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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1994)
February 8. 1994 University of Nebraska-Lincoln M SPORTS Movin'on Nebraska is trying to get over its "painstaking' four-game losing streak, Husker coach Danny Nee said Monday. Page 5 Tuesday 10/2 Today will be cloudy with a chance of light snow, possibly mixed with sleet or freezing drizzle. Vol. 93 No. 99 Coaches acted within the law, Lacey says Evidence delay wasn’t improper By Angie Brunkow Senior Reporter NU football coaches acted with in the law when keeping a gun allegedly used in a Jan. 29 shooting, the Lancaster County attorney said Monday. In a press conference to announce his plans to run for re-election, Gary Lacey said linebackers coach Kevin Steele hadn’ t done anything criminal ly wrong by keeping the gun in his desk since last Monday. Candles cause of Abel fire By Matthew Waite sinhr Report* Fire alarms, not clock alarms, roused residents of Abel Resi dence Hall early Monday morning. The building was evacuated at 4:30 a.m. when a fire broke out in a 13th floor room of the student assistant. It was caused by two unattended can dles. The sprinkler system engaged and extinguished the fire, flooding much of the floor. Mike Wysocki, the student assis tant on Abel 13, was not on the floor when the fire started in his room. He said he went out to study and lefl the candlesbumingon aplastic milk crate. “I came back at 1:30 (a.m.) and everything was fine,” Wysocki said. See FIRE on 3 MAS A waits for response to boycott By Matthew Waite sinkx Htporttr No formal response from the Multicultural Affairs Office has been given to the Mexican American Student Association’s boy cott, MASA leaders said Monday. Cathy Maestas, president dfMAS A, said the organization also had not heard anything from the office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. The boycott began Friday when MASA members charged the Multicultural Affairs Office with un fair hiring practices. MASA members said the recent hiring of an African American in Multicultural Affairs was an example of their claims. Members said the office had hired an African American four of the last five times a vacancy had been filled. MASA has decided not to use any services offered by the Multicultural Affairs Office as part of the boycott. Eric Jolly, director of the Affirma tive Action and Diversity Office, could not be reached for comment. Maestas said MASA had talked to the Vietnamese Student Association and the University of Nebraska Inter Tribal Exchange about formally join ing the boycott. She said MASA also would speak to the Afrikan Peoples Union today about joining the boycott. Support from individuals in the other groups is strong, Maestas said, but no commitments have been made by any group as a whole. Tyrone Williams, who allegedly had used the gun to shoot at an occu Lacey pied vehicle, gave Steele the .22-cali ber revolver Mon day evening, Lacey said. Williams, a Ne braska defensive back, was charged Wednesday with unlawful discharge of a firearm and the use of a weapon to commit aieiony. Hepieaaea not gumy in an arraignment Thursday. Lacey said football recruiting and national letter-of- intent day had kept the athletic department’s attention diverted from the gun. “They got busy and just neglected to turn the gun over," he said. However, Lacey said he was upset with the delay. Possible physical evi dence in a crime should be given to law enforcement officials as soon as possible, he said. “It wasn’t until we went and asked for the gun on Wednesday that it was turned over to us,” Lacey said. In another university-related case, Lacey said he would be filing charges within the week against those involved in a brawl at the Residence Inn last weekend. During the fight at the hotel room, Nebraska football players Ramone Worthy and Abdul Muhammad were injured. Coach Tom Osborne had said last week the players planned to file charges against their assailants. Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said Monday he was optimistic about the status of the case but declined further comment. “I don’t think that this is a case that we’ve run out of investigative leads yet,” he said. Muhammad and Worthy have been cooperative in providing the police with full details of the inc ident, Casady said. In Lacey’s announcement to run for his second term as county attorney, he said he wanted to come down hard on juvenile criminal offenders. Currently, juvenile delinquents don’t have to fear consequences for their actions, he said. “They know nothing will happen to them,” he said. “They can commit a violent crime and as long as they stay in the juvenile system, nothing’s go ing to happen to them.” Lacey, a Republ ican, has prosecut ed many cases during his first term, including that of Roger Bjorklund, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Candice Harms. Slap shot Damon Lee/DN Tim Epp, a freshman fish and wildlife major, blocks a shot as Dallas Smetter, a senior education major, looks on during a hockey game at Oak Lake Sunday afternoon. Temperatures peaked at 32 degrees Sunday before dropping off in the evening. MU students have charges dropped By Kara G. Morrison Senior Reporter The Lancaster County Attor ney’s office dropped felony charges against five Universi ty of Missouri-Columbia students ar rested for stealing a statue from the Sheldon Memorial Sculpture Garden, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Patrick Condon said Monday. In exchange for the charges being dropped, the men will have to pay court costs and restitution, perform community service and take an art appreciation course as part of a Lancaster County pretrial diversions program. Jason Mott, 19; Jason Meyer, 19; Richard Daniel, 19; Brad Schuster, 18, and Craig Rehmert, 19, were charged with criminal mischief in the thefl of a 3-foot-tall statue of Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 21. The students, all members of the Missouri chapter of Farmhouse Fra ternity, were arrested arter Lincoln police saw them carrying the statue near 30th and Y streets at 3 a.m. Criminal mischief is a Class IV felony, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. Condon said dismissal motions were filed Friday. Woody Bradford, an Omaha attor ney who represents the students, said his clients would pay about $ 15,000 in damages and devaluation costs as part of the diversions program. A spokesman from Diversions Ser vices said the yearlong program also would include: • Each of the five men performing about 80 hours of community service work. The men will be assigned vol unteer work and will not be allowed to work together. • Maintaining good grades at their university. • Completing a program “to en hance their appreciation of the role of art in society/’ The spokesman said the men would be allowed to complete the diversions program in Missouri but would be in constant contact with the Lancaster County office. George Neubert, director of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, said Sheldon officials recommended the students be required to do volunteer work and to complete the program with the Art and Anthropology muse um at the University of Missouri. Neubert said he hoped the art ap preciation program would help them understand the severity of what they had done. “I hope that the students will learn a lesson and that this will serve as an example to other pranksters ..." Neubert said. “This was beyond what would nor mally be called prank.” Neubert said tne statue was secured and that much force was used to dis mantle it. The statue was located south of the gallery in the sunken portion of the sculpture gardens. Bradford said he was satisfied with the settlement. -44 I hope that the students will learn a lesson and that this will serve as an example to other pranksters. — Neubert director, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery -tt - Bradford said the men had no prior record and were good students who had taken a lot of heat in the Columbia press over the incident. “They’ve even had cartoons drawn about them,” Bradford said. ‘They’ve really gone through a lot. “They are sorry for the incident.” The statue now is being repaired in New York. Neubert said the repairs would take about three to six months.
