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Death, be not allowed
The life of Alton Eugene Harris Jr.
has been spared. And so - for the
moment, in this instance - is the moral
foundation of human society.
But by citing "mitigating factors" to
substantiate its decision, the jury left the
moral standard as disgraced as the
convicted murderer.
The death penalty is wrong not
because of poor living conditions, or
mental disorders, or any other excuses.
It's wrong because the highest value of
civilization must be the sanctity of
human life. All human life. Without such
regard, any laws, rights and goals meant
to enhance life are as much dust.
Arguments against the societal costs
of supporting prisoners like Harris are
irrelevent, too. Society doesn't even have
the right to exist if an individual does
not have that right. Besides, it costs more
to execute a prisoner, with a dozen
appeal options, than to support him
through a life sentence. And programs
that release prisoners convicted of non
violent crimes into community work
show promise of reducing the burden
on prisons and lowering costs.
The supposed cost of letting murder
go unpunished by death in regards to
deterrance also is a fallacy. Nowhere has
the death penalty been successfully
correlated with significantly lower
murder rates.
Moral value is the question. And it's
too easy for juries, such as the one for
the Harris trial, to ignore it to evade
the fact that they are the executioners.
How many would vote for the death
penalty if each was required to stand
in a firing squad, with every gun loaded
and aimed at the defendant? They should
have no problem pulling the trigger.
They should be glad to show they respect
life so much that they're willing to defend
it's sanctity, that they're even willing to
kill for it.
The way to defend a value, and the
way to get others to respect it, is to
uphold the value.
This is not to forbid executions
entirely. If someone facing life imprison
ment with no parole chooses the death
penalty instead, the choice should be
honored. The decision is his to make.
Not a jury's.
Killing, not drugs, was Alton Harris'
mental disorder. He should be punished
severely, and he will. But if the "mit
igating factors" hadn't existed, the jury
would have been victim to the same
mental disorder. Two wrongs don't
make a right.
Debatable Soviet aid
Last night's debate between a traveling
team of Soviet graduate students and
a select team of UNC debaters left one
question unanswered the subject of
the debate. Neither side examined the
reason for their presence on the stage,
the extent of the superpowers respon
sibilities to developing countries.
. . Both teams , lost t when it came to the
relevance of their remarks to the subject
question printed in the program and
announced by the moderator at the
beginning of the evening. Star Wars,
counterforce weapons, the Marshall
plan and apartheid all received attention
with little attempt to link these matters
to the deprivation and hunger which
blight the lives of a quarter of the world's
population.
Each side cursorily mentioned instan
ces of interested aid by the other: Soviet
assistance to Afghanistan, the U.S.
bankrolling of Turkey. Neither deve
loped a case for the selflessness of its
own aid or attempted to define carefully
just what nations able to afford roughly
half a trillion dollars a year in defense
expenditures should do for countries
unable to wipe out illiteracy and famine.
This is unfortunate, because the United
States does offer more to the Third
World and because the two superpowers
could do much more than they are doing
now.
One region of the world offers
industrialized nations a chance to
display selflessness: the drought
stricken, strategically worthless Sahel in
Africa. Countries such as Mali and
Upper Volta lack ports, oil, valuable
minerals, even tense borders with
important neighbors. In the past year,
massive hunger has inspired a U.S.
outpouring of more than $3 billion in
food aid. The Soviet Union has given
less than France, Great Britain, Canada,
India, Zimbabwe ...
Zimbabwe? More than a decade of
civil war has wracked the one-time
bastion of racism. This year's plentiful
crop comes only after several years of
severe drought. Yet Zimbabwe still gives
more than a country supporting the
world's largest army.
One excuse offered for this travesty
by apologists for the Soviet Union is the
poor performance of Soviet agriculture.
Yes, the country does have to import
wheat from the United States because
of the appalling inefficiency of its own
collectivized farms. But billions also go
to propping up Soviet allies around the
Third World, sxh friendly folks as
Afghan quisling Babrak Karmal and
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. These aid
funds have not been spent buying food
for those who really need it.
Although the ungenerous Soviet
Union would probably never agree to
such a project, what we need is a
program of matching aid to non-aligned
nations. European media attention
would give the aid a certain propaganda
value for the Soviet Union. Even if the
aid were matched in the ratios of the
U.S. and Soviet economies, the result
would be a big improvement on the
present state of affairs.
