Open impeachment inquiry started l
■ A 258-176 House vote
makes Clinton the third
president in history to face
serious chaiges of this kind.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
House triggered an open-ended
impeachment inquiry against
President Clinton on Thursday in a
momentous vote cast in the shadow
of midterm elections.
Thirty-one Democrats joined
majority Republicans in increasing
the peril for die embattled chief exec
utive.
The 258-176 vote opened the way
for nationally televised impeachment
hearings later this year, with possible
witnesses including Independent
Counsel Kenneth Starr, Monica
Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and other cen
tral characters in the sex-and-cover
up drama that has commanded the
nation’s attention for nine months.
Clinton, the nation’s 42nd presi
dent, becomes the third occupant of
his office to face serious impeach
ment prospects. Andrew Johnson was
impeached by the House in 1868 but
remained in office after the Senate
fell one vote shy of forcing his
removal. Richard Nixon resigned in
1974 rather than face impeachment
over Watergate.
“I do not think that we want to set
tle for less than the whole truth,” said
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., the man at
the controls of the inquiry. To the
nation watching on television - as
well as to openly skeptical Democrats
sitting across the aisle in the House
chamber - he pledged fairness in the
months ahead.
“Too much hangs in the balance
for us not to rise above partisan poli
tics,” said the Judiciary Committee
chairman.
House Democrats argued in vain
for an inquiry limited to Starr’s evi
dence, to be wrapped up by Dec. 31.
“We’re all profoundly hurt by
what the president has done,” said
Democratic leader Richard Gephardt
of Missouri. “But this investigation
must be ended fairly and quickly. It
has hurt our nation, and it’s hurt our
children. We must not compound die
hurt.”
Rep. Paul McHale, a
Pennsylvania Democrat who has
called for Clinton to resign, declared
that in testimony in the Paula Jones
lawsuit the president “attempted to
cover up a sordid and irresponsible
relationship by repeated deceit under
oath.”
Thursday’s outcome was a fore
gone conclusion, with only the level
of Democratic support in doubt The
White House had mounted a vigorous
effort to hold down the number of
defections as it pursued a strategy of
attacking the GOP for conducting a
partisan campaign against Clinton.
J White House aides circulated
polls amon^the rank-and-file in
recent days that indicated the nation
was tired of the Clinton-Lewinsky
melodrama and wanted it to end
swiftly. The correct political vote,
they aigued, was to make it a partisan
issue heading into the election, there
by casting Republicans as defying
public sentiment.
“It’s a tough vote,” said Rep.
Charles Stenholm, a veteran
Democrat targeted by Republicans
for defeat this fall. He cast Ids vote for
die GOP plan.
In political terms, Republicans
said their polling showed that the vot
ers most likely to go to the polls werev
eager for an impeachment inquiry.
Beyond that, they stressed repeat
edly that they would conduct their
investigation under the rules that
majority Democrats used during
Watergate.
Hyde, in his final arguments on
the floor, alluded to former Rep. Peter
Rodino, D-N.J., who chaired the
committee during the Watergate era.
Rodino had dismissed calls for a
deadline as unwise.
Now, a quarter-century later, said
Hyde, “We’re not flying by the seat of
our pants. We’re riding on the shoul
ders of Pete Rodino.
“That’s why we can see so far.”
UNL alcohol policies to stiffen
■ New bill allows colleges
to call parents of underage
students after violations.
Staff writer
A bill signed by President Clinton
on Wednesday gives colleges the
option to notify parents of students
under 21 years old who violate a state,
local, federal or campus alcohol or
drug policy, a congressional
spokesman said
Aimougn uinl resiaence nail stu
dents under 21 years old already con
sent to this in their housing contracts,
. parents of students in greek houses and
! off-campus housing could also be noti
-- • fied under the new law, said Vice
Chancellor for Student Affairs James
Griesen.
“We do believe in treating students
as adults. There are times, however,
that we feel the best interests of the stu
dent are serviced if we do bring the par
ents into the equation,” Griesen said.
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln has an alcohol and drug policy
agreement with greek houses, but not
with individual members, Griesen
said. The disparity occurs because
I greek members pay rent to their chap
; ters, not the university, as residence
; hall students do.
Because of the legislation, greek
members and off-campus residents
won’t be exempt from notification for
long.
“We probably will move in that
direction,” Griesen said.
Linda Schwartzkopf, director of
UNL Greek Affairs, said some greek
houses already have adopted a parental
notification clause to their housing
contracts.
In the residence halls, students
must sign a statement that says they
recognize that the university reserves
the right to notify their parents if they
violate an alcohol and drug policy, said
Doug Zatechka, UNL director of
Office of University Housing.
About 120 parents were called last
year and told of their children’s alcohol
violations under a housing policy
enacted in 1997, he said.
“It made a real difference in the
environment,” Zatechka said. “It got
calmer. After that there was less van
dalism and less behavioral problems.”
Housing’s policy may get tougher
under the new law.
L.asi year we aid noi can parents
on a simple violation,” Zatechka said.
“But this law would say we could call
on a very simple violation.”
v A simple violation would cover
students in their room with alcohol,
whaeara serious one wouldpnobably
involve an intoxicated student causing
disruptions such as noise violations,
fights, vandalism or vomiting,
Zatechka said.
The provision, which is part of the
1998 Higher Education Act, also
makes it possible to extend the parental
notification policy to off-campus stu
dents, Griesen said.
But the bill doesn’t address how to
handle off-campus violations or par
ents calling the university to ask for
their children’s records, said Geoff
Schwartzman, deputy press secretary
in U.S. Sen. John Warner’s
Washington, D.C., office.
