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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1994)
EDITORIAL Three strikes might guarantee cons life One. two, three strikes, you're out of the old crime game: violent crime. Clinton's State of the Union address last week pre sented (or represented) the plan to lock up three-time perpetrators of violent crimes for lifo, or in some cases give them the death sentence. The plan is a good way to repress violent crime, but a few issues remain unresolved. For one. the policy is only useful on a state level. Only a tiny fraction of vio lent crimes are federal crimes, so a federal three-strikes policy will not have much of an effect. Even if the states follow Clinton's load, however, the policy will bo virtu ally unenforceable, due to the lack of available prison space. With the amount of violent crimes that are com mitted in this country, certainly there will be a large sur plus of prisoners with nowhere to go. Right now. prison bunks are at maximum capacity, and new prisons should appear on the agenda first. In order for the three-strikes plan to work, there will need to be a significant amount of prison space created. Pris ons must be built in order to stand behind the plan. Criminals that are imprisoned for life probably pose very little threat after a given age. Occupying prison space with people that are simply growing old and turn ing gray, at the taxpayers exponso. may not be such a wise use of money. It seems quite uncommon for an 80 or 90-year-old ox-convict to commit a violent crime. So why continue to keep them imprisoned? While money is being spoilt on the old and impris oned, to keep them Imprisoned, there will still be a need for revenue to keep up the war on crime. With so much money tied up just in keeping old inmates out of soci ety. it seems. less money will be available to combat the up-and-coming criminals, who will continue to pose a grave threat to public safety. Certainly, oven with a tough crime bill, violent crime will still be committed. Those that depart from the norm and commit crimes obviously do not intend to got caught Most criminals are not rational enough to weigh the opportunity of jail time against a violent crime, let alone three violent crimes. In the big picture. Congress probably won't support Clinton on this idea. But on the state level the idea is quite possible, and is actually in place in Washington state. Washington passed a three-strikes initiative that said it was time to stub crime in the back, and other states are following in its footsteps. Oregon, in fact, is in the front of the pack with signatures out to put a three strike initiative on the ballot in November. Mandatory sentences, furthermore, may pose a throat to the separation of powers in the U.S. government. While most people favor a three-strikes policy, they should bo careful not to allow their passions to push punishments too far. They must try to prevent legisla tors and ovorzealous voters from infringing too greatly upon the independence of the judiciary. But a three strikes policy isn't too much to ask for, and maybe its time has come. Oregon Daily PO l>0« COGfNC OMGO»* %’*.J the (lvvi ().>, t t mar aid s (rutx.jfxso daily Mcxvjay through I 'day during the school >«ai and Tuesday a id Thuisday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald p ubiisii-ng Co Inc ai me t> . m vty ot Oregon. I jgene. Oegon The Emtvtiid operator! idependeni, of d'o University ml" crhices at Suae 300 of me f ill Manxc ai If ci a 1 ■ * a member oi ttie Associated Press the f "tv act s peyote property Ttie unlawful removal o> use ot papeis is prosecutable Dy law Managing Editor Editorial Editor Graphics Editor Freelance Editor Editor-In-Chief. Jose Elerg ( a iey Anderson Sports Editor Steve E6ms David Thorn Editorial Editor Jeff Pictrhaidt jell PaslOy Photo Editor Anthony Forney Jett Winters Supplements Editor Katy Sofo Night Editor: David Thom Associate Editors: Edward Kioolenslen Student ciowwnmenfArtrvaies. Rebecca Merrei Community Julie Swenson, right* Education Admin sf at on News Staff Mandy Baucum. Wilson Chan, Dave Charborvioau. Jim Dams Meg Oedolph Amy Devenport. C»a Echevarria Mata I «fds. Martm I .shot Sarah Henderson Haafherfe times. Vm long leong. Marus Merarxt Ti.sia Moot I iisabefh Reenstyema Robbie Reeves l a Sdocoa. Mchaei ShmcSer Scoff Simonson Stephanie Srsecm, Susaime Steffens. Jure Swenson. Mchefs Thompson Aguiar. Kevin Tripp, An>y Van Tuyf. Darnel Wesi General Manager Judy ff-ed Advertising Director Mad Watte- Production Mansgsr: KAcheie Rose Advertising Sutw Dutta. Nicole tterymarv. Teresa IsaPehe Jell Mar on Jeremy Mason. Michael Milleite. Van V O'Bryan II. Rachaal Trull. Kelsey WsAe«. Angie Wmdhwm Classified: Becky Merchant. Manager Vefor Maya Srm Tie Tecs Distribution: Andy Harvey. John Long Graham S-mpson Business: Kathy Carbone. Supervisor Judy Connolly Production: [Tee McCobb Production Coordinator Shawna Abew Greg Desmond, Tara Gauaney U>ad Joss Stacy Mtchek. Jennifer Roland. Nan Thangmyt. Clayton Vee Newsroom 346-5511 Display Advertising..346-3713 Business Office . 