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Gov. Ben Nelson testifies in front of the Legislature’s
Education Committee Tuesday. He spoke in favor of a
resolution to allow the governor to appoint members of the
NU Board of Regents.
Regent issue argued
Governor’s ability
to appoint gets
mixed testimony
By John Fulwider
Staff Reporter
The Legislature’s Education Com
mittee considered Tuesday a resolu
tion that would allow the governor to
appoint members to the NU Board of
Regents.
During 2 1/2 hours of testimony.
committee members heard seven
people speak in favor of the resolu
tion, including Gov. Ben Nelson,
Regent Robert Allen of Hastings and
Ardyce Bohlke, who is co-sponsor
ing LR29CA.
The committee took no action on
the resolution.
Six spoke in opposition, including
two current regents, one student re
gent and one former student regent.
Nelson said the proposed consti
tutional amendment would not go to
the voters until 1996, and the first
appointments couldn’t be made until
1998, when the terms of regents
elected last year expired. Ron Withem
of Papillion is the resolution’s other
sponsor.
Nelson and his supporters focused
on the increasing cost and difficulty
of running for the board. They also
said appointed regents would be more
accountable and regents’ decisions
would be less politically motivated.
Those opposing the resolution said
appointed regents would not be more
accountable. They also cited voter
support for electing regents.
Regent Chairwoman Nancy
See REGENTS on 3
Alcohol
level bill
causes
debate
By J. Christopher Hain
Senior Reporter
The founder of Mothers Against
Drunk Driving Tuesday told the
Legislature’s
| Transportation
| Committee that a
| law lowering the
| Blood-Alcohol
Content level for
a DWI conviction
from .10 to .08
in would be meffec
ADLfl—i tive in preventing
LEGISLATURE alcohol-related
traffic deaths.
Candace Lightner, who is no longer
a member of MADD, was asked to
testify in opposition to LB 150 by
Mary Campbell, a registered lobby
ist for the Nebraska Beer Wholesal
ers Association and the Nebraska
Wholesale Liquor Distributors Asso
ciation.
Sen. LaVon Crosby of Lincoln
introduced the bill.
Lightner said many states that had
implemented the .08 law had not
seen a decrease in alcohol-related
fatalities. Some had seen an increase,
she said.
“I haven’t seen any evidence that
it does work,” Lightner said.
Eleven states have .08 BAC laws
in effect, said James C. Fell of the
National Highway and Traffic Safety
Administration. Fell testified in sup
port of the bill.
And while determining the num
ber of lives a .08 law would save is
difficult, Fell said, .08 is a necessary
level to keep dangerous drivers off
the roads.
See DWI BILLS on 3
Cold Justice
i ravis neymy/ uiv
Donna Pillard of Lincoln walks back and forth in front of the City-County Building
Tuesday morning to protest the death of her brother, John Welch, wno died after being
attacked by another inmate in a Lincoln jail last month. See story on page 3.
Police: Context controls use of force
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Lincoln police officers invited
community leaders to put themselves
in the minds of police officers and
walk in their shoes Tuesday.
Officers demonstrated the use of
force techniques at a meeting of the
mayor’s Multicultural Advisory and
Community Conciliation Process
committees at Bryan Medical Plaza
Conference Center.
Sgt. Bob Ziemer, a training super
visor, asked the committee members
to imagine themselves as two police
officers involved in a violent con
frontation on Christmas morning.
“You’ve been shot several times,”
he said. “You’re not even aware your
back-up officer had a weapon held to
his face.
“Are we in our shoes now?”
In 1994, 51 of 235,612 cases in
Lincoln involved use of force. One
case resulted in a person being hospi
talized as a result of police force,
Ziemer said, and fewer than 25 people
received treatment in an emergency
room and were released.
Most of the time, he said, it was
the officer who was hurt.
“I’ve been hit, kicked, threatened
with a knife and had a gun pointed at
me,” he said. “I want to remember
talking to people and solving it that
way.”
In cases where force was used, he
said, only reasonable force was used
and was discontinued after the objec
tive was achieved and the situation
was under control.
Officer John Pitts, a non-lethal
ations and situations involving lan
guage and other barriers.
See FORCE on 6
williams’
motion ~
overruled
By Brian Sharp
Senior Reporter
NU football player Tyrone Will
iams’ court motion that two felony
charges against him constitute double
jeopardy has been overruled by a
Lancaster County District Court
Judge.
Williams, a junior cornerback, has
been charged with the unlawful dis
charge of a firearm and use of a
firearm to commit a felony in a Janu
ary 1994 incident. Prosecutors allege
Williams fired a .22-caliber pistol at
a car driven by another University of
Nebraska-Lincoln student.
Williams’ lawyers contended the
two crimes were the same offense.
Mandatory consecutive sentencing
would violate his Fifth Amendment
right against multiple punishments
See WILLIAMS on 6
Ex-student
may face
jail time
From Staff Reports
A former UNL student accused of
stealing more than $1,500 from Tri
angle Fraternity pleaded guilty Tues
day to a reduced charge.
Chad McQuinn, an engineering
student while at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, appeared in
Lancaster County District Court to
plead guilty to theft by unlawful tak
ing of $500 to more than $1,500.
The original charge was a Class III -
felony. The amended charge is a Class
IV felony, which is punishable by a
maximum of 20 years in prison and a
$25,000 fine.
Court records state that the of
fense occurred between May and
October 1992. McQuinn was serving
as treasurer of Triangle Fraternity,
1235 N. 16th St., at the time.
McQuinn first appeared in
Lancaster County Court in July 1992.
The case was moved to District Court
when prosecutors filed felony
charges.
District Court Judge Bernard
McGinn is scheduled to sentence
McQuinn on March 21.