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Tuesday, April 30, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Questionable looks
Supreme Court's decision favors middle class; allows police to give chase for suspicion alone
If you are white, from a middle-class family and have not had many unwarranted encounters with the police, then last Wednesday's Supreme Court decision that allows police officers to chase people without reasonable suspicion may not seem like a big deal to you.
The 7-2 vote in favor of reinstating a five-year sentence on Hodari D, a California man who fleed at the sight of police and dropped crack cocaine rock during the chase, may seem justified.
However, the issue is not about his guilt, but rather the notion of chasing people just because they look suspicious.
If you come from an area where the police have a less than friendly reputation; if you, your family and your friends have been subjected to harassment, and the phrase "innocent until proven guilty" seems more theoretical than practical; or if you are Black, Hispanic or what is referred to as a minority, then the Supreme Court's decision seems to give the police carte blanche to chase you, and everyone else you know, on a whim.
Of course, it is not that every police officer is racially suspect. But in light of the Rodney King episode, it cannot be denied that relations between the police and certain ethnic groups are strained.
For the Supreme Court to bolster the power of the police so they can chase people on a hunch is a questionable decision. For every Hodari D, how many innocent people will be chased just because they seemed to be acting suspiciously? What redress will they have?
Those who argue that innocent people have no reason to run from the police should talk to those who have learned from bitter experience that it is not a good idea to hang around to find out if the officers coming toward you are from the "hit-first and ask-questions-later" school of ethics.
Clare McGinn for the editorial board
It is unfortunate that a few unfair officers have engendered so much fear and suspicion among certain communities. It is equally sad that the police find themselves on the defensive. It is understandable that they are frustrated by the vast diversity of crimes that they are trying to combat. But innocent people should have the right to move freely without the threat of being chased simply because they look suspicious.
The Supreme Court's decision will serve only to confirm the feelings of many people in this country that the law favors the white, middle class majority and that freedom is a relative concept.
NCAA regulations
Swimming coaches,athletes shouldn't complain
W whenever the NCAA passes legislation, it is almost inevitable that affected coaches and athletes will find something to complain about.
plain about.
The latest controversy, involving restrictions on required swimming practice times, is no exception.
The coaches complain of confusion about the role of the coach during the voluntary, supervised training. The NCAA defines supervision as spotting or providing safety or skill instruction. In effect, the coach, who is supervising, is also coaching.
The legislation, which will go into effect in August, limits required, supervised workouts to 20 hours a week in the 22-week college swimming season. Any workouts in excess of the 20 hours are voluntary and cannot be made mandatory.
Although the coaches may require only 20 hours of workout time a week, they can provide as many voluntary hours as they want. The NCAA allows coaches to be present at these voluntary practices,
Other Voices
Each time the NCAA enacts a new rule, the coaches spend much of their time trying to get around it. However, in this case, there is nothing to avoid. All the NCAA has done is to limit required practices for those student-athletes who need the extra time to study. After all, that is why they attend school.
and the athletes may use them if they wish. It appears to be a huge waste of time for coaches to argue for something that they already have.
NCAA coaches and athletes need to set an example by respecting the rules made by their governing body. Stanford's Janet Evans and Tennessee's Melvin Stewart dropped out of college last week rather than adhering to the new practice restrictions. If other athletes think that the available workouts in the NCAA are not adequate, maybe they should follow suit.
Juli Watkins for the editorial board
Journalists proffer different viewpoints about publishing the identities of rape victims
Certainly, when a rape victim voluntarily chooses to tell her story public and surrender her anonymity the press should use that opportunity to reveal the intimate, psychological trauma a victim suffers. But this newspaper thinks that the privacy of victims is precious and that any disclosure of their identities should be justified only in the context of an overriding public burden. If the victim's identity could be crossed simply for the benefit of competitive business considerations or to pander to the prudent curiosity of the consuming public.
From the Denver Post
- From the Arizona Republic
It is possible that the accuser would have received the same rough handling if her complaint had dealt with someone other than a Kennedy nephew — if the Palm Beach incident had involved, for example, the family of Newt Gingrich or Bob Dole. But when the police are fumbling an investigation this badly and the accusator is forced to perform high pressure spin control, it would behoove the U.S. press to behave with a good deal more judgment and restraint than some members of the media.
Committed as they are to the principle that people have the right to be informed fully on public issues, including crimes, most journalists are loath to withhold any information. But they also know that in some instances withholding certain information also can be in the public interest. The names of rape victims, in most cases, fall within that category.
