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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1995)
|> inside 1 j lip 1 hursday Sports Former Husker to replace Kevin Steele, Page 7 Arts & Entertainment NIN concert moved to **«*«>*(;*»ft«*ot<**«**s*tmmt! Omaha, page 9 _February 2, 1995_ Casady keeps police work close at hand By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter Although indicted Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady has moved out of his office at the Lincoln Police Station, his new job has kept him close to police work. While on administrative leave, Casady is rewriting the police manual under the direc tion of Mayor Mike Johanns. Casady is re ceiving an annual salary of about $74,000. Johanns said Wednesday he was pleased with Casady’s performance with one excep tion. “He just needs to know when to go home,” Johanns said. “He works excruciatingly long hours and doesn’t pay attention if it’s five at night or 10 at night.” Casady was indicted on one count of official misconduct following the investiga tion of the Sept. 30 police scuffle with Fran cisco Renteria, who died shortly after the incident. Casady declined to discuss his current work. Johanns said rewriting the manual had been a priority project that was put off for too long. Johanns said that although he would not see the revised manual until it was com pleted, he had faith that Casady would pro vide a comprehensive manual “from A to Z.” “Tom is a very principled individual,” the mayor said. “He’s here to do a job, he does his job. There’s no question that citizens are getting their money’s worth.” Johanns, whose office in the County-City Building is next to Casady’s, said he also solicited Casady’s advice on several issues. In the long run, Johanns said the contro versy over the indictment charges would not hurt Casady. “I have a great deal of faith in the court system,” he said, “and I have a great deal of faith this will work out.” It is undetermined how long Casady will remain in his current position, but Johanns said he still had faith in Casady’s perfor mance as police chief. Casady has diversified the department and has enhanced community policing pro cesses, Johanns said. . " Jon Waller/DN Plainsmen President Larry Ball stands by the noose he hung outside the site of the new Planned Parenthood at 37th and South streets. The Plainsmen protested the clinic, which will be able to perform first trimester abortions, by hanging a noose and a bullet-riddled metal plate. Noose hung to protest new clinic By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter An anti-abortion protester hung a bullet ridden steel plate and a noose on the fence outside the future site of a Planned Parenthood clinic Wednesday. The Plainsmen, the group that organized the demonstration, was the latest to oppose the clinic at 38th and South streets. Gail Linderholm, development director for Planned Parenthood of Lincoln, said she would take the objects down and dispose of them. “It’s an attempt to scare us,” she said, “but that attempt won’t be successful.” A police officer sat in a cruiser one block south of the clinic, but about 20 people who attended the protest left without incident. Plainsmen President Larry Ball said his organization was a group of gun owners who were concerned about “the erosion of our rights and society’s rights.” Those rights include the rights of the un born, he said. Ball hung the bullet-riddled plate on the fence and explained its symbolism to anti abortion rights. “This is the destiny our society is headed for if we don’t turn back,” he said. “... Our society is dying.” The plate did not condone violence, he said. See PLAINSMEN on 6 Shock of first semester keeps some freshmen from returning By Andrew Lucas Staff Reporter Chad Rau’s first semester of college wasn’t quite what he ex pected. “If I could have done it over I would have,” Rau said. “I came in here with my high school study habits and got blown out of the water.” Rau, along with 6 percent of the freshmen who took classes last fall at the University of Nebraska-Lin coln, did not return for the spring semester. UNL had 3,443 freshmen tak ing courses in Lincoln campus pro grams at the beginning of the year. Of that number, 209 decided against returning for the spring semester, according to James Griesejj, vice chancellor for stu dent affairs. The percentage of freshmen who dropped out is down from last ; year’s figure of ^ percent, Griesen said. Fifteen years ago, the rate was about 15 percent, he said. “I believe we’re starting to see some self-selection even before our admission standards go up in ’97,” Griesen said. The reasons students leave af ter their first semester are varied, Griesen said. Some students have family emergencies or problems with academics or money. Travis Brandenburgh, a first semester freshman last fall, listed commitments at home in Utica as his reason for not returning. Of the 209 students not return ing, 92 either did not finish the fall semester or earned below a 1.0 grade-point average. Eighty-six students received between a 1.0 and 2.9, and 30 students earned above a 3.0, including one 4.0. The university also studied the living units of returning freshmen. “The highest retention rate oc curs in the fraternities and sorori ties,” Griesen said. Students who lived off campus but not with parents or relatives had the lowest probability of re turning after their first semester, he said. The university has taken sev eral steps to improve the freshmen retention rate, including the estab lishment of the University Foun dations Program, Griesen said. “It was a course meant to help students make the transition from high school to college,” Griesen said. Elizabeth Grobsmith, associate vice chancellor for academic af fairs, mentioned the supplemental instruction program as one step the university was taking. The pro gram provides tutoring by students who have completed more diffi cult courses. OSHA verdict not out Crews use new, shallower hole to fix steam pipe By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter A decision on safety violations at a building site near 14th and R streets will not come for another week, the area OSHA director said Wednesday. Ben Bare said the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration investigation into possible viola tions at the site could bring either an order to fix the site or fines up to $7,000. However, the contractors doing the construction work at the site plan to have the project done within two weeks, said Gary Thalken, a utilities manager at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. OSHA investigators looked over the site Jan. 25 after receiving a complaint that the contractor, Shanahan Mechanical and Electri cal Inc. of Valparaiso, had not com plied with OSHA regulations. Investigators were looking into possible violations regarding a hole dug to find a leak in a steam pipe. Bare said that generally, any hole more than $ feet deep had to have sloped or supported sides. Crews have continued to work on the the ripped-up sidewalk along 14th Street. They are replacing a leak in a 50-year-old stream pipe that feeds the State Capitol, the state office building and the governor’s mansion. Thalken said the crews had opened a new hole separate from the one that brought the OS HA in vestigators to the site. He said the new hole was shallow, leading from an existing manhole to the original hole. The replacement of the pipe and the return of steam service to the state buildings should be completed by the end of this week, Thalken said. The repair of the sidewalk and the replacement of the city bus shel ter should start late this week or early next week, he said. Shanahan Mechanical and Elec trical Inc. assured UNL that all OSHA requirements would be met when the crews went into the origi nal hole again, Thalken said. Steve Shanahan^a vice-president at Shanahan Mechanical and Elec trical, Inc., was unavailable for com ment Wednesday.'