Editorial:

by Marko Peric

Two weeks ago today, a disaster, or rather the long-awaited end of a disaster, occurred. In terms of human life it was nothing on the level of the Titanic or the Hindenburg, but it will probably be remem- bered for just as long. The Trial of the Century came to a close.

Orenthal James Simpson is a free man. Should he be? Only God and OJ himself know for sure. This writer doubts his innocence. Even though a jury of his peers (used in the loosest possible definition of the word, since none of the jury were retired multi-millionaire football players) decided that The Juice did not kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, the question remains -- who did kill them?

Nicole Brown Simpson is a double victim; the tabloid media, with it’s usual lack of respect for the dead, have vilified and martyred her in almost every possible way. Her family must be enraged. Not only

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is she dead, but her memory has been scandalized. This is perhaps the saddest aspect of the entire affair.

Brown and Goldman are not the only victims, either. The US legal system has taken yet another blow. Rule of law has become a farcical concept in California. If the television show Law and Order were set in Los Angeles, it would have to be a comedy.

There is obviously a two-tiered administration of justice in the US. If anyone doubted this before, the inverse relationship between wallet size and likeli- hood of doing federal time is now clear. I’m reminded of some song lyrics written by Larry Norman several years before this fiasco:

‘*This is America, land of the free. Everyone gets justice, and liberty -- if you’ve got the money.”’

The public at large is another victim, and the media is another perpetrator. So much time wasted on this trial. So many hours of speculation about the outcome.

American Justice or, Much Ado About Nothing

Would OJ be found guilty? Would OJ testify? Would the nefarious Fuhrman tapes

be played? Would prosecutor Marsha Clark ~

try a new hairstyle?

The excessive media coverage eventually alienated nearly everyone, although some die-hard trial-watchers still remained. One has to wonder what has befallen these poor souls. CNN no longer has hourly coverage. Where will they get their OJ fix? One can almost see them staring blankly at their television screens, just waiting for someone to say ‘‘Trial coverage will continue after these mes- sages.”’

Probably it is for the best that the farce is over now. At times it seemed the trial would never end. Although, it only took a year from jury selection to verdict, it seemed to take far longer. And now the only people who are disappointed that the entire fiasco has ended are the defence lawyers and the prison football team.

Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor,

This letter is in response to the letter written by Dan Savage, University Librar- ian. I am glad much planning went into the conception and placement of the carpet in the library’s foyer. However, I think several points were missed in this planning. First of all, I find it very hard to believe this carpet will reduce noise in the library. You may have noticed that the carpet doesn’t cover the whole floor of the foyer. In fact, the carpet seems, quite conspicuously, to avoid the high traffic areas of the foyer. In fact, an informal survey shows that most people believe they are not suppose to walk on the carpet! Perhaps you need ‘‘Walk on the

Carpet’’ signs!

I also must take exception to your statement that old carpet would cause more hazardous air quality than new carpets. Old carpets were made with fewer hazardous materials, and any toxins will have long since been discharged. Improper cleaning is the most significant way old carpets would become hazardous, and assuming all carpets are cleaned the same way, new carpets would be more hazardous to the library’s air quality.

What’s up with the humidification equipment and deacidifying the chiller? Does this make sense to me? Not really. Carpet fumes are still carpet fumers.

AI R.G Sufferer

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