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friday, October 17, 1975 volume 99 number 31 lincofn, nebraska
V
By George Miller
Between 500 and 1,000 persons are ex
pected to attend an open campus meeting
to discuss the Arvid Sherdell Lewis shoot
ing, according to Tony Williams, AS UN
senator and chairman of the committee
planning the meeting.
The gathering is scheduled today from
1 1 :30 a jn. to 1 :30 p jn. on the north side
of the Nebraska union. In case of rain, the
meeting will be in the Centennial room in
the Union.
Speakers at today's meeting will be
County Commissioner Bruce Hamilton and
a Lincoln Police Department representa
tive. Mayor Helen Boosalis probably will
attend, but said she will only answer
questions.
State Sen. Emest Chambers and Lan
caster County Sheriff Merle Karnopp ex
pressed interest, Williams said, but had
made no commitments at press time.
Lancaster County Attorney Ron
Lahners said he would not attend. Other
possible speakers are Lewis' mother,
Barbara Kelley and a member of the justice
for Lewis committee.
The ASUN Senate passed a resolution
Wednesday night calling for the meeting
and encouraging students to attend the
meeting instead of classes.
Proper procedures
"We want to keep it cool," Williams
said. "We want to make sure that nothing
sets it (the meeting) off. It won't do to
have people yelling and talking out of
line."
A petition calling for a -grand jury in
vestigation of the Lewis shooting will be
circulated during the meeting. Paul Mor
rison, ASUN second vice president, will
serve as moderator for the meeting. Each
participant will make a statement and
then answer questions.
ASUN senators and union employes will
help maintain crowd control during the
meeting. Williams said that ASUN wants to
keep Campus Police and Lincoln Police as
far from the crowd as possible to reduce
possible tensions.
Lt. Robert Edmunds, security investiga
tor of Campus Police, said that "around 4
to 5" Campus Policemen would be present
at the meeting.
No problems expected
Edmunds said he does not expect
problems and Campus Police would attend
the meeting "just like any other official
university function."
Allen Bennett, union director, met with
the committee to make arrangements for
the meeting.
"Our concern is that there be no lack
of planning," Bennett said. "We are very
concerned that there be complete freedom
of expression at the meeting."
UNL Vice Chancellor for Student'
Affairs Kenneth Bader said he had dis
cussed the gathering with ASUN President
JirnSay.
'The University is the place where an
examination of issues, whether they are
local, state or national should be held,"
Bader said. "Hopefully, it will be conduc
ted in that spirit."
Bader said since there was a "potential
for emotions" at the meeting, he hoped
"everything to prevent emotions could be
done."
The issue of students' not attending
classes should be settled by students and
their teachers, he said, and the university
would not take a stand on the holding of
the meeting.
Mteto by Ely Mmh
ASUN Senator Tony Williams
Students, administrators meet to discuss scuffle
Student representatives joined admini
strators in a 9 aju. meeting Thursday to
"help clear up misconceptions and see if
there is additional information" about
scuffles in the Nebraska Union north lobby
Wednesday afternoon, according to Gail
Gade, Campus Police chief.
One student, Regina Eddington, was ar
rested and charged with two misdemeanor
counts of assault and battery in connection
with the incident, Bernard McGinnis, chief
deputy county attorney, said.
Eddington was arraigned Thursday
morning and pleaded innocent to the two
charges, according to McGinnis. He said
a $500 bond set by the judge was posted
by Eddington.
Docket call
Docket call in the case will be Oct. 28,
McGinnis said. Docket call involves a re
view of the charges and pleas with the
prosecuting attorney, the defendant and
her attorney and the judge present. If
neither pleas nor charges are changes, the
case continues in a hearing.
At the morning meeting, charges against
Eddington were still unknown and Gade
said the question of force used to arrest
Eddington was raised.
"Depending on the charges, I think the
main issue is whether unnecessary force
was used," Gade said.
Gade said that investigators wanted to
talk with first-hand witnesses of the event.
The meeting was closed to the public
but Gade; Ely Meyerson, dean of student
development, and Jimmi Smith, UNL dir
ector of minority affairs commented after
the meeting.
"It (discussion of the incident) was
among the people in the meeting," Smith
said. "At the time the press arrived (shortly
after 10), the meeting had progressed and
to let them (the press) in would have
meant going back over material and not
getting to the point."
The meeting was held this morning "so
it would be timely," according to Meyerson.
"If we had waited until after the arrign
ment and discussed the issues, then the
press would have been in and probably
those concerned would not have been as
open," Meyerson said.
Dialogue important
The meeting "showed the process of in
formation," according to Meyerson. "Dia
logue was important."
Gade reviewed results of the investiga
tion and those attending "discussed reports
and discrepancies in reports," Meyerson
-1""
i
said.
The meeting was not to pacify or
cover up," Smith said. "We need a clear
cut source of information."
