^A&E
Memory Lane
UNL art professor Dave Read
uses photography to capture the
American experience. Read's
black-and-white display, "The
Way We Live Now," opens at the
Haydon Gallery this weekend.
Page 9
Friday
65/33
Today, mostly sunny
and mild, becoming
cloudy at night.
March 4, 1994
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 93 No. 117
Barney pleads guilty to Harms’ murder
By Kara G. Morrison
Senior Reporter
Scott Barney pleaded guilty Thursday to
the first-degree murder ofCandice Harms,
claiming full responsibility for his role in
the crime, but saying Roger Bjorklund directed
his actions.
“I was following what Mr. Bjorklund was
saying to do,” Barney told Lancaster County
Judge Donald Endacott.
Barney said he was a willing participant in
the abduction and rape of Harms, but that
Bjorklund alone shot and strangled her.
As part of apleaagreement, LancasterCounty
Attorney Gary Lacey is seeking life imprison
ment, not the death penalty, against Barney.
Prosecutors also dropped all robbery charges
against Barney for which he was originally
arrested.
Earlier this week, Lacey canceled an original
deal to have Barney plead guilty to lesser charg
es of second-degree murder and robbery after
Barney failed a polygraph test.
Endacott ordered a presentence investiga
tion report that he said would be due May 23.
Barney will be sentenced June 10.
Barney, who by pleading guilty gave up his
right to a trial and against self-incrimination,
answered Endacott’s questions about the events
on Sept. 22, 1992. He also read a statement
where he apologized “for the pain that I have
caused so many.”
Barney said in his statement: “I have regret
ted my involvement in this crime from the very
beginning, even to the point that 1 could no
longer hold it in. This was the reason that I led
authorities to the burial place of Candice Harms.”
Barney led police to Harms’ body in Decem
ber 1992.
Seated in the witness chair, Barney, 26, did
not look up while he read from the statement. He
apologized to Harms’ family and said he had
found Christ as a result of soul-searching after
committing the crime.
“I wish to express my sorrow for the pain
-M
I wish to express my sorrow for the pain caused Miss Candice
Harms. Though she is not here to personally address, I deeply
regret having hurt an innocent young lady.
— Barney
pleading guilty to Harms’ murder
caused Miss Candice Harms. Though she is not
here to personally address, I deeply regret hav
ing hurt an innocent young lady,” Barney said.
Harms’ parents, Stan and Pat Harms, said
they hoped Barney had converted to Christian
ity, but said they had doubts about his state
ments.
“I don’t feel forgiveness totally because 1
don’t feel he has told the whole truth,” Stan
Harms said. “I think he had a lot more to do with
initiating the kidnapping. ... I don’t think he
was the innocent bystander he said this morn
ing.”
Through his statement to the Lincoln Police
Department and court testimony, Barney gave
the following account of events the night of
Sept. 22, 1992:
Barney and Bjorklund were golfing at Pine Lake a
week before the abduction of Harms when Bjorklund
said he wanted to rape a woman
“He was saying there was a good possibility we
might be caught from a (credit union) bank robbery ...
and he slated that he wanted to impose himself on some
See BARNEY on 3
Merger may increase
academic opportunities
By Todd Neeley
Staff Reporter__
he recent merger of the Big
Eight Conference with four
Southwest Conference schools
may help to open a few doors in re
search and academics at UNL.
David Brinkerhoff, associate vice
chancellor for academic affairs at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said
it was too soon to tell how the merger
would affect academics at UNL.
But, he said, the University of Tex
as tit Austin, Texas A&M University,
Texas Tech University and Baylor
University are strong academic insti
tutions.
“It’s a good thing; there arc some
good schools there,” Brinkerhoff said.
“It’s a merger that should have some
academic value to UNL.”
Donald Hclmuth, associate vice
chancellor for research at UNL, said
the four schools could complement
UNL research.
He said Texas was strong in agri
cultural research, Baylor emphasized
biological technology, and Texas
A&M was a good science-oriented
university. Texas Tech is strong in
teaching and research programs in
business, engineering, home econom
ics, agriculture and law.
