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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1993)
Restay rant firing draws protests Motions end Bjorklund hearings By Jeff Zeleny Senior Editor . o*mmmmm I k~ tmnq g*f Iwhn Hm*- 9m tti wt/M iBii m * aid Three motions filed by attor neys for Roger Bjorklund and the stale were partially scaled Tuesday in Lancaster County District Court. .. Judge Donald Endacott ordered the documents partially closed, but de clined to close the pretrial hearing to the press and public. Chief Deputy Lancaster County Public Defender Scott Helvic filed two motions in Lancaster County Dis trict Court. In the first motion, Hclvie said Scott Barney should be prohibit ed from testifying at the trial. Bjorklund and Barney both arc charged with first-degree murder in the 1992 slaying of University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Candice Haj*ms. Fourteen paragraphs in the motion were sealed and not read by the judge during the hearing. In Helvie’s second motion, he said Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey should be recused, or disqual ified from his position in the trial, because of prejudice or personal in terest. Sandy Summers/DM KM Huff, • sophomore archeology major at UNL, and Bait) Bair, former publisher of Woman's Journal Advocate, protest the firing of a gay employee outside the Green Cstssu restaurant Tuesday morning. two days a week. » Boltc gradually increased his hour* dining the year, but in Au gust he requested to return to the rwo-day-a-week schedule. The re qpaeat was approved by a manager A few weeks later, Livcngood asked the manager to fire Boltc because he allegedly was too ef feminate. The manager said Boltc was agood employee and shouldn’t be Tired. Boltc left for vacation. When he relumed Sept. 2. the manager told him he had been fired. Two other employees. Kevin Caught in and Gia Rauch not. quit in protest. Livcngood said Boltc was not filed because he was gay. Belle's achedultng conflicts became too steal a problem to accommodate, he said Boltc had asked not to work on two football Saturdays, Livcngood Mid. “We need pan-time employees during our busy time,” he said. “His schedule didn't work with our schedule.” Livcngood said he knew Boltc and other employees were homo sexuals long before the day Bolte was fired. Nebraska has no policy banning job discrimination on the Basis of sexuality, said Marlayn Cragun, executive director of the Nebraska Civil Liberties Union, in a tele phone interview.. Tuesday ’s protesters advocate a bill introduced last year to thestate Legislature that would make it ille gal to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orienta tion. Pat Greene, a member of the Coalition forGay and Lesbian Civ il Rights, said the bill would not mandate quotas for hiring gay or lesbian employees. Greene said she and other local homosexual-rights advocates — II His schedule didn’t work with our schedule. — Livengood owner, Green Gateau -tf — would push for the bill to become law in this year’s legislative ses sion. Boltesaid he had no plans to file a lawsuit because he allegedly suf fered discrimination. Current Ne braska laws give him no grounds for a suit, he said. Bolte, who supports the bill, said he was pleased the event had drawn much attention to further his cause of equal rights for homosex uals. “I’ve become much more of a celebrity than I had hoped,” Bolte said. - -— The judge read Helvic’s motion, which said that because Lacey filed the charges against Bjorklund, he shouldn’t prosecute the case. Five paragraphs in the motion were scaled by Endacott. Helvie did not return telephone calls for comment Tuesday afternoon. The motion filed by the county attorney’s office was almost com pletely scaled by Endacott. All three motions can become un sealed at any time, Endacott said. Attorney Alan Peterson, who rep resents various Nebraska media orga nizations, objected to sealing the motions. The objection wasoverruled by Endacott. The judge said Tuesday’s hearing was the last before Bjorklund's trial. Jury selection begins Monday in Sidney, and the trialwill start Oct. 25 in Lincoln. Baraev hasher butts heads with parents, dinosaur fans Ftcd out m • n •red** idol ht« N * t l*tfc purple >*. i mvmtty Pro WMfcitiihtttih mmm- ^ ■ Mlhmuftooui Foil Mid krocy.