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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1994)
■4 SPORTS Gymnastics gems The Nebraska men's and women's gymnastics teams laid claim to the Big Eight titles over the weekend. Page 7 Monday 42/20 Today, partly cloudy. March 28, 1994 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Decision on college still six months off By Jeffrey Robb Senior Editor final decision on the question of creating a separate engi neering college at the Univer sity of Nebraska at Omaha has been postponed. NU President Dennis Smith an nounced at Saturday’s Board of Re gents meeting that a university task force would be formed to devise a strategic plan for the engineering sit uation in the state. Included in that. Smith said, would be a development plan for an independent engineering college at UNO. Though none of the task force mem bers has been named. University of Nebraska spokesman Joe Rowson said Sunday outside consultants would be included. The positions will not be paid, he said. Smith said he would 1 ike the group's report within six months, after which he would make his own recommenda tions on engineering to the regents. Earlier this month, a groupof inde pendent consultants hired by the uni versity to review engineering educa tion in Nebraska released a report recognizing the need for a separate college of engineering at UNO. The consultants also concluded Nebraska’s investment in engineer ing education was small, Smith said. The underlying problem, he said, is funding. “We arc going to develop only those programs that are clearly iden tified educational priorities for our students,” he said. “We will have to find funds to meet every legitimate need within our ability to do so.” Although the report addressed a narrower range of issues than he hoped. Smith said he took it seriously. He said the board indicated from the begin ning the engineering needs of the entire state had to be met. But meeting those recognized needs will be hard until release of the final recommendations. Smith said. Until Smith gets the report, he will allocate $200,000 from central ad ministration reserves to UNO to ad dress immediate needs of its engineer ing program. The Nebraska Legislature approved the expenditure last week. Smith said he was concerned with the competitive and political aspects of the engineering debate. Competition should not be the fo cus of the debate, Smith said. The university should strive only for the goal of creating the highest quality programs for the university. Stadium video screens approved by regents By Jeffrey Robb Senior Editor The proposal to add v idco screens to Memorial Stadium advanced Saturday when the NU Board of Regents approved a bid for the project. NU REGENTS Mitsubishi Elec tronics of Ameri ca won the project with a bid of more than $3.6 million to furnish and in stall screens on towers in the northwest and southeast corners of the stadium. The project will be fully funded through sponsors. University officials have estimated the project will cost about $4.5 million. Regents also approved a $60,040 bid for services in building a video production studio and control room to accompany the screens. The project has an estimated cost of $715,000. Regent Nancy O Bricn ol Water loo questioned how much of the need ed funding had been raised. If the athletic department did not find enough sponsoring for the project, she said, the university could be 1 iable for paying the difference. When told the funding was not all in hand, she requested that the board hold off approval until it was. But John Goebel, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor for business and finance, said the athletic department would make up any short fall, although that was unlikely to happen. Moving forward on the project was critical, Goebel said. The schedule already is tight to have the screens in place for the start of the football sea son, he said, and waiting for approval at another meeting would cause an unnecessary delay. Goebel said the project, which is slated to be mostly complete by Sept. 1, could not move forward without See SCREENS on 6 Ultimate fun John Lory (above) plays with his son Joshua Sunday afternoon on the University of Nebraska Lincoln East Campus before practicing with the Postmortem Lincoln Ultimate Club. Paul Thygese (left) tries to keep Brian Fomes from making a pass during a scrimmage. The club is preparing for a tournament in Kansas. Genk Parmele/DN I Mental health bill awaits signing By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter A measure that could alleviate problems in Nebraska’s men tal health care system awaits the signature of Gov. Ben Nelson. The Scott Baldwin case is an exam ple of the problems with the current system. Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln said. Wescly said Sunday he was confi- i dent LB498 would get the governor’s i signature. The bill would give courts more I options in eases where defendants were * declared not guilty by reason of insan- * ity. i The current system releases with- r out restrictions a person found to be I not harmful to one’s self or others. It - also allows courts to use only overt icts and threats to determine whether i person is dangerous. Baldwin, a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln football player, was .rrested for assault in January 1992 nd found not guilty for reasons of nsanity. He did not take prescribed tiedication after his release and, (bl owing another psychotic episode in See BILL on 6 Bjorklund s lire rests with opinion ot judge Bjorklund Case Review Sept. 22,1992 - Candice Harms disappears. Dec. 2,1992 -- Roger Bjorklund and Scott Barney are arrested for a string of Lincoln robberies. Dec. 6,1992 - Barney leads police to Harms' body in a field south of Lincoln. Barney implicates himself and Bjorklund in the death. Feb. 4,1993 - Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey announces he will seek the death penalty for Bjorklund. March 3,1993 -- Bjorklund pleads not guilty to first degree murder in the Harms case. Oct. 25,1993 - Bjorklund's first-degree murder trial begins Nov. 17,1993 - A 12-member jury from Sidney finds Bjorklund guilty of first-degree murder. March 7,1994 - Sentencing hearing begins. March 24,1994 - Bjorklund speaks to the court for the first time at the close of his sentencing hearing. May 23,1994 - Lancaster County District Judge Donald Endacott is scheduled to announce if Bjorklund will be sentenced to life in prison or death by execution. By Jeff zeieny Senior Editor In 56 days, Roger Bjorklund will know his fate. Friends have called him caring. His mother called him loving. And his sister said Bjorklund always was helpful. But Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey wondered what adjectives Candi Harms would have used to desribe her murderer. “I don’t think they would be ‘loving.’ 1 don’t think they would be ‘caring.’ I don’t think they would be ‘helpful,’” Lacey said. After a jury conviction in November and three weeks of sentencing hearings, Bjorklund finally will hear the opinion of Lancaster Coun ty District Judge Donald Endacott. On May 23, Endacott will rule whether Bjorklund will live or be executed. *** * ■ Last Thursday, Bjorklund appealed to the mercy oi me court, saying oiners wouiu do affected if he were sentenced to death. “Should the court choose to impose the death penalty, not only will you affect me,” Bjorklund said, “but you will affect the person sitting behind me and a 10-year-old litie girl and an 8 year-old little girl who loves her daddy very much.” Bjorklund spoke for more than 30 minutes. Occasionally sniffling and sipping ice water, he said he had tried to put himself in the position of the Harms family, but couldn’t. “It is hard for me to understand what they have gone through,” Bjorklund said. “I’m sorry.” he said. “There’snoother words in the English vocabulary to describe what I feel.” Bjorklund detailed the problems he faced during childhood. An abusive father caused tension in the Bjorklund household, he said. “I wish my family could have been different See BJORKLUND on 6
