EDITORIAL
Death penalty needs
serious thought
Whether one agrees with the death penalty or not.
it's clear Tuesday's charade involving Robert Alton
H.irris was bogus.
Harris was sentenced in 1979 to die after killing
two 16-year-old boys so he could use their cur in a
bank robbery; the teenagers were on their way to a lake
for an afternoon fishing trip.
After a decade of appeals wound their way
through slate and federal courts, the man was executed
Tuesday, the first in 2f» years for California. The deci
sion came after an emotional tennis game of four re
prieves throughout the night, ending with the IJ.S. Su
preme Court's ultimate conclusion to execute
One of the scary aspects of the scenario was the
court's final block of any additional appeals from lower
< ourts No doubt in an effort to end the confusing tug
(il war, thi' i our! slummed
the lid on its smaller of
kin After a six hour de
lav. they did their duty
and gave the go ahead, no
more questions asked
Was this the l test
move/ That's debatable.
Any time one power un
questionably overrides an
other, there's danger The
i hecks and balaniex are
gone, leaving free reign to
the larger powers that be.
Any time one
power
unquestionably
overrides
another, there’s
danger. The
checks and
balances are
gone.
Hut the court hud to
put a stop to the; ridiculous disorder of it all. didn't
they? (ionsidering the court is now attempting to
streamline < apital < a.ses by limiting defendants’ appeal
and delay power, the i (infusion r ouldn’t have t nine at
,i Iretter time Now. lo and behold, there’s .t strong
shred of support for their simplifying argument lJnfor
Innately, to do so would take the necessary individual
element out of case consideration, but that’s another
editorial
The gas chamber method of executing Harris is
now being discussed among death penalty observers
since its extraordinarily painful process could consti
tute illegal cruel and unusual punishment. Should
states continue to execute, this consideration is .1 valid
one Lethal injection is the most reasonable of execu
tion measures in our book
Alternatives to the death permits include several
options, the most noted Ixung life imprisonment with
no chance for parole Lxpensive lust like executions
Since the mones will ultimatelv be spent unywuv. why
not use it to .iddress criinitial behavior in its beginning
stages7 As in preventative measures7 By examining the
parallels drawn between this behavior and environ
ment. there exists the poxxibiiitv of heading off poten
tml criminals
(frt'xon Ihulv
Emerald
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‘^VMAf>rTr 'O
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VOTE
I HERE
COMMENTARY
Fee-cutting debate misses target
By Bf ,r t loop
I have w .■ i< bed student de
t*au* rage over the allocation
of s i ' million m student in
i i<lonl.ii lei's In light of Mims
lire r> reduf mg student foes is
i in per a! i v e iiui the < urrrnt do
I).lie over (titling lees misses
flu in,on target and is harmful
to student interests regardless
of progressive or Conservative
|><>1111< a! mutiv alums
\V hi Ie Don King argues
atmut (iitting 10 percent from
student In's, the trial lion of the
stale Legislature on tux reform
plat es higher edm ation in peril
and risks posstbH allowing tin
tion to skyrix ket an additional
S'lOO is ithin two v ears
Last year, student govern
merit lobbied the Legislature to
contain tuition increases to
$001) saving everv student
$210 from the original propox
a Is This year, student govern
merit worked vs itb An hitet ttire
and Allied Arts students to stop
a proposed professional fee of
SITiO per seat oil \ \ \ sill
dents i liat x sjiat m savings
i ompared to King s $lu in pea
nuts
Students must register to
vote educate themselves on tux
reform options, and demand
that Oregon House leadership
under Kcp Larry Campbell
stop stonewalling progress on
progressive tax reform which
would preserve affordable, ai
i essitile and quality higher edu
cation for everyone
Also >il stake is the delega
tion ol fee allocation authority
from the Oregon State Hoard of
Higher Education and the Uni
