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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 1995)
Trial maybe over, but many wonder if justice was served By Catherine Blalock Staff Reporter Since Officer Luke W i Ike was found not guilty of third degree assault in volving the arrest of Francisco Renteria, both sides have expressed their opinions. Connie Mendoza, a friend of the Renteria’s and a translator, said the family is very saddened by the deci sion. “My feeling of the verdict is that I know it was unjustified justice,” she said. Elliot Rivas, a coalition member and assistant director of the Hispanic Center, said, “I think we were really hoping for something positive out of this tragic event. I’m not sure if justice was served. No one has been held accountable.” Mendoza is very upset by the makeup of the jury (mostly Caucasian) and feels that a mixed jury would have been more appropriate. She also be lieves that if the death of Renteria would have been mentioned, the out come might have been different. “I think if the word ‘death’ would have be allowed to be used instead of the word ‘struggle,’ the verdict would have come out different. I believe he’s done his sentence, but he did not com mit any crime. Francisco was an inno cent man,” she said. Mendoza feels the police depart ment is teaching officers an inappro priate frtethod of force. As witnesses from the Lincoln Police Department testified, she heard that officers arc taught to use military techniques when apprehending a suspect. “You cannot train people to use war tactics on everyday people,” she said. She feels these types of techniques should be outlawed. Lt. Kent Wood-head said the types of force used by the LPD will not change. + Tanna Kinnaman/DN After hearing detailed testimony on the arrest and death of Francisco Renteria, Jose Cruz Martinez, Renteria’s nephew, and Maria Vaga, Renteria’s mother, leave the courtroom. Detective Jim Spanel, LPD union secretary said, “The jury made the only verdict possible. If police don’t have the authority to take people into custody, then there’s no need for a police department.” ChiefTom Casady said that as soon as Wilke was ready to return to work, he would be returned to his normal duties. He believes that Wilke will ' continue to be one of the department’s finest officers. Mendoza feels that when Wilke re turns to work no one will respect him. “I think a lot 6f citizens will not respect Wilke. He is wearing a uniform that he should not be wearing,” Mendoza said. MaKing nation s children s lives better should include education and planning By Doug Kerns Staff Reporter Zero Population Growth, a non profit Washington D.C. organization concerned with the effects of popula tion pressures on the quality of children’s lives, placed Lincoln fifth on its “Children’s Environmental In dex.” The study ranked 207 U.S. cities based on these indicators: percentage ofchildren in poverty, unemployment rate for 1994, percentage of births to teens, property crime rate, violent crime rate, student-teacher ratio, per pupil expenditures on education, high school drop-out rate, toxic releases, number of superfund sites, number of days with unhealthy air, average pol lution standard index value, number of safe drinking water act violations, and net capita water consumption. Sharon Pickett, Director of Com munications of Zero Population Growth, said, ‘In general, we found that larger cities provided a poorer environment for children than smaller cities. Pickett directed the research and served as editor of the index. She explained the effects of population growth on children’s environment: “All the indicators we’ve looked at are made worse by rapid population growth. Pickett did note that some indica tors weighed more heavily th<pi others and that other factors also play a role in the environment of children. “We tried to limit ourselves to data that we could get from the public record so that all of the categories could be quantified in a fair way; however, this does not negate the fact that there are lots of other factors that influence environmental quality.” Pickett felt that havingsmaller fami lies could relieve some of the pres sure. “By choosing to have smaller fami lies, we feel that people can take an i mportant step in addressing the popu lation pressures, not only for ourselves today, but particularly for future gen erations,” she said. Pickett suggested ways students can affect .population growth, .including “things like the decision to have smaller families or deciding to try to make small changes in their lifestyle that would reduce wasteful consump tion, or to use more recyclingand to be a consumer that’s aware of the need for environmental protection in the kinds of products they buy, or choos ing to eat lower on the food chain.” She al so stressed the importance of voting. “We want to make sure students vote, and that they vote for candidates that understand these problems and are committed to making it a priority of exacting policies that will ensure eve^one’s right to reproductive choice, access to safe and affordable contraceptives, support for interna tional foreign aid that would help re duce the migration pressures on this country, implementingvoluntary fam-' ily planning programs in the develop ing world, and the need for school based sexuality education. 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