Matthew Waite/DN
Gwendolyn Combs, director of affirmative action for Lincoln Public Schools, said her
struggles as a minority in college motivated her to provide racial and ethnic diversity in
Lincoln schools.
Combs
Continued from Page 1
“I would like to have in every build
ing a good mix of staff,” Combs
said.
When students see teachers and
administrators of the same race or
ethnic origin as themselves, she
said, they realize their background
won’t prevent them from being
just as successful.
“It affirms them in terms of self
worth,” Combs said.
Combs said she felt minority
students could be inhibited, as she
was, being the only member of a
certain race or ethnic background
in a class.
Minority students would feel un
comfortable asking for help in class
or networking with other students,
she said.
“It’s a lonely feeling,” Combs
said.
Combs said she defeated alien
ation and prejudices by being as
sertive with people. She said she
had to take the first step and reach
out to others.
She said she was reminded of
her loneliness in college when she
First arrived in Lincoln. For three
weeks, she said, she didn’t see
another black person outside of her
family and church.
“Lincoln isjust not a place over
flowing with opportunities for ra
cial and ethnic minorities to enjoy
their culture,” Combs said.
Three witnesses identify gunman
OMAHA (AP) — Investigators
testified Wednesday that three wit
nesses identified the gunman in the
shooting of Officer James Wilson Jr.,
the first Omaha policeman to die in
the line of duly in 21 years.
Police investigator Michael Hoch
said three eyewitnesses identified 20
year-old Quincy Hughes as the trig
ger man in the Aug. 20 shooting. He
also said a 14-year-old charged in the
case said Hughes grabbed a rifle in a
van Wilson had stopped.
Hughes and Kevin Allen, 18, are
charged with first-degree, murder and
use of a firearm to commit a felony in
the death of Wilson. Five others, in
cluding the 14-year-old and a 15
year-old, are charged with being ac
cessories to murder.
Wilson was shot in the head and
died after pulling over a van to check
its registration. Police said he was
still wearing his seat belt when he
was shot.
Charles McSpadden, 18, one of
five men charged as an accessory to
murder, waived his right to a prelimi
nary hearing at the beginning of
Wednesday’s proceedings. No trial
date was set.
Also making a court appearance
Wednesday on the accessory charges
were Walter Harris, 22, and Tavais
Minor, 18.
All five of the men were bound
over for trial.
Ronnie D. Perry, 14, and Otis
Simmons, 15, earlier waived their
preliminary hearings and were or
dered to stand trial as adults on charges
of being accessories to murder.
All ofthe suspects are from Omaha.
Criminal investigator Dean
Thorsen testified that fingerprints of
McSpadden, Harris, Allen and Perry
were found in the van. Police said
McSpadden owned the van.
Police investigator Bruce Ferrell
said he interviewed a woman who
was on a sidewalk about 10 feet
from the van when it was stopped by
Wilson in a residential neighbor
hood a few miles northwest of down
town.
She told Ferrell a man left the
passenger seat of the van and soon
emerged with a rifle from the side
cargo door. She said the man moved
to the rear of the van and fired three
shots at the police car and then ad
vanced on the police car to fire an
other volley of shots.
The witness told Ferrell that the
man then returned the van, which
sped off. Ferrell said another witness
gave police similar statements.
Thorsen said police found 11 spent
cartridges of 7.62 mm ammunition.
He said that particular ammunition
can be fired from AK-47 rifles and
possibly from other weapons.
Ferrell said the witness he inter
viewed believed the rifle used by the
gunman was an AK-47. She told po
lice that she had seen those rifles on
television and it matched the descrip
tion.
Hoch, who helped operate a police
lineup for witnesses, testified that
three of the four teen-agers who wit
nessed the shooting along 40th Street
near Blondo, “positively identified
Quincy Hughes” as the man who ex
ited the van and shot at the police car.
Hoch also said he interviewed
Perry, who said he was in the van at
the time. Perry told police Hughes
was the man who grabbed the rifle in
the van.
Perry told Hoch that the men had
been driving around in north Omaha
after an intended robbery in south
Omaha failed to develop.
When Wilson came up behind the
van with his cruiser lights on, Perry
told the investigator, Allen said: “I
ain’t going back to jail,” and the
shooting soon followed.
Kima jflK.....:...... .^■■■n
University Health Center
15th &U Streets, 472-5000
Primary Care
Specialty Care
Pharmacy
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Physical Therapy
Counseling and
Psychological Services
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Laboratory
Open 7 am. to I Op.m.
Monday - Friday
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Weekends & Holidays
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1UI1JX&
Fall semester distribution of Federal Perkins Loan
checks will be on September 13, 14, and 15 in the
Ballroom of the Nebraska Union. Hours of
distribution are 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. and
1:00 - 4:00 p.m. each day.
Students must present their student photo ID to
receive their check. New borrowers are reminded
to bring the promissory note that was previously
mailed to them. Checks not claimed by
4:00 p.m. September 15
will be cancelled.
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