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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1992)
iw t i Daily ^ I 73/44 I ■ V V H Chance I ■ m ■ ■ morning but sunny this ■ Mm m I . ■ afternoon. Tonight, cool’ Baldwin permanently paralyzed, doctors saty By Chuck Green Senior Reporter. «_ ■• 1^ octors at Omaha’s St. Joseph 1 M ^Medical Center determined ‘•-^Tuesday that University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Andrew Scott Baldwin would be per manently paralyzed after being shot by an Omaha police officer during a scuffle this weekend. Baldwin, 23, was shot at 11:46 p.m. Saturday by Omaha Police Of ficer Anna Doyle after repeated warnings to stop trying to grab the revolver carried by another offi Baldwin cer, Peggy Baldwin Tmckenbrod The officers had been dispatched to 3701 N. 30th St. to investigate reports of a nude man trying to break into an apartment, said Omaha Police Chief Jim Skinner. Bullet remains lodged close to spinal column The officers became involved in a physical struggle with Baldwin, and Doyle shot Baldwin oijce in the lower left chest after the former Cornhusker football player allegedly tried to grab Truckenbrod’s holstered gun. The bullet apparently angled through Baldwin’schcst to the middle of his back, where it remains lodged near his spinal column. St. Joseph physicians reported in a prepared statement that Baldwin suf fered a complete spinal cord injury at the level of the fourth thoracic verte bra. Baldwin has no function below that point in his spinal cord, which is located at mid-chest between the shoulder blades. Hospital officials also upgraded Baldwin’s condition from serious to fair Tuesday. Baldwin was found not respon sible by reason of insanity for the Jan. 18 assaults of Gina Simanek Moun tain and Lincoln Police Officer Greg Sims. During that incident, like Satur day night’s, Baldwin was nude and tussled with police. Last Wednesday, Lancaster County District Court Judge Paul Merritt Jr. ordered Baldwin to con tinue his psychiatric treatment pro gram at Omaha’s St. Joseph Medical Center. Baldwin’s program was de veloped by Dr. Donald Swanson, an Omaha psychiatrist who had evalu ated and treated Baldwin since the initial incident last January. Swanson could not be reached for comment Tuesday. According to Skinner, the police received a 911 call at 11:18 p.m. Saturday from former Comhusker quarterback Mickey Joseph, who told the dispatcher that Baldwin had jumped out of his car at 40th and Dodge streets. Joseph told the dis patcher that he didn’t know where Baldwin was, and that he was con cerned for Baldwin’s safety. • A few moments later, police re ceived a call from an employee at the Stage II Lounge, where Baldwin al legedly had collapsed on the floor and had been escorted out. After numerous reports of a nude man in the area of 38th and Pratt streets—37 blocks north of the inter section where Baldwin was reported to have jumped from Joseph’s car — the police found Baldwin at the apart ment complex. The shooting occurred moments later. Skinner said that when the officers tried to physically restrain Baldwin, a scuffle ensued, and the three tumbled down a stairway to the ground level. At that point, Skinner said, Baldwin tried to grab Truckenbrod’s gun. Douglas County Attorney Jim Jansen said Monday the officers acted responsibly during the incident, and that the use of deadly force was justi fied. He said Douglas County would file no charges against Baldwin. Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey filed a motion with Merritt Tuesday to have the case reviewed, and asked that previous ruling for outpatient status at St. Joseph be re moved. Baldwin was in Omaha Saturday night for a 7 p.m. University of Ne braska at Omaha football game, and he and Joseph were on their way to a friend’s house when Baldwin jumped from the car. Baldwin admitted to doctors that he had stopped taking his daily medi cation of lithium carbonate, an anti depressant, and had consumed beer a few hours before the shooting. One of the stipulations of Merritt’s outpatient ruling was that Baldwin continue histwodailydosesoflithium, and that contin ucd medication be con firmed by weekly monitoring. Officials work to revise budget cutting process By Shelley Biggs Senior Reporter UNL officials are awaiting the Sept. 21 special legislative session before pro ceeding with plans for budget cuts, said John Benson, director of institutional research and planning for UNL. Benson said nothing could be done to pre pare for university budget cuts until the Ne braska Legislature laid out its intentions. For now, he said, University of Nebraska Lincoln officials will focus on revising the procedures for making cuts. A draft of proce dures was drawn up this summer to help univer sity officials in the process. Benson said the draft now was being stream lined