XflnWQ DTGFST Nebraskan
Edited by Jeff Singer X 1J / V V k-/ JL/XvJJ-^ky X Friday, November 19,1993
Aidid emerges from hiding
MOGADISHU, Somalia —Fresh
from forcing a U.N. retreat on an
order for his arrest, Gen. Mohamed
Farrah Aidid emerged from hiding
Thursday for a jubilant greeting from
4,000 shouting, dancing and drum
ming supporters.
Militiamen with rocket-propelled
grenades and automatic rifles guard
ed him when his van drove into a
marketplace for his faction’s weekly
“peace” rally. Crowds pressed around
the van, women danced to the sound
of drums and people beat the sand
with their hands.
The celebration came two days
after the U.N. Security Council lifted
an arrest warrant for Aidid that had
put a $25,000 reward on his head. It
was issued in June after militiamen of
his clan faction were blamed for at
tacks that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
The search for Aidid in his south
ern Mogadishu stronghold had effec
tively stopped after a fierce battle in
early October killed IX American
soldiers and more than 300 Somalis.
“He obviously has a lot of power in
Mogadishu,” U.S. special envoy Rob
ert Oakley told reporters after meet
ing with Aidid before the rally. “The
United States realized we made a
mistake getting involved.... I’m glad
to see the U.N. Security Council
changed course.”
Aidid, who leads one of the coun
try’s 15 major factions, is a powerful
force mainly in southern Mogadishu
and parts of central Somalia.
At the rally, three men played elec
tric drums and guitars as Aidid ad
dressed the crowd in his first public
appearance in more than five months.
“All Somalis must understand
wartime is over. Without outside in
terference, all Somali factions can
solve their problems among them
selves,” he said.
In a sign of growing U.S. popular
ity, Oakley’s convoy was cheered
when Aidid militiamen escorted it
through the crowd a few minutes be
fore the clan leader arrived.
Aidid’s faction had praised Presi
dent Clinton for reining in the search
for Aidid and deciding to pull out the
16,000 U.S. military personnel by
March 31. Questions about relations
arose after faction leaders warned
against the resumption of American
military patrols announced carl icr this
month.
“I did not hear any threats, implicit
or explicit. I think the suspicion has
dropped,” Oakley told reporters after
his meeting with Aidid.
Mistrust of the United Nations re
mainsstrong in Aidid’s faction, which
has accused U.N. officials of ignoring
it in political talks. Aidid has boycott
ed U.N.-sponsored local ruling coun
cils being set up as a first step in
rebuilding a governmental structure
wrecked by Somalia’s civil war.
“We do not need intervention. The
U.N. should deal with humanitarian
issues. We need help to build schools,
hospitals, roads,” Aidid said, looking
relaxed in a brown-and-blue floral
print shirt and blue pants.
“I told him they will be here for a
long time. I told him it would be a big
mistake if he allowed issues like that"
to delay humanitarian efforts, Oakley
said at a news conference at the Amer
ican compound.
Oakley said Aidid promised to at
tend an international conference on
aid for Somalia scheduled for Nov. 29
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Although the conference is to fo
cus on humanitarian issues, Oakley
said that “knowing Somalis, you can
be sure there will be lots of political
discussions.”
American Airlines strike
causes delays, confusion
DALLAS — Flight attendants
struck American Airlines Thurs
day, forcing the nation’s largest
airline to cancel some flights. The
carrier threatened to fire strikers
and said it intends to use managers
and nonstrikers to keep most flights
going.
The strike, which began at 8
a.m. Central time, delayed other
flights and caused passenger con
fusion at airports across the coun
try.
“We arc in the process of shut
ting it down,” said spokesman Ray
Abernathy of the Association of
Professional Flight Attendants.
The airline and the union failed
to reach a new contract agreement
in two days of federally mediated,
last-ditch talks. They are split over
pay, staffing and other issues.
The union, which represents
21,000 flight attendants at Ameri
can, said its members would be off
the job for 11 days, including the
Thanksgiving travel period, among
the year’s busiest.
American said it was confident
flight attendants who cross picket
lines and managers newly trained
as flight attendants would enable it
to staff flights in line with govern
ment safety rules.
In the past, (1 ight attendants strik
ing alone at other airlines have
failed to close a carrier. If the fl ight
attendants can persuade the more
powerful pilots not to fly, they
would stand a much better chance
of shutting down American.
