New measures restrict nudity'club locations
BY JOSH FUNK
The city continued its ongo
ing battle against indecency
Monday when Mayor Don
Wesely signed into law a public
nudity ban and new zoning reg
ulations.
These laws, which take effect
Oct. 10, address some of the city
government’s concerns about
sexually oriented businesses.
“This sends a message that
our values won't be lost as the
city grows,” Wesely said.
The mayor was joined by
four of the five City Council
members who voted last week to
approve the measures in a meet
ing that stretched into the early
morning hours with extensive
public comment.
Wesely said he expected
these new laws to be challenged
in court, but he felt both laws
were sound.
Two city ordinances to ban
sexual contact, passed earlier
this year, have been challenged
by the owner of Mataya’s
Babydolls Gentlemen’s Theatre
Club in federal court. A trial to
determine the constitutionality
of the first sexual-contact ordi
nance was held Monday.
“I see an ongoing legal battle
with some individuals who don’t
seem to want to yield to public
sentiment,” Wesely said. “I am in
this for the long haul for the
good of the city.”
The public nudity ban will
make it illegal for men or
women to bear their genitals in
a public place or any place open
to the public. Women also are
barred from baring their breasts.
The nudity ban does not
apply to any arts or theatrical
performance, breast-feeding
mothers, children under the age
of 12 or dressing rooms open to
the public.
That law could require
Lincoln’s adult-entertainment
businesses that feature topless
dancing to cover their dancers’
nipples with pasties to comply.
“What consenting adults do
in the privacy of their own home
is their own business,” Wesely
said. "What happens in public
places becomes public busi
ness.”
‘This sends a message that our values won't be
lost as the city grows/’
Don Wesely
Lincoln mayor
City Council members
echoed Wesely’s praise of these
laws.
"This is a good day for
Lincoln. We’ve done what we
can to say no to the/degradation
of women,” Councilman Jeff
Fortenberry said.
Councilwoman Coleen
Seng, who represents northeast
Lincoln, where Mataya's is locat
ed, said she supported these
laws in response to her con
stituents’ comments.
Council Chairman Jerry
Shoecraft said that the laws were
a step in the right direction.
“These are a step towards
how we want our city to look,”
Shoecraft said.
The new zoning regulations
will restrict any new sexually
oriented businesses to areas
near Interstate 80 or other high
way corridors and industrial
areas.
The new businesses would
also have to be at least 1,500 feet
from schools, churches, parks
and residential areas, among
other things.
But the zoning ordinance
does not apply to the downtown
business district, which houses
two topless bars.
The zoning rules also extend
to a three-mile radius around
the city.
That area includes the top
less bar Cheetahs, 640 W.
Prospector Court, which has
been arguing with county gov
ernment over details of its liquor
license.
Businesses that were lawful
ly in existence will be grandfa
thered under the zoning regula
tions.
Majority of new vehicles get
poor gas mileage, data show
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - While a
handful of small cars are getting
40-plus miles per gallon, the
vast majority of new vehicles
coming into showrooms get
about half that, the govern
ment's latest automobile fuel
economy statistics show.
For the second year, a hybrid
gas- and electric-powered vehi
cle - the two-seater Honda
Insight - topped the list of
biggest fuel misers with 64 mpg
combined city and highway
driving among 2001-model
vehicles.
It was followed by another
hybrid, the Toyota Prius, and
three Volkswagen diesel cars.
The huge popularity of sport
utility vehicles again drove,
down the overall numbers of the
more than 800 cars, trucks and
vans listed in the annual fuel
economy statistics released
Monday by the Environmental
Protection Agency
Average fuel economy for
358 models or variations of
SUVs, vans and pickup trucks
was just over 18 mpg, compared
with 23.6 mpg for nearly 500
cars on the EPA list.
King-size SUVs such as the
Ford Expedition, Lincoln
Navigator and Dodge Durango
and their twin pickups account
ed for 12 of the 36 vehicles on
the list with the worst gas
mileage, all with 12 mpg or less
in city driving and 17 mpg or
less on the highway.
On latest adventure, student
ventures to coldest continent
ANTARCTICA from page 1
At the station, he will be
joined by about 2,000 other
workers and researchers from
around the world.
The research station has a
fire department, a barbershop
and other trappings of a typical
community, he said. v
"It's like a small, little town,”
he said. ‘
Story won't be able to ven
ture far from his new town,
though.
Raytheon doesn't like its
workers to stray far from the
community because it is so
close to freezing sea water and
thousand-feet-deep hidden
crevasses, he said.
“They don't want you to fall
into a crevasse and die,” he said.
But the tight boundaries
won't stop Story from keeping
busy.
Story will work at least 54
hours a week, and despite the
limited roaming space, he will
still be able to do many activi
ties, including biking and run
ning, he said.
Constant sunshine will
accompany Story during the
long days, but Story said never
ending days are nothing new to
him.
Last summer, Story worked
in Greenland where the sun
doesn’t set for months at a time.
Story’s obsession for the
extreme outdoors began as a
passion for the wilderness when
he was young.
A friend's family used to take
him on yearly trips to Alberta,
Canada, where he learned
about backpacking and rock
climbing.
Story gained more outdoor
experience when he arrived at
UNL and began working for
Outdoor Adventures, which is
part of the Campus Recreation
Center.
Story, who has worked at
Outdoor Adventures for two
years, started out renting equip
ment to students. Now, he
guides trips once or twice a
month.
His own backpacking,
kayaking and climbing trips
have taken Story across the
country.
Story hopes he will have a
positive experience in
Antarctica and that it will lead
him to additional outdoor jobs.
“I am trying to get my foot in
the door,” Story said.
Police chief's testimony on ordinance
challenged by Mataya'sBabydolls lawyer
ORDINANCE from page 1
in certain circumstances.
When asked whether some
one becoming aroused at a per
formance of “Hair” at the Lied
Center for Performing Arts
would violate this ordinance,
Casady said that was a different
situation.
"I think the fact that some
one becomes aroused during a
performance is different than
something that is intended to
cause sexual gratification,”
Casady said.
Chapin challenged Casady’s
testimony that sexually oriented
businesses, such as Mataya’s,
cause additional crimes, or sec
ondary effects, near the busi
ness.
“I believe sexually oriented
businesses contribute markedly
to other crimes occurring at or
near the establishment,” said
Casady, who based his conclu
sion on his own crime mapping
and national studies.
But on cross-examination,
Casady could not cite any exam
ples of prostitution or pandering
- buying or selling sex- near any
of Lincoln's sexually oriented
businesses.
The city also showed surveil
lance videos of several nude
couch dances. The video was
seized as part of an Aug. 11 raid
on Mataya’s.
On the video, one nude
dancer was shown with her but
tocks resting on a customer’s
chest, so her genitals were
directly below the customer’s
face while she opened and
closed her legs.
Urbom will consider the
tapes and other evidence when
determining if the dancing at
Mataya’s is obscene.
Ways said that all of his video
tapes have been sold for $5,000
to $10,000 each to God’s Eye
Productions, which planned to
market the content. Ways said
he was supposed to deliver the
tapes Monday, but the city is still
holding about 3,000 tapes taken
during the raid.
Abortion doctor to be cut
from Med Center faculty
MED CENTER from page 1
a five-month analysis of the col
lege’s volunteer faculty pro
gram.
Armitage could not be
reached for comment Monday.
Bob Blank, president of
Metro Right to life, said he was
pleased Carhart was asked to
step down from UNMC.
But the bigger issue lies in
whether Carhart will still pro
vide aborted fetal tissue to the
Medical Center for research,
Blank said.
“(UNMC faculty members)
don’t teach abortion and don’t
practice abortion, so why
should they have an abortionist
as part of the faculty?” he said.
