The Collegian (Hurst, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 14, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 27, 1999 Page: 2 of 8
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Opinion
page 2 • January 27, 1999
Collegian Oficncan
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Viewpoint
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New trend unhealthy in
once again
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Conspiracy -
theorists lose
The Collegian is a weekly student publication serving the Tarrant County Junior College District.
Editorial statements and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the TCJC adminis-
tration.
The Collegian subscribes to the College Press Service (CPS).
Letters to the paper should be 150 words or less, free from libel and poor taste and include the
writer’s name and social security number. Letters may be brought to The Collegian office (NE-CAB-
119), or mailed to:
The Collegian • 828 Harwood Road • Hurst, TX 76054 • Phone: 515-6392 Fax: 515-6767 e-
mail: editor@tcjc.cc.tx.us
TCJC is an equal opportunity institution that provides educational and employment opportunities on the basis of
merit and without discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status or disability.
Andrea Cagle, editor-in-chief • Anabelle Stephenson, associate editor
Justin Young, nw news editor • Sean Dickerson, se news editor
Theresia Hallmark, south news editor • Carlos Raigosa, ne news editor
Cory Clinkscale, entertainment editor • David Boyd, sports editor
James Robert, Jr., Keith Hargis, Melissa Cassidy, Blake Hampton,
Helton Concalves, photographers • Janette Rohde, cartoonist
Jill Wohldmann, advertising • Clayton Gardner, computer assistant
Stacy Luecker, graphic designer • Eric Luecker, business manager
Diane Turner, editorial adviser
Dr. Joe L. Norton, adviser
life but because I made a choice to disobey the authority
around me.
It took me time to finally realize that when I mess
up, there’s no one to blame but myself.
Once I learned this lesson, I was able to change my
whole outlook on life.
I could no longer push my problems on someone
else, but I had to learn how to deal with them and take
responsibility for my actions.
Everyone has to make choices in his life; and if he
makes the wrong ones he needs to be able to deal with
the consequences: whether it be from God or the law.
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judicial system? It may well be the only stronghold the
public still has for deciding how the government should
function.
Would the proposed jury system be fortified with
every type of political viewpoint or would Republicans
and Democrats strive for a monopoly in the jury, there-
fore planting their ideals into federal law and supplying
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We are now starting to see murderers and violent
criminals get away with their crimes, simply because so-
ciety has treated them badly all their lives. To me this is
a joke.
There comes a time when we all need to take re-
sponsibility for the things we do; otherwise, we’ll never
learn from our mistakes.
I know all this from first-hand experience. I can re-
member a time when I hated all types of authority be-
cause I wanted to have total control over my own life.
Any rules that the law or my parents would set for me I
would break: not because I didn’t have a good family
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crime
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• All-American • — • Pacemaker •
The Collegian
"T’ve been seeing a new trend in our society that in my
I opinion is rather unhealthy. More and more we’re
JLstarting to see people blaming their problems or per-
sonality flaws on something or someone other than them-
selves.
It’s becoming almost normal that if someone does
something wrong, he won’t get the blame for it, as long as
he has a good scapegoat.
What really troubles me is that now we are seeing this
trend being passed to the younger generation.
Several cities in the U.S. are trying out a new program
that hopefully will re-
duce juvenile crime.
Instead of punishing
these young offenders
to the maximum ex-
tent of the law, they
have decided to fine
the parents for failure
to control their chil-
dren.
Even here in Tar-
rant County, the Jus-
tice Department has
fined families up to $1500 for not being able to get their
kids in school. Often times the children are given a mere
slap on the wrist while the parents are left to pay for their
mistakes.
Who’s to say if it’s the parents’ fault anyway?
I know plenty of mature adults who make every effort
to love and discipline their children, but even with disci-
pline, their kids still decide to break the law.
These parents are heart-broken enough knowing their
children are in trouble; but to fine parents for not being in
control, well, that just adds insult to injury.
I think it’s shameful that as a society we have become
so used to blaming our faults or problems on someone
else; consequently, people believe that when they do
something wrong they shouldn’t be blamed for it.
