SPORTS
God save the queens
Backed by Nyree Roberts’ 18 points and 15 rebounds, the second
ranked Lady Monarchs of Old Dominion eliminated Nebraska
from the NCAA Tournament 75-60 in Norfolk, Va. PAGE 7
A&E
Art’s craft
Everclear frontman Art Alexakis and his cohorts
will make their Nebraska debut Wednesday night
at Omaha’s Sokol Hall. PAGE 9
March 16, 1998
Maybe Melting
Cloudy, windy, high 35. Cloudy tonight, low 30.
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 123
UNL student killed by drunken driver
By Brad Davis and
Erin Schulte
Senior Staff
What was supposed to be a fami
ly weekend turned tragic for the
mourning family of a 21-year-old
UNL junior killed in a car accident
Saturday.
Laura Cockson, a pre-occupa
tional therapy major and member of
Gamma Phi Beta sorority from
Friend, died at the scene of the car
accident at First Street and
CornhuskerHighway at about 11:30
p.m. Saturday, Capt. Lee Wagner of
the Lincoln Police Department said.
Also in Cockson’s car, which
was hit by a man later arrested for
drunken driving,
were her sisters
Sarah Cockson,
19, aUNL fresh
man, and Erin
Cockson, 16.
critical condition ^
at Lincoln
General
Hospital. —
Allen Cockson
Dvorak, the Cockson sisters' uncle
and an Omaha doctor, said Laura
i
I _
had invited her parents to Lincoln
for the weekend to celebrate her
sorority’s Mom’s Day.
It was not until their daughters
were late meeting them at their
motel room that Robert and Eva
Cockson realized the accident they
passed just minutes earlier involved
their daughters, Dvorak said.
Jeffrey E. Ireland, 25, of 2411
N.W. Second St., whose car collided
with Cockson’s, was arrested for
drunken driving, felony motor vehi
cle homicide, driving with a sus
pended license, leaving the scene of
the accident and running a red light,
and for an outstanding arrest war
rant for failing to appear in court,
Wagner said.
Ireland was driving north on
First Street when he ran a red light
and hit Cockson’s Pontiac Grand
Am, which was headed west on
Cornhusker.
Police said an officer attempted
to pull over Ireland seconds before
the accident because his car had no
license plates. When the officer
turned on his sirens and red lights,
Ireland braked briefly then acceler
ated through the red light, police
said.
After the accident, Ireland fled
on foot. Police did not apprehend
lim at the scene, Wagner said.
Witnesses said Ireland was bleeding
from the face. About three hours
ater, he went to Bryan Memorial
hospital seeking medical treatment,
iaying he had been in a car accident,
Wagner said.
The hospital called Lincoln
Dolice and officers determined it
was Ireland who had caused the
accident, Wagner said. He was treat
ed and released and is being held in
the city-county jail.
Also in Ireland’s car were
Rodney Watts, 32, who is in critical
Please see ACCIDENT on 3
- I *-* V * ■
KHA backs
chemistry
instructor
By Ieva Augstums
Assignment Reporter
A few thousand student signa
tures could dictate the future for one
very popular UNL instructor.
At least. RHA hopes they will.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
Residence Hall Association voted
unanimously on Sunday to continue a
student petition hoping to keep Bill
McLaughlin at UNL.
McLaughlin, a temporary
instructor for the department of
chemistry, originally was hired as a
one-semester instructor for fall 1997.
but the university' allowed him to stay
for one more semester.
RHA President Ben Wallace said
McLaughlin has been told by admin
istration he wouldn't be rehired for
next year, a decision that concerned
students and RHA.
“1 have never seen this amount of
support for a teacher,” Wallace said.
“Students say good things about the
man. and many don t want to see him
go.”
Wallace said petitioning efforts
since Friday already have gathered
864 signatures.
Wallace said he hopes to see that
number increase to about 1.500 to
2.000 signatures.
Students wanting to show their
support for McLaughlin can sign the
petition from 9 a.m. lo 4 p m. at a
RFIA-sponsored booth in the
Nebraska Union.
