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
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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
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