The pilots union estimated that
only 10 to 15 percent of Ameri
can’s passenger flights operated
Thursday. “The American Airlines
system is presently in a state of
chaos,” said union president Rich
LaVoy.
Passengers at some airports try
ing to get on American planes were
stymied Thursday. However, it was
not immediately known how many
flights were canceled or whether
the strike, the biggest against an
airline since machinists struck East
ern Airlines in 1989, was having a
broad impact.
Perot’s popularity drops
after debate over NAFTA
Thirty percent of
Americans say they
don't favor Perot
NEW YORK — Only one in three
Americans sees Ross Perot as playing
a positive role in helping the country
solve its problems, and even Perot
voters give him mixed ratings, ac
cording to an Associated Press poll
released Thursday.
The conventional wisdom is that
Perot’s popularity was bruised badly
during the trade fight, but the poll
shows many arc withholding judg
ment: 42 percent don’t know enough
to tell their impression of Perot, while
27 percent say it is favorable and 30
percent unfavorable.
Other findings:
•Just more than two-thirdsof those
who call themselves ’92 Perot voters
have a favorable impression, but 32
percent now rate him unfavorably or
don’t know.
• Twelve percent think what Perot
is now saying and doing will hurt the
country’s efforts to solve some of its
problems, while 39 percent don’t see
much effect positively or negatively
and 15 percent are not sure. Men,
high-income Americans, young adults
and those born around World War II
arc somewhat more likely to be among
the third who sec Perot’s role as help
ful.
• Twenty percent of those polled
say that if Perot had been elected
president last November, he would be
doing a better job than President
Clinton. Most of these people arc not
Perot voters. They tend to be young,
male, Republican and apparently anti
Clinton.
While 27 percent say Perot would
be doing a worse job in the White
House, the majority say he would be
doing about the same as Clinton, or
they’re not sure.
The national telephone poll of 1,002
adults was conducted by ICR Survey
Research Group of Media, Pa., part of
AUS Consultants. Results have a
margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 3 percentage points.
The poll was taken three days after
Perot debated Vice President A1 Gore
on the North American Free Trade
Agreement and ending the night be
fore Perot’s side lost the House vote.
Withholding
judgment on
Perot
ki.i ___ C n/nr ^hln
Do you think what Ross
| Perot is now saying and
g doing will help or hurt in
solving some of the
country’s problems, or
not have much effect
either way?
I KIsa amauiav Will holrv
--V4 STATE WIRE
Nebraska senators plan on NAFTA passage
OMAHA — Nebraska’s senators
predicted easy passage of the North
American Free Trade Agreement in
the Senate, one day after the state’s
representatives threw aside party af
fi 1 iat ion and voted to approve N A FT A.
“It’ll pass, no doubt about it,” said
Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb.
But he said passage of NAFTA is
only the first step to boosting wages
and creating jobs in the United States,
Mexico and Canada.
“If we follow through, we can make
this work,” Kerrey said.
Sen. Jim Exon, D-Ncb., said he
remained undecided on NAFTA.
“It comes down to whether or not
it means a net minus of jobs, or a net
plus of jobs for Nebraska and for the
country,” he said. “But it’s a foregone
conclusion that it will be passed in the
Senate, whatever I think.”
- SPORTS WIRE
Football will be more than a game Saturday
NEW YORK — Harvard visits
Yale in The Game, Cal is at Stanford
for The Big Game, the Civil War
resumes between Oregon and Oregon
State and it’s Iron Bowl time with
Alabama at Auburn. Victory Bells
will toll in California, somebody will
snatch the Old Oaken Bucket, grab
the Bronze Pig or drink from the Beer
Barrel on Rivalry Day in college foot
ball Saturday.
The Iron Bowl may have lost a bit
of its meaning with the game no long
er played at neutral Birmingham, but
when Alabama pays a rare visit to
Auburn, intensity never wanes.
“It never ends. It’s 365 days a
year,” Auburn coach Terry Bowden
says. “People don’t greet each other
by saying, ‘Hello.’ They say, ‘I’m an
Auburn fan (or Alabama fan). Who
arc you for?”’