versity administration Stu
dents control fees and deter
mine what groups and services
promote the "cultural and
physical development" of the
student body, not the- adminis
tration Oregon students main
tain one of the most empower
ing fee structures in the nation,
and we take1 it for granted
A letter from Allen James
(l)PL'. l eh 1 rt) exemplifies mis
conceptions about where our
fees our going lames' labeling
of student Ic-es as funding only
spec ial interest groups" is a
fallacy So-called political spe
c ui 1 interest groups, in artuali
l\, make up .1 small lr.it linn ol
lul.il spending. while athletic s
.mi! lie KM l’ make up mon
ill.in nri pen enl
\\ hy are sSutienl lei's paving
lui essenll.il services such as
alhlelns and student unions,
which should he funded In
stale taxes and tuition as in
most states'
l or the same reason, past
University student bodies have
had the foresight to fund t hild
i are. legal services, ethnic stu
dent unions, Iree bus rides, a
Women’s denier. elt. We are
concerned anti tare uIkhiI pro
viding quality programs and
services that a t hronicallv mi
derfundetl university system
anti Legislature has refused to
fund
It is paramount that students
let ogni/e how unique and pre
c annus this privilege Is The
administration would like to
turn KMl and athletic lee fund
ing over to administrative con
trol such as the S-tli Health
ta uter fee and SIS building
maintenance fee Students
w nuld have no authority over
the l-MT or athletic s. but end
tip paying tor them through tui
lion any wav
Alii'ii asss why i imrisiu
students (i.n Sio.i fees when
t.'Diversity of Michigan stu
dents pay $7 ,1 iftm Michigan,
having -tS.Otll) students, is
much larger, enabling them Id
spread let's and servic es across
more students Student-con
trolled fees, according to Col
leen Tighe, administrative coor
dinator for the Michigan Stu
dent Assembly, are limited to
student government and stu
dent groups alone They also
have an SHO health renter fee
and Sr>0 building fee
I! Mic higan students tiad to
fund the total ASM) program
budget, (excluding athletics,
LTD and LML), their fees
would be S15 per student Not
much different than the S.’H per
quarter University students pay
for SI -t million in ASM) pro
grams
Of the S4 7 million 1991-92
lie allocation, the vast major
it\ of funds go directly to the
athletic department and LMU
administration Athletic pro
grams, providing free tickets, .1
in,m hing li.ind. .ind 1nlr.1mur.il
sports, ri‘< rive $1 ,i!52,(H)() For
,1 student population of l(i.1(K).
that's a term
The l'.M I memo
Sl,#25,:t(it>. S40 per quurter so
you 1 an enjoy Cultural Forum
events, Outdoor Program trips,
siioot pool in the Recreation
Center, use the Cralt Center,
have officers for student
groups, and find a place to
study
Special interest groups only
account for S250.000 That's
$7 _’(> per quarter lor Women's
Center, Interfratermtv Council.
OSPIKC and some •}!> other-odd
special interest groups
A further breakdown ol IFC
funding ensures students have
legal representation and advo
cacy Counseling and media
services amounts to S17‘1.0(M),
$ I (iO per quarter For main
stream media such as the l.'mcr
itld and campus radio, we pay
SU)‘t,li77, S i it) per quarter
You're paying S-CIH.51H), SS
per quarter lor an A SCO execu
tive. Student Senate, Constitu
tional Court, IFC, the Oregon
Student Lobby, and CSSA to
ensure student control over
fees, preservation of student
rights, and lobbying for finan
cial aid and lower tuition
i.mm care lor student-par
fills through thi> ASUO Child
Care and A mu/.on (.hi Idi arc
Co-op, costs about .$22 1,070.
S I i>0 per quarter An cm iron
mental fee funds free LID bus
service and expanded campus
recycling, w h i c h c o s t s
S2H0.300. St) per student An
academic fee amounting to
$75,000. SI 55 per quarter,
funds about 20 professional
student groups such us Student
liar Association
The attacks on the ll-C this
year are misdirected We are
talking pennies when com
pared to the task at hand with
tax reform in the Legislature
Let’s get our priorities straight
Brian Hoop is a student at the
University and member of the
Student Senate