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_January 24, 1996_
Clinton confronts skeptical Congress
By Terence Hunt
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a State of
the Union address to a skeptical Re
publican Congress, President Clinton
Tuesday night traced the themes of his
upcoming re-election campaign and
confronted the GOP on the budget,
demanding they “never, ever” shut the
government again.
- Democrats rose
State of "** loud,.cheers'
II_.X. n but Republicans sat
UiG Union in stony silence at
Clinton s chal
lenge. GOP law
makers — particu
larly the rebellious
House freshmen—
had been coached
by party elders to
be on good behav
ior and not boo Clinton, as some did
last year.
The speech was brief by Clinton
standards — 61 minutes — far less
than last year ’ s record 81 -minute mara
thon.
Clinton proposed several new ini
tiatives, among them $ 1,000 college
scholarships for the top 5 percent of
graduates from every high school, and
turning the FBI loose on youth gangs.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich,
Clinton’s yearlong nemesis, sat im
mediately behind the president, ap
plauding politely on some occasions,
and sitting in stem silence when the
president criticized Congress.
And criticize he did.
“I challenge all ofyou in this cham
ber,” Clinton said, “never, ever shut
the government again.” He said it was
time to “finish the job” and pass a
balanced budget plan that he could
sign.
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,
listening along with her GOP
Whitewater critics, was applauded as
she entered with her 15-year-old
daughter, Chelsea, making her first
State of the Union appearance. The
president introduced the beleaguered
Hillary Clinton as a “wonderful wife,
a magnificent mother and a great first
lady, and Chelsea led a standing ova
tion of Democrats and Republicans
alike,
“The era of big government is
over,” Clinton said, twice, as if to
capture a campaign slogan.
Clinton said the state of the union
was “strong” and cited economic and
falling crime rates to make the case.
With tempers rubbed raw by
months ofbattle, Republicans accused
Clinton of standing in the way of bal
ancing the budget, cutting taxes, re
forming welfare and giving parents
more control over schools.
Clinton’s speech provided a clear
counterpoint to the Republican
agenda. He challenged their stands on
welfare reform, tax cuts, the minimum
wage, health insurance, Medicare and
Medicaid, environmental cleanup,
crime-fighting and foreign policy.
Many Congressional Republicans
—especially among the House fresh
men — are furious with Clinton for
. j See ADDRESS on 6
I Speech draws mixed response
By Ted Taylor
Senior Reporter
Nebraska politicians were di
vided on President Clinton’s State
of the Union address Tuesday night,
saying it wasn’t without its bright
spots but that partisan politics had
again reared its ugly head.
“I thought the partisanship was
too heavy. You can see neither side
is willing to budge very much,”
Gov. Ben Nelson said regarding
the current budget crisis.
Republ ican Rep. Doug Bereuter
criticized the address, saying
Clinton passed up an opportunity
“to forsake political gamesmanship
and really work with the Republi
can-controlled Congress for the
good of the country.”
But Nelson praised Clinton for
hi s comments about returning power
to the states.
“I’m encouraged that some
power will be given back to the
states,” he said.
Among Clinton’s proposals
was a scholarship program that
would give $1,000 to every high
school student who graduates in
the top five percent of his or her
class.
Nelson said the program would
gain a lot of attention, but he ques
tioned whether Washington was
capable of managing it and other
Clinton proposals.
Bereuter questioned where money
for Clinton’s programs would come
from.
See REACTION on 6
—
Professor helps African natives
By Erin Schulte
Staff Reporter
Africa is changing.
Man-made structures are replacing natu
ral agricultural assets. Families are being
moved off native lands and into government
projects.
And although this progress is inevitable,
Robert Hitchcock says he is trying to ease the
transition for native Africans.
Hitchcock, an associate professor of an
thropology and coordinator of African stud
ies, spends about three months of every year
in Third World countries (usually southern
Africa) overseeingdevelopment projects and
trying to help natives adjust to moderniza
tion.
This often involves building schools or
medical facilities, overseeing natural resource
management, and helping to improve devel
opment plans proposed by banks or funding
agencies. Hitchcock said his job was to make
sure money for development was put to proper
use.
For years, he said, indigenous people
have been displaced in the name of techno
logical development, both in the United States
and overseas.
“It’s impossible that development won t
reach these areas,” Hitchcock said. “World
population is too high. It’s not possible for
them to be remote.”
About 300 million indigenous people
across the globe are being affected by devel
opment projects, and the effects are usually
the same in any country, he said.
Indigenous people suffer in four ways, he
said: Their land is taken away, they are
forced to abide by treaties, their resource
base (livestock or land) is destroyed, and
they become dependent on the state.
Hitchcock learned of the plight of the
African bushmen when he was researching
archeology in Africa 20 years ago. The bush
men told Hitchcock about government take
over of their lands.
This, he said, was when he started his
lifelong quest to preserve human rights of
indigenous people.
His trips usually are funded by churches
or state departments of various countries.
“I’m realistic enough to know that if I
don’t intervene, it will be a lot worse for
them,” Hitchcock said.
Government funding often helps out the
indigenous people affected by these pro
grams. Countries such as Norway and Swe
den spend up to 10 percent of their budgets
on development projects in foreign coun
' See HITCHCOCK on 6
r I i in ni—p a——^
Scott Bruhn/DN
Robert Hitchcock, associate professor of anthropology and coordinator of
African studies at UNL, is shown with a Nigerian secret society mask used
in traditional ceremonies. Hitchcock will be returning to Africa this June for
a six-month stay.
Schiondoit
sentenced
in shooting
By Chad Lorenz
Senior Reporter
A former University of Nebraska-Lincoln
student convicted in the shooting of a UNL
police officer was sentenced Tuesday to at least
20 years in prison.
Gerald Schlondorf, 32, pleaded not respon
sible by reason of insanity to nine felony charges
stemming from a Sept. 12,1994, car chase and
shooting.
In December, a jury found him guilty on
seven of nine felony counts, includingattempted
second-degree murder, first-degree assault,
making terroristic threats, fleeing to avoid ar
rest and three counts of using a weapon to
commit a felony.
The total maximum sentence for all counts
was 1 /U years.
Lancaster County District Judge Bernard
McGinn sentenced Schlondorf to no fewer than
20 years in prison and no more than 56 years.
Schlondorf led police on a low-speed chase
through Lincoln after he pointed a .45-caliber,
semi-automatic Thompson replica and yelled
“bang, bang” at two Lincoln police officers.
During the chase, Schlondorf fired shots at
University of Nebraska-Lincoln police officer
Robert Soflin near 16th and R streets. Soflin
sustained wounds to his hand, neck and shoul
der.
Before the sentencing, Schlondorf offered
an apology.
“I never would have tried to hurt anyone if I
wasn’t obsessed with suicide,” he said. “I didn’t
mean to hurt anyone.”
Schlondorf threatened suicide several times
and actually attempted suicide in April 1993
when he was a resident of Neihardt Residence
Hall. Ironically, it was Soflin who saved
Schlondorf s life that night.
Dennis Keefe, the public defender who rep
resented Schlondorf, said the circumstances of
the case made determining a fair sentence diffi
cult.
“Die judge had as hard of a time as we did,”
Keefe said. “Given the total facts of this case...
the judge was as fair as he could be.”
The sentence gave Schlondorf a hope for
getting mental treatment after his release, Keefe
said. Schlondorf may be released on parole in 8
1/2 years, he said.
Chief Deputy Attorney John Colbom, who
prosecuted Schlondorf, declined to comment
on the sentence.
Soflin said he thought the jail sentence was
fair and justified for public safety reasons.
“I felt justice was served,” Soflin said.