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Tuesday, February 2, 1999

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Long locks keep student from court

Thumbs down to Nebraska’s Lancaster County Attorney, Gary Lacey,
for forbidding a student from arguing a misdemeanor case in court
because of his long hair.

Lacey offers a Criminal Clinic for University of Nebraska
third-year law students. His office told Thayne Glenn that he could
not participate in the clinic unless he cut his shoulder-length
hair.

The office should have a set standard of rules instead of making
such a subjective decision. While proper etiquette and attire for
lawyers are required by court regulations, long hair can be pulled
back and still look presentable. Glenn is a student and his
educational opportunities should not be limited by superficial,
societal expectations. The courts would not forbid a woman with
short hair from practicing law; by the same reasoning, Lacey should
not forbid a male student for having long hair either.

Ruling prevents use of sampling

Thumbs down to the U.S. Supreme Court decision which bars the
Census Bureau from using statistical sampling to adjust next year’s
census.

Every 10 years, the Census Bureau takes a head count of people
to determine the distribution of state and federal funds and the
number of congressional seats allocated for each district. People
must complete a census form to be accurately counted. Statistical
sampling takes into account people who might have been missed by
the standard counting methods.

According to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, "Every
census taken in the last 40 years has blatantly undercounted
minorities." As a result, an inaccurate head count can drastically
reduce state and federal funding. In the 1990 census, the Census
Bureau found that 144,000 Los Angeles residents were missed, an
undercount of 3.8 percent.

This Supreme Court ruling prohibits sampling techniques which
have been shown to prevent such undercounts. This decision could
potentially cost California $3 billion over the next decade. In
addition, certain minority populations are growing so quickly in
California that if the Census Bureau starts undercounting now, in
10 years underrepresented communities will bear a heavy burden for
inaccurate data.

The Supreme Court was wrong to ban statistical sampling – a
method which takes greater pains to avoid the negative effects of
undercounting. As City Attorney James K. Hahn said, "(It’s) a
partisan fight. It’s about fear that if you give more credit to
people living in cities than in suburbs, that somehow shifts the
political balance of power."

Official resigns for using ‘N-word’

Thumbs down to District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams,
for accepting the resignation of city official David Howard.

Howard is praised by gay activists and African American leaders
for being one of the few openly gay officials in Williams’
administration. He caused quite a controversy, though, when he used
the word "niggardly," which is synonymous with "stingy" and has no
racial meaning or connotation.

Howard resigned after complaints by other city officials for his
choice of adjective, even after his attempts to explain the meaning
of the word. Williams should not have accepted Howard’s
resignation. The resignation and the controversy are the result of
a silly misunderstanding, and jobs shouldn’t be on the line for a
lack of understanding of the English language. Furthermore,
Howard’s resignation leaves one less voice for a community that is
already underrepresented.

As Julian Bond, a chairman of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) stated, "You hate to think
you have to censor your language to meet other people’s lack of
understanding."

Thumbs up/Thumbs down is determined by the majority opinion of
the Daily Bruin Editorial Board. Send comments and/or suggestions
to [email protected].

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