Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Thu, Mar 26 1992 Date: Thu, 26 Mar 92 05:44:31 EST Message-ID: 03-26 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update March 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Thursday morning in USA TODAY: Soliciting; Owls. TODAY'S DEBATE - SOLICITORS: USA TODAY'S OPINION: The Port Authority of New York asked the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to kick out of its airports Hare Krishnas and all other solicitors or distributors of literature. Why? Because the authority thinks they're a nuisance. It wants to restrict airports to travelers. But the court should not limit where free speech can be practiced simply because travelers are occasionally bothered by persistent or zealous solicitors. New York's public airports are centers of commerce where 80 million people arrive and depart. Millions among them are foreigners, such as Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who received two flowers and books from a Hare Krishna at JFK on a U.S. visit in 1989. Yeltsin's greeting was no different from the greetings many of our ancestors received at Ellis Island from 41 missionary groups that set up shop there at the turn of the century. Our ports of entry should continue to be open markets for ideas as well. Airport security and passenger convenience are possible without putting airports off limits to the First Amendment. OTHER VIEW: BRUCE FEIN, a Great Falls, Va., lawyer, constitutional scholar, Legal Times columnist and frequent flyer: Typically hapless, harassed and jet-lagged, air passengers crave an oasis of marginal tranquillity as they scurry through terminal corridors and lobbies. They frantically struggle to remember the departure gate and time and last-minute instructions from loved ones or business associates. In-person solicitations for money by oddities disguised as civilized human beings may tip the passenger into mental or emotional apoplexy. Does the First Amendment prohibit any effort by government-owned airport terminals to prevent such bumptious and infuriating solicitations? The U.S. Supreme Court should and will say "no" in the case brought by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness challenging a solicitation ban at Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON TIMBER HARVESTING AND THE SPOTTED OWL: BELLINGHAM, Wash., Jim LaCrosse, 65, retired: Each side has to give a little. Maybe they ought to keep federal lands as a sanctuary for the spotted owl. And on private land they ought to be able to log the older timber, with reseeding. We can't afford to lose many more jobs up here. I have friends who are loggers. PENSACOLA, Fla., Judi Emma, 36, teacher: I think the loggers should not be able to cut down trees in these forests and that the owls should be protected no matter what. The environment is the most important thing to protect. We have to start thinking that way or there won't be any planet left. MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis., Brad DeSplinter, 29, project engineer: I believe that we need to take the interests and concerns of people over a spotted owl. Perhaps the avid environmentalists should see if the spotted owl can be put in a different habitat. MUSKOGEE, Okla., Christine Wilson, 24, waitress: If the owls are getting to the point that they're going to be extinct, they need to put in an area where the owls can have their own space to live. It's fine for the logging to continue, but the owl should have its own space. GREAT NECK, N.Y., Carol Clarke, 51, high school principal: We had a similar issue involving the Pine Barrens on Long Island, where developers promised jobs but would have put the ecosystem at risk. An ancient forest can't be replaced. If the timber industry had been more balanced, it wouldn't be facing these problems. Issues & Debate Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM