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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1988)
Reporter tells of Iranian captivity By William Lauer Staff Reporter One year ago Monday, Gerald Seib stopped counting the marks on the wall of an Iranian jail cell. He stopped at 40 because his spirit began to fail. Seib told the story of his impris onment by the Ira nian government to Lincoln Pius X High School stu- Seib dents Monday. Seib is the Wall-Street Journal’s Washington correspondent. On Jan. 31,1986, Seib was talk ing to a Swiss diplomat in a parking lot in Tehran when four men grabbed him. They pinned his arms behind his back arid threw him in the back of a car. While two of his captors used him for a cushion, the car sped through the streets of Tehran. They blindfolded him and put him in another car. Fifteen minutes later, the car stopped at Evin Prison, formerly used for pris oners of the Shah of Iran. Seib was one of about 50 interna tional journalists invited by the Ira nian government to report on the war between Iran and Iraq. He said he still isn’t sure why the Iranian government arrested him and ac cused him of being an Israeli spy. Seib was working as the Wall Street Journal’s Middle East corre spondent at the time. He said it was well-known he traveled extensively throughout the area, including Is rael. “I suspect I got caught in a power struggle,” Seib said. “The whole Irangate thing was going on at the time. I think that there were people in the government upset that others were reaching to the West. Some body in the secret service wanted to arrest a journalist to make their point,” Seib said. Seib said he was interrogated in prison for four days. He was blind folded the entire time. “One day they brought me a hamburger from the Tehran Hilton to make me feel better,” Seib said. Soon after, Seib was released. Seib said it is important to realize that he was a prisoner of a govern ment rather than any militia organi zation or terrorist group. “They realized they made a mis take and let me go,” he said. “People in Lebanon held by terrorists have it much worse.” Hostages in the Middle East should not be forgotten, he said. Seib said he has no animosity toward the people of the Middle East. He said they are as delightful and gentle a people as he has met. “There really ought to be com munication,” he said, “if not be tween government, then between people.” Questions arise about alcohol bills and monitoring keg sales LIQUOR from Page 1 said he also thinks both laws are constitutional. LB851, that would hold liquor sellers accountable for the actions of the buyer, drew criticism from sellers, praise from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and questions from senators. Sen. Marge Higgins of Omaha and Sen. Jacklyn Smith of Hastings, members of the committee, said the phrase “appears to be intoxicated” in the bill is ambiguous. Smith said determining intoxication would be difficult for sellers. “If I were a silly person,” Smith said, “I could be considered intoxi cated by someone’s standards.” Higgins said she thinks sellers should be responsible for the actions of an intox icated person to whom they sell. But she said the word intoxicated is “too broad.” But Sen. Patricia Morehead of Beatrice, chairwoman of the commit tee and sponsor of LB851, said when a seller buys a liquor license they are responsible for determining if a cus tomer is intoxicated. Sam Bonofede, owner of Salvatore’s restaurant in Omaha, tes tified against the bill. He said licensed sellers already refuse to serve intoxi cated customers. Bonofede told the committee LB851 would increase law suits against liquor sellers and double lia bility insurance. But James Downing, representa tive of Mothers Against Drunk Driv ing, urged the committee to pass the bill to the floor of the legislature. Downing said that during his career in the Army he saw many traffic acci dents and fights caused by intoxicated servicemen. “If the military would have had a law like this,” Downing said, “we could have decreased non-combat injuries by 99 percent.” AIDS bill passes first-round obstacle By Amy Edwards Senior Reporter Nebraska legislators gave first round approval Monday to a bill that Sen. Don Wesely said “brings into focus the eternal clash of the demo cratic society” between the rights of privacy and public safety. LB 1012 is the first of several bills concerning AIDS that will be brought before the Legislature. The bill was first introduced Jan. 8 and was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee. Wesely said the bill would recog nize AIDS as an important health concern in Nebraska and give the State Health Department the oppor tunity to establish a statewide AIDS program to provide education, pre vention, detection and counseling services to protect the public health. Between 1983 and 1987,49 AIDS cases were reported in Nebraska. Since then, 32 of those people have died. An estimated 800 to 2,000 people in Nebraska are carrying the HIV virus. Wesely said the number of AIDS cases in Nebraska represents .01 percent of the victims in the United Slates. He added that .07 percent of the population in Nebraska has AIDS. The problem is not as serious in Nebraska, Wesely said, adding that LB 1012 would help “keep it that way.” The bill would make AIDS test results confidential and not subject to subpoena, Wesely said. Current leg islation provides that public health records are subject to subpoena. The bill also would require results of AIDS testing for the HIV virus to be reported to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. However, the person’s name would not be re vealed. People who test positive for AIDS are reported to the health department and the statistics are sent to the CDC. Wesely said AIDS victims are reported to the health department so help can be provided to them. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said he supported the bill, but he would propose an amendment in select file to establish specific guide lines for protecting the rights of people who test positive for AIDS. Chambers said the amendment would be necessary so people don’t fear the ramifications of confidenti ality problems more than they fear the effects of the disease. Sen. Chris Abboud of Omaha said the only problem with LB 1012 is that it “doesn’t go far enough.” Abboud said he would also offer an amend ment to the bill in select file that would require testing for AIDS in Nebraska. Abboud is also offering a bill through the Judiciary Committee that would require premarital labora tory evidence of AIDS testing. LB 1012 also repeals a law con trolling the sale and distribution of condoms in Nebraska. Wesely said the law has not been enforced for the last five years. Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha said he was concerned about quality control of prophylactics. Wesely said if fed eral requirements did not administer quality testing of condoms, he would work with Hall to establish a state roll for quality requirements. LB 1012 passed to enrollment and review with a 35-0 vote. ■ UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN ADMINISTRATION: COURTS, LEGISLATURE, FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS The University of Southern California School of Public Administra tion offers a program leading to a Master in Public Administration degree including such specializations as Judicial Administration, Public Financial Management, Health Services Administration, Applied Behavioral Science, Public Policy and International Public Administration. Dr. Donald Fuller, Director of the International Public Administration Center, will be on campus February 8, 1988, to speak with interested students. 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