Thursday, November 2, 1967
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
This court will listen to students
Got a traffic ticket you're sure you didn't deserve but nobody will listen?
The Student Court will.
Students have been taking what they consider unfair traffic tickets to court since 1936 when the court became a part of student organization.
The Student Court, the disciplinary committee and the newly created Board of Disciplinary Appeals are the judiciary branch of the Associated Students.
Although the most common cases heard by the Student Court are appeals to get traffic tickets and fines dismissed, the Court also has jurisdiction over smoking violations and over disputes between students and student groups.
Meets in Green Hall
Chief Justice Wayne J. Zuck, Shawnee Mission law student, said about 15 to 20 per cent of the traffic ticket cases presented to the court each Tuesday night in the Green Hall court room are granted in favor of the student. He said the most common cases involve students whose cars were ticketed for being in the wrong zone or restricted area and the ones dismissed involve cases where the car was in the area because of an emergency such as a flat tire or some mechanical failure.
"The Student Court acts as a safety valve for students, and relieves the administration's tedium and anxiety of having a steady stream of complaints that results from having such closed and strictly regulated parking," Zuck said.
When a student wishes to appeal a traffic ticket, he has 10 days to fill out an appeal form at the Traffic and Security Office in Hoch Auditorium and deposit it there. The form is sent to the Student Court reporter who sends the student at least two notices giving him a date he may appear. The date is usually within three weeks of the time he files the appeal. The student then goes to the Law School office and signs the docket to appear.
Attorney assigned
The night he appears the student is assigned an attorney, usually a first or second year law student, who uses his appeal form for information about the case. His case is tried and a decision made by the three justices who preside over the trial court.
If not satisfied with the results, the student defendant may appeal his case to the court en banc. All seven justices sit in review of the case in ti's court. If unsatisfied with this court's decision, the
student may appeal his case to the disciplinary committee and then to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals.
Zuck said a case rarely goes beyond the Student Court en banc because most cases are about traffic violations.
An unusual case brought before the court in the fall of 1965 was allowed by the administration to be under the jurisdiction of the Student Court as a special case.
'Breach of contract'
Three students sought an injunction against the athletic department for charging $5 for reserve seats for basketball games. The students won and the athletic department was not allowed to charge students for game admission because the student registration cards and other University information was printed to say that admission would not be charged.
"The students were charging a breach of contract relationship by the administration," Zuck said. "Subsequent to that case, the fee cards were reprinted to say the University can admit students 'at such rates (if any) as may from time to time be charged to Film Series . . . and intercollegiate athletic events—within the limit of seats made available."
About 12 cases are tried each Tuesday.
"We've found that most students are truthful," Zuck said. "The campus officer issuing the ticket never appears. The University's side in the case is presented by a student prosecuting attorney. The Student Court doesn't have power to subpoena University employees and it would be impractical for them to appear."
First case in 1936
The first case tried by the Student Court in 1936 was the investigation and subsequent trial of August Anneberg who allegedly threw a tear gas bomb at a peace mobilization, April 22, 1936. Anneberg denied participation in the affair. Conflicting testimony made a second trial necessary, and finally Anneberg was absolved of all blame on May 11.
In 1943 six students were penalized for inciting a "mass meeting of students protesting the shortened vacation causing a mob which swept through the halls of the University, breaking up classes, and generally preventing any work that day."
The penalty was not announced, but it may have included "taking away hours from the students, taking away grade points or expulsion from the University."
KU African faces money shortage
Insufficient funds and a staff shortage are problems confronting the KU African, a monthly student publication about Africa and African students, according to Swaebou Conateh, Gambia senior and managing editor.
The budget of the year-old publication, was set at $700 for this year, but so far, staff members have raised less than $200—despite a sustained fund drive through personal calls and by mail, Conateh said.
At least $500 of the budget is expected to be raised from reader subscriptions and donations. The remaining $200 is hoped to come from dues paid by staff members.
Conateh said a shortage of staff
members arises from the fact that the publication is heavily staffed by Africans, most of whom will leave KU at the end of the academic year.
Also, African students tend to shy away from the publication because they are not studying journalism, he said.
"That is unfortunate, but since most of the original founders were in journalism, we are now stuck with that image," Conatch said.
He added that some members of the staff are in other fields of study, such as English, political science and even in engineering sciences.
In 1961 the Student Court ruled that the All Student Council (ASC) election committee recount freshman election votes.
Two Americans also are currently on the staff, Conchae said.
Sixth amendment
A 1963 case resulted in the mandatory signing of traffic tickets by the officer issuing them. A third year law student brought the case saying that if the recipient of the traffic citation does not know the name of the accuser (in this case the traffic officer), the sixth amendment under the U.S. Bill of Rights is violated.
than law students served on the court. He said since there are only about eight women in the Law School, it is not a practical matter that women be on the court. However, Zuck said, recently interest has been shown by a woman law student and she may be appointed at a later date.
The chief justice is chosen by the student body president with the advice of the dean of the Law School, the past chief justice and the vote of the law student members of ASC. Associate justices are appointed by the student body president who leans heavily on the recommendations of the chief justice, Zuck said.
"Justices come up through the ranks," Zuck said. "They start out as lawyers, usually serving one semester as prosecuting attorneys representing the University and one semester representing the student defendant."
Although the constitution of the ASC says "both men and women shall be represented on the court at all times" Zuck said this pertained to the years before the early 1950s when students other
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