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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1999)
Company says weather conditions spurred blaze ■ Misjudgment of the wind-may have contributed to fire at Embassy Suites. By Jake Bleed Senior staff writer Workers on the roof of the Embassy Suites Hotel may have mis judged how powerful winds would affect a heated asphalt kettle, causing Thursday’s fire, Boone Brother’s Roofing President Allan Boone said Tuesday. “We probably misjudged the wind a little bit,” Boone said. The Omaha-based roofing com pany was contracted to work on the roof of the hotel, 10th and P streets, by Killian Construction, a company in charge of building the hotel. Ron Barrett, construction manag er for Killian Construction, refused to comment on any aspect of the fire. Boone said the asphalt in the ket tle became starved for oxygen while melting in the heated steel container. Workers then poured the melted asphalt into buckets from the kettle to spread across the building’s roof but, Boone said, when one bucket was being filled, oxygen-rich wind blow ing across the roof caused the asphalt to ignite. Boone said the asphalt “flashed” when struck by the wind and that such an effect was a regular hazard. “It’s not uncommon,” Boone said. “It’s just this time it got away from us.” Boone said workers were unable to cover the burning bucket and extin guish the fire before it spread to the still-hot asphalt covering the hotel’s roof. Winds then pushed the flames across much of the roof, Lincoln Fire Inspector Bill Moody said. Monitoring the asphalt’s tempera ture to avoid flashes was difficult because flash points varied in differ ent conditions, Boone said. “The circumstances were too many things happening at once,” Boone said. The Boone Brothers will continue to work on the construction of the hotel and did not fire any employee as a result of the fire, Boone said. The Lincoln Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire before it caused extensive structural damage to the hotel, Moody said. “There basically was nothing combustible underneath,” Moody said, adding that some water damage has been found in the hotel’s lower levels. The Embassy Suites is owned by John Q. Hammons, of Springfield, Mo. Representatives from the com pany could not be reached for com ment Tuesday. Neither Moody nor Boone could estimate the damage caused by the fire. Joint effort brought Green GREEN from page 1 “Personally I’ve watched his show a couple times,” Linder said. “In no way did I think he would sexually harass anyone.” But Adam Vehe, a UNL sopho more, disagreed. “I think it was made pretty clear it was made for mature audiences,” Vehe said. “Based on his TV show, you knew what to expect.” During the performance, Green looked like he was touching the Scarlet dancers’ butts and coerced Rick Schwieger, HuskerVision production specialist, to lay down while Green - inside the Lil’ Red suit - laid on top of him and made sexual noises and motions. Green also led the crowd in chanting, “Rick’s an ass.” “I didn’t think for college students it was inappropriate,” said Alissa Axford, a UNL freshman. “But for the younger" kids and older adults - they wouldn’t understand the humor of it.” David Woll, vice president of sales and marketing for Pepsi bottling com pany of Lincoln, said Pepsi was con tacted by the Athletic Department con cerning Green’s appearance at the pep rally. “We made a contact on the Athletic Department’s behalf to see if Green makes appearances,” Woll said. “It wasn’t our decision or our advice to have Tom Green appear.” No one contacted could comment as to where the money came from to pay for Green’s appearance or if a con tract was involved in die event. 66 Nothing under our contract with the university was involved in his performance!’ Steve Ford general manager of Pepsi bottling company of Lincoln Swanson said the Athletic Department didn’t pay for Green and said he was not at liberty to discuss a contract. Woll said Green was not paid by Pepsi and added that Green does not represent the company. “Nothing under our contract with the university was involved in his per formance,” said Steve Ford, general manager of Pepsi bottling company of Lincoln. Woll did recognize the Athletic Department’s efforts. “I think that the Athletic Department was trying to do some thing nice for the student body. It’s unfortunate that Tom went the direction he did,” Woll said. Both ASUN and the Athletic Department have responded to com plaints made by faculty, staff and stu dents. NU Athletic Director Bill Byrne and Linder sent a campuswide e-mail Friday concerning Thursday’s events. Tlie e-mail said the planners of the event advertised it as