SPORTS
Rekindled rivalry
Backed by a 10-run seventh inning Sunday, the
Nebraska baseball team completed a three-game
sweep of 14th-ranked Oklahoma. PAGE 9
NEWS
Jones remembers trial
Stephen Jones,defense attorney for Timothy
McVeigh tells the Daily Nebraskan about the
Oklahoma City bombing trial and his client PAGE 8
MON >AY
April 20, 1998
Hold Onto Your Hats
Cloudy, breezy, high 60. Clearing tonight, low 36.
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 N0.143
Officials: Racial climate could improve
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
Federal officials who look at racial cli
mates on college campuses revealed on
Friday that UNL has broken no laws but
could improve its environment for minori
ties.
Linda Crump, director of the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln's affirmative action and
diversity programs, said three investigators
from the U.S. Office for Civil Rights released
a preliminary report Friday that said the uni
versity had complied with legal racial
harassment requirements.
But the investigators said legal compli
ance wasn’t enough and asked the university
to discuss three areas: racial policy, investi
gation of racial harassment and diversity
training, Crump said.
“All of these recommendations were pos
itive ones,” Crump said. “And the things that
we need to do - that I plan to do - are proba
bly going to be more comprehensive (than
the government requires).”
Investigators from the civil rights office
heard testimonies from students, faculty
members and staff last week.
Crump said she was previously unaware
of some incidents of racial harassment dis
cussed by the panelists, all of which she said
were not illegal but contributed to an envi
ronment that was not welcoming to minori
ties.
Olsuegun Okubanjo, a law student and
student senator for the law college, said the
administration’s lack of response to acts,
such as English Professor David Hibler’s
allegedly racist e-mail and anti-gay chalk
mgs on campus last semester, sent the wrong
message to students.
“It seemed like the administrators weren't
really sure whether they were for Or against
what happened,” said Okubanjo, who met
with civil rights investigators last week.
“There was no clear action.”
Subtleties, not illegal acts of discrimina
tion, are what Crump said contributed to an
unwelcome and sometimes hostile racial
environment at UNL.
“There’s always a difference between the
environment that one can set up that makes a
person feel welcome and wanting to be part
of the environment, than an environment that
does everything legally that should happen,”
Crump said.
To help create a more-welcome environ
ment, Crump said, the university will create
and sign an agreement with the Office for
Civil Rights.
Because UNL receives federal funds,
Please see CLIMATE on 6
Democrats honor
Nelson, rip GOP
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
Democrats commemorated Gov.
Ben Nelson's eight years in office and
tossed barbs at the Republicans who
want to be his successor during their
Jefferson-Jackson dinner Saturday
night.
A corps of prominent Democrats,
including U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, former
U.S. Sen. James Exon, Lt. Gov. Kim
Robak and gubernatorial candidates
Bill Hoppner and Jim McFarland
praised Nelson for his efforts to pro
mote Nebraska's agricultural products,
his fiscal conservatism and his enthusi
asm for Nebraska.
“Beyond Democrats, as
Nebraskans and Americans, we are very
grateful for your serv ice,” Kerrey said.
“You have changed the lives of hun
dreds of thousands of people"
Robak, who will leave office w ith
Nelson in January, was also honored.
She said she wanted to crack jokes
about Nelson, but couldn't.
“Ben Nelson just isn't funny," she
said. "Oh sure, he's got 100 of the same
tie. And he’s so tight his shoes don't
oz-impciL' Anri hp hnc thp wnrlH'c mnst
perfect hair. But other than that, he's just
not funny."
The event showcased a half-hour
video in which more than 70 friends and
colleagues shared memories and praise
ofNelson.
Video participants celebrated
Nelson's success in promoting ethanol
as a renewable energy source and in
forging markets for Nebraska agricul
ture overseas.
But mostly, they talked about
Nelson's legendary tight pockets.
“Ben Nelson is tighter than two
coats of paint," said Tim Becker,
Nelson's chief of staff.
Minutes later, he said “Ben Nelson
is tighter than three coats of paint."
