The Division of Student Affairs announced last week that the Board of Regents review of the Code of Student Conduct will be postponed until February's meeting, delaying it one month. The review originally was scheduled to take place at the regents meeting this month after they received the Michigan Student Assembly's reports and suggestions on the Code in late December. But Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford said the board has not yet had enough time to review the reports. This delay reflects poorly on the administration, as it is important that the regents take action on the Code - either by approving significant changes to make the Code less intrusive or abolishing it entirely.
The Code must be dismantled because it violates many doctrines upon which American society rests. Among them is double jeopardy; the Code can be used to essentially try students twice for the same crime without the rights that all citizens are granted by the justice system, including legal counsel, the ability to appeal to precedent and burden of proof.
By conducting hearings under the Code's auspices, the University denies the basic rights and principles of the justice system, something it should not have the authority to do. Also, the University's administration should not have a Code that acts in loco parentis when most of its students are adults.
Another problem is the Code hearings are conducted in a secretive manner, making it extremely difficult to determine the Code's effectiveness and nearly impossible to establish precedent for appropriate sentencing and procedure. As a result, each Code case starts almost from scratch, leading to a serious lack of continuity.
These problems should be taken into consideration by the regents when they review the Code. But the postponement of the review means the Code will continue to unfairly try University students for an even longer time. The claim that the regents need more time to review the Code seems somewhat disingenuous, and it helps no one if the board ends up sitting on the Code for a great deal longer. The month delay on the review of the Code has been long enough.
But since the Code review has been delayed, it is important that the regents use the extra time to consider MSA's reports in greater detail. These reports highlight many of the flaws of the Code; chief among them is the fact that it violates students' civil rights. This should not be tolerated at a university that purports to be a stronghold of enlightened ideas.
When the regents finally review the Code, they should take the opportunity to change it significantly - or eliminate it entirely.
The 106th Congress opened its session last week, electing Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert the new speaker of the House of Representatives. The former speaker, Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), was very outspoken throughout his term and was familiar to a majority of Americans - something Hastert is not. In addition to becoming third in the line of presidential succession, Hastert has become the leader of the Republican Party in the House. The party has been in disarray since the 1998 elections, when Gingrich announced that he was going to hand the reigns of speakership over to someone else. Rep. Robert Livingston (R-La.) was supposed to assume the position, but following the outing of his extramarital affair, Livingston resigned from his position and from his seat in the House. Stepping into this intraparty turbulence is Hastert, a conservative, soft-spoken man whose past suggests that he is different from the always controversial Gingrich. An initial indication of this changing of the guard took place when Hastert broke with tradition and gave his acceptance speech from the floor of the House instead of the speaker's chair.
Hastert has been in office since 1986 when he was elected to represent the 14th Congressional District of Illinois. He has been a member of the House Commerce Committee, which reviews nearly half of all legislation that reaches the floor of the House. Hastert also serves as chair of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee's National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice Subcommittee and has been the Republican point person on health care reform since 1992. Interestingly enough, he was the only Republican on First Lady Hillary Clinton's Health Care Task Force in 1993. As part of the taskforce, Hastert helped author the Health Care Reform Bill, which expanded health care coverage to the uninsured. He also helped write the Patient Protection Act, passed on July 24, 1998, which protects patients and guarantees Americans access to affordable, high-quality health care. Hastert has a unique background that few members of Congress can match. In addition to having taught high school government and history for 16 years, Hastert has also coached high school football and wrestling. In his opening speech, he encouraged all members of the House to play an active role in the government's accomplishments. Hastert explained that a good coach knows when to step back and let others shine in the spotlight - something for which Gingrich was not known.
The new speaker will need all of these assets in order to forge a bipartisan consensus with the Democratic Party that can accomplish significant legislation while maintaining control of his fractious party.
The partisanship that currently clouds the Capitol Building only adds to the challenges Hastert has to face in the next two years. Many Americans have lost faith in the government, particularly in the U.S. House of Representatives, which was recently the scene of disgraceful party-line politicking in the presidential impeachment vote.
The majority of Americans want Congress to do the work of the people on impending problems, such as Social Security and other entitlements, and to resolve the Clinton matter swiftly and efficiently. A key intangible that will aide Hastert in his effort to restore the people's faith in government and specifically in the House of Representatives is the fact that he is widely respected and well liked by members of both parties. For now, Hastert should get the benefit of the doubt with regard to his ideas and vision for the next two years.
01-13-99
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