The Des Moines Register, which won a Pulitzer Prize last week for its sensitive telling of a rape case by a woman who wanted her story and name known, reported what NBC and the Times had done and also named the woman. The Register offered no explanation for running her name.
Hogwash. Such self-serving statements or total lack of comment by the press does nothing but damage its credibility. How can naming the victim help the public make up its mind about the crime? Or how can we look at (at) a photograph determine guilt or innocence? Isn't that what answers are for?
Delaware County Daily Times, Primos, Pa
The woman who says she was victimized called the police, not the press. Yet she accused someone quite specific — William Kennedy Smith's name has been bandied about in the press for more than two weeks even though no charges have been filed against him — and she appears to be allowing friends to relate her version of what happened to the media. It remains our view, nonetheless, that her name should not be publicized. Rape is a highly invasive crime, and society — unfairly — persists in stigmatizing rape victims.
From the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch
From the New York Post.
One thing must stand clear above every other element in this controversy. Every publication, every broadcaster, every individual citizen in the United States has an absolute, inalienable right to vote, regardless of national origin. For the government to try to capture or cripple that right would be to destroy the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
Amendment. But the right does not make publication proper or decent.
From the Daily News, New York.
The stigma on rape victims is fading, but it's still there, and the publication of these people's names — often against their wishes — would seem to us to be a cruel and not a particularly effective way of combating it. It's hard to believe that more would increase the all-too large number of rapes that go unreported to police.
If a rape victim wishes to make her story known, and her name with it, there are usually ways of doing it. Others will be allowed to keep what privacy they can
- From the Washington Post.
USA Today's policy is not to publish her name unless she consents or her name becomes so commonly known that it would make little sense not to use it. A person who brings a charge of rape has no reason to feel shame, unless he or she knows it is false. And society should never blame any victim of any crime. But a Senate committee found that too many women fear even reporting rapes to the police. While 100,000 rapes were reported last year, up 6 percent from 1989, as many as 1.9 million raps went unreported. In those circumstances, the media must not make it any more difficult for women to report rapes by dragging all those who do under a public spotlight against their will. Rape must stop being a secret shame. To bring it out of the shadows, the media must encourage rape victims to talk, not frighten them into silence.
From USA Today
- Editorials reflect the opinion of the University Daily Kansan editorial board. Editorials appear in a box on the left side of the page. Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the board but not necessarily the opinion of the signed author.
Opinions expressed in guest and staff columns and cartoons are solely those of the author or artist. Views expressed in columns and cartoons are not necessarily shared by the Kansan.
Wording change weak
KU has decided to change the wording in its anti-discriminatory policy from "sexual preference" to "sexual orientation." For what reason? I would like to know, from anyone in a position to know these things, what specifically makes a person biologically gay or lesbian. Not merely a biological condition that most gays and lesbians have, but something that leaves the person with homosexuality free of that harm. My suspicion is that there isn't one but that the idea that people have no control in this matter is just wishful thinking.
Consider the implications of the concept that "sexual orientation" would have on other non-traditional sexual relationships.
People who have sex with children wouldn't be prosecuted if the child consents—after all, if a person has no control in the matter, what difference do it make whether the person is 6 or 60 years old? The court will determine how much child mean just as much if knowing about other types of sexual relationships is meaningless.
Rapists would be in the same position — if the rapist is oriented toward violence and sex but can't find anyone to consent, how can we look down upon him or her because of biological argues that he or she can't control? And when someone gives you advice on lifestyle because it's so unpopular' argument, think about these other situations and consider what that argument fully implies.
And if someone asked me, "Why did you choose to be a heterosexual?" I could honestly say that when I knew more than one lifestyle, I chose to be heterosexual. Although I wouldn't place as much importance on sex in a relationship as others, I still take pride in my decision, and it offends me that others — with no substantial evidence — dismiss my decision as inevitable. (What does inevitability imply about bisexuals? Does it mean that they have the biological condition only a little bit?) And although I don't believe that being gay or lesbian is a good thing, I have a lot more respect for a person who freely chooses his or her lifestyle than someone who refused to explore the circumstances leading up to his or her feelings about something as personal as his or her sexuality, but rather hiding behind a "that's the way it" mentality and taking offense when anyone questions the way the way or she has made. I find it very weak that these people think they cannot change something this close to them. If we can't change ourselves, what is there that we can?
Dan Amego Kansas City, Kan., sophomore
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