Meyerson reported that a number of stu
dents have come in to his office to discuss
the incident. He said their statements are
being turned over to Gade for use in the
investigation.
Organizations ; represented ' included
Black United Sisters (BUS), Blacks of Afri
can Descent (BAD), the Afro-American
Collegiate Society (AACS), the Women's
Resource Center, Center for Educational
Change and ASUN.
Campus Police Lt. Robert Edmunds,
who is in charge of the investigation, and
Annette Hudson, a counselor in minority
affairs, also attended the meeting.
Law-Psychology Research Conference
Prison subjects dominate speeches
Photo by cv Eow
Hans Toch, professor at the
School of Criminal Justice at
the University of New York in
Albany.
inside
Advising Sessions: Open to all
UNL students p.6
Also Fiad:
Editorials p.4
Arts and Entertainment p J
.. Sports..'... ' p.10
Crossword p. 12
Short Stuff pJ
Weather
Fridxy: Mostly sunny and mild. I lighs in
the upper 60s. Winds ranging from 5 to 15
By Marian Lucss and Randy Blauvelt
The direction of national prison reform,
differences between criminal and mental
health sanctions and inmate stress from the
"wolf versus sheep" situation were some
topics discussed Thursday at the two-day
Law-Psychology Research Conference.
The conference, sponsored by the UNL
College o! Law and UNL's Psychology
Dept. continues today with more discus
sion on national criminal justice.
Norval Morris, dean of the University of
Chicago Law School, spoke on "Who
Should go to Prison." His speech was fol
lowed by John Monhan, a University of
California at Irvine professor of social
psychology, speaking on "Social Credi
bility Toward an Intergrated Theory of
Criminal and Mental Health Sanctions,"
and by Hans Toch, a professor at the
School of Criminal Justice at the State
University of New York at Albany, speak
ing on "Prison Environments and Psycho
logical Survival."
If prisons were looked at as part of a
- "humjn value system" they would prob
ably be seen as a "distressful environment"
and a "generieal'y inhumane institution,"
said Hans Toch about a "volf versus sheep"
station found in the nation's ' prisons.
Tfc-cns are some people to whom the
difficulties that they encounter (in prison)
require immediate and individual
attention," he said.
Inmate feelings
Citing a study on the feelings of inmates
in a New York prison, Toch said prison life
was found traumatic because the inmates
, are weak when strength and masculinity
are necessary.
"The weak inmates see themselves as
easy game in a prison situation," he said,
adding that many were exploited and were
victims of homosexual rape.
Prisoners have few choices, Toch told
more than 250 attorneys and UNL law stu
dents. They can act boldly, which could
be Viewed as panic, or can isolate them
selves with "weak company."
To remedy this situation, Toch suggest
ed that prisons study the backgrounds and
psychological traits of prisoners and place
them in wcrk or living situations with simi
lar "street" or peer groups. '
'These groups would help certain
inmates survive the stress," he said.
Allowing prisoners to maintain links
with society would improve chances of
rehabilitation, he added.
Remake man
Morris said prison systems have to stay
out of the business of forceably remaking a
man.
He said that the prison population will
increase until 1935 and then begin to
decline. He said the baby boom would then
hit the prisons.
"This is a difficult time in criminal
, ustice system policy," said Morris, a mem
ber of the National Council on Crime and
delinquency.
Morris said prisons suffer from a lack of
clarity. He added that jails need expansion
and improvement.
In favor of experimentation with types
of punishment, he said he is prejudiced in
tids matter.
Morris said he was present at the open
ing of a 26-tory downtown Chicago jail
last week. The jail, he said, was security
controlled by computer.
Computer not fallible
'The reasoning behind this was that
man is fallible and computer isn't," he said.
President Gerald Ford, Morris said, is in
favor of mandatory minimum sentences for
- criminals despite its failure record. Because
of crowded systems and proposals for these
minimum sentences, plea bargaining is
increased, he said.
"Mandatory minimums are a way to get
votes or run for office," Morris said.
Idealistically, when people are released
from prisons, a change within these people
should occur, he said, but at the moment
the prison systems cannot accomplish this.
"But I'm a foolish optimist and I think
this can be achieved," he said.
Monhan, a Community Clinical Psy
chologist member, said there are similar
ities between criminal and mental health
law.
In criminal law, fie said, there are two
forms of sanctioning-imprisorunent and
commitment. But, he added that in mental
health litigation these two forms may be
unnecessary.
Sanctions, in terms of deprivations of
liberty for chninals, Monhan said, involve
rehabilitation, special deterrence, general
deterrence and retribution. In mental
health sanctions, he continued, there are
only rehabilitation, deterrence or change
in the person for the benefit of society.
This change would be so the patient
would not flaunt society's norms, he said.
When people talk of mental health treat
, ment for crime and punishment for menial
health, he said, contrasts are overdrawn.