SPORTS
Cambridge Connection
Sisters Jami and Anna Kubik combined to score 57 points as the
Nebraska women's basketball team defeated Missouri 96-91
Tuesday night in Columbia. Mo. PAGE 9
OPINION
Casualties of war
As the United States' deadline for Iraq nears. Opinion Editor
Joshua Gillin wonders if renewed conflict in the Persian Gulf is
worth the lives it would cost. PAGE 4
WEDN IS IAY
February 18, 1998
Who’ll Stop The Rain
Chance of rain today, high35. Cloudy tonight, low 30.
Future suites
to sour parking j
■ Construction of a new
Embassy Suites Hotel will
force the closing of a
popular ENL parking lot.
By Ikya Ai <■> i iwis
A.N.'Vi.' */ n,>:‘ ' R> t><-i r< r
s : iuic11! ' \ chicle '■•!.!! a .! I
ha\c In make a a\ let the cilia!
•a i i i he i 'me Wed' and aid mh
lad McDowell, manager of
l niversitv Parking and Transit
Services, told the l NL Parking
Advisors Committee on Tuesdav
that the citv w ill he closing the citv
parking lot on Block vC located
between 10' . 1 1 "d P and O streets,
hv the end of the month to accom
modate preparations for the build
ing ol the Pmbassv Suites Hotel
"Mans commutei students park
in the Bbmk lot. " M . Dowell
said "1 ins Aiil defmite!v cause a
ioik *rn s ■ .i.;.;- • ■ ;i parking "
: ; e .; 1 s ■. i ,ilL. p.\( pno
i. m ■ -e 0 i. of : o a ? a lot . •; • t a
- -e •: ■ i till loo : -p,
’]■- PARKING on Pi
f igures disputed tor
Peru State relocation
By Joy Lrnwio
Staff Ri purh r
Administrators at Peru State
College face an important question.
Renov ate or relocate ’
That question was argued before the
Legislature Tuesdav in the form of two
different bills LB1 138. which allocates
funds for renovation, and LB'CO. w hich
would require a detailed plan to move
Peru State to Nebraska Citv
Three busloads and several carloads
of people from Auburn. Peru and the
surrounding area came with opinions
Supporters and opponents from
Nebraska Citv attended the
Appropriations Committee hearing,
too.
The controversy involving the
future of Peru State erupted m Januarv
when the State College Board of
Trustees voted “ 0 to move it to
Nebraska C ity
Since then. 2.500-3.000 petitions
opposing that measure have been circu
lated through the state, mainlv in smith
east Nebraska Sen Hoed Vrtiska of
Table Rock and other senators have
received numerous letters front citizens,
students and alumni in Nebraska and
out of state stretching from ()regon to
Florida
The State College Board of Trustees
estimate it will take SI3.2 million to do
the necessary renovation projects or
SI 6.5 million to relocate. People in
Nebraska C ity plan to donate another
SX million.
However, the board's plan does not
include money for dormitories, a stu
dent center or a field house.
These are things that Carrol Krause,
the hoard's executive secretary, believes
can later be funded by revenue bonds
Besides, he said the 700 dorm rooms at
the college now have only a 70 percent
1 1 I
occupancx rate.
But ( ristv Pickrel. a York architect
contracted b} PSC foundation, said she
believed the relocation numbers should
be much higher based on the square feet
of the campus and the cost of moving,
which has not vet been accounted for
rite current campus rests on
525.1 1 1 square feet, vet the board
approved onlv o"71.40(1 square feet for
the Nebiaska Citv campus. Pickrel said
at least doAPOP square feet are needed.
After siirvev mg the campus, she
said she estimated it would take $55
million to relocate the college, not
including the monev needed to move
off ice equipment and to fence up or
demolish the current buildings Another
S25 million would be needed to prov ide
other school programs in Nebraska
City
Pickrel estimated the actual cost to
be between S60 and S76 million.