The Daily Tar Heel
Editorial Writers: Keith Bradsher and Jim Zook
Assistant Managing Editors: Cathy Cowan, Randy Farmer, Anjetta McQueen and Laura
Zeligman
News: Lisa Allen, Crystal Baity, Thomas Beam, Lisa Brantley, Loch Carnes, Helene Cooper,
Kerstin Coyle, Randy Farmer, Charles Fernandez, Katy Fridl, Jill Gerber, Todd Gossett, Mike
Gunzenhauser, Kenneth Harris, Sharon Hodges, Denise Johnson, Robert Keefe, Scott Larsen,
Donna Leinwand, Mitra Lotfi, Dora McAlpin, Anjetta McQueen, Yvette Denise Moultrie,
Linda Montanari, Kathy Nanney, Beth Ownley, Rachel Orr, Grant Parsons, Gordon Rankin,
Rachel Stiffier, Rachel Stroud, Joy Thompson, Jennifer Trotter, Elisa Turner, Laura Van Sant,
Devi Sen, Rhesa Versola, Kim Weaver, Lorry Williams, Laurie Willis, Katherine Wood and
Karen Youngblood. Guy Lucas, assistant University editor.
Sports: Scott Fowler and Tim Crothers, assistant sports editors. Rick Beasley, Mike Berardino,
Phyllis Fair, Paris Goodnight, Tom Morris, James Suroweicki, Buffie Velliquette and Bob
Young.
Features: Marymelda Hall, assistant features editor. Mike Altieri, Nancy Atkinson, Louis
Corrigan, Kara V. Donaldson, Heather Frey, Matthew Fury, Keith Griffler, Wayne Grimsley,
Jane Mintz, Mary Mulvihill, Peggie Porter, Tara Reinhart, Laurie Rodgers, Liz Saylor, Denise
Smitherman and Martha Wallace.
Arts: Mark Davis, Jim Giles, Aniket Majumdar, Alexandra Mann, Alan Mason, Sally Pont,
Deanna Ruddock, Garret Weyr and lan Williams.
Photography: Charlotte Cannon, Dan Charlson, Janet Jarman and Charles Ledford.
Copy Editors: Lisa Fratturo, Bryan Gates, Tracey Hill, Gina Little, Amanda McMillan, Cindy
Parker and Kelli Slaughter.
Artists: Adam Cohen, Bill Cokas and David Sumner.
Business and Advertising: Anne Fulcher, general manager; Paula Brewer, advertising director;
Angela Booze, student business manager; Angela Ostwalt, accounts receivable clerk; Doug
Robinson, student advertising manager; Alicia Brady, Keith Childers, Alicia Susan D'Anna,
Staci Fetguson, Kellie McElhaney, Melanie Parlier, Stacey Ramirez and Scott Whitaker,
advertising representatives; Staci Ferguson and Kelly Johnson, classified assistants; Johnnie
Parker, advertising coordinator, and Cathy Davis, secretary.
Distributioncirculation: William Austin, manager; Tucker Stevens, circulation assistant.
Production: Brenda Moore and Stacy Wynn. Rita Galloway and Rose Lee, production assistants.
Printing: Hinton Press Inc. of Mebane
4l,;;Jfei&-1 mm m
READER FORUM
Courtroom, not pulpit, will decide obscenity
lo the editors:
As 1 began to read the two
columns on the pornography law in
the DTH, 1 was immediately struck
by the fact that the second article
was written by Thomas Jackson
("Moral decree good for state," Oct.
10). Seeing that Jackson functions
as co-chairman of Students For
America, 1 wondered how far 1
would read into the column before
religion, and not the new porno
graphy law, became the issue. 1 was
not disappointed.
How Jackson meandered from
"The new pornography law has been
critcized for being too strict, even
ridiculous.',, to "What are you going
to do about the fact that Jesus
Christ died for you?" completely
escaped me. Despite SFA's dream
of an American theocracy, religion
is not a formal component of either
the initial legislative process or any
subsequent judicial reviews of a
statute. Remember separation of
church and state? The criticisms
against the new pornography laws
should not raise religious issues, but
instead, constitutional questions.
We are talking of First Amend
ment rights. Even if a majority of
Americans decide against all "obs
cene" materials of any sort, the
burning issue left is whether or not
the publication, distribution and
possession of pornography is a right
conferred by the First Amendment.
The rights recognized by the Con
stitution apply to state law as well
by virtue of the 14th Amendment.
Granted, the state legislature can
pass restrictions that protect a
legitimate state interest. In the case
of North Carolina, the interest
needing protection is primarily that
of children and the need to keep
. them free from the horrible damages
of sexual exploitation. The legiti
mate interest is not whether. God
damns pornographers or that Jesus
died on the cross to prevent adult
bookstores. The criticism of the new
statutes does and should focus on
whether the state has infringed on
personal rights and freedoms in its
attempt to protect a legitimate state
interest.
