Plane
strikes
volcano;
10 dead
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -
Rescuers confirmed Sunday that
all 10 people on board a small
plane that slammed into a vol
cano in northern Costa Rica were
killed, airline officials said. Three
Americans were among the dead.
About 200 rescue workers
who climbed the lava and rock
littered side of Arenal volcano
found the wreckage of the 15-seat
single-engine Cessna Grand
Caravan plane, owned by
National Aerial Services, or Sansa.
The plane had gone down
Saturday.
A Sansa spokeswoman told
The Associated Press that the res
cuers working 60 miles north of
the capital, San Jose, found the
bodies bf the plane’s two Costa
Rican pilots and eight foreign pas
sengers. Because of bad weather,
the bodies would not be recov
ered until today
Six of the eight were Steven
Bohmer, Helena Bohmer and
Christopher Damia of foe United
States; Canadian Tterry Pratt; and
Silvia Rhissiner and Catherine
Shoep of Switzerland, said Sansa
official Eveieyn Saldana. The pilot
and co-pilot were identified as
Kari Acevedo Nevermann, 22, and
William Bobadilla.
Saldana said the airline would
release the names and nationali
ties of the two remaining victims
after their relatives had been con
tacted. The hometowns of the
U.S. victims were not given.
IWo bodies were found inside
the airplane, according to the Red
Cross. Television footage showed
other bodies on the ground
The plane was between the
northern region of La Fortuna,
where the mile-high volcano is
located, and Tkmarindo, on the
Pacific coast, when air traffic con
trollers lost contact about 1:30
pm an Saturday
I Vetter holds passion for learning
VETTER from 1
“Depressing, isn’t it?” Vetter
replied
Such exchanges are typical
between Vetter, who jokingly
describes himself as a “crankyJeft
wing academic” and Buescher
and Pekron, the conservative
Republicans. During the week of
the convention, the three spent
late nights arguing about social
and political issues, just as they
did during college.
“We like to argue,” Vetter said
“It’s always important to interact
as much as possible with people
who disagree with you. It’s really
part of the essential functioning of
a democracy that people with dif
fering views interact with each
other."
Buescher, who graduated
from Georgetown Law School in
Washington, D.C. this year and
nowworks for an Omaha Law firm,
said the friendship is possible
because the three are able to sepa
rate the political from the person
al
i minx we jusi agree to dis
agree,” he said. “We respect each
other as people even though we
disagree on almost everything
politically”
Pekron, a 2000 Yale Law
School graduate who now works
as a clerk for a federal appeals
judge in Little Rock, Aik., agrees,
lde!”^He also (mows that his
debates with Vetter help sharpen
his arguments.
“When you argue with Jeremy,
if you’re not right on track, youll
get nailed," he said.
Buescher and Pekron both
admire \fetterk ability to process a
lot of information over a short
amount of time-his raw intellect
as Buescher calls it lb compile his
impressive academic record, they
said, he had to read quickly and
complete a heavy workload.
Vfetter took his academic pas
sion and strong work ethic to
Oxford, where he continued to
shine.
For his master’s of science
degree, he completed a comput
er-intensive theoretical modeling
project For his master^ of philos
ophy degree, he wrote a thesis
about Alfred Russell Wallace, the
1 ^-century British anthropolo
gist who, along with Charles
Darwin, played an important role
in the development of evolution
theory.
“Wallace was very willing to
challenge the establishment,”
Vetter said. “He was more interest
ed in science because he drought
it was relevant to the day, not
because he wanted to be famous.”
like Wallace, Vetter is fascinat
ed by the interplay between sci
ence and society. He is drawn to
the field of science history, he said,
because it has more than abstract
significance. Developments in
science, medicine and technology
have huge impacts drat reach far
beyond the scientific community,
he said.
Dismissing post-modem the
ories that question the existence
of absolute truth, Vetter remains
committed to the relentless pur
suit of it
“When you do historical work,
you have to try to bring as much
objectivity to it as possible,” he
said. “\bu want to be willing to be
influenced by what you discover.
“We ought to still be pursuing
the truth. We ought to be trying to -
uncover important realities about
how people live.”
dui as vener progresses in aca
demia, he still wants to change die
world. He knows that requires
political activism.
As an undergraduate, Vetter
protested against the death penal
ty and domestic abuse. He found
ed the UNL chapter of Allies,
which supports gay rights.
His father, JayVetted is a pastor
at Christ United Methodist
Church in Lincoln, and Jeremy
has been active in the United
Methodist Church. He supported
Jimmy Creech, the former United
Methodist minister who was
stripped of his orders for perform
ing a civil union ceremony for two
gay men.
Vetter strongly opposes a pro
posed constitutional amendment
on the fall ballot that would pro
hibit gay marriages and civil
unions in Nebraska.
“I think it’s sort of a mean-spir
ited attempt to exclude certain
people from social institutions,’’
he said. “The idea that heterosex
ual marriages are defended by not
letting homosexual people into
marriages is absolutely preposter
ous.
“In the same way people in the •
South can look back at Jim Crow
laws, we will be embarrassed
years from now if this passes.”
“But I like him because
he’s such a nice guy
and a quality
individual”
Brian Buescher
former UNL student
During die Republican con
vention, Vetter attended a rally in
Philadelphia for the presidential
candidate he is supporting, Ralph
Nader of the Green Party.
Although he prefers the
Democrats over the Republicans,
he said he is not concerned that
Nader’s candidacy could hurt
Democrat A1 Gore’s chances.
"I really do feel that (Nader) is
speaking for me,” he said. “He’s
addressing a lot of the problems
the other two candidates aren’t
willing to address. It's time forus to
consider a new mass political
movement by people who‘are
uncomfortable with their lives
being run by corporations.”
Vetter said he is concerned by
economic and political inequality
in the United States. He wants to
reform the political system “so
that ordinary people can have as
much access as people with a lot
of wealth.”
He worries mat me united
States exercises its power arro
gantly without concern for the
wishes of its allies or other coun
tries.
“WfeVe heard it all before, and
we disagree with 99 percent of it"
Buescher said. “But I like him
because he’s such a nice guy and a
quality individual. He's just one of
those individuals who’s a really,
really smart guy. He’s a genius.’’
When Wetter is asked why he
wants to be a professor, Pekron
jumps in first: “He wants to cor
rupt die young.”
Vetter chuckles, then becomes
serious. As a professor - “some
where west of Nebraska,” he
hopes-he will have all of what he
wants: the chance to research and
teach while continuing his
activism.
“\bu want your activism to be
informed by the best history we
can do," he said. “Itfe important to
be engaged in doing research and
combining that with activism in
the political realm Combining the
two allows the best of both
worlds.”
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