Blank said he thought part
of the decision to remove
Carhart from the faculty was
triggered by the coming elec
tion for three open University of
Nebraska Board of Regents
spots.
The three regents running
for reelection, Chuck
Hassebrook, Drew Miller and
Rosemary Skrupa, voted in
favor of the aborted fetal-tissue
cell research last year, he said.
But with controversy sur
rounding the research, the
regents’ support could be a cru
cial factor in the election.
"The timing of this makes it
appear as just a public relations
ploy to try to get the regents
reelected,” he said.
Approval of abortion pill
debated by Lincoln activists
PILL from page 1
After a woman takes three
mifepristone pills to detach the
fetus from the uterine lining,
she must return to the doctor
two days later to take misopros
tol, a drug that causes uterine
contractions, which will help
move the embryo out of the
body, the FDA Web site report
ed.
Keller said it was important
to note that this was not an
emergency contraceptive pill.
The "morning after pill,” which
prevents an embryo from
implanting, has been available
in the U.S. for the last two years.
Blank said he expected the
pill to be touted as a “one-stop
quick fix” to an unwanted preg
nancy.
“We're kind of a quick-fix
society now,” he said.
Blank said there could be
complications associated with
the pill, including excessive
bleeding or even death, and
there was a death attributed to
RU486 somewhere in Europe.
Blank said Metro Right to
Life would continue to oppose
abortion by exposing abortion
doctors and adding abortion
facilities to its "boycott list.”
Blank said it didn’t matter
which form of abortion a
woman chose. Both were
wrong.
“The product of both abor
tions is the same,” he said. “You
have a mother, a father and a
dead baby.”
Pat Tetreault, sexuality edu
cation coordinator at the
University Health Center, said
she didn't see the FDA approval
as a pro-abortion rights or anti
abortion rights issue. She
believes the pill is just another
option for women.
Tetreault said it was more
important that women realize
the bigger picture and educate
themselves about their options.
“Women need to make the
decision best for them,” she
said.
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Study: Smoke could
cause teen depression
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO - A new study
suggests smoking may be a
cause of depression in teen
agers. This contradicts the
idea that depressed people
may smoke to feel better.
The study found that teens
who smoked were about four
times more likely to develop
highly depressed symptoms
during a year’s time.
The researchers speculat
ed that nicotine or other
smoking byproducts may
have a depressive effect on the
central nervous system.
The study adds to a grow
ing body of conflicting
research on links between
tobacco and the mind.
“The thing that bolsters
the idea is that there is evi
dence that anti-depressant
drugs are helpful in treating
nicotine addiction,” said*Dr.
Elizabeth Goodman, an ado
lescent-medicine specialist at
Children’s Hospital Medical
Center of Cincinnati. She led
the study.
The study appears in the
October issue of Pediatrics,
the monthly journal of the
American Academy of
Pediatrics.
Other researchers have
linked teen smoking with sui
cide and have linked smoking
with depression in adults. But
they disagree over whether
tobacco use is a cause or
merely a result of a depressed
state.
Most people think that
those who tend to be
depressed “self-medicate by
smoking. This is probably not
the case,” said Naomi Breslau,
director of research at Henry
Ford Health Systems in
Detroit.
Breslau’s
own research
also has sug
gested tobac
co may
somehow
contribute to
depression.
While the
new findings
do not prove
smoking is a
cause, they
strongly sup
port that the
ory, she said.
"They
find
absolutely no
evidence that
depressive
symptoms per se increase the
risk for smoking,” she said.
“They do find very clear evi
dence in the other direction.”
She added: “It's just one
more adverse effect of smok
ing on health.”
The study relied not on
doctors' diagnoses but on
teen-agers’ reports of having
symptoms suggestive of
depression.
The study analyzed data
from teens questioned in 1995
and 1996 in a national study
on adolescent health.
"It’s just
one more
adverse
effect of
smoking
on
health
Naomi
Breslau
research
director
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