There is no doubt in my mind that this behavior of
disobeying authority will become a pattern if these young
people are not held accountable for the crimes they com-
mit.
If we let them grow up believing the crimes they com-
mit are not their fault, we’ll be leading them down a path
of destruction.
System of picking jurors okay
TgT X" That would have happened if the O.J. Simpson
%/%/ trial had been decided by a professionally
▼ ▼ employed jury?
Would the outcome have changed?
True, more research would have gone into the deci-
sion and it is possible jurors would have made a different
decision. Jurors might have even been more focused on
the crime rather than the surrounding circumstances of their party with obvious advantages?
the trial. Considering the orientation of Congress, a profes-
Or would they? sional jury system would be designed where the partak-
With all the corruption in Congress, would that have ers represented opposite sides of the political spectrum,
bled into the judicial system and eventually encom- How would anything get accomplished?
passed the whole government into a downward spiral of Worse yet, would we be throwing the country into
greed, corruption and power? another Civil War scenario where conflicting views
The judicial system of this nation was established on would ultimately end in the segregation of this a coun-
the democratic idea that trials are to be decided by a jury try?
of peers. The past few years have shown a lot of that.
That way, a cross-section of the public could be rep- Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Uganda and even
resented, proving the American government is one “of Israel have withstood brutal wars between their own cit-
the people, by the people and for the people” as stated by izens.
the backbone of government: the Constitution. Would we be susceptible to that type of behavior? It
Take that away, and we have Communism and a soci- would not be the first time it has happened in this coun-
ety where corruption is so evident that the average per- try’s history.
son has no way of fighting back against the government. Let’s face it, this country is democratic. Infringing
We have a country where every aspect of living is decid- on the rights of a jury of our peers is not only unconsti-
ed for its people and where a government “of the people, tutional, but also unfair.
by the people and for the people” is not visible. If Congress is going to stick to the idea that America
American society has enough problems with corrup- is a country run by the public, they need to let the public -
tion in Congress. Why further those problems into the nm it.
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Cory Clinkscale
entertainment editor
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Dwayne Stoltzfus
reporter
Last week the American Govern'-/
ment attempted to make another break-
through in their plans to destroy the
American free press.
David Hoffman, a San Franciscan.
alternate newspaper editor and writer,
surrendered to the Oklahoma County
officials recently after being indicted of-;
allegedly tampering with the minds of..
the grand jury investigating the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing.
Hoffman allegedly sent a copy of- .
his book, The Oklahoma City Bombing
and The Politics of Terror, with a few at- .
tached notes to one of the alternate ju-
rors in the grand jury investigation, ac-
cording to the district attorney of Okla-
homa County.
The book and notes attached were
given to this juror by Hoffman to sway
jurors’ opinions in the investigation
case, according to Bob Macy, the dis-,,
trict attorney of Oklahoma County.
Hoffman denies these allegations,
but may serve up to two years for ac-
tions he says he did not commit.
Hoffman feels he is being persecut-
ed, and he may be right.
The problem is not Hoffman, but
his paper, the Haight-Ashbury Free
Press, one of the last thriving alternative
newspapers in the country. , k
. The government probably cannot.
stand the idea of anything coming from .
Haight-Ashbury (birth place of the hip-
pie movement) influencing the ideas of 1
the U.S. public yet again.
The “mass” media, often backed by •
the government as of late, have drawn ;
out these papers which embrace less ‘
popular ideas. 1
I do not support many things Hoff- '
man and other modern “conspiracy the- 1
orists” have to say, but to quell what •
their expression is a difmitive infringe- ;
ment of their first amendment rights. • >
Sure, these people like Hoffman \
who believe in off-the-wall conspiracies 1
are nuts, but isn’t that one thing that ‘
makes our country great?
These radicals and political crazies ‘
should be able to stand up for what they ;
believe in, no matter how wild it may :
seem. They, and everyone else, should
have the right to be nuts.
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The Collegian (Hurst, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 14, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 27, 1999, newspaper, January 27, 1999; Hurst, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1339603/m1/2/: accessed June 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Tarrant County College NE, Heritage Room.