Editorial Why I hate lawyers and the press and why I’m part of the cycle...

Dear EDITOR/X-Press Staff/Student Body,

I have noticed that in recent weeks, the quality of the content in the X-PRESS has declined consid- erably. As a result, I have begun to question

whether the X-PRESS is still a relevant voice for the student body. The X- PRESS is paid for by the whole of the student body and should reflect this fact. Ifit is failing to do so, then perhaps it is time to re-

A student newspaper

should inform its stu-

dents, to agitate and move them to action, the

A By Trent Drake ctually, I’m part of the press because I like to bare my soul in public, but that’s another story.

Last Tuesday night I did something most people don’t normally do. When Peter Mansbridge intoned that the photos of a Ca- nadian soldier posing proudly with a badly beaten Somali youth had finally been released to the press, I got up and turned off my television. I didn’t want to see the pictures, so I exercised my right not to.

Unfortunately, that right was stolen from me by our very own news show, Com- pass, which aired the photos as part of their report on the triumphant return of Private David Brocklebank. By inserting them in the middle of a basically unrelated report, they forced me to see them.

This isn’t the only thing about the unholy alliance of the press and the legal system that annoys me. How many people haven’t heard about the famous bloody gloves, the envelope which might contain the murder weapon, and the blood-drenched Bronco? Youcouldn’t fit them ina Lada, [have ceased to care whether O.J. is innocent or not; I just want to see Robert Shapiro hung by the neck. His tactic of declaring each and every piece of major evidence ‘inadmissible’ has spilled into almost every major trial in the country.

emphasis is given to the reviewing of certain subjects, specifically arts and entertainment.

#7} It would appear that you have chosen as your

purpose to mildly entertain students for a few minutes on mildly important subjects. A stu- dent newspaper should inform its students, to agitate and move them to action, the underplaying of important issues, and the watering down of arti- cles so as not offend someone only further frustrates those willing to contribute, and eliminates any type of real criticism. I sin- cerely hope that you

think ourselves. Whilel_ ynderplaying of impor- willprintthisletter and share your frustration on : that you, as well as the the lack of interest inwrit- ANT ISS ues, and the WQ- _ restofthestudentbody, ing articles by a large part ° ° will be more critical of ofthestudentbody,Iwoula €€Ying down ofarticles &. y-press foritwe like to ask some questions: s9Q qs not O ffjend someone are not critical and Is the lack of interest in the working towards im- X-PRESS a result of apa- Only further frustrates provement, how will thy on the part of the stu- 77 ° the X-PRESS ever im- dent population? Or is it those will ing to contri b- prove? Also, please caused by an alienation of ute and e lim inates any print your mandate and the rest of the student body Te operating procedures by the X-PRESS itself? type of real criticism. (salary distribution, Does the presence of paid budget, etc.) for the in-

sports and news writers deter other students from writing these types of articles? If someone is being paid to do this, why should I do their job for them? I feel that noone shouldbe paid to perform these functions because it is not, and especially should not, be one person’s ‘‘job’’ to perform these or any tasks.

Also, I personally feel that too much >

formation of the student body and myself. I know that I could likely go to the X-PRESS office for this information, but I would like for the X-PRESS to inform me of these facts in order to restore my lost faith inthe X-PRESS. Sincerely,

Alex Keaveny

And how about the ‘too-drunk-to-know’ defense? That one is two-for-three in the wins category.

And guess what? Thanks to us, the media, all these wonderful defences will no doubt be used in every high-profile case from now until someone finally takes Shakespeare’s advice and kills all the lawyers. We’ ve made it our mission to instruct every attorney in the world in the fine art of filibuster. Many talentless defense counsels have been using the press as a kind of textbook for planning their cases; the prosecution has yet to figure out a suitable counter-tactic. .

What’s the solution? We can’t kill them all, you know... if we did, who would represent us in court? And there’s no way to keep these guys from perusing the news; this is the age of the information super-highway. I think the only thing that can guard against these unimaginative idiots is a really aggres- sive judge. Judges have to spit in the eye of the media and kick the reporters out of the courts, literally if necessary. Think about it: would the Simpson trial have drug on this long if Lance Ito had screamed, “‘I will not allow my courtroom to become a circus!”’ at the begin- ning? I think not.

I’m going to shut up now, lest some- one use this half-baked rant as a legal brief.

Editor's note:

For the information of Mr. Keaveny and all other interested parties, the following is a list of the X-Press staff positions, their salaries and their approximate work hours per week.

Business Manager-- $60.00/issue (approximately 20 hours a week which equals $3.00/hour)

Content Editor-- $60.00/issue (approximately 40 hours a week which equals $1.50/hour)

Production Editor—$48.00/issue (approximately 24 hours a week which equals $2.00/hour)

Production Assistant~ $25.00/issue (approxi- mately 10 hours a week which equals $2.08/hour)

News Writer— $35.00/issue (approximately 12 hours a week which equals $2.91/hour)

Photographer— $32.00/issue (approximately 10 hours a week which equals $3.20/hour)

Typesetter-— $40.00/issue (approximately 8 hours a week which equals $5.00/hour)

Circulation—$15.00/issue (approximately 2 hours a week which equals $7.50/hour)

Sports Writer-- $20.00/issue (approximately 12 hours a week which equals $1.66/hour)

Advertising Manager— works on commission The volunteers of the X-Press work various

hours each week without any financial compen- sation.

Content Editor: Trent Drake Managing Editor: C. A. Schneider Production Manager: Grace Kimpinski News Writer: Shannon Younker Sports Writer: Scott MacDonald Advertising Manager: Aldera Chisholm Photographer: Kathy Giesbrecht Arts and Entertainment: Sean McQuaid

Special thanks to all of our

contributors.

The U.P.E.I. X-Press is the official student newspaper of the University of Prince Edward Island. The X-Press is published threetimes a month through- out the year. 2,500 copies are distrib- uted both on and off campus every Tuesday. The X-Press is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP). Anyone may submit to the X-Press but please note the following:

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[November 15, 1994]