The provision is sponsored by
Warner (R-Va.) partially in response to
five alcohol-related deaths at Virginia
colleges in 1997, Schwartzman said.
Under the bill, schools can no
longer use the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act - known as the
Buckley amendment - as an excuse for
keeping students’ records private.
“The Buckley amendment has pro
vided a large constraint on universities
being able to freely discuss the perfor
mance of students with parents,”
Griesen said. “We wouldn’t routinely
open up files for parents-if we did, it
was our initiative.”
Student loan
rates reduced
by Congress
BILL from page 1
up to their limit.
There are also provisions in the
bill dealing with the evaluation of
need and work-study programs.
“The issue is how well
Congress appropriates (for these
programs),” said James Griesen,
vice chancellor for student affairs.
Other parts of the bill deal with
setting standards for teachers’ col
leges to ensure teacher quality, but
James O’Hanlon, dean of the
teachers college, said Nebraska
already has high standards for its
teachers.
But many UNL administrators
contacted Thursday had not had
the opportunity to examine the
bill, so they could not say exactly
how it might affect the university.
Then administrators will have
to discuss the bill and any potential
changes.
All changes will have to be
coordinated with the university
general counsel to make sure they
are in accordance with where UNL
wants to be and with state law,
Director of Student Judicial
Affairs Charles Greene said.
“We’ve got to figure out exact
ly what the Washington double
talk means,” Greene said. “That
usually takes more than one
mind.”
Pair shoots to claim
'
M-60 championship I
M-60 from page 1
One of the M-60’s more common
combat roles is spraying down an area
with rather large particles of high
velocity lead.
Weighing in at 23 pounds for the
gun alone, the M-60 becomes even
bulkier when the necessary tripod and
belts of ammunition are factored in.
“This is nothing you can stand up
and shoot,” Case said.
Despite that weight, or maybe
because of it, the first event of the
five-day competition is a two-mile
run.
That’s right, run.
Competitors are loaded down with
the M-60, spare barrel, tripod and four
belts of ammunition on top of the stan
dard equipment soldiers must carry.
“Forty to 60 percent of the com
petitors don’t finish the run,” Case
said.
And that’s only the first of nine M
60 events in tactical, physical and skill
situations.
Case and Schmid agree that team
work is the key to victory in this com
petition.
“You have to depend on each other
to call the shots because you can’t see
when you’re shooting the gun,”
Schmid said.
The pair of Air Guard shooters
teamed up about six weeks ago after
Schmid’s other partner blew out his
knee.
Schmid and Case dominated a
five-state regional competition, win
ning by a large margin, and took sec
ond at the state competition. Then they
were chosen to represent Nebraska at
nationals.
Case said that Nebraska’s compe
tition is one of the toughest, so at
it
Forty to 60 percent
of the competitors
don’tfinish the run”
Mike Case
UNL student
nationals everybody will be watching
them closed
One of the most skill-demanding
events is a timed competition in which
competitors must completely disas
semble and reassemble the M-60 -
blindfolded
Case can do it in four to five min
utes, but the record is two minutes, 30
seconds.
Schmid, a weapons instructor for
28 years and an eight-time competitor
at nationals, knows what to expect
from the competition. Composure and
mental preparedness are vital, he said
And Case credits his work in die
martial arts for improving his compo
sure and endurance.
Case’s karate teacher for the last
four years, Richard Schmidt, associate
professor of health and human perfor
mance, said Case is dedicated to
learning as much as he can.
“He has an unusual amount of per- -
severance for someone at his level,”
Schmidt said
Case and Schmid say they are
ready for the competition. Their per
formance in practice Sunday would
have set records in competition, and as
Case and Schmid say:
“You’re only as good as your best
practice.”
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Wesleyan student, 25, dies
in fire started by cigarette
By Josh Funk
Senior staff writer
A Nebraska Wesleyan student
was killed in an early morning fire
Wednesday that started in his apart
ment from careless smoking.
The fire started around 3:30 a.m.
in the first-floor apartment of 25
year-old Carlos Camacho, Lincoln
Police Capt. Doug Sib said.
Camacho’s apartment occupied
the first floor of a house on the 5000
block of Huntington Avenue that had
been divided into four separate apart
ments.
Fire Inspector Jack Bruns said
Camacho had fallen asleep on an
overstuffed couch in the living room
while smoking a cigarette, which
ignited the couch.
Five other people were in the
building at the time of the fire, and
they escaped unharmed.
When fire engines arrived on the
scene, the building was engulfed in
flames, Srb said. It took firefighters
45 minutes to extinguish the fire.
The blaze caused $50,000 dam
age to both the structure and the con
tents, Bruns said.
Most of the damage was to the
two apartments on the northwest cor
ner of the building, where the fire
started.
Nebraska Wesleyan University
spokesman Mike Tobias said coun
seling will be available for students
and faculty distressed by the death.
I
4-year-old hits mailbox with car
A boy, 4, left unattended in a car
went for a short joy ride Wednesday
evening and took out a mailbox.
Around 6:20 p.m. a woman parked
her car on 73rd Street between Red
Oak and Edenton roads, leaving her 4
year-old son in die car, Lincoln Police
Sgt. Ann Heermann said.
The woman left her keys in her
purse in the car with her son.
The boy unbuckled himself from
his seat, got the keys, started the car
and shifted into neutral.
The car rolled for 150 feet before it
hit a mailbox and came to a stop. The
boy sustained a bump on the head, and
the mother was cited for child neglect.
