ir Daily Nebraskan
Al the world* a stage, canvas
and dance floor aft tonight* arts
festival on the Sheldon arts quad
In News/5
NU* Paige PhMpe returns
after a knee k*ay ready to
prove critics wrong
In SportsWeekend/10
WCfe tosses Angry Salad
this weekend, a band
with a Boston flair
In Arts/8
if ' F-k j
4 v
HoHsdier pass
es by a puddle
Thursday near
14* Street on
her way hone
hem doss.
Uilfl^ah
time to 90
home,* she said.
Watchdog: NU-hired
■The university disputes the claims about
Hawkins Construction Company, which is working
on the Othmer chemical engineering building.
HvyamriiuiMi_
A California organization plans to distribute
leaflets Monday on the UNL campus that allege a
construction firm working on a university building is
dangerously unsafe.
But the company and university administrators
dispute that claim and say that Hawkins
Construction Company of Omaha, which is working
on the Othmer chemical engineering building, is
safe.
In a June letter to University of Nebraska
President Dennis Smith, an organization called Legal
and Safety Employee Research, or LASER, said
Hawkins Construction Company had violated health
and safety guidelines, had been subject to a severe
amount of lawsuits and had a history of fetal acci
dents.
The university has hired Hawkins Construction
as the construction manager for Othmer Hall, the
chemical engineering building being constructed
between 16th and 17th streets and Vine Street
Rebecca Roller, NU assistant vice president and
director of facilities planning and management said
the university had researched the allegations made
by LASER and had found Hawkins Construction to be
safe.
“We did not find anything that was of great con
cern to us,” Roller said. “Hawkins is one of the safest
contractors who works for the university.”
LASER President James Wilson said his Gridley,
Calif.-based firm investigates construction compa
nies nationwide to promote safety, productivity and
honesty in the construction industry.
LASER reported Hawkins had been charged with
violations from the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration and had been assessed “tens of thou
sands of dollars in fines.”
The OSHA Web site, www.osha.gov/cgi
bin/est/estl, lists more than 100 violations committed
by the Hawkins Construction Company that were
found in 75 OSHA inspections.
A Web search of other local construction compa
nies listed 69 violations logged in 78 inspections of
the Peter Riewit and Sons company of Omaha.
Sampson Construction Company of Lincoln had 62
violations in 41 inspections.
Wilson said his organization had a moral obliga
tion to distribute information it uncovered about a
firm that showed itself to be unsafe.
In a brochure LASER drafted about Hawkins, it
describes a case where a roofer working for Hawkins
fell and was impaled through the pelvis. The
brochure says the roofer, Clay Olson, sustained
$70,000 in medical bills.
According to court documents, Olson sued
Hawkins Construction for failure to "property and
adequately supervise the scaffolding work" and for
failure to "provide a safe place for employees to
work."
The judge ruled against Olson in favor of
Hawkins, which LASER'S brochure does not mention.
RichardWood, general counsel for die university,
said LASER’S allegations in the brochure are not nec
essarily true.
"Their material is misleading and incomplete,*
Woods said. “We have done some investigation with
Hawkins’ safety record, and their record has been
very good."
Joe Rowson, assistant to the NU president, agreed
that Hawkins was a suitable construction company.
"Over the past eightyears, they have hada30 per
cent lower average on safety problems than the rest
of the industry," Rowson said.
The Harry A Koch Company, which has been the
construction firmfc insurance agent for 20 years* con
firmed the safety record in a June 14 letter to Hawldns
President Fred Hawkins.
Roy Rent, vice president of business develop
ment at Hawkins Construction Company, said this
was an “old issue" for the firm.
Rent would not comment further on the case,
except to say that safety is a top concern at the firm.
Fred Hawkins could not be reached and did not
return phone calls to the Daily Nebraskan.
The LASER group’s Wilson maintains that
Hawkins is not a responsible contractor
Before publishing its report, LASER gives each
contractor a chance to object to the findings.
On July 7, Wilson sent Hawkins Construction
Company a copy of the LASER report before it was
published. On July 25, Wilson sent another letter to
Hawkins requesting a response.
Trent told the Daily Nebraskan that Hawkins
Construction did not intend to respond to the allega
tions.
Tb spread their findings to the public, Wilson said,
LASER volunteers will likely hand out brochures on
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus Monday
If volunteers cannot be organized, direct mail
ings will be used, he said.
Got a roommate from hell? I
■University Housing says it's
the computer's fault: Machines
do the matching.
BY.il 7FMAH_
When freshman general
studies major Jeremy Liesveld
moved into the residence haUs
last week, he didn’t really know
what he was getting himself
into.
He filled out his housing
contract, just like everyone else,
and requested a non-smoking
floor in a coed residence hall.
Liesveld ended up in a “tem
porary triple,” which is slightly
larger than a double room and
houses three students.
He did end up in a coed hall,
but he was placed on the all
men’s floor, Which allows smok
ing, he said.
“Nothing against my room
mates, but (University Housing)
could have done a better job
matching us up,” he said.
Despite stories like this,
roommates are not paired up
randomly, said Sylvana Airan,
assistant director of business
contracts and student services.
