In some cases, death penalty is the only fair punishment

In some cases, death penalty is the only fair punishment
EDITOR:
Does the death penalty even the score? (Eye for an eye; tooth for tooth.) No. But maybe the score doesn't need to be "evened." It does need to be fair.
When a mother outlives her murdered child, that is not fair.
When a family holds their aching breath with each parole hearing, that is not fair.
When a murderer can get a last minute reprieve or pardon from the state's governor, that is not fair.
And when a killer lucks out and spends 20-plus years on death row, and it costs the taxpayers much, much more than a lethal injection, that is not fair. (e.g. Danny Lee Hill)
Many in this Valley remember me as the mother of a murdered child, Jodi Masters. The death penalty had been abolished for a short time prior to her murder in 1979. It was re-instated around 1981. The death penalty would have been a fair sentence for a double felon, who on Valentine's Day, shot Jodi five times and burned her body and home to almost wipe out the evidence. Motive: To collect insurance money. His 24-plus years in prison ended two years ago and he now resides three miles from our family home in this community.
I have wept tears that cry out for fairness to Miriam Fife and her family. And we should all live in empathy for the loved ones of Tami Engstrom. (Kenneth Biros). Should the death penalty law in Ohio be abolished again, trampling out fairness and respect for a family's suffering? Twenty-nine letters to Gov. Strickland espousing the death penalty in Ohio. How paltry. We victims should be bombarding his office imploring him to render a fair decision on Kenneth Biros.
We don't need to "even the score," but we do need to be fair. Let's use the death penalty law in Ohio.
JOY THOMAS
Canfield
People depend on the buses
EDITOR:
The buses had a levy that passed last year. Now all of a sudden they are cutting some of the buses out. We need these buses to go to work. They are also going to get rid of eight good drivers.
They should leave the buses alone. We pay for these buses and the levy passed. What are they doing with the money that they get. They are getting rid of the Campbell bus, Cornersburg, Warren bus & amp; some other buses. We depend on these buses to take us to work and to the store. That's the only transportation that most of us have. Without the transportation a lot of us can't work.
They are also going to change the Glenwood bus. I don't think they should change anything. We need the buses. They are also getting rid of the night-line. The people that drive don't have to depend on the bus, but if people didn't have cars and they had to depend on buses, they'd be mad also.
A lot of us at Goodwill depend on the buses. I don't think that they should get rid of our bus drivers either. We need our bus drivers. We depend on them to take us everywhere. Without them we couldn't go anywhere. A lot of us would be out of jobs without the buses. Please keep the buses running and don't change the schedules. Thank you
JEANIE GERLACH
Youngstown
More need to be involvedin deciding YSU's future
EDITOR:
Bertram de Souza's column last Sunday about helping to define what makes YSU unique is right on the mark. I differ with the column in only one respect.
What concerns me is the next-to-last sentence of Mr. de Souza's article (and I'm not faulting him for this, because I believe he is just reporting what is apparently going to happen). "With the stakes for YSU being so high, Congressman Ryan intends to host a meeting of Valley decision-makers to talk about the future of the institution."
With all due respect to Congressman Ryan and his efforts on behalf of YSU, it seems to me that any such meeting must include more than just Valley decision-makers if it is to be fair, inclusive, and productive.
We need to gather and include those who have helped to build YSU and who help to keep it going day to day. That means we need faculty, staff, students, and alumni to be involved in any such meetings -- not just as observers but as primary participants.
Definitely, let's have these meetings and discussions, but if the only attendees are people who don't have a true stake or investment in YSU, then I'm afraid that the results will be just more of the same.
BOB HOGUE
Youngstown
The writer is and associate professor, Computer Science & amp; Information Systems at YSU and is first vice president of YSU-OEA.
Illegal aliens aren't citizens
EDITOR:
I am writing in reference to events taking place in our country regarding illegal aliens. At this point, I cannot discern the advantages of being a citizen of the United States. Allow me to elaborate.
Recently, Bank of America announced that it now has a credit card targeted to those individuals who do not have Social Security cards. Who do you suppose the intended group is in this case? The state of California (and perhaps other states) has had several proposals for granting drivers licenses to illegal aliens. And now we have the ultimate in societal madness, a proposal by Nancy Pelosi, our new speaker of the House, to use taxpayer money to provide college educations for illegal aliens.
I no longer understand or comprehend the direction our country is going with the whole illegal alien issue. Being the son of immigrants who came to this country legally after WWII, I appreciate the contributions of people from other countries and cultures. The operative word to keep in mind is legal. This is how people have come to this country since its inception, until now. My parents also felt a need to assimilate themselves into American society and culture, while maintaining their ethnic customs, religion, and traditions.
Now members of our government are providing rights, formerly held out as privileges of citizenship to illegal aliens. I don't get it. What good is it to be a citizen of this county? We afford the prisoners in Guantanamo, and other terrorists captured by our authorities, all the civil rights this country has for its citizens. Now we want them to have credit cards, drivers licenses, and a college education, while remaining illegal by all definitions of the word.
Enough is enough! I implore every legal citizen of the greatest country on the face of the earth, the United States, to take a stand. We have to become activists for our cause of preserving the right's of citizenship. Call and write your legislators and let them know you expect the rights of citizenship to be reserved for natural born and naturalized citizens of the United States. Period.
M. BEN MELNYKOVICH
Lake Milton