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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1995)
FRIDAY WEATHER: Today - Parity sunny. Warm. West wind 20 to 30 mph. Tonight - Partly cloudy. Low 20 to 30. COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 95 NO. 71 --—_ —... .. _|_December 1, 1995 Three officers testify in Schlondorf trial By Jeff Zeleny Senior Reporter After following a blue pickup truck on ar intense chase across the city last year, Lincolr police Officer Tim Woolman came face to face with the man who allegedly had already fired at two policemen. Woolman said Thursday that if the man had aimed his semiautomatic rifle at him, the of ficer would have blown him away. “I thought I was going to have to shoot Mr. Schlondorf before he shot me or other bystand ers,” Woolman said during the third day of tes timony in Gerald Schlondorf’s attempted sec ond-degree murder trial. Schlondorf, 32, stands trial for the Sept. 12, 1994, shooting of University Police Officei Robert Soflin. Schlondorf also is accused of fir ing at another officer whom he passed during Panel covers causes, effects of violent acts By John Fulwider Senior Reporter The first Community Conversations forum Thursday drew more than 50 spectators but pro voked little involvement from its audience. A panel of UNL administrators and faculty, Lincoln community leaders and two UNL stu dents answered questions on the topic “Vio lence: Perspectives on Causes and Effects.” John Harris, special assistant to the vice chancellor for student affairs, was moderator for the discussion. Panelists gave their opinions about problems with violence, but offered few solutions. Larry Doerr, a campus minister who organized the forum, said at the forum’s start that the group was not there to come up with answers. One cause they could agree on was alcohol’s rol© in violence against people and property. Ken Cauble, university police chief, said al cohol was a factor in 93 percent of vandalism and criminal mischief cases, 90 percent of fights and 100 percent of sexual assault cases. Cauble recalled that 10 years ago;public in toxication was illegal in Lincoln. There were far fewer crimes then, he said. Now, he said, getting drunk at the bars and walking on the tops of cars on the way home is seen as no big deal. Karen Eckerie, community educator with the Rape/Spouse Abuse Crisis Center, cited statis tics similar to Cauble’s. She said alcohol was a factor in 75 to 90 percent of the sexual assault cases she’d seen at the center. Campus safety came up early in the discus sion when Harris asked the panel if the real is sue was not the actual occurrence of violence but the fear that it would occur. Cauble said it was the latter. “I think there’s a perception of fear, a per ception of danger on campus,” he said. The panel also briefly discussed a campus concern of violence against property. Deb Mullen, complex program director for Abel-Sandoz Residence Hall Complex, said vandalism was extensive in the halls. “It indicates a frustration and an anxiety level that is out of control for some of our students,” she said. Cauble said a sense of community was nec essary for people to respect others and their property. “One of the reasons we do have a safe cam pus is because a lot of people are community involved,” he said. Tolerating the crime that does occur has been a question panelists and the university campus have grappled with in recent months. Harris asked, “Should we have a zero tolerance policy on campus?” “Yes,” Cauble said. “And it should be equal across the board,” for administrators, faculty, staff and students. See FORUM on 6 an eight-minute chase through Lincoln that night. - The former University of Nebraska-Lincoln criminal justice major has pleaded not guilty and not responsible by reason of insanity to nine felonies charges. His Lancaster County District Court trial is expected to conclude late next week. Three police officers, including Soflin and Woolman, testified Thursday. UNL student Russell Ripa, who said he witnessed the shoot ing at 16th and R streets, also took the stand. Dozens of police officers were involved in most of the eight-minute chase that began near State Fair Park in north Lincoln and ended in a 17-minute standoff at 27 th Street and Nebraska Highway 2. Officer Mark Stahlhut told the six male and six female jurors that a man matching I-— Schlondorf’s description fired at least three shots at him while he was in his police cruiser near 22nd and South streets. Stahlhut was not hit by the bullets. The chase progressed from 16th Street to South Street, where Schlondorf turned east. Woolman, who led the fleet of police cruisers, testified that the suspect held his replica submachine gun up throughout much of the chase. Woolman said the gunman leaned out the window and aimed the gun at him twice. “I thought I was a little too close if he was going to fire on me,” Woolman said. Officers said Schlondorf drove the speed limit for most of the chase and even signaled at least one left turn. Woolman said Schlondorf finally stopped the vehicle because traffic was * backed up when he reached the highway. Schlondorf stepped out of his Chevrolet pickup and pointed his weapon to the ground. Woolman ordered Schlondorf to put his weapon down, but Schlondorf allegedly held the gun at his side for about 17 minutes. “He just stood there looking straight ahead at me,” Woolman said. Schlondorf did not speak until the end of the standoff, Woolman said, when he asked to speak with Sgt. Jim Hawkins. Woolman said he told him that could be arranged if he dropped his gun. Hawkins, who. is in charge of hiring new police officers, interviewed Schlondorf during at least one of his four attempts to join the po lice force. A home videotape of the standoff was played See SCHLONDORF on 6 Tanna Kinnaman/DN Though a semi-trailer truck easily fits beneath the 0 Street skywalk, many floats for the Star City Parade will need to squeeze under it. Star City on parade Saturday By Kasey Kerber Staff Reporter A giant moose will roam O Street Satur day morning. Bullwinkle will be the largest balloon in the 11th Annual Star City Holiday Parade, which begins at 11 a.m. at 1 Oth and O streets and ends at 13th and L streets. Viewed by about 85,000 viewers on KOLN/KGIN-TV, the parade is one of few in the nation that consis tently features bands. floats and rare giant balloons. This year’s parade will feature the theme “Magical Dreams.” Cindi Zuby, the parade’s executive director, said the theme prompted enthusiasm and a variety of ideas from par ticipating sponsors and organizations. “There’s been everything from wizards to ice princesses being done,” Zuby said. “We’ve even hired a professional magician for the event.” Th&event will be massive. Ninety differ ent units, 147 sponsors and more than 6,000 people will be involved in the parade; 1,350 of those will be in the bands. “W’e have a great variety of bands this year. The parade will feature the UNL Cornhusker Band, all five area high school bands and 18 out-of-city bands,” Zuby said. Perhaps the most notable change this year will be in the variety of giant balloons. This year’s parade will feature seven bal loons — including four giant helium balloons of P.J. Funnybunny, Felix the Cat, a Snowstar with other heavenly bodies and, of course, Bullwinkle. “The Bullwinkle balloon will be the tall est the Star City Parade has seen,” Zuby said. “It stands at 82 feet.” See PARADE on 6 Omaha, Lincoln observe World AIDS Day By Tonya Cross Staff Reporter " “ 1 The cities of Lincoln and Omaha have planned many events today for the eighth an nual World AIDS Day, including the dimming of lights at the State Capitol, a candlelight vigil and a play. Pat Tetreault, sexuality education coordina tor at the University Health Center, said the cen ter distributed 25,000 fliers and 15,000 infor mation cards statewide to promote awareness of World AIDS Day events. The’ center also distributed many fliers to university residence halls to make sure students received information about World AIDS Day. Free red ribbons will be distributed in Ne braska Unions, and some union restaurants — such as Amigos and Burger King — will de duct 10 percent off their meals for those wear ing the ribbons. Free “Love Safely” packets also will be dis tributed. The packets contain safer sex infor mation, HIV facts and two condoms. Richard Santee, volunteer coordinator for die Nebraska AIDS Project, said all people had a stake in stopping the disease. “The best way to do it is to educate,” he said. Later this month, the Lincoln-Lancaster County AIDS Task Force will kick off its edu cation campaign, “Love Enough to Educate,” with billboards placed around Lincoln. See AIDS on 3