Saturday, April 18, 1998

Get the sirens

Gee whiz, Ollie (or Roy)! How much would you say an Abilenian's life is worth? Since you and the boys at City Hall don't think we ought to spend any money unless it is economically beneficial, you imply that the sirens aren't economically beneficial. (Tell me now, are the trolley buses profitable?)

Well, I don't give a rip about the economics. I want my family and friends safe. I believe most of the other citizens want and expect that also.

I don't care what other cities do, either. We need to do what is prudent and right for Abilene. Here we sit in West Texas, exposed to numerous storms throughout the year. Eventually we will be confronted with our worst nightmare.

Roy is right. The siren's won't keep the tornadoes out of the city limits. Nothing will. That's why we need sirens! Thirty-plus people in Alabama were saved by sirens while attending church.

Its a pretty lame to reason that we might get more people injured because of the sirens. Education via the media can cure that problem using ads similar to WTU's safety ads.

I urge readers to pick up their phone and call Roy (our city manager) and their City Council representatives to voice the need for emergency sirens. Do it for your children.

Who knows, maybe some big corporation will move to Abilene just because we care enough to protect our citizens. And Roy, please don't propose to set up a committee to study the proposal, or hire some outside consultants. Get the job done. Just get on the phone and start getting bids. These siren companies can supply all the expertise you will need.

ROD COPELAND

Abilene

Death penalty fight

During the '60s in America there was a grass-roots movement that opposed the death penalty. They argued it was a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. Many thought the death penalty should be abolished.

Stays in executions became common as lower courts waited to see what the Supreme Court would do with the new challenges to the validity of the death statutes of that time. In Furman vs. Georgia (1972), the Supreme Court held that procedures for determining capital punishment violated the Eighth Amendment due to the lack of procedural guarantees and standards that resulted in arbitrary and capricious selection of persons to be executed.

Several states responded when the Supreme Court questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty. Thirty-eight states, including Texas, enacted new death penalty statutes containing aggravating and mitigating factors in an effort to guide a jury.

In Gregg vs. Georgia (1976), the Supreme Court held a similar Georgia death penalty statute to be constitutional. This set the stage for validation of other death statutes. Gregg is considered to be the decision for "reinstating" the death penalty in the United States.

In February 1997 the American Bar Association called for a moratorium on the death penalty. As the law is interpreted, the ABA considers it an injustice. Texas had 446 convicts on death row in February.

CHARLES RUSSELL

Abilene