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Page 2 • PLAIM>EALLR.HfcR AI R. FRIDAY , MARCH 22.19«5 Opinion/Politics Are we keeping bad company? - To which of the following groups would you say the United States belongs: • 1. Britain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway. * 2. Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Vietnam, the Soviet Union. ; If the criterion is the death Mnalty, it's the latter. All of those countries - to oversimplify ft* the moment - are in the practice of killing their own citizens to maintain law and <pder. -And if Americans find the Association disturbing, they Aould. We're kerning some very bad company. There seems to be, according to Larry Cox, information director for Am­ nesty International USA, a clear correlation between society's acceptance of the taking of life under civil law, the ultimate in cruel and inhuman punishment, and a basic disregard for human rights. Americans may think that does not apply to their society, but they are mis Ting a con­ nection. They maj be horrified, explains Cox, that in a Chile or South Korea, "prisoners are taken, strapped down and electric shock is applied to their bodies until they are in ex- crutiating pain." Yet those same Americans may find it acceptable that in Florida and Georgia "prisoners are taken, strapped down and electric shock is applied to their bodies until they are dead." This raises not only ethical problems for individual Americans, when they think about i it, but can be detrimental to the nation's image and in­ fluence internationally, points out John Healey, executive director of Amnesty in Oris country. When the American govern­ ment protests the execution of dissidents in the Sudan or of members of the Baha'i faith in Iran, it has, in the eyes of the leaders of those countries, a weak case Hiey see this country doing essentially the same thing. The blacks a and Hispanics, the poor who can't afford a lawyer and who are the most numerous inhabitants of Death Row, U.S.A.. are also, in effect, being REMODELING : The McHenry City Council .recently awarded a remodeling project for the police depart­ ment to William Tonyan & Son. Tonyans submitted the low price of $1,553 for remodeling the Investigations office. NEW CONTROLS The McHenry City Council has approved the purchase of new controls for the city's two water towers. The controls will prevent the towers from overflowing. Previously the city wells started and stopped pumping based on only one water tower. TAXES! Nobody Likes Them! Everybody Hat To Deal With Them HELP! Now le The Time To Prepare With Professional Help YEGGE ACCOUNTING INCOME TAX SERVICE Call YEGGE ACCOUNTING for expert, all year-round assistance and / or consultation. OPEN TO SERVE YOU TWELVE MONTHS A YEAR HAVE YOU CHECKED ^ WITH US? 1/ QBSVtfona \ •1*5 Copley News Service killed for political reasons.. Death is being used by govern­ ment as a coercive measure. "What happens," says Healey, "is you lose the moral authoity of leadership when you are putting out the massage you've got to kill people to control your people." An Ayatollah Khomeini, he continues, is as sincere in his belief that those he executes are a threat to society as are authorities in this country when they put criminals on trial for their lives. The killings are always justified in the name of some higher cause. "In a place like Guatemala," Cox says, "it might be preventing revolution. In a place like Ethiopia, it might be preventing counter-revolution. In the Soviet Union, it might be preventing embezzlement. And m the United States, the higher cause is deterring murder." France, the Netherlands and Norway are among the 26 countries that do not have the death penalty for any crime. Another 18 countries, including Britain and Canada, reserve it for exceptional crimes, most commonly committed, under military law or in wartime. "If the United States is going to kill 1,400 people (the current population of death row)," says Healey, "the message is pretty bloody at a time when you're talking about peace and security." (Don Graff is a columnist for the Newspaper Enterprise Association.) Whistle-blowing needs protection from the top In moving to renew a government whistle-blower program that expired last September, Rep. Patricia Scnroeder of Colorado has ex­ panded it in an important way by including for the first time uniformed armed forces per­ sonnel. . Rep. Schroeder's bill, which the House already passed 413-1, provides for cash rewards for federal employees who reveal waste, fraud and mismanagement-awards of up to $10,000 or one percent of the savings involved, whichever amount is smaller. She said she is confident that the program will save taxpayers from having to* pay for such military ex­ travagance as $7,200 coffeepots. Whether that is certain or not, the program is still worth continuing. During the five years after the program was approved in 1978, the General Accounting Office received more than 53,000 calls on its hot line and referred more than 10,800 allegations to federal investigative u units. About 1,100 allegations were substantiated and millions of dollars in excessive spending were uncovered. Yet a three- year renewal bill was killed last year at the last minute when the Reagan adminis t ra t ion, although it supported - the program, objected to a plan to boost the power of the office to protect whistle-blowers. That should not be allowed to happen again this year. Since whistle-blowing, as has been demonstrated many times, can be dangerous to an employee's job security, a strong employee protection system is essential. That is especially true for military personnel, who are more vulnerable than civilians to discipl inary act ion from superiors. Yet their inclusion could pay off, given the potential for waste in the Pentagon's big budget. (Reprinted by permission of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.) Residents are encouraged to vote With the general elections little more than a week away, residents are encouraged to use their voting rights. For those who will not be here April 2, absentee ballots can be cast in person at the county clerk's office in Woodstock until 5 p.m. Monday, April 1. The last day to receive ap­ plications by mail is Thursday, March 28. Applications can be obtained by writing the county clerk, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock (60098), or calling 338-2040. 385-7957 ronternporory * i perspectives on 1 t 1 psychothercpy > ! PATT MCCARTHY MA I MSW csw ACS.w ! ; Counseling ond Psychotheropy i i • IndividuO' ond Mor ! 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