The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 05, 1995, Page 2, Image 2
News Digest Thursday, October 5, 1995 Page 2 Pope returns with challenge: Set example of virtue, freedom NEWARK, N.J.—Pope John Paul II returned to America on Wednes day as a self-described pilgrim for peace, echoing Pope Paul Vi’s 1965 appeal to the United Nations: “No ' more war, war never again.” The pope told President Clinton and about 2,000 Catholic schoolchil dren gathered to meet him at the airport that the ideals behind the founding of the United Nations 50 years ago are still needed in a world where “ancient rivalries and suspi cions still compromise the cause of peace.” At a prayer service later, John Paul challenged countries in the United Nations to “clothe yourselves with humility. In particular, the pow erful and the mighty ought to show meekness in their dealings with the weak.” The 1,800 invited guests at the evening prayer service included Clinton, comedian Bob Hope and about 120 cloistered nuns. Some of the nuns left their convent grounds for the first time since taking their vows as long as 50 years ago. The pope met with Clinton for about 30 minutes before the service at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Unlike their meeting two years ago in Den ver, the pope did not challenge the president ’ s support for abortion rights. Instead, the leaders discussed efforts to forge peace in Bosnia and through out the world. “The president asked his Holiness to continue his prayers for peace,” said a joint statement from Vatican and White House spokesmen. In his airport address, John Paul called for America to be a moral superpower in the post-Cold War era, and he reminded the nation’s leaders not to forget the poor as Congress considers cuts in social spending. “Your, country stands upon the world scene as a model of a demo cratic society at an advanced stage of de vel opment .Your power of example carries with it heavy responsibili ties,” the pope said. “Use it well, America! Be an example of justice and civic virtue, freedom fulfilled in goodness, at home and abroad.” Clinton added his belief that Americans must “see to it that chil dren live free of poverty with oppor tunity for good and decent educa tion.” The pope’s five-day visit will take him to New Jersey, New York and Maryland. He seemed to be in good spirits as he began his fourth trip to the United States. “The pope is bringing you the rain — a very important event,” he said with a smile at the conclusion of his address at Newark International Air port. The region has been plagued by a drought for months. Hundreds of people lined the route of the pope’s motorcade from the airport to the cathedral. .“You can’t describe it. It was like, 'Let me touch the hem of your gar ment,’ but it seemed like he touched me,” said Doris Schenck after watch ing the pope go by on his way to the service. “It’s a wonderful feeling just to be in his presence. He made me holy.” After the service, the pope re turned for the night to the Manhattan residence of the papal envoy to the United Nations. John Paul is to ad dress the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, exactly 30 years after Pope PaulVI delivered his injunction against war. Simpson angry about misconceptions Jurors explain how decision was reached LOS ANGELES — Speaking out for the first time since his acquittal, O.J. Simpson on Wednesday assailed prosecutors and legal commentators for distorting the trial evidence to make him look bad. “My basic anger is these miscon ceptions,” Simpson said in a surprise phone call to CNN’s “Larry King Live,” the latest twist in a case that has shown no shortage of surprises. Earlier, some of his jurors ex plained for the first time why they acquitted him in the murders of his ex-wife and her friend. One said a cop lied, another was a racist, and the gloves didn’t fit — either on Simpson’s hands or at his estate — so she had to acquit. Simpson, who wasn’t-seen during his second day of freedom, also of fered a brief comment about his first reunion with his two small children, Sydney and Justin, since he was ar rested for their mother’s murder. “It’s been great,” Simpson said without elaboration. He then thanked King and got off the phone. Simpson’s call came during King’s interview with lead defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. The lawyer wouldn’t say where the meeting with the children took place, or whether Simpson had to elude the more than 100 reporters camped outside his es tate. Simpson called to respond to a woman who called in asking about prosecution claims that a shadowy figure seen moving across the drive way of Simpson’s house was-in fact Simpson returning from an attempt to hide a bloody glove. Simpson said testimony from lim ousine driver Allan Park never showed this — only that there was a person near the front door. “It was me — walking out of my front door, dropping my bags and going back in,” he said. Simpson’s defense had said that Simpson was racing around his house at about 11 p.rri. packing for a planned trip to Chicago. Simpson said prosecutors and le gal commentators constantly miscon strued the evidence. “My basic anger is people I’ve heard say, 'I followed the case.’ I’ve heard experts say,’'This was the tes timony today,’ and that wasn’t the testimony today,’’ Simpson said. “Fortunately for me, the jury lis tened to what the witnesses said and not wh#t ^Marcia Clark’s or (Christo pher) Darden’s or anyone else’s ren ditions of what was said,’’ Simpson said. In their first full day free from sequestration, some jurors spoke out. Brenda Moran, a black computer technician from South Central Los Angeles, said a glove found behind Simpson’s mansion was key to her decision to acquit Simpson in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. “Somebody planted it,’’ Moran said, signaling she agreed with the defense contention that Simpson was framed by rogue cops. The juror discussed the case with more than 100 reporters, who were assembled on the roof of a Beverly Hills parking garage because there wasn’t enough room inside the of fices of Moran’s attorney. Another black juror, Gina Rosborough said a straw poll taken less than an hour into deliberations was 10-2 in favor of acquittal. One of those voting guilty was black or His panic and one was white, she said. The next vote was unanimous. E-mail Continued from Page 1 have bigred accounts. The system can serve up to 25,000 users, he said. Amy Nickerson, a junior psychol ogy major, is another new bigred user. Like most bigred users, Nickerson mainly uses her account for e-mail. “I don’t have to have a long-dis tance phone bill 'all the time,” Nickerson said,‘‘and also I can talk to my friends in other states a lot easier.” Blaufuss has figured out how to I - access’ the World Wide Web, Netscape and other