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OTHER OPINION
A Saturday, December 8, 2012 15A

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Meet the skimpily dressed?

O
n a recent Meet the Press, host David Gregory shoes would have been entirely plausible on Fiorina or
presided in a tailored jacket and tie. Panelists Al
Sharpton, David Brooks and Ken Burns appeared
similarly professional. But the two female panelists,
Andrea Mitchell and Carly Fiorina, seemed ready for
cocktails, not coffee, in form-fitting dresses, arms na-
ked to the world.
Meet the Undressed or, to put it more melodra- and justify the ugly business as evidence of gender
matically, Meet the Oppressed. In addition to saying equality: Ladies, you dont have to prove anything any-
intelligent things, the women seemed
required to flaunt their flesh and blink
under three layers of eye shadow. They
were, sartorially speaking, inferior.
Half naked may be the babe rule for en-
tertainment shows, but must that dress
Comment
Froma
Harrop
code extend to women of substance on
news programs? So it would seem.
Im not the first woman to be astounded
by the dolls on daytime cable news, their
overall impression being arms, legs and
lip gloss. Why anyone would think sex sells on informa-
tion-oriented news shows is beyond me. The audience
can find more and better (sex) on other channels.
Fiorina is a serious woman. She was CEO of Hew-
lett-Packard and a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in
California. But sleeveless in pistachio green, she looks
less authoritative than Al Sharpton. Mitchell is NBCs sweaters and collared shirts, which is what Joe wears.
chief foreign affairs correspondent, for heavens sake.
Why does she have to display her bare triceps in a red
sheath at the age of 66? (I dont care how good her
arms are.) A professional newswoman
shouldnt have to do that at age 22.
By contrast , filmmaker Ken
Burns gets away with (and looks
fine in) the nerd combo of white
shirt, brown jacket and match-
ing brown tie. We couldnt see
the panelists footwear, but
one doubts that Gregory,
Brooks or Sharpton walked on
the set tottering on stilettos.
Such movement-inhibiting
The Peoples Forum
Poop ahoy
Your Nov. 25 article about hog waste missed the mark in
many ways and perpetuated the ill-placed thinking that the
hog industry in North Carolina is a good thing. Doesnt the
fact that, after 12 years of research, the only ones benefiting
from that research are the hog industry, certain researchers
and the state government? What about the disease, odor,
contaminated water, unhealthy air and loss of property val-
ue by the communities that have to live with these animal
factories (they are not farms)?
Are we to continue to submit the rural residents of North
Carolina to bearing the brunt of an industry that cares nothing
for residents while it reaps the economic benefits? Twelve
years is way too long to solve a problem that is solvable. Wake
up, North Carolina. We are drowning in a sea of poop.
Larry Baldwin, New Bern
Hogs and feds
Mitchell.
What the women gained in attention, they lost in
stature. And in many cases, the women would rather
not be vying for that sort of attention.
News executives and their stylists are pressuring
smart women to serve cheesecake with the expertise
more, so forget about those 80s power suits and wear
whatever party dress you want to on Meet the Press.
Ten years ago, professional dress meant a Talbots
suit for women, the head of a marketing firm that con-
sults with news networks told The Washington Post.
Things have changed for the better, he said. The audi-
ence has equal regard for female and male anchors. Its
given women far more liberty to be feminine.
A crock.
If no one has to prove anything, why doesnt David
Gregory wear a cut-off T-shirt and flip-flops?
Ann Curry, former co-anchor of NBCs Today, told
a womens magazine how she was pressed to wear ri-
diculously high-heeled shoes. Mika Brzezinski com-
plained that when she started on MSNBCs Morning
Joe, she was pushed into clothes that were short,
skimpy, tight. She somehow escaped and now wears
Rachel Maddow has dismissed the cable TV news look
for women as un-businesslike. How interesting that the
minimally adorned Maddow is MSNBCs hottest com-
mentator, challenging Fox News and attracting
the younger demographic. I have no idea
where Maddow gets her jackets, but Tal-
bots would not be an impossibility.
You wonder whether the news ex-
ecutives tarting up their female jour-
nalists arent the Ron Burgundys
stuck in the age of disco. Perhaps
theyre the dated ones, not giving
women the liberty to be serious.
CREATORS SYNDICATE
Workers as people
The recent election has significantly raised
the profile of the Hispanic population in this
country and the hopes for comprehensive im-
migration reform by the newly elected Con-
gress. Immigration reform is an incredibly ur-
gent issue, and I hope Congress is able to make
meaningful reform while keeping in mind who
it is we need reform for.
