n,
Wednesday, august 29, 1979
lincoln, nebraska vol. 103 no. 4
n
Passible poisoning
of Vets studied
pi
)
I
By Dill Hayes
Dioxin, a poison that could be present in the body fat
of some Vietnam veterans, is being investigated by the
UNL chemistry department.
The poison was a contaminant found in a principle in
gredient of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam
from 1962 to 1970.
According to the Veterans Administration, Dioxin is
as deadly as strychnine.
Defoliants were used to kill dense foliage which hid
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces.
University chemists are analyzing 25 samples of fat
removed from veterans claiming that they are suffering
from dioxin poisoning and from veterans who weren't ex
posed to Agent Orange, according to VA and university
officials.
Several of the fatty tissue samples were taken from
Lincoln veterans who alleged that they were exposed to
Agent Orange or were in Vietnam during the defoliation
campaign, according to Dr. Carlos Mota, Chief of Surgical
Services at Lincoln Veterans Hospital.
According to Mike Gross, director of the UNL Mid
west Center for Mass Spectrometry, which is conducting
the study, no preliminary test results are available.
Gross said the center has been studying dioxin for the
past 18 months.
"The Agent Orange study is a blind study," Gross said.
"All the samples that have been sent to us are coded. We
won't know the results until the codes are broken."
Gross said he plans to publish his findings in about a
month.
According to Gross, the only way to detect dioxin in
the samples is through modern analytical chemistry
methods.
Continued on Page 1 1
Campus crime increases
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Book-buying blues
Photo by Tom Gtssncr
Chris Smith goes through the bi-annual process of pur
chasing books for the upcoming semester. The Nebraska
Bookstore has extended its hours until 9 p.m. to handle
the crunch of scrambling students.
auringf
irst weeks of school
By Cindy Coglianese
As thousands of students descended on
the UNL campus this week, the UNL
Police Department found its hands filled
with an increase in vandalism, larceny and
disturbances.
Robert Fry, a crime prevention officer
with the UNL Police Department, said that
the increase of crimes the first few weeks
of school is similar to a neighborhood that
gets new neighbors. He said many students
are not aware of police rules and regulat
ions. "Kids are out on their own for the first
time. They have to test themselves, each
other and authority figures,'! Fey said.
"All that, added with a bit of apprehen
sion, a new environment and a couple of
beer parties will cause the crime rate to in
crease," Fey added.
According to police reports from the
last week, stolen books, bikes, wallets and
checkbooks have filled the police log book.
Disturbances at residence halls, larceny in
parking lots and in some buildings on
campus have also been reported in the last
week.
Fey said larceny is the biggest crime on
campus, explaining that larceny occurs
when something is stolen from an open,
unlocked space, whereas burglary is report
ed when there is a sign of forceable entry.
UNL Police Chief Gail Gade said some
of the crime occurring the first couple of
weeks of school results from new students
and students that have had no previous
contact with the police department.
One thing we've tried to combat here
at the university is that we are a profes
sional department with the full power of
arrest," Gade said, adding that some stu
dents think the police department is
nothing more than a security force.
He said the 10-year-old operation is the
only type of operation of its kind in the
state. All other colleges in Nebraska have
security forces only on their campuses.
Fey said the UNL Police Department
has jurisdiction over the entire state and
the 33 police officers actually are com
missioned as deupty state officers. The
UNL Police Department also has a uniform
traffic patrol and a crime division. The
police department employs students part-
time as building and residence hall security
officers.
As a preventive crime officer, Fey
recommended that students pay close
attention to their belongings to prevent
them from being stolen.
"Some of the larcenies occurring
happen simply because the opportunity for
theft was there," he said. "If you don't
watch your belongings, something might
happen to them."
Fey said the crime on campus should
level off after the next couple of weeks of
school. Chief Gade showed police reports
from early August that barely filled a
complete page. He said he expects the re
ports will fill at least two pages in the next
few weeks.
okm R. Ellis will foe eligible for parole next Hmomtli
By Val Swinton
An attorney for John R. Ellis says the
former UNL student may be eligible for
parole "almost as soon as he checks in" to
the state penitentiary, but the chairman of
the state parole board calls that assessment
a bit too optimistic.
EHis was sentenced to 10 years in prison
last Friday on charges of manslaughter, fol
lowing his conviction last spring by a Dis
trict Court jury in Lincoln. He was original-,
2X2
Prices gofcj down: Supermarket war in
lincoln may keep prices lower. . page 8
Album Phenomena: New rock groups have
never had it so easy after their first .
album palO
Devanry reminisces: H$ili$its from the
- 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma football game
were viewed last night on NEW by the
former Comhusker coach .... pae 12
ry charged with first-degree murder in the
death of another UNL student. Debit
Forycki. She disappeared in October of
1974 and her skeletal remains were dis
covered near Elmwood last Sept. Ellis was
given a flat 10-year sentence by Judge
William Blue, according to state statutes,
he becomes eligible for parole after serving
one year. Judge Blue also gave Ellis credit
for time served in county jail, since Sept
21,1978.
"It's possible he's eligible for parole the
day he checks in, his attorney, Robert
Creager, said.
: Actually. Ellis was transferred from the
County jafl to the state penitentiary over
the weekend and has about a month to
serve before his first year behind bars is up..
EVEN THOUGH he becomes eligible
for parole, it is difficult to determine
whether he will receive it, according to
John Greenholtx, chairman of the state
Board of Parole.
r "just because hes eligible for parole
docsnV mean he's entitled to it,"
GreenholU said.
He also said that Ellis will be interview
ed by the board and that a counseling pro
gram wfll be established for him in prison.
But, he warned, it is too early to deter
mine whether the parole board will grant
Ellis his freedom.
I havenV even seen him yet, he said.
. Defense attorneys argued before Judge
Blue, inv pressing for a lenient sentence,
that Ellis had served his first 1 1 months in
a county jail, not a state penitentiary,
which they considered to be "harder
time.
, THERE'S NOT as much to do in a
. county jail, Creager said, "You just sit
, around in a cubicle. Inmates in a state pen
. itentiary have more room to move around
and recreational programs. ; . :.
.:. I loweveri f that i argument '; apparently
didn't carry much weight with the Lancas
ter District Court Judge. The l&year sen
tence is the maximum possible for man-,
slaughter conviction in Nebraska.
And, according to GreenholU, it won't
carry any weight with the parole board ei
ther. GreenholU said that jail time is jail
time, regardless of where it's been served.
"If they didn't intend for him to serve any
more time then he already had, they would
have released him, GreenholU said.
NO MATTER how much time Ellis
serves, Creager is confident it won't be the
full 10 years. Because of the state's good
time provisions, Creager said; It's impossi
ble for him to sit out there for 10 years un
less he screws up everyday. . -
Creager added that because Ellis stands
a good chance of serving a limited sen
tence, he may be out of prison before the
SUte Supreme Court decides whether to
grant an appeaL Both Ellis conviction and
sentence will be appealed to the Supreme
Court ' . ": t- " "
Although Ellis continued to his inno
cence, Creager said the sentence was
"the most favorable he could have had."
And,: Creager added,' once the ; appearl,
called a writ of error, is filed with the
Supreme Court, bond must be set for Ellis
in a District Court, aftcrding him another
chance to go free before an appeal would
be decided. . C ;:v. '