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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1994)
Sports ■ Nebraska goes to battle against UCLA Bruins, Page 13 Arts & Entertainment ■ "Secret Garden" to grow at Lied, Page 17 PAGE 2: Clinton defends Haiti invasion Man impersonates community service officer By PePra Jan»wn_ _ Senior Reporter University Police are investigating reports of a man impersonating a community service officer and peering into windows of sorority houses. University Police Sgt. Bill Manning said a man resembling a community service officer was seen Wednesday shortly after 10 p.m. walk ing up and down the sidewalk on the east side of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, 1545 S St. The man was looking directly into several windows of the house, he said. A similar incident occurred earlier this week, Manning said. A man dressed in black was seen Tuesday at 12:45 a.m. looking in windows at Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority, 1541 S St., Man ning said. Manning said he believed the incidents were related. Helen Thacker, house mother at Pi Beta Phi Sorority, said she was taking her dog out when she noticed the man walking up and down the sidewalk by Kappa Alpha Theta. The man ap peared to be looking at the windows, in particu lar at the basement windows, she said. Thacker said she went inside and watched the man pace back and forth five or six times. “By then I said, ‘Something’s not right here,”’ Thacker said. Thacker described the man to police as a dark-haired white male between 32 and 35 years old, Manning said. She said he was wear ing a grey shirt with dark pants and had some thing strapped to his belt. Manning said the description of the man’s clothes was very similar to the uniforms worn by community service officers, who wear grey shirts with dark pants. “We want to alert people on campus, espe cially those in sororities, that there may be someone out there dressing as a community service officer just to get close to the houses,” Manning said. Community service officers from the Uni versity Pol ice Department patrol areas by greek houses for eight hours each night. The patrol service, which used to be limited only to the residence halls, was expanded this year to include the houses. Dazzling duo devoted but sweaty By Paula tavigne Senior Reporter Yes, Virginia, there is a Herbie Husker. Herbie, and his sidekick LiP Red, are the two most devoted Comhusker fans. Standing on the sidelines, the two UNL mascots will do almost anything to energize the fans. They jump, dance, tumble and even do back flips to get the crowd on its feet. But who are they when they get home and the costumes come off? University of Ne braska-Lincoln stu dents Chris Brown,. | Aron Boumstein, Mark Wolfe and Antone Oseka are the men behind the fuzzy faces and plastic eyes. Brown, a junior biology major, and Oseka, a sophomore news-editorial major, share more than a spot on the sidelines. They share a bathroom. The two students, whose on-field perso nas cannot be revealed, met at mascot tryouts and became fast friends. When Brown was pressed for time and needed a place to live, Oseka offered him a home. The pair use it often for practice space. “We practice quite a bit in the living room,” Brown said. “We really tear things apart. Both of them decided to try out for the mascot roles because they sounded like good ways to get involved at the university and have fun at the same time. The two traveled to West Virginia Aug. 28 for the Kickoff Classic. Saturday’s game against UCLA will be the first time on the pair will perform on their home field. “I like being out on the field. You can do crazy things and nobody knows who you are," Brown said. “You can really get to a lot of people when you walk right up to them and shake their hands.” Brown said he delighted in the expres sions on the faces of the people he greeted. “It’s unexplainable what their faces look like when you go up and sit on their laps," he . said. Oseka said he liked to entertain the fans. “I like to run and jump and dance a lot when the band’s playing,” he said. He said he liked to play with the fans in small places, such as at volleyball games. “They love me... I think,” he said, laugh ing. There’s no training involved in what he does and there are very few rules. The main rule is, he’s not allowed to talk. Everything he does, he said, is improvisa tion. Oseka said he liked being to Nebraska what Santa Claus was to Christmas. He said it was “weird” to be so famous. Yet when he takes off his costume, no one really knows who he is. Brown said he had the same feeling when he’s sitting in class and people say, “Wow, did you see that guy on TV doing back flips?” Jeff Haller/DN Junior Chris Brown and sophomors Antons Osaka ara not only Ul’ Rad and HsrMn Husksr, Unlvarslty of Nabraska mascots, thay also ara roommatas. Brown and Osaka’s on-flald idantttias, howavar, cannot bo unvallad. All Brown can do is sit back and smile. The job of a mascot is to be an entertainer, but Oseka said he liked to try to be a role model. “Kids don’t have a lot of role models today. So you have to do things that make them laugh and look up to you,” Oseka said. “You have to watch what you do so you don’t hurt someone’s feelings.” Brown said he loved to watch the children when they met him. Some cry. Some run up to him. Some beg for a picture. Some even try to tackle him. “I love giving the kids high fives and stuff,” he said. “They’re just so excited.” Although the two derive a great deal of pleasure from pleasing the crowds, being a mascot is not all fun and games. It’s the middle of September in Nebraska — and it’s hot. “Oooh, it gets really hot,” Oseka said. “You just don’t try to think about it.” Brown said at one game he lost about 10 pounds in three hours. “You have to be in good shape or you’re going to die out there,” he said. “In West Virginia it was about 100 degrees on the field. It was about 11S degrees in the cos tume. “You just drink lots of water.” Unlike commissioned police officers, com munity service officers are unarmed and cannot make arrests. Community service officers also are not trained as extensively as commissioned officers. Thacker said she suspected the man was not a community service officer because he was not wearing an identification patch on his shirt. Community service officers wear such a patch. She said she also suspected the man was a bogus officer because he only had one thing strapped to his belt. Legitimate officers usually have many things strapped to their belts, she said. “It just didn’t look right,” she said. “As far as See IMPERSONATOR on 10 Dole backs troops but not policy By Matthew Waite_ _ Senior Reporter An invasion of Haiti could be coming as soon as next week, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole said at a press conference in Lincoln Thursday. In Nebraska to campaign for Republican senatorial candidate Jan Stoney, Dole said his support also went to the men and women who would carry out an invasion of Haiti. “I support the troops,” he said. “I don’t support the policy.” Dole’s words came just one hour before President Bill Clinton addressed the nation about his administration’s Haitian policy. Clinton gave no new information in the ex cerpts of the president’s address he had read, said Dole, a Kansas Republican. He said Clinton was again charging the mili tary leaders in Haiti of human rights atrocities. The phone calls from constituents that have been coming into his office have been over whelmingly against an invasion of Haiti, Dole said. He said he had also been told to oppose the invasion by constituents at the Kansas State Fair. “I think it’s a mistake,” he said. Dole said there was a great risk that U.S. See DOLE on 10 Challenge of candidate’s bid denied again By Brian Sharp Senior Reporter For the second time in the past week, Allan Eurek's challenge of Kate Witek’s candidacy for lieutenant governor has been denied. Eurek, the democratic candidate for secre tary of state, first asked Secretary of State Allen Beermann to hold a hearing to decide whether Witek had established a five-year residency requirement to be the republican candidate. But Beermann refused. On Monday, Eurek asked Lancaster County District Judge Earl Witthoffto order Beermann to hold the hearing. Wednesday, Witthoff refused. Eurek was questioning whether Witek had established residency in Nebraska by Nov. 8, 1989. State law requires candidates for state office to be Nebraska residents for at least five years. Eurek has said that when Witek moved to Omaha from Denison, Iowa, she didn’t receive the deed on her new home unti I December 1989. Witek has said she received the deed by No See EUREK on 10 I >«4lill4ll111111111111111111111111111111111111111IIMill