Scandal may affect curricula

While it plays out in Washington D.C. and the media, the Clinton scandal has found its way onto the University campus.

Professors and students are talking about the controversy, but most professors say they do not plan to incorporate the Presidential philandering into the structure of the class.

Some professors, including political science Prof. Vincent Hutchings, plan to include a lecture on impeachment in class, but others say the topic will only be a mentioned briefly.

"I haven't incorporated it into the class," said history Prof. Regina Morantz-Sanchez. "I do drop some comments, though."

The topic spans departmental bounds, causing many professors to comment on the scandal.

Hutchings said the impeachment process is complicated and vague, and even he has to do research to lecture on impeachment.

"Reasonable people could look at this and see impeachable offenses, but there are two sides to this," Hutchings said last week.

Morantz-Sanchez said the topic is a tough one to figure out, but she said she is certain it is more about politics than sex.

"This would be much more appropriate for a course on politics or law," said Morantz-Sanchez, who is teaching a class on the history of the family in the United States. Her curriculum deals with the evolution of the family over the past 150 years, a history that has included a great deal of sexually influenced change.

"In the past, infidelity didn't get exposed in the public sphere," Morantz-Sanchez said. "But as an American historian, I would say they could do the same kind of Starr Report for every president."

News organizations have been airing reports on the President at all times of the day, often pre-emptying programming with Clinton coverage.

That included no less than three cable stations broadcasting the full testimony yesterday morning and networks showing parts as they were made available.

But Hutchings said the current attention being paid to the scandal could be dwarfed by future developments, which could include public impeachment hearings.

"There's going to be a bit of a frenzy," Hutchings said before the tape was released.

The use of sex as a tool of political attack is innovative and new, Morantz-Sanchez said.

She said some people are trying to make this into a sex scandal or a discussion about lying, but some people are just trying to get past the entire thing.

"I really think we've lost the direction and meaning of politics, and I don't know if we'll ever get it back," she said.

Morantz-Sanchez said the cultural impact of the scandal will continue for years to come. She said the standards being set for candidates probably will have the most lasting impact.

In the future, the nation won't be able to "find a candidate that will live up to the sexual standards we've set for Clinton," she said. "The Puritans tried it, but it just didn't work."

09-22-98