Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, May 4, 1988
i?
Mail Call
Why the new streamlined cars?
EDITOR:
Has anyone wondered recently about why our UPD felt it necessary to
buy those new two-tone blue police cars with the streamlined lights?
Maybe it’s so the UPD can stay hidden and poised to pull over those terri
ble people who exceed 30 mph around Olsen Field or the Fish Lot. Or maybe
it’s so that they can get into high speed chases and capture those heinous bicy
clists.
I think next time they should spend their money a little more wisely. Per
haps by buying some beautiful new ticket pads, or by opening a telecommuni
cations line with A-1.
Chris Samsury ’90
Wilson ‘coldly cops out’
EDITOR:
In his May 2 column, Anthony Wilson states that “No one has an excuse
for . . . injecting heroin into his system or drinking so much so often that he
becomes addicted . . .” He then goes on to say that we should stop feeling so
damn sorry for them.
This is a rather cold and self-righteous way of addressing the problem.
To say that it is not my fault, and therefore not my problem is an ethical cop-
out and will only serve to perpetuate the problem. The issue should not be
whose fault it is, but how we can we help this person get back on his or her
feet. To go up to a person who is down and out and say, “It is your own fault
that you are an alcoholic or a drug addict, so tough luck,” is not the kind of
action I would expect from a self-professed Judeo-Christian society.
Alcoholism is not a disease in the sense that cancer is but alcohol is an ad
dictive agent the same as drugs and nicotine. People who become addicted,
regardless of how they got that way, need our support and help. They do not
need our scorn and contempt. They have enough of that.
We can only solve our problems as a society if we are willing to face up to
them. While trying to place the blame for these addictions on the addicts lack
of will power may seem like an easy way to shift the guilt from our shoulders,
it really only gives people an excuse for ignoring the problem.
Mike W. Thomas ’87
Free will choices determine conduct
In Anthony Wilson’s article, “Are we apathetic about willful misconduct?”, he
mentions that we shouldn’t feel sorry for people who make the wrong deci
sions.
There are no excuses to conscious, everyday decisions we make about our
personal and social lives. He firmly expresses that our free will determines
our conduct and I strongly agree. We should make efforts to help people
with severe problems such as rape, drugs, and alcoholism, but we shouldn’t
feel apathetic about their willful misconduct. It was their choice. Life is a se
ries of choices.
We shouldn’t feel sorry or make excuses, but instead teach our society
that we are responsible for our attitudes and conduct and that in life, every
choice we make, has consequences. So next time you make a choice, remem
ber: one of God’s greatest gifts is the ability to choose the way we think, act, or
feel. The choice is yours.
Charly Carrington ’88
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters
for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
Stop the presses
Opinion
U.S. should surely stick
with ‘Star Wars’ defense
itto
Bran
biasi
In the wake of
the Wiley Lecture
Series, this year
about the nuclear
arms race, I for
one, want to stick
up for the Strate
gic Defense Initia
tive.
SDI, better
known by its mis-
nomer, “Star
Wars,” is a long-
Doolen
term plan to provide for the defense of
the United States, and consequently the
Western world, from nuclear atta4^ by
the Soviet Union. From its inception,
SDI has been accused of everything
from breaking down arms talks, to tak
ing the arms race into the heavens.
The latter accusation assumes that In
ter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, which
would fly through our hemisphere if
used, are not already intruding upon
the heavens.
At the Wiley debate, Robert McNa
mara, President John F. Kennedy’s Sec
retary of Defense, claimed that the de
ployment of SDI would undermine
deterrence of nuclear war, because the
Soviets would think the United States
ould have first-strike capability.
Let’s hope they think so. One of the
most powerful things SDI has done for
us thus far is to give us the biggest bar
gaining tool the U.S. has had since we
invented the atomic bomb four years be
fore the Soviets. The Soviets are scared
of SDI and we should continue to use
this fear throughout the next few de
cades to the United States’ best advan
tage.
In the past few years, every time the
U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have tried to ne
gotiate (Rejkavic and Geneva), one
thing has prevented the talks from pro
gressing to an agreement — SDI. The
Soviets will not agree to any strategic
missile treaty unless SDI is included in
the bargaining.
Reagan and his aides have stood
Wilt;
tough through years of pressure
public dismay, and for good re:
Once SDI is included in any arms
age, the Soviets will not stop until
is no strategic defense program.
Meanwhile, Reagan sits on the
side of the bargaining table with
most powerful bargainin tool in
world.
Questions have been raised
whether technology can meet
pectations of the SDI programs
the complex system will work wi
effectiveness, or whether we wills!
alive when SDI is ready to be installi
These are questions for the h
but presently, the people who put
SDI should question their opinions
Is it wrong to want a system thai
protect your children from nuclear
while presently giving us a bar|
tool against the Soviets?
Give SDI a chance.
Timm Doolen is a freshman j
major and a columnist for The
ion.
Reverend with big heart could
lose arms to paroled ax-murdere
CONR<
lion of Cl
facially pr
11980 rap
Bville teen
appea
Criminal i
“Regan
proclamat
pf Clarem
blind, the
jsertions h
jtorneys M
yind Paul 1
page briei
day.
“At eac
tion anc
throughj
Itself, rac
(the fain:
against Cl
The Ai
vill cons
[from bot!
36-ye;
Honroe F
ceive a th
Aug.
