UNL sophomore drowns in lake I
By Ted Taylor
Assignment Reporter
A informal high school reunion
ended in the drowning death of an 18
year-old UNL sophomore this month.
Benjamin A. Silverstein, a 19% gradu
ate of Omaha Westside High School,
drowned shortly after 4 am. in a private
lake 12 miles west of Fremont
Silverstein, a broadcast journal
ism major and member of Phi Gamma
Delta fraternity, had gathered with a
group of about 10-12 high school
friends for an afternoon of water-ski
ing at Legge’s Lake and dinner at a
cabin owned by a family friend.
The accident occurred when
Silverstein tried to swim to shore
from a small island in the lake. He
was recovered from 8 feet of water.
Fremont Fire Chief Gary German said
the North Bend Volunteer Fire Department
received the fust call about the accident at
4:04 am. and arrived 10 minutes later. At
4:19 am. the Dodge County Water Rescue
Team was called
German said that it took about 10-15
minutes to assemble the dive team before
leaving for the lake at
4:35 am. and arriv
ing there about 5 am
“We (the
Fire
epartment)
our first call
around 4:20 am and
were en route a few
minutes later,”
said “When
Silverstein we arrived at around
5 am. he was essen
tially recovered on our first dive.”
The dive team’s response time was
“extremely adequate,” German said.
At least two life support para
medics were on the scene, “with
every intention of working him if they
had any sign at all,” but Silverstein
was pronounced dead when he was
brought to shore, German said.
While Dodge County Attorney Dean
Skokan would not speculate about whether
Silverstein or any of the others at the lake
were drunk at the time of the incident, he
did say alcohol was present
Phi Gamma Delta President Jay
Pohlad said that even though last year
was Silverstein first year in the fra
ternity last year, he was active.
“He was involved in a lot of stuff?’ she
said “He was our assistant social chair, and
he just helped out quite a bit”
The house is planning a memorial
service for Silverstein a week or so
after school starts, Pohlad said. The
service will be open to everyone.
Silverstein’s mother, Kris
Campbell, said that the past two
weeks have been excruciating.
“It’s very hard,” she said. “We’re
all feeling a roller coaster of emotions
right now.”
Last Thursday, Silverstein’s father,
Barry Silverstein, talked with Skokan
about the investigation. Skokan gave the
family as much information as he could,
Campbell said but for complete details
they would need to go to Fremont to see the
actual investigation report - something she
is not quite ready to do.
“I would think sometime in the
future we will go look at it,” she said.
“But even when I rehash it today, it’s
almost too much to handle right now.”
Silverstein’s 17-year-old sister,
Sarah, was on vacation with her father
in Brooklyn, N. Y., when she heard the
news. Since then, she said, she has
been in constant denial.
“I keep thinking he’s still coming
home, that he’s just off at college and
he’s coming home,” she said.
His older sister, Marta, who now
lives in Phoenix, spent the last two
weeks with the family helping them
get through everything, she said.
Silverstein’s mother, who spoke to
the Daily Nebraskan 11 days after her
son’s death, said his death has cost her
more than just the life of her only son.
“We have a lot of wonderful mem
ories of Ben, but we have such a void
in our life without him,” she said. “He
wasn’t just my son, he was my best
friend.”
Housing has
enough space
HOUSING from page 3
have had to live in lounges. The stu
dents who will be assigned to tem
porary triple rooms will be on a
waiting list to move into a double
room. |
Peg Blake, associate vice chan
cellor and director of admissions,
said it’s impossible to calculate the
exact number of students expected
to live in the halls.
“Numbers are going to continue
to increase until Friday,” Blake said.
“But we cannot say how much they
are going to increase by.”
Residence Hall Association
President Ben Wallace said lower
numbers don’t mean the halls will
be left empty.
“I think we are full, but comfort
able this year,” Wallace said.
When the halls are less crowd
ed, students will have a better time !
living on campus, he said.
Hearings focus on bleach
■ Witnesses claim
Gabel used chlorine a
month before the killing.
By Ted Taylor
Assignment Reporter
Pretrial hearings for Gregory
Gabel continued last week as county
prosecutors began laying out evi
dence they plan
to present
against the man
accused of
killing an 1 8
year-old UNL
freshman in
1995.
Lancaster
County
Attorney Gary
Lacey said that Gabel
the hearings
should continue into the fall, leading
up to a jury trial that is set to begin in
late January or February.
Gabel, 33, is charged with first
degree murder and the use of a
weapon to commit a felony in the
July 25, 1995 slaying of Martina
McMenamin, who was found
stabbed to death in her southwest
Lincoln apartment. Gabel was arrest
ed and charged with her murder a
year later after investigators matched
DNA in his blood sample to the DNA
in a blond hair found clutched in
McMenamin’s hand.
McMenamin, who was sexually
assaulted and beaten before being
stabbed, was found by her roommate,
Sarah Bognich, in their Amberwood
apartment, 4600 Briarpark Drive.
In November, Gabei, a frequenter
of Lincoln s dance clubs and down
town businesses, pleaded not guilty
to the charge.
Last week, pretrial testimony
focused on what some said was an
obsession Gabel had with chlorine
bleach and whether he mentioned
McMenamin’s name to a friend at a
Lincoln library last year.
