SPORTS
Fut, meet bol
The Nebraska soccer team starts the Big 12
Tournament this weekend, looking for its second
title in three years. PAGE 9
A & E
Causing a commotion
STOMP finds it's way into Lincoln for a second
time this weekend with five appearances at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts. PAGE 12
FRIDAY
November 6, 1998
White Night
Mostly cloudy, high 43. Light snow tonight, low 33.
L
VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 53
Commission hears
Peru State options
A lever of success
mur - -i “ I
■ Consultants present
costs of moving the state
college, renovating the
campus, or closing it.
By Kim Sweet
Staff writer
The cost of moving Peru State
College to Nebraska City will cost more
than $ 100 million, according to a report
given to the state s college commission.
The fate of Peru State College
remains in the hands ot the
Coordinating Commission for
Postsecondary Education after months
of uncertainty about whether the col
lege should remain in Peru.
The commission heard from con
sultants Thursday who have been
researching the costs of keeping the col
lege in Peru, eliminating it completely
or moving it to a different city.
The issue was brought forward dur
ing the last legislative session when a
bill was introduced to provide funds to
renovate the college. An opposing bill
was introduced to move the college to
Nebraska City.
Dennis Jones, president of the
National Center for Higher Education
Management, and Dan Paulien, presi
dent of Paulien and Associates, a
Denver architecture firm, presented the
costs as well as the pros and cons ofboth
scenarios.
They said it would cost about $96
million to move the campus and $27
million to renovate the existing campus.
State Sen. Floyd Vrtiska of Table
Rock, who introduced the bill last year
to renovate the campus, said the esti
mates for moving the college were
much higher than the proponents of
moving had planned on.
The State College Board of
Trustees, which voted for the move to
Nebraska City, estimated the cost to
move the campus would be about $24
million, Vrtiska said.
While considering the costs of the
move, the commission also must con
sider how Peru State College fills an
important niche in the southeastern
Nebraska region, Jones said.
The college provides a place for
those students who feel uncomfortable
attending a larger university, such as the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln or the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, said
Jerome Martin, interim vice president
of the college.
“We have a wide range of individu
als,” Martin said. “There are some peo
ple who feel uncomfortable around lots
of people and some who are first-gener
ation college students.
with students, we create a system that
helps people grow, develop and build
confidence,” he said.
If Peru State College is moved or
closed, consultants have come up with
an extensive network of learning cen
ters where students could take distance
education classes.
But Vrtiska said the centers would
not fill the gap left in the southeast
region if Peru State left or was closed.
The state would be taking away an
important part of Peru and the sur
rounding area’s already fragile econo
my, Vrtiska said.
The commissioners will have to
decide on an option they want to recom
mend to the governor and the
Legislature by Dec. 1.
After considering their recommen
dation, the Legislature will take action
on the decision during the next session.
Members of the commission will
accept feedback to the consultant’s
report a week from today during a spe
cial video conference. People wishing
to comment can attend sites m Lincoln,
Omaha, Hastings, Scottsbluff and
Chadron.
Questions arise over
Lincoln’s next mayor
By Adam Klinker
Staff writer
With Mayor Mike Johanns now a
governor-elect, a big question facing
the city of Lincoln is: Who will be
boss?
According to the city charter, offi
cials elected to higher office have
until final election certification to
vacate their current office.
In addition to the secretary of
state’s and election commissioner’s
certification, the state Legislature
must also approve election results,
said Curt Donaldson, chairman of the
Lincoln City Council.
The secretary of state's and eljec
tion commissioner’s official certifica
tion of Tuesday’s election must be
completed within the next 38 days,
meaning Johanns could leave office
by Dec. 14 at the latest.
However, the next Legislature will
not meet until January, thereby delay
ing their certification.
Donaldson said he did not per
ceive a problem and said most likely,
Johanns will resign as mayor as soon
as the early certification is
announced. *
After Johanns leaves office, the
Please see MAYOR on 8
Dawn Dietrich/DN
DOUG GLASSHOFF, A UNL secondary education sophomore, teeter-totters Thursday afternoon in the greenspace
outside of the Nebraska Union. The See-Saw-A-Thon, sponsored by Alpha Gamma Sigma Fraternity and Gamma Phi
Beta Sorority, is raising money for the Laura Cockson Memorial Scholarship Fund.
I—-1
Case tried at NU law college
By Jessica Fargen
Staff writer
The teaching that normally goes
on in the Welpton Courtroom on
East Campus took on a more
somber tone this week as NU law
students silently watched the first
jury trial at the college in roughly a
decade.
Law students, as well as wit
nesses, attorneys and 24-year-old
defendant Maurice Phillips,
charged with manslaughter and use
of a deadly weapon to commit a
felony, were awaiting a verdict
Thursday night.
The Lancaster County District
Court trial, which started Monday at
the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, propels students into a real
life situation they may face in the
future as lawyers, said Glenda
Pierce, assistant dean of the law col
lege
“Instead of just reading a defini
tion of what hearsay is,” Pierce said,
“they’ll hear a question asked, per
haps, and then they’ll hear an objec
tion made based on that particular
rule of evidence.
“It gives life to the rules of evi
dence they are learning.”
Another thing students won’t
see in the classroom is a man's
future laid on the line by lawyers, a
fcfc
Here you can watch everything happening
at once. You can see the witness asking a
question ... what the judge is doing. ...”
Glenda Pierce
assistant dean of the NU College of Law
judge and jury.
That man, Phillips, was involved
in an altercation in April 1996 in
which he was stabbed in the shoul
der by Arthur Ewoldt of Lincoln,
said presiding Sarpy County
District Judge Ronald Reagan.
Ewoldt was assaulted by multi
ple people, including Phillips, in a
second altercation later that night,
the prosecution said.
During that altercation, a
cement block was allegedly
dropped on Ewoldt, which resulted
in injuries, leading to a coma.
Ewoldt died in December 1996 as a
result of injuries from the alterca
tion, Reagan said.
Phillips was charged in spring
1997 with the manslaughter and
weapon charges, which each carry a
sentence of one to 20 years in prison
and a $25,000 fine.
At least three of the individuals
involved in the altercation that
resulted in Ewoldt's death testified
against him. Two witnesses plea
bargained to lesser charges; one was
granted immunity.
The college courtroom is a valu
able but underused resource for stu
dents and judges. Pierce said.
Judges are invited to use the
courtroom, Pierce said, but most are
reluctant to leave their home court
rooms.
At the same time, the college
prefers shorter trials because the
courtroom doubles as a classroom,
causing logistical problems in hav
ing long trials there, she said.
But Gary Peterson, a second
year law student, said he understood
why many lawyers and judges
dragged their feet about holding a
trial in the college. Attorneys may
feel the college courtroom would be
disruptive to the jury, which would
Please see COURT on 8
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