1996_02 Insight February 1996

              Editorial
FEBRUARY 14,1996
New pepper spray rules invite misuse
It's hard lo feel sale knowing lhal anyone
can walk out of some stores in Fresno with a
weapon thai hn&proven to severely debilitate
95 percent of the population.   •       y
Ibis legislation has taken away the very
necessary salely courses designed lo prevent
accidents and misuse. The problem is compounded by the increasing number ol people
w ho are buy ing pepper spray.
Ihe Personal Sceuritv Outlet located in
Manchester Center has sold more lhan KXX)
canisters ol pepper spray since Jan. I.
Compare lhal to Ihe 101) canisters per
month average that were sold last year.
There are at least KXX) people in Fresno
who own pepper spray and have never had
any training or instruction in its use or treat-
Do
GOING
__        to the
DogS^
n the court, athletes have a rcsponsibilit)
behavior. Fighting.shov
■ailing is discouraged. Pen-
I behavior, which could also
cost a game. If athletes would think ol life as a
vv in-or-lose game, they might resist such hehav ior.
Athletes must sacrifice privacy lor the recognition and adulation commonly associated vv ith s|vorts
stardom. Unfortunately, one player's sins relied
team, just as one player's score contributes io winning the game.
With so many expectations and responsibilities
demanded from an athlete, why take the risk?
In recent months, the Bulldogs have received a
of trashing a hotel room to
Tarkanian and Chris Herren
outside a local bar. the Bull-
Spotlight follows jocks'
after-game behavior
OPINION
Kristen
GENTRY
Stall Writer
liav
publ
olded for brutishness.
Bar brawling, along u
athletes should do ev cry thing in their power not to
tamper with their image. We should he concerned
lhat this university ami the rest of the team is being judged by an athletes' off-court incidents.
An athletes responsibility docs not end when the
game ends. When the choice is made to become a
player, it's common knowledge thai all eyes will
he on him during his game as well as Ins personal
.itch vv
% Hits  [tdoesn
indoftheevei
life.  What
n his persor
what he doe
Its the
i alhlel
Time Out
the Bulldog is
fighting mad over
athletes' bad reputations
ithlete is involved.  Then
ause public shock and dtsappointi
10 athletes who thrive in the sports spotlight.
Since April I9«>4. there are 14 documented
dents that Bulldog players have been involved in. line if tin
The troubles included illegally-received food "don'terr*
stamps, petty theft, shoplifting, drunken-driving.
spousal abuse, misdemeanor battery, ditching
classes and basic may hem. Tvv o years alter the food e
stamp incident, problems still occur. Athletes must I-
not understand lhat trouble does not paint a preiiy     p
athletes
whatevei
The Bull.
athlete has a problem staying out of
i fair lhal a lew athletes can ruin Ihe
I oilier members of the team'.' Some
iousIv feel thev have license 10 do
ethey
■e alhlel
.  lis
ihe Bulldogs are the loi
II  I R
basketball team is being w,
illy now because of iis big-name i
incident lhat happens will become
lews. Players need lo reali/e lhal the;
iid yahoo behavior and concentrate i
Upset with new alt-rock bands
They're plastered on the pages
of popular music magazines
across the country.
A yellow-green toad with bulging,
black eyes graces the cover of their
first CD. a release lhal will inevitably
go platinum.
They played in downtown New
York to open Ihe 1995 MTV Music-
Awards, and their two singles are
mainstays on MTVs Alternative Na-
"Scrcaming Teens."
God bless America. The garage-
band lives.
With three instruments, four chords
and a record deal, the high school lads
from Australia have secured themselves a spot in the mosh of modem
rock music, collectively referred lo as
alternative rock.
Silverclian is just one of the alternative hands loday that are riding the
wave of commercial success generated by Nirvana and Pearl Jam in the
early "90s.
For the average alternative rock listener, they are pleasing noisemakers.
For the alternative rock purist, ihey
are a blatant rip-off to the classic
originals.
OPINION
Ever since bands like the Sex Pis
lots and The Ramoncs hit ihe music
scene back in the 70s. the garage band
has nourished.