to eliminate some of the problems univer sity officials had last year when budget cuts were made. UNL’s Academic Planning Committee has taken on the task of strengthening communica tion among all parties involved to keep proce dures running smoothly. UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier will es tablish the foundation for the process and will identify which colleges will be targeted for spending reductions* At the same time, deans from individual colleges will work on ways to reduce spending. University officials, faculty and students will discuss the process before it is finalized. The plan eventually will cement the criteria used to decide whether a program or depart ment should be eliminated, reduced or reorga nized. Final recommendations regarding the plan will be sent to Spanier for approval. Spanier may accept or reject the committee’s recom mendations. * Royce Ballinger, president of the Academic Senate, said it was important to note that the draft still was subject to considerable review and revision. “The new plans are still in the discussion stage and are not yet finalized,” he said. The document was revised to allow for more faculty and administrator discussion, Ballinger said, and to tie it to strategic planning and programming evaluation. These are neces sary steps in the budget-reduction process, he said. Renovation oj office completed Official says health & safety problems caused concern By Susie Arth Senior Reporter - ! •' -t The $76,000 renovation of UNL Chancel lor Graham Spanier’s office was neces sary to rid the office of health and safety problems, a UNL official said. John Benson, director of institutional re search and planning at UNL, said the renova tion included two major projects on the ceiling and on the floor to make the office in the Administration Building a safer place. The ceiling was replaced because asbestos was flaking off of it, he said. An air condition ing and healing system, located in the floor above the chancellor’s office, was leaking onto the chancellor’s ceiling, he said. ‘‘The condensation from the air conditioner leaks and loosens the plaster and causes some of the asbestos to drip,” Benson said. Similar renovations were completed about a year and a half ago in the graduate studies offices, he said, which is directly above the chancellor’s office. The ceiling part of the project also included the installation of a new' lighting system, he said. The other major renovation was recarpeting the entire suite, he said. Herbert Howe, associate to the chancellor, said the new carpel was necessary because the old carpet was lumpy and the seams were splitting. Howe said it was difficult for physi cally disabled people to move across the office, and he feared others could trip and fall. “I think the carpet had been in here for decades,” he said. Benson said the project also entailed refin ishing walls, repainting the walls, and getting new drapes. “The drapes were literally rotting,” he said. The new carpeting and the ceiling, he said, were installed in the entire suite, which in cludes several offices and the main conference room. Benson said the project also included re moving and relocating a wall to provide more space for the office’s secretaries. , He said about $10,735 of the renovations were paid for by the University of Nebraska Foundation. The remaining money came from stale funds, he said. Howe said those stale funds paid for many similar renovations in classrooms and laborato ries across campus. Benson said the asbestos removal began on July 10, and the entire project was completed on —^-■ hi ii i ■ -—ja Robin Trimarchi/DN W.P/Zeek” Taylor of Humansville, Mo., shakes his 1930 Model A Ford, known as “Old Heifer, to a smooth idle Tuesday at the State Fair. Nothing to do? Go to the fair By Andrea Kaser Staff Reporter V The few UNL students who were at the Nebraska State Fair Tuesday afternoon found that they didn’t have to battle long lines at funnel-cake stands and that they could have many of the rides to themselves. Some students said they came to the fair because they had nothing else to do on the last day of vacation. “My friends said, ‘Let’s go, there’s nothing else going on today,’’’ said Susan Shields, a junior speech pathology major. * Aside from having nothing else to do, Corey Huck, a senior agricultural economics major, said the com dogs and “Zeek,” the hillbilly jalopy, brought him back this year. Zeek is a rusted-out Model A adorned with everything from a brassiere and plastic flowers to cooking utensils and a fish head. He and his friend, Jason Voss, a sophomore agribusiness major, said they planned to attend the free open-air concert with country singer Suzy Bogguss at 6 p.m. Mark Frank, a senior agriculture education major who was with Huck and Voss, said the antique tractors interested him. Antique farm See FAIRon 7