The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, August 31, 1994, Image 1
Inside Wednesday 1 Daily t Nebraskan COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 94 NO. 9 Sports ■ NU soccer team wins first game, Page 9 Arts & Entertainment ■ Specialty shop lights up Haymarket, Pagel2 PAGE 2: China ready to discuss human rights August 31, 1994 Baldwin’s doctors say supervision not needed By DeDra Janssen Senior Reporter A judge will decide Friday whether former NU football player Scott Baldwin can be re leased from the court’s supervision. Lancaster County District Court Judge Paul Merritt heard testimony Tuesday from Baldwin’s doctors and friends, who said he should be released from the court’s supervision. Baldwin has been under the eye of the court since 1992, when he was found not responsible by reason of insanity in the beating of Lincoln resident Gina Simanck. He initially participated in an outpatient treat ment program for his mental disorder. He later was committed to the Lincoln Regional Center after he was shot following an struggle with Omaha police that left him partially paralyzed. Baldwin was transferred to Madonna Reha bilitation Hospital on Christmas Eve 1993 to participate in an inpatient treatment program. He has participated in an outpatient treatment program with the hospital since April. By court order, Baldwin’s treatment is super vised by the state, which chooses Baldwin’s doctors and follows his progress. Baldwin is not allowed to leave Nebraska. Scott Moore, a private physician who spe cializes in psychiatry, said he completed a psy chiatric evaluation of Baldwin this month. “At the time I saw Mr. Baldwin, he was not a danger, neither to himself or anyone else,” Moore said. “As long as he remains on treat ment, he will likely not be a danger in the foreseeable future.” But Moore said that if Baldwin stopped the treatment program, he would become dangerous rapidly. John Shuart, director of psychology at Ma donna, said Baldwin understood the need to stay on medication for his mental disorder. “He felt initially he did not need the medica tion,” Shuart said. “Now he realizes that was a mistake.” Baldwin is committed to the treatment pro gram whether he is under court supervision or not, Shuart said. Baldwin would be better off without court supervision, he said. But County Attorney Gary Lacey argued that Baldwin should remain under court supervision for at least one year to determine whether his outpatient treatment program was successful. See BALDWIN on 8 Term limits again will be on Nebraska’s election ballot By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter Secretary of Slate Allen Beermann said Tues day that he would pul six issues, including term 1 imits for elected officials, before Nebraskans in the Nov. 8 election. Beermann said his office and the county commissioners in Nebraska had verified 104,000 signatures on a petition to pul term limits on the ballot. Nebraskans for Term Limits submitted 131,000 signatures. Investigations into fraudulent signatures con tinue in Lancaster, Washington, Sarpy and Dou glas counties, he said. Nebraska voters approved a term limit law in the November 1992 election. But the Nebraska Supreme Court struck down the law this sum mer, saying the petition drive that got the mea sure to the ballot didn’t have enough valid signatures. The investigations most likely will have no scriouscffcct on the petition. Beermann said. The Nebraska Legislature hassubm itted these issues for the ballot: • Whether to authorize off-track betting on horse races. • Whether to eliminate a state statute that requires all bills to be read in their entirety to the Nebraska Legislature before final passage. • A measure that would give the victims of crimes certain rights. • Whether to create a stale commission to settle tax disputes. • A measure that would allow for the in creased use of dispute resolution through arbi tration and mediation to cut down on the use of lawsuits. Grand Island attorney Denny Busick said he would be challenging those five issues in court on the grounds that the legislature was too late in filing the issues. The five measures were filed two days after the deadline for ballot issues, Busick said, and thus arc invalid. The dispute, Busick said, arises from the method used to calculate the day the deadline should be set. He said a statute required the date to be set four months before Election Day. Busick said the statute also required that Election Day not be counted in the determina tion of the deadline. He said according to his interpretation of the statute, the deadline would be July 6. By the attorney general’s interpreta tion it would be July 7. The measures off cially were stamped July 8. “So even using his method he is a day late,” Busick said. If the measures were initiatives from the people of Nebraska rather than from the Legis lature, Busick said a little latitude should be allowed. But close is not good enough when it comes to elected officials, he said. A suit attempting to block the measures from getting to the ballot will be filed in the Nebraska Supreme Court later this week, Busick said. He said that if the Supreme Court wouldn’t accept the ease, he would file in Lancaster County District Court. Beermann said Busick would have little suc cess in the matter, because the court had ruled for the state in similar cases. Damon Lee/DN Brian Foster is the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Foster comes to UNL this year from Arizona state University. New dean setting goals By Jamie Karl Staff Reporter Just because Arts and Sciences Dean Brian Foster is the new kid on campus, don’t expect him to just sit back and watch what’s going on. Foster is entering only his second week at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but he has his sights set on the college’s future. “To be successful, we must identify a set of programs — instructional, research and service programs — within the college with which we can be competitive anywhere.” Foster replaces John Peters, who resigned last year to take a job at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Foster was dean of the graduate college at Arizona State Univer sity forcight years before coming to Lincoln. “My vision is to identify those areas of strength and start to build for real excellence, real international prominence. At the same time, we must focus on what we can do to serve the needs of the state in arts and scienc es.” That commitment was what caught the eyes of UNL officials who hired Foster, Joan Leitzei, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said in May when announcing Fos ter’s appointment. “Hisextensiveadministrativeexpcricncc, his scholarship and his vision of the role of arts and sciences within a major university were among the things that impressed me,” Leitzei said. Foster received both his master’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology from the University of Michigan. He taught anthro pology at the State University of New York at Binghamton before moving to Arizona State, where he served as chairman of ASU’s anthropology department. Foster said his experience in anthropology would make him a good arts and sciences See FOSTER on 8 Federal judges listen to arguments on Otey’s appeal Due process was violated, killer says By Craig Horst The Associated Press * KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The demeanor of a panel of federal judges gave little indication on Tuesday that convicted murderer Harold Lamont Otey would avoid becoming the first inmate put to death in Nebraska in 35 years. Three judges of the 8 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals listened to an hour of arguments in what seemed to be a last-ditch appeal for Otey, con victed of the 1977 rape and murder of Jane McManus of Omaha. A similar panel had decided years earlier it did not have jurisdiction in the case and sent it back to a federal judge in Lincoln. The panel indicated at the time that if it had decided to rule, it would have rejected Otcy’s appeal. Otcy’s guilt or innocence is not an issue. He is seeking a life sentence instead of death and says his hearing for clemency was tainted because the state attorney general is one of the three people who make up the Nebraska Board of Pardons. Otey, who is scheduled to die in the electric chair on Friday, says his right to due process was violated because the state's top prosecutor sits See OTEY on 8 Circuit court need not rule on issue By Brian Sharp Senior Reporter The three-judge panel that listened to argu ments on Harold Lamont Otcy’s civil rights appeal Tuesday arc not obligated to rule, a UNL law professor said. Mark Eskridge, citing the 1991 Supreme Court case McClcsky vs. Zandt. said that under that ruling, Otey could be executed even though appeals were pending. “In essence, really, they have 48 hours.” Eskridge said. “They can delay all they want. When business is done Thursday ... it’s over.” Judges on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals listened to arguments in Otey’s civil rights appeal for about an hour Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo. The appeal contends that the Board of Pardons gave Otcy an unfair clemency hearing. Otcy was convicted of the 1977 rape and murder of Jane McManus of Omaha. He has been on death row, fighting his execution for 16 years. Mike Gooch, assistant public defender, said he thought the 8th Circuit Court would choose to rule on the appeal. “1 would be shocked if they would just put it See COURTS on 6 < v