monday, October 29, 1979
daily nebrsskan
pIDOjT!
Opsm, public crimieal trials should be law qff the land
The U.S. Supreme Court has
agreed to hear a case in which the
court may again attempt to settle the
question of whether judges may bar
the public and the press from
criminal trials.
The case selected by the Court is
from Virginia where a judge
excluded the public and press from a
murder trial. The judge acted on a
state law that gives a jurist discretion
to bar anyone from the court
provided the rights of the defendant
are not violated.
The order excluding the public
and press, when challenged by
newspapers, was upheld by the
Virginia Supreme Court. That court
referred to the July U.S. Supreme
Court decision stating that judges
could close pretrial hearings if the
defendant did not object.
The July case involved,
specifically, a New York pretrial
hearing, but the wording in Justice
Potter Stewart's majority opinion
made it seem to apply to trials as
well.
". . .We hold that members of the
public have no constitutional
right..to attend criminal trials," he
said.
Confusion resulted from the case
when other members of the high
court, split 54 in the decision,
disagreed in a series of public
statements. t
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
said it applied only to the pretrial
proceedings But Justice Harry A.
Blackman said Burger was wrong.
Since that July ruling, the
Reporters Committee for Freedom .
of the Press has reported more than
50 cases in which judges have closed
or tried to court proceedings. Some
of those cases involved trials.
This increasing number of closed
criminal proceedings is 'indeed
frightening. Precedents are being set
for massive denials of the publics
right to know what its judicial
system is doing.
And the public " does need to
know. Public trials are guaranteed by
the First (free speech and press) and
Sixth (fair trial) amendments so that,
among other things, our judical
system is never allowed to return to
the time when the rules favored the
rich over the poor, when the
defendant was tried without
knowing ot me cnarges against him,
wjien innocent people were jailed
and guilty were set free.
Nebraska residents in recent weeks
have been given first-hand evidence
that the open trials are vitally
necessary. By knowing exactly what
happened in the Erwin Charles
Simants trial the impetus has been
given for the development of a guilty
by reason of insanity verdict and for
an overhaul of Nebraska's entire
criminal justice system.
This is good and Nebraskanswill
benefit from it. The country will
benefit as well if the U.S. Supreme
Court, when considering this latest
case, makes it clear once and for all
that public trials are the law of the
land.
mm
In a recent letter it was noticed how modern day
psychics and Biblical prophecies are predicting upcoming
economic chaos and starvation in the USA. The letter
continued that we should feel a little uneasy about it.
Has anyone felt uneasy about the 60 million murdered
during the Chinese Civil War (Cultural Revolution) or how
about the 40 million as a consequence of the Soviet
Union, exterminated by starvation and slaughter?
How many people are talking about our responsibilities
as a "God fearing, in God we trust" society? This brings
- to my mind the Biblical story about Jonah's prophecy. '
God told the people their city was going to be de
stroyed because of their wicked ways. The people repent
ed for their sinful ways, changed their hearts, then God's
prophecy was reversed, the city was not destroyed.
Let's stop being so nearsighted, or self centered and
change ourselves, considering our responsibilities towards
the future. Are we going to let circumstances bury us of
our hope to accomplish a better world?
Consider, if God is alive and isour common parent, He
can help us in the struggle for freedom and justice for all.
It was God who inspired our founding fathers (and
mothers) to conceive of our God centered democracy.
Let's not abandon the mission we have inherited from
the past. Our ancestors sacrificed their blood, sweat and
tears so the next generation could have a better life. I fear
that many people feel that during this crucial time in his
tory we can sit back and things will take care of them
selves. What about the thousand Cuban school teachers, be
ginning to teach youngsters in Nicaragua, Nov. 1? What
ideals will those children have 10 years from now?
Atheistic, idealist young doctors and engineers and
teachers working for $30 a month, in a country not even
their own. Do we as Americans have that dedication to
the development of the world? We have the best of every
thing except the sacrificial spirit that got this country
where it is today.
