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Wednesday, august 31, 1977 vol. 101 no. 3 lincoln, nebraska
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Rev. Daniel Berrigan
Photo by Ted Kirk
Reform still spurs activist priest
By Maijie Lundstrom
The turbulent '60s, shattered with antiwar cries and
protest marches, have spurred one antiwar activist to con
tinue a campaign for social reform. r
The Rev. Daniel Berrigan. a Catholic priest who spent
two years in a Connecticut prison for burning draft
records, spoke against political prisoners Tuesday evening
at the Unitarian Church in Lincoln. 1
Berrigan was in Lincoln to raise money for the Calvin
Church Legal Defense Fund, which provides legal assist
ance to political prisoners.
Part of the money raised will be used to help David
Rice and Ld Poindexter of Omaha, convicted in 1970 for
slaying an Omaha policeman, according to Nan Graff,
Lincoln fund chairwoman. '
Fund raising
Fund-raising efforts were begun by the man's friends,
Graff said. The group asked the Calvin church in Omaha
to sponsor the drive so that contributions could be tax
deductible. Within the last 'three and a half years, the
campaign has been organized in Lincoln also, he said.
Graff said the group 'firmly believes that these men
did not commit niurder."
"President Carter alks about human rights," she said,
"we wish he would get as upset about political prisoners
in his own back yard."
Berrigan, who is a friend of Rice, has not been allowed
to visit Rice because authorities rule he is a felon. Both
men are imprisoned in the Nebraska Penal Complex.
Can'JseeRice
Berrigan learned again upon arrival in Omaha early
Tuesday evening that he would not be allowed to see
Rice.
Clad in a patched shirt and peering over'half-rimmed
spectacles, Berrigan read exerpts of Poindexter and Rice's
letters and poetry written while in jail.
"It's a real triumph to be able to write poetry about
this world, when you're cut off from this world," Berri
gan said. " " '
He said he considered his poetry a "human statement
about human lives." However, he said he did not consider
himself a radical but rather a Christian.
Poetry exerpts included humorous, satirical and bitter
quips about prison life. One of his poems was dedicated
to his father who died at age 9 1 .
Father also resisted
"My father was partially crazy because he had trouble
resisting America and totally sane because he resisted
America," Berrigan said.
Berrigan spoke during a stopover on a trip from New
, York to the University of California at Berkeley, where he
will speak to a group of psychologists. His Lincoln stop
, was financed by the California group, he said.
Berrigan said he is not necessarily anti-America, but
added that he "resists every society that sponsors death as
a social message." i
Berrigan said he has tried to keep track of political
prisoners and fight for their cause.
About 80 persons of all ages attended the speech.
Frosh to meet with advisers
Freshmen are to be released from classes at 3 p.m.
Thursday to meet with chief advisers in their depart
ments, UNL Chancellor Roy Young has announced.
Instructors in freshman classes should allow the stu
dents, to leave, Young said. The freshmen will be
assigned advisers and given information about their
colleges and schools at the meeting.
The ASUN Book Exchange shows signs of turning over
a new leaf.
It's financial books may come out in the black for the
first time in years.
Sue Kess, co-chairman of the exchange, said receipts
from Monday sales totaled $1,090. Of that, the exchnagv?
collects five per cent of the book price from the buyer
and five per cent from the seller.
By Tuesday, about 1,700 books had been received by
the exchange from students, said co-chairman Mike Brogan.
"We like to think of it as an alternative to the book
store," Brogan said. "Students can buy books at greatly
reduced prices."
Kess said, "We have a long ways to go to be as efficient
as the bookstores. It is really hard to keep it organized."
Brogan said the ASUN book exchange is better,
organized this year, making it easier for the students to lo
cate their texts.
Out-of-date books are separated from current texts and
they may be sold later at a side-walk sale, Brogan added.
Kess said she believes the book exchange is one of the
best projects ASUN has to promote its visibility.
She said it is unfortunate that people have to put their
parcels down before entering the exchange in the North
and South Conference Rooms in the Nebraska Union
basement. ......
"If we seem. kind of vicious about that, it is because
that is where we lose the most money."
The exchange must pay the student for books that are
lost or stolen. In the past, this has been what has devoured
any potential profit from the exchange, she said.
