Wednesday, april 1, 1931
lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 53
Testimony given in Moreland preliminary hearing
By Bob Glissmann
UNL student John E. Moreland, 18, will face an April
16 arraignment on three counts of felony motor vehicle
homicide.
Charged yesterday at a preliminary hearing in Lancast
er County Court, Moreland was bound over for arraign
ment, Lancaster County Court Judge Robert R. Camp
said. Moreland is charged with the deaths of UNL
student Geri Lynn Foster, 19, of Omaha, and Creighton
University students Christopher R. Harries, 21, of Mission,
Kan., and Peter J. Phelan, 20, of Cedar Plains, Iowa.
The accident occurred Feb. 7 when the students
were leaving a fraternity-sorority party near Sprague.
The vehicle Moreland was driving came up over a hill and
allegedly struck several students walking along the road.
Six other students were injured.
Testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses
included that of Dr. George E. Gammel, a pathologist
who contracts with the Lancaster County attorney's
office for emergency cases. Gammel said Foster. Harries
and Phelan all died from massive head injuries.
The court also heard testimony earlier in the day from
Rick Gilman, a student at Southeast Community College,
and Robert McQuillan, a student at Creighton University.
Gilman said he saw Ms. Foster being hit by the car.
McQuillan said he was knocked lo (lie ground by the car
and when he got up to see what had happened, Harries
and Phelan were lying in the road.
Toncy Redman, counsel for the defendant, said he
plans to file a plea in abatement prior to the scheduled
arraignment, asking the district court to review the charges
of the lower (county) court. Redman said there is "in
sufficient evidence" for the charges.
"They showed he tested .01 (of one percent of alcohol
in the body fluids) more than an hour after the accident
occurred," Redman said. "1 don't think they proved he
was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the
accident," he said.
Deputy County Attorney John Osborn said he plans
Bill to create vet school moves
to enrollment and review
By Kim Hachiya
After considerable maneuvering and amending, LB245,
a bill that would create a regional veterinary college at
UNL, was passed to its final stage Tuesday in the Nebras
ka Legislature.
The bill passed 27-15-7 after the Legislature added an
WjV J
Photo by Jon Natvig
Sen. John DeCamp of Neligh, along with Sen.
Jerome Warner of Waverly, proposed a March
1982 deadline for Nebraska to acquire the necessary
financing for a veterinary school. It was rejected by
the Legislature, 22 21.
amendment that places a Dec. 1, 1983 deadline for the
state to acquire federal funds to pay half the construction
costs of the school and acquiring the support of at least
two other states to participate in the $30 million program.
The bill and its accompanying appropriations legisla
tion provide for about $1.4 million to be spent this year
in developing and planning the school.
Under legislation passed in 1979, only schools in the
Old West Regional Commission were eligible to partici
pate. They include Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota,,
South Dakota and Montana.
LB245 would broaden the scope of participating
schools so that non-Old West Region schools also could
participate.
Since 1979, South Dakota and Wyoming have express
ed a desire to drop out of the arrangement but Arizona
and some other schools have also been interested in join
ing the program.
The 1983 deadline was proposed by Sen. Loran Schmit
after the senators had rejected 22-21 a similar amendment
proposed by Sens. John DeCamp and Jerome Warner
which had proposed a March, 1982 deadline.
Under the DeCamp-Warner proposal, if the deadline
had not been met, leftover funds were to be used to up
grade the UNL animal science building.
Under the Schmit proposal, if the deadline isn't met,
then all statutory references concerning the veterinary
school will be deleted.
Schmit said the March, 1982 deadline was unreason
ably early and would not allow other states enough time
to consider joining the effort and would press Nebraska
congressional delegates who have promised to help in
raising the federal money.
The senators also rejected a proposal by Lincoln Sen.
Chris Beutler which would have required that Nebraska
obtain at least $13 million in federal funds before going
ahead with the program.
Beutler's opponents argued that the state must show
a commitment to other states and to the federal gov
ernment by putting up the money as a "good faith"
gesture.
Beutler's amendment died 1 2-24.
to file an "information" which contains the charges
brought against Moreland. There was "probable cause to
believe a crime was committed" since the defendant was
unlawfully operating the car, Osborn said.
If an accident involving motor vehicle homicide occurs
when a driver is under the influence of alcohol or any
drug, the violation is considered a felony. If not, it is a
misdemeanor, Osborn said.
Moreland is out on bond. Redman said Moreland will
plead not guilty at the arraignment. The charge of felony
motor vehicle homicide carries a maximum prison sen
tence of five years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Experiment subject
alone over month
By Lori McGinnis
As part of a psychology experiment, a person lived
in a studio apartment in Burnett Hall for 48 days with
no contact with other persons.