a show directed toward a mature collegiate audience, “We did not anticipate a performance of this nature.” Academic Senate President Gail Latta sent out a second campuswide e mail regarding Green’s appearance Tuesday morning. ; Latta said she was offended by Green’s antics concerning the Scarlet dancers and said he violated the univer sity policy on sexual harassment. “In the interest of restoring the dig nity, equality and respect of those exploited by this event, I encourage others to work with me to provide appropriate follow-up, consultation and education,” Latta said in the e-mail. An edited version of Latta’s state ments appeared in the Daily Nebraskan Letters on Monday. The full text of the message also appeared Monday on the Daily Nebraskan Web site at www. dailyneb.com. Byrne and Athletic Marketing Director Heidi Cuca were unavailable for comment Tuesday. Green’s press secretary was also unavailable for com ment. Linder said although the show offended some, it didn’t offend all. “If there are some students that don’t think (the show was) a problem, then great,” Linder said. “(But) an apol ogy doesn’t hurt anyone.” Event examines population concerns POPULATION from page 1 Aryls Reitan, the founder of the. Wachiska Audubon Society, each human’s actions affect everyone. “No matter where one lives, the activities of all humans will ultimate ly determine the well being of every one, each of us, as well as all other living things,” said Reitan. Every 20 minutes the world adds another 3,500 humans but loses one or more entire species of animal or plant life, Reitlan said. Reitlan is concerned that even though Nebraska’s growth rate is less than 1 percent a year, there are still issues to solve. An example she used was that unplanned growth in Lincoln and Omaha is causing the degradation of parks, wetlands and wooded areas. Reitlan suggested that the United States find a way to balance the needs of its growing population with the necessity of conserving the Earth’s resources. www.dailyneb.com The Real X-Files! ^Come see and hear of the Real X-Files as Robert Hastings reveals once classified government information. jts Ms I ms presentation, wmcn includes actual photos, will disclose information once hidden in the secret files of the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the FBI and the U.S. Air Force. October 13th : Nebraska Union Auditorium : 7:30 p.m. For more information contact .. the University Program Council at 472-8146. Faculty, Staff and Students am arrested for mock DWIs... and bailed out by youl 6 the University Health Center, Project 7 CARE, Party Smart and these community businesses: ->niT^ 0 w|mP«^9m|S|S9h2 Bruegger's Cal 472-7440 far more information. BAIL CUT THESE CAMEL* NOTABLES*: 10:10 Janet Crawford 1125 Eddie Brown"" 12:30 Kristy Jacobberger Barb Wright-Chollet Andy Schuerman Judy O’Brien Andy Long TonyArit 1:00 Rachette Winkle Brad Reynolds 11:40 StephShatta Vernon Mitter Rosemary Blum Nathan Fuerst 125 Summer Spivey 1025 Patti Lacquement Dana Novak Brian Franz 1220 AnryHonum ‘These idoas” will not be released Josh Hingst 1225 Natalie Hoover i mtil a ha< twp m Kristina Nevius Shefoy Pridie their none to bail ten out 11:10 Stacey Duncan 1225 PatMcinteer Money may *o be donated to teep Meissa AHmand Ryan Stowe them in tail! Julie Rezac Jennifer Wagner Shelly Stall Dr. William Glider_ - Discover Oxford University - Earn 6 Credit Hours ALL MAJORS WELCOME!!! Attend an information session: Mon. Oct. 11 Tues. Oct. 12 Wed. Oct. 13 Thurs. Oct. 14 Fri 3-4pm CBA 222 11 am-12pm CBA 125 2-3pm CBA 138 11 am-12pm CBA 125 2- 3pm CBA 138 3- 4pm NE Union Contact CBA 138, contact Mindy Nowa^47^^M0 tf you have questions. I Pulliam Journalism Fellowships Graduating college seniors are invited to apply for the 27th annual Pulliam Journalism Fellowships. We will grant 10-week summer internships to 20 journalism or liberal arts majors in the August 1999-June 2000 graduating classes. Previous internship or part-time experience at a newspaper is desired. Winners will receive a $5,500 stipend and will work at either The Indianapolis Star or The Arizona Republic. Early-admissions application postmark deadline is Nov. 15, 1999. By Dec. 15,1999, up to five early-admissions winners will be notified. All other entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2000. To request an application packet, visit our Web site, e-mail us or write: Russell B. Pulliam Fellowships Director Indianapolis Newspapers P.0. Box 145 Indianapolis, IN 46206 Data ports are now available in the City Union for your laptop connection. Conveniently located near the Computer Lab, you will find detailed instructions on how to successfully make your connection. "I 11* ■