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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1992)
Experts clash over death penalty By Jeff Zeleny Staff Reporter Harold Lamont “Willie” Otcy has been spared from electrocution twice within hours of death. Two death penally experts disagree why, but lay the blame with politi cians. During a Thursday afternoon de bate, Nelson Potter, associate profes sor of philosophy, and William Beatty Brown, founder of Amicus Nebraska, an organization of death penalty ad vocates, argued both sides of capital punishment toabout 20 students at the East Campus Union. Trent Steele, first vice president of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, moderated the two-hour debate. Potter, an opponent of the death penalty, criticized Nebraska Attor ney General Don Stcnberg for his handling of the Otcy case. Otey was convicted of the 1977 rape and mur der of Jane McManus of Omaha, and is on death row at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Slenberg is bathing in the publicity the Otey case has generated, instead of being a judicial advocate, Potter said. The “facts speak quite strongly that the attorney general and his staff did what they could to execute Mr. Otey,” he said. But Brown said the Otey case was being maneuvered by RQople who were trying to ruin Stenberg politically. “It is now a political issue,” he said. “It will always be a political issue.” Potter said the issue was a moral one. The death penally has been abol ished almost worldwide, Potter said. China and South Africa recently abol ished the death penalty. Only the United States, Iran and Iraq still allow the deatlv^pcnalty. Brown said the United States shouldn’t be compared to Iran and Iraq. “The U.S. is not like Iraq; we’re not decided by a despotic leader,” Brown said Brown said that two Amicus polls indicated that 80 percent of Nebras kans and 80 percent of Americans favored the death penalty for two reasons: first, to punish people who commit the most heinous crimes, and second, because the prison systems are not effective. potter said such polls could be inaccurate because responses often hinge on how the question is worded. If respondents are offered no alterna tive to the death penalty, he said, they might be pushed to support it. And if people support it because they think it is an effective deterrent, they arc deceiving themselves, he said. But Brown said death penalty ad vocates did not claim that it always was an effective deterrent. Deterrence only means to minimize, he said. Potter said the death penalty failed to minimize the costs of dealing with offenders. The appeals process for those who get the death penalty wipes out any savings over life imprison ment. But Brown said cost wasn’t the issue. “I would support capital punish^ ment if it was free or if it caused the state bankruptcy,” Brown said. Potter said advocates should re view their position. “The death penally does tell us about ourselves as a society when we use violence to correct violence,” Potter said. “We need to step outside of the death penalty. . . . It’s an unnecessary violent hangover of a barbaric era.” '^tdx0 I *Capes ♦Blood ♦Fangs *Hats ♦Masks *Ears I,. ’ Group offers reward in missing student case From Staff Reports _ The Lincoln-Lancastcr County Crime Stop pers organi zation is of fering a SI,000 re ward for in formation that will help solve a case involving a missing Uni versity of Haims Nebraska Lincoln student. Lincoln Police Lt. Lee Wagner said the Crime Stoppers Board ap proved the $1,000 reward for infor mation on the whereabouts of UNL freshman Candice Harms, who has been missing for three weeks. Harms, 18, was last seen leaving her boyfriend’s house at 332 N. 22nd St. on Sept. 22. She never arrived at her home at 6100 Vine St. Authorities found Harms’ car Sept. 23 in a milo field north of Lincoln. They now are searching for a man who was reported walking on 14th Street between Waverly and Bluff roads in the early hours of that morn ing. POLICE REPORT Beginning m idnight Wednes day 9:38 a.m. — Books stolen, Lovp^ibrary, $115. 1:34 p.m. — Books stolen, Love Library, S200. 3:38 p.m. — Television and VCR tapes stolen from car, parking lot at 14th and Avery streets, $597. 6:15 p.m. — Jewelry stolen, City Campus, $475. 