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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1992)
Army’s notification process studied a ii: i: j. . i_ i i * * ____ ivimidiy uunyieu informing family of son’s death, committee says WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army, through a scries of “bungles, glitches, errors and wrong assump tions,” mishandled notifying the family of a soldier killed by friendly fire in the Persian Gulf war, a congressional study released Sunday said. The House Armed Services inves tigations subcommittee found no evi dence of a conspiracy or cover-up in the death of Army Sgl. Douglas Lance Fielder, a 22-ycar-old from Tennes see killed accidentally by his com rades’ guns. the lamily miually was tola riciacr was killed by enemy fire. “In this instance, virtually every thing that could go wrong did go wrong,” the panel said in its report. The subcommittee is conducting a full investigation of the military proc ess for notifying families of casual ties, and plans a complete report later in the year. Because of the large number of inquiries, the panel issued a nine page report on the Fielder ease. Fielder was one of 35 American servicemen accidentally killed in the Gulf war by U.S. forces, the Defense Department said in August. In the Army alone, friendly fire was blamed for 21 of the 96 deaths and 65 of the 354 injuries. The subcommittee report detailed the notification process that occurred after Fielder’s death in the early morn ing hours of Feb. 27, 1991. His unit, There were a total of 11 bungles, glitches, errors and wrong assumptions that cascaded one after an other to make the handling of this particular death notification little short of an administrative disaster. Report House Armed Services investigation subcommittee stranded in southern Iraq after its ve hicle broke down, awaited assistance. “There were a total of 11 bungles, glitches, errors and wrong assump tions that cascaded one after another to make the handling of this particu lar death notification little short of an administrative disaster,” the report said. In a statement, the Army, which is conducting its own review, said the -- 77 panel’s report “clearly indicates there was no intention on the part of the Army to cover up a friendly fire inci dent or mislead the family. “Nevertheless, a number of unfor tunate human errors prevented the timely transmission of the details of Sgt. Fielder’s death and this added to the family’s grief,” said Maj. Barbara Goodno, an Army spokesman. A • UbDAnotcareiulto buy only American Investigators find department buys some foreign foods WASHINGTON (AP) — The Agriculture Department has a con gressional mandate to buy American. But it has bought foreign foods to stock school cafeterias, soup kitch ens, Indian reservations and the pan tries of hunger relief agencies. The department’s own investiga tors say it docs a poor job of making sure that the billions of taxpayer dol lars spent every year on food goes back into the pockets of Amcricar farmers and food processors. As a result, imported foods have slipped into the pipeline,according tc anaudilby USDA’sOfficcof Inspcc lor General obtained recently by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. Foreign meat, including Canadian beef, appears to be one of the culprits, the audit said. USDA, however, has little way to assess the scope of the problem because of the shortcomings in its enforcement and regulations of contractors and their suppliers. Congress and the department’s own regulations say USDA is supposed to buy American foods and farm prod ucts when it shops for anti-hunger programs at home and abroad. It’s also supposed to make sure that sub sidized foreign customers arc pur chasing American goods. USDA is “winking at the law,” said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. i “For all we know, we’re using American taxpayer dollars to pur chase Brazilian oranges, Argentine beef, Canadian wheat and goodness knows what else,” Conrad said. ‘‘It makes no sense to use our taxpayer dollars to subsidize foreign competi tion.” The total value of agricultural commodities bought or guaranteed for use in domestic and export pro grams was $6.9 billion in fiscal 1989, according to the August 1991 audit. The audit did not say how much foreign food may be replacing U.S. farm products in USDA’s contracts. But investigators found violations of the domestic-origin requirements by contractors for three USDA agencies that either buy food or guarantee exports. A review of one of the agencies, the Agricultural Marketing Service, found that a large supplier included imported beef in shipments to five AMS