EDITORIAL
Spare AmeriCorps
from budget cuts
On the road to cutting the budget. Congress might veer
off the side and cut necessary programs that must be
funded.
A prime example of this would bo AmeriCorps. A
public service program instituted by President Clinton,
AmeriCorps offers money for education in exchange for
a year or more of national service.
A House subcommittee has cut S210 million from the
5580 million budget already approver! for the program
this year. Now it appears some Republicans might like to
cut the whole thing.
AmeriCorps is a program that deserves every dollar
allocated to it. ff this
program cost ml lions ol
dollars, it might be
argued that cuts In the
program would bo justi
fiable. In an effort to
reduce spending. Con
gress is currently trying
to cut a littie out of
AmeriCorps is one
of those visionary
programs that only
t omes along every few
det odes
most programs wnne
eliminating others.
However. AmeriCorps Is nu( an expensive program
and doesn't deserve to be cut. In fact, for the good that
the program does both for the workers and for their com
munities. AmeriCorps is the type of program that should
be promoted rather than gutted.
AmeriCorps encourages many things society actively
trios to promote. The program aims to help people pay
for their education by working for projects to better soci
ety. Recent projects throughout the country include
building houses and immunizing children noble pro
jects few could find fault with.
Opponents argue people shouldn't be paid to work on
community service projects. As humans, we should be
willing to help another person in need. However, the
reality is that even while working to help the commu
nity. people are still looking to get an education, livery
one has bills to pay and college isn't getting any cheap
er. If people are willing to work to belter society to get
the funds necessary to attend college, then AmeriCorps
is a successful program.
AmeriCorps is ono of tboso programs everyone can
benefit from. With AmoriCorps, no one loses. Those-in
the program gain money for college or vocational school,
white gaining valuable experience that might help when
applying for employment elsewhere. The community
benefits as well. AmoriCorps workers can often accom
plish tasks the local community cannot do itself.
AmeriCorps is one of those visionary programs that
only comes along every few decades. Similar to the
Peace Corps. AmeriCorps allows people to help others
and better themselves at the same time.
Congress should spare AmeriCorps from cuts. Ameri
cans are getting excellent return tor their dollar and
workers are getting an education. What more could Con
gress look for in a federal program?
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TWIS ONE Tb TERM..
■ OPINION
All crimes are created equal
Brian Womack
Evt>ry crime that happen*
today hi the t ity of Eugene
will be a hate crime 1 tie
same g«ies for the rest of the state
and tim nation, for that matter
I can sav tins because, as far as
I can tell, nobody does crimes
out of love.
There are no "love crimes
Hate is the motive in jus! about
any crime I can think of At least
if they're not done out of pure
hate. Perhaps the criminals are
just ticked-off or really upset for
some reason
I guess these crimes could h*»
< ailed “ticked-off crimes" or "I
was really upset crimes "
Crimes are committed with
the intention of infringing upon
another person's property or self
that 1 would characterize as. if
not at least hate, certainly evil.
Lei's suppose on the way hack
to my i ar tonight, some people
decide they need some money,
and I'm the person they decide
to take it from. |ust for argu
ment's sake, let's suppose in the
process of the mugging. I lose
my kneecaps to a 38
Am 1 now going to cam if the
person who committed that
crime is black, white or a radical
vegetarian? No. I'm upset that
I'm missing my kneecaps
Whether the person did it out of
hate for me for any reason is
really beside the point
That crime or any crime is
wrong because it is a crime. It s
not because of what some per*
son was thinking at the time of
the crime.
Yet many believe it does.
In a New York Times editori
al on June 16. 1993, the board of
the paper called a Supreme
Court decision that found the
idea of classifying crimes
because the person was biased
toward the person’s minority a
“welcome message."
But this board and others who
hold its views should consider
the consequences of such laws,
In the May 1993 issue of the
AHA (American Bar Associa
tion) Journal, an article
explained a case where a a
group of hla< k men heat up a
white boy This was the case the
Supreme Court decided in 1993
The theft and felony aggravated
battery conviction by the jury
was expanded from two to four
years because of the hate crimes
law in the state of Wisconsin
where the crime took place. It
was said that the incident took
place after the group of blacks
watched Mississippi Burning
and one of the men said. “Do
you all feel hyped to move on
some white people?"
Fhis may make sense to some
If the person who did this was a
rat ist. doesn't ho deserve worse
punishment?
A symposium in the 1992
winter?spring issue of Criminal
luutter Ethics, discusses the very
topic of penalty enhancement
for hate crimes
Martin H Redish of North
western University School of
Law argued that, “while the vio
lence that results from racial
strife is surely not constitution
ally protected, no additional
punishment may be imposed
solely for the racial motivation."
Redish questions the basis of
hate crimes because they
attempt to sentence people
based upon what their thoughts
are, not just on the art itself
"Anyone who has devoted
substantial thought to issues of
freedom of expression knows
that a system that protects only
expression, which we find
morally or politically acceptable
will soon disintegrate As dan
gerous and offensive as I find
any expression of bigotry. I fear
much more any attempt by gov
ernment to ; ontrol the minds of
its citizens,”
It s amazing to me that once
again the left, with all of its tails
for freedom of thought, are too
happy to trample on that free
dom when it doesn't line up
with their politics.
(nines B. Jacobs of the New
York. University School of Law
wrote one of the most striking
points in the symposium. He
said, "A decode ago many
thoughtful individuals and the
responsible press were opposed
to even reporting the race of
arrested individuals and their
victims ...Now, the reverse pol
icy seems to be gaining the
ascendancy, especially among
liberals who propounded the
color-blind approach in the first
place."
Because hate crimes are not
color-blind, discrimination
abounds.
Though we often think of hate
crimes ns white on black or
some other minority, it isn't
always that way.
The New York Times reported
on Dei 13. 1993 that the "racial
ly motivated crimes by blacks
have soared in the last few
years." The report found this
was done by a group that was
formed to monitor hate crimes
by the klu Klux Klan It said
from 1991 to 1993, the number
of actual killings done by blacks
on whites. Hispanic* and Asians
leaped 4t> percent.
This is another problem with
hate crimes. They end up pun
ishing some of the groups of
people they were supposed to
protect.
If a group of people is being
hostile toward another in a vio
lently threatening manner, they
should be prosecuted fully. I do
believe that
However, as as Jacobs said. "I
continue to believe that our goal
should be a color-blind society
and a color-blind criminal jus
tice system."
This is just something else in
society that tears at the relations
between the races.
We don't need anymore of
that — no matter how political
ly correct one may think the
ideas are.
Brian Womack is a columnist for
the Emerald.