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Show Thursday, May 12, 1983 THE HERALD, Provo. Utah. TIia Horalri its rpariprs Opinions syndicated columnists and cartoonists discuss vital issues - - Page p The Herald Comments Reinforce, Don't Abolish, Penalty Once again the slow pace of our judicial system in carrying out lawful death penalty sentences has come under attack this time by Court Justice Supreme Lewis F. Powell. It's the same old story of prolonged court delays. Since the Surpeme .. Court reinstated the death penalty seven years ago, the number ' of persons condemned to die has risen to over a thousand in' the 36 states that allow capital pun- -' ishment. When Gary Gilmore was put to death Jan. 17, ; ; in Utah, some 1977 servers predicted an ob-- : ep-- - idemic of executions ; would follow. Instead, death sentences have been carried out in less 10 cases. Powell, citing the "in- tolerable" backlog of criminals on death row, than . r told a conference of judges in Georgia: "Unless the courts disand Congress more their duty charge effectively to address this problem, the legis- latures of the several states should abolish capital punishment.' Powell warned against a "rush to judgment" in capital cases but criticized the use of "repetitive review to draw out for years the resolution of issues that have or should have been resolved earlier." that ing" tem the the "malfunctionof the justice sys- is a disservice to public interest in delaying implementation of lawful sentences. But if he is serious in suggesting abolishment of the death law unless endless delays are eliminated, his logic is hard to understand. Our interest here is not to argue the pros and cons of capital punishment. Rather, we are scribed penalty as a crime deterrent are diminished. properly under it, these should be carried out within a reasonable period. When this isn't done, the concern ought to be for shoring up responsibility and correcting the performance, not abolishing the Restricting court appeals to one trip through all steps to the Supreme Court has been urged by some. This seems a fair and logical course. Defense lawyers should be able to cram all objec- law. A tions within that frame- Texas defense attor- ney who work, including legal represents many death row We agree with Powell the value of the pre- saying that if the death penalty is the law and sentences are imposed technicalities in- have come, in some instances, to overshadow the basic issue of innocence or guilt. Much of the responsibility in putting the lid on multiple appeals be longs to the Supreme Court itself. News ac- mates, noted some time ago that normally you can figure "four or five years" to exhaust legal remedies. Some which cases have taken far longer. And with only a token number of executions in the face of many new death sentences, one can only counts say the high court has been studying the expediting of death sentences in a Texas case with a decision due by July. Perhaps that speculate what the death row situation will be like in 10 or 20 years. When "due process" drags out for years, both respect for the law and ruling will provide guidelines for handling 11th hour appeals. 'Failure Formula' Partisan Politics sponse. Before the star witness had even testified, the Democratic jury through Dodd had returned its verdict: Reagan of- fered as "formula for failure." Some Democrats notably House Majority Leader Jim Wright and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, both from Texas have been outspoken in support of the ad- ministration's call for partisanship Lee Roderick Herald Washington Bureau By LEE RODERICK (First of two articles) WASHINGTON ; when politics stopped water's edge. America's role in the world was deemed equally important to citizens and their representatives on both sides of the political aisle. Vietnam largely smashed that tradition, and now the Democrats have done it again, using Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd as their principal battering ; ; ! : - , " . - Timeat was the ram. Even before President Reagan took to the airwaves recently before a rare joint session of Congress to plead for unity over Central America, Dodd has crafted the Democrats' re on Central bi- Amer- ica. But many others have sided with Dodd. Less than a week after Reagan's speech, the House Intelligence Committee defied the ad- ministration and voted on straight party lines to stop financing and otherwise end U.S. involvement with guerrillas fighting the Marxist government of Nicaragua. Nine Democrats voted for the Ban and five Republicans against it. The six Democrats formally running for the White House likewise have been generally critical of Reagan's Central American policy since his speech. "Unless the government in El Salvador shapes up and starts granting human and economic rights and opportunities," said California Sen. Alan Cranston, "there is no way to prop up that government, and we should make it unmistakably clear ... we will wash our hands of their struggle because it is a hopeless struggled. We're pouring money down a rat hole." nists are the real humanitarians in Central America, and Mondale would have us believe that d polJimmy Carter's icies prepared the region to withstand the onslaught from Revolution-exportinCuba and Nicaragua. The latter, it should be noted, became a Marxist dictatorship on Carter and Mo- Cranston added that "It turns out the communists are helping those who started to fight for human rights, and we are helping those who have been denying human rights." Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado said further aid to El Salvador should depend on free elections as well as "steady progress on land reform, a sharp improvement in the judiciary and an end to uncontrolled violence on the part of government forces." Sen. John Glenn of Ohio said weak-wille- g nday's watch. Someone apparently forgot to tell Sen. Hart that El Salvador already held free elections last year, even though the outcome might not have been to his liking, and that the country has made progress on land reform and reducing uncontrolled violence though the latter especially remains a grim problem. Finally, Sen. Glenn's assertion Reagan's speech suggested "only one conclusion: We must send in the Army and the Marines. To put the crisis in those terms overstates the dangers there." Front-runnin- g Democratic that Reagan essentially told candidate Walter Mondale, at a news confernce in Iowa, asserted that the outlook in Central America was brighter when he and President Carter were in Americans that "We must send in the Army and the Marines" is simply false. The president carefully and specifically stated that "There is no thought of sending American combat troops to Central America ..." For Glenn to suggest otherwise is partisan pandering at its worst. What the president did say is that the entire nation Republican and Democrat alike has a vital stake in keeping alive the small flames of democracy in Central America, however imperfect they now are. Unfortunately, that appeal for unity was largely lost as ambitious Democrats chose instead to make