From Ihe streets ol London, where
seemingly everyone is in a band, to
the streets of Seattle, vv here bands like
Soundgarden light up their family garages, ihe do-it-yourself band' has
made its mark.
Garage bands are here lo stay, like
With garage bands seemingly ensconced in today's popular music
scene, the task falls to discerning between the Silverchairs and ihe Pearl
,1 the
Thai
v  lhal Silv
Khan
doesn'i have a place in the alternative genre.
They still have a million-dollar
record contract, which is a lol more
than most garage bands can boast
Jays'
Bul the permanence of Nirvana's
solt-then-loud musical style, the lyrics and musicalily of Pearl Jam's
Eddie Vedder and the stage presence
and song writing of R.E.M 'sMichael
Stipe cannot be mistaken for the amateur rambling* of three teens from
Perhaps one belter than Ihe
"Screaming Teens." The Presidents of
the United Stales of America take the
homemade band issue lo the extreme.
Question: Who else but The Presidents could sing about peaches coming from a can and a lump sitting
alone in a boggy marsh?
Answer: Just about anybody.
The success story of The Presidents
prompted the following advertisement, now posted in the Insight office:
WANTED: guitar player, bass
player and drummer to join singer-
songwriter, filled with angst and
meaningless lyrics, in the formation
of a garage band. No talent or musical knowledge required.
H
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
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Managing Editor   Brent Liescheidt
News Editor
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Editorial Page Editor
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Troy Wagner
Kristine Martin
Todd Warshaw
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Bridget Carter
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Advertising Accounts Mgr.    Marty Gutierrez
Advertising Production Mgr.    Reg Wagner
Staff Photographers:
Tommielynn Del Real and Ryan McK.ee.
Production Assistants and Staff Writers:
Ron Armstrong, Summer Brown, Candace Cline, Angela Elliot,
Jennifer Franklin, Natasha Frazier, Kristen Gentry, Jerry Lowe,
Draeger Martinez, Ardy Mauldin. Rob Morgan, Jennifer Southern,
Melyssa Springmeyer, Tyler A. Takeda. Students of MCJ 108 and 102w.
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Circulation: Kelly McLain Advertising Staff: Students of MCJ 143
•I  s.llc
What a
difference
a 'dime'
can make
It's amazing how much the weigh
ight with le
n live grams i
1
Valerie
GIBBONS
One-tenth
Strain equates lo an        Staff Writ.
the leap in
sessing 4.9
caine. which
-Hid.I.
-i dill,
jcs involved
•d predominantly in middle and high income areas. Crack has slaked out its territory
in Ihe lower income areas.
Both of these drugs contain the
same ingredient, but ihe mandator)
sentence for powdered cocaine is
lighter.
What kind of a message arc our legislators trying to send?
The latest wave of mandatory sentencing legislation was hailed as a
quick ll\ lo ihe apparent racial bias
in sentencing. II there is a mandatory minumum sentence to an offense,
ihe argument goes, it erases any threat
indiscrimination during the sentenc-
Unfortunately, ii didn't work.
The National Review reports that
sentencing for drug
Americans are sen-
ige of 83.4 months.
;iucasians are sentenced to an averse of 53.7 months.
The district attorney is responsible
r charging a suspect, hut it appears
that disparities exist between who is
charged with an offense, which carries a mandatory minumum. and who
The inconsistency of mandatory
sentencing calls in to question the
huge deterrent factor that proponents
claim.
It's time lo scrap the system.
In addition to the jumps in logic that
accompany these laws, there is the
cost and the public safety factor.
According lo the National Law
Review, prisons cost U.S. taxpayers
S20.3 billion a year. A Time magazine estimate predicts that California
will need to build 20 new prisons to
accommodate mandatory sentencing
laws, at a cost of $40,000 to $70,000
per cell.
Parole practices are also affected by
mandatory sentencing laws.
When prisons arc overcrowded,
people convicted under mandatory
sentencing statutes can't be paroled.
Prisoners whose offenses aren't covered by mandatory minimums can be
released, even if their crime is more
serious 4
As a potential victim of violent
crime, who would you rather have living in your neighborhood? Someone
who was convicted of a non-violent
drug offense — or a convicted rapist?
\