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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1996)
m •-> - - ■ • ■< • , ' - -• • ' J ■f - V ' ^ w %. *•’ - * * ' N \ - Dole supports amendment to end affirmative action _ * •• ',1: mcnard Jewell holds his ground^ shakes off accusations and suspi cions. By Tara Meyer Associated Press ATLANTA — For 88 days, Rich ard Jewell stoically stood his ground, professing his innocence while he was branded the FBI’s chief suspect in the Olympic Park pipe bombing. Finally cleared by prosecutors, the weight of suspicion lifted, he let his guard down and cried The tears came Monday as he re called the bodies of friends injured by the blast, and then he turned to his mother, whq buried her head in her hand. “Mem, thanks for standing by me and believing in me,” he said, his voice choking. “I love you.” Another emotion—anger—came out as he lashed out at reporters and investigators who had depicted him as the man who brought the specter of terrorism to the Summer Olympics. But at the end of the press confer ence, he calmly delivered a message. “I thank God that it has now ended ■ and that you now know what I have , known all along,” he said in a firm ! voice. v “I am an innocent man.” The July 27 bomb blast at Centen nial Olympic Park — the informal : gathering place for spectators at the Games—killed one woman outright, was blamed for a cameraman’s death and injured more than 100. < Jewell initially was hailed as a hero : for alerting authorities to a suspicious < l “ “ :-—-« : M I thank God that it has now ended, and that you now know what I have known all along. I am an innocent man.” Richard Jewell - former suspect in Olympic Park bombing knapsack and helping to evacuate the area. He gave numerous interviews i until, three days after the bombing, The i Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported i lie was a suspect. i Reporters staked out his apartment i complex for days and followed his ev- j cry move, while Jewell refused to com ment. His mother, Barbara, in August i tearfully begged President Clinton to “end this nightmare.” i “I felt like a hunted animal, fol- 1 lowed constantly, waiting to be killed,” Jewell said. “The media said I fit the profile of a lone bomber. That was a ; lie. The media said I was a frustrated 1 police wanna-be. That was a lie. I was, . then and now, a law enforcement of- i ficer.” On Saturday, federal prosecutors gave Jewell’s attorneys a letter clear- 1 ng him as a suspect. To Jewell and his ittomeys, the letter is a weak attempt it an apology. “While the government can tell you that I am an innocent man, the government’s letter cannot give me jack my good name or my reputation,” Jewell said, r “In their mad rush to fulfill their jwn personal agendas, the FBI and the media almost destroyed me and my mother.” His lawyers plan to sue the Jour lal-Constitution and NBC for com nents Tom Brokaw made in early news eports about the bombing. The Jour lal-Constitution on Monday defended ts stories about Jewell as “accurate and ippropriate.” A lawsuit against the FBI is being considered. “I don’t have enough words, I can’t cuss enough, to describe the way they lave treated this man,” said Watson Bryant, one of Jewell’s lawyers. He also lashed out at the FBI over iffidavits released Monday that were lsed to gain warrants for searches of fewell’s home and other property in the lays after the bombing, saying they are ‘full of half-truths.” The papers, which a judge had or iered unsealed with names blacked 3ut, quote several acquaintances speak ing of Jewell’s fascination with police work. They also quote witnesses who saw Jewell in the vicinity of the explo sion, but none who saw him handle the bomb. “I think the American public should 3e shocked at how little it takes for the government to get a search warrant,” Bryant said. “Who are these people?” FBI spokesman Jay Spadafore de clined to respond. Labor w,n"c,l Motors stffl remain at bargaining table students II injured in bus accident < i _ ] From The Associated Press \ ANGLETON, Texas — A \ school bus driver and 13 elemen tary students were injured—two ‘ critically—When a pickup truck forced their bus off a rural road ' and into a ditch Monday after- ^ noon. The bus was carrying 15 chil- j dren home from Westside El ementary School about 55 miles ’ south of Houston when die driver swerved to avoid colliding with a pickup truck and ended up on ' its side in a ditch. Police were looking for the 1 truck, which failed to stop. Two 9-year-old girls were hos pitalized in critical condition. Eleven others had lesser injuries. The bus driver, 35-year-old Maiy Melissa Chaver, was hos pitalized in good condition Mon day night. DETROIT (AP) — General Mo^ ors and the United Auto Workers ne gotiated into the early morning hours Monday, passing a midnight strike leadline, and the union ruled out a valkout for the moment. “The oily place you can settle these igreements is at the bargaining table,” JAW President Stephen Yokich said it a news conference. There had been speculation that tfter the UAW’s midnight deadline massed without a contract, the union night have called a strike at selected slants or sent all its 215,000 GM mem bers to the picket line. But the union iecided to return to the bargaining able; talks were to resume today. Talks broke off around 2 a jn. Mon lay after nearly 