“All these schools do something
different,” he said, “so we hope to
have a dialogue with them.”
Hclmuth also said there was a pos
sibility the merger would help UNL
improve on larger research projects.
And, he said, graduate students
doing research at UNL may have bet
ter chances of finding jobs after grad
uating.
If the conference merger helps to
improve UNL’s visibility, he said, all
areas of academics and research may
benefit.
However, despite the possible in
crease in national exposure,
Brinkerhoff said, it is not likely the
merger will bring more faculty and
students to UNL.
Sally Wise, president of UNL’s
Academic Senate, said it could take a
while to understand the effects of the
merger on academics at UNL.
“I think it opens doors to us to do
different research and outreach
projects,” she said. “It has the poten
tial to be positive at UNL academical
ly as well.”
Although it is an athletic merger,
Wise said, it was important to address
the academic side of the merger.
“Academics are an important part
of it, and they need to be considered
and addressed,” she said. “I think the
ball is in our court to see what oppor
tunities this will bring.”
Athletic Director Bill Byrne will
speak about the merger at the Aca
demic Senate meeting Tuesday.
Bubble sheets, be gone
By Melanie Brandert
Staff Haportar_
Students registering for summer
and fall semester classes will no
longer have to fill out bubble
sheets and registration worksheets.
NRoll, a new telephone registra
tion system, will soon enable students
to register for classes using a touch
tone phone.
Complete instructions for the sys
tem will be included in the Fall 1994
Schedule of Classes, which will be
available Monday to students, said
Suzan Marschman, information sys
tems coordinator for the Office of
Registration and Records.
Marschman said the schedule ol
classes would instruct the students
when to call the system, depending on
time, day and class level.
Graduate students and seniors will
be allowed to use NRoll March 14, the
first day of registration. Juniors, soph
omores and freshmen will be able to
use the system shortly thereafter.
When students call 472-7272, an
electronic voice will be activated to
guide them through the registration
process.
The voice will ask for the semester
code, the student’s social security num
ber and the student’s personal identi
fication number, which recently was
sent to UNL students.
“It’s important for a student to
listen to the prompts and to be pre
pared,” Marschman said.
NRoll will provide students with
information on their status in a de
sired class. They will know immedi
ately if they are in that class or not, she
said.
“Once they punch in the call num
ber, then the system will tell them if
they are in that class,” Marschman
said.
If the class is full, the system’s
voice will tell them so and will give the
students alternative sections if they
are available, she said.
Marschman said the registration
and records office was hoping for a
positive reaction from students. The
office is planning student focus groups,
See NROLL on 3
^ Jeff Haller/DN
VISION party members listen to RESUME members Thursday at their second debate.
Debate hits on diversity, drinking
By Heather Lampe
Staff Report*_
RESUME presidential can
didate J.B. Howell respond
ed to VISION’s claim of a
diverse ticket by saying there was
more to diversity than simply skin
color. “Diversity is a value, Howell
said during the second of three
ASUN pre-election debates. “It’s
not something you can take a pic
ture of.”
Judv Rishel, second vice-presi
dential candidate for VISION, said
her party had strived to put together
a diverse ticket.
“VISION will be the party that
will reach out to minority students
and get them involved. We will be
the party that will listen to every
groups’ concern on this campus,”
Rishel said.
Howell said RESUME, though
they had fewer candidates than
VISION, was just as diverse.
“Where does diversity come
from? What makesa groupdiverse?”
he asked. “It is how they act, feel
and think.”
Robert Anderson, first vice-pres
idential candidate forthe RESUME
party, said ASUN traditionally did
not meet the needs of minority stu
dents.
“Being a gay male mysel f, I know
a lot of these issues have not been
dealt with,” Anderson said.
The RESUME and VISION par
ties also discussed proposed grad
ing changes, plans for a bicycle
dismount zone, the possibility of
UNL becoming a wet campus and
student voter turnout.
Other debate focused on RE
SUME’S campaign for a wet cam
See DEBATE on 3
