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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1999)
SPORTS Out of reach The Nebraska volleyball team fell short of its goal of a national title with a four-game loss to Penn State in the national semifinals. PAGE 15 I A & E From the gallery The Student Art League plans to use the Nebraska Union's Rotunda Gallery to display selected work from art students. PAGE 17 MON m January 11, 1999 Shiver Me Timbers Partly sunny, high 35. Partly cloudy tonight, low 20. VOL. 98 ' COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 77 Reeves was one of many ‘split feathers’ « Randy was accepted by our extended family and the community. He was always one of our kids” Don Reeves Randy Reeves’ adoptive father By Josh Funk Senior staff writer On March 7, 1959, Randy Blackbird took his first step to becom ing Randy Reeves. That night, the 3-year-old boy, who would later be convicted of murder and sentenced to die, was taken from his American Indian family and placed with a white one. The practice is illegal now, but it was quite common in the 1950s when the Thurston County Sheriff was called to the Blackbird home on the Omaha Indian Reservation near Macy. The sheriff said he was investigating reports of a drunken brawl and possible child abuse at the home. \ Then he arrested all of the adults - Randy Blackbirds' extended family - and took their six children into protec tive custody. Before the end of the week, adoption plans were being made for the two youngest children. Randy Blackbird was adopted by the Reeves family, which lived in Central City. The family changed his name from Blackbird to its own. Randy Reeves was among the 25 percent of all American Indian children nationwide who were taken from their families in the 1950s and placed into adoptive homes - often with horrible consequences. Many of the children were taken because social workers did not consider the cultural differences, Omaha Tribal Council Treasurer Amie Harlan said. “There was no cultural understand ing on the other side,” Harlan said. “It’s hard to say to a non-Indian that this is our culture.” A study by the University of Arizona has shown irrevocable, harmful effects cross-cultural adoptions had on those who were adopted and their com munities. After being taken from their - families and homes at a young age,' American Indian adoptees have shown an inability to connect with other people and a lack of personal identity. v Though it is uncertain exactly what effects Reeves' adoption has had in his life, he now waits on Nebraska's death row and is scheduled to die Thursday for the 1980 murders of Janet Mesner and Victoria Lamm. After 18 years of litigation, Reeves has exhausted nearly every appeal. Today the Pardons Board will consider Reeves' application for a clemency hearing, and an appeal is pending in Nebraska Supreme Court. Early years Reeves was bom at the Winnebago Indian Hospital on Feb. 8, 1956, to 16 year-old Grace Blackbird, who dropped out of school in the sixth grade. Mother and son lived on the nearby Omaha reservation with their extended family. Please see REEVES on page 8 On the sunny side Matt Miller/DN TYLER WOODS reads a book in the Sun Room in the Neihardt Residence Center on Sunday afternoon. The senior computer engineering major said he left his room because the couch was comfortable, the room was warm, and he wanted to escape his guitar-playing neighbor. Funds divide legislators, NU officials ByIevaAugstums Senior staff writer With the Legislature s mcreased focus on tight-fisted spending, university officials are working to convince lawmakers their budget requests are justified. But heightened concern over state spend ing may stop the university from receiving better technology and higher faculty salaries; officials are worried. “I sense a strong desire to help the univer sity,” said University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor James Moeser. “We are a favored institution in the state, but we are living in an era of reduced flexibility. It’s not going to be easy.” Last July, the NU Board of Regents approved the NU 1999-2001 biennial budget request that asked for a 6.8 percent first-year increase for the 1998-99 budget of about S355.9 million. In February, Gov. Mike Johanns will pre sent his budget to the Legislature for the next two years. Ron Withem, NU associate vice president for external affairs and director of govern ment relations, said the university will have to take into consideration Johanns’ recommen dation and the Legislature’s thoughts, then act on its reqyests. “It's going to be a formidable challenge,” Withem said. “There is always more needs Honr! iho Dnil\i AJohrn obr than dollars to go around.” The university’s legislative agenda includes increasing faculty and staff mem bers’ saktfies, funding for technology and general inflation costs. Moeser said faculty and staff members’ salaries are currently 5 to 6 percent below the midpoint of UNL’s peer institutions. “We are slipping, and our peers are mov ing away from us,” Moeser said. “We need and want to keep our faculty. We need to catch up.” But Regent Drew Miller of Papillion dis agreed. “I believe in merit pay, not these ideas of Please, see BUDGET on 6 ’ n nn iho Wlnrlrl XKlirlo XA/oh ni rlnil\tnoh nnm Lawmakers focusing on spending issues, aid to schools By Jessica Fargen Senior staff writer Although the business-backed Initiative 413 was rejected by voters in May, its fallout is permeating the Legislature this 90-day session as legislators from Omaha to Minden seem to have ideas on how to limit state spending. State aid to schools and taxes join state spending limits on the list of issues facing lawmakers this year. The Legislature will set the budget for the next two years with a $4.5 billion two-year general fund budget. Omaha Sen. Pam Brown is proposing a resolution to limit state spending increases to 3 percent for the next two years. “It is not a lid,” she said. “It is not anything other than a verbal contract between the Legislature and the public.” Brown chose to base the limit on personal income growth, instead of a national basis such as the consumer price index, because it may be out of touch with the Nebraska economy. With the resolution, instead of a bill, appropriation would be dealt with nearer the start of the session, instead of the end. saia crown, a memDer or me Appropriations committee, i ne resolution was introduced Thursday and referred to the Executive Board for a hearing. A resolution is quicker to enact than a bill, and it is not permanent. Brown said something needed to be done about state spending growth. A non-permanent, good-faith promise on the part of lawmakers was a good route to go, Brown said. “There may be people who are accepting of spending as long as they understand what the philosophy is behind it ” Brown said. “The important part is not what the number is. The impor tant part is that there is discussion, that there is an agreement.” Brown is among several senators including Speaker of the Legislature Doug Kristensen of Minden, Sen. Ron Raikes of Lincoln and Sen. Roger Wehrbein of Plattsmouth, who have or may propose some type of spending limit. As in November’s election, responsible spending and tax ation continue to be key issues for legislators. < Please see SPENDING on 6