Money is not the only concern
Other supporters expressed their emo
tional ties to the campus and to its com
munity m southeast Nebraska.
Vrtiska. who introduced LB1 IsN.
said his daughter graduated from Peru
State He saw how close-knit the cam
pus was when the president's wife visit
ed his daughter in her dorm room after
she became concerned because she
hadn't attended class.
"There is a closeness among the stu
dents that you |ust don't find every
where.' he said
Vrtiska said he believed the campus
still could prov ide a promising future to
students if the Legislature stepped in.
"1 hope I never see the sacrifice of
students for the success of business." he
Please see PERU on 6
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Lane Hickenbottom/DN
THE MANY FACES of Jerry Shoecraft, pictured in the new city council chambers, have made him one of
Lincoln’s black leaders. He is the only black city councilman, an independent businessman and a former NU
basketball player.
Doubters spur Shoecraft
Elinor s noie: In honor of Black
llistor\ Month the Path
Xehraskan is printing profiles of
prominent black leaders in Lincoln
and at l \J.. Today is the third in ii
live-part series
By Brad Dav is
Senior Reporter
Jerry Shoecraft say s nothing will
ever knock him down
Though he grew up poor in
Muncie. Ind., Shoecraft said he over
came the obstacles thrown his wav to
become a popular basketball play er,
independent businessman and citv
councilman.
Shoecraft. a five-year member of
the Lincoln C itv C ouncil, said he
overcame skepticism and racism by
winning the city wide election in
1993. and again in 1997.
" They said this town would never
elect a black man to the city council
and I said. 'Watch '
"That just fired me up." he said.
Henry T. Buchanan, a State Farm
Insurance accountant in Lincoln,
grew up about a block away from
Shoecraft in Muncie.
Buchanan said Shoecraft is an
example for other minorities
"He's one of the few minorities
that's stepped up to the plate."
Buchanan said "He's a role model lor
minorities. He exemplifies a person
that is very supportive of everyone's
welfare."
Somebody like the rest of us
Shoecraft. who also owns the
recently closed Shoe's Bar and Grill,
has lived in the capital city since he
came to the University of Nebraska
Lincoln on a basketball scholarship in
1979.
Although Shoecraft is probably
more well-known for his work on the
city council, in the early '80s. he was
the most popular player on the Bob
Devaney Sports ( enter basketball
court
NU basketball fans called him
"Shoe,'' and threw shoes on the court
when he came out on the floor
1 le wasn't the most talented play -
er in his four-year basketball career,
but Shoecraft said he made a name for
himself through hard work and disci
pline.
"They took to me because 1
worked hard." he said. “1 would dive
on the floor to get the loose rebound,
and 1 would set the pick "
Shoecraft began his after-college
career as a temporary employee at the
Nebraska Department of Rev enue,
then was a clerk and finally a tax-law
speaker for the department.
Speaking to different businesses
about tax-law incentives gave
Shoecraft a "flavor" for the business
community, he said.
After his eight-year stmt at the
NDR. Shoecraft was a business man
ager for Lincoln's Gallup
Organization until 1993, w hen he bor
rowed money to buy a Hay market bar.
“1 had good name recognition and
1 had honesty and integrity - even
though my credit profile wasn't so
great.” Shoecraft said.
Three y ears of running a bar took
a toll on his time and pocketbook.
"Lverv dime you have you've got
to put into the business to make it
work." he said. "You may risk your
car. y our house and y our livelihood to
make it work.”
There were hard times financially
during his three y ears running the bar
and the press, he said, rarely failed to
publish details of his difficulties.
But after a man approached him in
a hardware store a few years ago,
Shoecraft felt better about the negative
headlines.
"He said. T want to tell you it's
good to see somebody who's |ust like
the rest of us. w ho has problems just
like the rest of us.'
"And odd as that may sound, it
made me feel good.” Shoecraft said.
"It made me feel like 1 wasn't born
Please see LEADER on 2
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