But even where Jackson makes
his leap of illogic from what should
be an argumentative essay to a fire-and-brimstone
tirade, his points
prove weak at best.
Perhaps there is a relation of
higher sex-crime' frequency corres
ponding to the availability of
explicit materials. Studies on just
that point have contradicting
results. The truth is, crimes of a
sexual nature existed before the
invention of the printed word or
pornography. Immoral sex runs
throughout the Bible. Pornography
did not create deviancy; it was a
product of deviancy? Stopping the
distribution of adult products will
not, in turn, stop rape.
"It all starts with one look." So
please, everyone, keep your lights
off. After we shut down the adult
entertainment industry, sex will
Christianity
To the editors:
Steve Matheny seems to think
that it is impossible to be a complete
person without being Christian. He
writes, "Being a Christian is the only
thing that can bring lasting joy,
hope and peace to an individual's
life" ("U.S. has collective responsi
bility to God," Oct. 14). This is an
absurd notion. Believe it or not, it
is possible to enjoy life without
being Christian. I am not a Chris
tian, but I can assure Matheny that
my life is full of joy, hope and peace.
not the only way of life
Matheny believes that Christian
ity enables people to know that God
loves them despite their sins because
Jesus died for their transgressions.
According to Matheny, God for
gives Christian sinners, even mur
derers and thieves. But what about
Jews, Moslems and other non
Christians? Are they to be con
demned to Hell simply because their
beliefs in God differ from Christian
ity? Matheny's attitude is condes
cending and completely intolerant
of religions other than Christianity.
Has he forgotten that Jesus was a
Jew?
I am glad that Matheny finds
Christianity to be a fulfilling way
of life. I only ask that he recognize
that Christianity is not the only
relevant philosophy of life. Con
trary to Matheny's view, it is
possible to lead an enjoyable and
moral life without being Christian.
Jon Oberlander
Hinton James
disappear because no one will have
seen it.
Finally, Jackson betrays his own
cause through his own choice of
language. Pornography leads its
victims "into a deeper and deeper
pit, like an insatiable hunger?"
Thomas, your Freudian slip is
showing.
The First Amendment allows a
lot of things we would rather not
see or read; witness your Hell-and-damnation
sermon, the constitu
tional determination of the new
N.C. obscenity laws will be decided
in a courtroom, not from a pulpit.
Richard Wilkinson
Carrboro
Makes sense!
To the editors:
Many people are fearing a Home
coming blowout at the hands of
Florida State University on Oct. 26.
A severe defeat would certainly
dampen Homecoming activities.
However, the way I see it, it is
Carolina that will enjoy a hearty
victory and a happy Homecoming.
Tennessee beat Wake Forest by
2, and UNC beat Wake by 20, so
naturally UNC sould beat Tennes
see by 18.
Tennessee beat Auburn by 15;
therefore, UNC would beat Auburn
by 33.
Since Auburn beat Florida State
by 32, it logically follows that UNC
will destroy Florida State by 65.
Greg Smith
Greensboro
3 cheers for administrative stickler
To the editors:
When we returned to UNC this
fall, we were appalled to find that
our cute little student ID validation
stickers had been replaced by some
green monstrosities in plastic encas
ings. What the hell was wrong with
the cute little stickers? These damn
green things do nothing but get in
the way and are a nuisance to keep
up with.
For example, I lost that stupid
green thing, but not the ID itself.
So what, yousay. IH tell you: I can't
get anything from anywhere. Do
they not think I'm a student? Why
the hell else would I want to check
out an astrophysics textbook on
reserve? If we had gotten our cute
littel stickers this year, there would
have been no problem; you can't
lose them because they're stuck.
Now, since I don't have the bucks
to buy a new ID, I'm forced to blow
off a whole semester of required
readings. And 1 can't get tickets to
the games either because you have
to show all three IDs, when the
athletic pass has all the information
that the green monstrosity has that
proves you are a student.
Three cheers for the. administra
tion for screwing up. We want our
stickers back, dammit! Join us in
the Pit Thursday for the first rally
of Students For Stickers. Bring your
IDs. We're gonna burn 'em.
Patrick Vernon
Keith DeLancey
Kingswood Apts.
