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COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 94 NO. 55 __
Warm moments .
Jeff HaUer/DN
Corbott Harp, loft, an undoclarod ftwlwm, and HiM Mttor, right, a freshman biology motor, on Monday bogan
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Fiji works hard to rebuild image
By Paula Lavlgna
Senior Reporter
Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity mem
bers still feel the impact of a pledge’s
hill from a third-story window of the
house last November.
Fiji fraternity members caught
Jeffrey Knoll trying to go on a pledge
sneak. They forced him to consume
alcohol, and he later fell from the
window.
Brian Mejak, Fiji president, said
the incident damaged the fraternity's
image — one they are trying to re
build through philanthropies, a new
attitude and strict adherence to the
rules.
The fraternity needs to get its name
out in a positive light, said Mejak, a
senior biology major.
“We’re improving the word Fiji
because people think of it now as
‘Oh, a bunch of hazers and problem
kids,’” he said. “The people who
stayed in this house are committed to
improving this chapter.”
Differences
Bottles of chlorination chemicals
and parts of a pool vacuum sit inside
the wont entrance of the Fiji house as
evidence of the change.
They are the last remnants of the
fraternity’s recent philanthropy,
“Bathing for Bucks.” Donors spon
sored fraternity members who sat in
a hot tub on the front lawn for about
48 hours. Donations went to the St.
Elizabeth Community Health Cen
ter. s
The hot-tub-a-thon is one of six
philanthropies the house has partici
pated in this semester, including serv
ing dinner at community centers and
recruiting members for the Nebraska
Human Resource Institute.
The philanthropies fulfill sanctions
levied against the fraternity last year
by the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln for violating the UNL Student
Code of Conduct. The members are
required to perform 12 to 16 hours of
community service a month.
Fraternity members also are for
bidden from serving alcohol at social
functions until 1996-97.
Fiji alumnus Joe Spitzenberger is
there to make sure they won’t.
Spitzenberger, a graduate law stu
dent, was hired by the university to
watch over the fraternity and make
sure members follow the student code
of conduct and the sanctions.
Spitzenberger said he saw the po
sition as a way to give back to his
fraternity and to make sure Fiji was
headed in the right direction.
When he first heard about the Knoll
incident, he said, he knew it would
harm the fraternity’s already suffer
ing image.
“They just seemed to stub their
toes,” he said.
Administrators examined the fra
ternity member by member after the
incident, he said, and asked several
to take early alumnus status.
This selective membership and the
heavy emphasis on community ser
vice were the first steps to rebuilding
Fiji’s image, he said.
"We know what the rules are. We
know what the punishment is. We
know what’s at stake, and that’s it,”
he said. “It’s not right to be pointing
fingers.”
Spitzenberger said members had a
hard time dealing with the bad pub
licity every day. An accident that
See REBUILD on 3
Kappa Deltas turn vacant lot into park
Sorority says
‘thank you’for
, years at UNL
By Cathortw Blalock
Staff Reporter
To celebrate 75 years at UNL,
Kappa Delta Sorority is turning a
vacant lot west of their house into
a park.
“It is away of saying that we've
enjoyed our relationship with this
institution and want to say thank
you," said Jean Stradley, co-chair
woman of the 75th anniversary
committee.
Each time a Kappa Delta chap
ter reaches its 75th anniversary on
a college campus, Stradley said,
the sorority does something to say
thank you.
Besides building the park at 17th
and R streets, Kappa Delta will
donate money to Love Library to
purchase books, Stradley said.
These books will have name plates
enclosed to show the sorority
helped with the purchase.
Construction on the park began
last Monday. Kim Todd, campus
landscape architect, said the park
should be completed this spring.
The park will contain a diago
nal sidewalk, a stone wall, three
benches, trees, shrubs, flowers and
a rose garden, Todd said. The side
walk was completed last week.
“It is a way of saying
that we’ve enjoyed our
relationship with this
institution and want
to say thank you.”
■
JEAN STRADLEY
Co-chairwoman of the 75th
anniversary committee
Wilbur Dasenbrock, director of
landscape services, said lawn sprin
klers would be installed in the park
to protect the plants.
Stradley said the sorority would
raise at least $10,000 to hind the
Croject. The project’s money will
e donated from Kappa Delta to
the University Foundation.
The national chapter of Kappa
Delta will contribute $1,000, she
said. Alumnae will donate the rest.
Anne Cech, co-chairwoman of
the anniversary committee, said
the sorority had raised $5,000 for
the park so far.
The sorority sent alumnae a let
ter two years ago asking for money.
Cech said the sorority would send
another letter after Jan. 1.
The park will be dedicated April
8, 1995, as part of the sorority’s
anniversary celebration.
Todd said some of the flowers
and the rose garden would not be
planted by that time because it
would be too cold.
Judge OKs
term limits
on ballot
By Chad Lofnz
Staff Reporter
A decision handed down by a
Lancaster County district judge Mon
day will keep the Nebraska term lim
its amendment on the voting ballot.
Judge Paul Merritt, in his deci
sion, rejected 12 challenges related
to the petition that put the amend
ment before voters. Tim Duggan, John
Hasenaur, Lincoln city councilman
Ken Harr and state senator Ernie
Chambers had asked the court to keep
the amendment from being on the
ballot.
The court held that substantial,
not technical, compliance with form
requirements was sufficient to render
the petition legal.
“Although appearing to have been
hurriedly and somewhat carelessly
drafted, the court cannot, and does
not, find that the initiative petition is
not legally sufficient,” Merritt wrote.
“There has been substantial compli
ance with Nebraska law.”
The plaintiffs said that, among
other arguments, differences between
the petition form filed and the form
circulated should nullify the petition.
As well, they argued the petition
should be nullified because of inter
nal consistencies on the form and
because a list of the petition’s spon
sors was missing.
Merritt stated the analysis of the
issues raised differed from that used
by the Nebraska Supreme Court Fri
day when it ordered five other consti
tutional amendments removed from
the ballot.
Chambers predicted a wide ma
jority — 82 percent—would support
the amendment in today’s vote. How
ever, he said, voter approval would
not end the debate over term limits.
The plaintiffs have 30 days to
appeal the decision and take the case
to the Nebraska Supreme Court,
which could overturn the amendment
again, Chambers said.
Last May, the Nebraska Supreme
Court overturned voter approval of
term limits, saying the petition drive
See TERM on 3
Few answers
in death of
homeless man
From Staff Reports
A county coroner’s report pro
vided few answers Monday about the
weekend death of a homeless man in
Nebraska Union.
A union employee found David
Ball, 47, Saturday morning lying in
the union’s south vestibule.
The coroner’s report placed the
time of death at 4 am. Saturday. The
union employee found him about
three hours later.
The report said Ball died from
natural causes. No autopsy will be
conducted.
Ball apparently suffered from
asthma, but that was not believed to
have been a contributing factor, the
county sheriffs office reported.
The coroner’s report stated it was
unknown whether Ball had any fam
ily and that the case was closed.
There will be no further investiga
tion.