Americans, we must return to the sacrificial spirit of
giving, on an international level, only then can we face
and overcome the challenges facing us today,
John Raineri
C.A.R.P Director
Sophomore, Journalism
Pro-education
Mr. Schwartzkopf:
As you have said that the regents have no information
other than what they see in the student paper about the
libraries shorter hours (Daily Nebraskan Oct. 25) and
since friends have said their personal letters to regents are
not always answered, I thought you might enjoy a bit of
enlightenment from a student in that student newspaper.
In regards to the article let me quickly begin by agreeing
with your views on ACT-SAT selective admissions as
stated. . j
Now, if the regents should listen equally to student and
administration proposals as you state, I assume you
believe our positions are relatively equal or at least that
are proposals are equally valid. If this is so, will you tell
our administration not to bring their petitions or anything
else before the Board of Regents that we the students
don't favor, wont you? We wouldn't want to be
responsible for having to follow a policy we have no voice
in especially if our administration has a voice in ours. If
harmony in policy making and implementation is a goal,
then give us all rights to consultation so freely given to
our administration. If not, do not hamstring our freedom
of action by asking us to respect the administration s view
if we are in turn not allowed to have our views command
their equal respect. Continued on Page 5
6XP6CT FOR. 7Tpu '
12eRANPAT Vjr Czf
rill ILL s3' i fll
Sweet revenge is a pie in the eye
After the phenomenal success of Animal Home last
year, Newsweek ran a story on college humor,
The story said in part because of Animal House, college
humor was making a tremendous comeback. I found this
hard to believe because I didn't know it had faded away.
The article went on to say that the raucous college
pranks of days gone by had vanished. But Animal House
changed that.
Last Wedsday night, there was a prank so humorous,
so typically collegiate, that it deserves to be shared with
others. But first some background is necessary,
If you read the personals, you might have seen the ad
for Pie Head Inc. The purpose of this group was to hit
people in the face with pie for a fee. Usually $3.
They would usually travel in twos or threes and s6me
times would wear trenchcoats to add to their mystique.
To set up a "hit", all that needed to be done was to call
and give the information on who was to be hit and pay
cash in advance.
I don't know how busy their business was, but for a
friend of mine they were too busy.
HE GOT NAILED with a pie on two separate
occasions. He thought it was funny, yet he was a little
mad. He decided not to vent his mad feelings. But, he did
decide to get even.
What ensured was the greatest con job since The Sting.
My friend who was hit with the pies called in a hit for
his roommate. But, his roommate was not the real target.
The guys throwing the pies were.
He figured if he could get them up to the hallway of
7200 Selleck, it would be possible to ambush them and
gain some humorous revenge.
The hit was targeted for last Wednesday night at 10:30.
Wednesday dawned right and early like all dawns
should and throughout the day anticipation for the Pearl
Harbor-like attack grew,
That night around 8, the man in charge of the attack,
whose name must be kept secret for national security
reasons, began organizing the troops.
"THIS IS A one shot deal. These guys are coming into
the trap and we can't afford to mess up," he said ,
At 10 p.m., the floor was quiet. At 10: 10 p.m. a stereo
was turned on to make it sound more like the noisy floor
it is. At 10:20 p.m. all waited in their respective "fox
holes" for the signal.
And promptly at 10:30 p.m., the bad guys arrived.
When they knocked on the assigned do6r, the Com
mander, who had stationed himself in the hallway,
attempted to push the pies back into the intruder's face
and yelled for the others.
Seven or . eight guys armed with whipped cream and
shaving cream pies spilled out of the south bathroom
effectively closing the closet exit, the south stairway,
Five or six guy: charged out of the television lounge,
which blocked off the passage to the north. Trapped in a
no man's land, the two Pie Headers were pummeled with
pies.
OTHER FLOOR MEMBERS emerged from their
rooms and tossed pies.
The attack lasted no longer than 20 seconds. Yet, in
that time the pies from the guys on 7200 had smothered
the guys from Pie Head and probably broadened their
knowledge of the phrase "equal time."
The hallway looked like a Cool Whip factory that went
BOOM. v
They resembled the Pittsburgh Pirate after winning
the World Series. All that was missing was a stereo blaring
Sister Sledge's "We Are Family "
As a crowd gathered to watch clean up efforts, I was
glad college humor was "back." It helps keep us humor
. columnists busy. .