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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1997)
sports- a * e- MONDAY Too much KU Big draw February 3, 1997 The Nebraska women blew a 12-point lead to lose The Friday re-release of “Star Wars” had some to No. 12 KU 67-59 Sunday. The NU men lost to fans standing in line all day for tickets, but most GROUNDHOG In Need Of - the No. 1 Jayhawks 82-77 Saturday. PAGE 8 agreed the film was worth the wait. PAGE 7 Cloudy, high 40. Rain or snow VOL. 96 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 m~92 ‘It’s a relief off my shoulders. I can say that much.’ Riley Washington former NU wingback 31 - ->q Daniel Luedert/DN FORMER HU FOOTBALI player Riley Washington leaves the Lancaster County public defender’s office Friday after the jury acquitted him of attempted second-degree murder. Washington to focus on son, classos following acquittal By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter Riley Washington is a winner. His athletic acclaims loom large: one foot ball national championship as a wingback, two school track records as a sprinter—one in the 55-meter indoor, one in the 100-meter dash. But on Friday, Washington won a differ ent kind of contest, where the winner goes free, and the loser goes to prison. Acquitted of second-degree attempted murder and weapons charges, he walked out of court a happy and free man. It took an eight-man, four-woman jury ex actly three hours to announce the not guilty verdict. When the verdicts were read, Chief Public Defender Scott Helvie hugged Wash ington. “It feels good,” Washington said to re porters Friday as he walked out of Helvie’s office. “That’s all I can say right now.” Since Aug. 2, 1995, the day he turned himself in to the Lincoln Police Department for the shooting of Jermaine Cole at 27th and W streets, Washington’s name was almost al ways mentioned in the same sentence as the charges. As the delays in his trial mounted, so did bad press for a football program eyed by the national media microscope. During his life under the cloud of felony charges, Washington told the Daily Nebras kan, he tried to keep himself busy and keep his mind off the case. In August 1996, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications stud ies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He had a job set up for September, but, be cause of the trial, he could not take it. Washington had no job and an infant son to support. He told jurors when he took the stand Thursday that he had to sell his foot ball jersey, his national championship ring, his bowl-game watches and his football jacket to get by. “It was kind of disappointing, but I don’t really regret it,” he said Saturday. “With the money that I got for it, I took care of my son.” Washington said his 1-year-old son, whom he fathered with former girlfriend Darcy Roloff, is more important to him than his foot Please see ACQUITTAL on 3 Literacy policy to incorporate UNL students By Kimberiy Swartz Staff Reporter Imagine not being able to read the label on a medicine bottle, write a letter to a friend, or fill out a job application. For 23 million Americans, illiteracy is an ev eryday reality. But University of Nebraska-Lincoln work study students may stop a new generation of il literacy through a $2.75-billion program pro posed by President Bill Clinton last August. The five-year program called America Reads is a national, bipartisan effort to ensure that all children can read well and independently by the end of the third grade. Clinton announced the reading initiative af ter the 1994 statistics in the nation’s Reading Report Card showed 41 percent of fourth-grad ers were reading below grade level, as were 31 percent of eighth-graders and 25 percent of high school seniors. ... -..... Clinton also proposed to otter federal funds to local, state and national programs to teach parents and volunteers to help children read. He will challenge 1 million Americans to volunteer to tutor young children in reading. The program also would finance individual tutoring for children in kindergarten through third grade. Many of the volunteer tutors will be college students involved in the federal work-study pro gram to finance their education. America Reads is not mandated by statue or regulation, so universities are not forced to par ticipate, although many institutions have already shown their support. John Beacon, director of the Office of Schol arships and Financial Aid, said that UNL will likely participate if the program passes. “America Reads is a program that the com munity really needs,” Beacon said. “It would help a lot of people, and is a worthwhile community service.” Twenty-three work-study students at UNL will be selected as tutors for America Reads. Each student will have to commit 10 to 15 hours a week reading to children at local preschools and elementary schools. Beacon said Congress appropriates $830 million to the federal work-study program for 1997-98, which is a 35-percent increase over last year. He said Clinton’s goal was to have that increase go toward the America Reads program. UNL received a 10-percent increase in fed eral work-study funds, Beacon said, which means the university could dedicate $46,390 to Please see READS on 6 UNL professors to teach new science techniques By Sarah Baker Staff Reporter Nebraska elementary and high school science teachers are bound for summer school at UNL this year. Thanks to recent grants, chemistry and phys ics professors at the University of Nebraska-Lin coln will help teachers learn interactive class room techniques to improve science curriculums. The Coordinating Commission for Post-Sec ondary Education gave the grants to the depart ments last month. The commission governs pro grams and funds at all Nebraska public colleges. Paul Kelter, associate chemistry professor, is in charge of Operation Chemistry Program, a week-long summer workshop for 50 teachers. “We bring in award-winning teachers and middle-level teachers to teach lower-level teach ers,” Kelter said. Treating the teachers as professionals is a critical part of the workshop, Kelter said. “We respect the intelligence and experience of the teachers and treat them with dignity,” Kelter said. “It creates leadership with the participants as well as leadership within the UNL chemistry department.” Thephysics department also sponsors a pro gram for teachers called Physics Infomall. Phys ics and astronomy professor Robert Fuller said the program is the first of its kind. The Infomall is a complete physics resource, including 19 books with 35,000 pages of phys ics information, Fuller said. The workshop will teach teachers how to use this information in their physics classes. This new concept was developed at UNL with help from Kansas State University. “The workshop is a training event,” Fuller said, “and it is a great experience for isolated community teachers to have use of this tremen dous resource.” Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: / / www.unl.edu IDailyNeb i
