Inmates won’t get advertisement money
■ Money from European
ads will be sent to a vic
tims’s fund, not to inmates.
By Michelle Starr
. Staff uriter
Attorney General Don Stenberg
said Monday that inmates appearing in
the controversial Benetton anti-death
penalty campaign will not receive any
financial compensation.
Instead, any money received by
John Lotter or Jeremy Sheets, two
Nebraska death-row inmates featured in
the clothing company advertisements,
will be sent to the Crime Victim’s
Reparations Committee, Stenberg said
in a statement.
Funds from the committee go
toward repaying families of crime vie
tims.
The international advertising cam
paign used death-row inmates’ pho
tographs on billboards, magazines and
on a Web site. It also included in-depth
interviews with the inmates.
According to state law, any money
earned by a prisoner in contract with a
company for anything about a re-enact
ment of a crime, such as books, movies,
radio programs, television presentations
or expressions of thoughts, feelings or
emotions, should be sent to the commit
tee.
Steve King, director of planning for
the Department of Correctional
Services, said Sheets, who was sen
tenced to death for the 1992 racially
motivated rape and murder of Omaha
teen-ager Kenyatta Bush, was sent a
$1,000 check from Benetton.
Lotter, who is on death row for the
1993 murders of Lisa Lambert, Philip
DeVine and Teena Brandon near
Humboldt, did not accept any money
offered to him by the company, King
said.
Stenberg said because the advertise
ments include Sheets’ thoughts and
feelings about the crime, the money
should be sent to the committee.
Sheets’ attorney, J. William Gallup,
could not be reached for comment.
If only photographs were used, an
argument for compensation to the pris
oner might have been possible, Stenberg
said.
But the advertisement campaign is
subjected to the Nebraska statute
because the advertisements included
Sheets’ opinion of the crime.
Sheets told Benetton he was inno
cent but was not shocked by the guilty
verdict. He said he thought before con
viction he would be found guilty
because of the publicity surrounding the
case, Stenberg said.
Those statements “clearly express
Sheets’ thoughts, feelings, opinion or
emotions regarding the crime,”
Stenberg said in a statement.
The company, whose advertise
ments were released in January, contact
ed Nebraska Correctional Services
about the campaign late last year.
King said he received a letter Oct.
18, 1999, from a lawyer saying photog
rapher Oliviero Toscani was doing a
photo essay on death-row inmates that
would appear mainly in Europe and
Africa.
Within a month of the letter, the
company came to photograph and inter
view the inmates.
Benetton was told not to grant com
pensation to inmates for the photos and
interview, King said. Benetton agreed it
would not compensate Sheets or Lotter,
he said.
But on Jan. 20, Sheets received a
check for $1,000 from the company,
King said.
The check, made out from Benetton
France Trading, was immediately
frozen by the Department of
Correctional Services. Sheets was never
allowed to cash it, King said.
King said Benetton went against the
Department of Correctional Services
policy and Nebraska law.
The Attorney General’s office was
contacted about the payment by Harold
Clarke, director of the Department of
Correctional Services.
Stenberg said the money will be
deposited in the Victim’s Compensation
Fund.
—ASUN ELECTIONS—
ASUN amendments up for vote
■ Students can amend
ASUN constitution during
Wednesday’s vote.
From staff reports
When students are casting their
vote's for ASUN tomorrow, they will
be able to consider more than the can
didates.
Three amendments to the consti
tution of the Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska will be
on the ballot.
The proposed amendments were
passed by the senate in order to appear
on the ballot. The amendments require
two-thirds of the total votes to pass.
The first amendment would essen
tially remove the senate seat for the
Division of Continuing Studies,
which has been vacant for several
years.
The amendment would require
that all senators be enrolled in at least
12 credit hours. Currently, a Division
of Continuing Studies senator had to
be enrolled in only three credit hours.
The next amendment would recast
the ASUN constitution’s language to
be gender-neutral.
