Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1992)
Officials hope Baldwin probe reveals truth By Susie Arth Senior Reporter__ Two Nebraska officials hope a federal investigation of the incidents leading up to the shooting of former Nebraska football player Andrew Scott Baldwin will find one thing: the truth. Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said they supported a U.S. Justice Department investigation and hoped it would reveal the truth about the shooting of Baldwin. The investigation, which was re quested by U.S. Sens. Bob Kerrey and Jim Exon and 1st District Rep. Peter Hoagland, aims to determine the ex act sequence of events on Sept. 5, the night Baldwin was shot. “We believe that the interests of Mr. Baldwin personally and the pub lic concerns about this incident both warrant further attention,” stated a - H ——---•--— ----- It you fail to treat a mentally ill person the way you should/then you’ve vio lated that person’s civil rights. ” Chambers state senator ---—...t .. m * — Idler that Kerrey, Hoagland and Exon sent to the Justice Department. Osborne said he hoped the investi gation would resolve the conflicting reports that have surfaced since Baldwin’s shooting. “Maybe the innuendoes and ru mors can finally be put to rest,” he said. Osborne said he had talked to Baldwin about his recollections of the night he was shot, but he refused to say what Baldwin reniembered. Chambers said he wanted to find out what really happened because he was dissatisfied wilh the reports the officers provided of the incident and the ensuing investigation. The investigation thus far, he said, has been handled with “total incom petency.” Chambers said there were many inconsistencies in the reports. The Omaha pol ice of ficers, he said, claimed that Baldwin was reaching for officer Peggy Truckenbrod’s gun, yet no fingerprints were found on her holster or gun. An Omaha pol ice spokesman could not be reached to comment. Also, Chambers said, witness re ports of the incident vary regarding whether the officers or Baldwin initi aled the physical contact. Furthermore, he said, witnesses ¥ ¥ - were not questioned in enough detail to get an accurate picture of what went on prior to the shooting. . “The aim for those investigations was not to get the truth,” Chambers said, “but to find out as littje as pos sible.” Chambers said he had contacted Kerrey, Exon and Hoagland and re quested their help in getting a federal investigation of the case. “Eve said from the beginning that a federal investigation would be ben eficial-,” he said. Chambers said he believed Baldwin’s civil rights were violated because officers Anna Doyle and Truckenbrod knew they were dealing with a mentally ill person, and they did not act accordingly or responsi bly. “The fact that he was mentally ill warrants a different type of response,” he said. “The response should have been geared to that designation, and it was not.” “If you fail to treat a mentally ill person the way you should, then you’ve violated that person’s civil rights.” The letter issued by Exon, Kerrey and Hoag land states the reason for the request of an additional investigation was to use a “fully independent and objective” point of view to determine whether Baldwin’s civil rights had * been violated. “There is concern in some quarters that Mr. Baldwin’s civil rights may have been violated,” the letter said. “We do not know or prejudge who is correct or what conclusion the U.S. Department of Justice may reach.” Photo Illustration by Robin Trimarchi/DN Tristen Breitenfeldt, 6, sees a laser-image star formation underlined by her name on the Mueller Planetarium ceiling. Tristen has retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that causes progressive loss of sight. | Seeing stars Planetarium sheds light for visually impaired with laser technology By DeDra Janssen Staff Reporter Kay Konz contacted UNL’s Mueller Planetarium with a simple request: She wanted to sec the stars. Konz has retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease that causes night blindness and loss of peripheral vision. Jack Dunn, coordinator of the planetarium, met her request — and then some. Dunn, a laser expert at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, is developing a laser light program that will allow visually impaired people to sec the stars. Dunn said he discovered that regular star projections were not bright enough for Konz to see, but that she could sec them in laser light. Once Dunn discovered this, he had to determine what to do with his findings. “We could teach the visually impaired about the stars,” he said. “But why stop at stars?” Dunn found that laser technol ogy could be used to allow visually impaired people to sec not only stars, but also planets, maps, drawings, letters and words. Lasers produce lightwaves „ that arc in sync with each other. The lightwaves, along with the contrast of projected images comprised of dots or lines, make laser projections more easily seen by people who have vision impairments but are not blind, he said. The next step, Dunn said, is to study how much visually im paired persons can see. Dunn contacted the Interna tional Laser Display Association, of which he is a member, and the National Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation for Fighting Blind ness for help. The groups arc working together on Project Light up the Night, a program aimed at developing laser technology that will aid visually impaired people in their daily lives, he said. Dunn is the technological coordinator for the project. Konz, vice president of public aware ness for the Nebraska-Iowa Retinitis Pigmentosa Affiliate, also is a project coordinator. “We just started the project last May; that’s how close to the beginning we arc,” he said. “We’re just getting our feet wet. “We’re only starting to grasp the potential of what we might be able to do.” See LASER on 6 Blue-light telephones contribute to safety By Corey Russman Staff Reporter New emergency phones crowned with bright blue lights will be more visible and more helpful to students than the old phones, a UNL official said. Ruth Michalecki, director of the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln Tele communications Center, said that when installation was complete, 26 new units would be on City Cam pus and 10 would be on East Cam pus. Twenty -one phones on City Campus and five on East Campus will be installed by the end of October, she said. The remaining phones will be in stalled as soon as possible, depending See PHONES on 3 Environment group meets with Kerrey By Jeremy Fitzpatrick Staff Reporter _ Sen. Bob Kerrey met with mem bers of a newly formed UNL environmental studies center . Wednesday and asked them to re member that their research efforts applied to all sectors of society as well as the environment. Kerrey met with members of the Great Plains Regional Center for Glo bal Environmental Change at the East Campusllnion. GPRCGEC was offi cially formed Oct. 1 when President Bush signed legislation creating it. The center is one of six that are part of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change. The other five centers arc at the universities of Harvard, Alabama, California-Davis, See KERREY on 6