SPORTS
Jump
Dalhia Ingram is Nebraska top long jumper and
triple jumper and looks to defend her outdoor
Big 12 crown. PAGE 9
A & E
Night at the operetta
UNL’s Department of Music is performing the
Gilbert and Sullivan comedy “Yeoman of the
Guard,” which starts tonight. PAGE 12
April 21,1999
RmiyDmsmd
Storms possible, high 70
low 50.
College Press Exchange
FRAN ALLISON, right, comforts her
daughter Brooke, after they were
reunited after a shooting at
Columbine High School in Littleton,
Colo. Two young men dressed in
long, black trench coats opened fire
in thesuburban high school
Tuesday, scattering students as
gunshots ricocheted off lockers.
(Photo courtesy KWGN television.)
■ In a suburban Denver
high school, two teens
committed the worst
school shooting in history.
LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -
Two young men in fatigues and
black trench coats attacked stu
dents with guns and explosives in
a suicide mission at a suburban
Denver high school Tuesday, and
the sheriff said 25 people may
have been killed. The gunmen
were found dead in the library.
Several students said the
killers - believed to be former stu
dents at Columbine High School -
were gunning for minorities and
athletes.
The gunmen were found dead
with devices on them that authori
ties said could be bombs.
“It appears to be a suicide mis
sion,” Sheriff John Stone said.
At least 20 people were
wounded at the 11:30 a.m. attack.
Shots ricocheted off lockers as
the gunmen opened fire with what
students said were automatic
weapons. One girl was shot nine
times in the chest.
“At first we thought it was fire
works, then we saw them shoot
ing,” said Jake Apoeaca, 16. “He
saw us and then he started shoot
ing at us. Then a guy in a white T
shirt threw two hand grenades on
the roof. We hit the ground and
then we started running.”
Many students dived to the
floors or sprinted for the exits.
Dozens of students hid in
classrooms before escaping with
the help of police in an armored
car. Others were trapped for hours
while SWAT teams searched for
the gunmen.
At one point, a bloodied young
man dangled from a second-floor
window, his right arm limp, and
was helped down by two SWAT
team members. His condition was
not immediately known.
The sheriff said 25 people may
have been killed, students and
teachers alike.
But by early evening, officers
had yet to remove any bodies
Please see DENVER on 8
Hold on
executions
is debated
By Shane Anthony
Staff writer
Emotions played strongly through the statistics
and philosophy Tuesday as the Legislature began dis
cussion of a proposed death penalty moratorium.
LB76, which was originally written to replace the
death penalty with life without parole, would begin a
three-year study of Nebraska homicide cases dating
back to 1973 if-a committee amendment and the bill
_ Pass.
I’m not proud of
the death penalty.
But I think it
serves a purpose
Sen. Gerald Matzke
wnne oppo
nents questioned
the need for a
moratorium, the
bill’s proponents
said it would not
abolish the death
penalty. Rather,
they said, it
would allow
Nebraska to ade
quately study its
most serious
punishment.
“This really is not about the death penalty and
whether you support it or not,” said Omaha Sen.
Rermit Brashear. “It truly is about justice.”
Brashear opened the discussion after Omaha Sen.
Ernie Chambers yielded his time to Brashear, whom
he calls the “Silver Fox.”
Brashear and Chambers, whose positions on the
death penalty are opposite, worked together to develop
the bill’s new form. While he supports the death penal
ty, Brashear said, he wants to make sure it is being
applied fairly, justly and uniformly across die state.
During his remarks, the chamber was silent.
Chambers sat without moving, his left hand at his chin
while Brashear spoke with long pauses between
words.
Please see MORATORIUM on 8
fiklbR ChrisLInder works
with UNL students to find
alternatives to binge
drinking. Linder, who has
visited more than 45 stu
dent organizations,
wants to shift the focus
of social gatherings
away from alcohol.
“My biggest role is
being a student advo
cate - not the sole
advocate,” Linder
said. “I round up
student voices to
be heard. And we
are being heard.”
Local groups attempt to curb
students’ binge drinking
Story by IEVA AUGSTUMS
Photo by Sandy Summers
•_ _
College students
consume 430 million gallons of alcohol
each year - enough for every college and university in the
United States to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.
That alcohol - mostly beer - costs students $5.5 billion
annually.
National and university studies show that almost half
of all college students binge drink. Binge drinking is
defined as five or more drinks for a man - four for a
woman-in a row.
In 1997, a study of 140 colleges by Henry Wechsler for
the Harvard School of Public Health reported 57.4 percent
of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students usually
engaged in binge drinking when they drank.
Against those odds, some UNL community members
are fighting to end the age-old stereotype of college as a
haven for alcohol-driven adventures.
Some admit the task will not be easy.
Please see ABUSE on 7