17 hours. Negotiators hen were glum-faced and declined to comment. But workers went to their obs as usual Monday, awaiting word )n what was to came next. Management issued a statement epeating what it had said for the past several days. Gerald Knechtel, GM’s /ice president of personnel, said GM las made “significant progress” on nany issues. “We are committed to continuing the dialogue and resolving the remain ing issues with the UAW,” Knechtel said. Yokich said the UAW remained committed to the idea of entering the next century with the Big Three auto makers as partners. He said the UAW entered the talks in that spirit and wasn’t ready to give up. “We intend to go back to the main table,” he said. “We intend to try to reach an agreement.” He said Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp., which have already settled with the UAW, understood the partnership idea, but “I’m not too sure that GM still understands that,” Yokich said. Negotiations became complicated last week because of UAW’s demand to keep at least 95 percent of its union jobs over the next three years. Ford and Chrysler have already agreed to the demand, but it was un clear if the issue was still a sticking point with GM after negotiators met for nearly 17 hours over the weekend. If the union does strike, it could call a nationwide work stoppage or select certain plants for walkouts. • ■ SAN DIEGO (AP)—Bob Dole sounded his campaign-year call once again to end affirmative action, saying Monday that “racial distinc tions have no place in our lives or in our laws.” Reiterating his endorsement of California’s Proposition 209 that would end race- and sex-based pref erences in public jobs and educa tion, the former senator acknowl edged he (Mice supported such pref erences. “It is true that many of us... sup ported some race-conscious mea sure designed to speed the process of inclusion—measures that were supposed to be transitional and tem porary,” Dole said. “But this was a blind alley in the search for equal justice. We should have learned from it.” Sounding an introspective note, Dole added: “Every time I drive to work in Washington, D.C., or drive down North Capitol Street and I see dozens and dozens of black men without work, I say to myself, ‘What has this law done for them?’ Abso lutely nothing.” Dole, in an all-out bid to win California, spoke to a small, indoor gathering of Republicans. Outdoors as Dole crossed the street from his downtown hotel, he was harangued by at least 100 Clinton-Gore sup porters and opponents of Proposi tion 209 who bore signs calling the ballot initiative racist. “It is easy for demagogues of ei ther side to play on fear or play on resentment,” Dole said. President Clinton opposes the initiative and has said of affirma tive action, “mend it, don’t end it.” Ibis morning, Califomia.Gov. Pete Wilson called the president’s policy a “semantic dodge.” With polls finding Dole lagging E in California anywhere from 8 to 20 points behind Clinton, the GOP campaign extended its tour here by one day and floated plans for a last minute blitz of the state next week. “This is the state — if he can’t win California, he’s going back to Little Rock,” Dole said. The GOP released a new TV ad to air in 50 House districts and warn voters that electing a Democratic Congress would amount to a blank check for Clinton. It amounted to a tacit admission that the president may be on his way to a second term. In a conference call with report ers Monday, Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour said, “The ads remind people of why they are against Clinton. They talk about what Clinton was like when he had a Democratic Congress. It rein forces Dole’s message.” The Dole campaign released its own new ads today: one in Florida to combat Democratic charges that Dole’s tax cuts would gut Medicare. The other, featuring a working mother in support of Dole’s eco nomic plan, is being aired in the Midwest and other regions. Later Monday, Dole was to go to Newport Beach to film the last of his campaign commercials. Clinton was in the Midwest tout ing reductions in the federal budget deficit during his presidency. Re publicans previously had credited the GOP-run Congress for shrink ing the deficit. A Los Angeles Times poll last week showed a slim maj ority—54 percent — in favor of Proposition 209, and only 7 percent who-con sidered illegal immigration a major factor in their voting. FAX NUMBER: 472-1761 The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publica tions Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday 9(1 Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling 472-2588. The public has access to the Publications Board. Subscription price is $55 for one year. / Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,-Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lin coln, Neb. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1996 DAILY NEBRASKAN ... ....' . .. .. ,'..'Y.' ..: •. - — Chi Omega Pumpldafest *96 benefiting the. Nebraska Stroke Foundation October 30. &00 pm. at the Chi Omega House Halloween goodies, awanb for best carved pumpkins. A a pie-eating contest Come join es for the fun! Students may enter a carredpumpkin into competition for S5. Deliverpumpkin to Chi Onega bouse by 3 pm Oct 30. Wednesday. November 6 It AM-2 PM Nebraska u"“" a».|m iQ<*§ of your Jr heart,... * Volunteer!!