Indiana train crash kills 7, injures 70
UAKY, ind. (AP) — One com
muter train sideswiped another at a
narrow trestle Monday, ripping open
cars “like a big razor blade” and kill
ing seven people, an official said.
Nearly 70 were injured, two criti
cally.
“The glass was flying. It was a
tremendous impact,” Margaret
McNeill, a passenger in the front car
of one of the trains, said as she walked
uninjured from the crash site.
“We hung on and there were people
flying around,” said Jane Mitchell,
another uninjured passenger.
Passenger Abir Khater described
the chaos after impact:
“There was panic and people were
saying get out, get out,’ and other
people saying 'sit down, just sit
down.’” .
The eastbound and westbound
trains collided shortly after*):30 a.m.,
said John Parsons, spokesman for
Northern Indiana Commuter Transit
District, which owns the Chicago-to
South Bend rail line. The cause of the
crash was under investigation by the
National Transportation Safety Board.
About 100 people were on the
trains, a two-car No. 7 eastbound from
Chicago and a three-car No. 12 from
South Bend, Parsons said. Gary is
about 30 miles southeast of down
town Chicago.
The trains crashed where two tracks
overlap in a gantlet west of a trestle
that is too narrow for two trains to
pass. It was unclear if both were mov
ing or one was stopped wailing to
cross the trestle.
The front cars were mangled and
the metal on one side ripped away.
Passengers were thrown to the floor.
Seats were ripped from their moor
ings.
“The walls were ripped open, cre
ating an effect like a big razor blade,”
Gary Fire Chief Ben Perry said.
Several of the dead were decapi
tated, Perry said.
Rescuers passed stretchers through
gaping holes in one of the cars to
remove the dead and injured, some of
whom had been trapped in the wreck
age.
UNL police investigating reports of prank phone calls
By Sarah Scalet
Staff Reporter
Reports of a prank caller who identifies
himself as a psycholog ist arc being investigated
by the UNL police department, and one official
Monday encouraged students not to answer
suspicious phone survey questions until they
have contacted the police.
Sgt. Mylo Bushing of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln police department said a
total of 14 such calls had been reported since
last September, with the most recent call re
ported Friday.
The calls apparently were made by the same
man, Bushing said, based on voice descriptions
and the types of questions he asked.
The caller told women he was doing a survey
Caller says he is conducting psychological survey
for the psychology department, Bushing said.
However, Bushing said the psychology depart
ment notifies the police before doing any phone
surveys, so police know if a survey is legiti
mate.
After telling the women about the survey,
the caller asked increasingly personal ques
tions about the type of clothing the female
wore, Bushing said.
In many cases, the caller also contacted the
woman’s parents and told them their daughter
was wearing short skirts to class, Bushing said.
In some cases, he questioned the woman’s
mother about her clothing.
Bushing said he did not want to release
specific details about the investigation because
the case was pending.
One U NL freshman who received such a cal 1
Iasi semester, Kristen Davis, said the man was
professional and initially had convinced her the
survey was legitimate.
He started out with simple questions, Davis,
a psychology major, said. But then he started to
ask her how short her skirts were, whether she
wore nylons, how far she unbuttoned her shirt
and what her bra size was, she said.
Davis said the man also called her grand
mother, supposedly representing a dress-code
committee, and said her roommate had come to
class in revealing clothing.
One policy change made last semester, par
tially in response to such calls, eliminated the
use of phone numbers on student research lists
posted in Burnett Hall, Ross Thompson, a UNL
psychology professor, said.
Thompson said no definite evidence linked
the prank calls to student lists including phone
numbers in the psychology department.
Students were required to participate in re
search as part of Introduction to Psychology
181, Thompson said.
In the past, he said, students signed up for
research with their names and phone numbers.
That way, the researcher could remind them the
night before it was scheduled.
Thompson said even the possibility that the
calls were related was a risk the psychology
department was uncomfortable with, he said.
Names and phone numbers made it too easy
for mischief to occur, he said.
Snow
Continued from Page 1
“The ramps are just a little too
steep for the snow and ice,” the sopho
more psychology major said. “You
can’t get much traction.”
