Controversially Traditional

Thursday, November 21, 1996

PROFILE:

Professor Wilson’s traditional ideas make him ‘a member of a
dying breed’

By Yvonne Champana

Daily Bruin Contributor

Professor James Q. Wilson answers his questions on cue, but says
he does not want to be interviewed about why he is "controversial."
The political science and Collins professor of management at UCLA
says he feels that this is a silly topic for a newspaper article
about himself.

Yet, he lets himself be coaxed by reminiscing about his "life
and views" as he relaxes into his office chair at the Anderson
School.

Wilson grew up plotting "first the Nazi advances and then the
Allied advances." He was an American teenager growing up in the war
years, with a map in his room in Long Beach upon which he followed
the war. In 1952, he became a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy at age
21.

"People who didn’t grow up in that time will have a very
different view about the world," Wilson said. The 65-year-old
professor has been married since age 21 to the first woman he ever
dated. He describes himself as "a member of a dying breed."

Wilson admits that he is not very involved in campus life
compared to when he taught at Harvard from 1961 to 1987. He says
this is because he has not made any close friends at UCLA.

In the latest of his many books, "The Moral Sense," Wilson uses
numerous statistics to explain his theories on the differences
between men and women. His next book, due out in Spring is called
"Moral Judgment." In it he discusses the injustices in our legal
system.

In "The Moral Sense," Wilson states that men are "next to
useless for nurturance" of children, claiming that women’s primary
role in raising children is not culturally or socially established
so much as being "genetically determined."

"The most difficult accomplishment of culture which has taken
several thousand years to accomplish," the prominent social
scientist explains, "is to get men to stay home and take care of
their wives and children … because men are naturally sexual
predators."

Wilson adds that the job of raising children will never be equal
between men and women. While he is sympathetic to the difficulties
women face, he says he can’t think of a better system than the one
nature has created.

His beliefs are often met with contention from feminists such as
Maryan Baqi, a writer at FEM, the women’s newsmagazine.

"Professor Wilson is guilty of one of the greatest fallacies of
all time ­ a patriarchal re-imaging of women," said Baqi,
regarding Wilson’s book.

While "The Moral Sense" has praise from various authors who
describe it as "very much against the current grain … brave …
decisively important," Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton called
the book "unfashionable (and) certain to provoke controversy."

Wilson has published 17 books and won numerous awards, including
the John Gaus Award of the American Political Science Association
in 1994. He was also the chairman for the White House Task Force on
Crime in 1967.

Today, as a professor of management and political science, he
says he has a strict policy of not letting any quotes, observations
or pictures be taken in his classroom, so that students can speak
freely.

Students like Kevin Poe, a second-year business administration
student, describes Wilson as "humorous, knowledgeable and
interesting."

And despite his controversiality, professors also admire
Wilson’s expertise.

"What’s so impressive about him is the command he has of his
subject matter, as well as knowledge of other subjects such as
history and current affairs, which he interweaves in the most
mesmerizing way," said Andrea McAleenan, associate dean of the
Anderson School for international affairs. "He is fascinating to
watch, and his presence in the classroom is quite formidable."

Of Wilson’s many books, one discusses African-American politics.
He claims the ghettos were much safer when he was a child because
they were communities, and he laments the breakup of these
communities as more and more African Americans move into white
neighborhoods.

He says people are definitely up to the task of overcoming
racism today, and although he won’t say what political party he
belongs to, he supported Proposition 209 "to end all racism."

His other political beliefs include involvement in the war on
drugs, and he is a strong believer in welfare reform.

As the chairman of the National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse
Prevention in 1972, Wilson believes there is a natural rise and
decline of use of different drugs based on other criteria such as
the costs of the drugs at any given time. He was staunchly against
recent legislation to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

"There are some things that are so destructive to the human soul
that I think that they should be prohibited ­ drugs are one of
these things," Wilson says.

On welfare reform, Wilson suggests that single women with
children who are currently on welfare should have to enroll in
supervised homes to receive money, like an orphanage for everyone.
One of his proposed institutions to run these "homes" would be the
Catholic church.

While he will not elaborate on his religious beliefs, Wilson
says that he often combines his personal ideas with the social
science issues he writes about. A reason for this, he says, is that
people do not use statistics in ordinary conversation, instead
preferring to talk about what they are interested in.

Wilson concludes that one of the main problems with Americans is
that they have lost their "capacity to project to others the
obligation to feel shame or guilt."

BAHMAN FARRAHDEL

Professor James Q. Wilson is a controversial, yet well-respected
political science and management professor at the Anderson School.
He has very traditional views that often offend feminists and
minorities.