Ask a question at the debate? Or maybe not

To the editor:

My students submitted a question to CNN for consideration at tonight's presidential debate at UNLV. An e-mail came back asking if one of my students would be happy to present this question at the debate. No criteria was listed.

I then told my students to nominate someone. I watched as they put democracy into action. After the selection process was complete, I contacted CNN and they first asked if he was "diverse." I was then told that CNN wanted to represent "diversity." When I mentioned his ethnicity -- he was white -- I was told that there was no "guarantee" he would be called upon.

The next thing I knew, CNN phoned me with an urgent message. "We have a problem," I was told. "Because your student mentioned that he gave money to (GOP presidential candidate Rep.) Ron Paul, we cannot have him ask a question. Nor can we now have any of your students ask. Why did you select him?"

Needless to say, no one at CNN looked at the quality or importance of my students' question. It is an insult to what this country stands for to censor somebody due to what party he currently is "considering" supporting. Can't a Democrat ask a Republican a question -- and vice versa? How else can we make politically informed decisions?

Monica Brett

LAS VEGAS

THE WRITER IS AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN NEVADA.

Gender equity

To the editor:

In her Monday letter, Dorothy Jones takes the Review-Journal to task for "burying" on Page 28A a news story referring to a World Economic Forum study in which the United States dropped to 31st in the world for women "competing for jobs, equal pay and political office."

Of course, if this study is accurate -- if women's quality of life in the United States truly ranks 31st in the world -- this would be reason for concern. According to the WEF, the "gender gap" for women leaves the United States trailing nations such as Belarus and Lesotho, along with most of the nations of Europe. Does anyone really believe women are better off in Lesotho than in the United States?

The WEF study (found at weforum.org) is titled "Gender Gap Index 2007," and purports to measure the gap between male and female economic opportunity in 121 nations throughout the world. The study compares factors such as labor force participation and the percentage of women in parliamentary bodies and ranks the nations based on the degree to which women reach parity with men.

The problem with using such measures as a standard for women's quality of life is obvious. In the WEF study, a man and woman who both make $15,000 a year (adjusted as the study is for constant dollars) would rank at a perfect 100 percent parity, where women who make $40,000 compared to men who make $50,000 would result in a gender gap figure of 80 percent. Which woman is really better off?

Consider this example: A man and a woman, both with master's degrees, meet and marry. When the couple have children, the woman removes herself from the workplace and stays home to raise their kids, a choice made possible by the economic opportunity available to the man and woman as a couple. But a couple who both work full-time in low-wage jobs in order to afford to leave their children at day care results in a higher rating for gender equity on the WEF scale.

The error made in the WEF survey, and perpetuated by Ms. Jones, is in seeing economic opportunity as a competition where either men or women lose. In reality, the vast majority of men and women in our society work in tandem to achieve both economic success and personal happiness together. Ms. Jones sees the WEF report as dismal and deserving of greater media attention. In fact, a closer analysis shows that the United States provides more abundant economic opportunity than anywhere in the world, allowing couples to balance work and family concerns.

Based on news value, its relegation to Page 28A was just about right.

Gary Ashman

LAS VEGAS

Democratic principles

To the editor:

Interesting front-page article in the Tuesday Review-Journal ("Gibbons' call for cuts criticized"). I was wondering just how long it would be before Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid began to sound like his dad, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But there it is: tacitly advocating tax increases by claiming to be against the governor's call for budget cuts.

True to his Democratic principles, isn't he?

My recommendation to Mr. Reid and the Clark County Commission is to get behind the proposed tax initiative to raise the gaming tax on big casinos. The local casino industry is rolling in unprecedented profits. Let's go where the money is instead of burdening suffering taxpayers.

George Puccini

LAS VEGAS