Tough Love

Am I the only one who remembers Chancellor Fernandez making condoms available in NYC schools? That, along with a book called Heather Has Two Mommies got him more or less ridden out of town on rail. I mean, it's one thing to actively try to prevent HIV infection, another to urge tolerance of homosexuality, but to do both was too much even for NYC.

I think Fernandez was the potentially best chancellor I've seen in the 22 years I've taught here. Too bad he never got a chance. Carl McCall, then president of the Board of Education, suggested Fernandez may have been "too good" for us. (You may remember McCall as the pro-education candidate for governor whom Unity stabbed in the back in order to endorse Governor Pataki.)

Nonetheless, Tulua, a small town in Colombia has gone even further than Fernandez, fining males over 14 who fail to carry condoms. A local priest complains that condoms are not necessary, and that the town needs more "Christian values."

The 14 AIDS deaths the town suffered last year suggests that "Christian values" have thus far been insufficient. And the epidemic worldwide suggests many priests may have been woefully negligent in getting their message out.