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Trial draws students’ notice

By Daily Bruin Staff

Feb. 2, 1995 9:00 p.m.

Trial draws students’ notice

Professor cites racial conflicts, abuse as issues at stake in
case

By Tatiana Botton

Some students say he’s guilty, others say he is not. But
regardless of their judgment, some students are finding themselves
drawn to television coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial.

Since the "Trial of the Century" started last week, TV sets
across the campus have attracted viewers at times they never
watched before.

"Since the trial started, there are a few more people watching
TV in the mornings when usually the TV room is empty," said Jean
Stroud, office manager at the Cooperage.

Some UCLA students think the media coverage of the trial is
exaggerated, while others proclaim that they just do not care.

And many said they just like to sit in front of the television
screen and have something to watch while eating.

"I don’t watch TV very often, but to sit here in front of the TV
allows me to have lunch and at the same time watch the news. But
concerning the O.J. Simpson trials, it’s not that important to me,
and I think it’s time to move on," said Seth Robinson, a
second-year cellular microbiology student.

Many UCLA classes have even incorporated the trial into their
class.

"In my biology class, when we studied the DNA, we talked about
what was happening at the trial on this subject," Robinson
said.

But even if many are not interested by the trial, students may
know someone who is.

"I didn’t really look at the trial, because right now I have
exams. But one of my roommates is a fanatic and she watches it all
the time. I remember when everything started, she made me drive by
the Simpson’s house," said Lanissa Rochon, a fifth-year cybernetics
student.

Some students are also eager to voice their opinions on the case
­ especially in relation to the trial’s media coverage.

"O.J. is a famous, rich and good-looking person, and this a
trial of a big magnitude. That’s why everybody wants to watch it,"
said Tyrone Chisolm, a third- year economics major. The different
television channels are covering the trial because if they don’t
cover it, their ratings go down."

As a response to that, Ivonne Beltzer, the producer of the 6
p.m. news at KNBC said, "Our benchmark is to make our typical
rating, not (to do) what everybody does, and we have done pretty
well since the trial started.

"Right now the trial just started, so people are interested. But
in general, trials are not exciting and people are getting
saturated," she added.

With many stations covering the same trial, viewers are
beginning to choose news stations on the basis of who employs their
favorite TV journalist.

"We basically put what people ask us to put on. But concerning
the trial, students seem to prefer CNN," Stroud said.

The media have been following Simpson since the double murder
occurred in June 1994. But Simpson’s fans were following him before
that when he was a football player.

"People knew him at a mythological level in the ’70s when he was
a football player, and now they still want to know about him. O.J.
is still highly regarded by many Americans because of his
popularity at that time," said Lew Hunter, a professor in the UCLA
School of Film and Television, and also a friend of O.J.
Simpson.

Hunter wrote a television pilot in the early ’80s called
"Bachelors: free, male and miserable," for Simpson. He also wrote a
TV movie, "Goldy and the Boxer go to Hollywood," starring
Simpson.

The first wave of intense media coverage was last summer after
the crime, and now we are on the second wave of the trial, Beltzer
said.

Many issues are at stake in this case, from racial conflicts to
abused women, Hunter said.

"O.J. Simpson has all the ingredients of a good story; there is
love, tragedy, crime and jealousy ­ it simply works," he
said.

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