SPORTS
NIT continues
The Nebraska basketbaU team heads southwest to
Nevada in its quest to become the first team to
repeat as NTT Champions in 53 years. PAGE 7
®JLf
Video break
For students who don’t have the money to go on
a real spring break trip, this week’s new video
releases offer affordable escapism. PAGE 9
TUESDAY
March 18, 1997
Windy, light snow, high 40. Clear tonight, low 27.
VOL 96COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBBASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901
ft-'
NU ASSISTANT Volleyball Coach Nikki Best helps freshman Tonla Turin with her digging
lecnnique. Best is outsioe nitter tor tne MorasKa Tornados.
Professional volleyball
takes Nebraska by storm
By Angela Heywood
Staff Reporter
It’s the middle of March and tornadoes
are tearing through the Midwest.
As the state’s newly acquired profes
sional women’s volleyball team, die Ne
braska Tornados (sic> have already drawn
a whirlwind of excitement.
Coach Joel McCartney said the fran
chise, which moved here from San Diego
in November, attracted a National Volley
ball Association record crowd of 3,046 to
its first match against the St. Louis Spirits.
The Tornados won the Feb. 1 match at
Omaha Burke High School.
“It was an awesome crowd,” McCartney
said. “We were stunned at how many people
came out to see us.”
Since then the Tornados (2-3) have
fallen on hard times winning one of their
last four matches — a win over the Ari
zona Flames, a loss to the Iowa Blizzard
and back-to-back losses to the Colorado
Thunder.
Dave Spencer, commissioner of the
Great Plains Regional Volleyball Associa
tion, said the Tornados’ second and third
home matches drew crowds of 2,120 and
Please see TORNADO on 3
... - • . -’—-— ---
Read theDaily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: I lwww.unl.edu/DaUyNeb
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Business alliance
to give Neoraskans
bbAAbbmbIbbIbIbb Ibbbbbbbbbbbb
anoraaoie nousing
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter
About 25,000 Nebraska families will find
affordable housing thanks to a $2 billion part
nership announced Monday between the state
and a private business.,
Fannie Mae, a private company that is the
nation’s largest provider of home mortgage
funds, announced its “HouseNebraska” plan
would help middle- and low-income Nebraskans
overcome the housing crisis in Nebraska.
Robert Zoellick, executive vice president of
Fannie Mae, said the lack of affordable housing
in Nebraska could slow the state’s solid eco
nomic growth.
“If not addressed, the lack of affordable hous
ing could impede business investment,” Zoellick
said.
To prevent this, Fannie Mae will team up with
the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority to
help reduce down payments required on homes
for families making at or below the median in
come of the area.
The company and NIFA will also help rural
employers offer housing assistance to workers,
and help American Indians living on reservations
get affordable loans for construction and reno
vation of homes, he said.
Fannie Mae will open its office in Lincoln at
13th and O streets to coordinate the $2 billion
affordable housing partnership, Zoellick said.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel said in a letter the
partnership was an excellent answer to the af
fordable housing question in Nebraska and a
great way to help Nebraskans and the economy
at the same time.
“Public-private partnerships, such as this one
«
At the end of the day,
nobody does anybody
any good if you get
somebody in a home
they can’t heat.”
Robert Zoellick
executive vice president of Fannie Mae
with Fannie Mae, have my full support,” Hagel
wrote.
Zoellick said the company chose Nebraska
because of state and business leaders’ commit
ment to solving the lack of affordable housing
in the state.
He was “extremely impressed” by the turn
out at Gov. Ben Nelson’s recent affordable hous
ing summit, Zoellick said. Although the state has
an excellent record of addressing housing needs,
“Fannie Mae wants to do even more,” he said.
The company allocated $10 million to NIFA
to reduce down payments to as little as 3 per
cent of the home’s value.
This will help low- and middle-income Ne
braskans purchase homes, he said, because they
often have no nest egg for a down payment on a
home but have good credit, he said.
“These people are people who pay their bills,”
Please see HOUSING on 6
Law enforcement unites
■: ■■■' ' -• !.
to protest handgun bill
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
Law enforcement officials presented a uni
fied front Monday protesting a bill that would
allow Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns.
Representatives from the Fraternal Order of
Police, the Nebraska Sheriffs’ Association and
the Nebraska Police Officers’ Association vowed
to speak with one strong opposing voice to
LB465. >
The bill, whose principal introducer was Sen.
Stan Schellpeper of Stanton, would allow Ne
braskans to apply for a license to legally carry a
concealed weapon.
If the bill passed, 70,000 more concealed
v handguns would be carried by Nebraskans, said
North Platte Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter,
who spoke on behalf of the Nebraska Police
Officers’ Association. " v
Gutschenritter said die public should be con
cerned about public safety if the bill passed. He
said he suspected if the bill was fully understood,
people would tell their legislators not to vote
for it.
“If the public understands what’s happening,
they’ll be up in arms,” he said.
Nebraska law does not allow carrying con
cealed weapons unless carriers can prove they
are protecting themselves, their property or their
families.
Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning said
the bill is an unfunded mandate and will leave
law enforcement agencies in the red. Each ap- *
plicant must pay a $75 fee for a license, he said,
but only $15 goes to sheriffs’ departments to do
background checks on applicants.
Another problem with the bill is that it can
leave officers professionally, personally and
criminally liable if people misuse firearms after
Please see WEAPONS on 3