LAST WEEK, the University was given the chance, thanks to the openness of graduate student Rich Felker, to witness the work of the University Judiciary Committee and begin to understand the workings of a Committee which many students simply do not know enough about. With UJC's first ever open trial, UJC was presented with the challenge of showing the University community that it has a judiciary body that is looking out for both the community and the rights of students accused of violating the standards of that community. For the most part, UJC delivered.
The trial at times was shaky. The room set-up made it difficult for some members of the audience to hear the proceedings, and a number of the prepared statements regarding trial procedure made by the Committee members beforehand had very clearly not been adjusted for the open trial set-up. Within the context of the trial itself, as well, the counselors on both sides underperformed and seemed to do a less than stellar job fighting for their "clients." Both the prosecuting counselors and the defending counselors missed several obvious questions for witnesses that would have helped both their cases immensely.
That being said, however, the set-up of UJC itself made up for any problems with the representation of the two sides. Whenever one side or the other would miss an obvious question to ask, that question was asked by a member of the UJC panel itself. For instance, when the prosecution didn't ask Felker during his testimony whether he intended to create a disruption or not, a question the defense had very obviously been avoiding asking him, it became the very first one asked by the UJC panel during the panel's questioning of Felker. In the end, thanks largely to sharp awareness and understanding from the members of UJC itself, both sides did appear to receive a fair hearing, and all questions that needed to be asked were asked, even if one counsel or another missed the chance to ask it himself.
For one charge, the violation of Standard Four of the Standards of Conduct ("Intentional disruption or obstruction of
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