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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 1999)
Bazaar brings taste of diversity to UNL By Veronica Daehn Staff writer A roller coaster ride of cultures was how International Student Organization President Guhanand Venkataraman described the International Bazaar on Tuesday afternoon. Held inside the north entrance of the Nebraska Union, students from 13 countries cel ebrated their cultures through booths and food. The bazaar, organized by the International Student Organization and International Affairs, showcased 16 different booths, each filled with native food and artifacts. It will continue today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the north entrance of the union. “We hope people,will get a taste of different culture and food,” said Mona Chughtai, a Pakistan native and Lincoln resident. Chughtai was helping at the Pakistan booth, which had many items on display including clothes, shoes and bracelets. Henna tattooing, a tradition used to tem porarily decorate young girls on days of celebra tion, was also offered. Food was the main attraction at the Nepalese booth. Ritesh Thapa, a freshman accounting major, said he hoped the booth would help students learn about the Nepalese culture. “There are not a lot of Nepalese students at UNL,” Thapa said. “We want to show a sense of identity.” For the second year in a row, the booth from Thailand was awarded the best stall award by Chancellor James Moeser. He said the booth had wonderful food and decorations. “Their whole presentation was excellent,” Moeser said. “It was a wonderful experience.” Vorada Ruenprom, a volunteer for the Thailand booth, said her group spent more than a week preparing for the event, which was co sponsored by the University Program Council. The International Bazaar is now in its 16th year, but Venkataraman said there are some dif ferences this year. The new space in the union has promoted a much heavier traffic flow, he said. The option of playing native music at the booths is another addition this year. “We have set up another level of standards, so things will always be,getting better,” Venkataraman said. The bazaar, which had a festive marketplace atmosphere, allows patrons to experience the music, smell and color of the various cultures, he said. Venkataraman said events like this are important in a society obsessed with power and money. The International Bazaar represents a chang ing trend, he said. “A quest for peace in cultural diversity is evi dent when people can unite like this in one festi val,” he said. “That should be something to think about for people in all parts of the world.” Former UNL student awaits trial M David Bills’ trial will begin June 1 for the October stabbing and attack of a Denver man. By Josh Funk Senior staff writer A former UNL student facing Denver murder charges will stand trial in June for an October stab bing he and three friends were implicated in. Twin brothers David and Kevin Bills, both for mer UNL students, and their two companions, Joshua Wright and Kevin Snyder were all involved in the Oct. 3 murder of Patrick Perry, a Denver man. Deputy District Attorney Mike Little said that evidence presented in court has “shown that David (Bills) had the knife and did the stabbing.” Both Snyder, 19, and Kevin Bills, 22, Tuesday pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, a class five felony with a penalty of one to six years in prison. They will be sentenced June 7. Prior to Tuesday’s hearings Wright, 18, had agreed to testify against David Bills, 22, in exchange for a reduction in the charges against him. Wright will not plead to any charges until after David Bills’ trial, which begins June 1. On Tuesday, David Bills’ attorney, Phil Chemer, presented several motions to suppress evidence in the case. But Little said the defense’s motions were “by and large denied, and no major evidence was sup pressed.” A judge has ruled on all of the pretrial motions in the case, and Little said he expects the trial to last five days. In the past Cherner and Kevin Bills’ attorney Jim Castle have characterized the brothers’ actions that night as heroic after they broke up a domestic assault between Perry and a girlfriend of his. But police accounts of that night that were filed in court differ in their description of events. David Bills, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last fall when he went to Denver with Snyder, of Omaha, to visit his brother Kevin, who was a senior at Metropolitan State College. Wright, of Arvada, Colo., was friends with Kevin Bills and went with the other three to a local concert hall. The four men saw Perry, 34, attacking Monica Greenwood and stopped the attack. When police arrived, Perry and Greenwood had left, but the four men - who police said were dressed like skinheads - told police they would look for the suspect. Perry is black and all four of the suspects are white, but police said the attack was not racially motivated. Police were called back to the same area 1 lA hours after the domestic dispute and found Perry lying in the street with several stab wounds. A witness described the four men attacking Perry. In interviews at the police station later, David Bills admitted to stabbing Perry twice in the back after a fight started between Perry and Kevin Bills. After the attack, Kevin Bills called a friend and said, “We beat the hell out of that guy; I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go to jail.” Inside Kevin Bills’ apartment, police found the butterfly knife used in the attack, a blood-stained T-shirt and blood stains on the carpet. Anti-hate bill spawns heated debate Corrections --- Because of a reporting error, an article in the Daily Nebraskan on Tuesday stated that Valerie Schwebach, a for mer UNL political science assis tant professor, was denied tenure in May 1998. Schwebach resigned from UNL in May 1998. Because of a reporting error, the Daily Nebraskan stated that Suzanne Pharr, a speaker com ing to UNL as part of Equality Begins at Home Week, will speak today in the Nebraska East Union. Pharr will be speak ing in the Nebraska Union today at 7:30 p.m. WASHINGTON (AP) - A simply worded Republican resolution denouncing bigotry of all kinds turned into a nasty exchange on the House floor and ended in defeat Tuesday. “This bill is a ruse that is totally characteristic of Republicans who want civil rights on the cheap,” thun dered Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. “When I have had racist attacks made about me,” retorted Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, the only black Republican in Congress and the author of the resolution, “no one ran to the floor to condemn that.” The resolution was brought up under special rules requiring a two thirds vote for passage. It failed to reach that, with 254 in favor, most of them Republicans, 152 opposed and 24 voting “present.” It stated that the House “reaffirms the determination of all its members to oppose any individuals or organiza tions which seek to divide Americans on the grounds of race, religion or eth nic oreiudice ” The Republican leadership, over Democratic objections, crafted the measure as a substitute to a Democratic resolution that would have condemned a particular group, the St. Louis-based Council of Conservative Citizens, accused by critics of having a racist agenda. The CCC gained national attention after it was revealed that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., had addressed the group. Barr said he condemned the teach ings of the CCC and accused the Democrats of hypocrisy for not criti cizing a fellow Democrat for address ing the same group. He alleged that Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D Mo., spoke to the group. However, a CCC spokesman denied that, as did Democratic law makers. Watts said there were 537 hate groups recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center and his resolution encompasses all of them. “To be so particular would be to commit a crime of omission by giving \ a pass to other groups that espouse prejudiced racist views, in effect say ing that their bigotry is not so offen sive as to be worthy of our condemna tion,” Watts said. But Rep. Bob Wexler, D-Fla., who sponsored the measure condemning the CCC, said the GOP proposal was “nothing but a sham.” It “confronts nothing,” he said. “It is designed only to derail our resolution and if success ful hand the CCC an unconscionable victory.” CCC Chief Executive Officer Gordon Baum, in a statement last week on the Wexler bill, denied that the group supports white supremacy and anti-Semitism, and called the res olution “the product of left-wing parti sans who seek to silence all conserva tive expression.” ' --- I AMERICAN | Quality Grooming Products for Men l 474424^11? ! Tues & Thun: 9am - 7pm Wed 1 Fit: 9am - 5pm - n.'-'VrjSK 66 (This bill) is designed only to derail our resolution and if successful hand the CCC an unconscionable victory Rep.BobWexler D-Fla. F ™ “ "" "iTlkNNmTffil^TIlNERAr MOT^ “ “ “ T “REFLECTION TO PAST CENTURIES” Cabochon Making. Crystals. Cut Gemstones, Dealers. Demonstrations, Displays. Educational Programs, Faceting. Gem Dig. Gold Panning. 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