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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1997)
Page) February 13, iwnini micid The Battalion PINION Page 11 Thursday • February 1 3, 1997 ey’s office and tto| ice to decidew rges. rict attorney : that (themecli; and knowingly Paul Beauchac i. "I’m not spei it t hat'd he awk: I T ’ ; tedia shames nation: embraces Simpson, ignores Clinton I of alcohol blood was ,27 ver-kill Death penalty fails to reduce crime rates oming soon to pay-per- view: Clinton v. Simpson — This time they’re playing 1 limit for intoxks: r keeps. Last Tuesday gave us both the te of the Union Address and the [j. Simpson civil verdict, the [tate of Our Sorry-Ass Culture dress,’’ if you will. Some people might have been rplexed about which to watch, t that problem was solved by |e ever-thoughtful networks, who Sovided a split screen account of e two proceedings. Columnist arter nor red to elaborated ;aid “all doctors and follow-up In' erely flawed.” aid his officers nvestigation no evidence was murdered ill provides no mp was killed!: And in case you weren’t watching televi- id. an or were tuned instead to Elvis Week on hologists’ repon 11, here is how the two events compared. is in police cu: ?d and-orlost” missing from hi: also disputed port that said“tfe was not tested al examination! conducted.” Mason Jackson Senior marketing major They both marked a return of sorts. The esident was returning for his second term; id hewasunaw; mpson was returning for his second ver- ct. Yet both were marked by change Clinton almost has an all-new cabinet is time around, and Simpson’s nationally levised car-trip was all new as well. He was aveling toward the courthouse rather than vay from the cops, he wasn’t carrying a at we did a balls issport or disguise and this time he opted japon and it \\n r a black Suburban rather than a white a like the testthi Bronco. •f Public Safetykl The two differed on the top- it recently, "Wuic of fund raising. Clinton, say is that we di® ruination of thepil > been examisrj s since then.” having secured the highest office in the land for the second time, now favors pushing ahead with cam paign finance reform. But Simpson needs more fund ing. He has to pay $8.5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. Mean while his lawyers claim he is broke, which makes it all the more impres sive he can still afford to pay for his maid, bodyguard, gardener, pool man, secretary, accountant, busi ness lawyer, criminal lawyers, Bent ley and $24,000 a month mortgage payment on his estate. This has caused Mr. Simpson to look for alter nate forms of income, like applying for a trade mark on his name. This would allow him to mar ket something along the lines of “Little Simpson, the my first murderer doll—complete with full range stab bing motion and gloves that don’t fit (Kato Kaelin action figure sold sepa rately).” TF T»E n^HTHT. “ ^CQUIT. kin issuing coif msideration. 1 is no longer! i program buH program," S iplex Enviroi formula, Uf ch land issui o CRP egulations irf mrturefromtM looted last p u look at the g# re somewhat e before,” * is no it a soil n program ; conserve ram: 7 alickman re Secretary Try, R-Claftri lie districting But if Simpson does find himself on welfare it would be a large setback to the President’s aim of getting two million people off the program by the year 2000. The president’s main focus, both in this speech and for this term, is on education. He outlined ten principles in his “Call to Action for American Educa tion.” The sixth principle is to teach character edu cation in our schools. Simpson, on the other hand, most likely fa vors the current system of inflating the impor tance of high school athletes until they feel they are above the law. Clinton also stressed the importance of the Internet; this was the first State of the Union Ad dress offering a live video feed on the Internet. Simpson prefers not to trumpet the Internet and sites such as: Squeeze the Juice; The Search for the Real Killer; and The Unofficial Simpson Simpson is Really Guilty Site. The president also wants to expand the Family and Medical leave law to allow parents to take off work for things like teacher conferences and a child’s medical check up. But he hasn’t said if the law will be ex panded to allow a fa ther to take off time to console his children if he brutally murders their mother. And so the battle continues. Two completely different agendas were represented on television last Tuesday. On one side of the screen was the President of the United States, ad dressing Congress and the nation. On the other side was one man who may or may not have been responsible for two of the 23,330 murders committed in 1994. Yes, that split screen told us quite a bit about the state of our union. O n Feb. 3,1997, the American Bar As sociation made a landmark decision ap proving a call for a mora torium on executions in the United States. The association, while not explicitly condemning the death penalty, will en sure mentally retarded in dividuals and juveniles under 18 years of age are exempt from the death penalty. It also establishes jurisdictions across the United States to assure due process of law to people charged with capital crimes. This decision should spur a move ment toward the abolition of the un just and useless punishment known as the death penalty. Opponents of the death penalty are—on a good day—labeled "cra zies,” “loonies” and an assortment of other colorful names. The argument against the death penalty, however, has a sound and moral principle. Criminals who murder deserve a punishment befitting the crime, but ultimately the death penalty solves nothing. Take the popular “eye for an eye” theory many use to justify the death penalty: Murder another person, and your right to live ceases to exist. Although this may sound good at first, nothing in our justice system supports the theory. Victims do not get to rape the rapist, nor do they set the arsonist’s house on fire. Instead, our justice sys tem takes away the right to freedom when one is convicted of a crime. The death penalty serves as retri bution for a crime. It is a way of ex acting revenge in a legal, but im moral way. Another popular misconception concerning the death penalty is that it deters crime. During the summer of 1987, eight executions took place in Louisiana. However, the murder rate in New Or leans actually went up 16.9 percent that year. Murderers are not fright ened by the death penalty. Those who claim the death penalty deters crime also must think that can cer causes smoking. Moreover, race plays a factor in determining who receives the death penalty. Columnist Jon Apgar junior journalism major Of the 232 executions carried out in the United States since 1977, only one white individual has been put to death for killing an African-American. Studies have shown African-Americans to be three to four times as likely to receive the death penal ty as white individuals con victed of the same crime. