U.N. commission aims
to kill death penalty
■ The commission wants
a worldwide moratorium
on execution.
GENEVA (AP) - The U.N.
Commission on Human Rights
appealed Wednesday for a world
wide moratorium on executions
with a view to abolishing the death
penalty.
The United States joined Japan,
China, Indonesia and Rwanda in
opposing the resolution put forward
by the European Union.
It is the first time the EU as a
body has taken a position on the
subject, although the 53-nation U.N.
commission has endorsed similar
resolutions in previous years.
The EU motion urged countries
that allow the death penalty not to
carry out executions while any legal
procedure is pending, not to execute
anyone who was under 18 when the
crime was committed and not to
l
execute pregnant women.
The commission voted 30-11 in
favor of the motion. Twelve coun
tries abstained.
U.S. delegate Nancy Rubin said
the United States would continue to
permit the use of the death penalty
as long as public opinion was in
favor of it.
“We recognize that many
Americans support abolishing it,
but a noticeable majority of our citi
zens do support the death penalty,”
she told the commission.
The stand against the death
penalty in Europe was led by Italy,
which last year held out against
Turkey’s demands for the extradi
tion of Kurdish rebel leader
Abdullah Ocalan because he faces
execution if convicted of crimes of
terrorism.
India, which abstained, predict
ed that countries that had abolished
the death penalty would be seen as
“safe havens” by criminals.
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RONNIE ROTHE, a freshman at Nebraska Wesleyan University, laughs after falling out of a wrestling hold. Rothe
and UNL freshmen Shaun Grantski and Matt Curtis are three wrestlers of about 30 in the Nebraska Extreme
Wrestling Association. NEWA has a public access show that airs Monday nights at 7 and Thursday nights at 10:30.
Public access shows outlet
for Lincolnites’ expression
ACCESS from page 1
called in tandem to abuse him.
“I’ve had a lot of wonderful expe
riences and a lot of hateful ones,” said
Kurtenbach, who moved to Lincoln
in 1969 and has been working on a
doctorate degree since 1970. “I think
I set the record for graduate hours
taken.”
Some of the other shows spawned
from community activism as a way to
address issues ignored by govern
ment and the mainstream media.
Mike Morosin said he and Rev.
Andy Hind started one show four
years ago, but split it into two last
year to deal with different issues.
“Many people came up to me say
ing we need another voice in the
community,” Morosin said, so he
started the public access show.
Morosin now is host for Citizen
Watchdog, a panel discussion of gov
ernment issues, and Hind is a host for
Movement for Humanity, a current
events-based discussion of humani
tarian issues.
“We give citizens an outlet to
address the issues,” Morosin said.
His show has tackled the Antelope
Valley development plan, the sale of
Lincoln General Hospital last year
and paramedic contracts.
A mechanic by trade, Morosin
also attends city council and other
government meetings to watch and
raise concerns with officials.
“A lot of times the issues we bring
up put government officials on
notice,” Morosin said. Some city
council members have thanked
Morosin for his efforts.
“I get a lot of e-mails from people
thanking me for watching their wal
lets.”
Hind said he tries to make people
more aware of elitism and class dis
crimination.
“We need to relate to others on an
equal footing,” said Hind, who works
with the All Souls Village of Hope
and homeless people.
Free expression is an important
part of public access television, Hind
said.
“It is the only place where we
really have freedom of speech and a
chance not to be force-fed by those in
power,” Hind said.
On Monday nights, the channel
features the Nebraska Extreme
Wrestling Association, which con
sists of 30 college-aged men
wrestling in someone’s backyard.
Co^founder and UNL junior busi
ness management major Shaun
Grantski said the show started as a
parody of national wrestling shows,
but it has turned serious.
Grantski said he and his friends
used to watch wrestling at his house
while they were students at Lincoln
Northeast, and then wrestle in the
backyard for fun.
The last year they got bored and
put it on public access.
“We’re not as extreme as some of
the (amateur) leagues seen national
ly,” Grantski said. “We more just take
a beating.”
One of the deviations from aver
age public access fare is Back to the
Bible, an international ministry
based in Lincoln.
Tom Schindler said the group,
which broadcasts on 400 radio sta
tions daily, uses public access to
break into the Lincoln market.
The show is also featured on sev
eral satellite television systems and
on two Omaha stations.
Amateur filmmakers such as
UNL junior English major Ryan
Drapal also use public access to
showcase their work.
“I’d like to make movies and this
is the only way for people to see
them,” Drapal said. He and his broth
er have been making movies since he
was a sophomore in high school.
And public access provides a
forum for experimental work such as
Tom Cabela’s show featuring home
made music videos and film clips.
“It’s all pretty conceptual and
experimental,” said Cabela, a fresh
man English major.
One show uses the forum to make
fun of public access shows.
Aspiring filmmaker Allen
Erickson, 16, said his show started
when a bunch of friends were playing
around in front of the camera, and
they thought it was funny.
“(Public access) allows weird
people like us to get on TV and have
our own show,” Erickson said.
Perhaps the most infamous public
access show in Lincoln is Cosmic
Comedy with Scott Harrold.
Harrold reviewed adult movies
while dressed as several different
clowns.
The show was pulled in 1995, and
Harrold was prosecuted after a seg
ment of Harrold masturbating was
aired.
But the state Appeals Court said
last fall that the show was sick and
disgusting but not obscene. Now
Harrold is back on the air with a show
called The Clown.
With public access television,
viewers must take the good with the
bad to allow the freedom of expres
sion.
“Public access is one of the best
things Lincoln has going for it,”
Cabela said. “There is no other outlet
for people who want to do this work.”
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