To the Editor:
I am not connected to Dartmouth and I am not quite sure why the murders of your two professors has so disturbed me -- perhaps it is the complete "unmerited" quality to the occurrence. But, in keeping the grieving community in mind, it seems to me worth putting into words to you that the question of human conscience arises. The two accused are very young; of such an age as to put into debate "what is the age of responsibility." The two murdered professors cared very deeply about guiding and contributing to the lives of students even older than the accused in the belief that influence mattered at even that age (18 -- 22 and older). Lives are being set on a course. To my thinking, it isn't about "saving" the accused as resuscitating collapsed capacity for human beingness. What good does it do for us, society at large, to simply put away, at enormous monetary cost, yet two more human beings who have no reason to be alive?
They may pay with their memories of what they did, the pain to their parents and their community and, probably, although we cannot know, the pain of their victims and the victims' families and friends. The pain that it cannot ever be undone. So, perhaps part of what is owed is full disclosure of motive (if that is even known to them themselves) so that we can understand and therefore, have another clue as to how to heal the society, the culture we live in because this hurts us all. So, perhaps 10 to 15 years to really solidly be rehabilitated.
