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.
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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.