346-3312 Classified Advertising.346-4343 IT n*Kis HiALT« MfJ/C*' CAftf.' Q -4* LETTERS Attacked On April 1, 1993. I was vio lently attacked by a largo man with wild hair. His cruel eyes were glazed over with a demon ic gleam He growled with I wired teeth and pounced on me, with his chest pressed nest to mine and his hands gripping my shoulders He was violently shaking me. his face in my face I was terrified! I was trauma tized! I though he was going to rn|>« me1 Slit my throat! The attack took place in an outdoor art c lass conducted by George Kokis at the University. It turns out Kokis had instructed the student to attack me. On April 16, I called the Office of Affirmative Action to report it They told me there was nothing they could do. Oct 12,1 returned in person to report it to Affirmative Ac lion. This time, they said 1 could have filed a formal complaint, but I was 12 days late. That is just one example of many injustices 1 have experi enced in reporting sexual harassment on campus. The administration believes the attack was educational, designed to create an adrenaline rush which would stimulate cre ativity. Their opinion is an outstand ing example of the logic of lunatic s at work Off campus, the attack 1 suffered is harass ment, Class B, a misdemeanor, with possible jail time for the assailant On campus, they call it education. Tragically. 1 did not create art again until Ian 15, 199-1. the day I reluc tantly abandoned my aca demic career goals and dropped out I cannot justify jeopardizing my personal safety on a campus where faculty and administra tors claim access to my body, and not just the right to touch my lK>dy. but attack it. Devon Gray Eugene Pathetic reality Asian-American discrimina tion? The implication is that when an "Asian-American" is discriminated against that an Asian" is somehow excluded from that discrimination. The fact is not that "Asian-Ameri cans" are discriminated against but rather people with certain racial qualities are discriminat ed against. I am a "white" male, and when I am with my Japanese girlfriend 1 notice the occasional condescending stare from the people of many races. She usu ally' doesn't notice it So perhaps it is just me The point is that discrimination is a pathetic real ity of life It is not unique to any culture. It bec omes more obvi ous m mixed race societies such as the United States, the former Yugoslavia or South Africa. Hut it also happens in seemingly homogeneous societies such as |apun. China or the United King dom It is unfortunate that in our desire to eliminate this discrim ination we don't concentrate on legitimate education, hut rather focus on such trivial labels as are assigned by the politically correct elite I'm sure that we should not refer to an Israeli as an Asian-Amorit an. It seems to me that Native Americans are Apache, Navajo and so on, much like Europeans are Russ ian. French. German and so on. and Asians are |apanw»o. Indian. Russian, Pakistani and so on Perhaps we Americans should just trace our ancestry back to our roots and use that as a description. Since 1 am partially French, Swedish. Irish. English, Dutch and Italian, that might lie difficult. Besides, maybe we are .ill related to Richard Leakey's Lucy or the ever present Eve. The point of all this is that discrimination is going to occur even when we try to do silly things that might end discrimi nation. I remember when I was in Colombia, South America. with about 30 other teenagers Some local kids had thrown stones at us and called us "grin gos." It bothered me then, but at some point I just had to say. what the hock, go on, live with it and swear that I would never behave that way. Perhaps one day our society will grow up and he able to treat people equally without regard for meaningless labels, physical appearance or social orientation. Lawrence A. Martin Architecture Disturbing In response to the anti-Israeli opinions that were expressed in Mr. Fooladi's Jan. 2(> letter about the Baha'i faith (ODft. I would like to take the opportunity to correct his inaccuracies and stress the importance of sup porting Israel. Mr. Fooladi maintains that the Baha'i have ''collaborated with , the state of Israel,'' and proves this by pointing out that "the Baha'i headquarters are in Haifa.” Though it is true that the Baha'i are based in Haifa, he fails to mention that this station predates the formation of the state of Israel. What is disturbing about Mr Fooladi's accusations is that he implies that connections with Israel should bo seen as detri mental or are in some way slan derous to those involved. This is an inaccurate depiction. it is important to realize that one does not have to agree with all of the Israeli government's policies to be in support of the nation of Israel Anti-Israeli sen timents should not be inter changed with criticisms of the Israeli government. Zach Hochstadt Student Director The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor must be limited to no more than 250 words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must 1m* verified when the letter is submitted. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style.