Internet locales through his modem. ’“I’m now omnipotent, if you wi 11,” he said. The system also is useful for “chat ting,” or talking directly via com puter with others who have bigred accounts, James said. “You can talk to someone who’s on Herbie,” James said, “but it’s a lot faster if both people are on bigred.” Students can apply for a free bigred account at the Computer Shop in the 501 building or the Operations Cen ter in the basement of the Walter Scott Engineering Center. Account information such as pass words and account numbers will be ready two to three, days after the application is turned in. If people heed help with their ac counts,they may call the Operations Center at 472-5653 or the Informa tion Services help desk at 472-3970. There are still some problems with bigred, James said. The complica tions primarily have concerned pass words and terminal recognition. . ' “It’s a brand new system.” he said. “There are lots of adjustments to be made. It’s been a real learning pro cess.” Nebraskan . FAX NUMBER 472-1761 y The Daly Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday dunng the academic year; weekly during summer sessions. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436-9253, 9 a.m.-fl p.m. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. - ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1995 DAILY NEBRASKAN News a in a ( vj 1 MinutP Opal lashes Honda beaches PENSACOLA* Fla. — Hurricane Opal thrashed the Florida Pan handle with howling wind gusts up to 144 mph Wednesday, flooding homes, knocking down piers along the sugar-white beaches and forcing more than 100,000 terrified people to flee inland. At least one person was killed. Opal, whose storm center hit the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field, east of Pensacola, just after 6 p.m. EDT, was one of the strongest storms to hit the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Camille killed 256 people in 1969. “I think this one is going to clean our clock,” said Tom Beliech, who fled Pensacola. “Erin gave us a deep respect for knowing when to leave,” he said, referring to the hurricane that forced a similar exodus two months ago. At 9 p.m. EDT, Opal was about 45 miles north of Pensacola, moving north at about 22 mph. Maximum sustained winds had dropped to about 100 mph from 125 mph, and forecasters said the storm gradually would weaken through the night as it headed toward southern Ala bama. At least 100,000 were evacuated from a 150-mile stretch of Florida’s Gulf coast, from Pensacola to Wakulla Beach south of Tallahassee, as . the ninth hurricane of the/Atlantic storm season closed in. Opal, which left 10 people dead in Mexico, spun off at least seven tornadoes and caused flooding from storm surges of up to 15 feet. Cult leader reportedly confesses TOKYO — The cult guru charged with murder in a nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subways has confessed to that and other killings, reports said Wednesday. His cult said the confession had been forced. The cult — Aum Shinri Kyo, or Supreme Truth — and some reports also said the confession was not strong enough to be admissible as evidence. Police would not comment. Cult leader Shoko Asahara has been charged with masterminding the March 20 subway attack that killed 12 and sickened 5,500. Police believe cult members carried out the attack to fulfill Asahara’s -predictions of doom. Asahara has previously denied involvement in the gassing. He also is charged in a nerve gas attack in central Japan last year that killed seven people; with directing the 1989 murder of an anti-cult lawyer and his family; and with involvement in the murder in February of a man who was helping his younger sister try to leave the cult. “In each case, I gave the order and group leaders carried it out,” Japan’s public television network, NHK, quoted Asahara as telling investiga tors in a written confession. But the cult almost immediately drafted a statement quoting Asahara’s lawyer as saying the confession had been forced and would be inadmissible. - ' . Regents Continued from Page 1 limited but still important: “It would be great to be voting members on the board,” Hurtgen said. “But being non-voting still gives us an influence by having four student regents on a board of eight.” If they would vote, the four stu dent regents would represent a total of about 50,000 people. They would stack up unevenly against the eight regents who each represent a district of 200,000 people. That was one of the arguments against giving student regents a vote, J.B. Milliken, NU corporation secretary, said. “It’s unfathomable for the state of Nebraska to have four student re gents control one-third of the board when they represent only a fraction of the state,” he said. The second objection is their one year terms, Milliken said, because one year is not enough time to be come well-versed in the language of the NU system. University of Nebraska at Kearney Student Regent Dave Bargen agreed. “We have one year to take a crash course in how the board works, its concerns, debates, policies and by laws,” Bargen said. Voting student regents also would violate the .one-person, one-vote con cept, Milliken said, because a stu dent and a regent would be compet ing in a district. Five years ago, though* student regents’ votes were registered, and two years ago they were asked to voice their opinions before the re gents, Milliken said, so. they could make more of an impact without an official vote. Payne, who has been a regent for 15 years, said the changes gave stu dents a louder voice. “They’re more active now than they used to be,” he said. “They can make motions and discuss them, and their opinion can be counted.” O’Brien said the system encour aged input from student regents. “They behave responsibly,” O’Brien said. “They have ideas and thoughts to contribute and have been responsive to the students’ rights and responsibilities.” Even though the board went against the student regents’ opposi tion to a tuition increase, Bargen said the students’ votes can be a lobbyist tool. “Even though our votes aren’t counted,” he said, “they are counted for swaying (the regents’) opinions,” Bargen said the system has at tracted other universities, namely the University of Colorado at Boulder, to adopt a similar student regent-con cept. Some institutions, most of which , have appointed regents or trustees, do enlist a voting student regent who represents the entire system, Milliken said. But NU regents and student regents said that system wouldn’t work for Nebraska. “I’d say there’s no likelihood of that whatsoever,” O’Brien said. Hurtgen agreed. . “I’d hate to see an appointment by the governor to be a representative of the university,” she said. “The way ' we do it now is very fair, and it gives all students a chance to represent the university.”