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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2000)
Nefe Tuesday, March 28,2000 dailyneb.com Vol 99, All Mixed Up 311 brings its funky fresh style to Lincoln’s Pershing Auditorium. A&E, PAGE 10 Powerful Pipeline Offensive lineman Russ Hochstein paces a formidable Husker line. SPORTS, PAGE 16 Committee suggests firing Reinhard By Kimberly Sweet Staffwriter Nearly two years after the discov ery of the possible mistreatment of American Indian bones at UNL, a fac ulty committee has recommended the firing of a professor who worked with die remains. In a special report, the committee of six faculty members, appointed by the Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee, voted 4-1, with one member abstaining, to recom mend that anthropology professor Karl Reinhard be fired If Chancellor James Moeser decides against termination, the com mittee recommended that Reinhard be sent a formal letter of censure, that his 10 percent appointment within the anthropology department cease, that he be excluded from merit-salary increas es and that he have other sanctions placed upon him. Reinhard said he was stunned by the committee’s recommendation to fire him. “That’s outrageous,” Reinhard said. Reinhard said the lesser penalty would be equally damaging. “The only thing they don’t say is that I should stay out of the classroom,” he said. Moeser said the report, which was obtained by the Daily Nebraskan, was confidential and consequently he would not comment. Twenty charges were brought against Reinhard by a UNL faculty member and two members represent ing American Indian nations last spring. A majority of the faculty commit tee voted to indict Reinhard on 11 of the charges brought forward. The charges voted on by a majority of the committee “represent a pattern of violation of and disregard for federal and state laws, UNL policy, and profes sional and university codes of ethics, and call for severe penalty,” the report stated. Some of the charges a majority of the committee voted on include the fol lowing: ■ That Reinhard conducted inva sive testing on remains connected with the Ponca nations despite opposition and against the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and university policy. ■That he kept remains in his teach ing lab in violation of UNL and NAG PRA policy. ■ That Reinhard breached UNL policy by publishing studies based on illegal research done on remains. The committee also said he violated policy by making a false statement to get a research grant to continue illegal study. ■ That Reinhard transmitted “unethical and immoral values” to stu dents during his tenure at UNL and cre ated a “hostile” environment for American Indian faculty, staff and stu dents. Reinhard said the committee acted on allegations rather than evidence and that all the charges could be refuted with documents. He also said that he has been target ed unfairly for actions taken by univer sity officials in the past that damaged the university’s image in its treatment of remains. “This all comes down to the unwill ingness of the university to accept responsibility,” he said. When he came to the university, Reinhard said he was assigned to work Please see REINHARD on 7 inside the a campaign Editor’s note: This is the second part of a weeklong series taking a closer look at the 2000ASUN elections. Impact party takes relaxed approach By Samuel McKewon Senior editor There is no plan etched in stone for running an ASUN presidential campaign. Some are meticulous and prepared to the hilt, like Empower and its presidential candidate Heath Mello. Others, like A-Team and Duff, are, well, looser. Impact presidential candidate John Conley was somewhere in between. More laid back than Mello but more structured than the other two parties, Conley, first presidential candidate Brad Bangs and second vice presidential candidate Amy Ellis, along with a loyal nucleus of sup porters, do the brunt of die work few the election. Ellis, a junior human resources and family sciences major, is the schedule-maker of the group. One night, there’s an hour-by-hour chart of what Impact will doing as a party, scrawled in Impact’s party color of blue. “That’s Amy right there,” Conley says as he points at the chart. “She’s always the organized one.” Ellis also organizes Impact supporters and senate candidates on work nights, which take place on Tuesdays. Ellis directs a few people to Please see IMPACT on 8 - Heather Glenboski/DN HEATH MELLO PAINTS a campaign sign, to be hung on a fraternity or sorority house, at one of the Empower Party’s work nights in the Nebraska Union. Empower party begins and ends with details By Linasay Young Senior editor A terrible meeting at first, says Empower presidential candidate Heath Mello, pacing in the room and then sitting down. But it got better, his first vice presidential candidate, Cecily Rometo, says, bunched up on the couch with her feet next to her body. Oh, I’ve seen worse, second vice Mike Butterfield says, and stretches out further on the couch with his hands behind his head. At the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority house, the three had just finished brainstorming for their party’s platform with about 20-30 of meir supporters, it s aoout a month beiore the first election day. The three executive candidates for the Empower party balanced each other out well throughout the campaign, considering they were three people who didn’t know each other well before their two-month marathon began. Mello was always on the go, intent on staying on track with his campaign schedule. But he can be lax, sometimes, when looking at rules. Not that he means to break them; it just seems he feels everything will work out in the end. Rometo is more intense, more intent on following plans to a tee. She and Butterfield keep Mello in check. She s more of a behind the-scenes person and admits she has the ten dency to sound impersonal when talking to or in a group. And then there’s Butterfield, who can be best described as laid-back. His words trickle drop by drop out of his mouth as if it were a faucet that wasn’t shut off entirely. But it’s an intense laid-back. He sticks to his path. The day the three went over platform ideas with their supporters wasn’t a short one. But it went OK. The meeting started around 3:30 or 4 p.m. and finally wrapped up around 6:45. Please see EMPOWER on 9 Professor receives new award ■ Vernon Williams was recog nized for helping provide a more inclusive environmentlor gays. By Margaret Behm Staffwriter For the first time, people who have stood up for the gay community were officially recognized by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Vernon Williams, an educational psychology professor and career counselor at UNL, was pre sented with the Outstanding Contributions to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Community Award by the chancellor on Monday in the Nebraska Union. “I was overwhelmed,” said Williams, a mem ber of the UNL committee for GLBT concerns. “I really wasn’t expecting it, and I was very hon ored by it.” Williams, wno is also president ot Barents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, received a plaque and $1,000 will be given to the depart ment or program on campus of his choice. He said he is undecided on who the money will be given to. His name will also be on a plaque in Chancellor James Moeser’s office. Nick Wolff, a member of the Sexual Orientation Advisory Council, said he was pleased that Williams valued the award. “The award is important because it gives recognition to people who make contributions to the gay and lesbian community,” said Wolff, a senior mechanical engineering major. “It also gives importance to the (gay) movement.” Williams’ nomination was one of four received by the UNL Committee for GLBT Concerns. The three other nominees received a certificate of recognition. Pat Tetreault, co-chairwoman of the commit tee, applauded the efforts of everyone who stands up for the gay community. “It takes courage and leadership to work towards a more inclusive and safe environment for GLBT people,” said Tetreault, sexuality edu cation coordinator for the University Health Center. The gay community is not treated equally on this campus, Williams said. “The GLBT community is a group of stu dents, faculty and staff who are not recognized or given equal rights,” he said ‘To have some recog nition of their needs is crucial.” People sometimes face uncomfortable situa tions because of words spoken on this campus, Please see AWARD on 7