The Collegian Wednesday, February 1 Opinion LOVE ROB A Man Automatic Weapon by Rob Prindle My friend Butch is generally a good guy. He never cusses in church, he never disappoints a Girl-Scout peddling her cookies, and he never runs over invalids (no matter how many points they are worth). Butch would, however, be the first person to admit that he does have some faults. Butch would also be the first person to admit that he isn't the best planner. He throws a lot of parties without giving much thought to the planning. Butch sometimes forgets he has planned one until his guests threaten to dismember his dog, a faithful cocker spaniel named Bertha, unless he produces some beer. On Sundays, this causes some problems. In Pennsylvania it is illegal to buy more than 192 ounces of beer from a bar. It is also illegal for a beer distributor to be open on Sunday. PA government is protecting the Commonwealth from casually buying beer on the Sabbath. This saintly stand has, no doubt, saved thousands of law abiding folk from wasting the Lord's Day swilling Pabst and watching professional wrestling on TV. Thank God for law and order. There are a few things you can still do with your Sundays, though. For instance, you could walk into a local sports store or gun shop and buy an AK-47 semi-automatic attack riffle, or any similar mass assault bullet sprayer. Any day of the year that you can find a store with a gun, you ca get a gun. All you need to do is put your money on the counter and fill out a form. While you're out you may as well ask the salesman how to turn the weapon from semi too fully automatic. You never know when you might be surrounded by a swarm of commie game animals. I hear that geese can be quite viscous in hordes. You may just have to mow your way through the godless little beasts. Sounds a little ridiculous, but the NRA (rhymes with KKK don't it?) says that 'sportsmen' have the right to own any gun they want. Be it a common .22, a plastic pistol (The kind that would pass easily through a metal detector), or a semi-automatic. The powerful National Riffle Association lobbying group says Americans cannot be denied their given right to own heavy fire power. Even if you aren't allowed to hunt with the gun, target practice with a machine gun is a birth right. Last month in California, the small game that a mentally unbalanced person decided to hunt, turned out to be school children. Well, it was good that he was entitled to buy the finest man-killing :-aachine he could afford. Nothing but the best for our boys. In the heat of any passionate moment, a person is never further than a half hour from a gun. Under the influence of any drug or even after being convicted of any crime, a person can fill out the form (stretching - the truth were need be) and get the child-killer, uh, I mean 'sport gun' of his choice. America. You gotta' love this country. and His I remember one time when we were young. Butch was playing with a plastic bag of gun-powder that had whet his interest. As he poured some on an open fire, the trail of powder caught fire and led up to the bag where it promptly blew up. Butch ran around with his arm on fire for a while. When all the rest of the kids got bored watching him hop and scream, they decided to roll him around to put the fire out. Butch was the first to admit that he was at fault. "I was stupid," he said, "I never shoulda' set myself on fire on account of it hurts." Letters to the Editor Did Pete's Perspective Miss Mark? Dear Pete, I think that 1982 will be the year for you - Pete for President. There is no way you could lose because anyone who could solve the nation's drug problem with $32 million is a sure winner. You would certainly have my vote and possibly Nancy Reagan's also. Your ideas for solving hunger and the homeless problem are all very fine and very noble - and very unrealistic. As far as attacking the federal deficit goes, a 0.0016 percent cut would be a tremendous "step in the right direction." I don't really think that you have a grasp of the true magnitude of these problems. As for your fears of this country filing for banktrupcy, Reader Doesn't Share Rob's Views Dear editor, After reading Love Rob, I felt that I had no choice but to write. I'm not writing for your benefit Rob. Judging from your article, I realize there is no hope of reasoning with you. I'm writing to let it be known that there is another side to the issue that you so narrow-mindedly attempted to Cover. One of your comments was that a woman should have a right to control her own body. I fully agree. But with abortion, we're not only talking about a woman's body, we're also talking about an unborn child, a separate person altogether. Medical science has proven this. The developing child has a heartbeat, and shows brain waves before the woman is even aware that she is pregnant. If it isn't a developing human what is it? A duck? A chicken? A carrot? Unborn babies are treated in the womb for diseases. Premature infants are immediately placed on a life-support system so they will Realities of Drunken Driving Dear editor, Friday 11:37 pm, 