Group appeals Brandon decision Hanging around
■ Equal rights group will
appeal for higher settlement
for victim’s mother.
By MicheUe Starr
Staff writer
A national equal rights group will
be handling an appeal in a wrongful
death judgment.
It will re-examine the extent of
financial liability a Richardson coun
ty sheriff had in the 1993 death of
fTeena Brandon. t
The Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund announced
Wednesday that it will litigate the
' appeal made by Joann Brandon, the
victim’s mother, because it said the
amount of the settlement was too low.
The attorneys are appealing last
year’s decision by Richardson
County Judge Orville Coady that the
county and former sheriff Charles
Laux were only responsible for
$17,000 for negligence in Brandon’s
death and any pain and suffering
caused to her mother.
John Lotter and Marvin Nissen
Mueller puts on show for
youth
A children’s hook has inspired
the Mueller Planetarium to try
something a little different.
In observance of Black History
Month, the planetarium will present
“Follow the Drinking Gourd,”
named after a song, on Saturdays
throughout February.
Before the Civil War, slaves
moving northward to freedom used
the song as a guide on their journeys.
The “drinking gourd” of the song is
the Big Dipper constellation.
Slides, video and a star projector
will be used during the shows, which
are intended for children, said Jack
Dunn, coordinator of Mueller
Planetarium.
Produced by the New Jersey
State Museum Planetarium, the
show is designed to give perspective
on how a culture used the sky in a
practical way to enhance lives.
“Follow the Drinking Gourd”
begins at 3 p.m. on Saturdays in
February. The 30-minute program
will begin with a discussion of the
night sky followed by the recorded
program. Admission is $4(for adults
and $3 for children, students and
were convicted of murdering
Brandon, 21, Lisa Lambert, 24, and
Philip DeVine, 22, in a farmhouse
near Humbolt in 1993.
Lotter is on Nebraska’s death row
for the murders, and Nissen is serving
a life sentence.
Coady ruled the two murderers
were more responsible in the murder
than Laux. He reduced the original
$80,000 awarded for pain and suffer
ing to $17,000, said David Buckel,
attorney for the national civil rights
group.
Joann Brandon accused law
enforcement officers of not doing
enough to protect her daughter from
being murdered a week after she had
reported the same men had raped her.
Buckel agreed.
Teena Brandon was living as a
man in Falls City at the time of her
death, which is what prosecutors said
was the motivation for Lotter and
Nissen to murder her.
“Everyone knew that this person’s
life was in danger, but they let
Brandon Teena (Teena Brandon)
walk out the door,” Buckel said.
He gave at least three options
Laux could have taken to prevent
— CAMPUS BRIEFS —
senior citizens.
Dunn said the program expands
what the planetarium typically
offers.
“This is just as much about his
tory and culture as it is about astron
omy,” he said.
New orientation for student
organizations in place
Last semester, ASUN approved
changes to the bylaws that govern
recognized student organizations,
and those changes are now in effect.
Before the changes, students
could pick up and return current
officer information forms to ASUN,
both Student Involvement locations
and Student Organizational
Financial Services.
Forms may still be picked up at
all four locations, but they must be
returned to either Student
Involvement location, at 200
Nebraska Union or 300 Nebraska
East Union.
Students who return the forms
will be given a 10-minute orienta
tion about the services available to
recognized student organizations.
Tom Dake, assistant director of
Brandon’s death, including arresting
the suspects after they were ques
tioned, sending Brandon back to
Lincoln or taking her into protective
custody.
Laux and the Richardson County
Sheriff’s department were unavail
able for comment.
Buckel said he took the case to
help change the way minorities, par
ticularly gay and transgendered peo
ple, are treated by law enforcement
officers when reporting crimes.
He said minorities are put in a
dangerous position if fear controls
whether they hesitate to report a
crime.
Along with reducing the amount
awarded to the mother, the court also
threw out the ruling that Brandon
received abusive treatment while
being interviewed about the rape and
that the loss to Brandon’s mother was
nominal, Buckel said.
Buckel and the civil rights group
will be working with Herbert
Friedman, of Friedman Law Offices,
and Michael Hansen, of Berry, Kelly,
and Hansen. Both lawyers have been
handling the case and work out of
Lincoln. < ‘ s
Student Involvement, said the orien
tation is an important addition to the
process.
“We want to make sure that stu
dent groups know exactly what
resources are available to them,” he
said. “I think a lot of groups have
missed out on some things simply
because they didn’t know about
them.”
Sexuality presentation sched
uled for Monday
The College of Arts and
Sciences and the Family ^Research
and Policy Initiative are Sponsoring
a presentation titled “Adolescents,
Sexuality and the Media.”
The presentation will take place
at 3:30 p.m. on Monday in the
Nebraska Union.
Jane Brown, a professor at the
University of North Carolina, will
be the keynote speaker.
James Knight, co-editor of
“Media, Sex and the Adolescent,”
will also be part of the presentation.
The presentation is part of the
Children, Families and the Media:
New Challenges, New Research lec
ture series.
Show makes
student a
millionaire
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (U-WIRE)
- Harvard Law School student Rahim
R. Oberholtzer became the biggest
game show winner in television history
two weeks ago - but NBC forced him to
keep his million-dollar fortune a secret
until Wednesday, the show’s air date.
Over the course of two episodes of
the primetime quiz show “Twenty
One,” Oberholtzer amassed die record
sum of $1,120,000.
“It’s hard to think that it’s real until
you actually see the check,”
Oberholtzer said.
Oberholtzer’s record-breaking win
prompted fanfare on the episode that
aired last night.
“You are the game show king!” host
Maury Povich told him, as blue and
white balloons tumbled around him.
Oberholtzer, who is a third-year law
student, defeated a series of competi
tors by answering multiple-choice
questions - with subjects ranging from
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to
the hit film Jerry Maguire - and
expanded his winnings from $100,000
to his wallet-bursting total.
dailyneb.com
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