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Officials wade through effects of gunman
Police charge UNL graduate student
with attempted second-degree murder
By Shelley Biggs
Senior Reporter
University of Ncbraska-Lincoin stu
lent who was arrested Monday after he
Jlcgcdly tried to fire a semiautomatic
rifle in a classroom full of students was charged
Wednesday with attempted second-degree
murder.
Arthur McElroy, 43, of Bennct, is being held
on a $500,000 bond. McElroy’s trial has been
set for Oct. 26.
McElroy was also charged with carrying a
weapon to commit a felony, use of terroristic
threats and use of a weapon to comm it a felony.
John Colborn, chief deputy county attorney,
requested that in addition to McElroy’s bond,
he not be allowed to own or possess firearms.
After the amount of his bond was read,
McElroy told DistrictCourt Judge Jack Lindner
that he thought “the amount of the bond was
excessive.”
McElroy also requested that an attorney be
appointed for him because he could not afford
one.
The penalties for attempted second-degree
murder arc the same as the penalties for at
tempted first-degree murder,Colborn said after
the arraignment.
With a charge of attempted second-degree
murder, Colborn said, McElroy’s motive will
not have to be proven like it would with a charge
of attempted first-degree murder.
Colborn said Lincoln police officers seized
ammunition Tuesday during a search of
McElroy’s apartment. The officers found other
weapons in the apartment, he said, but did not
seize them.
Colborn said McElroy had been suspended
from UNL, but no restraining order to keep
McElroy off the campus had been issued. How
ever, Colborn said he still would consider add
ing such an order to McElroy’s bond.
Psychologist fears trauma, aftershocks
could return to haunt UNL students
By Lori Stones
Staff Reporter_
Menial health personnel met Wednes
day with University ofNebraska-Lin
coln students whose classmate alleg
edly tried to fire a loaded semi-automatic rifle
at them Monday.
Bob Portnoy, a clinical psychologist at the
University Health Center, said counselors mcl
with students to give them a chance to express
their feelings about Monday’s incident. If stu
dents repressed their feelings, he said, those -
feelings could return later to haunt them.
Portnoy said anyone who had experienced a
traumatic event as painful as Monday’s inci
dent was likely to experience some form of
aftershock.
Arthur McElroy, 43, of Bennet was arrested
by Lancaster County deputies after he alleg
edly entered a classroom in Ferguson Hall
Monday with a loaded Inland .3()-calibcr M-l
carbine and pointed it at students who were
assembled for their 12:30 class.
Students who were in the classroom at the
time said the rifle jammed when McElroy, a *
member of the class, allegedly tried to fire. No
one was injured.
Portnoy said students should continue to
maintain their normal schedules, keep busy and
not make any big life changes, such as ending
a long-term relationship or changing their ma
jor, he said.
“It is not helpful to tell students in this class
it could have been worse,” he said. “This is not
very consoling.
“It is important to understand it was a trau
matic event.”
Portnoy said students in the class could have
aftershock symptoms thatappear immediately,
See STUDENTS on 3
Winners
of debates
not clear
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Staff Reporter_
The first two rounds of the elec
tion debates arc over and round
three is set to begin tonight,
but one professor isn’t ready to de
clare a winner.
“1 would not simplify it to winning
and losing,” said Robert Sittig, Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln political
science professor. “I would say, which
strategy has been more effective?
“And in this
sense 1 would say
(Bill)Clinton and
(Al) Gore’s strat
egy was the most
effective. They
still havea signifi
cant lead.”
Sittig said he
thought Clinton and Gore’s strategy
was to slick to the themes that had
been successful for them so far. Dur
ing the debates, both attempted to
avoid new and possibly controversial
issues, he said.
I think both Clinton and Gore
were schooled or trained or agreed
upon the same sort of strategy,” he
said. “I was struck by the similarity of
their presentations, their style and
manner.