* I turn ngtoW«m«i >uxl vuihim»M wlmlv iHmp ' *U lot Harney Day event*. hn and other UPC membcm have considered a Barney boxing match, a Big Bird va, Barney baah or evcrythmg-but-Barncyi event* The Nov, 10baah i*a month away, but Fox’* name already haa become a naughty word in aonte local household* "Prom what I've gathered. I*m noted a*one of the moat haled men in Lincoln now," Ik xaid "It'a turning into more of a personal attack." Pox'* name appeared in lour of the five letterato the editor concerning the Barney Ba»h m Monday k I incoln Mai newspaper "I have no idea where thia thing ia going to go," he aaid It grows every day Po* haa lalkedto reporter* Irom California, < anada and many of Nebraska'* papers He * retd • story in USA Today about his brainchild. He has dedicated a wall in the UPC office to post letters and newspaper articles on Barney isaucs. , Fox has fielded calls for the past two weeks from angry parents and other concerned citi zens. Even University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumni have called threatening to withdraw financial support if Fox follows through with the event. “I've had to put a lot of things off so I can take care of this little monster.** Fox said. “It's affecting my classes, my personal life. It's grown to mammoth proportions." It's even stretched into hut home life. “If this is Barney, go away We don't want to talk to you," is the message that callers hear on the answering machine at Fox’s house "Honestly, I'm sick or it. For something so small, it's gotten so big," Fox said. "People have forgotten how to laugh. This is all Tun and games/' Besides, he said, the Barney Bash was cre ated solely for students. Fox said he had yet to hear student criticism of the event. "If the students don't want this thing to happen," he said, "it ain’t going to happen." Fox said adults had told him he failed to understand children's love for Barney. But Fox said he was still a child at heart. "I'm the biggest kid imaginable," Fox said. When was the Iasi lime I watched Saturday S— BARNEY on 2 gineering professors pitch proposed secession . . fvncvt I (Mil llUHl «o«*U\mturn nywt’infc kiltmiMify, mikI (JNO iwiktori ilk own Mtlkg*.- lo wk HunkJly w^vv ihv uMimomly I Ik I4MIWMI wv *H IkH UkUv Ik lo • k|*KJkk4KO MMttt ftk Ikvoll > IVykul Iilf o*k n.4»ilil> Ui nvi Vi ;hv ikikik ill 4ie4)lMi»k Hi*# lUkkWlk muJ tlw Ml Jukin.i uMnnumiy of Onmlw Ik Ilk Nl Mukkl tfl Htifmu* *k von kutofijy ilk gmpoiMii I# vickk two kV|Wfttlv §0^0$ m Iki I llkvtiil *ml (^«mpukvh Tlk Univ«niily of NktimaU to Omaha program originally **»tk u'h«K'il an an iiuk-|\iulait i allege in IMhi to mut t total induaii) tMXxU Him* then, H Ha* gradual) > merged wilH ihe UNI t allege All ilk vat lege klunduiuandaUmimkiraiMNiiMm -"~v ~ ... Hm« CHen, UNI ipiultwMH olt'k\ iiual engineering nu hnoingy, aanl a tv par ate eollcgt* kaa needed Mi meet iHc intrcaaing of Omaha mduMry atui ilk nowH ol l IntaHa iiu Opga ■ Sokol aaid Orroka wta die only ctty iu mice lhai didn l have an engi nee ring college lo work "hand in hand" wiih ihe eity’a indu»irieft and with Hu urban Mydenu "I *NO need* |ti revamp the cngi near mg pi* *gi am (t> make il more prac ut*i *ud renpuaaive tu mdufttry,' he aaid Sokol hard the trend of making the UNO college UNI depend* at made him mmMM* about tin future The future of Omaha baaed pro gram* ta noume we can he confident about.' Sokol aaid liut both prolcssors said they thought • step#rate engineering col lege should he restoreJ at (JNO Sokol tuiid UNO's students were d life rent from UNt'i, Moat of UNO'a student* are older and work lull ume or part time “UNO is an urban university with a difiereni mission than UNL.” Sokol said Sokol said enrollment figures _ showed a need for an engineering
