bian Gay Bisexual Programs Office. Locatedrnin the Michigan Union, LGBPOrnprovides educational programming andrnevents, information and referral services,rnsupport groups, a resource library, arnspeaker’s bureau (one doubts, somehow,rnthat speakers not openly homosexualistrnwould be scheduled), mentorship forrnnew students, faculty and staff, etc. Thern”resources” it furnishes include OUTspoken,rna locally published gay, lesbian,rnbisexual, and transgender monthly newspaper.rnI picked up a copy of the Novemberrnissue from a literature rack in the Divisionrnof Student Affairs front office. Itrndenounces the “radical Christian rightwing”rnand “arch-homophobe SenatorrnJesse Helms” and deplores the banningrnof Heather Has Two Mommies in schools.rnA feature article purports to explode “thernChristian nation fallacy.” There are alsornlesbian comics, a calendar of events, andrnItrnOll llilrnliieiids 01 leldlivesrnwho may enjoyrnChronicles,rnplease send us theirrnnames andrnaddresses.rnWe would bernpleased to sendrnthem arncomplimentaryrnissue!rnso on. LGBPO’s booklet of area resourcesrnfor lesbians, gays, and bisexuals,rnavailable on the same rack as OUTspoken,rnmendaciously claims impartialityrnwith a disclaimer on its back cover: “Publicationrnof listings in this guide is done asrna public service and does not imply endorsementrnor affiliation.” Really?rnThe university’s general funds budgetrnfor the Ann Arbor campus budgetedrn$124,343 for LGBPO m fiscal vear 1990-rn91, rising to $135,008 m fiscal 1994-95.rnTo put this in perspective, in fiscal 1990-rn91 Student Services had a general fundsrnbudget of only $89,362 for the Officernof Ethics and Religion. Meanwhile, thernCollege of Literature, Science and thernArts budgeted $1,118,897 for ClassicalrnStudies and $59,591 for Judaic Studies.rnIn fiscal 1994-95 the general funds figuresrnfor these programs are: ClassicalrnStudies, $2,098,680; Judaic Studies,rn$70,792, and the Office of Ethics andrnReligion, nothing—it disappeared fromrnthe general funds budget in 1993-94.rnIn 1990-91 state appropriations werern43.6 percent of the Ann Arbor campus’srngeneral funds budget, meaning taxpayersrnpaid $54,514 for the Lesbian GayrnBisexual Programs Office. For 1994-95,rnthe state taxpayers’ share was 37.3 percent,rnso their share in funding LGBPOrnwas $49,612. The figures are less importantrnthan the principle. Michigan taxpayersrnare being forced to finance a militantrnideology of sexual perversion, whichrnfew of them endorse.rnIf how an institution spends its moneyrnreveals its priorities, and common sensernsays it does, the University of Michigan isrnmore concerned with providing “support”rnfor student perversity than withrnproviding ethical and religious counsel,rnand legitimizing perversion is more importantrnthan studying the history andrnculture of the people who gave us Mosesrnand monotheism.rnJudging from the lack of outrage overrnall this, most Michigan taxpayers eitherrnhave no idea this is happening or don’trncare. Nor, one suspects, do the alumni,rnthousands of whom send the universityrnmillions of dollars every year, and hundredsrnof whom make the pilgrimage torntown every fall, with their flutteringrnMichigan car pennants, Michiganrnsweatshirts and block-letter M andrn”Go Blue!” buttons. Their awareness ofrnwhat’s going on at their alma mater seldomrngoes beyond their beloved Michiganrnfootball. One only hopes that somernof these happy strollers down memor}’rnlane swung also by the Grad Library onrntheir way to or from the stadium.rnJohn Attarian is a freelance writer in AnnrnArbor, Michigan.rnLetter FromrnAlabamarnb} Jeffrey TuckerrnCrime and MoonshinernThe jurors who tried the 14-year-oldrnblack boy who shot and killed three widowsrnlast year, one of them my own dearrnneighbor, found him guilty and gave himrnseveral life terms. By law, he got thernmaximum. He is too young for therndeath penalty. It is beyond me. If yournare old enough to murder, you are oldrnenough to pay the ultimate price.rnAs it stands, this sentence did not settlernmatters. Three Christian women arerndead, and nobody reallv believes his punishmentrnwill deter a future case. Death,rnquickly and publicly inflicted, mightrnhave. But not a lifetime of living at taxpayerrnexpense in the prison community.rnA year after the ghastly incident, thernlocal newspaper finally printed the fullrnstory. The boy walked into the indoorrnflea market, demanded money from thernowner behind the register, then shot her.rnHe did the same to a shopper, and anotherrnshopper ran out the front. Myrnneighbor, the only other person in thernstore still alive, turned toward the boyrnand said: “You’re doing the Devil’s work;rnstop in the name of Jesus!” He shot herrnin the head. She stumbled to the back ofrnthe store where she lay until the ambulancerncame. She died on the way to thernhospital.rnThe boy had excuses. He lost his cool.rnHe needed some money. When hisrnfriends asked if he had ever killed anyone,rnhe was embarrassed to say no. No, arnlife in prison is not justice.rnTragedy has been central to Southernrnhistory for 135 years, so people havernlearned how to face it squarely whilerncontaining its repercussions. DowntownrnOpelika, for example, where the old railroadrnstation still stands, was the scenern36/CHRONICLESrnrnrn