Reinhard: Letter step toward clearing of name
BONES from page 1
Hitchcock, then the department
chairman, the dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences and others.
The memo accused Reinhard of
altering inventory records, not
returning some of the remains meant
for repatriation and mistreating the
remains.
Since the April 1997 memo was
released, Reinhard said he has been
cleared of many allegations in two
reports - one by the Nebraska State
Patrol, another by university-hired
attorney Robert Grimit.
The Nebraska State Patrol report
stated that many of Parks’ accusa
tions were exaggerated.
The Grimit report stated that
accusations that Reinhard illegally
kept remains and falsified records
were “unwarranted.”
Parks recently said he still stands
behind his testimony that Reinhard
treated remains disrespectfully by
placing a hat on a child’s skull and
making it speak, as well as playing
with a pair of children’s shoes that
were part of the burial collection.
In e-mail to Reinhard, two of the
four students who worked with him
and Parks on inventory duties said
they couldn’t support Parks’ state
ments.
Four students were mentioned by
Paries in his April 1998 memo.
Kari Bruwelheide, one of the stu
dents, said in an e-mail to Reinhard
that she didn’t see him act in the
manner Parks described and remem
bered Reinhard’s constant warnings
not to treat the bones with disrespect.
Susan Mooney, another student,
also said in an e-mail she didn’t
recall the incident Parks described.
In an interview with the Daily
Nebraskan, Sandy Barnum, another
former research assistant, said she
couldn’t remember the incident with
the child’s skull Parks described.
“To be honest, I can’t recall any
time when I thought (Reinhard mis
treated remains),” she said.
The fourth student who worked
with Reinhard, Gary Toth, said in an
interview the incident didn’t happen
in his presence.
“I can’t recall it happening in my
presence,” he said. “It could have
happened only in Stan’s presence.”
Parks said the actions with the
skull may have been too subtle to be
noticed.
“It was a quiet enough incident
that if Sue or Kari were hunched
down, they wouldn’t have been able
to see it,” Parks said.
The incident with the shoes hap
pened at a different time when only
Parks and Reinhard were in the
room, Parks said.
Reinhard maintains he did not
ever treat the remains disrespectfully.
Now that the lawsuit has been
dismissed, Reinhard said he feels he
can put the controversy over the
American-Indian remains behind
him.
“This is the final step to clear my
name and bring closure to the
Native-American bones issue,” he
said.
Reinhard’s lawyer, Lincoln attor
ney Thom Cope, said Parks’ letter
didn’t address every point of the law
suit but clears up the miscommuni
cation that occurred between Parks
and the media.
“I think this letter is helpful
because it shows that some of the
information Stan thought he had he
really didn’t have,” Cope said. “It is a
fair way to clear (Reinhard’s) reputa
tion.”
Alan Peterson, Parks’ attorney,
said it was important to understand
the Oct. 8, 1999, letter was not a
retraction of statements.
“It was a clarification of a few
points,” he said. “It is important that
it not be understood that he ate any
words or retracted them.”
Reinhard said now that the law
suit is over, he hopes the relationship
between him and Parks will be re
established.
“I think that we can get back to a
relationship,” he said. “I’ve got noth
ing against the guy.”
Parks said he hoped the end of
the lawsuit would help the anthropol
ogy department.
“The dismissal of the case ends it
between Dr. Reinhard and I,” he said.
“I hope it starts a healing process for
the anthropology department.”
Parks said while the issue is set
tled between him and Reinhard, he
couldn’t speak on behalf of the
” It was a
clarification of a
few points. It is
important that it
not be
understood that
he ate any words
or retracted
them.”
Alan Peterson
Stan Parks’ lawyer
American Indians.
“The lawsuit ends it between us,”
he said.
“But for the satisfaction of the
Native Americans, you’ll have to go
to them.”
Eight etliners still grounded
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Eight
Alaska Airlines jetliners remained
grounded Sunday with tail equipment
problems that may be linked to the
deadly crash of Flight 261. Other car
riers said most of their planes were
back in the air.
The Federal Aviation
Administration last week ordered
inspections of nearly 1,100 planes,
focusing on the jackscrew, a 2-foot
long rod that drives the horizontal sta
bilizer flaps in the tail that keep the
plane level.
Airlines had reported finding
jackscrew problems in 22 planes by
midday Sunday. They were given until
Monday to complete the checks of all
MD-80 series, MD-90s, DC-9s and
Boeing 717s.
Two of Alaska Airlines’ grounded
planes have metal shavings around the
jackscrews, a problem FXA officials
i—— -—
are most concerned about. The other
six, and many of the 14 planes from
other airlines, have a gritty residue
around the jackscrews that may prove
to be from normal wear.