Students fill out information
about themselves and what type
of living environment they pre
fer in their housing contracts,
Airan said.
They can choose whether
they want a smoking or non
smoking floor, whether they
prefer to go to sleep before or
after 11 p.m. and whether they
wish to use the room for quiet
studying or for socializing, she
said.
Along with these designa
tions, students are asked to
choose one major from a list and
one hobby, as well.
The contract asks students
to pick their top three residence
halls and also allows students to
make a roommate request.
Airan said Housing tried to
pair up students who asked for
the same things, but their
requests were not guaranteed.
All applications are
processed by computer, Airan
said.
The first request Housing
aims to fulfill is for specific
roommate.
The second most important
choice is residence hall, she
said.
Abel, Schramm, Neihardt
and Selleck are the most popu
lar halls, she added.
Smoking is another key issue
because the university attempts
to carry out students’ wishes for
smoking or non-smoking floors.
The other information is
Please see ROOMMATES on 3
Commission to get Cheetahs case
BYJOSH PUNK
Coaches Sports Bar and Grill
will keep its liquor license for now
after the county commission
deferred its final judgment to the
state liquor control commission.
Thursday's revocation hearing
was based upon a little, if ever,
used 20-year-old resolution pro
hibiting nudity in liquor-serving
establishments.
Earlier this year Coaches'
owners, DLH Inc., leased part of
the building to Cheetahs strip
chib, which opened July 28.
The Lancaster County
Sheriff’s investigation into the
dub found that the dancers were
naked while liquor was being
served, which would violate the
county resolution.
i was cunvmcea mere was a
violation," commissioner Bob
Workman said of his motion to
refer die matter to the liquor com
mission.
After the motion passed 5-0,
Deputy County Attorney Dave
Johnson had to ask the board to
clarify whether, in deciding to
refer the matter to the liquor com
mission, the board had found
Coaches violated the resolution
that forbids nudity in establish
ments that serve liquor.
County Board Chairwoman
Kathy Campbell responded that
she thought commissioners
agreed there was a violation.
DLH President Duane
Hartman said that the commis
sion was aware of Cheetahs and
the nature of its business since
7 just don’t know if
you can be fair
(judges) when you
have already decided
to prosecute.”
K.C. Engdahl
Coaches bar lawyer
early spring when he first tried to
delete the part of his liquor license
that applies to Cheetahs. Hie strip
dub also had applied for its own
liquor license and was denied.
Please see CHEETAHS on 6
Study to illuminate rays
BY SHARON KOLBET
They enter the earth’s
atmosphere carrying as much
energy as a well thrown base
ball.
They are subatomic and
travel nearly the speed of light.
They can trigger an ava
lanche of particles that cover up
to 50 square miles of the earth’s
surface.
They are cosmic rays.
Some of them originate from
solar activity, but the ones with
the highest energy are still a
mystery.
Now, thanks to a new pro
gram started by two University
of Nebraska-Lincoln professors,
high school and college stu
dents will get a chance to help
scientists understand these cos
mic showers.
“Scientists have been ana
lyzing cosmic rays for nearly a
century, but the origin of these
high-energy particles is still a
mystery,* said Dan Claes, UNL
assistant professor of physics
and astronomy.
In an effort to study this
unexplained radiation, Claes
and Physics and Astronomy
Professor Greg Snow have initi
ated a statewide cosmic ray
research program.
The Cosmic Ray
Observation Project was con
ceived by Snow and involves
installing cosmic ray detectors
on the rooftops of participating
Nebraska high schools.
Following an in-depth sum
mer orientation, five area high
schools have signed on for the
pilot year.
They include Lincoln
Northeast, the Lincoln Public
Schools Zoo School, Norfolk
High School, Marian High
School of Omaha and Mount
Michael Benedictine of Elkhom.
Sharon Kofet/DN
UNL physics and
astronomy pro
fessors Greg
Snow and Dan
Qaesdkplay
one of the
detectors tney
win use in their
Cosmic Ray
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detectors wmoe
placed on the
roofs of partici
pating Nebraska
high schools.
Currently the five schools
are building and integrating the
detection systems. Claes and
Snow said they hope that by
early next year, the students will
be collecting data and studying
the rays.
“The program is unique in
that it involves high school stu
dents, teachers, college under
graduates and graduate stu
dents,” Snow said.
“Unlike the usual canned
science experiments that are
designed to fit into an hour, with
this project nothing is certain.
Nothing will be easy.”
The project gives students a
chance to get involved at the
ground level of an important
scientific study.
Students will learn how to
operate and maintain the detec
tors and will experience the
frustrations and excitement of a
long term research project
The professors said they
were pleased with the interest
shown by the five schools and
plan to add high schools over
the next several years.
The goal for the next four
years is to have cosmic ray
detectors working at 20 to 30
high schools in the Lincoln
Omaha area with additional
expansion planned for the rest
of the state.
Snow and Claes have
received national attention for
their project. This spring the
program received a $1.34 mil
lion seed grant from the
National Science Foundation.
The CROP program acquired
its detection devices free of
charge through a donation from
Please see RAYS on 6