Toward the end of the video, Becker
reappeared and said “Four coats, Ben."
Nelson thanked his supporters and
said his years as governor had been
“eight of the greatest years anybody
could have ever had certainly the great
est I've ever had.”
“I don’t profess to say I've always
been right.” Nelson said. “But I've
always intended to be on the right side.”
Exon took a shot at Republican
gubernatorial candidates Jon
Christensen, John Breslow and Mike
Johanns, who participated in a forum
Thursday night.
“I listened very carefully to each
and every one of the Three Stooges,"
Exon said. Their message, he said was
that “if we can just get another million
dollars, we can be nominated to be the
sacrificial lamb for Jim McFarland or
Bill Hoppner in November.”Hoppner
said he had watched the forum with
acute interest.
He concluded that the Republican
candidates' message amounted to “the
proposition that gay Nebraskans will
not get a 25 percent tax cut unless they
agree to live near a large hog confine
ment operation and marry a virgin."
Hoppner added that, in contrast to
the Republican candidates, his cam
paign is "committed to providing lead
ership that sees all Nebraskans, not just
a privileged few."
McFarland said he had been a
Nelson supporter since Nelson's suc
cessful campaign for governor in 1990.
The two share many political views, he
said.
"Ben Nelson showed us in eight
years that a nice guy can be a politician
and be a state's leader," he said. “I'd like
to continue that tradition and build on
the Nelson legacy.”
Ken Haar. executiv e director of the
Nebraska Democratic Party, said about
700 people attended the S75-per-plate
dinner at Pershing Auditorium. The pro
gram, “Nelson and Stars: The Legacy,”
raised between $60,000 and $65,000,
he said.
In his closing remarks, Nelson had a
last chance to one-up Becker.
“I’m probably tighter than five
coats of paint, Tim.”
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: / / www.unl.edu /DailyNeb
Hollywood
outfitter
closes shop
By Sarah Baker
Senior Reporter
Karen Anderson thought nobody
would ever want the ugly, pink wool
coat that wouldn't sell at her down
town vintage clothing store.
That is until Hollywood called.
The coat wasjust one of the items
she sent to the set of 1995’s best pic
ture. “Forrest Gump." and one of
many articles from her store that have
been used in major motion pictures
set in the 1950s and 60s.
Anderson’s store. Second Wind
vintage clothing, 1640 O St., closed
its doors for good Saturday after 11
vears in business.
"1 thought this was my chance to
dump it because before that I could
n't give that coat away,” she said. “It
ended up being in one of the major
scenes near the end of the movie. It
really is awesome to see your stuff on
screen, bigger than life.”
Clothing from Anderson's store
also can be seen in “Quiz Show,”
“The Hudsucker Proxy,” “A Bronx
Tale” and the recent Tom Hanks-pro
duced HBO miniseries “From the
Earth to the Moon,” which began air
ing two weeks ago.
Please see VINTAGE on 3
Dawn Dietrich/DN
SHARON KOEPKE, of Lincoln, examines scraps of fabric (luring an auc
tion at Second Wind,1640 0 St., Saturday afternoon. Clothing from
Second Wind has been used in “Forrest Gump” and other films.
Nelson vetoes educational funding bill
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
Gov. Ben Nelson vetoed a bill
Sunday that included a controversial
amendment obligating the state to
provide an additional $70 million in
school funding beginning in 2001.
Saying the bill had not been thor
oughly debated in the Legislature and
that it would hurt efforts at tax relief.
Nelson vetoed LB1175, which also
included other education measures.
“This bill is just not good govern
ment,” he said in a statement. “It
obligates the state to spend money
before it has been clearly shown that
this expenditure will be necessary.”
But the veto does not mean
Nelson will call a special legislative
session. The governor has constitu
tional power to call a special session
on his own, or the agreement of 33 of
49 state senators can compel the gov
ernor’s action.
The bill, sponsored by Sen.
Ardyce Bohlke of Hastings, also
included a formula for special educa
Please see VETO on 2
