South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 1, Ed. 1, September, 1992 Page: 1 of 8
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OLLEGE OF LAW
Register to vote
by October 4th.
Welcome
back!
ANNOTATIONS
Volume XXI Number 1 The Student Newspaper of South Texas College of Law
STCL plays host
to convention
September 1992
by Caroline Sweeney
Granted, the Astrodome saw most of the
Republican National Convention activity but
South Texas shared in a little of the limelight as
well. The Republican Law Students'
Association, the SBA, the administration, and
Institutional Advancement worked hard to host
convention-related activities and increase South
Texas' name recognition both locally and
nationwide. South Texas held a reception hon-
oring The 1992 Republican National
Convention Platform Committee on August
9th. During the convention week, STCL host-
ed The Creative Coalition forums as well as a
broadcast by American Public Radio, concern-
ing environmental issues.
More than two hundred invitations were
sent out to invite the Platform Committee to a
reception in the atrium. "We were listed on the
calendar as the Platform Committee's official
welcoming host to Houston," said Charley
Prine, president of Republican Law Students'
Association. Before starting law school, Charley
was the Regional Political Director for the
Republican National Committee for five years.
Even though his former position was a foot in
the door, Charley, together with RLSA and
Dean Wilks, worked for more than a year
beforehand to assure South Texas' position as
official welcoming host.
On August 16th and 17th, South Texas wel-
comed such celebrities as Jill Clayburgh, Mary
Stuart Masterson, William Baldwin and
Stephen Collins. As members of The Creative
Coalition, the stars were here to participate in
two issue forums to increase public education
and awareness. The first forum was entitled
"Life in the Diminished Roe v. Wade World"
with STCL Professor Teresa Collett serving as
one of the distinguished panelists. The second
issue concerned National Endowment for the
Arts funding and was entitled "Funding the
Arts: Who Gets Money? Who Decides?" The
Creative Coalition is a nonprofit organization
comprised of members of the entertainment
industry.
William Baldwin, Creative Coalition member, espouses views on reproductive
rights in Garrett-Townes Auditorium. The forum was underwritten by Justice
Records, courtesy of Randall Jamail.
Two students get involved at convention
by Caroline Sweeney
The predawn hours of August 11 th were
unusually bustling outside Houston Women's
Clinic. "Clinic defenders" beat the morning sun
to organize their strategy against Operation
Rescue, an active pro-life organization.
With the advent of the Republican
Convention, Operation Rescue descended on
Houston-area abortion clinics while pro-choice
groups countered with a showing of their own.
South Texas student Camille Whitworth was
assigned to guard the inside of a fire door while
other "defenders" escorted patients into the clin-
ic.
"Often an Operation Rescue person will
pose as a patient, get inside the clinic, and then
let others in through the fire-door," explained
Camille. The Houston Women's Clinic was spe-
cially built to eliminate many Operation Rescue
tricks that have been tried in the past. There are
no outside water spigots, for example, because
Operation Rescue has previously flooded clinics
by turning a hose through a window.
Throughout the week, Camille worked from
5 a.m. til 1 p.m. at the clinic. "It's an issue I feel
strongly about, so I wanted to show my sup-
port," she said. Despite the crowds, patients
continued to show up for their scheduled
appointments. One young women had even
traveled all the way from Belize where abortions
are illegal.
Before the clinic defense actually started,
Camille had already attended several workshops
that trained the volunteers in various strategies,
including how to form a human wall.
All in all, Camille described Operation
Rescue's showing at the clinic as "fairly quiet —
at least no one tried to rush the fire exit."
"Getting people in and out," is how South
Texas student Eric Carcerano describes the work
he did for the Republican Convention. His
actual job title was Assistant Coordinator of
Airport Operations. He, along with some 200
other volunteers, greeted the Republican dele-
gates as they stepped oflf the plane.
"We contacted each state, received the travel
arrangements and made sure the delegates got in
the right bus or car when they left the airport,"
explained Eric. He was also responsible for
greeting VIP's to our city, such as cabinet mem-
bers.
Eric began his work with the Houston Host
Committee in mid-July. Although it started as
only a nine-to-five job, by Convention week, he
was working eighteen-hour days. The hard
work did pay off however. Eric received creden-
tials that allowed him to attend the convention,
including Thursday night when President Bush
delivered his speech.
As an avid Republican, Eric welcomed the
chance to become so involved in his party's
activities. "It's not very often that something this
big happens in your own backyard," he said.
Orientation
raffle called
a success
The Health Law Society and Phi
Alpha Delta livened up this year's student
orientation with a raffle during the barbe-
cue on August 15th. Student organiza-
tions and outside businesses contributed
more than fifty items ranging from T-
shirts to gift certificates. Numbers were
drawn that corresponded to the incoming
students' nametags. While the prizes were
handed out, student organizations got the
chance to tell 1 Ls a little bit about them-
selves. The raffle proved to be informa-
tional and, as Lee Haas, President of
PAD, pointed out, "it's one of the only
free things in law school."
ABA votes for abortion rights position
by Camille Whitworth
The American Bar Association voted to take a pro-abortion
rights position at the ABA national convention in San Francisco
in August. The policy-making body of the ABA, the House of
Delegates, voted 276-218 to repeal the neutral position adopted
two years ago.
The resolution supports a woman's right to choose to termi-
nate a pregnancy before fetal viability, or to protect the life or
health of the woman. It opposes laws restricting that right.
Proponents of neutrality, including Harriet Miers, the new
president of the State Bar of Texas, argued that the ABA should
remain neutral in order to respect the opinions of members who
oppose abortion.
Another opponent of the resolution was U.S. Attorney
General William Barr, who feels that the resolution will endan-
ger the perception that the ABA is an impartial professional asso-
ciation.
ABA members will now be allowed to lobby for abortion-
rights legislation, testify in Congress, and participate in abortion
cases. Half of the nation's lawyers are members of the ABA.
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Sweeney, Caroline M. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 1, Ed. 1, September, 1992, newspaper, September 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144486/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.