EDITORIAL
Banning television
in jail positive move
Television has finished serving its time in prison.
Officials have decided to pull the plug on television
in the Yakima County jail (Wash.) With limited excep
tions. such as those for educational or religious pur
poses. inmates won't be allowed to sit and watch the
lube all day.
The Insightful move will help Inmates. Rather than
play the role of babysitter for the length of the prisoner's
term, corrections officials will now be able to encourage
inmates to do something positive. Whether it's reading
a book or learning a skill, prisoners will now be edu
cated rather than be allowed to vegetate.
Yakima County is one of a number of jails that has
taken the move to get rid of the television. Across the
country, jails are toiling prisoners to entertain, or prefer
ably, educate themselves. Tax dollars shouldn't be spent
to give inmates something to stare at for the duration of
their punishment.
Instead, prisons are often following the will of the
people in requiring prisoners to do something useful
with their time. Oregon voters passed an initiative in
November to require Oregon inmates to work.
However, many might not realize that what's good for
prisoners is also good for society.
The action by Yakima County officials may have
repercussions outside of correctional institutions, It
might get others to question their use of television
While college students may not have time to watch as
much television as others, it is commonly believed that
most people, from young children to older adults, watch
a lot of television. A good number of them watch too
much.
Television itself is not bad. The medium, used by mil
lions in America every day, can be an informative and
educational tool for many. Television can help deliver
information in a way that no other medium can Hut that
doesn't mean it should consume people.
t he key to television is how it is used, instead of rou
tinely sitting in front of the television for several hours
every day. setting a time limit or picking certain pro
grams to watch would be smarter options. Smart usage
of television requires thought on the part of the viewer
While television can bo an enjoyable release from the
pressures of everyday life, there are other ways to relax
than staring at the tube for the evening Rediscover the
library and read a good IxKik Volunteer in the commu
nity and make a difference in someone's life.
While the phrase "kill your TV" might not become a
buzzword in prison, in the case of one jail in Washing
ton. the move to take television out of the daily life of
inmates is a move to lx* applauded, if society would fol
low the lead of Yakima County, the nation would be a
bettor place.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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■ LETTERS
OSPIRG good
OSPIRG What exactly is an
OSPIRG? A bird' No. 1 think
that was osprey Student
activism has always h**«n imitor
tant to me As a transfer student,
1 was more than surprised at the
enthusiasm of students at U ofO
about sew lal issues When I
walked into the OSPIRG office
to sound quite trite — 1 had
found a niche I was in the
midst of a strong core group of
people who i are about getting
things done We sit down, com
municate. share ideas to facili
tate change and activate the con
sciousness of students and
communities Educate, inform,
activate However, this is |ust
one person's point of view i
could tell you about all the great
things they’ve accomplished:
the bottle bill, ns vcling law. toy
safety, banking survey, con
sumer hotline, renters' rights,
making Oregon green
OSPIRG — it's important
when we re trying to save a
planet
Theresa Jon hi ns
Eugene
Convincing
!-ate Tuesday evening, my
husband brought home a copy
of that day 's ODE (Feb 7). Them
was a commentary written by
three clergyman from the New
man Center, offering a different
perspective than is usually pre
sented on the rerent tragic
killings of abortion clinic work
ers and volunteers
I read the letter and found it
thought-provoking Though the
writers should have taken more
care to emphasize their condem
nation of violence against abor
tion clinic workers, in general,
their explanation of the probable
i auses of terrorism was well
considered and convincing.
1 hoped that the well-educat
ed and politically sensitive read
ers of the Emerald would he
able to give this article their fair
minded reading it deserves Hut
1 know that, even as 1 write this
letter, the clergymen are receiv
ing abusive, hate filled phone
calls Tomorrow, they will
receive hate mail By Thursday,
the Emerald will have received
numerous hysterical, censorious
letters a< cosing Pimentel, Lucci
and Vajda of condoning murder,
( aring fur fetuses more than
women, trying to force their
feelings on everyone else, etc.,
etc
You can bet that the main
thrust of the article, that terror
ism emerges when a group's
legitimate message is repressed
or dismissed as irrelevant over a
long time by adversaries who
have a monopoly on power, will
be ignored or summarily denied.
Ironii ally, that will go a long
way to prove their hypothesis,
Rita K. Freedman
Eugene
Explanation
After reading the Feb. 10 nrti
i U< regarding l’rc>j«*«! Saferide's
budget hearing, I found that the
allocation description needs
some explanation We did not
receive a 5.'t percent increase
from last year's budget.
When Project Saferide went
for its budget hearing in winter
1994, it received .$22,015. In
spring 1994. ridership was
increasing steadily and it was
diM.ided that another dispatcher
was needed Saferide presented
a ballot measure to the student
body It was approved and
Saferide added another $20,319
for a new van and 513.24H to
pay .i second dispatcher to its
budget, making Saferide's 1994
‘*5 budget a total of $55,582
from student fees
I his >ear, Saferide presented
a budget with the second dis
patcher's pay already added.
The Finance Committee
approved the new budget With
out the van, which was a one
time only purchase, Saferide
received a 4 1 percent decrease
in its budget If the van is to he
included, tt was actually a 39.1
percent dei rease. I hope this
clarifies the allocation Saferide
nx eived for its 1995-98 budget
Sandra Macke
Project Saferide
Pro-choice
I am writing in response to the
Feb. 7 commentary in which
priests front the Newman Center
condoned abortion clinic vio
lence as a last resort in the
movement to restrict women's
right to abortion. The priests
claim that Roe v. Wade’s legal
ization of abortion is unfair to
those who oppose it. and after
'll) years of protesting, anti-abor
tionists feel they have no choice
but to react in violence.
The Roe vs Wade ruling final
ly allows women jurisdiction
over their own bodies and gives
women the legal right to deter
mine their own reproduction
This should be an indisputable
right, but unfortunately there are
those people who do not see it
as so The anti-abortionists have
gone from picketing abortion
clinics to blocking women's
entrance into the clinics to act
ing in violence against abortion
clinics. Clinics are bombed and
set |on| fire. Doctors and their
families are harassed and threat
ened. In several instances, doc
tors have been murdered. These
ar ts of terrorism against dinit s
and doctors and against women
are inexcusable in any instance
Reversing legislation on account
of tiie violence would lie giving
ill to terrorism.
The pro-choice movement
works to maintain women's
right to reproductive freedom
and to keep all options safe and
legal. Contrary to what the anti
ahortionists would have us
believe, pro-choice is not pro
abortion No one is pro-abortion
The Newman Center priests say
that most Americans arc
opposed to abortion rights, but
they fail to cite their statistical
sources. According to a 1988
survey done by Hickrnan-Maslin
Research and American View
point. 77 percent of American
voters believe that "abortion is a
private issue between a woman,
her family and her doctor land
that) the government should not
be involved."
The anti-abortionists are des
perate to inflict their views
upon the rest of the nation and
in doing so, many have resorted
to violence. Terrorism is unjus
tifiable in any form and under
any circumstances. Until these
acts of violence stop, women's
rights and Americans' beliefs
will continue to be infringed
upon.
Grace Smutt
Students for Choice