Opinions
4
www.Daily49er.com
Thursday, July 18, 2013
OpedD49er@gmail.com
Napolitano’s inexperience should concern UC regents The process of picking someone to lead one of the nation’s top public university systems can be a difficult ordeal. Last week, University of California officials announced that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was their choice to be the next UC president. Citing her expeur iew rience in government, UC Regent Sherry Lansing said in a press release that Napolitano is “a distinguished and dedicated public servant who has earned trust at the highest, most critical levels of ... government.” According to the UC website, Napolitano was unanimously selected by a special search committee to be the next UC president. The full UC Board of Regents will either accept or deny the committee’s recommendation today. Although Napolitano’s experience in government is impressive, the Daily 49er editorial board is concerned about her lack of experience in the education sector. Leading a large public university system like the UC requires the experience of working with students. Nothing in Napolitano’s career, however, indicates that she has had experience understanding and campaigning for student’s needs. Instead of being crowned immediately as the UC president, we think Napolitano should have started in a smaller role in the UC system and possibly worked toward the president seat. By first working as a dean or vice president for a few years, Napolitano would better understand what it’s like to work on behalf of students. But Napolitano won’t be a dean or vice president in the UC sys-
O
V
tem. She’ll likely go straight to the president’s seat. While she may not be the most logical candidate, she is definitely one of the most surprising. Perhaps she will bring a breath of fresh air into the UC system. With her wealth of experience in government, Napolitano could bring a more national perspective to the system. She could also strengthen talks with the state Legislature and campaign for increased funding toward higher education — so long as she sets her sights on what’s best for the UC.
If Napolitano is accepted as the system’s next president, we believe the UC Board of Regents should aim to keep her presidency as transparent as possible. Maintaining a healthy system of checks and balances within the UC system would ensure that Napolitano works toward the best interests of students, something essential to the UC’s future success. More important than ever is the need for a president to understand and campaign for students’ needs. If Napolitano can’t already do that, then the Board of Regents should help her along.
Public outcry and zeal hurt the prosecution in Zimmerman trial Last week, George Zimmerman was acquitted of all crimes — including manslaughter and second-degree murder — in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Following the verdict, a large national debate about race and the controversial “stand your ground” law began in response to the jury’s decision. While the national debate brought a great deal of media attention to the case, that same attention also influenced the due process of law. In effect, public outcry led to the prosecution trying to convict Zimmerman of second-degree murder, instead of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The decision to aggressively pursue the second-degree murder charge was ultimately the prosecution’s fatal error. During the trial, prosecutors charged Zimmerman with the second-degree murder of an unarmed minor.
Daily 49er Kristine McGowan Editor in Chief eicd49er@gmail.com (562) 985-7998 Courtney Tompkins Managing Editor Rabiya Hussain News Editor Daniel Serrano City Editor Donn Gruta Asst. City Editor Andrew Spencer Asst. City Editor Shane Newell Opinions Editor Asst. Opinions Editor Jovanna Madrigal Asst. Opinions Editor Nicolas Rodriguez
According to Florida law, second-degree murder is defined as “the unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual ...” The issue that botched the process of bringing Zimmerman to justice was the public’s view that icolas a charge like second-degree murder be pursued, as opposed to manslaughter. According to Florida law, manslaughter is defined as “the killing of a human being ... without lawful justification.” In reality, the prosecution should have pursued manslaughter from the start of the trial. Focusing on the manslaughter charge would have likely increased the prosecution’s chances to convict Zimmerman.
N
Ultimately, a lack of credible eye witnesses present at the shooting led to Zimmerman being acquitted of all charges. But what led to the trial in the first place? Deeply rooted racial lines divided the debate, as some civil rights activists saw the case as a matter of race. Evidence of the public’s interest in the case included a change.org pecreated by Martin’s odriguez tition mother, which listed more than 2.2 million signatures calling for Zimmerman’s arrest. A similar petition calling for the Department of Justice to open up civil rights charges against Zimmerman has gathered more than 500,000 signatures since Saturday. Public outcry had as much of a hand in justice as the judicial process itself did. While the trial did not specifically answer the question of whether race was a factor in Martin’s
R
death, Zimmerman’s account of what happened paired with the evidence presented in the case showed that he was not in a depraved state of mind. While it can be argued that the prosecution did a terrible job of painting Zimmerman as a depraved individual, it could also be argued that some media outlets did a better job in painting Zimmerman as a murderer before the trial began. Public sentiment wanted to create justice out of the Zimmerman case, rather than seek it. Public outcry influenced prosecutors into pursuing a more heinous crime like second-degree murder. Instead of minimzing the hype, the public’s zeal in seeking retribution without a clinical understanding of the facts led to Zimmerman walking free. Nicolas Rodriguez is a senior political science major and an assistant opinions editor at the Daily 49er.
Business Office
Editorial Office
Display Advertising Beverly Munson (562) 985-5736
Phone (562) 985-8001 Fax (562) 985-1740
1250 Bellflower Blvd., SSPA 004B Long Beach, CA 90840-4601
Advertising Design
1250 Bellflower Blvd., SSPA 010B Long Beach, CA 90840-4601
Phone (562) 985-8000 Fax (562) 985-7994
Diversions Editor Asst. Diversions Editor Asst. Diversions Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Photo Editor
Danielle Carson John Mroch Priscella Vega Jason Clark Daniel Astle Michael Morris Spencer Pirdy Todd Johnson
Mac LaBrosse (562) 985-5736
Asst. Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Social Media Editor Video Director Asst. Video Director Radio Producer Asst. Radio Producer Radio Production Asst.
Sara Berkson Amatullah Guyot Cat Tompkins Taylor Bell Stephanie Hirata James Delahoussaye Shereen Lisa Dudar Enedina Cisneros
Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in this issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinions of the Daily 49er are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members. All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily 49er.
Radio Production Asst. Design Director Asst. Designer Asst. Designer Cartoons Editor Design Adviser Content Adviser General Manager
Christiaan Pipion Jennifer San Jose Danielle Scharer Alisa Wong Leslie La Gary Metzker Barbara Kingsley-Wilson Beverly Munson
Letters Policy: All letters and e-mail must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Daily 49er reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.