Cockson touched
the lives of many
COCKSON from page 1
family,” Lessley said.
For some, Laura was more than
just a friend.
“She was my conscience,” Hicks
said. “She’d always call me on stuff
right away. She was such a rational
thinker.”
One of the things people remem
ber most about Laura was her infec
tious laughter and a smile that could
light up a room, Hicks said.
“If she smiled at you, it just made
you feel good.”
While Laura was growing up in
Friend, the Cockson family always
was close.
“They’d sit around and talk for
hours,” Hicks said. “Laura told her
mom everything.”
Laura was exceptionally close to
her older brother, Steve, who was only
11 months older, but whenever the
three sisters got together there was
bound to be laughter, friends said.
One of the fondest memories
Lessley has of Laura was a time when
the three Cocksons at UNL - Steve,
Laura and Sarah - were studying
together in the Gamma Phi Beta base
ment.
“The three of them were studying,
talking and laughing, and I remember
thinking how lucky she was,” Lessley
said.
As the class valedictorian and star
athlete in high school, Laura was an
all-American girl, Hicks said.
She graduated in a small class of
16 people, which became so close it
felt more like a family.
Last year Laura and Hicks had to
deal with the loss of one of their high
school classmates.
“I thought about what it would be
like to lose Laura then, and I couldn’t
imagine it - but now it’s happened,”
Hicks said.
At the university, Laura’s dedica
tion to academic success was evident
with her 4.0 grade point average in her
occupational therapy classes. She
wanted to continue at Creighton
University next year.
“Last weekend we were talking
about our futures, and now it is like
we jinxed it,” Hicks said.
As freshmen, Hicks convinced
Laura to study abroad with her in the
Czech Republic.
“Originally she didn’t want to go,
but in the end we had great memo
ries,” Hicks said.
Instead of ordering food in restau
rants with the Czech language, Laura
would use English, repeating herself
louder if the locals didn’t understand,
Hicks said.
One of Laura’s favorite pastimes
was shopping.
“Every time I went to the mall I’d
look for her and she was probably
there,” Theis said.
She was at the Express so often
that when they were looking for help
the owner told Laura to apply, Theis
said.
In the aftermath of Laura’s death,
her friends and sorority sisters are try
ing to focus on the positive influence
Laura had in their lives.
Her sorority sisters now wear pur
ple ribbons as a promise and a
reminder not to drink and drive,
Grigsby said. Purple was one of
Laura’s favorite colors.
Meanwhile, her family and
friends must learn to accept a future
without Laura, Ideus said.
“I am a safer person now that she
is watching over me.”
Faculty votes to keep instructor;
McLaughlin named top educator
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
Last week he was nearly ready
to pack his bags and head back to
teach high school in Missouri.
Tuesday he was named UNL’s
best instructor.
In the days in between, adjunct
chemistry instructor Bill
McLaughlin has watched students
and faculty members join forces in
support of keeping the 1997-98
Outstanding Educator Award win
ner in Lincoln - at least for a little
while longer.
McLaughlin was told of the
award Tuesday afternoon, the same
afternoon chemistry faculty mem
bers voted “nearly unanimous” in
support of hiring the chemistry
instructor full time.
He could not be reached for
comment Tuesday night.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
administrators had pledged to find
the money to hire McLaughlin if
the chemistry department voted to
add him to the faculty.
A petition including signatures
of more than 1,000 students in sup
port of keeping him on staff was
presented to administrators earlier
this week.
McLaughlin, a visiting instruc
tor from St. Joseph, Mo., was orig
inally told money wasn’t there to
employ him beyond his one-year
term.
But with Tuesday’s vote,
Chemistry Professor Paul Kelter
said McLaughlin would enter into
negotiations with Brian Foster,
dean of the arts and sciences col
lege.
Kelter said chemistry faculty
members knew McLaughlin was an
outstanding professor.
“That’s why we pushed so
hard,” he said. “This is a guy who
teaches magnificently by interact
ing with the students in a rigorous,
fun exploration of chemistry.”
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Senators advance DUI bill
By Todd Anderson
Assignment Reporter
Keeping drunken drivers off the
road would save the lives of innocent
drivers like UNL student Laura .
Cockson, Lincoln Sen. LaVon Crosby
said Tuesday.
After three amendments were
added to LB309, a bill that would
increase the penalties for drunken dri
ving sponsored by Crosby, senators
advanced the bill to the final round of
legislation.
“Anything we can do to get drivers
off the road because they’ve had too
much to drink, we should do,” Crosby
said.
Debate on the bill may have
become more poignant following the
weekend death of Cockson in an alco
hol-related car accident that also seri
ously injured her two younger sisters.
“Why should we protect someone
like him,” Crosby said, referring to
Jeffery E. Ireland, the driver responsi
ble for the accident “He has absolutely
devastated a family.”
Though there was widespread sup
port for the bill - senators advanced it
with a unanimous voice vote - they
spent almost four hours debating pro
posed amendments.
The current version of the bill
included amendments added by the
Transportation Committee, that set the
minimum fine for first-time DUI
offenders at $500, an increase of $300.
m^mz\
A second offense would result in a
minimum of two days in jail or house
arrest and a minimum $500 fine.
People caught driving under the
influence four times would face jail
time, a $1,000 fine and a possible 15
year license revocation.
Under current statutes, repeat
offenses committed within the last
eight years count against the drunken
driver.
Speaker Doug Kristensen of
Minden said one of the most important
parts of the bill would extend that time
frame to 12 years.
“In eight years, it’s impossible to
rack up that many offenses,”
Kristensen said.
The bill would allow a person
whose license was revoked to appeal to
the Department of Motor Vehicles after
a period of seven years, provided there
were no further charges during that
time.
The Legislature added an amend
ment proposed by Sen. Eric Will of
Omaha that would set the guidelines
for die DMV in recommending a par
don from the State Pardons Board.
Driving with a revoked license
after a third and fourth offense would
be a class III and class IV felony,
respectively.
Also, for any felony committed
while driving under suspension, the
driver’s vehicle could be impounded.
The bill also makes DUI for minors
a primary offense, in accordance with a
mandate from Congress. Failure to
conform to federal law would result in
a flat, $15 million penalty for the state.
Minors can be convicted of DUI if
their blood alcohol content is more
than 0.02 percent
An amendment proposed by Sen.
Ernie Chambers of Omaha, which was
added to the bill, would require police
officers to have reasonable cause for
stopping a driver and demanding an
alcohol test. Refusal to take the test,
such as a Breathalizer test, would be
cause for imprisonment
The DUI violation would remain
on a minor’s record for 90 days; a
refusal violation would remain for 120
days.
Despite heightened national and
local discussion of a proposal to lower
the legal blood alcohol level to 0.08 -
the current legal level in Nebraska is
0.10 - an amendment was not pro
posed to change the limit.
Nebraska is one of 10 states that
hasn’t converted to the lower legal
blood alcohol level.
Crosby said she supported chang
ing the limit but would wait until next
year to propose an amendment. She
said the LB309 would lose support if
such a provision were added this year.
“If I proposed an amendment now
(to change the legal blood alcohol
level),” Crosby said, “you’d see the
rotunda full of lobbyists.”
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