2 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 19, 1995 T>1 t Trit 1 EIGHT BALL, CORNER POCKET TRIAL Continued from page 1 and 10 other others that were unop- posed. He said he would not allow evidence of 12 incidents, most of them supported by the diary of Nicole Brown Simpson maintained at the request of her lawyer to support her 1992 divorce. Calling the diary, or journal, hear- say evidence, Ito said that while the relevance or probative value of such evidence might be obvious and com- pelling to "the man or woman on the street," appeals courts have held that it is reversible error to admit hearsay statements by a murder victim who expressed fear of the defendant. Ito said he would not allow evi- dence that Nicole Simpson contacted aSantaMonica battered wives shelter five days before her death, saying that her former husband was stalking her. Apart from those exceptions, how- ever, Ito upheld the prosecution's right to present evidence of most of the domestic abuse incidents that pros- ecutors say form one of the main pillars of their case against Simpson, the former football superstar who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of Nicole Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman last June. Prosecution lawyers had been par- ticularly eager for the jury to hear evidence about four incidents that Ito today ruled admissible. They are a 1985 incident in which Simpson smashed in the window of his wife's white Mercedes with a baseball bat; a widely-publicized New Year's Eve tight in 1989 thatresulted in his plead- ing no contest to a spousal battery charge; and an episode in which Simpson kicked in a door to his wife's house and shouted threats against her while she talked with a police 911 emergency operator.. Ito also allowed evidence of al- legations that Simpson grabbed his wife by the crotch in a bar in 1989 and then later that evening pushed her from their moving car. Also al- lowed was an incident in which af- ter the couple returned home from seeing "Disney On Ice" in 1988, he threatened her and said he had a gun in his right hand. Ito yesterday also dismissed from the jury two jurors who had been questioned about possible conflicts of interest. ' awaits Simpson trial with skepticism By MARIA KOVAC Daily Staff Reporter After seven months of intense build- up, the O.J. Simpson trial begins Mon- day. Are the American people ready? As the media gear up to begin coverage of one of the most publi- cized trials in history, University stu- dents and faculty offered various opin- ions about the actual importance of the trial. "This trial will have more social significance than legal significance," said communication Prof. Joan Lowenstein. Domestic violence has become more of a social issue because of the case, Lowenstein said, even though the case will probably not set any legal precedents. LSA junior Jody Kamon said, "I think the publicity has been good be- cause it has exposed violence against women, but the victims in this case have already been forgotten." Kamon believes the case has be- come so sensationalized because of Simpson's fame. Chris Gilbert, an LSA sophomore, agrees. "If he wasn't so popular, (the trial) wouldn't be on TV." Law Prof. Samuel Gross said the media coverage may be the most im- portant factor in this trial. Gross, who specializes in crimi- nal procedure and evidence, said many previously unknown defendants in sensational cases have become celeb- rities because of media attention. He cited the Menendez brothers and Wil- liam Kennedy Smith as examples. But in this instance, Simpson be- gan as a well-loved celebrity, Gross said. "This case is bizarre, gruesome and interesting - plus it's O.J." As to whether or not the media are inundating the public with too much coverage, Lowenstein does not be- lieve so. "I don't think the media is over- reacting...they are responding to the public's interest," she said. Lowenstein said the case has ele- ments of drama: celebrity, sex, mur- der, power and the added dimension of race, which interest people. However, Gross believes "the cov- erage is designed to pique people's interest." David Simon, an Engineering se- nior, said, "It seems like the public wants to hear about it and the media exploits that interest." First-year Art School student Sue Park said she's "sick of hearing about the case." Lowenstein foresees the coverage being intense at the beginning of the trial. She said people will probably lose interest as it drags on, but will become interested again when the verdict is announced. "It will be good for people to watch the proceedings and learn how a trial works...it will have educational value," Lowenstein said. Gross is not as optimistic. "Everyone's impression of criminal tri- als will be based on this trial ... but this is not a typical proceeding," he said. Simon thinks that this trial has the potential to educate the public on how trials work, "but this is an example on how it shouldn't work," he said. .. MI rdits " 8's 8's ;ss Hardrives + Unu'ii rdes Motrboards!... Turn Your Used Computer Equipment into $$$!!! We BUY, SELL and TRADE quality used and new computers and accessories. We W rany What' We Sell i * *JUST ARRIVED!