OPINION Page 4 Friday, March 27, 1981 The Michigan Daily Revenge: Out of the closet at last? Last wveek on public radio's All Things Con- sidered, a legal scholar was discussing a book he had written favoring capital punishment. At the interviewer's urging, the author launched into a tortured, convoluted explanation why he believed execution was the legitimate ex- pression and act of lawful society. After five Comin Apart By Christopher Potter that an event like the execution of Steven Judy does little more than stir up knee-jerk litanies which each side-plus all those in the middle- already know by heart. The dust of mutual righteousness kicks up, swirls a bit, then settles again. YET LATELY one detects a metamorphosis among the pro-execution ranks - not in basic relief but in a new-found willingness to admit why. One need only discard the standard super- fluities of death penalty jargon: It gets monotonous reiterating that there isn't a shread of evidence suggesting that capital punishment discourages others from violent crime, or that executing all the murderers will leave us with no murderers left (at least as long as hand guns are available). The tender asser- tion that executions will decrease the expense of a surplus prison population is too Dicken- sonian to merit sober discussion. Which leaves us with one, primordial motive: Revenge. The concept lies deep and powerful in our collective consciousness - an eye for an eye, let the punishment fit the crime; an appeased sense that justice has been done and the universe set right. Germinal though this emotion may be, the notion of revenge has always carried a slightly disreputable, back-of-the-psychic-bus taint in America. We were, after all, the land of enlightenment and compassion, and such ancient judicial concepts of reprisal seemed befitting of older, more savage nations. Vengence was a debasing lust best kept locked in owe's own Freudian cellar; to forgive remained devine. NOW THE AGE of Reagan has liberated our subliminal ferocity. Revenge has come out of the closet, breathing brimstone and demanding satisfaction. Such a punitive revolution was an inevitable, symbolic byproduct of our new political mindset which insists that someone is responsible for all our troubles. The era of Viet Nam and Watergate, or tortured self- examination and recrimination hasubeen blun- tly terminated - if America has problems, then the fault lies anywhere else but in our- selves. Scapegoating is now in vogue. If Americans are out of work, it's the fault of the sneaky Japs and their damned little putt-putts; it's the fault of the blacks and spics who take all the jobs; it's the fault of the blacks and spics who stay on welfare. It's the fault of queers and abortionists who pervert our kids; it's the fault of Commie- symps who infest our government; it's the fault of anti-God humanists who denigrate our schools and our pulpits. We know who's violating us; and we're not gonna take it anymore: Lock 'em up, deport 'em - better yet, kill 'em. In truth, it's been grimly satisfying to watch the sudden willingness of pro-executionists to slough off their standardhyperbole of making- society-safe-through-swift-punishment; hones- ty is always its own reward, even in the service of overt blood lust. I am not immune to the lure of simple vengence any more than anyone else is - it's an easy emotion to debunk if it hasn't been tapped in one's own life. BY ALL ACCOUNTS, Steven Judy was an in- vidious, remorseless punk who snuffed out lives with impunity and left a legacy of anguish for those left behind. Are the bereaved entitled to retributive satisfaction? Some years back, my mother was confronted in her own apar- tment by armed thieves, was tied up, and had a gun pointed at her head while her assailants ransacked the dwelling. If her captor had pulled the trigger, would I today be glibbly denouncing death penalty advocates as insen- sitive and spiteful? I don't presume to know the agony of those widowed, orphaned, or otherwise cast adrift by an act of pre-meditated savagery. I can only assert my belief that murder - even state- sanctioned - doesn't balance out a previous murder. My conviction springs not out of com- passion for the killer, but out of thetbelief that if there indeed exists a harmonious balance to this universe - call it God or oversoul or something purely nameless -then an actHof murder, for any reason, rends that balance. Capital punishment simple cannot justify It- self. It doesn't qualify as an act of last resort; it is a desperate, shrieking blowout from a world that has lost faith in its own ideals. There do not remain obvious alternatives: We can register handguns. We can make war on poverty, hunger and deprivation - we can love one another. Such sentiments are hackneyed, ar- tless, and quite out of step with the times. They also happen to be true. Christopher Potter is a Daily staff writer. His column appears every Friday. 0 minutes or so of philosophizing, he abruptly reduced his doctrine to a single rationale: "I believe murderers should be paid back," he said. That is, of course, the bottom line - the only genuine defense the death penalty camp has at its disposal. The battlelines in this ancient legal-moral conflict were drawn so long ago 0 Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCI, No. 143, 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board High school press rights W'easel wiA EL, ztsa cAN Ir co' r EIN ? Sv1Re F~StM N ,( V% Wqj4 r~s Tff MATE? lIT A}LP1Sr F&a.( 'I" tt' Th{E MORNING, . J aW 1 i ASLEEP !A '(T Yoc t \ 1 4, ;' 11 r Ar sLEe?. Lm rao SLRIEI'.. At- T1'44r TAL. V'BOJTT 111 cu-E r1~LsajGrf... LJHAFiF &Z 6.3oEs Kt~I3TWdEA~L2' S C AIrJ eE111fSSi6i4S ft6 ThL.wJ 7>WI.. O ) (ST IN TE wm tHtlE ss~ S t K Wf~ _ - - -wN ~? vte 'S 6 ic cF Tdfstts? wN/ -I s"E~z nK AI Abus {TANf R E2 o by Robert Len ce I F ThE WORjp iS TIE STROt eP. Yo. Wr fAv46 ThPRY B. ANOY ouR 4Tit,1r W AN , L FE Ei- 8TW ALRIEADPY! - /-1 j 0 0 HE RIGHT OF a reporter not to reveal his or her sources is being tested again-this time involving a high school newspaper. A New Jersey high school newspaper ran a front page interview with a local drug dealer who., admittedselling ru~s't elemetry school children. he story ran without a byline. Now the school's principal and the newspaper's faculty adviser are to ap- pear in court for refusing to reveal the names of either the student or the drug dealer. No newspaper, not even a high school newspaper, should be forced to reveal the names of its sources. Such a move severely jeopardizes a reporter's freedom to gather information, and inhibits the function of a free press-a cornerstone of American democracy. In this particular case, the drug dealer was assured anonymity if he agreed to speak with the reporter. Releasing the