COLUMBINE from 1
crime.”
Endorf said the most effective way
to deal with school violence is to offer a
positive atmosphere for students, know
their personalities and provide an outlet
for conversation.
“They need to feel like they’re safe,”
he said. “And from what we can tell, stu
dents here feel like they’re safe.”
Christi Vidlak, a freshman at
Waverly, said sjie feels safe ^t school.
“I feel cared about,” she said. “I
don’t think anyone would want to do
that (a Columbine-type incident) here.”
Tom Seid, principal at Lincoln Pius
X High School, refused to comment on
his school’s safety because he felt the
media had blown the issue out of pro
portion.
At Pius X, only the front doors are
open, requiring anyone who enters the
building to walk past the glassed-in
office.
Casey Culhane, a senior at Pius X,
said the school has no problem with vio
lence.
“It’s pretty strict here,” he said. “If
you get in a fight or something, there’s a
chance you’ll be expelled.”
Culhane said he’d be surprised if
anyone at Pius X would attempt to shoot
another student.
“That’d be crazy at a Catholic
school like this,” he said.
Despite the recent rash of school
violence, Duane Obermieit, Nebraska
State Education Association president,
said a school is one of the safest places
to be.
“School is a safe place,” he said.
“That doesn’t diminish the horror of
Columbine, but it’s not as if schools are
battlegrounds.”
***
“We need a ...” screams an older
woman decked out in khaki pants and a
red sweater.
“Hit!” the rest of the crowd screams.
“Let’s find a...”
“Hit!”
“Gotta have a...”
“Hit!”
“Go red!” the woman yells.
Amber Burgess, the freshman
catcher on Nebraska’s softball team and
a Columbine High graduate, steps to the
plate. After fouling a pitch off, die hits a
line-drive double to left-center field.
The woman in red leads the crowd
in congratulatory cheers.
Burgess smiles back at them.
Shes thankful she can smile again.
“I’m thankful I’m so busy with
school and softball,” she said. “Then I
don’t have to think about (the
Columbine tragedy).”
Burgess said she sometimes ran
domly remembers her favorite coach,
Dave Sanders, who was killed in the
massacre.
“Certain things will trigger my
memory,” she said. “It’s something you
just can’t escape that easily.”
Burgess said she’s not bitter that her
Pregnancies...
W ...can change your life in an
—X instant. Perhaps you would
like to consider the possibility
of creating an adoption plan
for your child. Our case
workers can answer your
questions confidentially. If you
would like to visit with us,
please call today.
1 4600 Valky Road, Sta. 314 • Lincoln, NE 68S10
' * * ' ' 1 T (402)483-7879 * 800-390-6754
Gregory Hines
Dancer. Singer Actor Director
Gregory Hines is the consummate
entertainer and this live show A
April 28, 8pm
Saturday ■
April 29, 8pm
Generous support
provided by the
Friends of Lied ■HU
Lied Center for Performing Arts
Lincoln, NE
Tickets: 472-4747 or
1-800-432-3231
Box Office: 11 :00am-5:30pm M-F
_ Website: www.unl.edu/lied/
TEN YEARS
\TJ1 1 bed Carter programming is supported ty the Friends of Lied and grants from the National Endwment tor the Arts,
INcDIoSKd Mb-America Arts Aiance and the Nebraska Arts Coundt All events are made possible by the Lied Performance
umHUiTT ui«»ui Fund which has been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.
Columbine reverberates
H It’s pretty strict here. If you get in a fight
... there’s a chance you ’ll be expelled.”
Casey Culhane
Lincoln Pius X senior
senior year was marred by the shooting
spree that stole the headlines in papers
across the nation.
She’s just disappointed that the peo
ple who read those headlines associate
Littleton with violence.
“That stinks,” she said. “That’s the
place where I grew up, and before this
happened, we never had any problems
with violence.
“It was so peaceful, but now it’s just
chaos.”
Burgess also feels guilt because she
was not at school on April 20.
She was at her grandmother’s funer
al, which was originally scheduled for
April 19 but was delayed a day because
of complications.
“After it happened, I felt like I
should have been there to go through it
with my friends,” she said. “But I am
thankful I didn’t have to witness it.”
One thing Burgess doesn’t do is
place blame on anyone but Klebold and
Harris.
The school was as safe as possible,
she said.
“We had no problems, not even
fights,” she said. “We had security cam
eras, and since mostly upper-middle
class kids went there, we had more than
most schools.”
Added security wouldn’t have pre
vented the tragedy, she said.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” she
said. “They had it too well planned”
Burgess said it’s good that Lincoln
schools are trying to make school a
safer place, but their efforts could back
fire.
“I feel bad about them tightening
the leash,” she said. “It could just make
things worse. It could just make people
like (Klebold and Harris) want to revolt
even more.”
