The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Thursday, July 8, 1976
You have to know what
a Louis Vuitton bag is...
News Phone: 764-0552 By SARA RIMER
IT'S NORMALLY OF NO CONSEQUENCE at
all that you know what a Louis Vuitton bag
is. But just this once you need to know in order
The Supreme Court deals to get the point of my story.
Sthe: a Louis Vuitton bag is any variety
of handbag, briefcase, or luggage with the de-
signer's initials patterned in real gold over the
auow brown and gold colored vinyl surface. Those
gold LVs on a 10-inch handbag cost $110. If
you want something a little bigger to hangfrom
' HE DAILY FINDS the Supreme Court's recent decision your shoulder, you're up to $190. And if you're
talking luggage - suitcases - you're up in
to uphold the death penalty one of the most appal- the luggs. People like Jackie Onassis command
ling violations of the inalienable rights of the individ- fleets of Louis Vuitton luggage just as they
ual in recent memory. command fleets of cars. In fact, her luggage
Capital punishment is, purely and simply, another might just cost more than your car.
Two good plates to Louis-Vuitton-watch are
form of the crime it was designed to punish and deter. nTon'spFift Avenunaar e
The imposition of the death penalty is nothing more than around noon. Louis Vuittons hang from the wrists
State-sanctioned murder. How can the taking of a life and shoulders of the executives, museum patrons,
be justified as anything more than a cruel and unusual and wealthy suburban matrons who parade the
punishment inflicted out of pure revenge? avenues on their way to important lunch dates.
Proponents of the death penalty will argue that But watch out for the imitations on Fifth Ave-
nue. That middle-aged woman straining for air
statistics show a decrease in murders where the punish- nktpasadforlrithrtigtok
in knit pants and floral print shirt might look
ment is law. But studies also indicate that murderers like she's carrying-my God; a great big Louis
are the least likely of all criminals to repeat their crime, Vuitton! - but look again and you'll see the
and tend to be easier to rehabilitate than criminals, for LV's dissolve into the pattern. Probably an imi-
instance, with a history of repeated robberies. Death tation from Macy's.
penalty advocates maintain the punishment may save ONE PLACE THAT IS NO GOOD at all for
the lives of potential murder victims. That is possible. Louis Vuitton watching is Philadelphia. That's
There is, however, no question that it will terminate the why it was an event to see two - at the 30th
lives of some. St. Station, of all places. That train station was
distinguished two months ago when Philadelphia
Clarence Darrow once argued that there wasn't "a Magazine acclaimed it as the best place in the
single admissible argument in favor of capital punish- city to get mugged. Which means that two Louis
ment. Nature loves life," Darrow said. Vuitton's have no business walking around 30th
"The thing that keeps 'one from killing is the emo- St. Station.
tion they have against it; and the greater the sanctity The story, then: At 9:48 a.m. last Wednes-
day a couive, who tooked distinctly New York
that the State pays to life. the greater the feeling of City and distinctly not Philadelphia, walked into
sanctity the individual has for life." the station. She was the kind of svelte that must
The Supreme Court justices would have done well to be nourished on celery stalks and seaweed and
ponder a while longer that very essence of life they toned by a private exercise master. All that
claim to protect. svelteness was zipped into a denim jumpsuit
which was unzipped to there. A lot of smooth,
tanned skin and silver chains showed at the
t e r h o o neck. Her brown hair, a little long to be really
m other's right to ab chic, was dramatically pushed back from her
face. The effect was of Gloria Steinem in a
'HE SUPREME COURT LAST week maintained its posi-
tion on abortion--that a woman has control over her
body, including a fetus, for the first three months of
pregnancy. The Court extended a pregnant woman's
rights by ruling thatt she needs neither the consent of a
parent nor of a husband to have an abortion performed.
In thus rulin' the court has come down on what we
see as the right side of this issue.
Justice Harry Blackmun put the matter best in the
majority opinion. The determination tob aort a fetus is
the woman's, he wrote, because she 'is the more drectly
and immedite'ly affected by the pregnancy." On the > 5 5 E
matter of parenttat consent for a minor, he Wrote that no
state has the right to give a parent "absolute, and possi-(r
bly arbitrary, veto" over the decision of a pregnant, un-
wed minor.
While we agrev witha use dci'iOn, we do so witt
some reluctance, for it is difficult to distinguish between
the respective rights of a mother batd father concerning °
as abortion.
Although we helieve the physical and psychological
burden borne by the mother deserves the greatest con-
sideration, the emotional burden of a father who desirestoa
the birth of a, child should not be shunted aside too has-
tily. A father deserves consultation and consideration in
a matter so intimately involved his own life as the birth g
of his child.
jumpsuit.
From her shoulder hung a Louis Vuitton
bag-the real thing.
He was about her height - five-foot-six or
so - and also thin. Pulled over his thinness
was a plaid suit of impeccable cut. His brown,
wavy hair was styled back from his face with
just the right amount of fullness on top. He
wore light-colored tortoise-shell glasses with just
the right degree of shading.
Clutched in his hand was a Louis Vuitton
briefcase - the real thing. A quick survey of
the station showed that they were the only
two Louis Vuittons.
"All that svelteness was zipped
into a denim jumpsuit which was
unzipped to there. A lot of smooth,
tanned skin and silver chains show.
ed at the neck."
- 'sgss a ss-,-N%.!v.,": ',tas:5c:' -#
THEY ANXIOUSLY SCANNED the huge sched-
ule board illuminated with track numbers and
arrival and departure times. She hurried into
a pay phone while he waited outside, checking
his hair in the window of the station's drugstore.
He caressed a few strands into place.
When she had made her call, they sat down,
tentatively, on one of the station's long, decay-
ing wooden benches. She lit up a cigarette and
he placed a hand - no doubt manicured - on
her knee, not affectionately but rather as if to
set the two of them apart from the masses of
commuters and visitors rushing about for trains,
taxis, newspapers, and coffee. They talked in
rushes, as if to make arrangements, not con-
versation.
Then a loudspeaker announced a train, anid
they stood up quickly. Rooted almost dead cen-
ter in 30th St. Station, they embraced lightly,
as his touch had been on her knee. Their bodies
were perhaps too fragile for hugging. They held
their bags high and apart. And then, in one
clean, choreographed motion, they passed, al-
msost through each other. Without looking back,
the Louis Vuittons were gone.
l r i U
N i WL
In the same vein, we are cautious in supporting the
court's decision involving minors. Statistics show that
girls as young as 11 and 12 have sought abortions re-
cently, and at such grade school ages children hardly
have the self-guidance to shape decisions the magnitude
of an abortion.
But parents of very young mothers may be partially
responsible for the situation-early pregnancies result
from broken or unstable home lives. Thus the court is
correct in denying arbitrary control to parents. Young
mothers should seek counseling with qualified adults
elsewhere.
/ his ~ 25'5>
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