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the death penalty is the possi bility of innocent people being con victed of and sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. In 1976, Randall Adams was con victed of killing a Dallas police officer and was sentenced to death. During the trial, however, prosecu tors suppressed evidence and used pequred testimony. In fact, the key witness against Adams turned out to be the real killer. Adams came within 72 hours of being executed for a crime he did not commit. An article in the Stanford Law Re view stated there have been 350 capital convictions this century in which the conviction was later overturned. In to tal, 25 innocent individuals have been wrongly executed. Twenty-five people in the last 97 years may not seem like a significant number, but one innocent life taken is one too many. When murder rates are on the rise and innocent people are put on death row, citizens of sound mind should question the effectiveness of the system. Life in prison without the possibili ty of parole seems an appropriate punishment for those who commit acts of murder. As taxpayers, people may save a few dollars if we execute criminals in stead of placing them in jail for three consecutive life sentences. However, economic factors should play no part in the argument over the death penalty. Those indi viduals who argue the economic benefits of legalized murder are putting a price on human life. It is extremely ironic that our government condemns those who murder and then proceeds to kill human beings under the guise of justice. The death penalty needs to be abolished and replaced with a system of justice that will balance punishment with morality. enate considers parental notification for abortions ast Wednesday, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted to send a bill to the 11 Senate which could affect any Texans. It would require actors to notify parents by rtified mail or telephone ithin 48 hours of receiving a inor’s request for an abor- an. The girl would only be le to avoid her parents by eking a judge’s approval. It is insane that there is en a debate over this issue, e bill does not require par- f the Texas aci ents to give permission for the and Combesi p rocec j ure) j ust to notified. Columnist particularly bf 2w criteria: jhs the amoU'' the air—akeyi* nhandle. irthe state ofl fS; diile a minor cannot be given Robby Ray Junior speech communication major pirin in school without parental per- lission as the law stands now, the same lild can have an invasive surgical pro- edure performed without the parents m and airqu* nowing, much less giving permission, ing in therej® his is ludicrous. One study suggests nearly 4000 enagers in Texas seek abortions every year without their parents’ knowledge. The bill seeks to address this problem. Opponents of the bill say it will lead to more “back alley” abortions. They fear teens who are afraid their parents will find out are going to perform the abortion themselves, re sulting in an increase in “coat hanger” abortions. They also worry these girls will refuse to seek proper prenatal care, with unhealthy consequences for mother and child. There have been cases in which girls have been abused after revealing their pregnancy to parents. To protect them, the bill should be defeated. These cases are indeed heartbreaking. I have no doubt some girls could be, and are, abused by their parents, but most aren’t. What about the girls who, in a time of great emotional distress, misjudge their parents’ reactions? They are frightened over a situation which may never materialize. If a pregnant girl is being abused, by a parent or anybody else, this bill would force her to talk to someone about it. A 1992 Washington state study found 62 percent of 535 teenage mothers had been raped or molested before their But even the opponents are not unit ed. Sara Suniga, secretary for the Texas A&M chapter of NOW, said she was not personally against the bill, as long as girls still had the choice to abort. “I don’t see anything wrong with it,” don't see anything wrong with [the bill]. Girls that young shouldn't be making that kind of decision (whether to have an abortion) by themselves" Sara Suniga, secretary, Texas A&M chapter of NOW pregnancy. Those are the statistics of the girls who kept their babies. Imagine what the numbers would be for those who had abortions. If this bill becomes law, more of these unreported crimes will come to light and be prosecuted. she said. “Girls that young shouldn’t be making that kind of decision by them selves.” Suniga was unaware if NOW had an official position, but was fairly certain it would be against the bill. No surprise there. Some things opponents don’t deal Mail m. •ds 977? linorities should ik to democrats r n response to Donny Ferguson’s Feb. ly column, ‘‘Grand Old Party em- races causes of minorities, women. It is particularly amusing when conservative columnist can not nly misinterpret statistics but lislead the public. The party of incoln isn’t the same party the rOP is today. Ideologies and be- iefs have changed and the Repub lican Party of the Civil War that fought to protect the rights of slaves isn’t the same party that to day cuts services to legal immi grants and boasts of not being “racially exclusive.” Of the voting population, minorities vote for the party that represents their values, and protects their rights, and that party isn’t the Republi can Party. Democrats work to add diversi ty to our communities, campuses, and lives. Multiculturalism is an important advantage we, as Americans. To claim this isn’t needed or isn’t important not only describes the typical Repub lican stereotype, but makes a sad case for America. This nation is rich because of diversity and the Democratic Par ty is the party and always will be the party of diversity and toler ance. The Democratic Party does not condemn someone for believ ing differently. The Democratic party wishes to extend equal op portunity to everyone regardless of color, gender, orientation or re ligion. The Democratic Party has worked hard for all individuals re gardless of the political ideology as well. The Democratic Party’s doors have always been welcome to all walks of life, and will never be shut the doors of opportunity to anyone. Misty A. Hataway Class of ’98 with are the harmful side-effects of an abortion, which can include intense pain, bleeding and infection. If parents are expected to be understanding and supportive when these things happen to their daughters, they must be allowed into the decision process from the very beginning. There can be emotional prob lems as well, such as guilt, depression, eat ing disorders and nightmares. Parents want to protect their children from pain. But if they don’t know what is going on, they cannot help. Some opponents feel requiring notifi cation is the same as requiring consent. They see this bill as an attack on abor tion rights. But it is a bill designed to protect young girls and get help for them before it is too late. We all know a prob lem is much worse when it is hidden. Only when we recognize the problem and seek the aid of others can we proper ly deal with it. We need this bill to show girls there are people who can and want to provide relief and support, but they have to ask.