Hot button issues of yesteryear still making headlines

Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005 | 7:51 a.m.

"The group thought that capital punishment should be carried out in cases where a person is convicted of murder. The point was brought up by several people that the taxpayers should not have to pay to support such people for the rest of their lives when they are not worthy of living at all. It was also the feeling of most teenagers in our group that it would ease the problem of overcrowding in our jails." -- Demetrios Dalacas, Dec. 23, 1981

School: Western High

Sun Youth Forum year: 1981

Graduation: 1982

College: University of Southern California (1986), Thomas M. Cooley Law School (1997)

Occupation: Lawyer

Accomplishments: Admitted to the Nevada Bar (2000); a member of the Million-Dollar Advocates Forum (2005) for winning a personal injury/wrongful death judgment of greater than $1 million; member of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association

Demetrios Dalacas says that although two dozen years have passed since he wrote his Las Vegas Sun column about the discussions at the Sun Youth Forum, a number of issues that were debated remain unresolved.

"When I reread my column, I thought these are things I could have been reading about in newspapers in the last week," he said, noting that his group also had a heated debate over abortion.

Dalacas said a number of people in his group also felt at the time that the choice regarding abortion should not be limited to just the female -- a point with which he agreed when he was a senior in high school.

"My personal view has changed," he said. "I am now pro-choice and believe a woman has the right to do with her body what she wants."

But on the issue of capital punishment, Dalacas' viewpoint has not changed.

"I was pro capital punishment then and still am," he said. "My personal view has even expanded beyond murder to include extremely violent rapes and other crimes, especially when there are multiple victims."

Dalacas said what impressed him most about the forum was that so many students could get across interesting points of view on a variety of subjects in a single day.

"I think the biggest and most lasting impression I got is how much the teenagers were able to articulate their desires and concerns," he said.

"If you listen to the general public, many adults would say that teenagers just cause trouble and don't have much to say that is worthwhile. The kids who participate in the Sun Youth Forum have a lot of worthwhile things to say and they want to be heard."

As for the forum reaching its milestone birthday, Dalacas said: "I think it is incredible. I'd like to go to one in the future and just observe some of the discussion groups to see what they are talking about today."

Ed Koch can be reached at 259-4090 or at koch@lasvegassun.com.