lursday • February 26, 1998
The Battalion
STATE
Wi
T Law minority applications
lecline, total number also falls
c:;
iUSTIN (AP) —The number of black applicants to
University of Texas Law School next fall dropped
lalffrom last year. But UT officials say the number
ild be offset by applicants who did not identify
lirrace.
total of 3,157 first-year law student applications
e submitted for the fall semester. Of those, 484 did
identify their race or ethnicity.
erall, first-year applications were down in all oth-
thnic categories, including whites.
By contrast, applications from freshman under-
duates are up in all racial categories, prompting ad-
ssions director Bruce Walker to declare, “We’re
idedback in the right direction, aren’t we?”
|At the law school, associate dean Cynthia Estlund
Id she found it “extremely disappointing” that just
1 people identified themselves as black, down from
| ilast year.
These figures are disappointing in spite of some
^ y rigorous recruitment efforts,” Estlund said.
UT’s law school experienced a steep drop in black
i Hispanic applicants last fall after a federal court
ruled that race could not be considered in admission
or financial aid decisions.
Just four blacks enrolled in the first-year class of
475, down from 31 in 1996. First-year Hispanic enroll
ments were 26 in the fall, down from 42 a year earlier.
“We’re all very disappointed” in the application
numbers, said David Greenstone, president of UT’s
Student Bar Association. “We recognize how impor
tant diversity is to a quality legal education.”
“I know they’re trying everything they can under
the restrictions they’re living with to maintain their
diversity, ” said Philip Shelton, executive director of
the Law School Admission Council. “The drop in ap
plicants makes it all the more difficult for them to
do that.”
At the undergraduate level at UT, freshman appli
cations are up 15 percent overall, to 15,558.
The increases include 14 percent more applications
from whites, 7 percent more from African Americans,
21 percent more from Hispanics, 16 percent more
from Asians, 55 percent more from American Indians
and 6 percent more from international students.
'■
|lUb
Tes
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Oprah jury begins deliberations in
/Vmarillo beef disparagement trial
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) —The multimillion-dollar
question of whether Oprah Winfrey intentionally dis
paraged a group of Texas cattlemen with her talk show
about mad cow disease on Wednesday went to the jury.
Jurors impaneled to referee the West Texas show
down between the cattle feeders and Winfrey began
deliberating at high noon after hearing two hours’ of
closing arguments. After a brief lunch break, they re
sumed work at 1:15 p.m. CST.
The cattle raiser’s attorneys told jurors that Win
frey’s talk show should be found liable for intention
ally disregarding the truth about the risk of mad cow
disease in U.S. beef.
“They were on notice. They knew the truth. They
broadcast it anyway because they were reckless," Joe
Coyne said during closing arguments.
Mad cow disease has never been detected in this coun
try. Cattlemen charge that the April 16, 1996, program
made it sound like an imminent threat to beef-eaters and
caused the cattle market to plunge to 10-year lows.
In response, defense attorney Charles Babcock
told the eight-woman, four-man panel their deci
sion will have a major impact on free speech rights
in the United States.
“This case is about the First Amendment,” he said.
“It’s about robust debate and it’s about the unfettered
interchange of ideas.”
Just as Winfrey has a right to
freedom of speech, co-counsel
David Mullin said, “we have the
right not to have our business
damaged by a bunch of false
hoods shot out of Chicago.”
Mullin and Coyne represent
a group of Texas cattlemen su
ing Winfrey, her production
company and show guest
Winfrey Howard Lyman for business
disparagement they say cost
them $ 11 million.
They said said all the statements broadcast dur
ing the show were either true facts, opinions, hy
perbole or rhetoric and therefore not actionable
under the Constitution.
Argued Coyne: “You look at that transcript all day.
The word ‘opinion’ is not there.”
. -
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To The N th Degree
3000 Briarcrest
776-5402
Bryan/College Station
/ 801 Rock Prairie
776-3499
200 Southwest Pkwy.
776-3424
Elephants!
Don’t forget.
FINAL WEEK!
Class of ’98 pictures
are being taken for the
Aggieland
1998
at A R Photography
Drop by
A R Photography
at its new
location on
Texas Avenue, or
call 693-8183 for
an appointment