Nerud was unable to climb the
ramp at Avery Hall with his front
whccl-dri ve wheelchair, and he m isscd
his Tuesday class.
In another incident, while coming
off the ramp at Selleck Hall, he hit a
patch of ice and nearly slid off the
sidewalk.
Nerud said the worst areas are at
the bottom of the ramps where water
collects and then freezes.
Also, the rugged sidewalks made it
tiring to get around and sometimes
caused electric wheelchairs to break
down, he said.
Craig Cassell, a graduate student
in human development, said he wasn’t
satisfied with the snow removal.
Cassell said he thought the crew
should have cleaned the area around
Selleck Residence Hall sooner. But,
he said, he realized they probably
cleared the area as soon as they could.
Cassell also said the area west of
Selleck posed a problem. The lift on
the van that takes him to his East
Campus classes could not be lowered
because there was too much snow
between the sidewalk and street.
Chad Wood, a sophomore electri
cal engineering major, said last week’s
snow removal job resembled that of
the previous year.
Like others, Wood had problems
with rugged sidewalks. Because he
had trouble getting from Selleck to
Hamilton, he missed his Monday class.
When people live in Nebraska,
they have to expect these types of
conditions, he said.
'Christy A. Horn, coordinator of
services for students with disabilities,
agreed.
“They (snow removal crews) did
the best they could under the circum
stances of snow and ice,” she said.
“There is a lot of campus to clear.”
In response to student complaints,
Wilbur Dascnbrock, director of land
scaping services, said that handicap
ramps were a top priority in the snow
removal, but clearing other areas pre
sented a problem.
“It’s really difficult for us to know
where our wheelchairs are going,” he
said. “Without knowing that exactly,
then it’s really hard to give them a lot
of priority. There may be a time when
we get more sophisticated in finding
- 44
The ramps are just a
little too steep for the
snow and ice. You
can’t get much trac
tion.
— Nerud
sophomore psychology
major
-99 “
those things out.”
That time may have come.
Horn said that her office would be
mapping out a snow route on campus
in the next couple of weeks after
surveying students and staff members
at the university.
The snow route will identify areas
heavily used by people with disabili
ties. Those areas will receive extra
attention in snow removal, and main
tenance vehicles and equipment will
not be parked in those areas.
But in the meantime, people with
disabilities may have to face snow
again without the benefit of a snow
route. The National Weather Service
has issued a winter storm watch for
tonight and Wednesday, with signifi
cant snowfall possible along with
freezing rain and drizzle.
I-POLICE REPORT-1
Beginning midnight Friday
9:37 a.m. — Computer mouse
taken, Hcnzlik Hall, $72.
11:27 a.m. — Checkbook taken.
Sigma Phi Epsilon, 601 N. 16th
St., $40.
12:10 p.m. — Purse taken,
Andrews Hall, $315.
1:10 p.m. — Nails scattered in
parking lot, Dental College.
7:07 p.m.—Male with abdominal
pains, Nebraska Union, transported
to Lincoln General Hospital.
Beginning midnight Saturday
12:34 a.m. — Male jumped on
hood ofvehicle.Sandoz Hall park
ing lot, $100.
4:33 a.m. — Glass panels on fire
extinguisher damaged, Cather Hall,
$45.
s*
8:23 a.m.—Wallet taken, Bcltzcr
Baseball Field and Stadium, S60.
9:56 a.m. — Watch taken, Cam
pus Recreation Center, $250.
4:10 p.m. — Car stereo taken,
remote parking lot on New Hamp
shire Street, $490.
4:48 p.m. — Person with warrant
arrested, Nebraska Union, trans
ported to Lancaster County Jail.
5:55 p.m. — Wallet taken, Cam
pus Recreation Center, $95.
Beginning midnight Sunday
10:05 a.m. — Hit-and-run acci
dent, West Stadium, $600.
8:36 p.m. — Wallet taken, Ne
braska Union, $55.
11:23 p.m. — Wallet taken,
Lutheran Center, 535 N. 16th St.,
$190.
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