for the patronâ€"poor has sentenced an third of that numâ€" ce Over S SyRuP / ped with a $7,190 who‘s been stuck he yobs who leave ink an‘t be as strapped m there‘s talk of a to Woodside, the ..;dâ€"!;yl h plays host to only is big on law and to figure out the without the proâ€" nd people? That 18 cars. Yes, he‘s put silencers on home of exâ€"PM except a novel where else but If you‘re caught a fortuneâ€"teller needs than Baird visit Woodâ€" of the heads I saw either had grey hair or no hair. In this city of professors, students and generally wellâ€"educated workers, only a handful of "boomers" and "exers" had turned out for the big book bash. It made me wonder whether they‘ll even be printing books in the next century. I also noticed that despite the mad rush for the best books, many people took the time to bend over and pick up any books they knocked to the floor: Some _ Unfortunately, once I mounted the stage and peered down at the throng for a bookâ€"buying photo, it became *"Mhm:w%mm What‘s more, these bookaholics were filling baskets and cardboard boxes to overflowing with books. And they weren‘t picky â€" one woman‘s basket contained textbooks, novels, books of poetry and National Geoâ€" graphics, while others contained similarly wild assortâ€" pouncing on to piles of printed pages. © I found it amazing, and it brought me to conclude that for many Waterloo residents â€"â€" despite the pull of sitcoms, home video, TV sports, Nintendo, computers and their hectic "90s" lifestyles â€"â€" you just can‘t beat a Reading books is a great way to learn about the world, but much can also be learned by going to a book sale such as the one held at First United Church last Friday. Minutes after it opened, the place was a crush, with frantic bookworms swarming down the aisles and spite of international human rights agreements proâ€" hibiting the use of the death penalty against children. Like most of the American justice system, capital punishment is used disproportionately against blacks and other visible minorities and against people from a lower class background. The death penalty is orie more tool of oppression south of the border. . $ ble people across Canada are calling for a return to mmmm&ommwm in Ottawa and a cafe mutder in Toronto. Thus, it sons & return to capi be a cquw:ï¬mé effective as a deter f no more as a â€" fact that the death penalty‘s proponents consistently use itsalleged deterrent effect as their primary arguâ€" ment, there has never been a study proving that its existence or nonâ€"existence has any impact on the murâ€" der rate. If a deterrent effect existed, wouldn‘t it stand to reason that Canada‘s murder rate would have increased since the abolition of the death penalty or that American states with the death penalty would be safer than those without. In fact, neither assumption is correct. If Canada reinstated the death penalty, it would be ignoring an international trend away from the stateâ€" sponsored killing of criminals. In fact, the United States is the only western industrialized nation to continue the widespread use of the death penalty. Other countries that belong to the death penalty club include Lybia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, China and North Korea, all of whom use it to restrict political freedom. Amnesty International, the world‘s leading indepenâ€" dent human rights organization, "opposes the death penaity in all cases without reservation". In the United States, juveniles and adults with mental ages as low as eight have been executed, in So many books; no time to read Apparently, reports of reading‘s demise were omerren ie e ve C 0t 0 ie Nar o .+ uind n on B calce .. ie t ‘It‘s happening again, as it inevitably does after a with a good book. been â€"â€" something I can‘t believe could be seen in any country but Canada. * Anyway, it will be a sad day when books go the way of records. They may demand a lot from the reader â€" time, concentration, imagination â€"â€" but the reward is great: novels can transport the reader into a world created by the writer, while nonâ€"fiction books and newspapers can enrich him or her with a much No country‘s justice system is infallible. Innocent people are often convicted of crimes they did not comâ€" mit. If Canada had had the death penalty when Donâ€" ald Marshall or David Milgard had been convicted, the government would have been unable to correct the injustices that were perpetrated against them â€" they would have been killed. Advocates of the death penalty also point to cost as a justification for their position. Why, they reason, should they pay to house and feed someone who has committed some of the most serious crimes on the books? Unfortunately, the numbers don‘t back them up in this argument. American figures show that it is actually more expensive to execute a prisoner than to keep him or her in prison for life. Not only do the endâ€" less appeals associated with a death sentence make for an extended court process (often ten to fifteen years from the date of conviction), but an entire infraâ€" structure must be maintained in order to carry out the sentences. Ultimately, the only argument for the death penalty that makes any sense is the need for revenge. A public that is outraged by violence in the streets and conâ€" cerned for its own safety can easily become bloodâ€" thirsty in its search for simplistic solutions. The desire for revenge is a very human emotion to which we all succumb from time to time, but it is hardly the basis on which we should be building our judicial system. That is why we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to a renewed campaign for the death penalty in Canada. Angles Tom Brockelbank || \ is ams sOVER ï¬ COUPON VALUE a t Ersken Whudshicld! (@=«" eAAA wo coay vauns ¢&â€"__ Ir You Want To is Our Snowroon, Ore Your Froxt Door. TH bring my ColorVan® filled with thousands of quality interior decorating samples right to your home. The XJ6 Sedan stimulates the senses as no other car ever has. A design that has been imitated, yet never equalied. mance in a luxury automobile. Now at Gemini Motors. IF YOURE LOOKING FOR A CAT . . . THIS CAT‘S FOR YOU! A beautiful ownership experience! WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1994 â€" PAGE 7 WE PAY YOUR DEDUCTIBLE "ALL Insurance Companies" temZ. <CmG