In the Gazette

Several items in the Kalamazoo Gazette deserve your attention:

1. Julie Mack writes that the "wage gap" between men and women is caused by lifestyle choices, not discrimination.

"The Census Bureau's pay-gap figure is a statistic without context. It represents the average pay for a full-time female worker compared to a man with a full-time job. It does not take into account differences in career choices, or that men are much more likely to work graveyard shifts or overtime, or that women are more likely to interrupt their career trajectory to raise children.

``Why Men Earn More,'' a new book by Warren Farrell, a former board member for the National Organization for Women, takes a hard look at the reasons women earn less than men. He points out that women are less likely to choose jobs that involve travel or work outdoors or a higher degree of physical hazard or odd hours. He says women tend to trade higher incomes for more free time and flexibility."

2. Linda Mah writes that the Kalamazoo Public Library has banned Christmas. KPL claims that this is because decorations take too much time.

I have heard that several of the board members of the library are in the ACLU. The library has certainly found time to promote books that encourage draft-dodging and promote homosexuality to children. The war on Christmas has come to Kalamazoo.

3. The Rev. Jerry McNeely is being evicted from his parsonage. He is a racial demagogue who created serious racial problems after the firing of a black police officer last year. He was criticized by a member of his own organization (NAACP) for his "half-truths and tirades." Eventually, Mayor Jones (who is black) got sick of McNeely's antics and talked to his superior. He was transferred to a church in Detroit. It took a court order to get him to leave.

4. The Gazette has an article about WMU's graduate program cuts.