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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
