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SEXUAL HARRASSMENT

By Michael Zinck

Around the room we sit, not evil, not even really caring what’s going on.

It’s a discussion of sexual harassment, by mEn only. The men’s forum at last weekend’s ARCUP (Atlantic Region Canadian University Press) conference was on sexual harass— ment, but it didn’t start that way.

For we all knew that men have nothing to do with'this, it’s a woman‘s issue.

So we sat there joking, wondering whether we should leave to get a few beer, or play a little pool,’(including your writer, who sat with his feet up reading UNB’s newspaper and loudly suggesting we should go drink a little as this was boring, a waste of good time). I

Then it happened, Someone blew up, hit the roof, swore and was angry. He had been to over five conferences all with men’s forums and had seen the attempt to pawn it off all as a big joke.

But to him it was real; he had been sexually harassed. And he didn’t find it funny.

If you’ve never been consistantly pestered and bothered by someone who wants you, and who doesn’t understand the word no, then yOu don’t know!

Things heated up at that point. He was not the only one there; of ten men in the room, two had been harassed to such a degree that they had left the newspapers they were working on.

The argument finally centered around the ability to know and understand when you’ve passed from showing an interest, to going after that women with a single-minded determination to get whatever you wanted. Yes, what you wanted.

For what the woman wants is unimportant, as you sit there looking them over, like a cattle auction.

How can you really understand what caring is about? You don’t care about caring or feeling, you want them. Like the men in that room it’s not your fault. We act, not think.

That is our first problem, and it leads to sexual harassment.

What are we afraid of, losing something? What?

Our being a man. Does being an idiot make you a man Ask a woman. '

The understanding that every woman we meet will not be a girlfried, a date, a lover or a wife, is not an easy thought to handle. -

But without the realization that this is true, we are on the road to another case of sexual harassment.

As someone said, he had finally, after months of chasing a woman, asked, her if she felt a relationship would devleep between them. She said no. It was the first time he had ever

' done this and it was hard. It will be hard for you, too. It was hard for me, it still is. Yet you can do it, you must. Women will not accept any-

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thing less, and they are not accepting excuses. If. you’re not 4 .

out to hurt someone, then don’t. If you do, then it is your fault. .

LETTERS

To the unknown irat

Editor:

the rules the

Regard a letter about ir— reguiatttte in the Business Society golf tournament which appeared in the September 27 Net/ed Gem.

lt fir" .hould he noted Windsor Wight has

.s. :rd and told the Business Society that he did not write the letter, someone signed his name to the letter .vithout his knowledge or approval. Our response is to the unknown author —,who- ever it may be.

We at the Business Society can take a kick in the butt as well as anyone, but when the kick is coming from a mis- guided and misinformed person, we feel we must kick back.

In last wrek’s Gem, an irate participant wrote that our golf tournament was unfari to non-Business stu- dents. He stated that we bent

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in picking individual champ and that an equitable method was not used.

Well, participant, nothing cou’d be further from the truth. How could preferential treatment have been given to our students when the winner of the tournament was a SCIENCE major?

The best business student tied for second.

Since you questioned our method of determining the winner, I will explain it in nice small words. The Calloway system was used to determine the top teams in the tournament. We felt that this would be fair due to the

large number of non-golfers your erroneous views in player. public instead of speaking to We were right. us first. . The individual champ was CO'OfdlnalOI' determined by straight gross Vale"? Campbell and score. The lower you shot, J9” Bowling K's“.35's".‘.'.'.‘»‘u‘u‘i’t‘fla'e‘ ‘a'o's‘z‘e'a' " ’s‘t'z't‘s‘t'i‘a‘i‘i'h'l’i‘t‘1'1‘1 9 ‘ "t’o's :

e golpher

the better you did.

You think this was unfair to non—business students? We find proof that the tourna— ment was fair in the fact that the winning team consisted of hackers who had never played before, excluding one player, and the individual champ was a science student. The winning team was not picked before the completion of the tournament.

Also, if you can see 'an analogy between our golf tournament and Alan Eagleson’s handling of the Canada Cup, then you are the only one.

We find it unfortunate that you found it necessary to air

This is the story of a little Atlantic Canadian Uri/Varsity

It survived the Sixties

It survived Kent State

It even survived Watergate

But even it could not restrain the evil which manileSted itself

“One Weekend in September”

The UPEI Student Union, in co-operation with various subversive radical influences, presents “One Weekend in September.”

Starring the faceless few, the repressed many, and 7 special guest stars, The New York Graffiti 1Artists Union-Local (101). ' With special guest appearance by selected engineering students as “The Thought‘Police”.

Don’t miss this Shocking tale of how an entire campus went completely ribald, rabid and radical all in the course of one

weekend. . , . “OneiWeekend in September” j Coming to your Campus this Fall

' ‘/

—The NettedGem has been informed that. Windsor Wight was not the author of the letter bearing his name in last Week’s Letters column. The letter, which criticized the Business Society golf tournament organization, was delivered typewritten on a sheet of loose leaf to our office last week. We would like to point out that people who are so scummy as n damage a person’s reputation in this way are cowards with a sick sense of humour (if that’s what it was).

—r r I . . {he October4, 1984

Volume 2, Issue 5

.L

This week’s good-looking and better—writing staff is: Kaberi Dasgupta, Robert Bedrog-Goodland, Melanie Clark, Bob Stanley, Jonathan Orlowski, Sandra MacDonald, Lori MacLeod, Ross Hartinger, John Dougan, John Pendergast, Michael Zinck, Tony Sauer, Lori Anne Heckbert, Jim Lai, Brian MacLeod, Carol Doiron, Ron Lewis, Phil Stanyer, Glen Boswall, Brian Linkletter, and Carolyn Ryan.

The Nelled Gem is the student newspaper of UPEI. Views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Student Union. We reserve the right to edit copy for space, style, or legal reasons. Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced, and‘ submitted before one on Mondays. All letters must be signed by their authorls). Phone 892-4121, ext. 387. The Nelted Gem is a full member with Canadian University Press. ‘