I
art. F
Fidel Nelson, a junior broadcasting major, bows her head during a moment of silence at a vigil
for Gina Simanek Wednesday evening at Broyhill Fountain. The vigil was sponsored by
Women Against Violence.
300 show support at vigil
By Shelley Biggs
Staff Reporter
A vigil held Wednesday at
Broyhill Fountain for the
victim of an assault last
weekend became an appeal for
changes in UNL’s support system.
During the 45-minute vigil, origi
nally organized to support23-year
old Gina Simanck, students also
gathered to show their support for
Andrew Scott Baldwin, the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dent arrested Saturday for the al
leged assault.
About 300 UNL students and
faculty attended the vigil.
Students spoke of their frustra
tions with a system that, they said,
failed to help Baldwin when he
needed help the most.
“Before he was a football player,
he was a man,” said Rosetta Howard,
a senior political science major at
UNL. “Tlie continued exploitation
of Scott, the football player, has to
come to an end.”
John Harris, an employee for
the UNL vice chancellor for stu
dent affairs, said die issue was about
showing support for both people
involved, and not about blaming
one person.
“This isn’t about you, it isn’t
about black..he said. “It’s about
Scott and Gina and their welfare.”
Donna Peterson, an organizer
of the event, said the vigil was
originally organized to show sup
port for Simanek and her family.
“I wanted to show affection and
caring for her and her situation,”
she said.
Peterson stressed that the vigil
was not organized to show disrc
spect for Baldwin.
Victim recovering, doctors say
By Shelley Biggs
Staff Reporter
The most dangerous time is over
for Gina Simanek and she is
showing signs of recovery,
doctors said Wednesday.
Simanek was hospitalized after she
suffered injuries in an assault that
occurred outside her Lincoln apart
ment house Saturday evening as she
was walking her dog.
Andrew Scott Baldwin, a Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln student, was
charged Monday for allegedly assault
ing Simanck and Lincoln Police Offi
cer Greg Sims. Sims was treated at a
Lincoln hospital and released.
In a press conference held by
Simanek’s family at Lincoln General
Hospital, doctors said Simanck still
was in serious condition, but she was
See SIMANEK on 3
Bill would ensure
equity for students
Legislation would
aid in appeals,
sponsor says
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Senior Reporter
LB 1185, a bill introduced Mon
day in the Nebraska Legisla
ture, would grant student-ath
letes who have had their scholarships
terminated the right to have legal
counsel represent them at appeal
hearings.
The bill, intro
duced by Sen.
Merton Dierks of
Ewing, also would
require universi
ties to notify ath
letes by April 1
that their scholarships arc being re
voked, and require members of ap
peal boards to be impartial.
Dierks said he introduced the bill
to ensure due process was provided to
student athletes.
He said he was motivated by a
desire for greater equity for students,
and not by a specific incident involv
ing the athletic department.
“I’m not sure it is a significant
problem,” he said. “But I think it
needs to be addressed so it won’t
become one. 1 think what we arc
doing is for the benefit of both stu
denis and the university.”
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a
co-sponsor of the bill, said he became
involved with LB 1185 because of a
concern for the welfare of student
athletes.
Chambers said he was attracted to
the bill by the section that would
allow students to have legal counsel
at scholarship appeal hearings.
He said he thought the current appeal
process was unfair because student
athletes without legal counsel present
at their hearings were no match for
legal counsel employed by universi
ties.
“To use an athletic cliche,” Cham
bers said, “this bill is designed to
create a level playing field.”
A1 Papik, assistant athletic direc
tor for administrative services, said
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
currently followed NCAA procedures
when dealing with students who ap
pealed their scholarship’s cancella
tion.
When a scholarship is terminated,
a student must be notified in writing
by the Office of Scholarships and
Financial Aid by July 1, Papik said.
At that time, they are notified that
they have the right to an appeal hear
ing.
John Beacon, director of scholar
ships and financial aid, is the chair
man of the five-member committee
See LEGISLATURE on 3
Photo controversy
heats up Wednesday
By Sean Green
Senior Reporter
More than 50 UNL students
voiced their frustration and
anger Wednesday at the UNL
Culture Center over a recent Daily
Nebraskan photograph.
Some students said the photograph
of Andrew Scott Baldwin, a Univer
sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln student,
demeaned Baldwin and sparked ra
cism on campus.
The photo, which ran in Monday’s
issue of the Daily Nebraskan, showed
Baldwin unclothed with his hands
and feet tied, being carried by Lin
coln police officers.
Baldwin was arrested for alleg
edly beating 23-ycar-old Gina Sima
nek on Saturday.
“The point is that the picture was
demeaning and inhuman,” said Hope
Burtlcy, a sophomore journalism major
at UNL. “When he came out of his
episode, he must have been devas
tated.”
Other students called the Daily
Nebraskan staff racist, and said the
paper’s coverage showed racial mi
nority groups in a negative light.
- “If you were good journalists, you —.—
would have tried to find out what
made Scotty (Baldwin) do what he r
did, before you ran the picture,” said
Angela Green, a sophomore political
science major at UNL.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednes
day, groups of students went to the
Daily Nebraskan office to express
their displeasure with the photograph.
At the meeting, some students said
they fell they were not made to feel
welcome at the office.
“When we went down to the Baily
Nebraskan office, the overall atmos
phere was hostile,” one student said.
“In fact, the attitude toward racial
minorities on (his whole campus stinks,
except on football Saturday.”
In response to the criticisms, Jana
Pedersen, editor of the Daily Nebras
kan, read a letter she wrote Monday
to a friend who had condemned her
for running the photograph.
In the letter, Pedersen said the
photograph went beyond violence and
told a story that could not be told in
words.
“The explanation I have for the
See PRESS on 3
ASUN passes emergency bill
Legislation supports
multicultural program
By Kara Morrison
Staff Reporter
A SUN senators passed an emergency bil
Wednesday night in support of LB922
a state bill written “to provide for the
implementation of multicultural educatior
programs” in Nebraska’s public schools.
College of Arts and Sciences Sen. Steve
Dietz, who co-sponsored the
bill in support of LB922,
said the emergency status
was necessary so that
ASUN’s support would be
acknowledged at the bill’s
hearing.
Alisa Miller, a senior
broadcasting major and Government Liason
Committee lobbyist, addressed the Associa
i lion of Students of the University of Nebraska
in favor of the emergency bill to support LB922.
A graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School,
Miller said she couldn’t remember being ex
posed in high school to any material “other
than Huckleberry Finn” that addressed racial
issues.
Miller said ASUN should support the bill
because “a lot of problems we have on campus
can be defused before they start.”
Since LB922 addresses cultural awareness
in grades kindergarten through 12, and does not
mention higher education, ASUN Speaker of
See ASUN on 3
Correction: In Friday’s edition of the Daily
Nebraskan, an article incorrectly reported \_^
that the All State Fine Arts summer program
was solely a school of music program. The
program served all arts units including the
theatre and dance department and the de
partment of art and art history. The Daily
Nebraskan regrets the error.
INDEX
Wire 0 2
Opinion 4
Diversions 7
Spdlls 13
Classifieds 14