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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