There is a lot going on in the news this week. We have a president who can’t find his zipper fast enough, yet another Middle-eastern terrorist who can’t decide which bomb to use on us next, falling global markets, and the threat of Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s resignation.

Aside from the national news, there is big news here in Iowa. (No, not the “Baywatch” wedding.) It’s Iowa’s sexual predator problem.

I am so tired of — week after week, month after month — spotting a three-paragraph article in the corner of the fifth page of the Des Moines Register (where everyone will be sure to spot it) warning local citizens that yet another sexual predator has been released into society.

These warnings let area residents know exactly who the criminal is, where they are living, and that … well … they are still considered a danger to society. Yes, that’s correct. The Iowa Department of Public Safety is freeing child abusers. They can now live and work in your neighborhood, possibly just a few blocks from your son or daughter’s bus stop or daycare. But hey — they’re warning you.

Over the summer, Iowa legislators decided to take action on this issue. They passed a new sexual predator law. This new law is modeled after a Kansas statute that was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1996. It went into effect on July 1, and it is focused on keeping offenders off the street after their sentences run out.

The first sex offender to be targeted by the new law is Elroy Morrow, 31, of Davenport. In a recent hearing, Scott County judge James Kelly determined probable cause to believe that Morrow is a sexually violent predator subject to civil confinement.

The new law provides that Morrow must be held for another trial in October that could land him in the Oakdale Medical and Classification Center near Iowa City for an indefinite amount of time.

Morrow’s release date, had the law not been passed, would have been yesterday. Thankfully, Morrow has — and hopefully will — continue to remain in confinement.

The really sad part is the length of Morrow’s record. He was convicted of third-degree sexual abuse in 1993 of a 13-year-old boy in Davenport. Also in 1993, Morrow was charged with sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy. That charge was dropped after Morrow pleaded guilty for molesting the another boy.

During 1990, Morrow was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a 9-year-old girl in Rock Island, IL. In 1986, Morrow was accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl. In this case, he was found mentally incompetent, and the charge was also dropped.

Altogether, Elroy Morrow is believed to have molested seven children between 1986 and 1993. Altogether, Elroy Morrow has been convicted twice and served five years in jail.

One would think, “Well, this new law is going to stop this. Now sexual predators will serve longer sentences and be kept off the streets so they can’t strike again.”

That’s a reasonable assessment, right?

Well, I was flipping through last Wednesday’s issue of the Des Moines Register when I read, “a sex offender considered at risk to re-offend has moved into a downtown apartment.”

Can someone, anyone, explain this to me? Anyone … Anyone? Bueller?

Mark Alan Jensen was convicted last year of a sex crime in Lucas County. Last year. He served one year, and that poor child will serve a lifetime.

Iowa DPS officials punish these offenders with a prison sentence that lasts as long as an Iowa State football winning streak.

Then, after their quick release, the DPS will publish a three paragraph blip of a warning hidden in the corner of the paper and think they are doing us a service.

Oh yeah, and they passed a new law designed to keep these sex offenders behind bars longer. And once in a while, they enforce it.

Apparently the Iowa DPS sees the logic in this.

Well, I don’t see the logic. I see a pathetic excuse for a Department of Public Safety patting each other on the back for enforcing a new law that’s as half-assed as installing a new scoreboard in Hilton Coliseum that doesn’t even tell the score.

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Sarah Leonard is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Lawler.