* 386 System & Monitor (Great Starter Package)......... as low as $499 486 System & Monitor (Good Word Processor)......... as low as $749 Macintosh Systems (Excellent for Students)......as low as $399 Notebook Computers (Portable & Fun)....... as low as $349 14" VGA Monitors /15".28 SVGA Monitors............$149/ $349 PRINTERS AS LOW AS $49! LIMITED SUPPLIES! STOP BY TODAY! BSU Continued from page 1 reach out to students who are not like them," Hartford said. "I don't think there was any intention of diminish- ing our attention on students of color, but an attempt to involve more of the University in the issue. They're is- sues that need to be taken very seri- ously and addressed by white faculty, staff and students also." After six years of work on the Michigan Mandate, the number of minority students on campus has in- creased from 13.5 percent to 24.2 percent. For Black students and faculty, the gains still lag behind. In 1988, the number of Asian American and Black students on cam- pus was equal, with both making up 6.2 percent of the student body. To- day there are 706 more Asian Ameri- cans on campus than Black students. And in the past year, Black faculty declined by 1.2 percent. STEPHANIE UM/Daily Ruben Reyna, a first-year Law student, plays pool in the Michigan Union. STUDENTS Continued from page 2. heard from a former co-worker that a mutual friend had his residence and the auto part factory where he worked damaged. The disaster hit Business School student Toshiaki Yamashita closer to home. His town of Nishi Nomiya was in the area affected by the quake. "My father called my sister before the phones went down," he said. "My parents are OK, and the house didn't fall down, but inside, it's messy." LSA senior Ema Osaki's family lives east of the affected area, but friends at the University were quick to inquire how they were doing. "I called my family as soon as I heard about the earthquake," she said, "and since then lots of my friends and friends of the family have called to see how they were." i L NAISSANCE Colonnade Shopping Center * (313) 994-1030 JAPAN Continued from page 1. own homes, but they had to line up at army tanker trucks to get water. At. Kami-Koshien Elementary School in Nishinomiya, for example, people waited more than an hour to get a water ration that was restricted to one quart per person. There was a moment of terror shortly before 2 a.m. when an after- shock registering 3.4 on the Richter scale shook everything and everyone all over again. Shortly afterward, there was an explosion at a chemical-storage tank on Kobe's Port Island, a man-made island just off the coast. But since Port Island had already been evacu- ated, the resulting fire evidently did not endanger human life, police said. In Washington, the State Depart- ment said the residence of the U.S. consul general in Osaka was badly damaged in the Tuesday quake and the l -story building housing the con- sulate suffered some structural dam- age, but no employees were hurt. U.S. officials also identified the lone American known to have been killed in the quake as Voni Lynn Wong, a teacher from California who was living in Kobe. The main earthquake, which struck at dawn Tuesday, measured 7.2 on the open-ended Richter scale. It col- lapsed a major freeway, buckled streets, mangled railroad tracks, rup- tured water mains and gas lines an* sent buildings tumbling into streets like the playthings of a petulant child. The tremor also raised questions about the effectiveness of Japan's elaborate systems for earthquake pre- paredness. P0TE CROSWORD2 - THEN, \READ THE CLASSIFIEDSI GvhnmMc s Cnundenrdc s Sprvite & Renoir + !]parades a Harddrive neyuvurua , ayu"murwo " m ymc a ncNuu vFV uucJ I lu, uti41 IT G7 REALITY THAT'S TRUE UNLESS YOU CARE ABOUT: HEARD OF ANY NEWS? CALL THE DAILY AND LET US KNOW 76-DAILY OPPORTUNITY LEADERSHIP FRIENDSHIP SERVICE me Micnigan Daily (ItSSN V045967) is puoisned Monday Itrough rday auring t hf aiU WUI Lne Itr Uy students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $90. Winter term (January through April) is $95, year-long (September through April) is $160. Orncampus subscriptions for fall term are $35. 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