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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1996)
• f i * * * * I §: I I I i ‘ r'-'-- -- 1 " . 11 ' ■ » . 1 11 1 1#-a. LI- -■ ■ --■-■ ■_B_a_ humme diogks aepuyiiieiii of s^UNi American troops WASHINGTON (AP) — Shaky U.S. efforts to maintain a united front against Saddam Hussein hit another snag Sunday. Kuwait, the nation saved in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, tempo rarily withheld permission for 5,000 additional American troops to be sta tioned there. Administration officials stressed they fully expected Kuwait to approve the deployment soon, but critics jumped on die delay as another ex ample of the administration failing to hold together the Gulf War coalition. “What kind of a lack of consulta 1 tion with our allies is this that we | would end up in this kind of a t muddle?” House Speaker Newt | Gingrich asked on NBC’s “Meet the i Press.” “This situation is in terrible disar * i . ray. The credibility of the United States is at stake,” Sen. John McCain, R Ariz., said in ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley.” Defense Secretary William Perry, during a visit to Kuwait Sunday, said he had sought permission for the troops from the emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah. He was told the matter would be taken up by the emirate’s defense committee, Perry said. It previously was announced in the United States that 5,000 troops from Fort Hood, Texas, would leave for Kuwait, but with'soldiers packing on Saturday, the operation was put on hold until permission was granted. President Clinton, asked by report ers about the Kuwaiti deployment, said the decision was made public “before we had done our regular consultation and the Kuwaitis had done their regu lar review. As far as I know, there is nothing irregular or troubling here.” “It is my expectation that we will hear very shortly that they will be de lighted to accept these troops,” Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on ABC. Already, 1,200 American troops are in Kuwait for training exercises with the Kuwaiti military. The U.S. military response over the past several weeks to Iraqi President Saddam’s military adventures in north ern Iraq has been shadowed by inabil ity to obtain the support and participa tion of most Western and Middle East ern countries who joined the coalition to drive Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. Please see IRAQ on 6 i ' MAKflSPECRflDN LIZA MENDOZA, instructor for the Zapatos Alegres dance-group, leads the Mexican Bottle Danceon Sunday at the Hispanic Heritage Festival. ! Hispanic Heritage Festival celebrates culture, children Dances, stoiwtelung and face painting entertain families to make the cel ebration a success. > ByTashaE.Kelteb Staff Reporter This year’s Hispanic Heritage Festival had a distinct family feel. During the open ing ceremony, one child from each Hispanic country carried that country’s flag. Another family-oriented feature was the children’s area, staffed by 35 student volun c 1 teers from UNL’s Teachers College. The children’s area included bilingual storytelling, balloon painting and other crafts, as well as face painting. “We want families to enjoy this with their children,” said Kris Miller, a UNL curricu lum instructor. The bilingual storytelling is important because, she said, they want to en courage children to practice their Spanish and English. Many of the children are bilingual al ready, Miller said. Ten years ago, the celebration originated as a small fur in the back of the Hispanic: Center, said Hispanic Center volunteer Lon Sorenson. Few several years after that, it con sisted of one dance group and a few booths Please see FESTIVAL on 3 . Senator supports Hagel, militaiy-minded leadership By Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter President Clinton’s poor deci sion making in the Iraq conflict is just one reason why Washington needs military-minded leadership, a Republican Senator from Arizona said Saturday. Sen. John McCain said he wants candidate Chuck Hagel to win the Nebraska senate seat so the Repub licans can preserve majority lead ership and continue progress on the Republican agenda. ‘To lose majority would bring many much-needed reforms to a halt,” McCain said. The last poll of Nebraska vot ers showed Hagel 21 points behind Democratic candidate Ben Nelson. „, Please see McCAIN 09,6 to handle terrorist attacks By Erin Gibson Staff Reporter on East Campus. “Managing the Conse quences,” will train about 150 government of ficials, police and fire departments, emergency personnel and business leaders to handle the aftermath of a terrorist attack in the Heartland. “Until the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, the threat of terrorism seemed very distant,” Nelson said in a state ment. “Unfortunately, the reality is that a terrorist attack can occur anytime anywhere, and we must ensure that Nebraska is ready to handle an attack.” The conference will be at the Clifford Hardin Nebraska Center for Continuing Education and is sponsored by the Nebraska Emergency Man agement Agency (NEMA) under a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. NEMA public information officer Tim Hergenrader said the terrorist threat is present in Nebraska, and that terrorist attach pose unique problems for government and emer gency personnel. “It’s similar to the aftermath of a hurricane,” Hergenrader said. “But the crime scene is very difficult.” Mass casualties and intense media attention compound the difficulty of dealing with an at tack, he said. Extremist and militia groups in northeast and northwest Nebraska, including Posse Comita tus, could pose a threat, Hergenrader said. The groups oppose taxes and other government “in terference” in their lives. “The purpose of a terrorist attack is to dis rupt government functions and people,” Hergenrader said. “If we learned something ■ ' flUB’Okfihoma City, we learned that there are people who will go to any extreme do to that.” The conference will prepare emergency per sonnel to handle an attack in any locale, he said. Lincoln Police Sgt. Ann Heermann said police are trained to deal with emergency situ ations, but not specifically a terrorist attack. “Police do a lot of the same things at any crime scene,” Heermann said. She said the threat of an attack is probably less in Nebraska than in more populated regions. “But, after Oklahoma City, you could never rule it out,” she said. “It’s as random as any thing.” UNL Police Chief Ken Cauble said two ser geants from the UNL police force will attend the conference. Memorial Stadium on game days could pro vide an opportunity for disaster, he said. Dara Troutman, press secretary for Nelson, said the governor is acting responsibly by hav ing the conference. The conference marks the next step in a con tinuous process of preparedness against terror ism, she said. After the Persian Gulf War, security mea sures were stepped up in federal and county buildings across Nebraska, Troutman said. The Oklahoma City bombing further awak ened Nebraskans to the threat of terrorism, she said. “It was an unfortunate awakening,” Troutman said. “It showed us that we aren’t immune.” Regents OK construction bid Minnesota firm to build transplant center By Erin Schuue % 4 Senior Reporter The NU Board of Regents approved PennCo Construction of Eagon, Minn., as the construc tion firm for Omaha’s Lied Transplant Center at its meeting Friday. PennCo Construction was chosen even thoi^i the company's bid was $2.8 million mile than the university originally planned to spend. All three companies that made estimates on the project bid over the projected cost of $49.8 million. ^ Regent Charles Wilson of Lincoln proposed an extensively debated amendment to approve PennCo without approving die budget increase. NU President Dennis Smith warned that ap proving the Wilson amendment would, in ef fect, kill the proposal to hirePennCo. That would mean a search for new bids and construction delay s until a new company could be hired. H Smith said a delay in construction would mean $8,000 per day in inflationary construc ^ Please see REGENTS on 6
