinton signed a directive to every federal
agency, requiring child safety locking devices with every handgun issued to federal
law enforcement officers. And, in an historic agreement, eight major gun
manufacturers have voluntarily agreed to provide child safety locking devices with
all their handguns, helping to protect our children.
Encouraging Conflict Resolution. The Departments of Education and Justice have
developed and distributed 40,000 conflict resolution guides to schools and
community organizations, providing guidance on how to develop effective conflict
resolution programs; Education and Justice are training community officials and
educators on these conflict resolution measures.
Targeting Young People with a National Anti-Drug Media Campaign. In July 1998,
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President Clinton launched the national expansion of the Anti-Drug Media Campaign
first proposed in last year's drug strategy and budget. The 5-year, $2 billion
campaign is designed to let teens know -- when they turn on the television, listen
to the radio, or surf the °Net -- that drugs are dangerous, wrong and can kill you.
Building and Strengthening 14,000 Community Anti-Drug Coalitions. In 1997,
President Clinton signed into law the bipartisan Drug-Free Communities Support
Program. Over the next five years this program will provide $143.5 million to help
community coalitions rid their streets of drugs -- the coalitions are made up of
young people, parents, media, law enforcement, religious and other civic
organizations and school officials. Under this program, the President announced in
September 1998 Federal assistance to enhance grassroots efforts in 93
communities in 46 states to prevent youth drug abuse. This assistance will fund
the work of broad-based community coalitions to target young people's use of
drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
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