4A
Friday, October 6, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: OFF-FIELD BEHAVIOR
Athletes are not above the law
Publicity of a few popular athletes and their criminal behavior has opened the door to a growing societal problem. Amateur and professional athletes maintain celebrity status and need to be held accountable for their actions.
Many athletes long have been given Carte Blanche with their liability for actions in exchange for the monetary value they add to their respective teams. In a day and age when violence and crime are becoming more prevalent and intolerable, something needs to be done to correct this.
The role model status that many athletes possess needs to be turned toward improving their image and not tearing it down by inappropriate actions.
The media plays a large part in this perception because of the detailed coverage of athletes. At the same time, athletes need to be aware of the responsibility that comes
Coaches should levy additional penalties to athletes convicted of criminal activity, not provide amnesty.
with being a celebrity.
In addition, coaches are responsible for their athletes and need to be prepared to levy additional penalties — beyond those rendered by the courts — against athletes who are found guilty of breaking the law. Athletes should not receive amnesty from coaches for the crimes they commit. If a coach cannot run a clean program or take responsibility for his or her athletes' actions and deal with transgressors, perhaps he or she should not run a program at all.
Amateur and professional athletes are celebrities. This status, however, should not make them exempt from the law but should be used to make them more accountable to the law.
CHRIS VINE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
OPINION BRIEFS
Students should visit festival
This week, the Lawrence Harvest of Arts Festival offers KU students a variety of ways to enjoy the area's diverse artistic talent. The festival, which ends Sunday, includes guided art tours, children's activities, and a medley of music, poetry and dance.
their work. As a result, both artists and patrons are united in a mutually beneficial environment.
The festival is an ideal opportunity to appreciate many different kinds of art for free. For artists, the festival provides a welcome forum to display
Additionally, this year's Harvest of Arts will be joined by the Celebration of Cultures Festival. By offering both cultural and artistic exhibitions, the festivals cater to the wide interests of an assortment of people. Consequently, the joining of the two only can encourage a greater appreciation for artistic and cultural diversity in the Lawrence community.
KANU needs financial support
The future of Lawrence public radio is in your hands. KANU-FM 91.5 will have its semi-annual on-air pledge drive Oct. 13-21.
KANU will run its pledge drive for the first time from an empty storefront at the Riverfront Plaza mall. A donation of $30 per year will establish membership. Members are informed of coming events throughout the year, and they also receive a program guide. Donations of any amount
are always welcome.
KANU is the home of the Imagination Workshop which is a live radio comedy that is broadcast yearly from Liberty Hall. Imagination Workshop is carried on more than 100 stations across the country and has been featured on "60 Minutes." A contribution to KANU will help keep these programs and others that are purchased through National Public Radio on the air.
To pledge your donation, visit the mall or call: 838-9700.
KANSAN STAFF
COLLEEN MCCAIN
Editor
DAVID WILSON
Managing editor, news
ASHLEY MILLER
Managing editor, planning & design
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
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Editorial ... Heather Lawrentz
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Associate Staff ... Mike West
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Associate Campus ... Paul Todd
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Wire ... Robert Allen
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STEPHANIE UTLEY
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MATT SHAW
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JAY STEINER
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CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
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Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Meredith Healing
Regional mgr ... Tom Dace
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Special Sections mgr ... Heather Nishaus
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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Got a beer and a psych class? Let's talk O.J.
I have been waiting patiently to write about this train wreck that people call the "Trial of the Century" until all the smoke cleared, and the jurors signed off on their book deals. So, time is up. What a gig this thing was for the last year. Does anyone not have an opinion about this thing? Y'all decided that question months ago. According to CNN, ABC and everyone else with a microphone and too much time on his hands, white folks had him convicted and African-American folks had him acquitted. So, what's the big deal? Well, let's try to be a little more analytical about it.
Will Ron Goldman's dad find his need for vindication satisfied after he works out a deal with Pizza Hut to make those cheese-filled crust commercials with The Juice?
Everyone who has ever watched a movie of the week knows that the standard to convict a defendant in a criminal trial is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. So-called experts, known to you and me as law professors, boil this down to a percent, say 99 percent. Jurors who are presented evidence convincing them beyond a reasonable doubt (99 percent sure) should convict.
Tough standard. Except that you know and I know that reasonable doubt for one guy, say a rough looking dude, who, well, looks so guilty with that tattooed swastika on his forehead, works out to maybe 51 percent. However, we'll give a regular looking guy, who may be gully because he wouldn't be there if he wasn't, but we'll give him a chance anyway, around an 85 percent.
Will Johnnie Cochran's obvious colorblindness, as evidenced by his choice of shirt and tie combinations, ever be cured?
STAFF COLUMNIST
Unfortunately, we'll be reading and listening to that crap, from people like myself for months. Theories about this and conspiracies about that. Junk. Don't listen to it. The juice went through the system, and it gave him a clean bill of health. End of story.
The Juice is an 85 percent guy.
