daily n
monday, november 14, 1977 vol. 101 no. 41 lincoln, nebraska
Arson suspected in Smith fire; youth apprehended
Bv Marv Jo Pitzl
Campus Police have apprehended a 17 year-old male on
suspicion of arson in connection with a fire at Smith
Residence Hall early Saturday morning.
Capt. Kenneth Markel said the youth was found on
campus and taken into custody several hours after flames
broke out in the "fourth floor lounge around 1 a.m.
Further action is pending a preliminary hearing from the
county attorney's office, Markel said. The youth is being
held in jail, he said.
According to Harper-Schramm-Smith complex program
director Celina Sima, the suspect is a member of the
High School Equivalency Program (HEP). HEP students
are housed at Smith and Harper halls, Sima said.
There were no injuries from the fire, Sima said. She
added that only the fourth floor lounge suffered fire
damage and it will need to be repaired before further use.
Lincoln Fire Department reports indicate that the
fire was started in a chair in the lounge. The fire was
contained in the lounge, although smoke spread to other
rooms on the floor and caused damage to personal
belongings, according to district fire chief C.J. Cablic.
Residents evacuate
The fire was reported at 1 .06 a.m. The approximate
500 Smith residents were evacuated to the courtyard,
many seeking refuge from the chilly night at Harper
and Schramm halls.
Sima praised the smooth evacuation process, saying
the residents were "extremely cooperative." Fourth
floor residents were allowed to return to their rooms at
2:45 a.m. Occupants of the other nine floors returned
around 3 ajn., Sima said.
"WeVe pretty much done as much as we can," Sima
said of fire safety procedures at the residence hall. "The
fact that no one was hurt and all were evacuated safely
is proof of that."
Sue Anderson, who lives in room 408, said she was
sleeping when the fire alarm sounded.
, "I heard the girl down the hall hollering about it,
but it still didn't dawn on me," said Anderson, a sopho
more computer science major from Omaha. "But when I
walked out in the hall and it was filled with smoke, it
was pretty scary.
"One thing that I thought of when I walked out of
the room was to shut the door," she said. Thanks to a
throw rug that got jammed under the door, the damage to
her room was not severe, Anderson said.
A thin layer of soot covering everything in the room
was the only damage, Anderson said.
But others were not so lucky as Anderson.
Damage to jeans, towels
Jackie Baker, of room 411, estimated that damages
to her room total about $125 She said many of her
jeans and towels were covered with so much soot that
they could not be used again. Her parent's homeowners
insurance should cover all her losses, Baker a sophomore
pre-med major from Omaha, said.
Baker said the smoke from the lounge fire reached
her room through vents leading from the lounge into the
hall.
Soot and smoke covered everything exposed in the
room.
"Our walls went first," Baker said, pointing to the
cement block walls recently scrubbed clean. "Our win
dow was completely black; it took me 20 minutes to
clean it."
Fourth floor residents still were cleaning Sunday
afternoon.
Jeanne Konen and Sue Janda, of room 412, were sorting
their clothes into piles covering the floor of their
corner room.
"It was a nice birthday present," said Janda a junior
pre-med major from Wilber. Janda turned 20 Saturday,
As an extra birthday present, Janda took entrance
tests for Pharmacy College the morning after the fire.
Although she only had two hours of sleep, Janda said,
she thinks she did all right on the exam which lasted four
hours.
Several of the fourth floor residents said they lived at
Smith last year when a tenth floor room went up in
flames.
"Last spring it was a lot different because it was six
stories higher," Anderson said. "It was frustrating to hear
people joking about it," she said, adding that fourth
floor has had its share of curious and annoying sightseers.
r
Or
. -
African says foreign students
taken advantage of by dealer
4;. ..'7 ' .
. '
1.
I "L :JJ
x-
Photo by Ted Kirk
Even the fans got a few handfuls of feathers as the Huskers clipped the KU
Jayhawks' wings Saturday in a record -smashing performance. For photos and
the story, see pages 8-9.
A native West African UNL student says
that a Lincoln car dealer is taking advan
tage of university students, particularly
foreign students.