The person left the room Saturday, March 21. This
person was the latest of 20 people in the last 10 years
to undergo this experiment.
The experiment was conducted by Dan Bernstein,
an associate professor of psychology at UNL. It is design
ed to study how people distribute time among activities
that are available.
A subject is moved into the room with an agreement
that he or she can leave and end the experiment at any
time, Bernstein said. The subject must bring hobbies to
occupy time because no television, radio, newspapers,
mail or visitors are allowed.
Another condition to the experiment is that restriction
lights in the room indicate what activites can or can't
be done, he said.
The reason for the restriction lights, he said, is that
when one activity is changed, others will change. In this
controlled environment, Bernstein said, he can learn how
constraints effect the redistribution of tasks.
The subject is observed 24 hours daily by a member of
a research team consisting of 15 psychology students.
The subject knows of the observation, and is given privacy
only in the bathroom and while dressing. The observer
records what the subject does, where it is done and its
frequency.
The subject is given $20 a day and free room and
board for participating. Bernstein was awarded a federal
grant by the Institute of Mental Health and was given
money from sources in the university research budget for
the experiments.
Leanne Aurand, a psychology student in charge of
selecting the subject, said about 250 people responded to
an advertisement in a local newspaper that requested
a participant.
Bernstein said subjects are selected on the basis of how
many activities he or she can bring along. A psychological
screening is done after the subject is selected to assure
he or she will react well to the conditions, he said.
It's just not that bad if you have tilings to do," Bern
stein said.
The room contains two beds, two chest of drawers,
a refrigerator, hot plates, a desk, chairs and a table. It
is "as pleasant as such an environment can be," he said.
Continued on Page 6
Director: Budget cuts may de-energize research
By Reid Warren
Some areas of energy research at UNL will be slowed if
Congress accepts President Reagan's proposed budget
cuts, according to the director of die UNL Energy
Research and Development Center.
The public will suffer most if energy research is cut,
Edward Anderson said.
The public will suffer, Anderson said, because
informing and educating the public about energy is the
most expensive aspect of energy research.
If budget cuts are passed it will mean turning toward
"pure research-oriented projects, which will really slow
down public enthusiasm," Anderson said.
"But what we lose in public work, we'll gain in straight
out research," he said.
Anderson said energy research uses fewer employees
than public information and education, and thus is less
costly.
Each aspect of energy research must be treated as an
individual case, Anderson said, with some, notably the
integrated energy farm at Mead, having been cut already.
Anderson said a change in functions toward more
research didn't disappoint him because he is primarily
a "basic researcher" himself.
Research still will be able to produce energy alterna
tives in laboratory work, he said, but the results will be
less commercialized and less available for public informa
tion. Anderson said that so far he has not had more than
15 percent removed from what he asked for a project,
and that budget cuts haven't eaten too much from
research projects yet.
Anderson said he was in "60 to 75 percent acceptance
of Reagan's cuts, and 25 to 40 percent upset by it."
But an exception, he noted, was the state Solar Office,
which faces extinction soon if it doesn't receive other
forms of aid besides federal grants.
The state Solar Office is a "split personality," accord
ing to Anderson, because it serves both the university and
the state.
Anderson, however, is the principle administrator of
the office since the university subcontracts the office to
the state.
It is predicted that half of the Solar Office's 12 em
ployees will lose their jobs by the end of April.
But Robert Youngberg, director of the office, said that
although his office is in financial trouble, a solar energy
storage project awarded through UNL is in no immediate
danger of being eliminated.
The project investigates the possibilities of a low-cost
thermal solar storage system, Youngberg said.
Both Youngberg and Anderson said they are hopeful
that a bill that doubles the severance tax on oil and gas
will pass the Nebraska legislature.
The bill proposes that some of the money collected
from the tax go to UNL and its energy research depart
ments. Anderson estimated that the university could receive
$1 .5 million if the bill passes.
A big chunk of the bill, he added, would go for weath
erization of low-income and public buildings.
Anderson called the bill "a good idea, which would tax
the state's energy savings account for future energy investment."
msk Wednesday
Bills Due: The costs for preparing legislative bills are
analyzed Page 2
You Bet Your Life: New biography portrays a painful
life behind Groucho Marx's famous one-liners . . . Page 8
After The Shouting: Columnist Jeff Goodwin takes a
look at Indiana basketball Coach Bobby Knight after
his second national championship Page 10