1996_02 Insight February 1996

              Editorial
FEBRUARY 28,1996
In death, Bonin got exactly what he deserved
William C-eon
e B
Mill
traded his
life for the liv est
14
g boys .uk
men found along
Mile
the
leeways ol
Southern Califor
iia.
Bonin was (he
ii-l
m.ii
nia executed bv
■Ih.
1 iii|
CtlOll.
The previous
in
111,.
chamber, was
uk
d U
iconslitu-
tion.il in 1994 a
she
ing
cruel and
The cxecuiioi
to.
kp
ice al San
Quentin Prison
Ills
rtli of San
Francisco, al 12
01
!   Ill
on Friday
Feb. 23.
—'
Bonin. 49. sod
ed.
irangledor
knifed his 14 vo
me
victims and lelt
Ihem nude alone
'..Ii
,,iin
thichvvavs
during a killing
mrt
e ih
t began in
l'J7'» and lasted mill
IV-8
1
Governor Pete
w
son
denied tht
"freeway killer"
clement
v on Tues-
terly chilling evidence
"The onlv miscari
;il appetites
mill sought ami exhausted the
sped
egal .i
OPINION
Via
He tiled the "compelling and ut-
would be if the death penalty was not availabh
meted out io the predator who There were more than a dozen ap
sodomi/cd. beat, strangled and nnir- peals to both state and federal courts
dered 14 boys." Wilson said. ' filed, chiming a variety of reasons lot
Wilson has once again taken a hard- granting a stay of execution,
line stance on ihe death penally and <» Bonin's lawyers cited incompc
we should all applaud him He stood tence on the pari ol his state ap
lip for the rights of victims. pointed allorncv. with allegations
KThis marks the third execution that one of the key witnesses had
,\ince Wilson has been in office, the been   hypnotized   and     lhal   a
last being in August of 1993. jailhousc informant had committed
William Bonin forfeited his rielit lo perjury.
live when he heinously  robbed 14 All were denied, including a pus"
young men of not only their dignity, siblc review by the IS  Supreme
bul of llieir verv existence. Court
His victims ranged in age from 12 Bonin then dared lo Ivg < iov  vv il
lo 1" years old. son for clemency based on the asset
Young and innocent, their lives and luminal he did nol receive a fair trial
Ihe lives of their families were shut- The "freeway killer' obviously
tcred because of Bonin's bi/arre showed little mercy to his Uvklimv
''•'IT
IMHH
Kristine
MARTIN
ii si.ii feels ihai s
■s .  W  1 1 ■
i desei
late, which
would possiblv amount loSI million
for Bonin's hie. it is an allront to the
lawyrbiding. lax-paying citizens of
California.
Who is paying ihe puce       the
criminal or the taxpayer?
When you consider lhal there are
3.009 inmates currently on death row.
that's a loi of taxpayer money going
nowhere. They will never be rehabilitated. They just lie around in
•ieiy owes him     prison, tiling appeals
Il can cost upwards of S15 million
recognized lhal for an impale to exhaust appeals un-
;h leniency and     tier the legal sy sleni.
That's really the argiimeni here: ihe
back down.
onents of the death penalty SI5 million for appeal
lal it's immoral and inhu- SI million housing lee.
Ihey would prefer to lock The real problem isn't capital pun
ishment, it's the legal system.
We should be spending our lime
worrying about how to reform ihe legal appeals system rather than arguing about whether some serial-killer
like Bonin should have lived or been
sent to his death.
In cases like Bonin. should it he
the taxpayers paying for his do/ens
of appeals filed by the public de-
rendcrs?
I don't think so. Thai's an irresponsible legal system at work. We need
to quit worry ing about murderers like
Bonin being executed and start taking some Bard, long looks al the appeals process.
Bonin got exactly vv hat he desen ed
— death.
Il'sa shame lhal il took 14 years.
and all that hard-earned taxpayer
money wasted in appeals, for him to
get whal he truly deserved.
Remedial college courses
challenge education system
OPINION
Anne Frank's life a lesson
taught well in exhibition
Anne Fr;
t\ phus. an infectious disease transmitted hv fleas or lice.
She was 15-years-old. She resisted being labeled a victim amid
all the hate because she kept an
optimistic view of the world.
Frank recorded the horrible injustices done lo Hasieni-Furopean
Jew s. 1 ler memoirs were published
as the popular. "Diary of Anne
Frank."
Now. lhc Anne Frank Center
USA. visually brings Frank's lilt-
to Fresno.
The Fresno Art Museum's latest exhibit. "Anne Frank in the
World: 1929-1945." grabs the visitor by the heart and mind. It does
not let go.
The never-before-seen photos of
the Frank family personalize ihe
exhibit. The warmth revealed in
photos of Anne's older sister.
Margot. pulling talcum powder on
baby Anne, and one of leen age
Anne gobbling a snack on an
Amsterdam beach, reveal her life
of compassion in a world filled
with hate.
The Frank family serves as an
example of the devastating effects
of anti-Semitism. They were ordinary, hard-working Jewish business-people whose lives were shattered after Hitler became leader of
Germany in 1933.
The exhibit lakes the viewer into
her private world while giving a
historical account of ihe Holo-
OPINION
glaphk
How
tr been expose
causi. More current episodes of racial
intolerance are also displayed, such
as the Armenian massacre and the
Japanese-American relocation camps.
The exhibit is informative and
haunting, making it different from
cold, written history. The overriding
message is clear: Prejudice will continue lo exist unless people pay attention to past cruelties and make an effort to end ihem.
The pictures are silk-screened on
9-foot-walls that curve around the
museum in chronological order. A
concise summary, written in English
and French, describes die black-and-
white photos.
