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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 1992)
Erik Unger/DN Nelson Potter, an associate professor of philosophy, has taught inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary since 1974. He has worked closely with Harold LaMont “Willi” Otey, a prisoner who has been on death row for 14 years. Inmate education UNLprofessor donates free time, philosophy to penitentiary By Matthew Grant Staff Reporter_ Nelson Potter, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Nc braska-Lincoln, spends much of his free time at the state peniten tly / Potter has taught inmates at tne Nebraska State Penitentiary about philosophy since 1974. In return, they have taught him about crime and punishment. Poller is a member of the steering committee for Nebras kans Against the Death Penalty, which proposes legislation for the repeal of the death penalty in Nebraska. He has worked closely with Harold LaMont “Willie” Otey, a prisoner who has been on death row since 1978. Otey was scheduled to be executed Aug. 6, but the day before the deadline, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a stay of execution. Last year, Otey came within six hours of execution. Potter said three criminal psychologists who studied Otey last year concluded that he was a “remarkably rehabilitated individual,” and stressed the importance of rehabilitation programs in prison. “One of the important points about the death penalty is that it throws away the chance of rehabilitation,” Potter said. Potter has taught the philoso phy of logic to Otey since 1985, but, he said, Otey already had turned his life around before then. Potter said that while in prison, Otey consciously decided to seek out people to help him. Many groups in Nebraska see the Otey case as a test for the stale’s infrequently applied death penalty. Since 1920, there have been only five public executions in Nebraska. The last time the death penalty was enforced was in 1959 for mass murderer Charles Starkweather. Potter said he was opposed to capital punishment before he began leaching at the stale penitentiary, but meeting people on death row humanized the issue for him. w A passage from George Orwell’s essay “A Hanging,” in i which Orwell describes a Burmese execution, is an example of this humanization, Potter said. While being led to the gallows, the prisoner steps aside to avoid a puddle in his path. “It is curious,” Orwell writes, “but till that moment, I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man.” Potter said he became a firm abolitionist of the death penalty after considering the international perspective. Almost all the countries that the United States regards as its friends no longer have the death penally, he said, while those that retain it arc considered barbaric. “I fear we promote violence by having the death penalty,” Potter said. “We encourage violent solutions to violence.” He also said that while he favored rehabilitation of crimi nals over simple punishment, more should be done to prevent crime. “If you’re talking about rehabilitation, you’ve maybe already lost half the battle,” he said. L Imprisonment isjincffcctivc for minor offenses, he said. “The United Slates imprisons at a higher rale than any other country in the world,” he said, “but it doesn’t reduce the crime rate.” He cited the war on drugs as one reason for the boom in the prison population. He said he would favor legalization of “soft" drugs, such as marijuana, to focus instead on limiting the use and sale of more harmful narcotics, such as crack cocaine and heroin. Potter said he first visited the penitentiary to sit in on a self improvement group at the suggestion of a friend. During the meeting, some of the inmates expressed an interest in learning about philosophy. Since then, he has given both individual and group classes in logic, ethics and aesthetics. Right now, he teaches at the peniten tiary for about one hour every two weeks. See POTTER on 3 Committee studies adding minuses to system By Susie Arth Senior Reporter An Academic Senate committee is re searching a proposal to add minuses to the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln grading system, an official said. Fred Wagner, chairman of the Academic Senate’s Grading and Examination Commit tee, said the committee had conducted a survey of UNL faculty members to determine their feelings on the proposal. Wagner refused to comment on the results of the survey, but said the committee would issue a report to the Academic Senate cither before Christmas or at the beginning of next semester. “We’re looking at (Che proposal), we’ 11 evalu ate it and forward a report to the Academic Senate," he said. James Ford, an associate professor of En glish at UNL, initiated the idea to add minuses Survey conducted to determine support to the grading system because he believed they would more accurately reflect students’ grades. Wagner said he didn’t know how the Aca demic Senate would acton the proposal,Jbut he said he hoped a decision would be made by spring. Wagner said he believed most students feared the proposal because they believed it would bring down their grade point average. “Everybody is going to look at this as ‘Oh my God, my B will now be a B-,”’ he said. “Well, maylxi your C+ will be changed to a B-. “There are two sides to the issue; it’s not designed to reduce the GPA of a student.’’ Wagner said he was uncertain how the sys lem would be implemented and whether it would affect students already enrolled at UNL. “The faculty senate would have to lake into consideration the grandfather clause,” he said. Wagner said he also was uncertain how a minus would affect a student’s GPA. One idea, he said, is adding .25 point to any grade accompanied by a plus and subtracting .25 point from any grade accompanied by a minus. But Ford said he believed the system of awarding only pluses was not balanced. “I’m interested in combatting grade infla tion,” he said. “I find this to be asymmetrical.” The transition to the new grading system would be simple, Ford said. “We’re just talking about different grada tions within the existing diffcrcntdlvisions,“he said. Ford said he had surveyed several college deans, department heads and faculty members about his idea, and it received overwhelming support. Of eight deans surveyed, he said, six favored adding minuses to the grading system, and two were neutral. In addition, the results of a survey of 200 faculty members on East Campus indicated that 70 percent were in favor of adding minuses to the grading system, while 12 percent were opposed to both pluses and minuses. Ford said he had heard little response from students. “But I haven’t talked to any students who have been violently opposed to this,’’ he said. Student's trial date to be set i From Staff Reports A University of Ncbraska-Lin coln graduate student who al legedly tried to lire a semiau tomatic rifle in a classroom full of students has waived his right to a preliminary trial. Arthur McElroy, 43, was sched uled for a preliminary trial Monday in Lancaster County Court. He now is scheduled to appear 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court, where a trial date will be set, said Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey. McElroy was charged with at tempted second-degree murder, mak ing terroristic threats and two counts of use of a weapon to commit a felony. See McELROY on 3 Committee urges UNL to mobilize against cuts By Angie Brunkow Staff Reporter Student mobilization will be the key to keeping Gov. Nelson from targeting UNL for more budget cuts, a student government representative said. Jennifer Lodes, chairwoman of ASUN’s Government Liaison Com mittee, said the governor was respon sive to the concerns of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students. “We’re all his constituents,” said Lodes, a senior political science ma jor. Students have a voice in state gov ernment, she said, and they should use it. Nelson will present his two-year budget proposal to the Legislature in January, Lodes said. At worst, she said, the university could face a 2 percent cut over each of the next two years. The university absorbed $4 million in cuts last year. Lodes said GLC and members of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska already had written letters to the governor ex See GLC on 3 i