Witan (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 1, 1979 Page: 2 of 16
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Page 2
THE WIT AN
February, 1979
WITAN EDITORIAL...
You may recollect the editorial of September 1978 in which was stated the belief that
St. Mary's was probably the finest school of law in the Southwest. Of course, Austin and
SMU would sneer at such a thought and no doubt the general public, being more
familiar with their more lordly endowments and top-hole football teams would tend to
rate us lower, but I am confident that we are worked harder, that we receive a better
practical education and that this will tell in the future, as more St. Mary's lawyers make
their way in the world. This should be a matter of great pride to all alumni-presumptive.
It certainly is to us. Ill admit that I've encountered some drivelling buffoons here, but I
do like to hear the old place well-spoken of. And this explains the Witan's policy of not
deliberately kicking up a row with the administration over certain things, e.g., the
retirement of Vince Taylor.
Everyone likes a fight, provided it can be enjoyed from the stands. (It is not the
executioner but rather the martyr who looks upon the face of God.) Ethically, however,
a battle cannot excite interest unless each side has a relatively even chance of victory.
The contestants must be in like manner armed. This would not be the case in Witan v.
Administration. What you would witness instead would be a last stand 'round the Union
Jack. Now I don't advocate shifting and lying for the preservation of The Witan but it
ought to be kept around for at least two reasons. 1. As an organ of expression of the
entire school, and 2. as an outward and visible manifestation of our activities. Being as it
is, a part of the school of law, its function is not to print damn-you-my-lad attacks on the
school to satisfy those who would fob off a fight on us. We should be honored to assist in
the process of evolution, but a rebellion mounted from the Witan's pages would be a
nasty shaker, no error.
So you see that the Witan's lack of violent confrontation with the faculty is not the
result of toadying or some inner defect I may possess as to controversy but of a sense of
responsibility to both the Witan and St. Mary's.
WITAN CASENOTE
United States ex. rel. Gerald Mayo v.
Satan and His Staff
54 F.R.D. 282
Gerald Mayo, beleaguered by manifold
woes, both temporal and spiritual,
brought a civil rights action against he
who he deemed his Nemesis, Satan,
to-wit. The good Mayo prayed for leave to
proceed in forma pauperis and complained
that the defendant had placed deliberate
obstacles in his path and thus barred him
from attainment of worldly success.
The judge held that Mr. Mayo failed to
include with his complaint instructions for
the United States Marshall for directions
as to service of process, (we would have
tried service by publication) and that in
personam jurisdiction over the defendant
was questionable.
After denying plaintiffs prayer the
learned judge made an excursus into the
realm of obiter dicta, discussing the
celebrated Daniel Webster's encounter
with our would-be defendant. Everyone
recollects the New Englander, desirous of
fortune, who in promise therefore pledged
his soul to Satan as consideration. Satan
eventually filed an action of mortgage
foreclosure as plaintiff. Daniel Webster
was retained for the mortgagor and raised
the defense that the plaintiff was a foreign
prince with no standing to sue in an
American court. (He could have also
raised illegal contract.) Having gotten off,
Wester's client doubtless sought his own
unilateral path to damnation.
As an aside, the last example of the
Faustian motif in literature that we know
of was a Broadway play entitled "Those
Damn Yankees," in which a baseball
player sold his soul to win the pennant.
Rumour is that one of our moot court
teams attempted such a barter but Old
Scratch, chary after having been burned
once, wanted some other organ as
collateral. The team decided that victory
at such a price was too dear.
Portrait of the Lawyer
as a Mad Dog
Do you remember the ox-eyed young
man who responded to Professor
Leopold's invocation to recite in the fall of
1977 on a property case with a tremulous
voice and brief aquiver. His peers feared
lest the Lionheart's very breath would
blow him out the door & down the hall.
Scarce a year from that date,
metamorphosed by various forces, both
outside and from within, he became
popularly known as 'Mad Dog', an
appellative he yet bears proudly and
doubtless ever will. Our purpose here is
not to discuss the "wherefores and
antecedents," to quote W.W. Guthrie, of
the change. The change is within, for
psychology is still in its infancy as a
science. We would not presume to chart
the inner growth of a young Jewish
scholar. Perhaps he wrestled with
Asmodeus of Tobit—certainly he rose
above him. Rather we seek to illumine the
outside influences. Certainly the school of
law and the whole process of legal
education greatly figured, as it instilled
confidence and self-reliance; but what of
the responsible individuals, who encour-
aged the phenomenon? By dubbing him
(Continued on Page 3)
II
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WITAN STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Edward Schroeder
Managing Editor Bill Hayes
Articles Editor Colleen McHugh
Features Editor Martha Warren
Copy Editor Robert Gardana
Consulting Editor Frank Gerold
Political Editor . Erwin McGee
Associate Editors Ken Oden
Mary Jo Trice
Business Manager Hector Mendez
Advertising Manager Sally Swanson
Faculty Advisor Dr. Harold Gill Reuschlein
Staff Writers: David Weiner, Mike Robbins, Doug
Wright, Mrs. Palsgraf, Charles Davis, Mike
McColloch, David O'Neil, Denny Voigt, Eric
Jensen.
Contributors: L. David Levinson, Wayne
Christian, Jane Bockus, Sue Hall.
Witan is published by students of St. Mary's
Law School, monthly except June and July. The
views expressed herein are those of the
individual writers and do not necessarily reflect
those of the WITAN, its editors, the
administrators, or faculty, unless otherwise
stated. The Editor is responsible for the views
expressed in unsigned articles.
Articles in WITAN may be reproduced and
quoted provided that credit is extended to the
publication and the author of the article so
used, and notice of such use is given to the
publication.
it
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Witan (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 1, 1979, newspaper, February 1, 1979; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth855618/m1/2/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting St. Mary’s University School of Law.