contractors. In turn, the con tractors may have sold the USDA as much as 1 million pounds of Cana dian beef. The Agricultural Marketing Serv ice purchases processed commodi ties for use in domestic programs such as the National School Lunch program, child nutrition programs, soup kitchens and Indian reservations. Auditors also found that contrac tors for the agencies have failed to keep records that clearly identify the source of the commodities and prod ucts provided to USDA. There is no suggestion in the audit that the problem could be due to the availability or price of U.S. goods. Sources said that despite shipping expenses, foreign foods can still cost far less than American made. NU players plead innocent M. •' M. From Staff Reports_ __ One Nebraska football player and one former player were arraigned Friday in Lancaster County Court on misdemeanor charges originating from a Feb. 22 fight involving members of the UNL football and baseball teams. Zach Wiegert, 19, a scholarship offensive tackle from Fremont, was arraigned on one assault charge and one trespassing charge, according to a Lincoln Journal-Star article Satur day. _ Raymond J. Reifenrath, 23, who completed his eligibility last season, was arraigned on two charges of as sault, one charge of trespassing and oncchargcof vandalism, the Journal Siar reported. Reifenrath was a walk on lineman from Dakota City. Both Wiegert and Reifenrath pleaded innocent to all of the charges. In the ease of scholarship defen sive lineman Terry Connealy, the Journal-Star reported that prosecu tors had not determined what charges, if any, would be filed. Connealy, 19, was cited for trespassing. OV-N STa 7th&P a ‘Tis Our Big St. Patty’s Day Party!! Food Served 4:30-9pm ®2°°- Corned Beef *1°°- Green Beer •Live Action Broadcasting FI^CGY«53 _Dancing From 7:00-11:00_ _ Peace treaty signed MOSCOW (AP) — Arme nian and Azerbaijani negotia tors in Tehran reportedly agreed Sunday to a cease-fire in the 4 year-old conflict over the Na gorno-Karabakh region. The tentative agreement came amid a flurry of efforts to lessen fighting in the enclave, where numerous cease-fire agreements have collapsed during a war that has claimed over 1,000 lives. But the bloodshed continued in the disputed region, which lies inside Azerbaijan. Armenian militants shelled scores of villages in the region Saturday night and Sunday morning, said an Azerbaijani official, Oktay Gasimov. He said at least 10 people were injured Saturday. Ethnic clashes also flared else where in the fonner Soviet Union. The worst outbreak was in Moldova. Officials said Sunday at least 21 people were killed in fighting between police officers and Slav separatists in the re public’s breakaway Trans Dniester region. J Lincoln Donor Center J Kam SI 5 for each donation 1 st - 15lh of the month. Knjoy prompt courteous treatment from our caring staff, f ree physical on your first dona tion, call for appointment. Bring this ad in for S20 on your • I first vi sit & S20 on your second visit within 5 days if thisis your I ■ first donation, or if you have not donated in the last two months. F.xpires 3/31/92. | 126 N. Nth St., Suite #2, 474-2335 | | Mon. - Thurs. 8-6, Fri. 8-4, Sat. 8-21 f Regents Continued from Page 1 The regents also approved a joint program at the University ol Ncbraska Lincoln and the University of Ne braska at Omaha for a Doctor of Education in Educational Administra tion degree. Massengale supported the program, which both campuses have been working on since 1989, and said it was an example of the cooperation between the two campuses. The program will enable students to take the classes necessary for the doctoral degree at either the UNO or UNL campuses. In other business: • The regents approved the reso lution providing for up to $97,000 to be spent from the student fees and facilities revenue bonds on the Ne braska Union cafeteria. Two food court outlets will be built in place of Fast Break and will be leased to private operations. • Regents approved $20,000 to light a UNL parking lot between 16th and 17th streets near Holdrcgc Street. They also approved the improvement of parking on East Campus north of the Judging Pavilion. • The guidelines for the capital construction budget request were approved for the 1993-1995 biennium. • Regents recognized the Outstand ing Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) award winners, Stephen Behrendt, a professor of English at UNL and James Van Ellen, a profes sor of plant pathology at UNL. - . . - ' • ' . - - - ' • " - - ' ' Late-Nite Happy Hour 10 p.m.-l a.m. Monday-Thursday Late-Nite Menu 10 p.m.-12 a.m. Monday -Saturday '** sI'-1 Produced ...NEED WE SAY MORE |