Beverly Friesen. a silver-haired
guide, said schoolchildren who visit
the museum are shocked to learn that
Hitler had a tremendous influence in
deciding who was "genetically superior."
One photo shows a naked, mentally-handicapped girl held up by her
arms as a doctor prepares to kill her.
shocking plu
ment. Rather, the shiK'k results from
realizing ihese people were murdered only because ihey were dil-
Fresno  students can receive two
Arts department by volunteering
as docents or guides at ihe Fresno
An Museum
Fresno State student Tricia
Namijian volunteered as a doceni
so she could inform ihe public
"Thisexhibit is trulv unique because il ties together past and
present episodes of racism in an
organized manner.*' she said. "I
want people to understand lhal racial haired occurs nol only in
Fresno but in all parts of the
world-
Visit ihe Fresno An Museum's
latest exhibit before il closes
March 12. or call 441-4221 for
more Information. The photos
cause joy and sadness that words
alone carmot evoke.
Viewers leave understanding
lhat the only way to achieve a non-
racist future is to become informed
of past injustices. Let the spirit of
Anne Frank empower you with a
need to end discrimination,
only one who loses is Joe A. Student
The CSU proposal states that the
univ ersiiy vv ill vv ork vv ith the secondary schools to ensure that basic standards are met Who is coing to administrate this1   How much will n
m line, which will cost less?
•ing a change i
I ihe secondary schools in Ihe
keeping Ihe remedial cduca-
leather safely.
Jusi lasi week, a fifth-grade teacher
was critically wounded by a stray
bullet in ihe cross lire of.gang vio-
And nol everv freshman is going lence.
should be well versed in these skills    to walk on campus well prepared lor Unfortunately, the first thing on a
before admission.                                     university-level study, even if lhc ad- high school principal's mind is not
Sounds logical.                                   missions guidelines say they should trigonometry,   What is probably on
Since college-level knowledge of    be. his mind is the safety of his students
mission, it would seem lhat remedial    of know ing thev arc doing sub sun- Of course, dial's not the way it
classes would nol even exist at this    dard work in high school until thev should be.   A high school graduate
level.                                                    take the English Placement Test or should meet the requirements ol a uni-
Of course ihey wouldn't.                 ihe Entry Level Mathematics exam, versity. There are larger problems lhal
lhc university  would use the        There is no reason to penalize ihese need to be tickled first in order lo have
money to help the students who are     students lor below -par knowledge an equal education for all.
prepared for college-level studv —    when they have no idea whal the sum- Our universities should not be
those w ho did their basic coursework    dards are going to be. turned into extension high schools.
in high school     Someone who        If Joe A. Student takes irigonom- Everyone should be able to meet the
doesn'l have lhc basics of math and     dry in high school and fails ihe FI.M minimum standards for math and
English has no business at a turner-     exam, who is to blame'.' Is it his high English.
sit) like this.                                         schoolteacher' Is it the adminisira- Depriving those who have the dc-
Wh) spend ihe money.'                     tor who designed Ihe curriculum? Or sire and the ability to obtain a uni-
Btu thev do.   And according lo     is it Joe A..Student' veisitv education is to deprive our-
Fresno Stale's Fall 1995 Student Data        Under the proposed policy, the selves of their potential.
Shifty teams shaft fans in relocations
Ihe relocation of professional
sports teams is a disappointing issue
in sports today. __
Many franchise owners become
disenchanted with their stadium, location. Ian support and their dwindling wallets.
When owners are struggling, many
cities without a sports team dangle
millions of dollars io entice teams to
OPINION
move there.
It is not right fortheaverage American, who spends his hard-earned
money for tickets and apparel, lo find
lhal his favorite team is moving.
Look al Art Modell. owner of the
team formally known as ihe Cleve-
Tyler
TAKEDA
i
1   M\
ihavvks owner Ken
in moving vans to take
to Los Angeles.
-lit,,,
.   lie i
eihai
S50 million. Annually. Ihe Browns'
fans rank among the lop II) in attendance:
Modell left more than 7().(KX) fans,
even alter the city offered lo build new
facilities and pay off his debt
Modell said thai ihe city helped
build ihe Cleveland Indians a new
ballpark and ihe Cleveland Cavaliers
build a new arena. He wanted the
same help with Cleveland Stadium,
but the city balked.
Modell took his team and left for
Baltimore.
His team will be called ihe Baltimore Mustangs.
Many other cities have the same
problem.
An epidemic
The National Football League's
Rams and Raiders cited lack of fan
support as their reasons for leaving
Los Angeles. Both teams reached lucrative stadium deals in their current
cities. St. Louis and Oakland, respectively.
All is nol well lor ihe NFL. Many
needs.
Seattle Sei
Behrinc called
the team office
Buccaneers to Orlando or Clev eland
The Houston Oilers will head to
Memphis. Tenn.. next season and then
move to Nashville.
Hie NFL isn't the only professional
Mill   1
.ublc
league baseball has problems loo.
The San Francisco Giants have considered a move to Tampa Bay. w hilt-
Oakland is thinking of moving to Sac-
Q
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
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Thc National Hockey League
should hire a moving company with
all of the numerous teams relocating.
In the past year, thc Quebec
Nordiqiies became the Colorado Avalanche. The NHL's Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils seriously considered moving'to Nashville.
No lack of support
Thc fan base is there lor each learn.
It's ihe owner's responsibility to field
a competitive team.
The fans who pay S40 for a cheap
seat deserve it.
Many owners cite lack of Ian support for iheir moves. When there is a
packed arena or stadium, the fan support is there but the owner support is
It is thc fans who pay thc athletes'
salaries. It is the fans who support the
teams. And. it is the fans who pay the
owner's salaries.      «,
Shouldn't it be the fans choice
whether or not their favorite team
moves?