ustxtxb_obs_1984_02_10_50_00022-00000_000.pdf

DIALOGUE Prejudices Bill Helmer’s article, “A Texas Way of Dying” \(TO, of publication in The Observer. Perhaps the macho tone of his writing is an effective way to entice Playboy readers to consider something as un-macho as arguments for ending executions. Nevertheless, when I read The Observer I would appreciate the facts without the unconstructive personal prejudices of the author. His single reference to the ACLU as “fancy lawyers who like to defend criminals” was crude and unnecessary. Although every argument in Mr. Helmer’s article could have been plagia’. rized from an Amnesty International pamphlet \(I do not suggest that he did recipient as “a bunch of dewey-eyed, bleeding heart humanists clutching their candles and whining.” He is entitled to his opinion, but the readers of The Observer deserve a better description of the volunteers who have spent the last year building what is probably the largest and most effective vehicle in Texas for disseminating information in support of the abolition of capital punishment. In the past twelve months these men and women have twice walked into a potentially dangerous mob in Huntsville because they valued the opportunity to voice a dissenting opinion more than their personal comfort. I find Mr. Helmer’s “annoyance” with the candles unimportant. I enjoy thoughtful satire, and constructive self-criticism is necessary if the progressives in Texas are to grow stronger. Mr. Helmer’s article approached neither of these levels. The arguments quoted in the article are too important to be associated with shallow, unconstructive opinions. One page of The Observer was too valuable to waste. Greg McClendon, 1111 Post Oak Blvd. #748, Houston, Tx. 77056. ERA Overlooked I’ve been reading the Texas Observer for a few years now, and have come to consider the information you present to be almost the “last word,” when I’m looking for an accurate assessment of what’s going on politically. However, it has become increasingly bothersome to me over the past several months that there seems to be little or no coverage of women’s political issues in the Texas Observer lately. Two specific instances: In the 12/9/83 interview with Kent Hance, no mention was made of his view on the ERA. I’m sure the article had already gone to press when the vote was taken in the U.S. House. Hance, as you know, arranged to “pair” his vote with another representative who was opposed to the ERA, which would have in effect “canceled out” both their votes. Those of us who are watching the vote on the ERA felt that, even though it wouldn’t have passed the bill, Hance should have wanted to be present and cast an “Aye” vote, particularly since he will be looking for votes in the coming U.S. Senate race. \(Rep. Ron Paul’s absence from that important vote was also a At the end of the 68th Legislative Session in Austin, the Texas Observer selected Ted Lyon “Rookie of the Year.” Although Ted Lyon has been a good Senator on some issues, he is actively anti-abortion, and this was not even mentioned. People need to know these things, and it seems to me that coming from the strong liberal, human rights perspective the Observer claims to embrace, the selectors of these awards should have taken this into consideration. I hope you will once again take an interest in women’s political issues and that the many women who read the Texas Observer will soon be able to look to you for information on the matters that are especially important to us! Mary Gilmore, 723 Skillman Street, Dallas, Texas 75214. Right you are. Regarding the Democrats running for U. S. Senate: Lloyd Doggett, Kent Hance, and Bob Krueger all told the Observer that they support the Equal Rights Amendment. Hance paired his vote on the ERA last fall, and he was not among its 245 co-sponsors. The ERA did not come up for a vote when Krueger was in Congress or when Doggett was in the Texas senate. A Remembrance Franklin Garcia: A Union Man San Antonio THERE WEREN’T a lot of people at Franklin Garcia’s funeral. It wasn’t because he was not well This remembrance is a collaborative effort by Ruperto Garcia and Frances known; he was that. He was common ground for a lot of people involved in issues and movements across the state, and sometimes, when two activists met for the first time and weren’t sure what each other had been involved with, Franklin’s name would pop up and there they were: common ground, you see. No, it wasn’t because of that. It was, probably, because he didn’t want his death advertised so much. And so, each of us, his family and friends, had called each other quietly and ended up there, some 80 people huddled together against a sunny chill 45 degrees at 3:58 p.m. after the service, according to a local bank off IH-410 West in the north side of the city, San 22 FEBRUARY 10, 1984