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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1996)
Friday November 1JL996 m ^ Lane Hickenboitom/DN DI DANIELSON, manager of Coffee Culture, takes a break from work Thursday afternoon on the 1300 block of 0 street. Lanphier defends reconl to juddal watch group By Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter When Nebraskans vote whether or not to retain judges Tuesday, they need to decide dif ferently than they decide their votes for presi dent or senators, one embattled judge said Thurs day. Nebraska Supreme Court Judge David Lanphier said people should look at judges’ performances, not the issues on which they’ve ruled. A judge’s responsibility is to apply the law to the facts, not their own beliefs on issues, he said. “That’s why in Nebraska, we don’t run against candidates,” the 51-year-old judge said. A Nebraska judicial watch group has launched a campaign urging Nebraskans to vote against Lanphier for another state supreme court term. Citizens for Responsible Judges has criti cized Lanphier’s decisions to overturn term lim its and redefine second-degree murder. The sec ond-degree murder ruling made more than 100 inmates eligible for new trials and dozens have taken their cases back to court. Lanphier said he had participated in at least 2,000 decisions since he began serving on the supreme court in 1993. Citizens for Responsible Judges is distorting Lanphier’s record by pick ing out two or three, he said. “You could take any three cases and make anything you want of it,” he said. And not all the cases the supreme court de cides are important enough to be publicized, Lanphier said. Usually only the court’s contro versial decisions make the front pages of news papers, he said. Because Citizens for Responsible Judges has declined to file financial disclosure papers, Lanphier doesn’t know who is funding the cam Please see LANPHIER on 6 411,412 supporters say opponents' getting desperate ~T$?12iiin Gibson Staff Reporter ' Proponents of ballot initiatives 411 and 412 Thursday predicted a victory and said opponents had resorted to desperate measures in an attempt t© defeat the initiatives during the last days be fore the election. Randy Moody, campaign chairman for Citi zens for 411 and 412, said he was confident the initiatives would pass. The Omaha World-Herald recently released a poll that showed the initiatives lacking in sup port, he said. But Moody called the poll results “totally bogus.” “They either intentionally fixed the results, or them pollster made a big error,” Moody said. A random poll taken internally by Citizens for 411 and 412 shows initiative 412 winning by 10 points, Moody said. Initiative 411 would make providing a thor ough and efficient education to all persons be tween the ages of 5 and 21 the paramount duty of the state. Initiative 412 would place levy limits on property taxes, resulting in a significant reduc tion of property taxes statewide. Moody said opponents to the initiatives, in cluding well-known community leaders, are pressured to oppose the initiatives by big cor porate donations and have resorted to desper ate radio commercials that disparage both 411 and 412. “Government officials are scared to death that their school boards are going to have to be more efficient when the initiatives pass,” he said. Moody also accused the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce of a ploy to coerce members and employees into voting against the initiatives. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Alumni Please see INITIATIVES on page 7 Church buys Purchase is ‘an opportunity straight from uoa, ministry leaner says By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter Move over beer kegs, and make room for Bibles. One UNL fraternity house has seen the last of its party days because a Lin coln church plans on turning it into a ministry outpost and residence for Christian college men. Indian Hills Community Church bought the old Pi Kappa Phi fraternity this M from the fraternity’s alumni chapter for $ 115,(XX), and church lead ers say it’s an opportunity straight from X -Owl. “We had actually been looking for a good eight orl& years for a way to get onto campus,” said Mark Pedersen, administrative assistant for Indian Hills. “This is die Lord’s provision at the right time.” The church bought the three-story, 18-bedroom building on University Terrace from the Pi Kappa Phi Alumni Chapter in September. The alumni chapter bought the building in 1987 for $55,000 from the NU Board of Regents and had been making payments up un til September. Fi Kappa Flii lost its charter and closed last spring. ■ Pedersen said the non-denomina tional Bible-based church will open its first floor sometime this spring after renovations. The first floor will have an office for the church’s college pastor Pat Abendroth. Bible studies and meetings will be during the week, and the house will probably have a lounge area for recreation or studying. Abendroth said there will be room for Christian con certs as well. Abendroth said he also hoped stu dents facing tougjh life decisions would drop into die center, for which they have not yet picked a name. “Christian or non-Christian stu dents can ask questions, and we tty to provide answers to life’s questions with answers from the Bible,” Abendroth said. On a larger scale, the church said it plans to open up student housing for about 30 men within a year or so. College men in the church say they need a living environment with a more Christian atmosphere, Pedersen said “It will be Christ-centered hous ing,” Pedersen said And that’s a good change from the residence halls, one UNL student said. Dan McDonald, a freshman pre physical therapy major from Omaha, now lives in Abel Hall. But when die old fraternity opens up the rooms, he said, he’ll be moving in. ‘it would just be fun to be around other Christians and have our own dif ferent environment,” McDonald said ‘Everybody’s really excited about it” McDonald said it would also be earner to reach out to other students from the new location than its current location cm south 84th Street. ‘It will be easier to get people to Bible study because we’re right on campus,” he said. - _ Please see MOVE on 6 _ - .. -.;u College loses friend, professor to cancer MatthewWaite Senior Reporter Richard Streckfuss, a University of Nebraska-Lin4oln journalism professor, lost a long battle with cancer Thursday morning. He was 64. Streckfuss was diagnosed with cancer in April and was given just weeks to live. During his time after diagnosis, he continued to work in his garden and on a research project he started five years ago. ... Funeral services for Streckfuss are pending. He is survived by his wife, Jeanetta Drueke; four children from a previous marriage, Matt, George, David and Amy, who is a UNL business major; and several grandchildren. Streckfuss came to UNL in 1980. Before that, he was a reporter for 15 years and city editor for four years at the Bloomington (111.) Daily Pantagraph. He also taught journalism classes at Illinois State University from 1977 to 1978 and at the University of Illinois from 1978 to 1980. Professors, administrators and students in the College of Journal ism and Mass Communications re member Streckfuss as a friend to students. Will Norton, dean of the col lege, said UNL’s journalism school is known for its focus mi students, and Streckfuss was its most vocal student advocate. “Dick Streckfuss was highly thought of by students,” Norton said. “That’s the contribution he made to the college. He tried to take the position of the students.” Alfred “Bud” Pagel, a journal ism professor who has worked with Streckfuss for more than 14 years, said Streckfuss was a marvelous Please see STBECKEVSS on 6