Maybe less. It doesn't matter, though, because The Juice bought himself up to 99 percent, the theoretical limit. He could afford as much justice as the law would allow. It's pretty simple: The Juice didn't buy himself justice, he just bought himself a
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Will they ever find the true killer of Nicole and Ron?
So what does really count? The unanswered questions, of course.
Will The Juice end up with a show on cable or a network?
Will Vegas run an over/under line on the number of appearances the 12 jurors make on Ricki, Oprah and Geraldo?
Will Judge Ito get Wapner's slot, or will they create "The Criminal's Court?"
better shot at justice. At 99 percent, the jury didn't buy it. Frankly, the 85 percent Juice would have gotten off, too. That's the way the system is supposed to work. When you don't have the evidence, you don't get the conviction.
Will Marcia Clark find domestic bliss?
Will LA. County put its upcoming murder trials on pay-per-view in order to cut into the $$ million tab from The Juice's prosecution?
Of course, what really counts is the event itself, the three-ring circus that hopefully will be captured forever in the next generation's American history textbooks and used later by advanced civilizations to mark the genesis of the collapse of the United States empire. That little question, "What do you think about the O.J. trial?" was an open invitation for barstool soliloquy everywhere. Every knucklehead, including me, with a beer in one hand and a semester's worth of psych behind him could pose questions about race, fame, murder and the criminal justice system.
John Martin is a second-year law student from Lawrence
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Column only discusses welfare myths, not truths
Amy McVey's column from Sept. 26, calling for "receipts for welfare users" is a good example of myth posing as fact, as anecdote masquerading as truth. I suggest that McVey provide clear evidence for her lengthy "...example of an ugly misuse of government funds."
Granted, hers is an opinion column, but she has a responsibility to provide substantiation for the allegations she makes and the examples she provides.
and invented Meagan, her two children, her alcoholic boyfriend and the new car in which they supposedly all drive
Ironic here is the fact that poverty in the United States, as well as the welfare system, are social conditions demanding analysis. They are social conditions calling for critical thinking. And they are social conditions requiring substantive debate.
My guess is that she sat at her word processor, sipped a Diet Pepsi, munched on some pretzels,
McVey's column could offer a good opportunity for structuring such a discussion. She opts, however, for the easy way out, with her simplistic, reflexive, insulting story. She gives little credit to her readers, while she reinforces trite stereotypes and contributes
absolutely nothing to the understanding of pressing social problems.
Elizabeth Day
Elizabeth Day Kansas City, Kan. graduate student
How to submit letters
All letters should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Heather Lawrenz, editorial editor, or Sarah Morrison, associate editorial editor, at 864-4810.
Regardless of verdict, O.J. is no longer an American hero
Everyone has an opinion on whether O. J. Simpson got away with murder Tuesday. Like everyone else, I have my own thoughts about whether he killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. In this case, it's irrelevant. No matter what I have to say about it, the
instant I reveal my opinion a significant percentage of people with the opposite viewpoint immediately will ignore everything else I have to say. O. J has managed to polarize folks as intensely as the tired debates about capital punishment and abortion.
This trial, no matter how you
feel about the outcome, has had some important effects on American society. Racism reared its ugly head with the disgusting speeches of Mark Fuhrman. Bob Dole can stomp his feet and protest as long and as loudly as he wants, but racism is still alive and well in this country no matter what the anti-affirmative action pundits say.
Is it surprising that a predominantly African-American jury found it hard to swallow the arguments of the Los Angeles Police Department? I really can't fault the jury for dismissing the prosecution's so-called "mountain of evidence" because I can in no way imagine what it must be like to be an African-American person living in a city where the police who are supposed to protect you are a bunch of Aryan Nations wannabes, and where the memory of the Rodney King beating is as bone-chillingly clear as ever.
Another result of the trial is that domestic violence has been talked about more than ever before but still not with the passion and intensity of the race debate. I don't want to dismiss the very obvious racism that was displayed by some Los Angeles officials in this trial, but why is it that when the race card is played against the gender card, the gender card always loses? Why wasn't there more public outrage at the revelation that one of America's best-loved sports figures was an abusive husband? Was I the only person on the planet who was horrified upon hearing Nicole's terrified, sobbing 911 call when O. J. was terrorizing her in 1993? Whether he committed the murders or not, O. J. Simpson does not deserve the hero status to which he has been elevated by football fans and trial groupies.
O. J. Simpson is a batterer — a proven, brutal, unrepentive wifebater — and the not guilty verdict doesn't erase that fact. I guess it would have taken a guilty verdict for some people to accept that O. J. is anything less than a swell guy and a racial tension poster boy. For people to continue to cheer for this misogynist jerk proves that a woman's life still has a price on it in this country — and in this case, that price may well have been the $8 million O. J. spent on the dream team.
At least now our television habits can get back to normal (at least until the Mendendez brothers' retrial starts up), and the attorneys and jurors and Judge Ito can take a well-deserved vacation. The trial is over, and O. J. is free to continue his life. We shouldn't forget, however, that two fewer people in the world — Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson — have that option.
Chris Hampton in a Lawrence graduate student in higher education.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin