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From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin )
Newsgroups: net.college,net.misc
Subject: Re: Suicide Pills at Brown Univ.
Message-ID: <5424@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 22-Oct-84 13:37:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.5424
Posted: Mon Oct 22 13:37:36 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Oct-84 06:04:39 EDT
References: <677@pucc-i> <672@utastro.UUCP>
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab
Lines: 31

>  The dangers involved in having a stockpile
> of that crap lying around on a college campus should be
> obvious even to a Brown undergraduate.

I've seen the above opinion expressed more than once; my wife even made a
similar statement after hearing a news item about the Brown vote. The
problem is that it is nonsense. Even if Brown bought a stock of cyanide
(or whatever) pills [though they have clearly stated that they would not],
having them on hand is no more danger than all the stuff now on-hand; look in 
any chem lab, janitor's locker, gardener's storeroom, or a dozen other
places -- there you will find many deadly poisons, probably enough in any
one site to wipe out the entire campus population if administered effectively.

There would be no more "danger" or security involved in storing such stuff
at the student health center than there is now, with the usual assortment
of drugs you'll find in any pharmacy.

What the students SHOULD have been asking for is that the university
issue them the pills, so that they can carry them around with them ALL
THE TIME. For such a pill to be worthwhile, you would need to have it with
you when the bomb hits, not expect to root around in the charred
wreckage of the remains of the Student Health Center for the appropriate
bottle! What better way of emphasizing the immediate dangers of 
nuclear war than to carry your suicide pill at all times? (This is not
to say that I agree with their position or not; I am advising about
the most effective propaganda tactic here.) Of course, the University
never would have done it (just as they won't stock the pills); some
idiot or psycho would have either taken one, or fed it to someone
else, and the University would be eventually held liable, with many
resources wasted in court fights and damages. The practical aspects
are unimportant; this is a symbolic thing, of course.