Federal investigators have not
determined whether the jackscrew on
Flight 261 played a role in the Jan. 31
crash that killed all 88 people aboard.
The jackscrew recovered from the
crash site had damaged threads and
metal shavings, and the pilots of Flight
261 had reported stabilizer trouble
before the plane went down in the
Pacific Ocean.
Northwest and Alaska had fin
ished their inspections by Sunday
morning, and three others -
American, Delta and TWA - had
inspected about 90 percent of their
planes.
Brenner said Alaska Airlines may
have a higher number of planes with
reported problems because the airline
is being extremely cautious.
The FAA’s order also increased the
frequency of regular jackscrew
inspections from every eight months
to about every three months.
FAA administrator Jane Garvey
on Sunday responded to a U.S. News
and World Report article that said
Flight 261’s horizontal stabilizer was
made in China, and that quoted a
spokesman for the International
Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers as saying FAA
oversight of foreign parts manufactur
ers is inadequate.
Garvey said on CNN that the
international organization that over
sees aviation manufacturing “has
some very high standards.” But she
added, “I think that’s going to be an
issue that the NTSB will look at and
we may make some changes.”
MINE...
'P&ieoie'i
There’s only one way to make your Valentine last
Valentine’s Day, etch
12th
i
«|
Class experiences
differ for minorities
STUDENTS from page 1
versity’s minority students.
LaSharah Bunting is a senior
news-editorial major. She is also
black.
Bunting said she is often the only
minority student in her classes. Other
times, she is one of just two or three.
Bunting said she doesn’t feel any
tension in the classroom between
minority and white students, but she
said she is uncomfortable at times.
Bunting said sometimes no one
sits next to her in her classes and that
she is often looked to as the spokes
woman for her entire race during
class discussions.
She also said as a darker face in a
sea of pale com
plexions, she wor
ries her class
absences are more
likely to be
noticed than those
of most of her
classmates.
Keith Station,
a black sopho
more business
major, shares
Bunting’s views.
Station said he
has felt most
uncomfortable
when classroom
discussions turned to race issues.
“When topics on race come up,
you can just feel other students wait
ing for you to answer,” Station said.
Station said he has also noticed
that white students greet him differ
ently than they do their white friends.
Station said he is often greeted by
white students with expressions like,
“Hey man, what’s up?” Those same
students greet their white friends
with “Hi. How’s it going?”
Station said he has learned to
adapt to these things.
“Overall, I don’t feel really
uncomfortable on a daily basis,”
Station said. “You kind of get used to
it after a while.”
Many white students seem
unaware of their classmates’ discom
fort.
“The classes I’m in, there’s not
that many people of different races to
have relations with,” said Jessica
Deans, a white senior theater major.
Traci Stick, a white junior broad
casting major, said she hasn’t noticed
any racial tension in her classes, but
she has noticed that students of like
races tend to sit together or self-seg
regate.'
"We spend our
whole'day going
beyond our
comfort zone.
White students
don’t.”
LaSharah Bunting
senior news-editorial
Mel Primus, a white senior the
ater major, said he has also noticed
there is often little intermingling
between minority and white stu
dents.
Primus, a former computer sci
ence major, said there were many
minority and foreign students, as
well as white students, in his comput
er science classes. He also said the
groups didn’t mix.
“It was like there were two class
es,” Primus said. “I don’t know if
there was any racial tension.”
Bunting said it was easy for
whites to dismiss such seating
arrangements as self-segregation.
“We spend our whole day going
out beyond our comfort zone,”
Bunting said.
“White students
don’t.”
Ve n e t r i a
Patton, a profes
sor of African
American litera
ture, said racial
self-segregation
wasn’t necessari
ly intentional -
sometimes other
factors con
tribute.
“I think it is
perceived as
self-seereea
tion,” Patton said, “but from what I
know of some of these students out
side the classroom, I think it’s their
friends.”
Patton also said that in her class
es, minority and white students occa
sionally feel uncomfortable.
Patton said there is usually some
tension when topics such as lynching
come up in classroom discussions.
Keith Parker, associate processor
of sociology and ethnic studies, said
he hasn’t picked up on racial tension
in the classroom lately.
However, he said it was prevalent
a few years ago during the O.J.
Simpson trial when students would
discuss trial highlights with other
members of their classes.
John Janovy, a biology professor*
also said he hasn’t noticed much
racial tension in the classroom.
“If it’s there, it’s pretty subtle,”
Janovy said.
Station said there was a way to
help minorities feel more comfort
able in their classes.
“Maybe it’s not fair, but you have
to be sensitive when it comes to
minorities,” he said.
