SPORTS
Boys of spring
Football, that is. Nebraska kicked off its spring
practice schedule Monday with a workout in
Cook Pavilion. PAGE 7
A & E _
Composing a festival
Thursday, Lincoln celebrates the music of com
poser George Crumb when a scholar specializing
in his music comes to town. PAGE 12
TUES »AY
March 23, 1999
A Glimmer of Hope
Partly sunny, high 51. Mostly clear tonight, low 28.
VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 122
3 arrested in weekend stabbing i
By Josh Funk
Senior staff writer
Police released few details Monday about the weekend
stabbing of a Lincoln man. though three suspects were
arrested Sunday.
James Allen. 38. was found dead in his 1635 F St.
apartment Sunday morning with two knives in his back,
neighbors said.
Preliminary autopsy results released Monday after
noon show that Allen died from a sharp-force trauma, such
as a knife wound to his upper body.
But Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey would not
release any other details about the death.
Police released Allen's name Monday after notifying
his mother in another state, where she
lives.
Police believe Allen was killed
either late Saturday or early Sunday
before he was found by two friends
around 10:30 a.m.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady
said they recovered some knives that
were used in the attack from Allen's
AUen apartment.
While police were processing the
crime scene Sunday afternoon, one of the suspects. Larry'
Welch, 44. show'ed up and started talking to police, Casady
said.
After police interviewed Welch at the station, he was
arrested, and police started looking for the other two sus
pects.
Larry Barry. 38, and Jennifer
Irwin-Barry, 20, were both arrested
near 19th and R streets around 6 p.m.
Sunday, Casady said.
None of the three suspects have a
permanent address, though Casady said they were all
Lincoln residents.
“The suspects and Allen were all in the same social cir
cle," Casady said.
Allen was well-known to police, Casady said, and
county court records showed seven criminal charges since
1993, including DU1, obstructing a government operation
and disturbing the peace.
Please see STABBING on 2 Welch
Starry night
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
STARS SPIRAL around a windmill during this two-hour exposure taken on Bob and Mona Crow’s farm near Arnold.
Committee advances speeding bill
By Jessica Fargen
Senior staff writer
A bill that would double and sometimes triple
the fines for speeding on the Interstate advanced
in a Transportation Committee executive session
Monday.
Fines for speeding 6-10 mph over the limit
would jump from S25 to SI 00, and speeding 11-15
mph over would cost motorists SI50. a S50 jump
from the current $75. Fines for speeding 21 mph
or more over the speed limit would jump from
S200 to S300.
Fines for speeding would still be doubled in
construction zones, which would equate to a S600
fine under LB585 for speeding 21 mph or over in
a construction zone.
Steep costs should make people think twice
about speeding, said Wahoo Sen. Curt Bromm,
who is chairman of the committee.
Included in LB585, dubbed the Higher Safety
Initiative, are measures targeting repeat drunken
driving offenders and possession of open contain
ers of alcohol in motor vehicles.
Please see FINES on 2
Fast Track
Under LB585, fines for speeding on the Interstate
would be increased. Fines for speeding on
highways would remain the same.
Currents 1J
1-5 mphovef
6.10 mpfi over
H-15mph over
-Jon Frank/DN
Read the Dady Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at dailyneb.com
UNL denies
harassment
allegations
ByIevaAugstums
Senior staff writer
University officials have denied a former UNL
assistant professor's allegations of sexual harass
ment, refuting the claim that the university's politi
cal science department tolerated a hostile work
environment.
In documents filed last week in U.S. District
Court, the university said Valerie Schwebach
should be barred from recovering damages from
the lawsuit because she resigned voluntarily from
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Schwebach disagreed with the university's
response to her lawsuit.
"If they are saying my resigning was voluntar
ily. 1 say it's not true," Schwebach said. "1 wouldn't
have resigned if 1 didn't have to."
NU Senior Associate General Counsel John
Wiltse said the university's response dealt directly
with statements and allegations Schwebach
charged in her lawsuit.
Schwebach, who was denied tenure and left
UNL in May 1998 because of a "sometimes
unsafe work environment,” filed a sexual harass
ment lawsuit Jan. 21 against the NU Board of
Regents.
The lawsuit details Schwebach s allegations of
harassment in the political science department, as
well as information regarding several graduate stu
dents' complaints and sexual harassment problems
since January 1993.
Schwebach, now in Houston, has requested
compensation - back salary, fringe benefits and
attorney's fees - from the university. She also
requested her reinstatement as a professor.
Eric Brown, one of Schwebach’s attorneys,
said he was not surprised by NU’s response.
“It’s a standard answer,” Brown said. “Their
response is a common answer in most lawsuits.”
The university had 20 days to respond to
Schwebach’s lawsuit. ,
The university requested an extension of 30
days to file a response.
“I filed the extension,” Wiltse said. “I needed
additional time.”
Wiltse said the UNL political science depart
ment was cooperating with the university.
Schwebach said she was ready to confront the
university with her allegations.
“I'm in it for the long haul,” Schwebach said.
“If they are waiting for me to run away - no
chance.”
