daily nebraskan
Wednesday, november 15, 1978 lincoln, nebraska vol. 102 no. 46
Students plead innocent to charges from night rally
By Val Swinton
Fifteen UNL students, angered over
what they claim was mistreatment by Lin
coln Police, and because many said they
didn't feel they did anything wrong,
pleaded innocent in court Tuesday to char
ges stemming from two bonfires early Fri
day morning at 16th and R and 16th and S
streets.
Thirteen of the students appeared in
municipal court to answer charges of dis
turbing the peace and interfering with the
duties of a police officer. They are: Curt
Brown, Ronald Kobler, Richard Plazek,
Jeff P. Sharp, Richard Hergenrader,
Andrew Peterson, Craig Meierhenry, James
Meyer, Wade Morris, Mathew Bassett, John
Gilmore, Samual Segnar and Douglas
Brooks.
Two persons, Mike Phillips and Michael
Zeis, appeared in county court facing char
ges of resisting and abusing an officer and
disturbing the peace. Two others, Chris
Thelen, who was charged with arson, and
Stephen Snyder, accused of larceny, were
not charged yet in court.
Conflicting claims
Police say they are not aware of any
abuse by officers, but students are claim
ing one was beaten over the head with a
nightstick, while another said his glasses
were broken when he was hit in the face
with a flashlight.
Mike Phillips, who said he was struck in
the fact with a nightstick, requiring six
stitches, said he hasn't decided if he will
take legal action against the police.
Phillips was originally charged with
resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer,
and disturbing the peace.
However, a spokesman in the county
attorney's office said after reviewing the
facts of the case, the charges were reduced
to resisting and abusing a police officer.
Douglas Brooks, whose glasses were bro
ken, said a policeman ordered him to leave
the area, and as he did so, "another cop
grabbed me, pulled my hair back with one
hand, and struck me in the right eye with
his flashlight."
Both Phillips and the other student say
they are sure it was lincoln Police officers
who struck them. Arrest records indicate
Lincoln Police made 15 arrests, while Uni
versity Police made two.
Inquiry leads to arrest
John Gilmore, vice president of the
Sigma Nu Fraternity, said he was arrested
after he went to a police car to find out
why other members of his fraternity were
being arrested. Gilmore said he then
was ushered into a patrol car and taken to
the police station, where he was charged
with disturbing the peace.
However, both Lincoln Police Chief
George Hansen and the director of Univer
sity Police, Gale Gade, said they were not
aware of any injustices committed by of
ficers at the scene.
"I don't know of any instance where
our police used nightsticks," Hansen said.
"Our initial reaction was to block off the
street and let the thing go."
But, he said, police moved in when non
private property was thrown into the fire.
"It began to get out of hand," he said,
"we tried to get them to disperse."
Hansen added one of his officers was in
jured when he was punched in the face,
and required treatment.
Validity questioned
The director of the University Police,
Gale Gade, said his officers also did not
observe any police brutality being commit
ted by Lincoln Police.
"Those sort of things you have to take
with a grain of salt, as far as their validity is
concerned," he said.
While some students have hinted at the
possibility of filing complaints with the
Lincoln Police Department's internal
affairs division, no such complaints had
been filed as of Tuesday.
In addition to the disturbance on
Friday, two other persons were arrested
Saturday while the goal posts were being
torn down.
Timothy Luchsinger and Kevin Bartels
were charged with suspicion of destruction
of state property, but the charges were
later reduced to resisting an officer. A
spokesman in the county attorney's office
said it would be difficult to single out
those two, considering the number of
persons on Memorial Stadium field
Saturday afternoon.
Pinballs pinging all over town in response to latest fad
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Pinball playing attracts hundreds of wizards every day
Devaney criticizes fans' attitudes
By Jim Kay
Sports Editor
UNL's football team may have reached
new heights with a win against the Univer
sity of Oklahoma Saturday. But at the
same time UNL fan sportsmanship may
have reached new depths, according to
Athletic Director Bob Devaney.
