Inside Thursday
Sports
■ Nebraska hires assistant baseball coach, Page 9
Arts & Entertainment
■ Gallery offers more than art, Page 12
PAGE 2: Candidates debate health care in Omaha
September 1, 1994
Fee raise
to finance
shuttle,
upgrades
By Melanie Brandert__
Staff Reporter
Money generated from an increase
in the price of parking permits will be
used to fund a variety of new shuttle
and bus services this year, the manager
of UNL’s transportation services said.
Mike Cacak said all money from
parking fee increases would be spent
on parking and related issues.
“All of the funds we receive from
parking permits go right back into the
parking system, he said.
This year the cost of parking per
mits doubled for some areas. For ex
ample, student commuters who park in
Area 20 lots now pay $96 a year in
stead of last year’s $58.
"All of the funds we
receive from parking
permits go right hack
into the parking system. ”
MIKE CACAK
manager of transportation
services
The money that transportation ser
vices will collect from the fee increas
es hasn’t been figured, Cacak said. He
said he hoped to know the total early
next week.
Most funds generated from the in
crease would go to parking lot mainte
nance, Cacak said.
For about $3 million, Cacak said,
transportation services will pave addi
tional faculty and student parking lots,
install additional lighting and emer
gency blue phones in parking lots and
make necessary repairs to parking lots.
However, transportation services
will be unable to make all of the im
provements and repairs this year, Cacak
said, because only about $300,000 is
available for maintenance.
He said he would be satisfied if the
department was able to spend $300,000
each year for 10 years to complete the
projects.
The rest of the money will go to new
services, including the free busing ser
vice provided by StarTran.
The university signed a contract
with StarTran for $228,000 that lets
students ride buses between between
See PARKING on 7
That’s the ticket
Michelle Paulman/DN
John Abolins, left, and Glenn Bennett, employees of Lincoln Tent and Awning, tighten the
canvas of a new awning over the ticket windows at South Memorial Stadium. “Normally,
it’s not so hard,” Bennett said, “but we figured folks ought to be able to read the words.
Rights
appeal
denied
forOtey
By Brian Sharp
Senior Reporter
Harold Lamont Otey will petition
the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his
civil rights appeal Thursday, his attor
ney said.
Otey has appealed to the court five
times in the past. Each time, the court
has refused to hear the case.
Early Wednesday, the 8th U.S. Cir
cuit Court of Appeals dismissed Otey’s
civil rights appeal by a vote of 2-1.
Otcy’s attorneys then filed a peti
tion requesting a rehearing of the three
judge panel as well as a hearing of the
whole U.S. Court of Appeals.
Both were denied in a 6-4 vote just
before 5 p.m. Wednesday night.
Otey has been convicted of the rape
and murderof Jane McManusofOma
ha. His execution has been scheduled
eight times.
'inVite opfinn etaloe a
1991 clemency hearing before the
Nebraska Board of Pardons was unfair
because he was denied the constitu
tional rights to due process and equal
protection under the law.
AttorneyGenerai Don Stenbcrg was
one of the three judges on that panel.
The appeal slates he should not have
voted because he had worked to pros
ecute Otey.
Vince Powers, one of Otey’s law
yers, said the late vote made it impos
sible to file the petition with the Su
preme Court in Washington, D.C.,
until Thursday morning.
Otey must get four of the nine jus
tices to vote in favor of hearing the
case.
“This is a separate issue than be
fore,” Powers said, referring to the
courts previous refusals to hear Otcy’s
appeals. “We’ll just see what happens.
“The only thing that matters is if
there’s a stay in place at 11:30 (Thurs
day) night.”
Powers would not comment on oth
er possible appeals that could be filed.
Kirk Brown, assistant attorney gen
eral, said he expected Nebraska to
have its first execution in 35 years at
12:01 a.m. Friday. He said he didn’t
know of anything else left for Otey
beyond the U.S. Supreme Court.
“He’s gone a lot ofplaccs and been
told ‘no’ a lot of times,” Brown said.
“If he docs go somewhere else,” he
said, “we’ll definitely be there to resist
it.”
In the 8th Circuit opinion. Circuit
See OTEY on 7
Racquetball is relaxing diversion for busy Chancellor
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
I thought playing tennis forcight years would
have prepared me for the dizzying speed and
high-paced return of racquctball, but it didn’t
even come close.
Worse yet, I was put to the test by a 21-year
racquctball veteran with more than 2,000 games
to his name — Graham Spanicr.
Spanier, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chancellor and racquctball expert, said the most
challenging aspects of the game were concentra
tion and position — two concepts I was strug
gling to master.
Spanier said people who have played hand
ball, tennis or squash can usually pick up rac
quetball with a little effort.
“1 used to play handball when I was younger
and my hand would always get swollen,” he
said. “The moment 1 played racquctball for the
first time I traded in my handball gloves for a
racquet and never went back."
Now, Spanier plays racquctball two times a
week, depending on his busy schedule, which
sometimes hinders his concentration.
“I’m usually on the court for 45 minutes. I go
right from the office to play my game and rush
back from the game for something else,” he said.
“If I’m concentrating. I’m pretty good.”
Position is the second factor in racquctball
success.
“The ball is moving so quickly, if you don’t
have a good position, you lose points,” he said.
I was a racquetball novice so concentration
and position were further from my mind than
chasing a little blue ball. Most of Spanicr’s
regular opponents do not have this problem
because they arc experienced athletes.
Spanicr plays about 12 UNL faculty and stafT
members including Stan Campbell, director of
campus recreation; Capt. Frank Tryon, chair
man of Naval Services; Wesley Sime, associate
professor of health and human performance; and
Terry Pettit, head women’s volleyball coach.
“Nike to play people who arc about the same
level as 1 am or a little better,” Spanicr said. “It’s
not that much fun if you win every point, and it’s
not that much fun if you lose every point.”
Spanier said he did not like to play many
people under age 40, either.
“Sometimes students will chall^rnge me and
they have more energy, but experience really
countslbr a lot in this game,” he said. “It’s what
you have in your head.”
Winning isn’t as important as having fun,
Spanicr said. He usually wins one-third of the
time. I think I increased his odds.
At the end of a game, Spanicr said he and his
opponent “say good game, shake hands and i’ll
sec you next time.’”
“I don’t play many people who arc super
competitive where winning and losing is the
primary thing in life. I play with people who
want to have fun.”
“I see people out here, after they lose a point,
See RACQUETBALL on 7