EDITORIAL
r
Women s money
request justified?
Thu Women's Center is requesting more money - a lot
more money.
Most of the costs incurred in the Women's Center bud
get are administrative. The positions. ranging from « new
director to facilitators, exist to sorvo women, not only
University women but. in a limited capacity, women
throughout the community.
The Women's Center has been restructuring over the
last year and operating without a director. Instead it has
been functioning under « committee and an adviser with
limited authority to delegate. Certainly, a full-time direc
tor is imperative to the center's successful operation. The
director of the center, under its new budget, is entitled
to nearly a third of the budget. This may seem like a big
chunk and it is. but the benefits outweigh the costs
incurred.
The second most costly position is the office coordi
nator. With the responsibility of overseeing the dally
business of the center ami overseeing the student posi
tions. the office coordinator's salary has a large impact
To achieve the goals the Women's Center hopes to
reach in the future, the director and office coordinator
are relevant positions that deem the budget Increases the
center is looking for. However, money can 1m> cut from
the budget and the effects would not be detrimental to
the center's needs.
One area where cuts coujd be made are in the student
leadership positions and the support group facilitators,
14 positions total, all of which are work study and
stipend positions. Rather than stipends, University cred
it could be awarded. The argument in favor of providing
stipend positions would seem to he: Stipends increase
interest in the positions therefore pooling the best can
didates who will stay with the position for the full dura
tion of the job description.
But the stipends awarded are not worth the money
that is being spent, especially when other alternatives
exist, such ns credits offered through programs like
Escape. The positions would still remain attractive,
maybe even more so. If the credits were only awarded to
those who fulfilled their positions fully then there would
bo adequate incentive to remain and money would bo
saved.
The Women's Center's requests, for the most part, are
valid. The center would profit greatly, especially with a
qualified director. There; are other outlets that are avail
able for funding, such as the administration and the
state, but funds will not bo granted in the midst of tight
funding. That leaves the brunt of the load on students,
but only temporarily.
With services available to the community and a direc
tor that initiates interest throughout the community, the
Women’s Center, in the future, would have an adequate
argument to request funds from the community. For now
the future of the Women's Center lies in funding. Unfor
tunately. the funding is taken completely from student
money. However, the Women's Contor needs a new start.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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OPINION
It s time to get tough on crime
Marius Meland
eing tough on crime has
Ix'i unw a prerequisite lor
M.J everyone aspiring for poht
it <il office nowadavs Threo
strikes and you're out" is the
mantra that ever) political
wannabe lias to repeat in front of
the mirror each morning. It’s
alluringly simple: If a criminal
commits a felony three times, he
- anti it is usually a he ■ will gel
to spend the rest of his life stitch
ing together leather sandals and
picking lice oft his cell wall.
But why not go all the way?
With one stroke of the pen. Bres
ident Clinton could reform the
whole legal system, so that those
criminal vermin get exactly what
they deserve, while we taxpayers
save a bundle.
Here’s how to do it
First, let’s speed op the judi
cial system Instead of having
criminals go through today's
lengthy, bureaucratic court sys
tem. we'll televise their trials and
let the viewers decide. First the
prosecutor would get two min
utes of air time to argue that the
act used is guilty, then the defen
dant's attorney would get equal
time to argue for his innocence
After that, two phone numbers
would flasii on the screen one
for "guilty" and one for "not
guilty." In accordance with the
best traditions of American
democracy, the viewers would
dei ide the verdict That wav.
John and Jane Doe would get first
hand jury experience without
even leaving their living-room
couches.
We'd get rid of .1 lot ol lawyers,
too.
And here's the beauty of the
system: it doesn't have to cost the
taxpayers a penny It would be
sponsored by coinmen ini adver
tisements, just like any other tele
vi si on program Can't you just
it ' "The Hobbit Trial - brought to
you by KasyCut Scissors and Pli
ers,” And "The Heidi Kleiss Tri
al - sponsored by Victoria's
Secret"
Some felonies, such ns murder
and rape, would, of course, war
rant an uutomntu death penalty
Hut the way the death penalty
works today is too easy on crim
inal scum bags
So 1 propose to turn down the
voltage on the electric i hair a few
hundred volts Ultimately, the
result would be the game — it
would only take o little longer.
The worse the i rime, the lower
the voltage A mass murderer
such as Jeffrey Dahmer could fry
fordavs Our motto Fry'em. hut
fry 'em slowly.
Not all criminals would l>e sen
tenced to the death penalty
Many would, of course, get harsh
prison sentences. But prison
alone isn't enough to reform
those criminal lowlife parasites
of society.
1-et's teach them a lesson they
won't soon forget let's take up a
good, old deterrent that has
worked well in the past. I know
a lot of you bleeding-heart lib
erals won't like this. l>ut the ordi
nary. pat riot it American will
agree with me when I say: Let's
torture them
Let's whip them, burn them,
twist their limbs, stretch their
trodies and the whole schebang
And then let's see how many of
them dare go back and hold up
convenience stores and snatch
little old ladies' retirement pen
sions
This will lie good for the econ
omy too. Just think of tile
Let’s whip them,
bum them, twist
their limbs, stretch
their bodies and
the whole shebang.
increased revenue for producers
of whips, stretching benches and
fire pokers.
And here's another way we cun
cut down on the expenses of the
taxpayers: let the public perform
the punishment • fora nominal
fee, of course.
This is the way 1 picture that
the system would work You go
to the police station and buy the
right to torture a prisoner. You'd
J«iv, suv . $ ID |>er flogging. $20 (>er
burning and $50 per hour for the
use of more advanced torture
equipment.
1 m sure you would pay, too, if
your chemistry professor was
caught driving too fast or your
noisy next-door neighbor was
arrested for failing to file his tax
forms
Moreover, people would be
able to buy tickets to watch the
show Such tickets could l>e sold
along with lottery tickets at the
local Safeway and Albertson
stores That way. the whole fam
ily could go together to watch a
criminal get what he deserves.
The children would get a lesson
in what would await them if they
didn’t behave, and the parents
would get a well-deserved diver
sion from other pastimes such as
howling and television viewing
Marius \1r la nil is a columnist
for the Emerald
COMMENTARY
The Or»*gon Daily Emttrald welcomes commentaries from the
public concerning topics of interest to the University c ommu
nity.
Commentaries should lie between 800 and 800 words, legi
ble. signed and the identification of the writer must be verified
when the letter is submitted.