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Students voice anger
at green space forum
By Alan Phelps
Senior Reporter
Students against the construction
of a proposed green space vent
ed their anger Wednesday at an
open forum in the Nebraska Union.
About one dozen students and fac
ulty members spoke against the plan
ry to convert the
' parking lot north
w of the union into a
* flat, grassy area.
Only one student
in the crowd of
more than 50
/ \x stood up in sup
^ port of the green
Green space space.
Some speakers
voiced concern about the $ 100,000 to
$200,000 cost of the project. Several
rejected the idea that the Uni versity of
Nebraska-Lincoln needed another
green space, or complained that mov
ing parking away from campus would
be unsafe.
Others just seemed angry about the
parking situation in general.
But UNL Interim Business Man
ager Paul Carlson, on hand to answer
questions about the plan, said Chan
cellor Graham Spanier’s mail and
phone calls were running about 90
percent in favor of the green space.
“He is listening, but that’s what
he’s been hearing,” Carlson said.
Spanier also received a petition signed
by more than 350 people who wanted
the green space, Carlson said.
Spanier was invited to the forum,
Carlson said, but could not attend
because of scheduling problems.
Doug Oxley, graduate senator in
the Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska, said it would
be impractical to build parks while
tight budgets put off more worthy
projects, such as renovating Richards
Hall.
“This is not the right thing to do at
this time ” he said.
Chris Peterson, a member of last
year’s Government Liaison Commit
tee, said UNL could lose respect in the
Legislature if it squandered money on
green space while other more deserv
ing projects awaited funding.
Carlson said the university was
continuing to pursue the capital im
provements on its priority list. The
money that would be used to tear up
parking lot 17A would not go far in
repairing Richards Hall, he said.
“That’s going to cost millions to
fix up Richards Hall,” he said. “Mil
lions.”
Graduate student Tom Meyers,
See FORUM on 7
Bjorklund motions entered
From Staff Reports
Attorneys for Roger Bjorklund
have filed four motions to sup
press statements and conversa
tions Bjorklund made while he was in
the Lancaster County Jail.
Scott Helvie, Lancaster County
chief public defender, filed motions
Tuesday to prevent the use of state
ments Bjorklund made to Scott Barney
and three correctional officers.
Bjorklund and Barney both arc
charged with first-degree murder in
the death of University of Nebraska
Lincoln student Candice Harms.
In the motions, Helvie said:
Bjorklund was held in the Lancaster
County Jail from December 1992 to
January 1993, which was a violation
of his rights under the Fourth and 14th
amendments. During that time,
Lancaster County correctional offic
ers Vicky Thompson, Susan Briggs
auu di auicy juiuisou uverncuru siaic
ments Bjorklund made.
The conversations were intercept
ed through the use of an electronic
device, which was not authorized by
the court. The statements should be
suppressed as evidence from
Bjorklund’s trial.
Statements Bjorklund made to
Barney were not voluntary, and ad
mitting those statements into evidence
would be a violation of Bjorklund’s
due process.
Any additional statements
Bjorklund made to Barney that were
overheard by inmate Ronald Caples
should not be admissible as evidence.
Several times in the motions, Helvie
referred to Barney as a “law enforce
ment agent.”
District Judge Donald Endacott will
hear the motions Oct. 8.
Jury selection is scheduled to be
gin Oct. 18 in Sidney. The trial will be
held Oct. 25 in Lincoln.
n . f * Julia Mtkoiajak/DN
Brick-a-brac
Graduate student Michael Morgan sits Inside the earthworks sculpture he is working on
outside of Richards Hall. See related story on page 8.
Complexities of NAFTA make it muddy issue for many
Free-trade agreement
may increase profits
for state’s farmers
By Dionne Searcey
Senior Reporter 1
If Congress decides to implement the North
America Free Trade Agreement, UNL
economists said, its overall impact on Ne
braska will be relatively mild.
Wes Peterson, associate professor of agri
cultural economics, said the fears critics nad
instilled in Americans about the proposed trade
agreement with Mexico and Canada were un
justified.
“The bottom line is the,
effects of NAFTA on em
ployment are going to be
tiny, despite what Ross
virtu
ally eliminate trade barri
ers between the United
States, Canada and Mexi
Canada and the United States already have
free-trade pact.
Peterson estimated a total number of 60 to
300 Nebraska jobs would be created by NAFTA.
“We’re not talking about a huge, huge im
i
pact,” he said.
Nationwide, Peterson said, the impact will
be small as well.
About 200,000jobs in the United States will
be lost Peterson said, and about 400,000 jobs
will be created as a result of the agreement.
“In an economy that has 125 million jobs,
200,000 jobs one way or another is pretty
irrelevant to the United States,” he said.
Most factories that could be tempted to
relocate in Mexico already have done so under
existing conditions, Peterson said.
Besides, he said, most university students
are not looking for factory jobs, but are looking
for management jobs in the service sector.
Students aspiring to become doctors, law
yers and business managers need not worry
about losing their jobs, he said.
“None of those people are going to move
because of free trade with Mexico,” Peterson
said.
Overall, Nebraskans will benefit from the
agreement, he said, because NAFTA will help
agriculture.
Statistics compiled by the agricultural eco
nomics department show NAFTA is likely to
increase the price of com four to five cents per
bushel, Peterson said.
And, he said, Mexicans are future consum
See NAFTA on 7
Congress members
disagree about value
of trade agreement
By Nell Feldman
Staff Reporter
The North American Free Trade Agree
ment, a topic that has been in the spotlight
for several months, has stirred consider
able debate in Washington and throughout the
country.
But what the debate is
about remains unclear to
many.
About 2 1/2 years ago,
Congress voted by a large
majority to put negotiations
of NAFTA on a “fast track,”
as Rep. Richard Gephardt,
D-Mo., put it.
When Congress began
working with NAFTA as a priority issue, repre
sentatives approached it eagerly, presumably
hoping that such an agreement would help steer
the country out of recession.
But since the Clinton administration took
office, a handful of representatives have come
to reject NAFTA, asserting that compromises
in the pact negotiated by the Clinton adminis
tration have unfavorably altered the treaty.
Should NAFTA pass, it would eliminate
trade barriers among the United States, Mexico
and Canada during the next 10 years.
Those in favor of the agreement say erasing
trade barriers would, over time, benefit the
economies of all three countries.
NAFTA advocates frequently describe the
process as gradual and emphasize the need for
caution and patience.
NAFTA opponents say the pact’s primary
deficiencies are the way wages and work con
ditions are established. Americans, they say,
would be on the losing end of any new jobs
created by the agreement.
Opponents of NAFTA argue that Mexico
cannot afford to purchase most U.S. products.
Those who support NAFTA say the nearly one
third of the Mexican population with relatively
high incomes would be able to buy American
goods.
In fact, proponents anticipate the Mexican
market’s potential to be nearly the size of
America’s export market in Canada.
NAFTA is also expected to encourage a
large amount of European and Asian invest
ment in Mexico.
Mexico, opponents argue, would become a
foreign export platform aimed at the United
See TRADE on 6