Voting yes for this amendment
would replace “he” with “he/she” in
the constitution in an effort to achieve
gender neutrality.
The third amendment is an effort
to reduce the chances of a run-off
election.
In order for the president and vice
president to be elected, they must
receive 10 percent more votes than the
nearest competitor.
Voting yes for the amendment
would discount votes cast for ineligi
ble candidates, such as Mickey
Mouse.
Last year, all of the proposed con
stitutional amendments failed. They
all received a majority vote but not
two-thirds of the total votes.
Parties strive for more involvement
PROGRAMS from page 1
first day of classes, Schafer said.
They would be put into groups of
10 to 15 students and go through activ
ities with an older student leader.
“The lack of student involvement is
the result of people not feeling like
’ they’re part of a community,” Schafer
said. “When you feel as though you’re
just a number, it makes a difference in
your drive to be involved.”
The orientation program would let
students know that someone has a per
sonal stake in them, Schafer said.
Pat McBride, director of New
Student Enrollment, said he supported
building community, but there were
some flaws in Schafer’s plan.
If the program were to take the
place of NSE, a new time for students
to register for classes would need to be
found, McBride said, and a couple days
before classes would be too late.
“Anything we can do to promote
community at the beginning of the year
is good,” he said. “But volunteers are
the key.”
McBride said a lot of details would
need to be worked out
There might not be enough staff
members to work at the orientation pro
gram, and adding an extra program
might be difficult to pull off because
student leaders are already busy with
NSE and Big Red Welcome.
Other schools who have orientation
programs like Schafer suggested do not
have the other summer activities,
McBride said.
Adam Bruggeman, co-coordinator
of Creighton’s orientation program,
said the school^ program was success
-ful.
Creighton’s freshman seminar
^ The lack of student involvement is
the result ofpeople not feeling like
they 're part of a community.”
begins four days before classes start.
All freshmen are required to attend,
and they participate in welcoming
activities, Bruggeman said.
The freshmen remain in the semi
nar for the rest of the first semester,
meeting with their groups once a week.
Schafer said he did not know how
UNL would pay for the orientation. But
he said he thinks there is money set
aside now for freshman orientation pro
grams that could be used.
Bruggeman said Creighton
receives $5,000 a semester from its stu
dent government group.
If the program needs extra money,
Bruggeman said, he can ask the admin
istration or other campus groups like
Residence Life and the greek system
for their support.
To increase freshman commitment
to ASUN, Mello said he wants to create
a Freshman Council, which would
replace the current Student Impact
Team. Incoming freshmen would be
recruited starting their senior years of
high school.
Mello also said he wants to start a
university pride week to increase all
students’ connection to ASUN.
This would be similar to
Homecoming Week, Mello said.
International students are often left
out of Homecoming Week, Mello said,
and involving them more would pro
Joel Schaier
A-Team presidential candidate
vide different experiences for every
one. !
Mello said Empower would pro
vide opportunities for students. *
“Student involvement lies within
the student itself,” Mello said. “Our
idea is to provide enriching experiences
through student government”
Mello said he also wants to re
design the student commuter services
lounge to make room for more com
muter students.
He said he would create a
Commuter Students Advisory Board to
get those students directly involved in
the Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
James Griesen was unavailable to com
ment Monday on the feasibility of
Mello’s plans.
Kidd said he wants to deal with
issues students care about. Students
will get more involved if they see
ASUN working on issues that interest
them, he said.
Duff said the ASUN senators
would post their names and office
hours in their colleges, so students
would know who to talk to about con
cerns.
“If students see that ASUN is really
working for them and not for them
selves, they’ll try to get more involved,”
he said.
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“Racism is Not
the Problem.”
Dinesh D’Souza
Tuesday, February 29th 8:00 p.m.
City Campus Union Auditorium
. New York Times • Senior Policy Analyst
Best-selling Author Reagan Administration 1987-88
. Author oftThe End of Racism. Mhfrl Mwatign and RghdH RM98D;
How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader
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