19 year old female involved in a single vehicle accident. Vehicle overturned, patient entrapped in vehicle, patient trapped on arrival at Trauma Center due to severe trauma. Wednesday 10:33 pm, 37 year-old mother and two children struck broadside by second vehicle operated by a 17 year-old male. Mother killed instantly, children and other driver unhurt. Saturday 2 am, 18 year-old male involved in a two vehicle head-on collision. The 18 year old is flown from the scene to trauma center in critical condition. Driver of second vehicle killed instantly. Do I have everyone's attention? Each of these drivers at fault had something in common. They were all legally drunk. I know how everyone preaches since it can print its own money, I don't see it running out in the next few centuries. Of course that is a tremendous oversimplification - but then again, so was your article. Of course you think that $32 million is a lot of money, but once you start looking on a macro scale instead of on a micro scale; I think that even Pete's Perspective might change just a little. Perhaps the government could have gotten away for under $32 million. Perhaps not. Our government is not efficient. It never has been, because that is not the way our forefathers set it up. As much as you hate to admit it, the inauguration of a president be they Republican or Democrat, continue to live. A mother can be criminally liable if she overdoses on drugs and her unborn baby is harmed. Have I made my point? You said the anti-abortionists' claim to being "right to life" was a laugh. What's so- ridiculous about that? The only thing that we are saying, is that all human beings, unborn, handicapped, or elderly, have the right to live. Why is that funny? Don't you think that all human beings have the right to live? There have been nearly 20 million abortions since Roe vs. Wade. How can anyone justify that? Their only crime was that they were "unwanted" or "defective." There is no such thing as an unwanted baby There arc lists years long of parents wanting to adopt a baby. If you haven't guessed, I'm one of those "strange" anti abortionists. Apparently anyone who has motives Rob can't understand is strange. about how one out of every ten people between 10 pm and 4 am are drinking and driving. Take a moment and stand in my shoes. Ever have to pull a dead body from a car, maybe a person killed by a drunk driver? See most drunks are lucky, if you can call them lucky, they usually live. Drunks kill the innocent - mothers, fathers and even children. I've been a fire fighter for almost four years and an Emergency Medical Technician for . a year. I've seen a lot of deaths in just four years, a lot of needless deaths. never forget the hardest day I ever had on the job. I responded to an. accident where a drunk driver killed a four year-old little girl. The little girl's mother_ and the drunk driver both walked away without a scratch. Page conservative or liberal, is a big deal. If you would compare former presidential inaugurations (adjusted for inflation) I do not think that you would find any signifcant differences in the bill. If you can accomplish all these things; finance a relief program for the homeless, stop the drug problem, support the farmers, solve a fictitious unemployment and buy 712 BMWs (which would certainly not help the trade deficit or the American worker). Why stop there -let's go after a complete pullout in Europe, nuclear disarmament, a cure for AIDS , resumption of the SALT talks and maybe even world peace - all for under $32 million. Richard Martin Since 1974, there has been an anti-abortion demonstration held every January 22 in Washingtopn D.C. . I've participated in 4 of those 15 demonstrations, including the one this past year. There has never been any less than 50,000 at one of these demonstrations. I think that says something about what people in this country think of legalized abortion. Maybe you're not getting the whole story from the news, Rob. I realize there are some very radical members in this movement, but you get that with any highly controversial issue. You can't judge the majority by the actions of the few. As for myself, I'll continue to speak out for the unborn, who can't speak for themselves, and I'll pray for an end to this senseless, unjustified persecution of our country's unborn children. Dan Vorisek Can you imagine how I felt as I placed a perfect little four year old girl in a body bag? The pain and anger and sorrow? I doubt it. How about her mother or the drunk who couldn't even remember the accident? As I rode with the mother to the hospital I held her hand as we cried, telling her how sorry I was. I've never been able to tell anyone about this accident. Every time I think of it, I can't keep from crying. So when you're at a party and someone offers to make sure you get home safely, take them up on their offer. I would really hate to meet you some night at an accident and have to place you in one of my long black bags, because when I zipper it closed, the party's over. Scott_ Schuller
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