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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1993)
Wednesday, January 27, 1993 I Opinion The Clackanti* Print Death penalty is self defense for society by Paul Valencia Staff Writer Although America is sup posed to be all about diverse people, there are still some that donot belong inour society. They do not deserve to breathe our air. They do not deserve to live. That is why many states, including Oregon and Washington, have the death penalty for aggravated murderers. It has been a little more than three weeks since Westley Allan Dodd stopped “hangin’ around” our society,buttheargumentover the death penalty will keep go ing. It will go on until everyone has a close family member killed by a Ted Bundy or a Dodd. Ifthat happens, and I pray it doesn’t, then there would be too few people against the practice to make a difference. Right now, if you took a poll, you might find that the issue is close to 50-50. But if you gave a hypothetical situation to a per son, like one of their children being molested, tortured and fi nally killed, the statistics would probably change drastically. And that is what the death penaltyisfor. This month’s hang ing up in Walla Walla means that Dodd will not kill your son or daughter. He won’t do every thing in his power to escape prison. He won’t kill any prison guards, who could be fathers as well. All he can do now is lie there... dead. Nothing wrong with that. When I think of the first ex ecution in the Northwest in my memory, I see the family of the three victims on the TV screen as they explained their feelings. They knew that Dodd’s death would not bring their loved ones back, but many of them said it didn’tmatter. They wanted Dodd dead, for justice and peace of mind. One even said her dead boy’s soul would not rest in peace until Dodd was gone. Then I think of all those against the death penalty, who braved the winter conditions in Walla Walla to protest Dodd’s execution. One grown man was in tears, calling the state of Wash ington a “bunch of murderers.” He was crying for Dodd. Any bodywhois sympathetic for Dodd Continuing lYour* Education? Representatives from Oregon Institute of Technology will be on campus to discuss your future in these very exciting programs: • Civil Engineering Technology • Computer Engineering Technology • Electronics Engineering Technology* • Laser Optical Engineering Technology • Manufacturing Engineering Technology* • Mechanical Engineering Technology • Software Engineering Technology • Surveying • Industrial Management* • Information Technology Management • Medical Imaging Technology • Nursing To learn more about your future with Oregon's Institute of Technology, stop by the Forum between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, January 29. Oregon Institute of Technology gives you the opportunity to earn a technology-oriented bachelor's degree at either the main campus in Klamath Falls or the Portland Metro Center. For more information, please call toll free (800) 422-2017 or write to Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon 97601-8801. "Offered at both the main campus and Portland Metro Center should be locked up in a padded room for observation. Andldon’t think these people have any busi ness defending somebody who did nothing to them. In fact, it seems that they have their priorities way out of line. Do they even think of the family members? Do they put themselves into their position? Obviously not. The protesters get by with tears and calling others a bunch of murderers. But the death pen alty is not murder, it is justifiable homicide. It is self-defense. It is society protecting itself. The anti-death penalty people say that killing is wrong because states have killed the wrong people before. This is true, and it is sad. But today there are procedures that convicted murderers have to go through. A death penalty sentence is auto matically appealed. That is why it takes so long to put these people to death. Some say it is a waste of money to keep these peoplealive, but it is worth the cost to make sure that the right person is being punished. To give a little to both sides of that argument, maybe a new line of rules should come into effect. A death sentence can only be handed down if the evidence is concrete or the person confesses to the crime. No circumstantial evidence should put a person to death. Oncethepenaltyishanded down, the case should be ap pealed. If the appeals court finds the same thing, the prisoner should be put to death within a month. Get on with it. Please, let’s not worry about the method of death. Hanging someone is not cruel and unusual if the person did the same to his victims, much like Dodd did. Dodd probably did not give his victims a last meal and a priest to talk to. And he definitely didn’t ask his victims if they would pre fer hanging or lethal injection. So Dodd is dead. That’s one less warton society’s ass to worry about. Sure there will be more killers. But thankfully, Oregon and Washington have self-de fense laws for its society. It is., called the death penalty. Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: Once again someone has used the brains God gave us to fill space in their head. I’m writing in re gards to the Jan. 13 editorial oh antifreeze. Why should a company spend their time and money doing what any parent with the smallest of common sense could and should do anyway? A parent should keep all tox ins completely out of reach of chil dren. This bitter-tasting agent is not the only thing that could have saved these children’s lives. Their parents Could have saved them. The parents are theones to blame. Parents should spend more time raising their children, than time legislating everyone to doit for diem. People need to be accountable for their own ac tions instead of suing the ladder company because there was no warning label telling you not to stand on the toprung. It’s time to learn common sense, not legis late it. Michael Odgers Pff. 3 g^pjan: 'Just a little mistake' by Nolan C> KidweO Staff Writer ; • It’ssodtfiicultioadmit a mistake; especially when you aredealing withmany peopled lives;; • . :: j -z •• a nuciearreactor over ah earth* quake fault line, or forgetting to get a toy brix for those an noying little radioactive things that always seem to be left over when maictrig electricity* are., mistakes we’re talking 'about \ :. But.Hiistakeslikethatare easily1forgotten, by most people. That is unless you live in that nice little town, located in the.backyard of the Trojan. Nuetear Power Plant. :; Imeanitisnotlikeevery- one there was employed by. Port! andG eneralElec trie. Just a majority of the people living. there depend,on their pay checks from ths power plant,: Whalreally impressed me; though, were all of thoserealiy cool commercials during the last set of elections that PGE bought up. You know,theones w it h the man and the worn an . talkingabout.Trojanover breakfast! was not only enter tained, but I appreciated the.; whole pitch about^ow safe Things wet«, along with fee, rhetoric' of •• a ifefr-yeifr • ;sliu.f-• down, j . TveOnlyeounted a couple months since theelcction.and now I am hearingof whatseeniS: to be a “quick and immediate shut-down.” The.oniy differ ence I see from the proppscd: ballot measures, is that under the ballot measures, rate-pay ers were not going to have to pick up the tab for the shut down* • •Myrealquestion;though*;. CCC student Rhapsody A literary insert now accepting your literary submissions poems, short fiction, instant fiction, non-fiction, thoughts in the night bring them to room Barlow 104 please leave them in the Rhapsody box on Rob's desk paign money used on thoscTV Commercials and fun-filled ra dio advertisements, go toward retraining those people affected by theShutdown? f I want to know why the entire community is going to be sent into financial hardship when PQB seemed .to. have unlimited funding for futile campaigning, ' But then people fotgeh fest; Displaced workers even tually move on* and the rate* p^yefe%iirWfey tiottee ths increase..Perhaps mosfof us:. wiU noteven notice that some one made alit tie mis take.: ' Be (My Valentine ; ‘Wbu&fyoit ZiTf to Rave a personal message to your Valentine's "Day sweetheart printed in ‘IRe ClacRpms (Printf ‘Write it on tfiis form and put in tie ad box. in tRe Student Activity office. Oregon Institute of Technology A member of the Oregon State System of Higher Education all printaßle messages will appear in tie *Fe6.10 issue. '•
