Wednesday, april 11, 1979
dally nebraskan
pageS
Student hostages 'executed'
in life-like terrorist attack
By Mike Sweeney
...
Despite the "deaths" of four Hostages
by six terrorists calling themselves the
American Revolutionary Movement, a
weekend political terrorism simulation at
UNL has been termed a success by several
participants.
About 75 students from four UNL class
es and one class each from Wayne and
Kearney state colleges gathered Friday
night at the Nebraska Union for the first
Midwest Global Simulation on Internation
al Terron f
The students, who had been studying
terrorism, attended the conference expect
ing realism. A group of actors were
scheduled to simulate a terrorist movement .
Saturday.
However, like real terrorists, the actors
were able to catch the students off-guard
by raiding the conference Friday night dur
ing speeches, said participant Brad
Schnoor,
The terrorists seized six student host
ages, barricaded themselves in a second
floor union room and issued demands,
according to participant Mike Gibson. The
terrorists threatened to kill hostages if their
demands were not met promptly, he said.
In the confrontation between terrorists
and students, "the terrorists won "Gibson
said.'
One hostage was released unharmed,
another apparently escaped and four others
were "killed" by the terrorists, participants
said. After the killings the terrorists fled
the union.
"We failed to get the hostages out, but I
don't think the scenario was a failure,
Gibson said. "I have a much better appre
ciation or the terrorist problem now."
The simulation taught him about the
problems negotiators face during terrorist
movements, he said. He said it duplicated
the confusion, breakdown of communicat
ion and boredom of actual acts of terror
New York playwright and former UNL
student Don Window led the terrorists and
created the, scenario complete with guns,
uniforms ant! blindfolded hostages.
According to Prof. Leslie Duly, instruct
or of one of the four participating UNL
classes, Winslow gave the act a great deal of
realism.
"There was nothing false or. phony
about the evening," Duly said. "We were
not just playing a game."
The terrorists burst into the Centennial
Room from all directions shortly after Paul
Laase, deputy director of the Office of
European Political-Economic Affairs of the
US. Senate Department, delivered the con
ference's keynote address, Schnoor said.
Dr. Stephen Sloan, a professor of politi
cal science at the University of Oklahoma,
had risen to deliver a speech, but never got
the chance,
"He said about two words when the
- terrorists broke in and held him up against
a wall," Schnoor said. "They made us (stu
dents) He on the ground and called the
names of the hostages."
Dave Wilson, one of the six students
taken hostage by the terrorists, described
the attackers as dressed in military fatigues
with blue and white badges. They wore
nylon stockings over their faces and carried
what appeared to be automatic weapons.
Giggles greeted the appearance of the
terrorists, Gibson said, but the amusement
disappeared when the terrorists started to
take over.
'They said if you know what's good for
you you'll stay down" Gibson said.
"Everyone hit the deck, and people were
really scared. My heart was pounding-I
wasn't thinking it was a simulation."
Hostages were dragged and pushed '
across the hall to another room. Schnoor
said the terrorists left with the warning
that the students should stay on the floor
if they valued their lives.
Shortly after the terrorists had gone, the
participants began to stand up. However,
when the students heard the terrorists
coming back, they all fell to the floor
again, Schnoor said.
Once the terrorists had gone for good,
the students formed groups to deal with
them. Students played the parts of journal
ists, mediators, security guards, state
department officials and executives from a
mythical company, the AMX Corporation.
According to student accounts of what
followed, the terrorists began to phone
their demands to mediators, state depart
Ment officials and the corporation manage
ment. The terrorists demanded
-that the AMX Corp. pay $1 million
for the release of Wilson, a company execu
tive. -that the city pay $100,000 to improve
"TTown," a lower-income district.
-that a state department official go on
television to admit crimes fostered by the
American public against Third World
nations.
Continued on page 7
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