“I think (their strategy) added up to
this: Don’t introduce anything new;
lake the positions we’ve taken in the
past that have gotten us where we
arc.”
President Bush, Siltig said, em
phasized American success in foreign
policy while Vice President Dan
Quayle attacked Clinton and Gore’s
position.
“I think what Quayle and Bush arc
doing is indicative of the corner that
they cither painted themselves into or
they’ve ended up in,” he said.
“They’ve got to somehow undo the
campaign’s doings of the past few
weeks.”
Bush and Quaylc’s failure to catch
Clinton and Gore’s lead indicates the
Republicans’ strategy has not been
effective, Siltig said.
“Just claiming success with for
eign policy and patience in domestic
affairs is apparently not going to hack
it,” he said.
And, Siltig said, Quayle’s strategy
of aggressive attacks on Clinton dur
See ELECTION on 3
Senior spunk Erik Un"r/DN
Wanda Rossell, 74, playfully punches Lloyd Doan, 78, during morning calisthenics Wednesday at Lancaster Manor. The
group exercises for 30 minutes before coffee at 10 a.m.
Gore says ticket offers sunny future
By Susie Arth
Senior Reporter
OMAHA — Vice presidential
contender A1 Gore, speaking
to a crowd of about 2,500 sup
porters Wednesday night, offered
Nebraskans a sunny Nov. 4 morning.
The alternative, he said, is four
more years of dreary mornings — if
President Bush is
re-elected.
Gore, the Demo
cratic vice presi
dential candidate,
made a campaign
stop in Omaha to
speak in the base
ment of the Ne
braska National Guard Armory. Gov.
BcnNelson, Sen. James Exon, and 1st
District Rep. Peter Hoagland attended
the rally.
Gore said th6 campaign was an
unusual one because the Republicans
were in such a panic.
“They don’t know which direction
they’re going,” he said. “They’re run
ning around like chickens with their
heads cut off.
“If I have my guess right, and with
-44
Everything that should be up is down. Every
thing that should be down is up.... We’re going
to turn it right-side up.
Gore
Democratic vice presidential candidate
your help, they’re going to run around
for another 20 days.”
Republicans had assumed they
would win Nebraska, Gore said. They
lake for granted that Nebraskans like
trickle-down economics and Bush’s
agriculture policies, he said.
“They may be in for a surprise.”
He said Nebraska’s economy had
dropped with the nation’s economy.
He said there had been a 250 percent
increase in business failures in the
state.
“We’re going tocome back strong,”
he said.
Bush made promises to help agri
culture, Gore said, but he didn’t oi ler
a plan until he had been in office for
two years. ■
—-yy
In the past, Gore said. Bush had
called agriculture the heartbeat of
America.
“Since Bush look over, we’ve seen
the heartbeat skip a few beats,” he
said.
Defense is another important con
sideration in Nebraska, Gore said,
because about 15,(XX) Omahans arc
employed in the defense industry.
The Democrats will not ignore the
importance of the nation’s security,
Gore said. But national security must
be viewed in more than military terms,
he said. There also are economic and
environmcnialaspcctstokccpinmind,
he said. i
If voters add up what’s happened
in the past 4 years. Gore said, uncm
pioymcntand poverty have increased,
and real wages and personal income
have gone down.
“Everything that should be up is
down,” he said. “Everything that
should be down is up... . .We’re going
to turn it right-side up.”
Gore said Bush’s campaign slo
gan, “Four more years,” should strike
fear into voters.
“It sounds more like a threat than a
promise,” he said. “What about an
alternative of three more weeks?”
Gore said the presidential race
came down to “the best governor in
the United States and the longest- j
serving governor in the United States
against one of the worst presidents
this country has ever had.”
Afterward, Exon said he was im
pressed with both Gore’s speech and
his performance in the vice presiden
tial debate.
“He’s a friend of mine. I know his
opponent,” Exon said. “And (Gore)
showed me last night he’s no Danny
Quaylc.” j