For many of us living in North Carolina, the
closest contact we have to illegal immigrants is
through our food. Fifty-two percent of all farm-
workers are in the U.S. illegally, and these peo-
ple are critical to our food system, as recent im-
migration reform efforts in Alabama and Geor-
gia have shown. Without these workers, our
food would literally rot in the field.
Farmworkers pay a huge price to bring us our
food. Their average yearly income is about
$11,000, and they rarely receive benefits. Work
-AP photo
Protesters make their views known during a meeting of the Vir-
ginia Uranium Mining Working Group in Richmond.
Take care in mining
Virginias uranium
The following editorial ap- to proceed. The company says it
peared in Wednesdays Washing- will isolate all its tailings below
ton Post: ground and far from rivers and
flood plains. And it points out that
elow a plot of land in south- uranium is mined around the
B central Virginia lies billions world, in places with wetter cli-
of dollars worth of uranium mates than that of the American
ore, the critical radioactive fuel for west. Canada is one of the largest
Americas nuclear reactors. Vir- producers, and its nuclear regula-
ginia Uranium Inc. wants to ex- tor insists that uranium mining
tract it, bringing economic activ- there is very safe, given required
ity to the region. But three de- safeguards.
cades ago, the commonwealth im- A 2011 National Academy of
posed a moratorium on uranium Sciences study highlights the
mining. State lawmakers, who are progress of mining standards, and
likely to consider this winter it notes that instances of environ-
whether to lift the moratorium, mental damage have mostly been
should be open to allowing urani- observed at mining facilities that
um mining to proceed but care- operated at standards of practice
fully. that are generally not acceptable
Among other things, critics of today. But it also cautions that its
lifting the moratorium claim that difficult to know whether below-
uranium mining poses dangers to ground storage facilities will re-
water resources, particularly be- main durable for the hundreds of
cause the area is prone to big years they are designed to last.
storms. Contamination, they say, In the face of some inevitable
could occur even years after min- uncertainty but also plenty of ex-
ing ceases; tailings, a byproduct perience from around the world
of ore processing, might someday from which to draw lawmakers
escape from storage zones. best option is to lift the moratori-
U.S. uranium mines, they say, um while ensuring all the caution
have so far been located in the arid mining advocates say they favor.
climates of Western states, and That means requiring a com-
even then water contamination plete plan, from permitting to
has occurred around mining and cleaning up the site, decades of
milling sites. Virginians, they ar- monitoring, and directives pre-
gue, should be very careful about mised on the notion that environ-
allowing mining in their wetter cli- mental disturbances should be as
mate. minimal as reasonably achievable,
Mining advocates counter that not just up to basic requirements.
massive water contamination The cost of compliance, mean-
from tailings is unlikely, given while, should fall to Virginia Ura-
modern standards and the care nium.
with which the company promises THE WASHINGTON POST

Regarding your Nov. 25 front-page article After 12 years
of research, hog-waste disposal still reeks: One clear solu-
tion to the impasse over treating hog wastes is to develop
and implement federal standards. Beginning in the 1970s,
federal standards led to massive efforts, largely successful,
to clean up human waste discharges.
That animal waste deserves similar attention is clear: Put
all states on the same playing field, so that the hog industry
cant complain about economic advantages elsewhere.
Would this industry turn its lobbyists toward helping make
this obvious solution happen? One can hope.
Barnes Bierck, P.E., Ph.D., Chapel Hill
on-farm is difficult and labor intensive. Pesticide
exposure poses an enormous health concern
from chemical-related injuries and illnesses. In
fact, farmworkers are more likely to suffer these
effects than any other work force in the U.S.
As we discuss immigration reform in the
When dogs retire
coming year, lets be sure to remember who we
are talking about and what they do for us. from the military
Eric Hansen
Durham By Heather Benson in 1997 by President Bill Clinton
s a young girl, I was sur- to permit federal dog handlers (for

Nasty neighbors
Truth in hiring
In a Nov. 25 Point of View piece, Lee Wicker
of N.C Growers Association complained that
The N&O does a disservice to the people of North Caroli-
na by limiting discussion of the economics of hog waste the H-2A program is too bureaucratic and ex-
pensive. What he characterizes as bureaucracy,
disposal to industry profits (Nov. 25 news article).
In several articles, there has been no mention of the dam- however, may be the simple requirement that
H-2A job openings be advertised and offered to
ages to residents who suffer from respiratory conditions,
mucous membrane irritation, American workers first.
stress, contaminated wells and in- Additionally, many of the expenses paid by
terference with use of their homes growers in the program actually go to benefit
and property. the grower association or a private labor bro-
ker, not to the government or workers.
