Race, law and free speech: Is
Harvard Law too touchy-feely?
Students debate
proposed ban on
offensive speech
BY JENNIFER PETER
THE ASSOCIATED' PRESS
BOSTON — Harvard Law School
is considering a ban on offensive
speech after a series of racially
charged incidents, raising fears
that the rules will inhibit the kind
of sharp-edged intellectual combat
so famously depicted in the movie
“The Paper Chase.”
In the meantime, the school is
also offering first-year students a
new course to help them “manage
difficult conversations” and learn
how to speak with sensitivity on
touchy issues such as race and gen
der.
The speech-code proposal has
stirred an intense internal debate
about the commitment to freedom
of expression at a school whose il
lustrious alumni have helped de
fine the nation’s free speech rights.
Some are wondering whether a
campus renowned for its bare
knuckled, confrontational style of
teaching is getting a little touchy
feely.
“What I do find amazing is that
it should be considered at a law
school, any law school, because
one thing that law schools do is
study the constitution, and these
codes are clearly in violation of
the First Amendment,” said
Harvey Silverglate, a Harvard
Law graduate and civil-liberties
litigator.
Members of the Black Law
Students Association, which called
for the policy, say it is possible to
curb chronically offensive behav
ior without infringing on the First
Amendment.
“We’ve called foi; ^discrimina
tory harassment policy that would
basically punish or at least give the
administration some way to re
view harassing behavior,” said
Joshua Bloodworth, a third-year
student and president of the orga
nization. “We’re not trying to stop
free speech.”
The Committee on Healthy
Diversity - made up of six faculty,
six students and three law school
staff members—will make its rec
ommendations in the spring. Any
code would be subject to approval
"hv fho full farMil-K/
There are about
1,800 students at
Harvard Law,
about 28 percent of
whom are minori
ties.
Law school Dean
Robert C. Clark cre
ated the committee
last spring in the
wake of an escalat
ing series of race
related controver
sies over the past
year, triggered by a
student’s use of the
slur “nig” in a
course outline post
ed online.
During the ensu
ing uproar, a sec
ond student sent an e-mail to one
of Ms protesting peers, saying that
“if you, as a race, want to prove
that you do not deserve to be called
by that word, work hard and you
will be recognized.”
That, in turn, led a professor to
step down from teaching the class,
a first-year course on tort law, and
offer to defend the e-mailer in a
mock trial. The mock trial was
never held.
The Black Law Students
Association also asked for a rep
“What I do find
amazing is that it
should be considered
at a law school, any
law school, because
one thing that law
schools do is study
the Constitution, and
these codes are
clearly in violation of
the First
Amendment.”
HARVEY SILVERGLATE
HARVARD LAW GRADUATE AND
CIVIL-LIBERTIES LITIGATOR
rimand of another professor, who
was-quoted as saying in class that
“fem,inism, Marxism and the
blacks have contributed nothing
to tort law.” (That professor,
David Rosenberg, has said he was
referring to a body of legal
thought known as critical race
theory.)
This past week, several students
and professors, including Clark,
expressed discomfort with the idea
of a speech code.
“There are many on the faculty,
including myself, who have grave
rPQPrva tinnc
about heading
in this direc
tion,” Clark
said in a state
ment.
Law school
spokesman
Mike Armini
characterized
the speech
code discus
sions as very
preliminary. It
is not clear yet
whether the
speech code
would apply
just in the
classroom, or
outside it, too.
nai vaiu
Law School alumni have frequent
ly been at the forefront of efforts to
expand constitutional protections
on speech.
Supreme Court Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes coined the fun
damental definition of free
speech in a 1919 dissent when he
created the “marketplace of
ideas” metaphor.
Supreme Court Justice
William Brennan broadened free
speech protections in a 1964 deci
sion when he created the “actual
malice” standard for cases of li
bel against public figures.
Law professor Alan Dershowitz,
who is a member of the diversity
committee, said the perception
that classroom debates have be
come less spirited at Harvard is on
target.
“I think there are a lot of pro
fessors who are afraid to confront
students,” Dershowitz said. “A lot
of professors are afraid to take con
troversial views on any hot-button
issues.”
Lacey Schwartz, a third-year
student and member of the diver
sity committee, acknowledged that
the school may no longer resem
ble its depiction in 1970s pop cul
ture.
But tne idea tnat we snouin do
everything like we did back then
is a little bit ridiculous,”
Schwartz said. “We always have
to be completely reevaluating and
re-examining ourselves to make
sure that we are approaching the
study of law in the best, most ef
fective and most representative
manner.”
