S F PH TX— " E
Overhand smash Not-so-big hits April 2,1997
Nebraska freshman tennis player Sandra Noetzel The new video releases for this week may not
is one of the Huskers’ best weapons in her first have done well at the box office, but the quality April Showers ,
year. She is NtJ’s No. 1 singles player. PAGE 9 makes up for the lack of popularity. PAGE 12 Cloudy, high 63. Showers likely tpnight, low 48.
i
VOL. 96 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901
keeping th<
Fostering Hope
Underneath the constant bask of fluores
cent lights and nonstop whir of machines,
babies have been bom, lived their entire lives
and then died in the hospital.
Not only were they HIV-positive, they
were bom addicted to drugs. Fresh air never
reached their lungs, they were rarely touched
and never loved — they were, in fact, feared.
Jake would have been one of those ba
bies, but one woman decided that a life lived
in the hospital should be the fate of no child.
She turned her back on the security of a
high-paying job and has since been spend
ing her life savings to be a foster mother for
HTV-positive children who were bom ad
dicted to drugs. She took Jake, and others
like him, into her home.
Her gain was getting to love Jake for 14
months; her loss was dealing with a death,
which — even though he was HTV-positive
— she did not expect. The pain of his death
is disproportionate, though, to his effect on
her life.
“Many people are afraid to love with that
Please see BABIES on 3
Photo courtesy of Ann Taylor
AM TAYLOR aed her fester sea, Jake, take a boat ride—his first and only. Taylor has taken in
eif IBV peiltiweiHilriet end says the |ny of sharhifl their Hm offsets the p*««ef their deaths.
Guardian of
AIDS babies
focuses on life,
not on her loss
Editor’s note: This week the Daily Nebras
kan will focus on the stories of those who
grieved over the death of a loved one. Each
story shows how family and friends dealt
with their grief in different situations.
In today’s story, some names have been
changed it the request of those inter
viewed to honor their privacy.
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
Chambers’
arguments
don’t stop
Wilson’ bill
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■lliS A «i*
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
A bill that would make killing a police of
ficer legally performing his or her duties an ag
gravating circumstance in death penalty cases
advanced from second-round debate Tuesday.
After eight hours of discussion and several
unsuccessful attempts by Sen. Ernie Chambers
of Omaha to amend the bill, it passed with only
Chambers voting against it. The bill also requires
that the offender knew or reasonably should have
known that the victim was a police officer.
LB422 was introduced by Sen. Gerald
Matzke of Sidney at the request of Gov. Ben
Nelson after the 1995 death of Omaha police
officer Jimmy Wilson Jr. Currently, killing a po
lice officer is an aggravating circumstances only
if the person is in police custody when the kill
ing takes place.
Nebraska has eight aggravating circum
stances for murder cases; the bill would provide
the ninth. Aggravating circumstances classify the
crime as more severe and therefore punishable
by death.
During the eight hours of first-round debate,
Chambers voiced steady opposition. He gave a
repeat performance Tuesday during eight hours
of second-round debate, offering several unsuc
cessful amendments.
One amendment would have declared the
Legislature’s opposition to carrying a concealed
weapon.
Chambers said most police officers are killed
with handguns, and LB422 conflicted with an
other bill before the Legislature that would al
low Nebraskans to have licenses to carry con
cealed weapons.
“We should not do conflicting, contradictory
things,” Chambers said, and said the two bills
were “oil and water.”
Matzke agreed the two bills were oil and
water and challenged the applicability of Cham
bers’ amendment to his bill. Chambers’ amend
ment was ruled irrelevant to the bill.
Chambers argued that many laws are passed
Please see DEBATE on 6
ASUN wants students’
opinions considered about
where the money will go.
- --,. .. 11 11 1 ■
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter j
Changes to and benefits from the university’s
imminent beverage contract with either Coke or
Pepsi wiH be evident on campus by this faU, a
university official said Tuesday.
Thanks to the tight-Hpped nature of contract
negotiations, most of the contract’s multimillion
dollar benefits to the campus must be,kept se
cret until die contract is final, said James Main,
assistant vice chancellor for business and finance.
Main said he could confirm that the univer
sity Would receive several million dollars a year
for 10 years.
Funds have been earmarked for certain cam
pus initiatives, he said, and technology improve
ments and scholarships remain priorities for
spending contract funds.
“1*11 be so glad||jjfcen I can go through the
whole contract with someone,” he said, because
many exciting benefits accompany the contract.
“Our students will benefit immensely from
this.”
Curt Ruwe, ASUN president-elect, said the
beverage deal may only be sweet for students if
they have an input in budgeting the annual mil
lions.
Ruwe said Melvin Jones, vice chancellor for
business and finance, came to an ASUN meet
ing and told senators they would have a lot of
say in how the millions gained in the contract
would be spent.
ASUN members then specified they wanted
much of the money to go toward improving cam
pus technology, Ruwe said.
Now, rumors say much of the money may be
already earmarked for scholarships, he said.
“It’s very frustrating to me,” Ruwe said. He
said he was under the impression that students
would have a lot of input.
Eric Marintzer, ASUN president, said he had
been assured throughout the process that part
of the money would go to technology.
Please see BEVERAGE on 6
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Vhde Web at http: / / www.unl.edu /DailyNeb