The Victory Bell will be ringing in
Los Angeles, but it will be a trip to the
Rose Bowl that really matters when
UCLA plays Southern Cal at the Col
iseum for the Pac-10 title.
It’s also Tennessee vs. Kentucky
for the Beer Barrel, Indiana vs. Purdue
for the Old Oaken Bucket, M innesota
vs. Iowa for the Bronze Pig, Washing
ton vs. Wahington State for the Apple
Cup, Mississippi vs. Mississippi State
for the Golden Egg and Lehigh vs.
Lafayette in their 129th meeting.
Bjorklund
Continued from Page 1
“If we’re ever going todo anything
to change these altitudes,” she said,
“we’re going to have to send these
kinds of messages.”
Sgt. Bill Manning of the Universi
ty Police said the case alerted
Lincolnites to safety issues.
“The public was in a real excited
state in the days right after her disap
pearance,” he said. “There was spec
ulation as to what did happen.”
Since then, Manning said, the
case’s publicity has built, not only
because it involved a death in small
town Nebraska but because those who
knew Harms wouldn’t let anyone for
get.
“Nebraska isn’t the site of a lot of
instances similar to this,” he said. “A
lot of it. I’m sure, had todo with her
friends and family.”
They pushed to keep up publicity
efforts and continued to investigate.
Police officers also checked and re
checked leads and pushed themselves
to solve the case, he said.
“It’s a combination of everything
that was going on,” Manning said.
At the same time Harms was miss
ing, Kenyatta Bush, an Omaha worn
an. had disappeared. Manning said.
The local press published more sto
ries on Harms than the other woman,
he said, because the Harms story was
local news.
“I don’t know that Candice Harms
got as much attention in Omaha where
Kcnyatla Bush was,” he said.
According to the state Bureau of
Vital Statistics, the number of mur
ders per year in Nebraska has aver
aged about 50 since 1987.
Manning said the Harms incident
hadenough impact on the community
to affect some operations of local
police.
Forexample, officers now normal
ly do not make arrests when driving
unmarked police cars, he said.
“I wouldn’t expect people to stop
for those any more,” he said.
Prosecutors during the trial had
said Harms probably thought
Bjorklund was an undercover police
man because he was carrying a police
scanner and a gun.
Kriss said the incident had changed
the behavior of many civilians, too.
“The whole experience has fright
ened us,” Kriss said, “but it’s also
made us more aware to protect our
selves.
“In that tragic and ironic sense,
Candice Harms empowers all wom
en. That’s her legacy.”
Officials to define commission's role
By Mark Harms
Staff Reporter
Defining ihe role of Nebraska’s
Coordinating Commission for Post
Secondary Education is causing prob
lems, even after the commission has
been operating for two years.
Members of the NU Board of Re
gents and other higher education spe
cialists will meet Friday to discuss
what the commission’s role should be
at UNL and other state colleges.
“This has been a new experience
foreveryone,” J.B. Milliken, NU cor
poration secretary, said. “This is an
opportunity to sec how things have
gone over the past two years.”
The Nebraska Council for Public
Higher Education, a nonpolicy-mak
ing body consisting of the regents, the
Board of Trustees of State Colleges
and the governing boards of commu
nity colleges, is meeting to discuss
how far they think the commission
should take its role.
Regents Chairman John Payne o(
Kearney said he thought the coordi
nation commission was unnecessary.
“1 feel it’s another layer of bureau
cracy,” he said.
Regent Don Blank of McCook said
the Legislature established the com
mission to oversee higher education
in Nebraska. The commission is sup
posed to prevent unnecessary dupli
cation of programs and ensure the
state’s money is spent wisely.
Blank said he approved of the com
mission’s coordinating role. But he
said it sometimes intruded into the
role of governing Nebraska’s univer
sities and colleges.
Blank said many state senators
agreed with him.
Payne said members of the higher
education council, who will meet at
the Ramada Hotel, 141 N. Ninth St.,
at 10 a.m., would try todecide ways to
avoid future problems. He would not
specify what types ofproblems would
be discussed at the meeting.
A special meeting of the board ol
regents had been scheduled Friday to
approve the new president’s contract
and discuss tuition guidelines.
Milliken said. The meeting was can
celled, and the issues will be dis
cussed at the regents ’ regul ar meet i ng
Dec. 4, he said
Netlralskan
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