Students in dark,
what else is new?
Perhaps it was some higher power protest to rising
book costs.
But to busy UNL shoppers at' the Nebraska Bookstore,
an 18-minute power failure late Tuesday morning hardly
made a shade of difference, according to bookstore
manager John Wehr. . .
An electrical service failure left approximately 14
square blocks of downtown Lincoln without any power
around 11 a.m. Tuesday. But for the - almost 300
customers and employees inside the bookstore at 1135
R St., "business went on as usual," Wehr said.
"The students kept right on going, just as if nothing
happened," Wehr said. Light filtering in from the full
length windows in the store's front aided students as they
continued searching for text books and supplies.
Check-out lines at the cash registers slowed, Wehr said,
but hand crank's kept the machines in operation. '
Four fire doors came crashing down when Lincoln
Electric Service (LES) restored power at 11:15 a.m.,
Wehr said. No one was hurt but a few students standing
near the doors were a "little frightened" when the doors
descended, he said.
An LES spokesman said a switch malfunction on a
34,5000 volt line caused the power failure.
UNL buildings were unaffected by the outage because
campus power is supplied frorrj the Bureau of Reclama
tion dams in South Dakota, according -to Doran Stahl-;
necker, chief utilities engineer for Nebraska power plants.
Stahlnecker explained that UNL uses LES lines to
transport the power to campus, but does not actually buy
LES electrical services.
inside vednoodatj
Is it catching? The College of Engineering and
Technology is on the verge of an epidemic ... .p. 11
The butler did it: Who is responsible for Elvis Presley's
death?. . . . . .p.12
King of the mountain: Two Husker quarterbacks still
vying for top spots. p.14
Work continues on addition to Bennett Martin Library.
By Paula Dittrick
More than bookworms are knocking around the
Bennett Martin Public Library, 1 4th and N streets, as
construction workers hammer toward completion of a
two-story addition. .
The J 25000-square-foot annex being built on top of the
north and east portions of the main city library is
expected to be completed by late February, according to
Lincoln City Libraries Director Charles E. Dalrymplc.
The two new floors will provide space for a 150-seat
auditorium, two conference rooms, new administrative
offices, a Heritage room and expanded audio-visual
and fine art areas.
Modification of the library's older section will make
more space for storage and reading rooms, Dalrymple S3id.
Construction was fynded by a $71 1 ,595 grant from the
Local Public Works division of the U.S. Dept. of
Commerce.
Dalrymple said he expects the new structure to accom
modate any library expansion during the next 10 years.
The expansion was necessary because reading rooms had
been converted into additional storage space, he said.
"More people require more service," Dalrymple said.
"Public service is the chief reason we (public libraries)
exist, and we have to grow with the community."
Citing a national trend toward increase library
service, he said new libraries have recently been built in
Omaha and Norfolk.
The Lincoln Public Library Service now includes Ben
nett Martin, six branch libraries and two small or mini,
libraries. The Library Board and the City Council are
considering preliminary plans for five additional branches.
Proposed sites for the new branches include
areas near I4th and Superior streets, south of Highway
2 between 27th and 48th streets, 27th and Old Cheney
Road, as well as Coddington Ave. and A streets.
A tentative date to begin additional construction of the
library system is slated for sometime during 1980, ac
cording to earlier news accounts.
Dalrymple said the City Council is not negotiating the
purchase of land for a new library somewhere in south
Lincoln,
He said Bennett Martin is the headquarters for the
library system and that while all branches may use any of
the Lincoln Pubiic Library materials, the main library
handles most administrative and purchasing duties.
Of the Bennett Martin addition, Dalrymple said, "We
worked in cramped quarters for quite awhile and I'm
looking forward to bringing about more puhlic service."
The main library has maintained regular operating
hours since construction began in April. Dalrymple
reported "no slowdown" of library usage which he said
"remains at a high level."
"We're giving as much service now as we ever have, but
we'll be able to give more service when the addition is
completed," Dalrymple said. About 66 per cent of the
addition will be ready for public use upon construction
completion, he added.
The walls and roof of the addition have been erected
and workmen are now finishing the inside walls, he said.
The only thing which would delay the February building
completion would be an extreme disaster, Dalrymple
speculated.