***
The snow falls gently from the sky
on this day in the middle of October.
Its white purity provides striking
parody to the giant school, built of light
brown bricks and green windows.
Six months ago, this high school,
Columbine High School, erupted with
violence, sending shock waves across
the nation.
The violence impacted me so much
that I had to see the site for myself over
Fall Break.
The reverberations preceded more
violence on top of violence - Conyers,
Ga., Fort Gibson, Okla., Mt. Morris
Township, Mich., among others.
But Littleton, Colo., an aesthetic
town at the base of the Rocky
Mountains, is the epicenter.
Jennifer, a freshman at Columbine,
says the town has moved on. It’s not
going to allow an act of violence to
define the community.
She says it would be worthless for
students to waste the rest of their high
school days dwelling on the tragedy, so
they have no alternative but to move on.
Kimberly, a junior at Columbine,
disagrees. Even six months after the
event, it’s not uncommon for students to
burst into tears and leave class.
“This is something you just can’t
forget,” she said.
***
Columbine hasn’t been allowed to
forget. Aside from the hordes of media
attention - nearly 100,000 members of
the media are expected to flock to
Littleton today - violence has continued
in the community.
In October, die mother of a student
who was paralyzed in the massacre shot
herself in the head while inspecting a
gun at a pawnshop.
On Feb. 1, the body of an 11-year
old boy was found in a trash bin near the
school.
That same week, a Florida man
pleaded guilty for threatening to finish
the massacre via an Internet message.
On Feb. 14, two Columbine High
students who had survived die shooting
were shot to death in a Subway sand
wich shop.
It’s this continuation of violence that
eats at Burgess.
“All the violence that followed is
what really got to me,” she said. “I was
just like, ‘When’s it going to end?”’
Stolen Buddha statue
left at Lutheran church
A 6-foot Buddha statue taken
from a restaurant April 13 was left at a
Lutheran church Tuesday.
The 100- to 150-pound Buddha
was left at Faith Lutheran Church,
6345 Madison Ave., with a typed let
ter taped to it, telling the finder to
please return it to Mr. Panda, 2900 N.
70th St., Lincoln Police Ofc.
Katherine Finnell said. Police have no
leads on who took the statue.
Woman reports being
sexually assaulted
A 20-year-old woman reported
being sexually assaulted outside of an
apartment complex Sunday.
Finnell said the woman was enter
ing the complex on Emerald Drive
when a man wearing a ski mask hit
her in the face, pulled her into the
bushes outside the complex and
assaulted her between 1 and 1:30 a.m.
The woman was taken to
BryanLGH Medical Center West and
treated, Finnell said. The woman had
scratches and wounds on her face.
Police are still investigating the
incident, Finnell said.
Man arrested for using
counterfeit money
A man was arrested Tuesday for
two counts of forgery related to the
use of counterfeit money last week.
James Worley, 21, 6100 Vine St,
Apt. A3, was arrested after people
provided police with information,
Lincoln Police Ofc. Steven Niemeyer
said.
Worley allegedly used 11 $100
counterfeit bills to purchase items
such as a big-screen television and car
audio equipment from Lincoln resi
dents during two separate occasions,
Niemeyer said.
All of the items, which were
bought April 11 and 12, were recov
ered but won’t be returned to their
owners soon because they are now
evidence, Niemeyer said.
Compiled by staff writer
Michelle Starr
Biotechnology Day
■
Celebrating a Decade
of Biotechnology
at the
University of Nebraska
The Promise
of Bioengineered Foods:
Diverse Perceptions of Reality
Thursday, April 27. 2000
12:00 - 5:00 p.m.
George W. Beadle Center
Hansen Auditorium, Room E103
Program of Events
12:00 p.m. The Local Food Scene: Snacks of Nebraska Products
12:30 p.m. Welcoming Remarks (Myron Brakke)
12:40 p.m. From Seed to Bread (Brief Introduction by Anne Vidaver)
12:45 p.m. Biotechnology: The Human Need in Plant Agriculture (Steve Baenziger)
1:30 p.m. Genetically Enhanced Plants (Tom Clemente)
2:15 p.m. Break
Taste Nebraska Foods and See the Posters of Biotech Research at UNL
3:15 p.m. Challenges to Biotechnology In Food Products from Animal Agriculture
(Brief Introduction by Ruben Donls)
3:20 p.m. Cutting-edge Technologies to Refine the Old Art of Animal Breeding
(Daniel Pomp)
4:00 p.m. Protecting Animal Health and the Consumer through Vaccines and
Surveillance (Tim Miller)
4:45 p.m. Closing Remarks (Anne Vidaver)
Sponsored by the UNL Center for Biotechnology