The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, September 25, 1984, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    i
V i
i ill
i'i ft i SD r ,
Tuesday, September 25, 1934
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol.84 No. 23
By Asm Lowe ' -
Lcily Netixs&aa Senior Reporter
Editor's nets; This is. the
second article in a five-part
esric3 cxpleriag vazisrs isssea
behind Nebraska factbalL
Take UNL's Memorial Stadium
on a big game day and pack it
with 76,000 screaming fans. Give
the fans a little booze and sorae
Behind
. 1 Big Red
oranges to throw. Things could
get pretty wild. .Someone might
even get hurt.
Two years ago, someone did get
hurt. In the 1C32 Nebraska-Oklahoma
game, Sgt. Marv Kinion of
the UNL Police Department was
struck by a frozen orange thrown
from the stands. Neck injuries
forced Kinion to take disability
retirement at age 58. He still wears
a neck brace and continues with
physical therapy.
Since last fall, UNL officials
nave tried to prevent similar acci
dents. Fans are not allowed to
bring large coolers, glass con
tainers and. oranges into the
stadium.
A closed-circuit television
system v21 installed in the press
box so police officers can keep a
closer watch on the crowds.
The rules may be stiffer and the
equipment may be sophisticated,
but it's still a big job to keep the
stadium clean, orderly and safe
on Big Red football Saturdays.
G&me dsys start peacefully
about 5:30 am., when grounds
keeper Bill Shepard arrives at the
stadium. Shepard and about 18
other grounds and maintenance
workers spend the morning dust
ing seats and bleachers, setting
up folding chairs and running a
giant vacuum over the inside of
the stadium, said building mech
anic Dick Lutz.
As fans pour in from all over
Lincoln and UNL police
officers stand in parking lots and
busy intersections to direct traf
fic. Capt. Jim Baird of the Lincoln
Police Department said LPD sends
about 35 officers to direct traffic
before the games and about 45
after.
Other officers are stationed at
the stadium gates to help ticket
takers keep coolers and other
contraband out of the stadium.
By John RIelssner
In what now sounds naive, a
Daily Nebraskan editorial on Nov.
15, 1933, two weeks after the col
lapse of Commonwealth said:
"When this whole situation (Com
monwealth) is over, we may find
that there were no fraudulent or
illegal actions. But if there was
any wrongdoing, the state has a
responsibility to uncover it and
punish those involved
With the sentencing last Friday
of former Commonwealth Presi
dent S. E. Ccppla to 1244 months
in prison, the state, 10 months
after the collapse of Com
monwealth, took its first step
towards punishing those involved
Copple fs prison sentence b
1LSME
iML police hmm
The officers dont frisk fans or
"search parcels, said Lt Joe Whencr
cf the UNL Police Department.
But Wehner said the ne w restric
tions have limited the amount cf
alcohol that gets carried into the
stadium.
Altogether, about 110 officers
are on duty at the stadium dur
ing game time, including UNL
and city police and Nebraska
State Fatrol officers and Lancas
ter County sheriff deputies,
Wehner said. As some officers
patrol the stadium, others keep
their eyes on the TV monitors to
find fans who are drinking, fight
ing or throwing things, he said.
Besides the security offi
cers, about 45 volunteers from
the American Red Cross, four
nurses and two doctors are on
duty to handle medical emergen
cies, said Del Weed, UNL coordi
nator for spectator emergencies.
Backed by two ambulances and a
mobile heart unit, this health
team typically responds to 15 to
20 emergencies at every game,
treating everything from bee
stings and minor scrapes to chest
pains and shortness of breath,
Weed said. ,
Chest pains' usually are "more
from anxiety than anything else,"
Weed said. No fan has had a heart
attack at the stadium for a year
and a hal he smd. - -
Weed said the number of medi
cal emergencies has decreased
since last season's crackdown on
bottles and Coolers. Fewer people
are tripping in the aisles, and
fewer fans are getting drunk and
getting sick at the games, he said.
-But Comhusker games aren't
completely trouble-free, he said.
It's still "not uncommon," he said,
for officers to interrupt fights
and escort unruly fans from the
stadium.
About eight minutes be
fore game's end, most of the police
officers head back to the streets
to guide post-game traffic. Then,
after the game is over and the
fans are gone, the Big Red clean
up begins.
UNL police officers take lost
and found items to the campus
station, where they are kept for
seven days, then given to charity,
Wehner said. On Sunday, the
grounds crew and volunteers
start the cleanup, which usually
takes about 150 work hours a
week, said UNL Grounds Director
Bud Dasenbrock.
"One' of the problems with the
wheels of justice is they grind
very slowly," State Banking Direc
tor Roger Beverage said Lion day,
adding that thwarted efforts to
return depositors' money or gain
retribution in court are "very
frustrating to them and us."
A list of the major parties in
dicted, acquitted, or convicted in
court because of their actions
follows.
