Professors discuss scandal in classes

Lecturers call for caution when coming to

conclusions about the President

By Josh Kroot
For the Daily

The Monica Lewinsky scandal became a hot topic of discussion in classes today as the nation got its first look at President Clinton's August 17 grand jury testimony.

In his class on contemporary political issues, political science Prof. Gregory Markus devoted the first 15 minutes of his lecture to the subject.

"We should think about what is best for the country - not what is good for Democrats or Republicans or Hillary or Chelsea," he told the class. "My answer as to what is best is 'I don't know yet.'"

But as new information is released to the public, students and teachers across campus are taking sides in the scandal.

Today's release of Clinton's videotaped testimony has intensified debate in many classes.

The four-hour testimony was originally shown live to a grand jury on closed circuit television in August.

It featured Clinton defending himself against charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.

The question that remains to be answered is whether or not Clinton committed high crimes and misdemeanors, an impeachable offense.

"In some cases, the Supreme Court decides an issue is too political and won't rule," University President Lee Bollinger told his freedom of speech and press class yesterday. "Impeachment is probably one of these rare cases."

The Supreme Court is not the only group reluctant to pass judgment on the fate of the president.

Many students and professors at the University have not made up their minds.

"The message we are getting is that we should have an opinion," Markus said. "But there is still evidence to look at and things to decide."

And the release today of 2,800 pages of evidence will likely complicate matters even more.

Although most professors have not yet decided how they will deal with the scandal during the remainder of the term, they have enough material to continue the debate into the winter.

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