When you read this account and then reflect on Enron and Worldcom etal, one does start to question the viability of morality/the right thing to do in todays society- GRANT ELLIOTT Ron Baalke wrote: > > http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1506081 > > Must've had rocks in their heads > By THOM MARSHALL > Houston Chronicle > July 23, 2002 > > Houston, we have a problem. > > What's the nation to do with those young people > accused of swiping and trying to peddle off pieces of the > moon and Mars? > > If these charges are true, what in heaven's name were > they thinking? Did they look at it as some big joke? Did > they envision themselves as actors in a movie -- The > Great Moon Rock Heist -- about how a gang of novices > outsmarts NASA security to make off with a 600-pound > safe containing lunar and meteorite samples? > > Or maybe they attempted to rationalize the shortcut to > personal profit as being no worse than shortcuts taken > by top execs of certain bankrupt corporations. > > Second thoughts in jail > > It might have seemed an exciting lark, right up until they > were arrested over the weekend. But don't you imagine > they started to have second thoughts while sitting in jail > and waiting for their shocked and disappointed folks to > bail them out? > > Shae Lynn Saur, 19, an engineering student at Lamar > University. How proud her family must have been of her > summer job at NASA. > > Tiffany Brooke Fowler, 22, a recent graduate of Texas > Lutheran University. She landed a NASA internship, no > doubt with plenty of recommendations from professors > who believed in her abilities and potential. > > Thad Ryan Roberts, 25, a graduate of the University of > Utah with a triple major. He worked at NASA's Neutral > Buoyancy Lab. Authorities fingered him as the main man > in the moon sample snatch, the leader of the gang. > > Gordon Sean McWhorter, 26, a college buddy of > Roberts'. He is the only one who did not work at NASA. > > The others no longer work there. They got fired on > Monday. A federal prosecutor in Florida said that > conviction on the charges they face carries up to five > years' hard time and/or a fine of up to $250,000. > > But that doesn't balance the scales of justice. Prison > terms and fines punish the perpetrators without repairing > the damage, without setting things right for the victims. > I'm one of the victims, same as every other U.S. citizen. I > want more than mere punishment. I'd like to see some > rehabilitation and some restoration. > > I called Tom Russell, a law professor at the University of > Denver and formerly of the University of Texas. He > teaches a course on restorative justice and said that > restorative justice methods could work well in this > national-level case, much as they work when applied to > community-level crimes like home burglaries or graffiti > painting. > > He said four questions should be asked: > > 1. Are they willing to hold themselves accountable? If > not, then we can forget the other three questions and > turn them over to the regular retributive justice system > for the hard time and/or big fine. > > 2. What was the harm done? In this case, Russell said, it > appears the harm was "the violation of a variety of > relationships of trust." The security breach was a harm > to others who work at NASA. Harm was done to the > relationship between NASA and the public that expects > NASA to protect our moon rocks. > > Discussing a breach of trust > > 3. What can be done to repair the harm? It isn't easy to > answer this one. Russell suggested a meeting of the > people who took the rocks with some people who work > at NASA and some representatives of the American > public, "and maybe a couple of Apollo astronauts," and > have them all discuss "what a large breach of trust this > was and how important these moon rocks are as > symbols of American history." > > 4. Who should repair the harm? "In this case, it's pretty > clear," Russell said. He said those who took the rocks > should return to their colleges and talk about what they > did. "And they should talk to Americans like me who > watched the first lunar landings." > > A restorative justice approach may strike you as a big > change, as thinking outside the box. If so, how fitting. > Making changes and thinking outside of boxes got us up > there in the first place, to gather those rocks, to take that > giant leap for mankind. > > Thom Marshall's e-mail address is > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
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