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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 1981)
Wednesday august 26, 1981 lincoln,, nebraska voL 107 no. 4 Lincoln jail unsafe, unhealthy alleges class action suit By Elizabeth Burden A class action, suit was filed Aug. 12 against the city of Lincoln Lancaster County and city and county officials, seeking to correct or restrain violations at the Lincoln jail. The jail in the basement of the County-City building at 555 10th St. was built in 1969 to house up to 110 male inmates and 1 6 females.. An interlocal agreement between Lincoln and Lancas ter County was, reached Aug.. 17 transferring control of the jail to the county with provisions for city use. This did not change the status of the suit or the defendants named said William Blake chief assistant to the city attorney. The suit filed by inmates Dennis Windes and Christy Stone in behalf of themselves and all other prisoners contends that the defendants have failed to effect jail standards that comply with, the UJS. Constitution. The unconstitutuitional practices that the plaintiffs say exist include:: . . Subjection to unhealthy and unsafe living conditions including overcrowding and inadequate sani tary and health facilities. Hazardous fire and other emergency situations cre ated by the design of the jail.. Denial of adequate materials for maintaining person al hygiene. Violent assaults, to inmates by other inmates as a re sult of inadequate security and failure to house dangerous inmates separately because of the large number in the facility. Inadequate lighting ventilation and sanitation in the cells and lack of windows. 0 .-or r J c r , K. I Z- V i- , 8 X Walking the line 1 Yv 1 I v , Si f 1 ) III I . ' i f -W' . i . V a?' , tj I 11 I,,; f , Photo by Mark Billingsley UNL police officer Mike McConnell stands outside the University Bookstore. The bookstore hired the police officers as a deterent to shoplifting. University police officers provide bookstore security The man in the blue uniform leaned against the wall and watched students stream by the bookstore Occasionally, he told a student to, leave a bookbag on the shelf outside trie door before enter ing. Down the hallway another officer stood at the turnstile lust inside another bookstore He also kept his eyes on book buyers filling into the store An officer is stationed at each of tie stores for half a day and then replaced The UNL police officers were hired for the first two days of school to pro vide security at two University Book stores Bookstore manager Larry Behrends said the police officers are a big help to the booxstore staff Their presence definitely deters shoplifting" Behrends said wAnd they help people go from one area to another to buy textbooks ' Behrends said the presence of authority discourages persons from tak ing other peopled packages that are left on the shelves The police officers also provide security when cash is transferred from one location to another Police officer Mike McConnell said the overtime work was nice but it cut into his sleep. McConnell patrols on the swing shift from 4 p jn to midnightbut worked from 8 aon through 1230 pan the last two days Police officer Douglas Petersen stood watching students at the other book store Both officers said they hadn't seen any shoplifting or encountered any problems with students "Hopefully, if Yxn standing here it will deter them if they have thoughts of shoplifting,n Petersen said, Behrens said the police security has been used for about five years, and has worked well Photo by Kent Morgan Olsen Jane Crist,, (left) a freshman business major,, and Susan Knott, a freshman civil engineering major have found just one of the lines winding around the university this week, in this case the drop-add line. Students waited in line for up 10 an nour luesaay to cnange tneir schedules. Community center welcomes volunteer work by students By Ward W. Triplett HI Students with an interest in community involvement are welcome to take part in the programs of any Lincoln community center.. But despite the invitation most centers do not see much volunteer work done by students.. V1 think it is the fault of both the stu dents and the Lincoln community,"' said Asuquo Umoren director of the Malone Center which at 202? S St.. is the closest community group to the city campus. "Traditionally there hasn't been much interaction between the two Umoren said.. The Malone Center usually is recognized as being organized by and for blacks,, but Umoren said there is more to the center than that, "We try to service people although a lot of our programs are geared toward blacks. Our purpose is to serve the entire Lincoln community he said,. . Umoren said that the center helps a number of the city's 300 Asian families,, and along with the Mexican-American,, black and white involvement the Malone Center brings together various cultures effectively Students he said always are needed to help with the tutoring and counseling pro-: grams the center has for junior and senior high school students "It can be a very practical things parti cularly if a student is planning on becom ing a teacher or going into some form of social work Umoren said Umoren said the center used to have a program that brought students from the UNI- elementary and adult education departments to Malone for intern work But now people that come from UNL. or Nebraska Wesleyan come on their own he said Umoren said the internships allowed students to work directly with community children and see their problems, "We're working to bring the university people back again This year, for instance, we need more tutors in math and English than ever before, and it doesn't matter if they are white,, black, just anybody," he said. Program director Fannie Thompson said. "We're trying to convince students to come and visit, us. Once they start work ing through the center, that will tie them to the Lincoln community." Thompson said the community agency, which is financed by the United Way, has an adult education program, adult social development advocacy programs, and recreation leagues. Plays and presentations also are given. Umoren, who is an annual speaker for the UNL adult education program, said one issue students spoke out on for the Lincoln community proved that students had a voice to be heard, "When they (the city of Lincoln) want ed to run the Northeast Radial through, the public heard the students vote against it Umoren said.. If the freeway had run as proposed, the land for the Malone Center's new building, scheduled for opening in March, would have been taken,, The new building will combine the existing Malone offices and a recreation center into one site between T and U streets.. "We have the university community to thank for being here still," Umoren said.. "We owe it to those who spoke out to say that we are here and alive and well n UU UCAJV-UV M Close Call Two women workers at the Ne braska State Historical Society may have inhaled gas fumes Page 3 Fast Break New York punk band The Fast brings the violence of leather and chains to Lincoln , . ; , , Page 10 Rebuilding: Florida State football Coach Bobby Bowden says his team has a lot of work to do before it begins a schedi ule that includes five straight road games against 20 top teams , , , Page 13