Baseline killer guilty, could face capital punishment

Pass

The 2006 muder spree of the man known as the “Baseline Killer” claimed nine lives, and it soon may claim his as well. Mark Goudeau was found guilty of 67 of the 72 counts he faced linked to the murders. Goudeau had already been convicted and sentenced to a 438-year prison sentence for a connected crime in which he raped a woman while pointing a gun at her sister, but the prosecution sought nine murder charges so that he would be eligible for the death penalty, as reported by the Arizona Daily Star. Regardless of opinions on capital punishment, Goudeau needed to face trial for his heinous crimes. Finally, the victims’ families can experience some form of closure. A passing grade is handed out to the jury and the prosecution for bringing Goudeau to justice.

‘Occupy’ movement unsure about the homeless

Incomplete

Despite the possible comparisons, most of the participants in the “Occupy” demonstrations aren’t homeless. They’re choosing to live in these parks as a statement, not as a necessity. They’re doing it for their cause, not because they have nowhere else to go. However, they are inevitably accompanied by actual homeless people. More and more homeless Americans have joined the “Occupy” movement’s locations reportedly not because they have an interest in the cause, but because it means a bit of an easier existence. One homeless man, interviewed by The New York Times, said he preferred the site of the movement in Los Angeles (located in front of City Hall) because it was more comfortable than the sidewalk in Hollywood and safer than the homeless colony called “Skid Row.”

However, according to the same Times story, protesters are uncertain about how to distance themselves or embrace the homeless. Another unanswered question and element of the “Occupy” movement has come about. Although the demonstrators have been badgering lawmakers and big wigs to make decisions to make lives better, it looks like they need to make a unified choice on how to approach the homeless problem. Either embrace them as more supporters who epitomize the harsh reality all of them could face, or distance themselves from the homeless as squatters to their cause. Until it actually settles on an approach, the “Occupy” movement gets an incomplete.

Cain feeling election pain

Fail

Herman Cain, a Republican primary candidate for president, has started to feel the temperature of a heated campaign rise. Politico.com recently reported that Cain was accused of sexual harassment while serving as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. There are reports that the incidents resulted in settlements, although Cain both confirms and denies this. Cain told reporters in Washington that he had been falsely accused of harassment and that he was unaware of settlements. Then, during an interview with Fox News, he said that some sort of settlement resulted from one of the cases.

All in all, the accusations come from anonymous sources, as Cain is happy to point out. The allegations fit together only loosely and there are holes in the story still waiting to be filled in with specifics. Regardless, it doesn’t detract from the bumbling job Cain has done thus far to squash the problem. Cain is not even in the absolute thick of the primary election, let alone the general election, and his skeletons have already started crawling out of the closet. If he can make it through the primary, this story is certain to blow up when he faces a full-on barrage of background checks in a general election. Expect more details to come to light if and when he has locked up the Republican primary (if the story doesn’t blow up before then). For fumbling before the theoretical game even started, Cain gets a fail. Looks like it’s back in the kitchen to whip up a new recipe for damage control.

—Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Kristina Bui, Storm Byrd, Nicole Dimtsios and Steven Kwan. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.