political hay of the issue. office. "We were making progress," said the former vice president. Mondale characterized Reagan's policies as throwing Carter's human rights policies into "the ash can" and saying "We're going to draw a line in the sand, and we're going to beat the Russians in Central America." The situation, added Mondale, has "gotten worse every day since." Such criticisms, while not without merit, are misleading, Cranston suggests that commu Don't Take Your Medicine Lightly volume called, rors." "Surgical Er- He dared admit and expose and the ineptness, sometimes carelessness in O.R. He doctors, for better or worse. Here we go again. For 35 days in 1976 most Los Angeles doctors were out on strike, withheld services except for emergencies. Most of the 7 million people in Los Angeles County were denied any elective surgery. The death rate went down. The longer the strike continued, the fewer people died! As soon as the strike ended the death rate shot upward for one then returned to normal. week Milton Roemer of the University of California School of Public Health and Jerome Schwartz of the California State Depart ed , 0iv Paul Harvey It has been SO years since Dr. Max Thorek, founder of the ternational College of Surgeons, '.shocked his colleagues with a ment of Health studied the statistics and concluded that American "life expectancy might well improve if there were less elective surgery." Iatrogenic disease is a name given to health problems caused For 20 years he has studied medicaton errors. Already his ideas have created a quiet revolution in the way hospitals handle drugs. Yet, in spite of that recent-year- s' improvement, Dr. Barker calculates that even a good 300-be- d hospital still makes 60 to 90 drug dosage "mistakes" every day. Lesser hospitals the same size may make 300 mistakes a day. Robert Rodale is the second generation of pioneers in disease prevention through proper nutrition. by doctors. Dr. David Hellers tein, in a published paper called, "Cures That Kill," states that in one year of work at two hospitals he saw more, cases than he could count of patients suffering iatrogenic disease; anemia, heart failure, bizarre infections, liver damage, blindness, lung scarring and bleeding; doctor-causeEnumeration of iatrogenic problems is embarrassing for professionals and unsettling for but urgently the rest of us necessary. Dr. Kenneth Barker is on the pharmacy faculty at Auburn. d. v His PREVENTION magazine has been earning increasing tolerance, if not respect, from medical practitioners, coincident with the recently increased acceptance of nutrition as a bona-fid- e science. If Only Adolph Had Written the Diaries I'm not saying I have enough evidence yet to back it up, but just suppose Adolf Hitler were still alive and living in a nursing home in East Germany. He is visited by his literary agent. "Adolf, we need more diaries." "I wrote 60 for you already. many can I produce?" "I can sell as many as you can write. There seems to be an insatiable appetite for them in How Art Buchwald the West." "My arm hurts. Why can't I dictate them to a secretary and have them tvDed ud?" "Because they have to be in your own handwriting. The publishers at 'Der Stern' are not fools. Here's a brand new black book with your seal on it. Start writing." "What should I write?" "Write something nice about Winston Churchill." "Who is Winston Churchill?" "He was the Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II." "I don't remember him. Was he the fellow with the "No, that was Neville Cham- berlain. Churchill was the chubby one with the cigar. You hated him." "Why should I write something nice about him if I hated him?" "Because we're using the diaires to change your image. We want the world to think you were really a nice person." "Who says I wasn't a nice person?" "There are a lot of people who didn't know the real you. Historians have been painting you as a maniac." "Have them shot." 1963byNEA.Inc "Harry plunders the computer software industry. He's a high-tec- h pirate. " Feedback Is It a Confidence Scam or Not? Editor, Herald: It is almost beyond belief that the Daily Herald of May 8th, Mothers' Day, would publish a large article on Page 3 (LDS Trust Used to Trick Utahns) concerning the prevalence of illegal schemes in Utah, and espe- cially Utah County, dealing mainly with pyramid scheme identification, and then on Page 21 of that same paper print another article giving complete details on how to become a member of yet another one (Grocery Tapes May Mean Money, Says Financial Incentive Firm). This article states that members will be paid one per cent of their grocery tapes sent to an address in Pennsylvania, after mempaying a bership fee of $35. It is obvious from this that only after spending $3,500 on groceries in a year would a person realize any profit; Since the average family spends less than $291 per month for groceries, it is doubtful if any more than a few would realize their investment back, let alone make any profit. If my calculation that most families spend around $200 per month for yearly-renewab- le Help Came groceries is correct, it appears that the income goes to someone besides the ones paying the membership fee. The second phase of the plan "that anyone can become a research director and solicit additional consumers" and thereby "earn an additional one percent on everyone they sign up for the plan" instantly turns the scheme into a pyramid-typ- e program. Since the article mentioned no further information which would redeem the program from these obviously fraudulent principles, we must conclude there is none. Although the Page 3 article implies that it is the trusting nature of the LDS people which allows these frauds to run so rampant in Utah, it is not only they but other citizens also who make no effort to think out for themselves the obvious flaws in these schemes. For a state which prides itself so highly on its educational system, it is shocking to note how many of its citizens cannot even figure out such elemental discrepancies. Grant N. Mildenhall 513 N. 200 E. American Fork at a Time of Need Editor, Herald: We are so grateful to all the special people who helped in any way to find Steven. To the scuba divers who went into the cold, dark, angry water to search for him and finally found him. To the many people who as sisted in any way. To all the friends and neighbors who gave of their love, time and money. For the flowers and food that was given so generously. Our heartfelt thanks and appreciation. Lloyd Hone family Frank M. Long family Jr. Stockshow was Big Success Editor, Herald: I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank all of the committee men, who have given so freely of their time to make this 59th annual Stockshow a success. I especially want to thank you and the Herald staff, and the other news media for the exceptional news coverage on this years show. And last but not least, I want to thank all of the buyers and those who donate to the Livestock Show for their generosity in supporting our youth. Richard A. Johnson Utah State Junior Livestock Show Manager Spanish Fork 35 |