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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1996)
I December 3.1996 — r Tree topper Ej- v • .3 ■ '• • - -.*&■' ‘-“t ~ " Daniel J. Luederi/DN ROT HERETH of Roy’s Window Service Inc. decorates the 0 Street skywalk for the Lincoln Downtown Association Monday afternoon. Downtown Lincoln will be decorated all week long in preparation for the annual Star City Holiday Parade Saturday. I " ■■■ 1 - ■ - ■ ■■■■■■ .. . jr - • : - . - ! Washington trial postponed By Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter The trial of former Nebraska football player | Riley Washington, originally scheduled to be gin today, has been postponed until late Janu ary. . .i Washington is scheduled to stand trial during the week of Jan. 21 for at tempted second-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in the 1995 shooting of Jermaine | Cole. District Judge Bernard McGinn postponedtte trial — more time to prepare his case.. . . | Special prosecutor Ronald Lahners re i quested the additional time because of the amount of information and paperwork involved and so he could taike a deposition from Washington’s former teammate Abdul Muhammad, a defense witness in the case. Wit nesses and police have said Muhammad was with Washington the night of the shooting. Lahners was appointed as the new prosecu tor in August when the court disqualified the Lancaster County Attorney’s office from the case. The defense stated that Deputy County At torney David Stempson, die' original prosecu tor, faced a conflict of interest because of tele phone calls he made to Cole when he moved to Texas. Cole has told prosecutors that he will not tes tify in the case. Lahners also asked McGinn last Wednesday to limit the defense’s case in areas that attacked Cole’s character and reputation because Cole would not be present to defend himself. Cole has known gang affiliations and a criminal his tory including narcotics use and assault on a former girlfriend. >. In October, McGinn prohibited the prosecu tion from using any of Cole’s previous testimony to substitute for Cole’s actual appearance in court Student Involvement and union administrators occupy temporary space in the ball room. Bt Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter Student Involvement staff and Nebraska Union administrators who are moving their of fices into the union ballroom this week will not be having a ball. Both departments are moving into tempo rary offices for 16 to 18 months during the Ne braska Union expansion and renovation projects. Fifteen union administrators and 29 Student In volvement staff members will take refuge in the ballroom on the south side of Nebraska Union’s third level. Workers laid electric, phone and computer lines in the ballroom Monday afternoon. Mask ing tape marked lines on the carpet where cu bicle walls will be constructed. Marilyn Bugenhagen, director of Student Involvement, said people would have to adjust to the new space, but the office’s services would not change. The temporary offices have less space and fewer barriers between office areas and could be confusing for students, she said. “This kind of stress, especially at this time of year, is probably not easy on our student staff,” Bugenhagen said. “The uncertainty is probably the hardest part to deal with.” Operations were hectic in Student Involve ment Monday as staff members emptied then offices, dismantled their furniture and tried to keep organized while still doing their jobs. The essential operations of Student Involve ment — event registration and student consul tations — moved into the union’s administra tion office until the end of this week. Bugenhagen said the staff would operate as well as it could in the temporary office. Some people will have difficulty working in small cu * Please see MOVING on 6 Comp* for uni By Kasey Kerber Senior Reporter Bids for general construction and asbestos removal for the Nebraska Union were higher than expected, but Union Board Director Daryl Swanson said the lowest bids were “manage ably over budget.” Three Lincoln construction companies made bids for construction on the Nebraska Union's expansion Nov. 22. Builder's Incorporated won die bidding with the lowest offering at $9,999,200. The highest bid was placed by Judd Brothers’ Construction at $10,950,000. Swanson said the lowest bid was close to $500,000 over budget, but a process of “value engineering” was currently being used to shave off costs. “We’re going through with a fine-tooth comb looking for ways to decrease costs,” Swanson said. Swanson said construction bids seemed to be going up in general because of the increased importance of mechanical costs compared to construction costs. “This project is 45 percent mechanical,” Swanson said. “Mechanical costs seem to be escalating at a higher rate than general construc tion costs.” Swanson also said a lack of competition contributed to higher bids, as only three com panies made bids for the project. A bid also was accepted for asbestos removal in the Nebraska Union after seven bids were turned down in late November. National Service Geaning’s bid was ac cepted as die lowest The company, based in Houston, also handled the asbestos removal project for Burnett Hall. Big 12 championship tickets expected to be sold out today By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter Anyone wanting to make the trek to St. Louis for the Big 12 Playoff football game better rush over to the ticket office this - morning. John Anderson, ticket manager at the Athletic Department, said no students walking up to die windows to purchase ; tickets would be turned down as long as there woe some left — but the supply is going quickly. . All of the original 7,500 tickets allot ted to Nebraska have been sold. But the North Division schools that did not make it to the playoff game donated 200 tickets to Nebraska, providing a total of 1,200 ex tra tickets. “It’s hard for them to sell tickets to a game they’re not participating in,” Ander son said. “It’s common courtesy to offer us the tickets. “You make a Mend and you have some body to move your tickets for you, too.” The ticket office began selling the 1,200 extra tickets Monday morning. Mike Warren, a sophomore political sci ence major, started calling the ticket office at 9 a.m. Monday and got constant busy signals until 9:45 a.m. By that time, War ren said, the ticket office had sold out of $60 tickets; only $40 seats remained. But Warren managed to get five tickets all together, he said. As of Monday afternoon, all but 250 tickets had been sold, Anderson said.
