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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1998)
SPORTS Taking on Troy The Nebraska women’s basketball team looks to move its record to 7-1 this season with a game against Troy State tonight. PAGE 9 A&E Literary movement With the addition of a second Barnes & Noble Bookstore to the local literary scene, local sellers are worried this might be their final chapter. PAGE 7 TUES: >AY December 8, 1998 Crisp and Clear Mostly sunny, high 44. Clear tonight, low 17. Sandy Summers/DN SARAH DAVID, of the Lincoln City Church, gives Michael Lott, 4, a hug during the MAD DADS safe night Saturday at the Air Park Recreation Center. MAD DADS’ Saturday activities attract about 80-125 children, teen-agers and adults. Safe Home MAD DADS rebel against youth violence By Josh Funk Senior staff writer This is not an easy time to be young. Violence spills out of the televi sion and onto city streets. Fourteen-year-old girls are becoming mothers. Gangs are dominating the neighborhoods. Drugs are all too available. And the community pleads ignorance to the problem. But nine years ago this fall, a group of Omaha men got mad enough to do something it. From a nucleus of 18 men, MAD DADS has grown into a 55,000-member organization with 56 chapters in 15 states with its national headquarters in Omaha. In Lincoln, MAD DADS works to teach children responsi bility and instill basic values while protecting them from the threats of society. It all started from one man's quest for revenge. In May 1989, John Foster's son, Sean, was brutally beaten by Omaha gang members on his way home for spring break because his Suzuki Samurai was the wrong color. Please see DADS on 6 UNL to examine harassment, race policies By Lindsay Young Senior staff writer The university is taking a magnifying glass to its discrimina tion and harassment policies to ensure that it fairly serves all stu dents, faculty members and staff. Under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and the University of Nebraska Lincoln. university officials have formed two committees to examine ami-discrimination policies. The agreement stemmed from an all-university audit last spring of the UNL's racial discrimination and harass ment policies. Though Herb Howe, asso ciate to the chancellor, said Monday the university was chosen randomly for the audit, civil nghts officials last spring said otherwise. Rodger Murphey, spokesman for the Department of Education, told the Daily Nebraskan last spring that unofficial com plaints filed with his office and highly publicized incidents that some people interpreted as racist caused the civil rights office to review UNL’s racial climate. Events that have been called racist in the past include Sigma Chi's cross-burning during a fraternity ritual in 1997 and former English professor David Hibler's e-mail that included the word “nigga” last spring.The audit concluded that the university had already implemented policies to remedy and prevent racial harassment, according to the partnership resolution. However, based on a joint assessment and recommendations provided by students, faculty members and staff last spring, the university decided to improve its policies. A copy of the agreement can be found on the Web at Please see AUDIT on 2 «— We might as well look at the entire policy. That kind of made sense to us.” Sally Wise Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee chairwoman Fuel efficiency is drive of national challenge By Todd Anderson Senior staff writer With a shiny new truck engine and some cash from the state, a group of University of Nebraska-Lincoln engi neering students will end up with more than just greasy hands. Thanks to a national competition encouraging ethanol gasoline use, they have the chance to put improving the environment and boosting the state economy on their resumes. During a press conference Monday, Gov. Ben Nelson recognized the UNL team that will convert the engine of a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck to run on 85 percent ethanol fuel as part of the 1999 National Ethanol Vehicle Challenge. Nelson said the program, which is supported by state and private funding, was important for growing Nebraska's ethanol industry, which converts corn into fuel for automobile engines that in turn emit fewer toxins into the atmos phere. The team, led by Bill Weins. UNL associate professor of mechanical engineering, will show off its convert ed ethanol engine at the second-ever competition sponsored nationally by General Motors Corp. and the U.S. Department of Energy. Weins said the student volunteers can receive credit for working on the engine, but the biggest advantages are the professional experience and job connections. He said General Motors uses the competition for recruiting engineering students, and some past UNL team members have already begun working for the automotive giant. Last year, the students converted the engine of a 1998 Chevrolet Malibu and competed with 13 other teams at the manufacturer's testing grounds in Detroit. Scott Peterson, 1998 team captain and a graduate student in mechanical engineering, said last year's team made some mistakes because it was the first year of the competition. Though the team did not win, Peterson said, it won an award for best teamwork after its car engine failed and had to be replaced overnight. The teams this year, including UNL's 30-member group, will focus on making pickup engines more fuel effi cient without sacrificing performance or consumer appeal. Nelson said the increased popular ity of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, which are not typically fuel efficient, enhances the need for better, more efficient engines. He said the ethanol industry has been important to the growth of nation al and international trade in Nebraska. Weins and Peterson both said this year's team is excited and prepared to win by building on the knowledge it acquired last year. “We're coming to play hard,” Peterson said. Dawn Dietrich/DN GOV. BEN NELSON takes National Ethanol Challenge team members, who are UNL engineering students, for a ride in the 1999 Chevrolet Silverado. Its engine will be converted to burn 85 percent ethanol fuel. 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