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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1999
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Bills target road fatalities;
debate focuses on patrols
Legislators discuss speed limits, drunken driving
By Brian Carlson
Staffwriter
The Legislature’s Transportation
Committee on Monday heard several
bills addressing increased traffic
fatalities since the 1996 passage of
higher speed limits in Nebraska.
Bills presented during the hearing
included proposals for lowering the
speed limit on Interstate 80 from
Lincoln to Omaha, strengthening the
seat belt requirement and enacting
tougher restrictions on drunk driving.
should both lower the speed limit and
bolster enforcement. But given the
scant budgetary resources available,
he said, the only option is to lower the
speed limit.
“At least if we lower the limit to
70, maybe it will encourage people to
drive closer to 75, which we apparent
ly decided was an acceptable speed
limit in the past,” he said.
But Gary Scharf, a trucker for
Novartis Corp., said the higher limits
should be preserved because they
shorten trips for truckers.
Another bill - LB356, sponsored
LB686, spon
sored by Sen.
Elaine Stuhr of
Bradshaw, would
lower the speed
limit on Interstate
80 from 75 mph
to 70 mph on the
stretch from York
County to the
Douglas County
line. That propos
al is also con
tained in legisla
tion sponsored by
Sen. Curt Bromm
of Wahoo, com
mittee chairman.
Since 1996,
when Nebraska
it
This is not a
Band-Aid. This is
a full-fledged
way to save 100
to 150 lives in
the state of
Nebraska.”
Dennis Byars
Beatrice senator
- ■ $r"v
by Sen. Dennis Byars of
Beatrice - would autho
rize primary enforcement
of the front-seat safety
belt requirement, allow
ing patrol officers to stop
motorists who fail to wear
seat belts.
Current law autho
rizes secondary enforce
ment, which means patrol
officers may only cite
motorists for failure to
wear seat belts after stop
ping a car for a separate
violation.
Byars said the bill
would deter people from
driving unbuckled, saving
lives and taxpayer-sup
increased inter
state speed limits from 65 mph to 75
mph outside of cities, traffic fatalities
have risen each year.
Bromm, who introduced a set of
proposals lumped into LB445, said
the State Patrol did not have sufficient
resources to enforce the 75 mph
speed limit.
Ideally, Bromm said, the state
ported medical expens
es.“This is not a Band-Aid,” he said.
“This is a full-fledged way to save
100 to 150 lives in the state of
Nebraska.”
While Nebraska’s safety belt
usage is 65 percent, states with prima
ry enforcement laws have achieved a
78 percent average usage rate, Elam
said.
Susan Cook, representing the
Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorney
Association, opposed the bill.
She said it was difficult for patrol
officers to see whether motorists were
wearing safety belts. The law would
be difficult to enforce and could lead
to abuse, she said.
If successful in increasing seat
belt usage, Byars’ bill could qualify
the state for additional federal funds.
The Transportation Equity Act for
the Twentieth Century, passed by
Congress in 1998, provides incen
tives for states that increase seat belt
usage.
The act, commonly known as
T21, also would withdraw federal
funds from states that fail to enact
specific provisions to combat drunk
en driving. Those mandates, which
would be addressed by Bromm’s leg
islation, include the following penal
ties for repeat DWI and DUI offend
ers: driver’s license suspension of at
least one year, vehicle impoundment
or the installation of an ignition inter
lock system, alcohol abuse treatment
if necessary and minimum jail or
community service sentences.
Bromm’s legislation also would
prohibit the possession of an open
alcoholic beverage container any
where in the passenger area of a
motor vehicle.
If Nebraska meets all the federal
mandates contained in T21, it could
receive an additional $600,000 to
$800,000 for highway construction or
highway safety programs.
The committee took no action on
the proposals.
UNITE members express concern
over new Bessey Hall discoveries
■ After remains are found
again, American Indian
students question policies.
By Veronica Daehn
Staff writer
Becca Amen, University of
Nebraska Intertribal Exchange mem
ber, said professors should be role
models.
That’s why she was upset Friday
when more American Indian remains
were discovered in 109 Bessey Hall,
almost a year after the room was sup
posed to be cleared of them. It was the
second time in a little more than a year
that remains had been found in the
room.
Anthropology Associate Professor
Karl Reinhard allegedly stored and
studied American Indian remains
there, which is against federal law.
Amen, a Ponca Nation member
and a junior anthropology major, said
she was disappointed in the universi
ty’s anthropology department.
“He’s (Reinhard) supposed to be a
role model,” Amen said/“He’s saying
this is OK, and that’s not how things
go. As an anthropologist, you have to
respect everyone’s differences.”
Amen said there are certain stan
dards that must be upheld when
obtaining and studying artifacts and
remains.
Reinhard disregarded those stan
dards, she said.
“This should not be an issue at all,”
Amen said. “To put up with this kind
of stuff is totally disgusting. It’s like
we’re sub-human beings, like we’re
dogs.”
Collette Mast, a senior sociology Both Bearskin and Amen acknowl
major and fellow UNTIE member, was edged, however, that all professors in
shocked, but said she was not sur- the department they have worked with
prised. have been ethical and conscientious of
, “It seems to be a recurring theme,” minorities.
she said. “Nothing’s surprising any- “The professors I worked with are
more. I’m becoming immune to the good,” Bearskin said. “I don’t know
disrespect.
Though Mast, a
Northern Cheyenne
tribe member, said peo
ple removing the
remains last spring may
not have known the ones
left behind were
American Indian, the
department should have
made sure none were
left behind.
“That’s an incompe
tency,” she said. “It’s
their fault that they look
bad.”
UNITE member
Amy Bearskin was also
not surprised at the find.
“Every time we
think things are taken
66
Nothings
surprising
anymore.
Fm becoming
immune to the
disrespect.”
ColleteMast
UNITE member
where the problem
is. This shouldn’t
have happened. It
was bad enough in
the first place.”
Some action is
being taken to com
bat the anthropolo
gy department’s
mistakes, Amen
said.
Plans are under
way to build a
memorial on East
Campus where an
anthropology pro
fessor in the 1960s
scattered the ashes
of American Indian
remains, she said. 1
Mast said the
care of, something else comes up,” she
said.
Bearskin, a Winnebago of
Nebraska tribe member and senior
finance and anthropology major, said
the anthropology department assured
her and fellow UNITE members the
situation was being rectified.
However, members were not noti
fied of actions taken by the depart
ment, Bearskin said.
“I have been trying to give the
anthropology department the benefit
of the doubt,” she said, “but what else
can we do? Participate in activities?
No one notified us on a regular basis of
what was going on.”
only thing the university can do now is
return the bones to their respective
tribes and secure 109 Bessey Hall.
The room was sealed Friday and
will be blessed by an as-yet-unknown
American Indian spiritual leader.“It’s
scary for me,” Mast said. “The spirits
need to go their track. It’s plain respect.
You can’t just dig somebody up.”
Bearskin said the university need
ed to ensure this type of incident would
not happen again.
“It makes things hard for us,” she
said. “What if this comes up a year
later? How can the university say we’re
friendly to minorities when stuff like
this comes up?”