In The Running.

CAROL KNOLL, Socialist Worker's Party Candidate for Attorney General, State of Ohio

WSW: Tell us something about yourself. Carol: I'm twenty years old and graduated from Heights High in Cleveland Heights. While there I joined the Student Mobilization Committee and helped organize anti-war demonstrations among the students against the Vietnam War.

I was a member of a Women's Liberation group at Heights High and was active in the Abortion Project Colition of Cleveland, working on rallies and publicity demanding the repeal of all abortion laws.

I attended Ohio University in Athens and was elected to the Student Governing Board on a socialist platform as a member of the Young Socialist Alliance. This spring I was on a campaign tour of Ohio and Kentucky, speaking at college campuses and doing media publicity in support of the campaign of Nancy Brown who is the Socialist Workers Party candidate for Governor.

WSW: What in your experience influenced you toward a feminist outlook?

Carol: In particular the daily situations I faced as a woman. As a student at Heights | found that one of the purposes of the school system was to perpetuate predetermined sex roles through the use of sexist textbooks, tracking by sex (such as home economics for women and shop for men), and denial of equal funds for women's sports programs.

The idea that women must be married in order to gain fulfillment was strongly emphasized in high school, although talk of college for women was given lip service. At Ohio University I discovered that there were quotas placed on the enrollment of women studentsamong many inequities suffered by women at the university level-and I would like to point out that in my platform I stand for a preferential admissions policy for women, blacks and minority groups at all colleges and universities. This is necessary to compensate for the years of deprivation suffered by these groups.

In my present job as an operator of a photocomposition machine, I am underpaid, as are

What She Wants has open meetings, and any women interested in feminist newspaper work are welcome to attend. The response to our paper has been exciting and we really need to have more people working on it. All of us in the WSW collective have other jobs or go to school, and we put the paper out on our own time. Not only do we need writers and people to sell the paper, we need people to write us letters and give us feedback. We usually meet on Saturday afternoons. Call us at 321-1677 or write P. O. Box 18072, Cleveland Heights, O. 44118

STAFF:

Laurel Brummet, S. J. Caldwell, Laurie Campbell, Jane Darrah, Marian Dorn, Pat Flanagan, Linda Freeman, Barbara Geiser, Kathy Greenberg, Nancy Handley, Sandy Handley, Rita Hawkins, Meredith Holmes, Gail Hopkins, Sheri Pawski, Barb Reusch, Valerie Robinson, Linda Rothacker, Karal Stern, Mary Waxman, Jackie Wessel, Helen Williams, Melanie Youngs, Debbie Nagle.

This publication in on file at the International Women's History Archive, 2325 Oak St., Berkeley, California

page 2/What She Wants/November, 1974

Run For Office;

Not For Coffee!

all working women. In the U.S. wages have gone up only 6% while prices have gone up 11.6%. The ruling class, of which the Democratic and Republican parties are represen-. tatives, is unable to respond to the present economic crisis other than by blaming working people. Therefore I believe that women must not rely on these parties to effect the changes that they want.

WSW: Many people feel that feminism and socialism are completely separate. Obviously you don't feel that way. Could you explain how feminism meshes with a socialist outlook? Carol: Reforms and gains in the past by and for women, such as suffrage and abortion " rights, were won through an organized struggle by our own forces-not through the Democratic and Republican parties. But in order to be truly liberated we must have a change in the type of society in which we live.

The family is the basic unit of capitalist society and in the family the woman works doing unpaid housework and child care, under the authority of her husband, dependent upon his income alone. Nowadays there is considerable breakdown of this classical situation, but still the idea persists that the family unit should work. In a socialist society the concept of the family would change radically and such a society would provide women with free child care, free contraceptive services, and free abortion, as well as equality in education and on the job, with equal pay for all.

The feminist movement brings more people into the socialist struggle; therefore any socialist must be an active proponent of the feminíst movement.

WSW: Could you tell us what specific parts of your platform relate most directly to the feminist movement?

Carol: My platform calls for free abortion on demand, and as Attorney General I would implement a program of free abortion clinics as an outgrowth of the Supreme Court decision. I also feel the government should provide free contraceptive clinics for any women who choose to use them, regardless of age. Also, no forced sterilization.

The Equal Rights Amendment should be ratified and implemented fully, extending all protective legislation beneficial to women to cover men as well. Also, equal pay for equal work.

Since there are more than 6,000,000 children under the age of 6 whose mothers work, I am for free, quality child care facilities available at all times and controlled by those who use them. Also, women should have paid maternity leaves with no loss in seniority.

There should be an end to discrimination against women in education.

Some other points in my platform are: 1) Abolish all taxes on incomes under $15,000

RITA PAGE REUSS, candidate for Judge of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court She is currently Chief

Trial Counsel with Women's Law Fund. Prior to her work with Women's Law Fund, she served as Assistant Attorney General of Ohio, Chief Assistant Attorney General, and Assistant United States District Attorney. Mrs. Reuss was the first woman to hold any of these positions.

WSW: How did you first become interested in women's rights?

Reuss: Basically from my own experience. I graduated cum laude from law school (Cleveland Marshall Law School) and nobody would hire me. So I went to the Court of Appeals, and after the judges were appropriately flabbergasted that a woman should be demanding a job, i was hired as the first woman law clerk in Cuyahoga County.

I also had to fight the general assumptions about where women should be in the law to become Chief Assistant Attorney General, where I was the first woman to be in charge of a district.

WSW: Why did you decide to run for judge? Reuss: First, because I am concerned about the present judicial system. I am concerned about the lack of respect for law. The court is the very basic foundation of our beliefs in the Constitution and if it doesn't work, nothing will.

I believe there should be more female representation on the court. Women comprise 53% of the population of Cuyahoga County, yet there is only one woman judge out of 33 now on the bench. I don't feel that this adequately gives the woman's point of view.

WSW: How will you be able to help women as a judge?

Reuss: The fact that I am making in-roads on the so-called "man's world" will help women. As a judge I will be able to consider more fairly the problems of women criminals as well as other problems. I feel that I will be more enlightened than a male judge who hasn't a woman's experience, thus 1 could judge more equally.

WSW: How do you feel about the Equal Rights Amendment?

Reuss: I am in favor of the ERA in that it will provide opportunity for further legislation by setting a precedent which will benefit women. I don't think the ERA will cause women to lose child support. For instance, if a woman has given up 25 years of her earning life to raise children, no judge would decide that she must pay alimony. If she had been working all along, then maybe she would.

WSW: What do you see as the main social concern of judges?

Reuss: Judges should be mainly concerned that all persons appearing before them in court get fair treatment. There should also be better communication between judges and the community.

I feel that judges should be involved in working with those who appear before them, in programs such as drug rehabilitation, probation, and prison reform. Each judge should have a para-legal person working with them to

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and place a 100% tax on portions of income over $30,000. 2) Free, quality medical and dental care for all, through socialization of medicine. 3) Tax corporate profits to pay for badly needed social services. 4) Eliminate the military budget, and use the money for schools, housing and medical care.