Chlorine bleach became an
important part of the case when
police found evidence of it at the
crime scene. They think the accused
killer used the bleach to destroy evi
dence and clean himself up after the
murder.
Former coworkers of Gabel
claimed during the hearings that he
had an “obsession” with bleach and
that he had used it to clean up blood
that resulted from a fight outside
Kabooms nightclub about a month
before McMenamin was murdered.
They said Gabel thought bleach was
important in cleaning up body fluids.
Three weeks ago, County
District Judge Paul D. Merritt lis
tened to testimony from Bennett
Martin librarian Carolyn Dow, who
said she overheard Gabel tell a friend
in the library about strangling some
one.
The pretrial hearings are sched
uled to begin again Aug. 25 at 9 a.m.
The start date for the jury trial,
however, may hinge on something
that has nothing to do with the case
itself.
Lacey said that the trial may be
pushed back because the County
City Building offices will move to a
new location at 10th and P streets
while the old County-City Building
is renovated.
UNL orders Coke to raise
prices in sports facilities
COKE from page 2
caused controversy during contract
negotiations.
It was unclear whether vending
machines, including two near the NU
ticket office, were part of Memorial
Stadium or part of the university,
Watmore said.
“This was a real, real touchy situa
tion,” she said.
But Pepsi decided to let Coca-Cola
continue to operate the vending
machines for the next two years, she
said. Pepsi wanted a 12-year contract so
the company could remain the sole
provider of beverages at UNL for 10
years after the Coca-Cola contract
expires, she said.
Three vending machines are known to
operate in athletic department offices. One
is down the hall from Nebraska Football
Coach Tom Osborne’s second-floor
office, another is near the first-floor ticket
office and the last is near the athletic train
ing tables.
The Hewitt Food Center, which
serves meals to athletes, is operated by
the university and will serve Pepsi prod
ucts and display the Pepsi logo,
Watmore said.
But Baird said the Coca-Cola logo
will remain in Memorial Stadium and
other NU sports arenas through June
1999.
The Pepsi logo will debut in the
Devaney Center and Memorial
Stadium during the summer of 1999.
According to a 12-year sponsorship
contract signed by Pepsi, the Pepsi logo
will first appear on two 12-foot by 4
foot permanent panels around the
HuskerVision screens.
Three smaller panels will bear the
Pepsi logo on field-level scoreboards,
including one above the famed tunnel
where football players emeige onto the
field before a football game.
During every home football game
starting fall 1999, fans will watch the
Pepsi logo fly across HuskerVision
screens during at least eight instant
replay segments m the first and second
quarters of the games.
In the Devaney Center, time clocks
will feature 15-foot-long back-lighted
Pepsi advertisements.
Spectators in the center will watch
four 20-second advertisements on the
scoreboard and on smaller displays.
Later, other Pepsi advertisements
may be placed throughout athletic facil
ities on the UNL campus as approved
by NU and Pepsi Cola Co.
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Primary Care
Specialty Care
Physical Therapy
Pharmacy
Radiology
Laboratory
Dental ___
Health Education SMfel Aft?u/
Counseling SC Psychological v?' ±ir*rr
Services ^ CONVENIENT HOURS:
__ _' Clinic Appointments: 8 a.m. - 6 pjn., M-F
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am - a pm., Saturday (Uosed Sundays)
East Campus Cfinic Moon - 3 pm., M Th
East Campus CAPS Appts- 8 am. - 4 pm., T
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15th and U Streets
http://wwwunl.edu/health/Welcome. htnd
|l Health center sees change
_HEALTH from page 7
■ Scheduling to accommodate
students who need assistance
quickly. The center has opened
appointment slots throughout the
day. This allows students to come
in right away to see a doctor.
■ A modification of East
Campus clinic services that will
provide a physician assistant, reg
istered nurse and certified labora
tory technician during clinic
hours. In the past, the clinic was
open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
and Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00
p.m. with only a registered nurse
on staff. On Wednesdays only a
physician assistant and registered
nurse were available from noon
until 4:00 p.m.
■ Students and health center
staff who will address the content
and quality of patient visits to
establish higher satisfaction. This
includes time for students to ask
questions and clearer communica
tion between patient and physician
regarding diagnosis, treatment
plan, medication use, self-help
measures and follow-up needs.
The center plans to address these
through a review and a patient sat
isfaction survey, as well as some
methods that have yet to be devel
oped.
■ Establishing procedures for
student involvement in health cen
«- ;
We hope students
find these changes to ;
be positive
Linda Herrmann
health center director
ter operations to build and
enhance health services.
Herrmann said the changes
will benefit students by providing
more access to and improvement
in medical care on campus.
“We tried to take a long view of
the resources that were going to be
available in the future and then
worked to provide the best service
possible within those resource
limits,” Herrmann said. “We hope
students find these changes to be
positive.”
Herrmann stressed the changes
were part of the health center’s
ongoing goals.
“Our mission is to provide
comprehensive, quality health
care and education that promotes
health and well-being,” she said.
“Enhancing our patient-provider
interaction is one of the best ways
we can fulfill this mission.”