Friday, August 2, 1985
Page 2
The Nebraskan
Stun guns a prodding topic
By Joe Dejka
Staff Reporter
Stun guns cause no harmful side
effects to the heart, an Omaha re
searcher said Tuesday, but controversy
still surrounds use of the immobilizing
gun.
Dr. Robert Stratbucker of the Uni
versity of Nebraska Medical Center,
who tested the Nova 5,000 stun gun on
laboratory animals, said that under
specific circumstances the gun proved
noneffective in causing negative effects
to the heart or blood pressure.
The tests, performed on mini-pigs
which have a cardio-vascular system
similar to that of humans, were done at
the request of the Douglas County She
riffs Office.
Lincoln Police Chief B. Dean Leitner
said the stun gun was initially designed
for law enforcement as an alternative
to lethal force, the same reason that
the chemical Mace was developed.
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The May indictment of five New York
City police officers on charges they
used a stun gun to torture accused
drug dealers, and similar reports of
abuse nationwide, have fuled con
cern about the high-tech weapon.
Dr. Stratbucker said the Nova 5,000
stun gun can effectively incapacitate a
person for a short time. A charge of five
to ten seconds on the support muscles
of the lower back or hips can cause
someone to fall down, he said. The gun
could be effective in breaking up a
fight or subduing a violent drunk, he
said.
The biggest potential for abuse is in
intimidation, he said. Though only
about the size of a television remote
control, the Nova can generate 45,000
volts of electricity with a minute
amperage that is passed to the body
through two probes. The gun produces
a menacing blue arc of electricity
between the poles, and when discharged
on the skin creates a stinging sensa
tion "like a bunch of bees," he said.
Police Chief Leitner said he still
favors the use of nonlethal force other
than the stun gun.
"I don't see any advantages and I
wouldn't even consider its use," Leitner
said. "It's like using a cattle prod," he
added.
Denise Frost, associate director of
the Nebraska Civil Liberties Union,
said "the area is wide open for the
eighth amendment." The eighth amend
ment prohibits cruel and unusual
punishment.
Though the NCLU has no official pol
icy on stun guns, Ms. Frost said that
without specifically tailored guidelines
governing its use, the stun gun could
be used as a form of punishment.
"Could the stun gun be used on a
juvenile, a pregnant woman, a drunk?"
she said.
Though stun guns were specifically
designed for law enforcement, Nebraska
has no laws regulating their sale and
distribution.
Jim Deitz, a salesman for Omaha
Midwest Wholesale Distributors Co.,
which sells the Nova 5,000, said that
women are buying the stun gun for self
defense. The Nova 5,000 retails for
$68.95 and is powered by a nine volt
battery, Deitz said.
"They're great because they don't
physically harm anybody," he said. "It
drops you to the floor," he said.
Torture is possible by using the
device but is much safer than shooting
someone with a gun, Dietz said.
Though effective in limited defen
sive situations, the stun gun as an
offensive weapon is useless, Dr. Strat
bucker said.
"The idea that you could rob a bank
with it...l think that's pure nonsense,"
he said.
The natural reaction to the shock is
to pull away, he said. To immobilize
someone for a robbery, an assailant
would have to press the gun against the
victim for about ten seconds, he said.
News Brief
Who's
News
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Scott Norberg, a first-year gradu
ate student at the University of Ne
braska College of Architecture, and
Whitney Powers, a recent graduate
of the Mississippi State University
School of Architecture, have taken
office as president and vice president,
respectively, of the American Institute
of Architecture Students (ALAS) for
1985-86.
AIAS, formerly the Association of
Student ChaptersAIA (ASCAIA), re
presents 15,000 architecture students
in 135 chapters at U.S. colleges and
universities with accredited architec
ture programs.
As AIAS president, Norberg repres
ents student needs and concerns to
The American Institute of Architects
and the architectural profession. He
serves on the ALA Board of Directors (as
an ex officio member) and on the
Intern-Architect Development Program
(IDP) Coordinating Committee. In
addition, he is publisher of the student
journal CRIT and organizes student
events at AIA national conventions.
The Nebraska Stockgrowers Associ-
Ej ation and Cow-Belles Organization have
awarded their annual John Jirdon
Memorial Scholarships to four UNL
Lincoln students.
The students are Lesa Diane
Micheel of Ainsworth, Richard
Eugene Jones of Benkelman, Cyn
thia Marie Rush of Scottsbluff and
Patrick W. Doyle of Stapleton.
The recipients will receive the $375
scholarships during the 1985-86 aca
demic year.
