1958

The New Hampshire Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice David Brock captured the attention of every resident of the state when they issued their recent opinion on the duty of the state to pay for a "constitutionally adequate education" for its children. The decision was based on Article 83 of the New Hampshire Constitution, which states, "Knowledge and learning, gen- erally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and sciences..."

Writing the opinion for the court David noted, "A free government is dependent for its survival on citizens who are able to participate intelligently in the political, economic, and social functions of our system. The duty placed on the state encompasses cherishing public schools." He went on to comment, "We do not construe the terms 'shall be the duty...to cherish' in our constitution as merely a statement of aspiration. The language commands, in no uncertain terms, that the State provide an education to all its citizens and that it support all public schools." Many thanks to our new classmate, SallyPrescott, for passing on to me information about this landmark decision in the history of the state of New Hampshire.

Sitting at my Macintosh Powerßook, I was pleased to read an op-ed piece written by Dick Adler entitled, "Don't throw out the computer with the crime." As we move into the era of "information superhighways," Dick aptly notes that, while there certainly are incidents of criminal activity with these computer bulletin boards, it is important to note that the files on these networks are available in books at local bookstores and libraries. Reminiscent of then-President Eisenhower's famous commencement address at Dartmouth in the 1950's, in which he admonished the citizens of this country not to join the book burners.

Federal District Judge Tom Jackson may have caused all of us cable-TV subscribers to get a bit nervous last fall. Ruling in a case challenging a provision of the new cable television law that requires cable operators to negotiate programming prices with local affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and other broadcast networks, he rejected the industry's claim to the infringement of First Amendment rights to free speech. Tom noted that the Congress had an independent constitutional authority to provide creative artists with copyright protection for their work. Since I'm married to an artist, his ruling certainly rang true for me.

In addition to having the joy of celebrating the marriage of their eldest daughter, Lizand Skip Coggin are exploring the new world of retirement. While searching for a business to buy or run, he apparently is using his spare time to improve his "computger" (sic) skills and golf game. Either John Murphy goofed, or Skip is still learning how to use his spelling checker!

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