Aside from the petition, Wallace
said he is writing a letter on behalf of
RHA to Chancellor James Moeser,
Senior Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs Richard Edwards,
College of Arts and Sciences Dean
Brian Foster and Chemistry
Department Interim Chairman
Lawrence Parkhurst.
The letter will outline reasons
Please ^ee RHA on 2
Russell ready
to lead ASUN
By Jessica Fargen
Assignment Reporter
Mark Russell, a UNL freshman,
stood outside for seven hours
Wednesday with a red COMMIT T
shirt stretched over his coat encourag
ing people to vote.
Three years ago, his older sister,
Sara, did the same thing when she
stood outside to ask people to vote her
into ASUN as a senator for the College
of Arts and Sciences.
It worked three years ago when she
did it, and it worked Wednesday when
her brother did it.
Sara Russell and friend Kelly
Hoffschneider were elected president
and first vice president with 47.91 per
cent of the vote. Russell said her
efforts to reach out to students, as she
did on election day, showed the drive
others have seen in her since she
became involved in the Association of
Students of the University of Nebraska
tnree years ago.
“Because I ran as a freshman, peo
ple saw' a level of ambition that could
bring me to candidacy for president,"
she said.
But until last semester, the 21
vear-old from Omaha said she wasn't
i even sure she wanted to run for student
j bodv president because she didn't feel
she had the time.
Last semester she was majoring in
math and biology and was taking pre
physical therapy classes. Since then,
she has whittled her course work
down, but remains a math major with
her heart now set on becoming a
marine biologist.
"1 was going to be so involved in
academics, and if I couldn't give 100
percent to (ASUN). I didn't want to do
it,” she said.
She's quick to say she'll have to
give more than 100 percent to fill the
shoes of ASUN President Curt Ruwe.
She said the perception of student
government improved during Ruwe-■
term because he was in tune with stu
dents and wasn't afraid to admit he
was wrong.
He was approachable, too, she
said. “He’s still really playful; he's got
games and toys in his office,” she said.
“It’s a good ice breaker, instead of
being dressed up all the time and sit
ting behind the desk all the time.”
Russell said one thing she's
learned from Ruwe is that contact with
students really matters.
“It should not always be the
responsibilities of the students to come
to the government,” she said. “It is bet
ter if the student government reaches
out to the students.”
But in reaching out to students,
Russell said, she hasn't had time to
reach out to people close to her.
“I’ve pretty much massacred any
semblance of a personal life I had,” she
said.
She still sets aside a half-hour each
week to meet with her brother and talk.
She said it was important to step away
from the craziness of the campaign in
order to keen in touch with realitv
Another thing she does to sustain
her mental health is work out.
“My mental health is a lot better
because 1 take my aggressions out
physically instead of verbally,” she
said.
But brother Mark said Russell
wasn't always so disciplined.
“They probably don't know she
sits in front of the TV and eats a whole
half gallon of ice cream in one setting.”
he said, "but she makes sure it's the fat
free ice cream.”
And for the normally active
Russell, the slow-moving nature of
government can be aggravating. “I do
realize the bureaucratic nature that this
university often runs by,” she said.
"Just the fact that 1 haven't bowed out
yet shows I tend to stick with it and
give it my all.”
Russell. Hoffschneider and sec
ond vice president Eddie Brown will
meet this week to discuss possible
Matt Miller/DN
SARA RUSSELL, ASUN president-elect, stands in front of the columns near
Memorial Stadium.The junior from Omaha said she hopes to start right
away on implementing her ideas and working with the new ASUN senators.
incorporating ideas from the VISON
platform to offer the best from both
parties to the university.
She said she w as not worried about
w/orkmg with a VISION candidate.
Russell said Brown has a lot of
valuable qualities to bring to ASUN,
such as his dedication to change, a new
perspective and his approachability.
She said she would start planning
right away for NU Week, a student
involvement w'eek similar to
Homecoming. More community ser
vice projects and getting more volun
teers and longer hours for the campus
escort service are also on the agenda,
she said.
She will have plenty of good help
to start those projects, she said. COM
MIT won 17 seats in the senate, and
VISION won seven. One independent
senator was elected.
Returning senator Kara Slaughter
will bring experience, and new senator
Please see RUSSELL on 2
