/
xA&E
"Where no one has
gone before..."
Andromeda One and the
Exploring Unexplained
Phenomena Conference
are beaming into Lincoln
this weekend.
Page 9
Friday
73/44
Today, mostly
sunny.
April 22, 1994
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 93 No. 147
Bjorklund attorneys want Endacott off case
By Kara G. Morrison
Senior Reporter
Defense attorneys for Roger Bjorklund
said Thursday that Lancaster County
District Judge Donald Endacott should
have no further contact with the case because of
the judge’s alleged improper contact with jury
members.
Bjorklund was convicted by a jury in No
vember of murdering University of Nebraska
Lincoln freshman Candice Harms. Endacott
has scheduled Bjorklund’s sentencing for May
23.
Defense attonicys brought up the issue of
improper contact last month when filing a
motion for a new trial. Endacott has said he
prayed with jurors before the trial and hugged
Crime victims
find assistance
through fund
Money from auction
will cover the costs
that insurance won’t
By Matthew Waite
Senior Report*_____
A fund has been cstabl ished to help victims
of violent crime cover costs that insur
ance doesn’t, Lisa Cauble, coordinator
of Victim Services, said Thursday.
-The fund, using money raised from an auc
tion Wednesday night, will pay for different
costs involved in a crime,
Cauble said.
For instance,Cauble said,
if a victim of a crime on cam
pus travels a great distance
home for the summer, the
fund would help the victim
pay for transportation to court
in Lincoln.'
The fund also could be
used for people who were victims of domestic
abuse and felt unsafe where they lived. Cauble
said the fund would allow relocation of the
victims until the court process was over, she
said. v
“The money in (the fund) will be directly
used for victims ofviolent crimes,” Caublc said.
“It helps victims out. It’s whatever they need.”
Caublc said the fund was established to help
She said she could not give specific details
without betraying the Victim Services policy of
confidentiality.
Victim Services was created last August
because of a suggestion by University of Ne
braska-Lincoln Police Chief Ken Caublc. Lisa
Caublc said the comments her husband re
ceived were positive.
After some discussion, Lisa Caublc said, it
was decided the coordinator for the service
should not be in the police force, because of the
intimidation a uniformed olTiccr could cause.
Lisa Caublc then decided to quit her job as a
police officer and become the Victim Services
coordinator.
The service, she said, is intended to help
victims report crimes and get through the court
system. She said the program also could help
provide counseling for some victims.
All of the information coming into Victim
Services is confidential, she said.
“A lot of the decisions are left up to the
victims," LisaCaublesaid. “It’s whatever makes
them feel the most comfortable.”
Victim Services is a first step for the victims
of crimes, she said. Even if the victim does not
report the crime, the service still is doing well.
“We at least know (these crimes) are going
on, and we know what kind of problem we
have," she said.
some jury members after they returned the
verdict.
Thejudge dismissed the new trial motion on
March 23, but LancastcrCounty Attorney Gary
Lacey asked last week to reopen the new trial
hearing in order to clear up the improper con
tact issue.
Endacott has set hearings in Sidney for May
5 and 6 to question jurors about the case.
In Thursday’s motion, Chief Deputy Public
Defender Scott Hclvie said Endacott was a
potential witness in the hearing, and his presid
ing over it would deny Bjorklund due process.
Lincoln defense attorney Vincent Powers
said Thursday that the improper contact charges
were serious and would be an immediate av
enue for an appeal if Endacott remained on the
case.
r
“They ought to appoint three brand-new
judges to decide the sentencing,” Powers said.
Powers said it was highly likely that if
Endacott decided to remain on the case and
sentenced Bjorklund to death, federal judges
would overturn the ruling.
,0 “The reality is that federal courts would
never allow a death sentence in this case,” he
said.
Powers said the allegations also could poten
tially bring the verdict into question.
“It’s a little like this: How would the people
in Nebraska feel if prior to the Orange Bowl,
Bobby Bowden went into the officials’ room,
prayed with them and said ‘God help us through
" this ordeal,’” Powers said. »
Deputy County Attorney John Colborn said
Thursday that prosecutors were confident that
interviews with jury members would clear up
improper contact allegations.
“Our position will be that (Endacotl) doesn’t
have to excuse himself from the case,” Colborn
said.
Colborn said interviewing the jurors would
show Endacotl’s contact with them had no
cffecton their decision and should not be reason
for a new trial.
In the April 14 motion to reopen the new
trial hearing, Lacey cited decisions in two Ne
braska cases stating “a new trial should be
granted where the record is silent as to the
possibility of prejudice,” but a new trial is not
required “if the record affirmatively showscom
munication had no tendency to influence the
See ENDACOTT on 6
Hangin' on by a thread
William Lauer/DN
Chad Novacek, a freshman in the arts and sciences college, rappels down a 70-foot-hiah Lincoln Fire Department
training tower Thursday afternoon. ROTC members perform the drill as part of their advanced camp qualification
and also to gain confidence in themselves, Master sgt. John Luethje said.
Wheelchair team wins fans, loses game
By Julie Sobczyk
Staff Reporter
aron Boone races down the basketball
court, looking for an open teammate to
pass the ball to. Finding noonc available,
he squares up to the basket and sinks a ten-foot
This would be commonplace during the
Husker basketball season. But this lime, Boone
was playing a different game.
The Comhusker guard, along with other
Nebraska athletes and UNL representatives.
shot.
played a game of wheelchair basketball Thurs
day against Rolling Storm, the University of
Nebraska-Li ncol n’s whcclcha ir baske tbal 1 team.
The event, which the Cornhusker athletes won
25-24, was part of Students with Disabilities
Awareness Week, sponsored by the Association
of Students of the University of Nebraska.
The wheelchair basketball game took the
place of past years’ Wheelchair Wednesday,
which put administrators in the place of dis
abled students by having them try to get around
campus for a day in a wheelchair.
Jeremy Schmitt, a freshman elementary edu
cation major and member of Rolling Storm,
said he thought the game was an effective way
to raise awareness on campusr
“It brought a lot of publicity to our team.” he
said.
The basketball game was the major event for
Students with Disabilities Awareness Week,
said ASUN senator Tom Allison, co-chairman
of the subcommittee for Students with Disabili
ties.
“We wanted something fun everyone could
See GAME on 6
CBS tour workers enjoy life on the road
By Patty Wewel
Staff Reporter
Moving to a different city each week,
traveling across the country from cam
pus to campus and living from hotel to
hotel makes up the life of a CBS College Tour
worker.
“It’s all fun and games. It’s the first job 1 ever
had that 1 liked," said Travis Tadysak, who was
in charge of the soap opera booth.
The lour has been stationed at the University
of Ncbraska-Lincol n th is week. 11 consists of 13
men — 12 event producers in charge ofrunn i ng
the tent games and a manager. The tour travels
from August to May, with a break from Thanks
giving to New Year’s Day.
The tour, which travels all over the country,
started this semester in Florida, worked its way
to California and is on its way back.
The men had different reasons for joining
the tour. Danny Wilson, who runs the tent
“Locker Talk,” previously worked asa freelance
producer.
W ilson has done work for MTV and HBO as
a production assistant and an assistant camera
man.
Wilson said one reason he joined the tour
was toslay in the entertainment business. People
always want to be entertained, he said.
He said he loved talking with students about
staying focused and keeping their dreams alive.
Tadysak started working on promotional
tours as a summer job. Three years ago, he
played basketball at St. Louis University, and
he needed a summer job to pass the time before
leaving to play professional basketball in Eu
rope.
But he said the professional offer in Europe
fell through, so he decided to slay in the lour
See CBS on 6