Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1992)
«# -jy y i Daily i S'5 \WtWGk Pin ^™ 1 NCU1 CljJxCll L_1^ Senator calls for UN L official to resign By Chuck Green Senior Reporter _ Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said a UNL official should resign because of his “insensitive” explanation of a police investigation that targeted African-American students. Chambers said Tuesday that Lincoln and University of Ncbraska-Lincoln police were questioning African-American males enrolled in the same anthropology class as UNL fresh man Candice Harms, who has been missing since Sept. 22. James Gricscn, vice chancellor for student affairs at UNL, said the investigation was ini tiated when another student reported to inves tigators that Harms was seated by and talking to. an African-American male the day of her disap pearance. Police then acquired the names of four or five African-American males enrolled in the class and contacted them, asking them for their social security numbers, previous addresses and other information. Officers also photo graphed the students. Griesen said Tuesday that he thought the action was appropriate. “The fact that the student was African Ameri can was only one part of the description,” Griesen said. “If the description would have been for a 6-foot-6 blond guy, police would be looking for him.” Chambers said Griesen’s statement was ri diculous and that he should resign. “As vice chancellor, Griesen is supposed to be sensitive and supportive of the students,” he said. “I’m more upset with his response than I am with the initial incident. On Monday, Chambers wrote a letter to UNL Chancellor Graham Spanicr, asking for a meeting between Chambers, Spanicr and other university officials to discuss the investigation and its racial implications. Chambers said he now wanted to meet with Spanicr todiscussGricscn’scxplanation, which he said suggested that questioning students based on race was acceptable at UNL. “I want to see if Spanier and (NU President Martin) Massengale agree with what Griesen said,” Chambers said. “I think Griesen is a water carrier and a messenger boy, but he may have been giving his personal reaction to the incident rather than the university’s.” Griesen said he was concerned that Cham bers thought his explanation of the investiga tion was inadequate, but “I still believe it was a legitimate attempt by the police to talk to anybody they could” in connection with the Harms case. “I don’t want our African-American stu dents feeling like their presence here puls them at risk,” Griesen said. ' Chambers said he questioned why police would need photographs oflhc African-Ameri can males enrolled in the class. “It sounds to me like they’re suspects,” he said. “But if they arc suspects, they’ve been cast in that role only because they’re black. “There were no pictures taken of white students in the class, and I’m sure Harms talked to some of them, too.” UNL Police Chief Ken Cauble said the photographs were intended for “future infor mation-gathering purposes, not to identify any one who was a potential suspect.” He said Bates was the only African-Ameri can student police contacted who would not allow his photo to be taken. “But if he doesn’t want his picture taken, that’s fine,” Cauble said. “That’s certainly his right, and we’ll respect that.” Cauble said UNL police had talked to more than 150 people in connection with the Harms investigation, and would continue to “reach for any information that might narrow the investi gation.” Chambers said he would wait for Spanicr to respond to his letter, but that the wait would “not be forever.” He said that if no response came, his dismay would be reflected on the floor of the Legislature, possibly in the form of opposition to UNL budget requests. “I want some answers,” he said. “This is really more than I can tolerate.” . Erik Unger/DN Ouch! Christie Craighead, a freshman from Hillsboro, N.H., winces while giving blood Wednesday at the Nebraska Union. Candidates mull over US. debt By Corey Russman Staff Reporter Although both candidates for Nebraska’s ^rd District repre sentative agree that the national deficit is the major problem facing the country, they disagree on how the problem should be solved. Republican in cumbent Bill Barrett said one way to curb the deficit would be to quit spending S2.57 for every $1 the United States takes in. Barrett said he sup ported a balanced-budget amendment and the line-item veto. • Barrett’s challenger. Democrat Lowell Fisher, said the United Slates should attack the deficit annually. That way, he said, the government would benefit from learning what worked and what didn’t. Fisher predicted that the deficit would hinder the economy for the next 20 years. Budget problems will harm education and health care and delay highway improvements, he said. He said the budget deficit was the issue that affected college students the most. The government is spending money that belongs to their and future generations, he said. C nn □ Arc «« 'i Holiday weekend triple-dares students, police CU, Homecoming, Halloween add up to police overtime By Susie Arth Senior Reporter triple threat awaits university police Saturday — Hallow ccn, Homecoming and Colo rado. Chief Ken Caublc of the Univer sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln Police De partment said he expected the week end to be wild for students and “ex tremely busy” for police. “I could have planned it better if I had my way,” he said. Caublc said he was aware of at least six Halloween dances or parlies on campus Friday or Saturday night. Although Halloween is not iradi lionally a lime for a lot of drinking and driving, Caublc said, police slill will be prepared for the possibility. In addition, Homecoming parlies, which usually do not create much of a problem, could add to the strain. “Parlies of any kind increase the likelihood of drinking and driving,” he said. Caublc said he also suspected many bars would be having special Hallow een deals, but he hoped students planned to walk to the bars instead of drive. Sgt. Ann Hecrmann of the Lincoln Police Department said Lincoln po lice had received a federal grant to bring in additional help Saturday night. But, she said, the department docs not anticipate any particular prob lems during the weekend. Caublc said the main concern dur ing Homecoming was keeping an eye on the displays. Officers will patrol the entire cam pus on Homecoming night, he said, but they will concentrate mainly on the areas with displays to make sure they do not get tom down. Another concern lacing police is the later kickoff time for Saturday’s game, Caublc said. The 3 p.m. kickoff lime gives stu dents an extra two hours to drink alcoholic beverages before going to the game, he said. ,“Thc bigger the rivalry between thd two teams, the more preparation (students pul) into the game,” he said. Cauble said he also was concerned about the behavior of the Cornhuskcr fans because he had been told that Buffalo fans did not treat Nebraska fans with respect when they traveled to Colorado for the game last year. See HOMECOMING on 3 Bnan Shellito/DN