University of Nebraska-Lincoln
■4 A&E
The
American
Indian
Films and poetry
expose Indian
culture this
weekend.
Page 9
:riday
3/11
iooay, partly sunny.
Saturday will be
mostly cloudy with
flumes.
Vol. 93 No. 92
January 28, 1994
State senators hear testimony on gun bills
By Angie Brunkow
Senior Reporter
Getting tough on crime takes more than
passing legislation against guns, ac
cording to some testimony before the
Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee
on Thursday.
“This legislation against an inanimate ob
ject will have little or no impact,” National
Rifle Associatibn Director J.W. Carlson said.
Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha introduced
five bills Thursday restricting gun use in Ne
braska. ' »
• LB927 would prohibit Nebraskans from
transporting or possessing assault firearms.
• LB1012 would require firearms to be
Remodeled lab
helps students
help children
By Brian Sharp
Staff Reporter
A small child sits looking at a bin of
colored blocks. His big brown eyes dart
back and forth, surveying the other chil
dren and their creations.
After a while, a tiny hand inches toward the
jumbled pile, carefully selects one of the dis
carded pieces and starts adding to it.
He’s going fishing, and he wants to make a
fishing pole.
He is one of more than 90 children involved
in a class at the newly remodeled Ruth Staples
- Child Development Labon East Campus.
University students observe or teach chil
dren ranging from 2 to 6 years old. Classes
require sophomore or senior standing, depend
ing on the ltd), and they involve students in a
variety of majors and colleges.
The College of Human Resources and Fam
ily Sciences completed remodeling of the lab in
December.
i ne lao nas gone irom naving iour activity
rooms to two large classrooms and a research
area.
Susan Graul, assistant director of the lab,
said the project not only gave the children more
room to play, it made it easier for UNL students
to teach, observe and interact with them.
College students in the preschool child lab
try to apply theory in understanding children’s
behavior, whether they paint, fish with blocks
or dress up for an imaginary trip to Valentino’s.
The two-phase renovation of the lab cost
$350,000, paid through building safety money
and chancellor’s office funds.
In other departments of the college, officials
said renovations were long overdue.
Since the Family Resource Center occupied
its current home five years ago, officials said,
little has been done to meet student needs —
until now.
A two-phase, $150,000 remodeling project
is halfway done, but fund-raising has slowed its
completion.
Graduate students in marriage and family
therapy use the building for counseling, re
search and training for their certification.
Craig Smith, director of the center, said the
building originally was used as a living unit.
Students learned economics skills firsthand by
living in the houses, he said.
While the full kitchen has yet to be convert
ed, the three-bedroom, two-bath home has been
remodeled to provide therapy rooms, a gradu
ate student workroom and an electronics/video
room for professors to see and hear counseling
sessions. ..
Viewing areas behind one-way mirrors also
are in place.
The program admits six university students
a year out of 30 to 40 applicants, Smith said.
Students work with about 50 clients from both
the university and the Lincoln community.
Counseling topics range from breaking up with
a boyfriend or girlfriend to child abuse and
domestic violence, he said.
“It (family therapy) is a different animal
than it used to be,” he said. “We’re getting more
where people are aware what family therapy is
and calling for it.”
Within the next two weeks, officials will
find out whether the program will be accredit
ed.
stored safely and out of the reach of children.
• LB 1011 would require potential gun own
ers to undergo safety training before purchas
ing one.
• LB 1013 would prohibit those younger
than 21 from possessing a handgun.
• LB1018 would create gun-free zones
around elementary and secondary schools.
Sen. Eric Will of Omaha, who also spon
sored the bills, said stopping the violence that
occurred because of guns was the Legislature’s
most important task.
“Anything the Legislature can do to address
that is vital,” he said.
But opponents of the bill said the Legislature
should focus its attention on stopping crimi
nals, not restricting the rights of law-abiding
citizens.
Robert Strayer of Lincoln said criminals
would get access to guns regardless of laws
preventing it.
“Don’t punish me; I’m not a convicted fel
on,” he said. “Let’s not take things away from
the citizens of this state.”
