University Of Hawaii Addresses Recent Violence (U-WIRE) HONOLULU ‹ After an incident that led to the death of seven people at the Xerox office on North Nimitz Highway this past Tuesday, several members of the university community feel that violence in society needs to be addressed. University of Hawai'i professor of psychology Anthony Marsella said that he thinks it is a mistake to treat this as an isolated event of violence in the workplace. Marsella said that when he heard the news, he was in a "state of shock and disbelief." He said that violence is occurring everyday in our society, communities, workplaces, homes, schools and on the roads. These places all constitute settings where there could be high levels of stress, Marsella said. He also said that communities cannot let this pass, and need to respond to it as a society. "The only way we may reduce violence and hostility in the future is by attempting to deal with these problems in a direct and more forthright manner," Marsella said. One of his suggestions is for the governor to establish a state-wide taskforce to address these problems and to develop Hawai'i as a place concerned with peace and harmony. If a person were to notice an individual's reaction or change in behavior, Marsella suggested for them to approach the individual in a considerate and sensitive way by letting the individual know that he or she is aware of the changes and is willing to help. Jim Manke, assistant to the director of University Relations, was in a meeting Tuesday morning when he found out about the shooting. "Someone came in and told us that they had heard the story on the radio," Manke said. "It sounded as though it was not the kind of thing that would happen in Hawai'i, and I didn't know whether to believe it or not. After the meeting, I went to watch the television, and it was true. Manke said there were also some inquiries about whether the suspect might have been a graduate of UH Manoa. "As far as we have been able to determine, he is not," he said. However, Bryan K. Uyesugi, the alleged shooter, did attend a summer session at UH in 1983. Manke said that an incident such as this one is an opportunity for people to be more aware of their surroundings and aware of changes in people's behavior. "It's unfortunate that it is that way, but it is a way of life," he said.

Supreme Court To Rule On Student Activity Fees (The Hartford Courant)- Scott Southworth didn't want the student activities fee he was forced to pay at the University of Wisconsin to be used by groups whose politics he opposed. So, he did what any good law student might do: He made a federal case out of it. The case against the university - which Southworth won at the lower and appellate court levels - reaches the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday. In this First Amendment case, the justices must grapple with whether the activities fees required by public universities amount to unconstitutional compelled speech, or merely foster a diversity of viewpoints. The case is being watched closely on college campuses nationwide. However, it does not directly affect private universities. Southworth now works as a lawyer for a Wisconsin lawmaker, but as a student in 1995, he challenged the state university's system. Among the student-funded groups he and several fellow students didn't want to fund were the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Campus Center; the Campus Women's Center; and the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group. The university argues that the mandatory fee system does not force students to support views they oppose. Instead, its lawyers say a university must sponsor events, speeches and activities that are socially controversial and politically challenging to its students. In essence, the mandatory fees foster free speech on campus; they don't inhibit it. "The First Amendment," the university argues in briefs filed with the court, "is not offended by requiring politically liberal homosexual students and conservative Christian students alike to share equally in the costs of creating a forum for the expression of each other's and all others' viewpoints at the University of Wisconsin." But a federal judge and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, disagreed, siding with Southworth. The appellate court said that funding political and ideological activities is not at the core of a university's "educational mission, and even if it were, there is no vital interest in compelled funding." Robert M. O'Neil, an expert on the First Amendment and the former president of both the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin, said a 1995 case involving Virginia could limit the court's options.

Home | News | Opinions | Features | Arts | Sports
Archives | Staff | Contact Us | Trincoll Journal