pusher's name would not only damage that' newspaper's credibility, but may encourage the practice in the future. The high school principal and the newspaper's adviser acted wisely in not revealing the names of the reporter or the source. Whether a high school newspaper or The New York Times, the rights of a reporter and a free press must not be ignored. Witt 's column displays .. . She's tugging her ear LTHOUGH THE National Enquirer's probably not singing "I'm so glad we had this time together," there's a good chance Carol Burnett is. After filing suit against the scandal-filled tabloid five years ago, Burnett won a $1.6 million libel judgment yesterday. For years the Enquirer has printed questionable material in its pages, severely testing the First Amendment and freedom of the press. Such actions have served to per- petuate negative images of the press across the country. These images often have reflected on the respectability of much more credible newspapers. It's fortunate for Burnett that she had the money to battle the tabloid giant. Too often the cost of such a bat- tle has proven prohibitive for persons of lesser financial means. Burnett has hit the National Enquirer hard-in the pocketbook. It's doubtful, but maybe this price may en- courage the tabloid to print a more credible-and less sen- sational-product. That would really make Burnett tug her ear. Snaiv'*t... To the Daily: I was surprised by the naivete demon- strated by Howard Witt in his column on Tuesday. Surely he doesn't really believe that "University administrators have been ear- nestly trying to attract and retain black students . . . redoubling their efforts in recent years only to see black enrollment drop to a mere 5.6 percent." This university doesn't seem to have any trouble recruiting the students it really wan- ts,-like star athletes and upper middle class white students, so what conclusions should be drawn from its "inability" to attract black students? I would argue that this university has never and still does not want black students on this campus. Affirmative, assertive recruitment and admission efforts which would make a difference are overlooked while weaker policies are tried. Administrators, explaining the low enrollment figures have told us that there aren't enough "qualified" black high school students in Michigan to raise the enrollment here. The proposed budget cuts already threaten services, programs, and faculty members which would make the University the kind of school that potential black applicants would consider. Even the differential tuition rates between Wayne State, Eastern Michigan, and the University of Michigan (increasing as the distance from Detroit, a center of the black population, increases) make it clear who is wanted on this campus. So, if Howard Witt is still searching for the answer to his question: "Why are blacks so unhappy here?' , I would suggest that he look to the adage: "They know where they aren't wanted"'for the answer, -Linda Kaboolian March 24 " T . llOgic... To the Daily: Surely we must move beyond the simplicity and misguided liberalism of Howard Witt's argument in "Why are blacks so unhappy here?" (Daily, March24). The argument he puts forth is reminiscent of one posited by apologists of Nazi Germany: if only Jews hadn't separated themselves so blatantly from the mainstream of Aryan culture, perhaps the Holocaust would never have happened. It is even like the argument made by misguided reform feminists of the early seventies: if lesbians would only stay in the closet and look more like us. Personally, I feel outraged that proponents of this "blame the victim" ideology linger, thumbing their noses at history and deeply of- fending the intelligence of people who know better. I don't have to remind current events- minded journalists about the University's ap- palling affirmative action "track record." Nor do I have to remind anyone living in this elite community 'that most whites on this campus have grown up knowing minorities primarily as housekeepers and gardeners. Unfortunately, the residue of this paternalism is alive and well and living in the sensibility of Howard Witt at the Daily. -Bette Skandalis March 26 ...lgnOranCe To the Daily: Howard Witt's column describing black separatism as a cause for black students' unhappiness at the University (Daily, March 24) seems to be a clear case of blaming the victim, i.e. black students for their problems here. As such, his rationale ought to be examined carefully to see how white racism operates. For instance, he sets up Valerie Mims as a prominent black leader who he expects to an- swer the problems of why black students are unhappy here. Then he expounds on how she spoke in generalities. Contrary to what Mr.; Witt says, Ms. Mims made several suggestions about academic areas that could be improved. These included: " The College of Engineering has a Pre- College Enrichment Program which has made progress in the retention of black students. She suggested that the College >of Literature, Science and the Arts which has a' predominance of black students enrolled could consider the possibility of a similar program. " She said that there need to be more black faculty and staff members who care about the problems and concerns of black students. " She said there are too many minority student programs in different areas and that they need to be consolidated into one under the supervision of a top level administrator. I thought Ms. Mims was articulate and clear and offered a number of possibilities to the Regents. To say they looked properly con- cerned and didn't have the slightest idea of what Valerie Mims meant is to make assum- ptions that ought to be backed up with cor~ ments from, the Regents that illustrate such an attitude. -The Rev. Ann Marie Coleman March 25 rT77.. . es.. I THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL ~1 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Not everyone can wear blue jeans To the Daily: This is in response to Blue Jeans Day. We'd like to let the Gay Liberation Front know we support your cause even though we won't be wearing blue jeans. Some of us work in situations in which jeans is inappropriate. We feel you are ignoring those of us in the University community (and outside of it) who either aren't students, or have com- mitments outside our student life which leave us little choice in this matter. Perhaps if a different show of support, such as armbands, could be used instead of or along with blue jeans, you would get a more accurate estimate of the support of your cause on this campus and in this town. For next year, remember Ann Arbor is a city, not just a campus. Again, we support your cause. Don't forget us next year. -D. Barrett, Nursing Student J. Duberman, Clerical Worker March 26 C