Dustin Ruge, a Nebraska State Rifle and
Pistol Association representative, said laws in
Washington, D.C., restricting citizens’ access
to guns had not taken care of problems there.
Karine Close of Omaha said such laws con
cerning guns would vastly reduce the cost to
society in the form ofhuman lives and violence.
“Can we afford not to put into law these
bills?” she said.
Carlson said there was another way to deal
with gun-related crime and violence.
Starting at a young age, children should be
swiftly and harshly punished for violent crime,
he said. Current punishments of juveniles, he
said, are merely “a slap on the wrist.”
Others who testified Thursday questioned
the constitutionality of proposed laws such as
LB927 that would limit citizens’ ability to bear
arms.
“This is not fair and this is not just,” said
Walter Kamp II of Kearney.
Kamp said he was a good citizen who col
lected guns and often hunted. Although he was
brought up to believe it was his “inalienable
right” to own weapons, Kamp said LB927
would make him a criminal for owning and
transporting his guns.
Kitey Timperiey/DN
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, right, talks with Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha during Thursday’s fission of the
Nebraska Legislature. Ashford is a co-sponsor of LB600, and Chambers is a strong opponent to the bill.
Senator proposes use of lethal injection
By Matthew Waite
Stnior Rtportor__
The fate of Harold Lamont “Wili”
Otey may not rest in the electric
chair of Nebraska’s state penitentia
ry
LB600, sponsored by Sen. Owen Elmer
of Indianola, would change the means of
execution in Nebraska from electrocution to
lethal injection.
The bill would establish “a continuous,
intravenous administration of a lethal quan
tity of an ultra-short-acting barbiturate in
connection with a chemical paralytic agent
and an agent to cause cardiac arrest... until
death is pronounced by a licensed physician
...” as the means of execution.
Elmer said he introduced the bill on
behalf of the Nebraska Department of Cor
rections. He said the bill was not supporting
or opposing the death penalty but instead a
matter of cruelty and simplicity.
“If we are going to have the death penal
ty, a system to carry out and implement the
sentence should be as humane as possible,”
he said.
Elmer said the task should be as easy as
possible for both the prisoner and the person
performing the execution. He said the tech
nology available with lethal injections made
See PENALTY on 3
National guide lists UNL as a good value
By Todd Neeley
Staff Rtporfrr
UNL has been named one of 36 national
flagship universities and is considered
one of the best values among the na
tion’s colleges and universities, according to
one national publication.
“The Guide to 101 of the Best Values in
America’s Colleges and Universities,” pub
lished by the Center for Studies in College
Enrollment in Bridgewater, Mass., has includ
ed the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the
third consecutive year.
David Wilson, co-editor of the book, said
being labeled as a national flagship university
was the highest praise his publication gave to a
school.
“Students get top-flight academics and a
great out-of-class experience,” he said. “It is
among the most reasonable in cost in the na
tion.”
He said UNL’s $5,300 in-state and $8,600
out-state tuition costs per year compared favor
ably with many other schools.
For example, he said, tuition at Duke Uni
versity in North Carolina is about $22,700 a
year.
But he said students at UNL could get a good
education for less money and enjoy the com
plete college experience.
To be listed as a national flagship university,
a school must meet four criteria, Wilson said.
First, it must have a good national reputa
tion. Second, it must have a sense of forward
momentum and aggressiveness in academics.
“They must be willing to try new things,” he
said.
Third, the school must offer the complete
college experience, he said, including a wide
range of activities from sporting events to
anything that displays school spirit.
Fourth, students must be able to get a good
education for a reasonable price, he said.
About eight pages in the book are devoted to
UNL — more tnan most schools mentioned in
the publication, Wilson said.
Other Big Eight schools named as national
flagship universities include Colorado, Iowa
State and Missouri. The guide also includes the
University of Kansas and the University of
Oklahoma among the 101 best values.
Wilson said he interviewed about 170 stu
dents around the nation, and was impressed by
UNL and Nebraska.
See GUIDE on 3