Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

New York Times journalist visiting U. Mississippi
By Willow Nero
Daily Mississippian (U. Mississippi)
02/15/2006

(U-WIRE) OXFORD, Miss. — Supreme Court correspondent and 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner Linda Greenhouse will speak to members of the University of Mississippi community Thursday about the impact of specific Supreme Court members, specifically the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

The lecture is sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa's Beta chapter of Mississippi and will be in the Johnson Commons Ballroom from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

Luanne Buchanan, a member and former vice president of the Beta chapter, helped petition for Greenhouse's visit.

Buchanan expects Greenhouse to analyze other justices and the affects they can have on the nation's future. Although two new conservatives were recently confirmed to the Supreme Court, their roles for future decisions remain unknown.

"I hope they (students) will appreciate better how the Supreme Court functions," said Buchanan.

Greenhouse's 2005 book "Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey" follows Justice Harry Blackmun, a conservative appointee who wrote Roe v. Wade, the infamous Supreme Court abortion ruling.

Samir Husni, chair and professor of journalism at Ole Miss, said the Linda Greenhouse lecture is a great experience for students, faculty and everyone at Ole Miss to act as sponges and learn as much as possible from a journalist of Greenhouse's caliber.

He said he sees the lecture as a great time to acquaint students with the importance of following the Supreme Court, which Greenhouse has been doing for the New York Times since 1978.

"You can't be a journalist if you can't keep up with the law of the land," Husni said.

Greenhouse will meet with members of the Ole Miss Society for Professional Journalists in the S. Gale Denley Student Media Center for an informal meet-and-greet Wednesday afternoon and will dine with 12 students from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College on Thursday.

Douglas Sullivan-Gonzalez, dean of the honors college, said he hopes students bring up important issues during the luncheon, such as the confirmation of new Supreme Court Justice Alito, balances of the executive and legislative powers under the Bush administration, wiretapping and Dick Cheney's hunting accident Monday.

The luncheons serve to "get honors students in direct contact with spectacular leaders," said Sullivan-Gonzalez, mentioning other upcoming Phi Beta Kappa lecturers.

Each spring the national Phi Beta Kappa honor society offers guest lecturers, providing "a variety of experiences with people who come with different interests," Buchanan said.

Greenhouse is a New York Times Supreme Court correspondent and a panelist for Washington Week. She completed undergraduate work at Radcliffe College and earned her master's degree in Studies of Law from Yale Law School.

Greenhouse has received several prestigious journalism awards including the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting. She resides in Bethesda, Md., with her husband.

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