Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1999)
UNL professor experiences quake School in session, businesses functioning in Taiwan, lecturer says By Kimberly Sweet Senior staff writer When Ron Hull awoke at 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning in his Taipei apart ment, he thought he was hallucinat ing. Awakening to the grinding sound of wood and concrete, the UNL broad casting professor leaped out of bed, looked out the window and saw the horizon of the city tilt. “1 thought I was sick,” said Hull, who is special adviser to the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission. “The floor was moving all over the place.” It wasn’t long before Hull discov ered he wasn’t sick - only part of an earthquake that rocked Taiwan, killing thousands and injuring many others. As of Wednesday, the quake claimed more than 2,000 lives and left another 7,000 injured or trapped amidst the concrete rubble. The professor, a Fulbright lecturer at the National Chengchi University of Taiwan, said a feeling of terror overcame him as his multistory apart ment building began to move back and forth Tuesday morning. “It swayed like the dickens,” Hull said when he recalled the experience. Hull and his wife, Naomi Kaye Hull, a pastor at Saint Paul United Methodist Church, live in an apart ment building in northern Taipei more than 70 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. The couple has been out to survey the damage in various parts of the city. A hotel not far from where they live sunk into the ground, eliminating the first few floors, Hull said. One of the biggest problems in Hull’s part of the city is sporadic elec trical services. Classes at his university resumed Wednesday, with many courses taking place in candlelight. Many businesses are functioning despite the loss of light. Those patrons desiring a bite to eat from local restaurants simply drive their motor scooters into the building and leave the headlights on to see their meals, Hull said. Students from Taiwan studying at UNL have been glued to the television and Internet, updating each other on new information continuously. Coral Su, a graduate student from Taiwan, said while earthquakes are not uncommon in her country, she was still shocked to hear about the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.6. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s become serious,’” Su said. She made contact with her family quickly after she found out about the earthquake but has been unable to make contact with some of her friends. “I worry about my friends,” Su said. “Some places are still isolated and roads are collapsed.” Even though she was sitting safe in her room when the quake occurred, Su said she felt bad she couldn’t be with her family and friends in Taiwan. “It seems I am missing history and an important part of Taiwan,” Su said. «-— ! It swayed like the dickens Ron Hull UNL broadcasting professor ■ ■ “My parents say ‘I’m glad you are not here,’ but I just feel lost.” Beatrice Liu, also a graduate stu dent from Taiwan, worries about how her family and friends are dealing with the more than 2,000 aftershocks that continue to rock the island coun try. Liu contacted her family and found out they were safe. But commu nication with friends and teachers from her old university has been cut off since e-mail servers are down and telephone lines are clogged. Liu, also used to earthquakes in her country, was surprised to learn about the severity. “I just thought it was a normal earthquake until I turned on CNN and it is on the headlines,” Liu said. Many are dead, and many are still missing. But without the sophistica tion of Taiwan’s buildings and the strict building codes, many more could have been victims, Hull said. Naomi Hull is scheduled to stay in Taiwan another week. Ron Hull’s tenure as a Fulbright lecturer lasts for three more months - leaving him vulnerable to experience the numerous aftershocks that accom pany an earthquake. Used to hitting the doorway at any hint of the earth moving, Hull said he is excited about filling out the rest of his tenure and has only one wish. “I just want to make it home for Christmas before Y2K,” he said. ANNOUNCING World Wide Web • College • Independent Study • Learn at your own pace anywhere anytime. • Complete your coursework on the World Wide Weh. • Interact with your instructors and other students on the World Wide Weh. • Submit assignments using your own Weh directory. Nineteen newly released World Wide Web courses help you solve scheduling problems, complete graduation requirements, make up deficiencies or just get ahead. Enroll at anytime. On-line college independent study courses are available in all of the following disciplines: Agricultural Economics English History International Management Nursing Nutrition Political Science Sociology Prefer the traditional independent study way but want faster communication? You can have that too. Select from more than 60 courses in which you communicate with your instructor and submit assign ments through e-mail, participate in on-line discussion forums with other students or access resources on the Web. To learn more or to enroll, contact the On-line College Independent Study program at: www.nnI.edu/conted/disted • dcsregl@unl.edu phone (402) 472-2175 • fax (402) 472-1901 Nebraska UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA - LINCOLN Division of Continuing Studies Department of Distance Education College Independent Study Program 01999. University of Nebraska, Board of Regents. The University of Nebraska is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. Gas station owner fires shots at car ■ Police say a customer was trying to leave without paying and an argument ensued. By Jake Bleed Senior staff writer A Lincoln gas station owner fired four shots at a car attempting to leave without paying for gas Wednesday afternoon, police said. The shooting took place at City Gas, 2305 R St., around 3:30 p.m., owner Chien Nguyen said. A City Gas employee stopped the driver of a light blue Oldsmobile Cutlass in bad condition as the car v tried to leave without paying for an unknown amount of gas, Capt. A1 Soukup said. The gas station employee and the driver got into an argument, Soukup said. He said Nguyen approached and entered the car to ask the driver to pay for gas. The driver drove in reverse into a gas pump when Nguyen entered the car, then the driver pulled a knife on him and told him to get out, Soukup said. Nguyen said he left the car, went into the gas station and returned with a pistol. An employee, who Nguyen said was his girlfriend, tried to block the car’s path with her body. Nguyen fired one shot at the car’s right rear tire but missed, Soukup said. He said the car then drove out of the station’s lot, knocking Nguyen’s girlfriend to the ground. The gas station owner fired three more shots as the car drove away on R Street, knocking out the'car’s rear window, Soukup said. Nguyen said the gun was a P-38 pistol. His girlfriend went to BryanLGH West but returned in good condition, Nguyen said. Soukup said the Oldsmobile was a late 1970s or early ’80s model. No arrests were made Wednesday. Wiggins pleads not guilty to sexual assault charge ■ If convicted, the former Cornhusker wingback faces up to five years in prison. By Jake Bleed Senior staff writer Nebraska wingback Shevin Wiggins pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault on a child in Lancaster County District Court Wednesday. Wiggins’ trial is scheduled for Nov. 29 at 9 a.m. Coach Frank Solich suspended the starting receiver from the team after Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Wiggins Aug. 22. Wiggins turned himself in the same day and posted a bond of 10 per cent of $10,000. The arrest concluded a three-week investigation of an alleged sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl that took place on July 25 or 26. Wiggins and two other men allegedly visited three teen-age girls at their home on East Pioneers Boulevard outside the city, court records said. The 14-year-old told deputies that Wiggins and another man, Floyd Brown III, removed her clothing and made contact with her breasts and vaginal area, records said. Both men stopped touching the girl after she told them to “knock it off,” court documents said. Brown also pleaded not guilty Wednesday. He is charged with two counts of the Class III felony. The arrest came at the start of Wiggins’ sixth year of eligibility with the Comhuskers. The NCAA awarded the additional year to Wiggins last year. Wiggins graduated with a degree in family and consumer sciences and is currently a graduate student at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.