i Campus Voice
DEATH
continued from page 10
than actually let he or she sit in prison.
The death penalty isn’t a deterrent for
crime. The death penalty also points to
the racial inequality we have sitting in
our prison system. Statistically, 82 per
cent of studies reviewed show that the
race of the victim was found to influ
ence the whether or not the defendant
received the death penalty.
According to the Death Penalty Infor
mation Center, a comprehensive study
of the death penalty in North Carolina
found that the odds of receiving a death
sentence rose 3.5 times among those
4.42012 I The Blue Banner 1 11
defendants whose victims were white.
By Oct. 1,2011, North Carolina had
IM death row inmates.
In one of the most surreal moments of
my life, I was able to witness the deci
sion that a human being should be put
to death. The summer after my fresh
man year of college, I interned for the
public defender’s office in Miami, Fla.,
on a death penalty trial.
The case, commonly referred to as the
Baby Lollipop’s Case, made headlines
in 1990 when a toddler was found dead
and duck-taped beside a home near the
Miami shore.
The mother of the child, a Cuban
immigrant named Ana Cardenas, who
found her way to the United States as
a teenager, found herself facing a jury
as she was immediately convicted and
placed on death row.
Fifteen years later Cardenas was
moved off death row after prosecutorial
misconduct was found to have played
a part during her trial. Five years later,
I found myself sitting behind a woman
in her late 40s, almost skin and bones,
crying as she was found guilty of killing
her son once again.
I had only known Cardenas for
roughly a month, but the frustration
and exhaustion of knowing the ins and
outs of her case brought me to tears and
rage. A few months later, I found out
that the jury voted for her to be execut
ed. I could deal with Cardenas being in
prison, but the thought of her being put
to death like a unwanted dog made my
stomach turn.
The death penalty has no place in our
justice system as we move toward the
future. Condemning other countries for
murdering innocent civilians makes us
look hypocritical, while we continue to
execute those who may have been in
nocent all along.
Our system is one of the best, but it
isn’t perfect and it certainly isn’t flaw
less.
We can reform the death penalty
system in the United States. Even better,
we can abolish an archaic, expensive,
arbitrary, ineffective and inhumane
practice.
LEGAL
continued from page 10
lowed to drink?
The International Center for Alco
hol Policies provides information on
the minimum ages to legally purchase
and consume alcohol in more than 100
countries.
In some Islamic countries, like Brunei
or Libya, sale of alcohol is banned.
A few countries on the list simply
don’t have an age limit set for buying or
drinking alcohol.
Albania is one of them.
Evisa Ravi, 21, said she has never
heard of a case when a minor received a
fee for buying or drinking alcohol.
“Only fancy clubs ask for your ID,
The majority of pubs and clubs don’t
care about your age,” said Ravi, who
started going out in Albania when she
was 16.
In Albania, the obstacle for drinking is
generally more about money than legal
or social restrictions.
Since the parents control the children
Until they are 18, most young people
don’t start going out until then and
therefore they are more economically
independent.
In Sweden, the age limit to get into
Ihebars is 18.
That’s also the limit for buying beer
containing up to 3.5 percent alcohol by
Volume in a normal store.
In order to buy alcohol from the
liquor store, you need to be 20. Gener
ally, the attitude towards alcohol is very
laid back.
Most children grow up with alcohol
in the home, so it’s seldom considered
taboo.
As secular societies, religion doesn’t
really affect the alcohol policies in the
Scandinavian countries.
For us, drinking is a habit that’s
always been there - just think of the
• United States: 21
• Mexico: 18
• Finland:18
• England:18
• France: 18
ts by country
Ireland: 18
Italy: 16
Portugal: 16
Brazil: 18
Fiji: 21
^ Mailer’s
• Germany: for bee|;if]^j|^:j* Cambodia: None
spirits
WKISKA”
‘ernational Center for Alcohol Policies
Vikings - and because of that, we some
times feel some social pressure to drink.
We get to know alcohol and its
consequences early, so by the age of
21, drinking is really not that exciting
anymore.
Instead we might arrange wine or
whiskey tastings with our friends,
drinking in a more grown-up way, so to
speak. The legal drinking age is also 18
in Mexico, but in practice, stores, bars
and restaurants don’t ask young people
for their ID.
Alcohol is considered part of the
everyday life there as well.
“My parents have always allowed us
to drink small quantities of alcohol dur
ing meals and family reunions. Because
of that I never felt the need to drink
outside of home before I was 18,” said
23-year old Carolina Garza Amparan
from Mexico.
If alcohol is seen as something forbid
den it might trigger people to drink
more or even use substitutes that are
easier to get a hand on.
Those people who drink illegally may
drink more than those who drink le
gally, and knowing when to stop is hard
when you are young and inexperienced.
Knowing how to say no to substitutes
such as marijuana and other drugs is
hard too.
When talking about the consequences
of minors using alcohol, these side ef
fects shouldn’t be ignored.
Nathalie Holmgren is an international
journalism student from the University
of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland.
INMATES
continued from page 10
Books everywhere is to help educate
and prosper prisoners.
Books are a fundamental part of
the political, spiritual and educa
tional development of all people.
To rob those who committed crimes
of that not only ceases a chance of
any doing well in society, but takes
away the chance to redeem those
incarcerated from the mistakes that
lead them to give up a certain time
of their lives in the first place.
Moira Bradford, an English and
history teacher at Asheville Middle
School, helps organize and coordi
nate Prison Books in Asheville.
Bradford became involved in
Prison Books when she was looking
for an organization that would feed
her activist need.
“Often at times these people in
prison are forgotten, once they have
a criminal record they can literally
kiss their life goodbye. Prison Books
helps these people who think they
have no chance hy providing them
something so simple yet so effective
- books,” Bradford said.
Education remains the most pow
erful tool to generate or degenerate
a generation. The chances of an in
mate returning to the prison system
after their release are greatly reduced
by education.
According to Prison Book’s of
ficials, prison educational programs
have been drastically cut and most
prisoners cannot afford to buy their
own books. Most prisons don’t even
allow family and friends to send
books into prisons as it might seem
like a threat. Books must come from
a book store or publisher.
This is when the people start tak
ing control of the situation