One state legislator suggests it’s time to pay some attention to the plight of young men. Republican Senator David Miller of Batavia stood on the Senate floor yesterday and suggested it was time to create an Iowa Commission on the Status of Men. Miller says while he won’t actually push to create a new state agency, he hopes to raise awareness about stats which show more women are graduating from college, and the high school drop-out rate for boys is 32 percent higher than the dropout rate for girls. He says some people might not think it’s a serious issue, but he thinks it is. Miller says “the fundamental ways of the world are changing. Miller rejects the idea that women are finally catching up with men, he says it’s too easy to dismiss what’s happening with the male population to take that stance. Miller says “we’ve worked…on trying to upgrade the status of women, but let’s don’t forget the other species out there, too, and see if there’s some problems we need to address.” Miller says part of the problem may be the emphasis on encouraging boys to excel in sports. Miller says with more single moms raising kids, there are fewer male role models and he says with the emphasis on brining up the status of women, men have been discriminated against in pursuing higher-level professions. Miller says if we’re not careful, the culture will shift to a female-dominated society. Miller says he “doesn’t like to sing the song of the discriminated against white male,” but he says there’s been a real culture shift in the United States. Republican Senator Mary Lundby of Marion says for centuries, men had it pretty good and she doesn’t think men are by any means downtrodden. She says everything in life is cyclical and she says she’d feel bad if men were only encouraged to play sports, and not be encourage to become smart. She says women have been encouraged for generations to stay away from math, to stay away from the sciences and to find a husband and get married.
