Lawsuit has substance

I am writing this in response to Walda and Hertzler's comments in "Lawyer says he will file lawsuit against University Monday" (IDS, Sept. 29). I am a plaintiff. \nPresident Walda is flippant about the matter and displayed a cavalier attitude: "If a suit is filed, it doesn't have any substance. It is clear to anyone who knows that law that what was done is in compliance with the law." I am appalled by this response.\nMy fellow plaintiffs and I sought out and received some of the best legal counsel, and there is an overwhelming consensus that in fact this case has significant substance and needs to be taken to the courts.\nThere are many issues at stake which have a bearing on how public officials can conduct official business. I am troubled by trustee Hertzler's comments: "The lawsuit is a feeble effort to try to gain some publicity and support for a lost cause." If you are referring to the cause of democratic government then you are mistaken.\nThe controversial decision to terminate Coach Knight's contract brought these matters to light. But that is ultimately not the issue. It is how we as citizens and alumni demand for our trustees to act. \nMaybe it was that I learned at IU about how sacred democracy is. I recall the former dean and professor Harvey Starr discussing the basis of the "Sunshine Law" movement sweeping this country post-Watergate, how grassroots movements took back their governments. \nFew realize the "Freedom of Information Act" came from that movement. We understood secret, closed-door meetings are tyrannous. Professor Carter, a former State Department official, implored us to understand that, without information of how a government is functioning, a free and open society cannot exist. \nYes, the trustees are being challenged. Our only remedy is the courts, the final check in our ongoing democratic experiment.\nWe firmly believe he is wrong. And we have a right and are duty-bound, as citizens to bring this suit forward. On the contrary, the trustees should have welcomed this examination with open arms. And yet they try to diminish and discredit it -- a curious and suspicious response. \nRobert Nemanich\nAlumnus