On Tuesday, Harvard English
professors re-invited an Irish poet
to speak on campus, one week af
ter his appearance was canceled
because of his anti-Israeli com
ments. Tom Paulin has likened
U.S.-born settlers in the West Bank
to Nazis and said they “should be
shot dead.”
“Free speech was a principle
that needed upholding here,” pro
fessor Peter Sacks said. “This was
a clear reaffirmation that the de
partment stood strongly by the
First Amendment.”
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Documentary
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
attended Furman University, but
grew up a lifelong Gamecocks fan
in Columbia.
White said Sumerel, a native
South Carolinian who went to film
school in California, is more in
clined to follow Clemson because
of his Greenville roots.
“The rivalry amuses Jeff,”
White said.
White cited the history of the
two schools as an origin of the ri
valry. He said Clemson was found
ed as an alternative to USC’s fail
ing agriculture school during the
late 19th century, causing inter
state tensions to flare. In addition,
Clemson was given university sta
tus at the same time USC was de
moted to a state college, and
Clemson’s enrollment increased
while USC’s suffered.
“There’s been so much real an
imosity between the two schools,
and it manifests itself on the
field,” White said.
He said that the Gamecocks’ vic
tory in the first meeting on the foot
ball field was important for USC.
“Because they won that first
game in 1896, USC regained its
honor,” White said.
White said he and Sumerel are
making the film not only to docu
ment the history of Carolina and
Clemson football, but also to ex
plore the nature of human rivalry.
“Fans of both schools seem to
get so much self-worth and affir
mation from their schools’ perfor
mance in that game,” White said.
The producers are also inter
ested in the possibility of making
more films, depending on people’s
reactions to the documentary.
“We want to know if people
want to learn more about USC
sports history,” White said.
White said the most important
part of filmmaking, besides fund
ing, is getting the movie to an au
dience.
“The hardest thing is always
the money, and more important
ly, getting the movie to people who
want to see it,” he said. “We had
to put our whole package togeth
er and look at it as a business.”
Though the filmmaking process
can be arduous at times, White said
the project has given him many
memorable experiences, such as
sitting on the field with a camera
as the Gamecocks ran out at the
Arkansas game, talking to Clemson
head coach Tommy Bowden, and
hanging out with players.
Student Gamecock Club
President Chris Odom is excited
about the filmmaking.
“The rivalry js unique in that
South Carolina is not a very large
state, and those are the two big
schools,” Odom said. “In this
state, you’re either a Gamecock or
a Tiger.”
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Center
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
arenas to make the space feel
smaller.
Inside the concourse, food
vendors line the exterior walls.
Beneath the interior lies a pro
fessional-event level with padded
.seating, where most of
Wednesday night’s events took
place.
“In addition to basketball, we
will host family shows and con
certs,” said Assistant Athletics
Director Brad Edwards.
Edwards said plans are under
way for “Sesame Street,” indoor
motorcross, the rodeo, World
Wrestling Entertainment and
Jimmy Buffett.
Fans now can look at a hang
ing scoreboard with four mas
sive LED screens. The stadium
managers can pipe a live video
feed to the screens, allowing the
crowd to get a closer look at
what’s on center stage.
The garnet board looms over
the center court, 20 feet by 27
feet, offering high-definition col
or to all seating sections.
Wednesday night, the crowd
got a close-up of James Brown’s
face on the screens as he per
formed. Earlier, audience mem
bers had listened to speeches by
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble,
Gov. Jim .Hodges and USC
President Andrew Sorensen.
Senator-elect Lindsay Graham
also made an appearance, noting
that he will now represent the en
tire state of South Carolina in the
U.S. Senate. He said for the past
few years, he’s “been represent
ing the Tigers in Clemson.”
“If everything goes as
planned, for the next few years
I’ll finally be able to represent my
alma mater, USC.”
“Don’t tell anyone from
Clemson I said that,” he said.
Edwards said the Carolina
Center was a long-term plan of
Athletics Director Mike McGee.
“Dr. McGee had a vision to
build a new building,” he said.
“We needed a new facility — the
Coliseum is 30 years old, and it’s
at the end of its useful life.”
Edwards said the center,
owned by the Athletics
Department, will not bring in
any money. “Our goal is to get it
to carry its own weight,” he said.
With the bells and whistles of
a modem facility, the center was
not cheap. After the Athletics
Department raised $44 million
from private aid, it received an
other $20 million from state and
local government.
“The Carolina Center is a state
of-the-art facility that will serve
the University of South Carolina,
the Midlands and the entire state
of South Carolina,” McGee said.
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Vaccine
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
& Co. and the University of
Washington. Merck developed
the vaecine and funded the re
search. The women were
watched on average for almost a
year and a half.
