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.
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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
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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.
- . . - ' • ' . - - - ' • " - - ' '
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Happy Hour
10 p.m.-l a.m.
Monday-Thursday
Late-Nite Menu
10 p.m.-12 a.m.
Monday -Saturday
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