7:51 p.m. — Outside police assistance, recovered motor cycle license plate, Nebraska Center for Continuing Educa tion. 8:05 p.m. — Wallet stolen, , Bob Devaney Sports Center, $12. WOMEN'S VOLU Nebraska vs. Oklat 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 17 NEBRASKA ETV Ad made possible by Nebraskans for Public Television Debate Continued from Page 1 answers, while Bush was always on the defensive. Bush needed to make waves and attack Clinton’s policies in order to make gains in the polls, Sittig said. Robert Miewald, another political science professor at UNL, said Bush could be at the end of his rope. Bush will need to stimulate a dras tic change in the economy in order to make up ground, he said. “The economy is the most impor tant issue, and I don’t think that is going to change in the next few weeks,” Miewald said. All three professors said they be lieved the debate stopped any mo mentum Perot, the independent can didate, mighthave built from the first debate. , The formal of the debate, with questions coming from members of the audience rather than from a me diator, forced the candidates to be more specific, Miewald said, and could set a trend for the future. -44 Unless something extraordinary happens, I think the Clinton lead will hold up. ' —Comer, political science professor -*t - “Ii really got the candidates to concentrate on what the people wanted to know,” he said. Enrollment Continued from Page 1 _The increase in out-of-state stu dents also has helped keep enrol I mem figures stable, Griesen said. Between 1987 and 1992, the number of out-of state incoming freshmen has increased from 344 to 470. Although total enrollment has re mained fairly stable, a few of the campus colleges have had significant changes in enrollment. The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Agricultural Sci ences and Natural Resources experi enced increases. In the College of Arts and Sci ences , 5,102 students are enrol led this year, compared with 4,848 last year — a 5.2 percent increase. “I think the reason for this increase is due to shifting student interests,” Anne Kopera, coordinator of advis ing for arts and sciences, said. Two trends explain the increase, she said. More students seem to be inter ested in psychology and pre-health careers, she said. Students also appear interested in developing a broad liberal arts educa tion, she said. ‘‘It is now seen as a broader prepa ration for a career because some think it will help them become more adapt able after they graduate,” she said. In the past five years,enrollment in the arts and sciences college has in creased 21.6 percent, from 4,195 stu dents in 1987 to 5,102 this semester. In the College of Agricultural Sci ences and Natural Resources, enroll ment increased to 1,320 students this semester compared with 1,212 in the fall of 1991 — an 8.9 percent in crease. - “The major factors in our increase include an increase of transfer stu dents from community colleges across the state and greater visibility of our programs,” said Cindy Cammack, recruitment and placement coordina tor for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Cammack said the college had started a program in which students who started at community colleges could transfer all their credits and finish their last two years at UNL. The col lege a I so has been renamed, Cammack said, and five majors have been added in the natural resources program. Don Edwards, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, said recent interest in the environment had contributed to en rollment increases. Since 1987, the college’s enrollment has grown from 1,228 to 1,320 — a 7.5 percent in crease. While those two col leges and other colleges’ enrollments increased, other colleges lost students. Enrollment in the Teachers Col lege and the College of Engineering and Technology dropped. “The economy was the major rca son for our decrease,” said Margaret Sievers, director of the Student Ser vices Center in the Teachers College. The senior class dropped from 815 to 756 students, she said. “The only way to explain it is they couldn ’ t afford to pay for school,” she said. “That’s just my guess, 1 haven’t done any scientific surveys. It’s just what I’ve heard talking with some of the students.” The total enrollment at the Teach ers College declined from 2,057 stu dents in the fall of 1991 to 1,960 this fall — a 4.7 percent decrease. According to Institutional Research and Planning in central administra linn ihf* Pnllpo/* rtf Fnoin/»f»rinCT Technology experienced a decline in student enrollment of 2.5 percent. The College of Engineering and Technology enrollment figures in clude students attending UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha because UNL administers UNO’spro gram. The number of engineering stu dents enrolled at UNL has remained stable, fluctuating between 1,503 in 1988 and 1,496 in 1992, said Morris Schneider, associate dean of the Col lege of Engineering and Technology. He said the number of engineering students at UNO had declined, from 836 students in 1988 to 723 in 1992, because of the econom y. The cconom y has more of an impact on students at UNO, many of whom arc going to school part time, he said. Bustin' to be Bogey? 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