CORRECTION
In Steve Matheny's column
"U.S. has collective responsibil
ity to God" (Oct. 14), a sentence
in the first paragraph should
have read:
Perhaps this evokes the danger
that another like Martin Luther
might come along, claim the
Bible to be "the sole rule of
authority and practice over all
life," and by doing so, transform
the total character of the age in
which he lives.
The quote was attributable to
the 16th-century Protestant, not
the 20th-century minister. The
DTH regrets the editing error.
Palestinians fight for non-oppression
By JOHN G. GIRA GOS JR.
As a Western society, America is subjected
to a Western press which is often unintentionally
inaccurate in its reporting of a situation overseas,
and thus, in being inaccurate, is one- sided.
Recently, terrorist actions in the Middle East
have been the topic of discussion and coverage
on television, in conversation and in periodicals.
The DTH has published various comments on
the terrorist situation in the Middle East, but
these viewpoints have unintentionally omitted,
I believe, crucial data. The Oct. 9 letter "PLO
games shouldn't go unpunished" accurately
speaks of past Palestine Liberation Organization
terrorist acts. The opinion failed, however, to
recognize that there have been terrorist acts
perpetrated by the Israeli government and by
some of its citizens which are similarly malicious
and offensive.
The acts are many and are not generally
known, as the press does not make frequent
reference to them. In 1948, the Irgun and Stern
Gang (now-dismantled; pre-Israel Zionist
movement group) invaded the Arab village of
Deir Yassin and slaughtered 254 inhabitants, 100
of whom were women and children. In 1953,
a 600-man batallion of the Israeli Army attacked
the West Bank village of Qibya. Sixty-six men,
women and children were killed. In 1956, 49
farmers returning to the Arab village of Kafr
Qasem in the Sinai Peninsula were killed without
warning by the Israeli Frontier Guard. In 1966,
Sammu in Jordan was attacked 18 civilians
killed, 130 wounded, 125 houses including the
school, clinic and mosque demolished.
'Terrorism is wrong, regardless of political affiliation
There has been an abundance of acts docu
mented by U.S. government agencies reporting
similar terrorism since 1967. Specifically in the
past few years, some Israeli citizens have formed
terrorist bands similar to those many Arab
terrorist groups that have formed of autonomous
of the PLO. The Israeli bands, like their Arab
counterparts, are responsible for many of the
terrorist activities now experienced in the Middle
East. In 1982, attempts to explode Al-Aqsa
Mosque in East Jerusalem were interrupted; in
separate incidents, three Palestinian youths of
the West Bank were shot. Evidence indicates their
murders have not and will not be brought to '
trial. Incidents in 1983 included the killing of ,"
a nine-year-old Palestinian Nablus girl and
several grenadebomb explosions against
Palestinians. Last year, a student from Nablus
was fould decapitated. A Bir Zeit University
professor was taken from his home by uniden
tified men, and his body was found 16 days later.
And now we see the Israeli raid on PLO
headquarters in Tunisia in which more than 60
were killed.
Such information of past and present actions
against the Palestinians is not commonly found
on the evening news or in the paper. Very evident
is the news coverage of the Israeli invasion of
Lebanon in 1982 was the shallow treatment of
the Arab civilian casualties. While hundreds were
killed due to Israeli aggressions in Lebanon, news
coverage repeatedly showed us not the Arab dead
but the mourning of the comparatively small
handful of equally unfortunate Israeli deaths.
ABC News even met with great disapproval from
pro-Israeli groups in reaction to its more Arab
sympathetic reporting of the invasion. Further
more, attempts to provide a more accurate
picture of the Middle East often seem to meet
with several impasses as evidenced by the killing
of two newsmen in southern Lebanon by Israeli
troops and by the Israeli-enforced restriction on
journalists in certain areas in south Lebanon.
Palestinian armed stuggle should not be
dismissed so quickly as blatantly offensive acts.
Thorough investigation will reveal that there is
a growing history of Israeli actions against the
Palestinians which have often led to Israeli
victimization. But as there are Israeli victims,
there are also Palestinian Arab victims. If one
regards one side of this insane conflict as terrorist,
one must likewise view the other as terrorist.
But terrorism is wror.e, regardless of political
affiliation. What should be realized is that armed
struggle is a desperate people's final resort to
try to ameliorate an overwhelming situation in
which they are wrongly oppipssed. In school we
have studied the resort to arnied struggle of the
colonial Amerian, the American Indian and the
black South African. Just as thVse peoples were
or are inspired by attaining freedom from
oppression, so, too, are the Palestinian people
struggling for their freedom from oppression.
John G. Garigos Jr. is a freshman biology
major from Durham.