" '." "Jerry Afuh, a graduate student in Agri
cultural Economics, contacted the Daily
Nebraskan, saying he purchased a used car
last July from Misle Imports but the con
tract differed from the oral agreement.
On the advice of Misle's loan officer,
Afuh said he signed the contract in order
to take the car, on condition the contract
would be revised the following week.
Afuh said he signed the documents and
put $1 ,200 down on the car, but was never
able to have the contract amended. After
considerable controversy, he said he re
turned the car, which was not damaged,
but never recovered his down payment. He
is now conferring with an attorney, he said.
Abram Misle, part owner of Misle's, dif
fered with Afuh's account of the story.
Misle said that Afuh bought the car but re
turned it 30 days later saying he had finan
cial problems and could no longer afford
the payments.
Misle offered to buy the car back and
Afuh agreed, Misle said. Afuh paid the
balance of the loan's interest with his Bank
Americard, accepted a "check for $1,200
less than, he paid for it, which he subse
quently endorsed for deposit.
Misle said he later offered Afuh other
cars or to sell the first car back, but Afuh
refused. .
"All he wanted was the $1,200 back,"
Misle said. "I wouldn't give it to him
because iw wasn't entitled."
Afuh said he knew of other foreign stu
dents with similar problems with Misle's
but refused to provide the Daily Nebraskan
with the students' names or telephone
numbers.
Misle denied having any particular prob
lem with university or foreign students.
We sell more cars than anybody in
Lincoln. We sell cars to students,
professors, everybody."
Peter Levitov, coordinator of the In
ternational Educational Service, which
offers counseling to foreign students, re
fused to comment since all information he
receives is confidential.
Regents fully support college preparation task force
By Mary Jo Pitzl
Recent controversy over whether Nebraska students
are adequately prepared for college has spawned a task
force to study college preparation in the state. The task
force was approved by the NU Board of Regents at its
monthly meeting Friday.
The regents gave unanimous approval to NU President
Ronald Roskens' task force idea.According to Roskens
proposal, the task force "should concentrate on the ques
tion of insuring that students are adequately prepared,
particularly in mathematics and English, for admission to
Nebraska colleges and universities."
The task force will be initiated through his office, Ros
kens said, estimating that a committee should be
appointed within two weeks.
inside mondaij
Work, work; Study, study: New financial aids
program would pay students to work and
learn ,.,.,..;.... .p. 2
Hearts buried at Wounded Knee: Five years later
however, hc memories live on P- 3
Looking for new VISTAs on the great plains:
UNL grad talks about the federal anti-poyerty
program. .p. 6
"We're trying to make it very clear that this is not a
regental committee," he said, explaining that the task
force is not limited to NU, but includes all facets of Ne
braska education.
Roskens' proposal recommended the task force be
composed of school superintendents, principals, school
board members, secondary teachers and college and uni
vsrsity faculty.
Representatives from professional education associa
tions, the state Department of Education, Nebraska
students and the public, will be on the task force. Roskens
estimated the task force be headed hy a member of the
public and an NU representative serve as vice chairman.
Roskens listed several questions the task force on col
lege preparation should examine. These include:
-How can the university cooperate with Nebraska
parents, teachers and school administrators to improve the
preparation of students for college admission?
-What steps should be taken within the university to
strengthen all programs -affecting teacher preparation?
-Should the university institute its own special admis
sions tests, including tests in spoken and written English
composition?
-Should the university restrict admission based on
demonstrated proficiercy, including SAT and ACT scores,
high school grades and rank in high school graduating
class?
Roskens' proposal arose in part from the regents recent
concern over NU fredtmen entering college with educa
tional deficiencies. . ' ., ,
Lincoln Regent Ed Schwartzkopf said that before the
task force could begia work, it must identify the problem
it will study.
"Nowhere do we make an effort to find out what's
really going on in the high schools," Schwartzkopf said.
The board decided to include that question in the task
force's duties.
See related story p. 10
r
.
- t
-J
Photo by Wikt Dahlhim
NU IWhlent Ronald Roskens
