Bits & Bytes

• Welcome to reality--An Indiana Daily Student reader asked in a November 30 letter to the editor if "the price for the 'right to bear arms' is to have...innocent people killed by [criminals]." While that doesn't sound nice, should we (by the same logic) ban all private cars since the right to transportation seems to come at the expense of innocent people killed by poor drivers?
• Those idiot Hollywood types and the UN--In a speech to the UN on World AIDS Day (Dec 1), "Basic Instinct" actress Sharon Stone suggested that parents place 200 condoms in a lightly traveled place in the home so teens could take them without embarassment. Sadly, on the same day the American Social Health Association reported there are 15.3 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases annually in the U.S., many of which condoms cannot stop.
• African nation terrorizes Bloomington!--According to the "BPD Blotter" in the December 4 IDS, a 39-year-old man was shot in the leg "when a white and yellow Sudan drove by."
• The nation's best interests in mind?--Illustrating his continued decline in effectiveness as President, reporters at Clinton's appearances in Israel focused largely on his problems back in the US. Answering one question about resignation, Clinton said "It's never crossed my mind." Thanks, Bill, for considering all options and putting the needs of the US and the world above personal ego.
• Pot calls kettle black--According to the December 8 IDS, InPIRG is fighting Ameritech over a $3 service which they feel is deceptively added to consumers' bills and benefits them very little. Meanwhile, InPIRG's pledge system extracts $5 each semester from students who signed a pledge card--automatically when they register for classes. This carries over every semester unless the student wades through the Registrar's bureaucracy to depledge.
• Free speech only for the popular--According to a December 13 report on NBC Nightly News, the city of Pasadena, California has been facing the "problem" of street preachers. In response, city government has proposed speech-limiting ordinances, including one which would allow a limit to be set on the number of times a specific group could have street meetings, after which the group would be charged fees!! Luckily, the Pasadena prosecutor's office has spoken out in favor of the preachers' Constitutional rights.