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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1995)
Law & Order Cole enters not guilty pleas By Jeff Zeleny Senior Reporter Jermaine Cole pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Lancaster County Dis trict Court to four charges, including assault and trespassing, in connection with a Sept. 3 incident. Cole, 22, is the same Lincoln man who told police he was shot by Riley Washington in August. Washington, an NU wingback, faces trial on attempted second-degree murder in connection with the late-night shooting at a cen tral Lincoln convenience store. Cole was arrested after allegedly breaking into a former girlfriend’s home and assaulting her. His bond was set at $30,000. In a brief hearing Wednesday morning, Judge Bernard McGinn de clined to lower Cole’s bond. He ruled the amount was reasonable because of Cole’s previous record, which in cludes seven charges of failure to ap pear. Cole pleaded not guilty to making terroristic threats, first-degree crimi nal trespassing, third-degree assault and criminal mischief. A tentative Dec. 4 trial date was set, but attorneys have 45 days to take depositions from witnesses. In the other case, Cole identified Washington as the trigger man in a gang-related shooting at 27th and W streets. A trial date has not been set for Washington’s attempted second degree murder trial. Cole has been convicted of more than 50 misdemeanors in Lancaster County. He remains in the Lancaster County jail. Propped charges Two misdemeanor charges against fifth-string Nebraska I-back James Sims were dropped after he signed onto a pretrial diversions program. Sims was charged with disturbing the peace and vandalism in a July 3 incident with a former girlfriend. The 24-year-old Sims said he was inno cent. Sims and Sarah Price, a 25-year old Lincoln woman, had an argument over Sims’ property that she had tossed into the street. During the inci dent, the woman’s car window was broken and her leg was cut by broken glass. The diversions program allows first-time offenders to be educated in anti-violence techniques and complete 40-45 hours of volunteer work within a year. Sims must participate in the pro gram every month for one year. If he does not complete the program, charges will be refiled. “It’s like being on a year’s proba tion,” said Lee Flynn, director of Di version Services. Credit card simplifies purchases By Jennifer Walker Staff Reporter Many University of Nebraska-Lin coln departments can now purchase supplies and services with just the swipe of a card. Purchasing cards have been distrib uted to about 40 people in several de partments, including all research and extension centers, said Bill Bode, ma terial services administrator. The cards can be used for purchases less than $500. Until recently, departments paid for items such as hardware supplies, pro fessional subscriptions and books with a check-with-order or purchase order form, Bode said. About 20 colleges and universities across the country use purchasing cards, and most are starting to use them. The UNL program, still in its infancy, has been in use just a few weeks, Bode said. The cards are issued by First Chi cago/MasterCard as part of a six month pilot program. The program will expand to 1,000 employees within a year—halfway to the goal of 2,000 employee cardholders by fall 1997. Besides being quicker and easier to use, the purchasing card program com bines all transactions into a weekly computerized invoice, reducing excess paper use. “All of our processes are paper in tensive,” Bode said. “It really cuts down on the paper strangulation on campus.” Once a week, the issuing bank con solidates all charges and sends a com puterized invoice to UNL. An online or electronically accessible transaction report is sent to each department, where the charges are reviewed and reconciled to department records. When all departments have ap proved the invoices, the accounting office processes a single payment to F irst Chicago/MasterCard. The proce dure is done by computer, moving UNL a step closer to a “paperless en vironment,” Bode said. Reaction to the program has been positive. Debra Fritch of the Civil Engineering department has used her card several times and said she appre ciated its efficiency. “I’ve liked the eas6 of it. It’s going really well,” Fritch said. “There’s been a whole gamut of things we have al ready purchased.” The program fits well with Nl) President Dennis Smith’s recent initia tive to streamline administrative pro cesses for greater efficiency, Bode said. “I’m really excited about the cor porate purchasing card,” he said. “I think this demonstrates to the entire business community and other folks that we’re already on the way to re engineering administrative pro cesses.” ~ ^ y' i W L'M. 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