I Applause for the Supreme Court N A PLEASANTLY surprising move, the I Supreme Court decided Monday that states can require the owners of private shopping centers to provide access to members of the public who want to exercise their free speech rights. The court ruled that while the constitution does not provide a right to public access, it does not prevent state courts from finding that right in their own constitutions. The case in question was an ap- peal by an owner of a shopping center who argued that his personal property rights were violated by a California court when it ordered him to allow high school students to circulate petitions at his shop- ping center. For the last forty years, the Court has tried to balance an individual's private property rights with the rights of others to freely express them- selves. In past years the court has favored property owners' rights to exclude others. This recent tilt toward the advancement of free speech is most welcome. Although the Court's opinion was based strictly on California's free speech guarantees, it does give states the leeway to interpet their own constitutions to include a greater emphasis on free speech protections. The Burger Court deserves a pat on the back. But none for the- Senate AFTER YESTERDAY'S vote in the Senate to invoke cloture on the 5-day old registration filibuster, the country's 19 and 20 year-old males are one step closer to being drafted. Administration officials say they have enough votes to pass the registration bill. Now that filibuster-the last chance to kill the proposal-is over, the bill requiring all 19 and 20 year-old men to register for the draft will almost surely pass the Senate. Registration is a clear step toward the draft, and to say it is anything else is ludicrous. While there are numerous arguments against the draft, the most convincing is simply that it is not necessary. Were there a clear threat to this nation's security, drafting men, and women, would make sense. But while international relations between this country and the Soviets have been tumultuous in the past six months, certainly no significant threat warranting resumption of the draft exists. Registration is a costly and worthless move. In the event of an emergency, having young men already registered would not make it significantly easier to prepare the necessary troops. A registration program uses money that is badly needed elsewhere. If this tremendous waste of fun- ds is the worst result of the hawkish fever spreading through the country, we will be lucky. Unfortunatelywefear-itinay not be., AFTER THE ERUPTION of Mt. St. Helens, the streets of Yakima were dark and white volcanic ash covered the streets like snow. How Yakimacoped with St. Helen's ash YAKIMA, Washington - The people of Yakima remember that May 18 opened with a beautiful spring morning: clear, blue skies without a hint of wind, a perfect day for golfing or gardening or simply languishing in lawn chairs. Fewnoticed the greasy black cloud stretching north to south over the distant Cascade moun- tains. "Mountain squall," reasoned those who spotted it; "rainstrom in the high foreat." The sounds were normal for a spring morning: a distant lawn mower, twittering birds, quiet conversations overherd from neighbors breakfasting on near- by patios. The cloud slid lower, drawing more attention as it neared, but no alarm. Car win- dows were rolled up in expec- tation of a sudden shower, and residents peered at the strange blanket that blocked all light below it. First one quarter of the sky was covered, then half. People stood outside and pointed at the con- trast between blue sky and abject blackneas. Insaminute, no more than two, the cloud swept entirely over the quiet city, plunging it into instant blackness. Automatic street lights blinked on, bringing with them the first inklings of com- prehension. "The mountain, the mountain musthave gone up!'" Over the next weeks, 50,000 Yakimans learned how to cope with a natural disaster unlike any that had struck an American city before. It meant hard, constant work, cooperation-and in some instances a mild variety of vigilante justice. But Yakima pulled through in a way that suggests there is something vital left of community spirit in the contemporary United States af- ter all. When the ashes first began to fall-small, light, dirty grey flecks of dust-curious residents drew fingers across the outside surfaces of windows, and licked at the stuff. Next came the pat- terning of sand, first a sprinkle, then a downpour. In seconds, the entire city of Yakima was tossed into chaotic confusion. The skies were raining sand. By Jim Gonzia People dashed to their television sets for news but lear- ned nothing. A trumpeting evangelist on one channel, a soc- cer game on another. Only one local radio station seemed to know anything. "The mountain has erupted. The whole Cascades_ might go up! We don't-know!", warned the breathless announ- cer. Don't panic! Stay off the roads and inside." But Yakima's residents did not react with panic. Confusion, yes, even in frustration, but not in panic. They watched the gritty stuff cover their rooftops and their lawns; a grey dirty coverlet that rasped in the throat and scratched against the eyes. The ash was to fall all of that day and part of the following. The level grew past one inch, then two. Roads in and out of the city were blocked, air travel halted. Motorists who tried to brave the inky, gritty blackness listened to their cars choke and die; hun- dreds were abandoned in the streets, telephone service became sporadic and failed. Yakima became a cocoon. 600,000 tons of the volcanic material was estimated to have fallen. 600,000 tons that would somehow have to be moved. Residents, idled in their homes, bent to the task. It would be shovels, finally, and push brooms that cleared the city. Roofs first, then gutters, then walls and finally walkways, two tons the average at every residence, two tons of alien gritty dust. Hard, heavy work, and in the strange labor, Yakima residents began to learn about themselves and the scope of humanbehavior under such peculiar stress. Vignettes from the clean-up: * A 70-year-old man shovelling his walkway throws his snow shovel through the windshield of a speeding car. " A vacationing fisherman who finally struggles home finds his massive house already cleaned by his neighbors. " Another speeding motorist is halted at a stop light. The driver of a pick-up truck behind calmly steps to'the driver'sAdoor; ljeks, the youth out of the car and pummels him unconscious, then returns to his pick-up and calmly drives away. * Moonlighting roofsweepers prey on the elderly but several are caught and their fees reduced on the spot by vigilante teams of angry neighbors. * Shut-in children tire quickly of television and after badgering busy parents, take up books and card gamea. Rooms are cleaned without argument, parents seemingly notice their children for the first time and family discussions are long and meaningful. " Another hastysdriver passes a long string of slow vehicles, forcing all to stop. The leader overtakes the speeder and forces the vehicle into the ditch. The cars behind pass honking their horns happily. No one stops to help. *A downwind home owner reproaches his neighbor for sweeping the ash into his yard. When the neighbor argues, a gun is drawn. The sweeping stops. It is behavior typical of people crammed into a small place. Nothing more than an advanced cabin fever. But Yakima residen- ts are too busy to speculate. Block leaders are named, work gangs created to sweep through the neighborhoods. Some join, others prefer to toil alone. The work continues, even two weeks after the skies suddenly blackened and transformed the town of Yakima into a ghostly island. The conversation is still volcano, still the strange Sunday and its eerie cloud. The mountain remains, unseen to the west, and a certainunspoken anxiety clouds every face in Yakima. It could go again. But there is no more chaos, no more confusion. Instead, a stern satisfaction is evident. For the moment, a huge problem has ap- parently been met-and over- come. Jim Gonzia is a columnist for the Yakima Herald. He wrote this article for Pacific News Servite.