VIEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Military-like boot camp
could beat prison blues
■ OUR OPINION: Camps lor
young criminals wiii work if
other programs are
implemented
Bad lw»vv bad boy*,
whan ha gonna do? Whale ha
gonna do whan they coma
for you?
.Stand at attention and
shout “yes sir?" for starters.
Baginning next year, some
of Oregon's bad boys will
get a free trip to a location
near Tillamook where
they’ll get a short haircut,
pul on black leather boots,
and experience many of the
joys of military life as pari
Of a new alternative to con
ventional incarceration.
By early 1W7. a boot
camp facility for some 52
nonviolent juvenile crimi
nals will o|»en just south of
Tillamook as part of a slate
plan to rehabilitate young
offenders.
While the facility Isa
good idea, all the military'
discipline in the world can't
replace tho positive effects
of a stable and healthy fami
ly environment, a saw ialing
with law abiding friends,
and having access to an edu
cation and t enter choices
These concepts, and oth
ers. wilt have to be added to
tho Oregon Youth Aulhori
ty’s operating plans if they
hope to lie successful in
thoir wwk with tho 15 to Id
year-old*.
The project, which begin*
with the construction of a
$2 million complex, will
put young inmates through
a rigorous six month sched
ule of physical condition
ing. academic training, drug
and alcohol counseling,
community works protects,
and instruction in decision
making skills Organizers
say a strong follow-up sup
jKirt program will also need
to be included
No kidding
Imagine how hard it
would b© for a young ponton
to make intelligent I tie-deci
sions If they were put
through « reaffirming pro
gram like the boot uunp.
only to be dropped off Into
the tame dysfunctional
home and bad neighborhood
they managed to escape
from just six months before
To head off repeal behav
ior. officials should think
about providing inmates
with positive rule models
and bringing peer coun
selors into the institution
Every good example would
help
Other ideas include offer
ing a variety of classes from
computers to outdoor sport*
and teaching such basics as
filling out resumes and fob
hunting skills.
The goal. of course, is lo
return the former criminal
beck to society with skills
marketed more toward legal
endeavors than illegal ones
As usual, there is some
resistance to the plan
Critics say hoot camp pro
Srams. even adult one*.
ave not yet proven to be
more effective than their
conventional counterparts.
One of the reasons for this is
that the hoot camp concept
is a relatively new one and
not enough time has gone by
to allow for any long-range
studies Of the 36 such facil
ities in operation across the
U S., none are more than sis
years old
Still, we think military
style boot t amps are a good
idea.
Not only does society ben
efit from having young crim
inals removed temporarily
from the streets, hut offend
era are also put into an envi
ronment where they have
no choice but to learn how
to respect themselves and
others.
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LITTERS*
Rights for unborn?
The Rev Or Manin Luther
King. Jr Mid that infauna any*
whw» »at a threat to |u«tk«
everywhere
He Mid thia about eegregatton
and d incrimination
*lat ui never tunvmh to the
temptation of believing that leg
illation and judicial decree*
play only a minor rol« in aolv*
mg thu problem Morality can
not be legislated, but behavior
tan be regulated Judicial
decree* may not change the
heart, hut limy can restrain the
heart let* " (from Strength n(
late)
Wliat might Dr King have
Mid about our current iwai
menl ol the Immature membw
of our *pm n»*r
Hr King devoted hi* life to
oppo»tng I hr* chon* lo diMJim
mat* on iho beait of nit* Bui
one work after in* birthday we
observe she anniversary of the
Roe * Wade dot i*ion. which
freed u* lo choo*» lo dlwnmi
nat* faulty on the baai* of the
'wanted noM." physical maturi
ty, appearance. m%. health.
ife|H>iuien< e. sentience.. perent •
age or any other criterion,
including race, if 11 it done
before birth
Are these criteria any less
arbitrary or aubfectlve than
race? By what logic shall we
choose criteria for excluding
olher* from ihe prated ion of
ihe human community? Wbit
doe* the act*ptance of such cri
teria for destruction My about
the content of our character?
Alfred Lemmo
Oewtxxn. Michigan
Offensive irony
I'd like to respond to |ohn
Fujita, who on Nov 19. had an
‘infuriating incident" at the
Knight Library (OOif. Jan 11).
Hi* ‘ear* were aiMulted by
an unruly individual's head
phone clamor." I can surely
sympathise with John's desire
for silence and a quiet work
place I often find myself in a
similar predicament While his
request seems reasonable
enough, his correlation between
an inaction! individual, a Jerry
Garcia T-shirt and what
lorry laugh! you?” I* noil
He goes on lo uy iha! the
tack of reaped this man dia
played is a direct manifestation
of ferry's linage
I don ! think to.
the rationale behind (hit
thinking is simply ludicrous.
Does he mean to say that all
}«rry (an i« followers fit a pre
disposed attitude of rudeness
and lack of consideration for
others' Maybe this specific per
son realty "didn't give a f-~
about IFujital ‘ Nevertheless, I
believe his disrespect of you
hardly stems from hts apprecia
tion of Jem Garcia or the Grate
ful Dead
The irony here ties in John *
own impudence to all Garcia
followers, while he claims to be
the victim ol a discourteous
offense himself
l thought we were in college.
John
Claudia A VHIena
Sociology
Pro-Wyden
I applaud Ron Wyden't dec i
fiian to try to put a stop to the
negative nature of the cam
paign It is m> easy to take some
small detail and grossly distort
and magnify it so as to give a
wrong impression of how a can
didate is likely to cast many
voles over six years in a given
area of public policy.
I am going io vote for Ron
Wyden because he has been a
consistent progressive Democ
rat over the years and. as such,
he has given the interests of the
average person and the disad
vantaged top priority.
In our increasingly winner
lake-all society, we need some
one in the Senate to look after
the needs of the "little guy ~
If Cordon Smith is elec ted,
his overall record for six years
will be to make the overpaid
rich even richer at the expense
of the present and future situa
tion of the average person and
the disadvantaged I deduce
this from his own overall back
Sround and the philosophy of
ts party
So 1 hope that voters will
look at the big picture and not
vote for who touched a nerve
with hi* late*t clever, nasty "hit
piece,"
Dan Weiner
Eugene
Can’t judge a book
Miss Williamson, allow me to
answer your accusation of big
otry of the members of the Che
got1 Commentator {ODE. |an. 81
with a short story-;
There once was a young boy
of blue eyes and snow-white
blond hair, and his parents
moved to a remote town in a
foreign country where he was
the only child without dark
skin and dark eyes
There he teamed the lan
guage of that foreign nation bet
ter than his own for the years
they remained oversea* Upon
the family's return to the Unit
ed States, they sent the young
hoy school
rut the child it was a Strang#
experience Despite the lan
guage difficulties he suffered
because of his refusal to use
hnglish. he also was horrified at
the pale skmned children he
saw. his own skin becoming
deeply tanned while in the
tropics
Over time the child grew
older, and the differences in
skin color no longer skewed the
vision of the young boy. and he
did learn to accept English
And as a result, the boy made,
and continues to make, an effort
not to let difference* tn culture
and race skew his perception of
other human beings
Miss Williamson, that boy ia
myself
I am thoroughly distraught
that you tan lump every mem
ber of a production into the
same group so quickly The
Oregon Commentator is a Jour
nal of opinions, and it doesn t
mean an individual writer will
agree with the writings of
another staff writer. |ust as in
any other publication contain
ing editorial pieces.
Gordon Gilbert
Sta« WrtUV
Oregon Commentator