Of768 women who got vaccine
injections, none showed Type 16
infections or precancerous tis
sue. Of 765 who took dummy in
jections, 41 came down with per
sistent infections, and nine de
veloped precancerous tissue.
Inoculated women built up al
most 60 times the concentration
of virus-fighting antibodies seen
in naturally infected women.
Some researchers had suspect
ed that the mucous membrane
on the cervix would pose a bar
rier to such antibodies.
“For us, this is proof of prin
ciple,” said Merck researcher
Kathrin Jansen. “There was a lot
of doubt in the beginning - not by
me, but by others — that said it
would be very difficult to prevent
infection.”
In an accompanying editori
al, Crum said the vaccines de
veloped to fight diseases like
smallpox and polio now serve as
reference points in medical his
tory. “You’re looking at some
very compelling evidence that
this vaccine will prevent cervi
cal cancer,” he said.
However, in part because cer
vical cancer is caused by multi
ple strains, it is not clear
whether the disease can ever be
wiped out.
Laura Koutsky, a disease spe
cialist at the University of
Washington, also cautioned:
“Whether the antibodies persist
for five years or more is not
known at this point.”
Dr. Douglas Lowy, a National
Cancer Institute researcher,
agreed that patients must be
tested over longer times. But he
and others agreed that a vac
cine — probably one targeted at
multiple'viral strains encom
passing the vast share of cases
— might reach market fairly
quickly.
Such a vaccine could also stop
other harm done by the virus, in
cluding genital warts in both
men and women and rare forms
of penile, anal, vaginal and oral
cancer. Researchers said the vac
cine might also he taken by men
to keep them from infecting their
female partners.
In a separate study, the her
pes vaccine, under development
by GlaxoSmithKline, was about
75 percent effective in warding
off genital herpes sores. It fails
to protect men, and it won’t work
on women who previously had
cold sores. They are caused by a
different version of the same
virus.
A vaccine is already used to
combat the hepatitis B virus, a
sexually transmitted agent
blamed for some cases of liver
cancer.
PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK
Veronica Adams, a fourth-year medical technology student,
checks out additions to USC’s World War I collection.
■■ ■ ■ .1 * i. i.
uoiiecnon
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
that Matthew Bruccoli and his
wife, Arlyn Bruccoli, donated to
the university in 1997. The
Bruccolis have been adding “ac
tively and seriously,” ever since,
Matthew Bruccoli said.
“My wife and I assembled the
collection piece by piece in mem
ory of my father,” he said.
The Great War collection is
composed of 2,000 items, which
include more than 75 posters, as
well as poetry from the trenches
that the Bruccolis found in
warehouses, flea markets, junk
houses and pricey bookstores
worldwide. In terms of extreme
rarity, Bruccoli prides himself
on a pamphlet of poetry by Isaac
Rosenberg, who died fighting in
World War I in 1918.
“Before August 2002, two li
braries had them: Oxford and
Yale. Now, three libraries have
the pamphlets: Oxford, Yale and
USC,” Matthew Bruccoli said.
“The point I’m trying to make is
this is a collection of great dis
tinction.”
Other parts of the Great War
collection are rotated through
the library, and Matthew
Bruccoli tries to introduce a new
part every Armistice Day.
“Whatever I want to do, I do.
The sheet music is up now,”
Matthew Bruccoli said.
According to Dorothy Payne,
a professor in the School of
Music, this collection of sheet
music is irreplaceable.
“It was a constant reminder
(of war) because there wasn’t
icic v lazuii men. muait uiuugm
the feeling of American spirit,
which constantly inspired com
posers,” she said. Payne played
the songs on display when the
exhibit was unveiled Nov. 11.
Though Patrick Scott, who
works in the rare-books section
of the Thomas Cooper Library,
know little about American war
songs before he got involved
with the display, he now finds
them more upbeat than the
British versions they influenced.
Scott said that the collection’s
value has not been determined.
“With sheet music, it depends
on how well known it is,” he
said. “It’s impossible to estimate,
but it is getting much more hunt
ed now than it was. It is con
stantly going up in value.”
Scott and Payne agree that the
World War I era was rich for mu
sic even without the war songs,
and that lends further impor
tance to the exhibit.
“It’s an exhibit, not only of
historical image, but of great vi
sual image,” Scott said.
For Matthew Bruccoli, the ex
hibit reflects a personal pride the
entire university can share.
“It is another collection at the
Thomas Cooper Library that
gives worldwide recognition to
the University of South
Carolina,” he said. “There are
places that don’t know where
South Carolina is, but they know
about the library.”
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