Verbal and physical abuse of the Okla
homa players and coaches, and the
continual throwing of objects onto the
playing field were cited by Devaney as
little more than "bush league operations."
"I don't want to dampen the enthusi
asm of the crowds," Devaney said, "but
we would like to see a stop to all the fool
ishness. We understand the great exhuber
ance which is justifiable with such a win.
But the throwing of objects is foolish "
Devaney condemned the throwing of
oranges on the field because a player could
slip and be hurt by the debris on the field.
"Besides, if we were going to the Rose
or Cotton Bowl vou wouldn't have it
(throwing debris)," Devaney said.
He added fan control at Nebraska has
never been a problem in the past.
"We've gradually come to this," he said.
"I've become more concerned as the season
has gone along. It started last year with the
Alabama game. I was disappointed with the
treatment given Bear Bryant. People were
pushing him and grabbing for his hat.
"Nebraska has had high class fans ever
since I've been here," he continued. "Our
fans have been complimented at home and
away games. But the last two years, things
have gone downhill real fast."
Devaney said he hated seeing Nebraska's
sportsmanship image dragged down to
lower levels
"This kind of action puts us in the same
class as some other schools in the league,
but I won't mention any names," he said.
"I think v s iust a small part of the student
section tuii'v -the -leader stuff.
"Tht " i: :em is not with students
It only takes one quarter to take a trip
to the "Lost World," where every move
you make, whether planned or unplanned,
is marked by strange, eerie noise.
With one step and another quarter, you
can let your temperature rise with "Disco
Fever"as your moves determine the music,
instead of the music determining your
moves.
Yet another step and one more quarter
allows you to become involved in "Space
Wars," where the rocket engines blare as
you plan your destroying mission.
To experience these phenomena, you
must temporarily leave reality and live in
the world of pinball machines.
Home pinball
It seems that more and more people are
enjoying the world of pinball as they bring
machines into their homes for recreation or
visit them regularly in arcades, recreation
centers or bars.
A co-owner of Nebraska Billiard Co.,
which sells pinball machines, said she has
seen a trend toward more home models.
Connie Mueller said as people begin
spending more time at home, they spend
more money in recreation rooms, which
often include pinball machines.
She explained that her company does
not have the machines in stock, but they
can get them within one or two days.
Different models
Currently, Mueller said, there are six
different home models offered by the firm
she works through. She said a home model
does not include the coin device and is
usually cheaper. An average price for a
home model is $795. but a new machine
(as a whole). Attitudes are carried over. If iiSts for about $1,800, she explained,
the action and attitude of the students is There " not one particular pinball
positive, they can do a lot to stop this." machine that Mueller said she would des-
Having the fans behavior broadcasted scrjbe as the "most popular."
to a national television audience also was it js just what people are looking for,"
discouraging to Devaney. she said, "because they are all quite a bit
"When people see it on TV and it's con- different."
tinually done," he said, "it causes criticism Continued on page 10
from all over the country." .
Devaney said he hoped fan reaction
would be more favorable this weekend inQIfiO
when the Huskers face the University of 'Olww
Missouri since UNL locked up an Orange Afjn-fjfl I
Bowl invitation with the win against Okla- Wvl IvTOVVy
homa.
He added he hopes more favorable be- Believe it or not: Columnist sells out
havior will carry over to the 1 979 season as for Christmas money page 4
weN Life as drama: TV show breaks new
"I hate to come to the point where ground page P
ESCSTh )7JZ TkhJ Lined up ' for' lunch : Coach Osborne
said, and I don t mean that as a threat. ,. 1 , , . , . .
t . . i- i- - i '4 ,, discusses Oklahoma victory with
We ik at a point wncre we uon t warn , , j
to go down the ladder anymore. It's just overflow luncheon crowd
a bush league way of doing things." page 14
Daily Nebraskan photo
