Justifying Homicide

By John K. Wilson

On Wednesday, March 27, 2002, a little before midnight, an intoxicated Nathan Ruch was driving his pickup truck on College Avenue when his tire struck the median strip; Normal Police Officer James Merica began to follow Ruch, turning on his flashing lights.

Ruch refused to stop and drove around the area, narrowly missing another car and hitting a curb on Westview Drive before he turned into Doud Court, a cul-de-sac. Unable to go further, Ruch drove between two houses into the backyard. After stopping briefly, Ruch continued through the backyard, and came around to the front, crashing through two fences.

In the meantime, Merica had exited his patrol car, went to the trunk and pulled out a shotgun, and walked to the side yard where Ruch was coming through in the pickup. Merica fired four shots from his shotgun as he moved out of the way. The first two shots hit the truck but missed Ruch. By this time, Merica was well out of harm’s way, to the side of the pickup. Merica’s third shot, the kill shot, went through the passenger side window and hit Ruch in the head. Merica’s fourth shot, which missed, must have been aimed at the back of Ruch’s head. [Full Story]

Nuke 'em

By Anthony DiMaggio

Like some recurring plague, nuclear power continues to rear its ugly head in Illinois. Nuclear power has haunted Illinois for the past fifty years, and is just as dangerous today as ever. Illinois has the largest number of nuclear plants and the largest stockpile of nuclear waste in the United States (we get half of our energy from nuclear power). Now the Amergen corporation (a joint venture between British Energy and PECO Energy) has proposed a second nuclear reactor be built at the Exelon Nuclear Plant in Clinton (less than an hour from Bloomington-Normal). While the application for the second reactor will not be filed until June of 2003, the proposal has unfortunately met with much enthusiasm from local papers like the Pantagraph. Too many people in McLean County have supported the unwise proposal to expand the Clinton Plant, which is already haunted by a terrible track record and inflated operating costs. But, thankfully, it is not too late to reject the proposed plans that attempt to increase the danger of nuclear power.

Nuclear power already costs the citizens of Illinois far too much. A study done by the Citizen’s Utility Board found that "Commonwealth Edison’s customers [Com Ed owns the Braidwood nuclear plant] now pay the highest electric bills in the Midwest, due primarily to the over-reliance on nuclear power plants." [Full Story]

Taye Freed!

By John K. Wilson

After an Amnesty International campaign on his behalf, Illinois State University alumnus Taye Woldesmiate was released from prison in Ethiopia on May 14, 2002.

Dr. Taye was president of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association, the largest trade union in Ethiopia with 120,000 members, when he was arrested on May 30, 1996 at Bole International Airport as he returned from a European trip. In 1999, Dr. Taye and four others were found guilty by the Federal High Court and Dr. Taye received the most severe sentence: 15 years in prison for "armed conspiracy" against the state. On May 9, 2002, an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court reversed the finding, but declared Dr. Taye guilty of "provocation and preparation" of "offense against the national state" and sentenced him to the maximum of five years in prison—longer than he had already served.

Upon his release, Dr. Taye demanded that all prisoners of conscience be released and be free to exercise their rights. Taye told the BBC after his release, "I was tried and sentenced by a kangaroo court which was simply at the beck and call of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi." Dr. Taye called on the people to wrest away the control of democratic institutions such as the courts and schools from the hands of a few powerful people like Zenawi. [Full Story]

Working Towards Democracy

By Paul Fasse

People have a basic misunderstanding of the institutional system in America, and how that system affects everyone. In this country, we live in a plutocracy. It is top-down rule where the corporate elite (a small minority of the population) has control over the government, businesses, and the military to serve their interests. This has an enormous detrimental effect on the people and on the planet’s environment. Corporations are totalitarian institutions where the elite make decisions to maximize profit and minimize expense, and the workers do not have a voice in decisions. The political, social, economic rights of the majority of people are not considered whatsoever in corporate decisions and environmental destruction is not taken into account in their thought process.

This does not mean that we lack democratic elements in our country. Unfortunately, people (in general) do not realize that the democratic elements of society were fought for through progressive activism. If you look at all of these democratic elements – abolition of slavery, the right to vote, civil rights, forty-hour work weeks, child labor laws, minimum wages, the right to organize and strike, and many more – were all fought for by people who organized and took back what is rightfully theirs from the elite class who had brought oppression on the majority of the population. Some of the activists who fought these struggles against the elite class had to do so for the survival of themselves and their families. Others joined the fight because they saw the injustice perpetrated upon others for the benefit of the elite class that seeks never-ending profits driven by greed and the desire for power. [Full Story]