■Dee Ferg<
The wl
the schoo
alleyball
It’s obvious that
the Rev. Thomas
Smith Jr. is a com
passionate person,
a man who be
lieves that nobody
is all bad and that
even the worst of
us can be re-
deemed.
gleton into a community, the residents
would raise hell about having a con
victed arm-chopper in their midst.
husband’s been out of work sinceas
chine crushed his foot in the fat
where he worked.”
The dt
iutline ft
sions of U
Mstrict J
v'ith testii
lentiary 1
sided.
Pickett
Inocent of
So the authorities kept moving him
around, until finally they gave up and
let him live in a trailer on the grounds of
San Quentin prison.
tht-
Well, it’s unfor
tunate for the Rev.
Smith, but some of
Mike
Royko
But now his parole is over and he be
comes a free man. He can go anywhere
he chooses.
I suppose it’s just human nature,
most people feel less compassi
when they’re told: “I’m taking in
convict who raped a girl and cho|
off her arms with an ax. But
worry, he’s mended his ways.”
Pickett
Baying he
witnesses ;
gomery
James Ke
case, and
lartin,
1, to b<
trial,
his neighbors don’t share his brand of
compassion.
the big hearted Rev. Smith offered
Singleton a job and a home on the
grounds of his church in rural Oregon.
And it’s possible that Singleton;
reformed and won’t chop off any ie
arms.
The d
Imony frc
Irelated
'Brandley
mos
The minister recently decided to pro
vide a home for an ex-convict named
Lawrence Singleton.
Singleton, 60, isn’t your ordinary,
run-of-the-mill ex-con. He wasn’t a
stickup man, a burglar, a car thief or a
swindler.
No, he went to prison in California
for a crime that was so brutal, even his
fellow inmates thought he was creepy.
However, those who live near his
church have less tender hearts. And, the
preacher says, they have shown their
displeasure. When the preacher and his
wife go to the small local town, the na
tives sit in their pickup trucks and glare
and scowl at them. He sometimes hears
guns being fired in the distance and sus
pects that this is an ominous message.
Even John Gacy, Chicago’s
mous mass murderer, did other
besides kill 30-plus young gay men
bury them under his house. He was
a hard-working political prednct
tain, performed as a clown for
dren’s shows, and had a modest
for painting. But that’s the way nan?
minded people are. Kill a few do
young men, and who remembers)!
great clown act?
About 10 years ago, he kidnapped a
young girl, raped her, then chopped off
her arms with an ax and dumped her in
a gully.
With sadness he says “We believe we
will be killed, my wife and I.” And he
says that he and his wife have wept for
those who have threatened to raise their
hands against him.
And as Singleton’s prison counsi|
also said: “The man served his di
He’s done all that’s required thro:
our legal system. Give the manai
chance.”
He assumed she would die, but mi
raculously she survived. Singlton was ar
rested, convicted and imprisoned.
Because of California’s dippy penal
laws, he was paroled after less than eight
years. That’s four years for each lost
arm, it you want to figure it that way,
with the rape thrown in free.
Of course, one could make an argu
ment that there might be people more
deserving of compassion and help than
Singleton. Our cities are filled with
homeless and destitute souls who have
never chopped off anyone’s arms, or
even fingers. Their only crime is to be
without skills or jobs. Some have skills,
but no jobs.
He’s right. Singleton served the
tence the law demanded and he
serves a fair chance. Of course, if
law had required that he be droj
head-first off the roof of a tall built
that might have been a much fc
chance.
i
A parolee has to live somewhere. But
every time the state tried to move Sin-
So it’s likely that Smith’s neighbors
wouldn’t be nearly as upset if he had
said: “I’m taking in this couple. The
But if Smith’s really concerned ah
his safety, he’d be wise not to give
handy-man Singleton any chores ^
involve using an ax.
Copyright 1987, Tribune Media Services,bf
! We’ve got all the scoops
Ala
6 m
6V2
6 m
Pec
We
Lart
U.S
News bulletins
I’d like to read:
HOLLYWOOD
- Television game
show host Bob
Barker, animal
rights activist, was
eaten today by a
walrus.
WASHING-
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Lydia Berzsenyi, Editor
Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor
Anthony Wilson, Opinion Page Editor
Richard Williams, City Editor
Deborah Jensen and
Tom Eikel, News Editors
Hal Hammons, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor
TON, D.C. - Sur- LgwIs
geon General Ev- Grlzzard
erett C. Koop has
announced that researchers have dis
covered smoking isn’t harmful to health
after all and actually promotes hair
growth and renewed sexual energy.
HOLLYWOOD - Judge Wapner, At
torney General Ed Meese’s latest nomi
nee to file for the number two position
Editorial Policy
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in the Justice Department, said today he
is withdrawing from consideration for
the post and will remain on the
“People’s Court.”
DENVER - In his new book, “Mon
keying Around on the Monkey Busi
ness,” former Democratic presidential
candidate Gary Hart admits the reason
he went into politics was because “it a
neat way to meet girls.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S.
Department of Immigration has said
Australian actor Jacko will be deported
as soon as possible, thus saving him
from any more embarrassment.
BEIRUT - All the fighting and bomb
ing ended here today when all those in-
voloved couldn’t remember exactly why
all the trouble started and who was sup
posed to be killing whom.
“It just got to be too confusing,"af
named Abdul said, “so we’ve decide^
stop to organize softball teams instead
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Vice Prf
dent George Bush, the shoo-in fori
Republican nomination for preside
today selected Atlanta Mayor And^
Young, who is black, as his runitf
mate, saying, “That oughta wow’em
Copyright 1987, Cowles Syndicate
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathe 1
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