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PAGE 2: Judge Ito bars L.A.'s 2nd largest paper
New clot could end Frazier’s season
By Pfk Sawiaon__
Senior Reporter
The reappearance of a blood clot in T ommie
Frazier’s right leg on Tuesday likely will end
the football season for him this year.
Frazier, who went to Bryan Memorial Hos
pital for a routine check on his leg Tuesday,
found that a blood clot had reappeared.
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said after
practice Tuesday that the Comhuskers prob
ably would be without the servicesofthe junior
quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate.
“Frazier’s blood clot has reformed in the
same area,” Osborne said. “I would say after
this that his season is very, very questionable
right now. It (this clot) is at least as big as the
first one and maybe bigger.
"You never say never, and we can’t put a
target date on when he could return, but he
definitely won’t be playing anytime soon. There
is a reasonably good chance he won’t play
again this year.”
Frazier’s initial blood clot was discovered
Sept. 25. He was released from Bryan Memo
rial last Wednesday after being hospitalized for
nearly four days.
Tuesday night, Frazier was in intensive care
and was not accepting visitors or telephone
calls, Nebraska Sports Information said.
Frazier’s doctors would decide whether sur
gery would be needed to tie off a vein in his
right calf, Osborne said. A smaller clot in his
cal f might be causing the larger clot behind his
knee to reappear, he said.
“They think that some of that (smaller) clot
has been spilling into the larger one, and that’s
why the clot behind his knee reappeared,”
Osborne said.
Doctors knew about the smaller clot, Osborne
said, but they didn’t think it posed any threat.
Doctors will know today whether Frazier will
need surgery, he said.
Doctors will make certain that once they
dissolve the clot, it won’t reappear, Osborne
said.
“It has to be a brand new clot, so it should
dissolve without any complication,” he said.
“He was on blood thinners, and it reformed
without any trouble or reason.
“I was surprised because I didn’t think it
would reform,” he said. “I think everybody is
pretty surprised.
“You don’t see this happen very often with
an athlete of this type without a massi ve hit. I’m
sure he must have got bumped or something.
People I talk to say this is pretty rare.”
Frazier worked out without contact during
practice Monday. He was admitted into an
intensive care unit at Bryan Memorial after the
pre-scheduled test Tuesday morning.
“I tried to call him a few times (Tuesday),
but I was never able to get a hold of him,”
Osborne said. “Dr. (Deepak) Gangahar said his
spirits were good.”
Frazier knew several days in advance the
clot might reappear, Osborne said.
See FRAZIER on 8
Tommie Frazier
teook Mack
Hometowns
Bradenton, Fla.
Started as
quarterbacks Oct.
24,1992 against
Missouri, led
Nebraska to a
34-24 win.
Consecutive starts: 23
Awards: 1994- Heisman Watch Top
Five Ust
1994- NU Orange Bowl MVP
Autopsy raises
more questions
than it answers
By PaPra Jaw—n
Senior Reporter
Preliminary autopsy reports show that a Lin
coln man who died Saturday after a struggle
with police did not have a pre-existing medical
condition, a lawyer for the man’s family said
Tuesday.
Carlos Monzon said the preliminary results
of the autopsy did not support the county
attorney’s report that Francisco Renteria might
have died of a seizure or from a pre-existing
medical condition.
Renteria, 30, died Saturday at Lincoln Gen
eral Hospital. He was stopped at 24th and
Holdredge streets by University of Nebraska
Lincoln Police Officer Charlotte Veskma be
cause she thought he matched the description
of a man wanted on charges of violating a
protection order.
A struggle between Renteria, Veskma and
Lincoln police officers later ensued. After the
struggle, Renteria had a seizure and was taken
to the hospital. Police later learned Renteria
was not the man police wanted.
The autopsy was performed Monday for the
county attorney by Dr. MattliiasOkoye. Monzon
would not comment on specific results of the
autopsy.
A second, independent autopsy was per
formed Tuesday by a pathologist whom Monzon
chose. He declined to name the pathologist.
The preliminary results from the second au
topsy had not been released Tuesday night.
Monzon said he wanted the second autopsy
to help preserve evidence in the case.
Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey said
he had no problems with Monson’s request for
the second autopsy.
“I don’t have any objection to the family
doing an independent examination,” Lacey said.
Monzon said the family would hold a press
conference today to talk to the community
about the incident and to thank the community
for its support.
The events surrounding Renteria’s death
showed minorities were taken for granted in
Lincoln, he said.
"There is a problem,’’ Monzon said, “and
that problem is a problem that could have been
remedied. It’s something that can happen right
here. If Friday was Mr. Renteria, tomorrow,
who knows who it can be."
Monzon said many people in the Hispanic
community were fearful that the same thing
would happen to them.
"There is a lot of outrage, there is a lot of fear
and there is a lot of hoping for justice,’’ he said.
He also said that many Lincoln residents
who were not minorities had expressed their
See AUTOSPY on 6
A HORSE IS A HORSE IS A HORSE
Shaun Sartin/DN
Racahorsas at tha Nebraska State Fair Parle raca grounds hang thalr heads outslda thalr stalls Tuesday morning.
The races are running new through Nov. S on Thursdays through Sundays.
«%
ROTC program to close at UNK
By Wick Wlltg—i■
Staff Reporter
When the ROTC program at UNK closes at
the end of this academic year, enrollment in
UNL’s program could increase, Major Greg
Dibella said.
Dibella, an assistant professor of military
science at the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln,
said the Lincoln program probably would gain
members that otherwise would have gone to
Kearney next year.
But he said he didn’t expect a significant
effect on UNL’s program.
“Do we expect the floodgates to be open
ing?” Dibella said. “No.”
The U.S. Army, which oversees ROTC, de
clared a “deactivation position” at the Univer
sity of Nebraska at Kearney in August. The
army had been monitoring the program’s pro
ductivity for several years.
John Oseth, executive assistant to the UNK
chancellor, said the Army thought the program
produced too few commissioned officers and
attracted too few high school seniors. The Army
also decided the program had small numbers of
students and graduates.
UNK is trying to salvage what it can from
the program, Oseth said.
‘fWe’ve asked the Army to reconsider,” he
said. “If this program closes, you could drive
from Lincoln to Denver and not catch a whiff of
an ROTC program.”
Oseth said the ROTC departure was one of
many cuts brought on by sudden changes in
world events, such as the fall of communism in
the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe.
The Pentagon has put the entire ROTC pro
gram under scrutiny, he said. Dozens of mar
ginal ROTC programs were monitored for sev
. eral years, including the Kearney unit.
If the program dissolves as planned, Oseth
said, the following would happen:
This year’s seniors would be commissioned,
or complete the program, as normal. Juniors
would be allowed to “double up” on courses to
be commissioned this year. Freshmen, sopho
mores and juniors who do not wish to speed up
the process can transfer, most likely to UNL.
UNK might pursue a cross-enrollment ap
proach, he said, in which students could enroll
at UNK while taking ROTC classes at another
location.
Oseth said he would like to retain that option
so UNK could remain involved with the pro
gram.
Dibella said the Lincoln program was in no
danger of closing because it was the ROTC
flagship unit for the state.
*‘We are fine unless things would change
drastically,” he said.
Kearney is too far from Omaha to affect the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, said Lt. Col.
Joan Sisco, professor of military science at
Creighton University. Sisco oversees the Omaha
ROTC program that includes UNO.
She said she did not expect the Omaha unit
to close, because Omaha was large and two
universities participated in the program.