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48th & Vine
Bump on Heagan's nose
will be tested for cancer
WASHINGTON (AP, Reuter) President Reagan had an irritated
patch of skin removed from his nose by a dermatologist Tuesday and the
specimen is being routinely checked for cancer, his spokesman said.
Spokesman Larry Speakes said Thursday that Regan had a "bump" on
his nose for months, and that it became irritated by adhesive tape when he
was hospitalized for cancer surgery last month.
Speakes disclosed the removal of the skin when reporters asked about
a scar they noticed on Reagan's nose while he was addressing a group of
radio editors in the White House.
He refused to identify the dermatologist and said he did not have a
technical name for the irritated spot. He called it "a spot, a place, an
irritation on his nose. It was irritated by the tape."
Budget plan ready for Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) House and Senate budget negotiators reached
agreement Thursday on a $55 billion deficit reduction package, but it
remained uncertain whether Congress could act on the plan before
beginning its August recess Friday.
The plan, which would not raise taxes or touch Social Security benefits,
would cut $55.5 billion in spending in fiscal year 1986 and $276 billion
over three years. House and Senate leaders said they intended to bring it
quickly before their chambers.
But GOP senators complained that the plan did not do enough to cut
long-term overspending and House liberals opposed defense spending
levels they said would be too high.
The senior members of the House and Senate budget panels met for 10
hours through Wednesday night, emerging after midnight from the second
day of closed-door talks with the tenative spending plan they presented to
the full budget conference committee Thursday. The full conference commit
tee then met for three hours Thursday and nailed down the agreement.
Six held in plot to slip arms to Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuter) A U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and an
Iranian government official were among six people arrested in three
states Thursday for plotting to smuggle missiles worth more than $10
million to Iran.
The FBI said the conspirators intended to buy a wide range of U.S.
missiles and other equipment for use in Iran's war against Iraq, but that
the plot was thwarted by an undercover FBI agent.
The lieutenant colonel was said by the FBI to have gotten involved in
the scheme because he was looking to become an international arms
dealer after retiring from the military.
The United States has prohibited the export of weapons to Iran since
November 29, 1979, when officials at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran were
taken hostage in an ordeal that lasted 444 days.
House passes anti-apartheid bill
WASHINGTON (Reuter) The House of Representatives Thursday
overwhelmingly passed a bill imposing economic sanctions against South
Africa to protest apartheid, but final action in the Senate may be delayed
until September.
The House voted 380 to 48 in favor of the legislation, sending it to the
Senate where Majority Leader Robert Dole said up to eight Senators were
prepared to talk against the measure until Congress begins a one-month
recess today.
President Reagan is opposed to sanctions and has not said if he will
sign or veto the bill when it gets to him.
Lincoln's growing, may catch Omaha
LINCOLN (AP) Lincoln would overtake Omaha as Nebraska's most
populous city by about the year 2087 if their growth rates remain constant,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Lincoln has a population of 180,378 people, a 1.7 percent increase over
the last census figure in 1982, the bureau said. The state's capital is the
83rd largest city in the country.
Omaha has a population of 332,237, making it the 47th most populous
city in the nation, the bureau said. Omaha has grown 1.1 percent since
1982.
Group campaigns for seat-belt usage
LINCOLN (AP) The Nebraska Traffic Safety Now Committee has
announced creation of a statewide campaign to encourage people to use
their seat belts.
"The purpose of our campaign is to convince Nebraskans that by simply
using their safety belts, serious injury and death resulting from automo
bile accidents can be reduced significantly," said Dr. Dale Kemmerer of
Grand Island, ck; n of the committee.
Kemmerer saiJ .Y "Pie ViU 'Z Nebraska" campaign will
include an educational display at the Nwaska State Fair and about 30
county fairs across the state, a billboard campaign and a series of public
service announcements.
Stars raise money to fight AIDS
LOS ANGELES (AP) Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine, Burt Lan
caster and Burt Reynolds will join other stars at an extravaganza next
month to try to raise $1 million to combat the deadly disease AIDS, which
has struck fellow actor Rock Hudson.
"It's more than a celebrity night. We want to raise the consciousness of
America. People have to realize this disease is affecting everybody,"
fcuzanne Neff of the Chen Sam agency in New York said Wednesday.
Delicate surgery, delicate subject
VANCOUVER, Canada (Reuter) Surgeons have reattached the
severed penis of a man in his early 20s in an operation believed to be the
nrst of its kind in Canada, hospital officials said Thursday.
A plastic surgeon and a urologist reattached the penis Wednesday after
seven hours of delicate microsurgery.
Urologist Dr. John Nasternson said the operation has been reported
only about 30 times in the world and of those, "well over half have been
successful."