There is no mention that cover-
ing fecal-waste pits does nothing to It is also disingenuous for Wicker to sug-
gest that there are no U.S. workers willing to
reduce air pollution from swine
confinement buildings, no mention do farm work. In reality, growers like to hire
foreign workers because they do not have to
that methane collection cannot
keep cesspools from contaminating pay Social Security or unemployment taxes
for them and because the law prohibits H2-A
groundwater or flooding during the next tropical storm.
No mention of growth-promoting antibiotics that con- workers from quitting and seeking employ-
ment elsewhere, as U.S. citizens can.
tribute to creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria responsible
for human infections. No mention of contract growers in Finally, it is mean-spirited to suggest that
H-2A program reform should not include a
debt to corporations that control markets and lock out in-
dependent farmers. path to citizenship. Many of the H-2A farm-
workers in our state have been coming to North
Arent these costs, too? Dont the health, well-being and
economic interests of rural residents of North Carolina war- Carolina for more than a decade. These people
have made enormous personal sacrifices, con-
rant recognition, or is it only the interests of corporations
and their shareholders that matter? tribute huge amounts to our economy and
ought to have a path to enjoying basic human
Steve Wing economic rights enjoyed by the millions of
Epidemiologist, UNC-Chapel Hill Americans they feed.
Bob Epting
Former member, N.C. Environmental Management Carol Brooke
Commission Workers Rights Project director,
N.C. Justice Center
Pittsboro Raleigh
DOONESBURY
+ worn out. The law was amended
A rounded by different as-
pects of military life be-
cause my father served in the U.S.
Air Force. One of the things that I
found most interesting was the
militarys working dogs.
I was struck by the dogs ex-
traordinary intelligence and
f i e rc e n e s s w h i l e
Point of conducting
drills including
military
View detecting bombs,
enforcing security,
sniffing out narcotics, protecting
our troops and even participating
in the mission to get Osama bin
Laden.
Then I discovered what happens
to these dogs after their retire-
ment.
These working dogs do not get
any recognition for their services,
are not entitled to military veteri-
nary care after retirement and are,
sadly, classified by the govern-
ment as equipment. Currently,
many retired dogs classified as
equipment are not available for
adoption and must be euthanized,
usually because of wartime inju-
ries or incomplete training.
Some dogs, usually those with
thorough training and few inju-
ries, are adoptable by the soldier
who had the dog in combat. Unfor-
tunately, there are many stories
about soldiers who return from
service overseas who cannot
adopt their canine partner be-
cause they are unable to afford the
cost of the animals flight home
and post-retirement veterinary
care.
Consider how these soldiers
feel, having served with and con-
nected with these dogs, then los-
ing them because they cannot af-
ford to care for the animals.
Service dogs are treated this
way by the military because cur-
rent federal law requires it. The
1949 Federal Property and Ad-
ministrative Services Act classi-
fied military working dogs as
equipment to be discarded when
example, soldiers) to adopt their
dog retirees.
These dogs risk their lives just
as much as a human soldiers do,
and they should not be treated in-
humanely so lets make a change!
Thanks to three organizations
(the U.S. War Dog Association,
Retired Military Working Dog As-
sistance and Military Working
Dog Adoptions), the U.S. House
of Representatives passed H.
4103, the Canine Members of the
Armed Forces Act, which states
that military working dogs should
be classified as canine members
of the armed forces.
This bill provides that if a dog
should be retired, and no suitable
adoption is available at the military
facility where the dog is located, the
dog may transfer to the 341st Train-
ing Squadron or to another location
for adoption. It also authorizes the
acceptance of the donation of fre-
quent traveler miles to facilitate the
adoption of a dog, and directs the
secretary of defense to establish and
maintain a system to provide for the
lifetime veterinary care of retired,
adopted dogs.
At a January 2012 news confer-
ence, the bills co-sponsor in the
Senate, Sen. Richard Blumenthal
of Connecticut, stated that its pur-
pose is to recognize [the dogs]
service, the strength and loyalty
they demonstrate when they are in
combat, and to return that loyalty
when they come back.
This bill is now before the U.S.
Senate. On behalf of these service
animals, please consider writing
or calling North Carolina Sens.
Richard Burr and Kay Hagan in
support of S. 2134, the Canine
Members of the Armed Forces
Act.
I have started a petition and al-
ready have 300 signatures to send
to our congressional delegation.
Together, we can be a voice on be-
half of these service dogs.
Heather Benson is a senior at West
Johnston High School.