Paul Douglas The state At-,
torney General escaped unscath
ed ifomaNebraskaSupreme Court
impeachment trial in March and
a federal grand jury investigation .
which ende d earlier this month.
However, he faces charges of per
jury and obstruction of justice in
. i " ,.
1
.. -
L .
David CrsmrDaNy Hcbreckxn
Statelwuse gets facelift
A good deal cf renovating will be dne around tLe south entrance of the Capitol. Stcry on
Page 6.
Learning disabled students get help
from specially trained
By Brad Gilford -.
The learning disabled some
times fight a silent battle.
Many colleges and universities
do not offer a program to help
them because of limited funding
for special services. The learning
disabled have been on the fringe
of special program spending be
cause their problems are not as
visible and are sometimes more
difficult to detect.
UNL now is reaching out to
learning disabled students with a
new program to help them adjust
to and overcome their problems.
Before this program, UNL could
offer only standard academic
advisers to students with learn
ing disabilities. UNL Affirmative
Action officer Bradley Munn said
that was not enough.
"Learning disabled students
have special problems and need
specially-trained counselors,"
Munn said.
Although this need was as
sessed years ago, it was not met
until money for the new program
was provided by an anonymous
donation from a local family and
a grant from Burlington Nor n
ern Railroad.
earns i
a Lancaster County trial sche
duled for Nov. 26. It is rumored
he appeared before the Nebraska
State Bar Association inquiry com
mittee in Omaha (all disciplinary
proceedings are kept confiden
tial). Both the court and the Bar
are looking into Douglas busi
ness dealing with Marvin Copple,
Commonwealth's former vice
president. If the court finds Dou
glas innocent. Beverage said that
"ends all criminal matters...unles3
they come back with another in
dictment" State Banking Department and
the State cf Nebraska These ,
entities have been sued by the
receiver cf Commonwealth and
140 Commonwealth depositors.
mnrvr
i i i . . ,i -,
t -S
!,
I ; t
t-:
I (
L- , -J
- - 1
1 t
Three specially trained counse
lors and Munn, who mainly refer
students to the appropriate
' advisers, now are available' 24
hours a day, every day. They act
as a liaison between students and
teachers, concentrating on build
ing students' abilities to do basic
tasks, like spelling, reading and
writing.
The program currently has 20
participants, but Munn said he
thinks that there are other stu
dents who have not yet asked for
assistance. Many students may not
realize they have a learning dis
order. Others may know they have
a problem but are afraid to ask
for help or do not know how to
handle it. Munn said the program
can help all of these people.
The service is operating on a
trial basis, Munn said. He will
evaluate the number of students
in the project, the different types
of counseling and the effective
ness of the whole program to
determine its future.
Stewart Porterfield, a junior
majoring in music, said the pro
gram is "very worthwhile, but
maybe I'm a little biased."
Porterfield has dyslexia, a neu
rological disorder that causes him
to transpose letters when he
The former suit put the State
Banking Department, named as
the receiver of Commonwealth,
in the unique position of suing
itself. Both a $57 million tort
claim and compromise $33 mil
lion claim were rejected by the
Lancaster County Court, however.
The latter suit asks for $1.8 million
because of negligence.
S. E. Copple Although he
faces no other charges in return
for providing information to
authorities, the 87-year-old Cop
ple awaits sentencing for a sim
iLir conspiracy charge he pleaded
no contest' to in federal court.
Newt Copple Charges of aid
ing and abetting in Lancaster
County District Court are still
wheels of justice
?
-1
counselors
writes.
Like his father, mother and sis
ter, Porterfield attended Wash
ington University in St. Louis. He
said that WU was a Harvard-typ
school, but after four years he
quit. He was frustrated because
no one could help him with his
problem.
Porterfield, in his first semes
ter at UNL, decided to enroll even
before the new service had opened ;.
because people like Munn "sat
down and talked with me."
"I told him we didn't have what
he was looking for, but that we'd
do everything we could," Munn
said.
Nov Porterfield is getting the
chance to do everything he is
capable of. He said he doubted
that he could graduate from WU,
but he now has his sights on
graduate school and teaching.
"If you get through school but
can't write things down, you have
nothing," Porterfield said. "I'm net
going to come cut of here with
just a piece of paper, but some
thing that works."
Learning disabled students in
terested in the program can reach
Munn at 472-3417 or visit his
office, Administration 504.
pending for the son of S. E. Cop
ple. Additionally, he has been
sentenced to 16-24 months in
prison for forgery used in obtain
ing a loan from the Beatrice firms
he presided over. Like his father,
however, he is free pending ap
peal of the sentence on grounds
of cruel and unusual punish
ment. Marvin Copple Lancaster
County District Court is prose
cuting Copple on two felony
counts of theft for two payments
totaling $500,000 he received from
Commonwealth, but again, like
his father, he is protected from
further state and federal charges
in return for his testimony in the
upcoming Paul Doujks case.
J
ft