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Thursday - ■ - — - ■ _ -‘ — —
October 19,2000 H
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NU matched the
WRdcats’Intensity on
the court and proved
KSU is just another
Husker victim
In SportsThursday/101
UNL professor Judith r
Slater prepares to m
share her dream- w
inspired stories at a r
public reading tonight
BY VERONICA PAEHN
The magazine says UNL senior Ryan Grigsby
wanted to test Jhe limits of brotherhood.
But when the Oct. 26 issue of Rolling Stone fea
tured Grigsby as a gay UNL student living in Sigma
Nu Fraternity, it seems Grigsby may have pushed the
limits too far.
Now, only a week after the national magazine
came out, Grigsby won't comment on the Rolling
Stone story.
"I’m not allowed to comment - I’m sorry,”
Grigsby told the Daily Nebraskan last week.
His fraternity president, UNL junior Dan
Sindelar, also declined to comment
“I just don’t want to comment,” Sindelar said.
The Rolling Stone article tells about the letter
Grigsby wrote last fall to his brothers in Sigma Nu,
*
telling them he was gay.
Grigsby spent three weeks agonizing over how to
reveal his secret, the story states, and when he finally
did - telling six or seven members by giving them the
letter - the reaction was mixed.
A group of brothers made gay jokes outside of
Grigsby’s room, and, in February, Grigsby was
encouraged not to bring a male date to the
Valentine’s Day formal, which parents are invited to
attend.
Some brothers even called him a “faggot,” the
article states.
But despite all of that, the article states Grigsby
remains loyal to his fraternity.
He has since moved out of the Sigma Nu house to
live off campus, but that is a normal step for a senior
to take, Grigsby told Rolling Stone.
In the letter Grigsby wrote to his fraternity broth
m
ers, he said he hoped “you will not see me coming
‘out’ in a negative Light.”
Now, nobody’s talking.
Even Russell Willbanks, a Sigma Nu member
who was quoted in the magazine article and is chair
man of the Daily Nebraskan Publications Board, the
body that sets policy for the newspaper, declined to
comment.
The fraternity’s silence after the national maga
zine’s story contrasts with Sigma Nu’s national head
quarters, which stated there is no problem with the
article.
Brad Beacham, national spokesman for Sigma
Nu Fraternity, said he had no idea why the local
chapter wouldn’t comment.
“We thought it was a well-balanced, well-written
article that portrayed our chapter well at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,” said Beacham, who
“(I came out) because it was the
truth. It’s a truth that people
haven’t recognized in the past. This
is something no one can deny
anymore.”
Jaron Luttich
Chi Phi fraternity member
has had no contact with UNLs Sigma Nu chapter.
UNL junior Jaron Luttich is also featured in the
Rolling Stone article.
Please see FRATERNITY on 6
Jay Mohr
cancels
UPCevent
BYJILLZEMAN
Students eagerly anticipating comedian Jay
Mohr’s campus appearance will have to wait a little
longer to see the former Saturday Night Live star.
Mohr, who was scheduled to appear Tuesday,
backed out of the event because he has not finished
filming a movie in Canada, said Karen Wills,
University Program Council adviser.
“(His agent) thought he’d be done by now, buthe's
not,” she said.
Members of the UPC, who coordinated Mohr’s
appearance, were notified
Thesday the actor would not be
“All this performing.
wnrk w/ic “I'm disappointed,” she said.
• “Students were really excited.”
finally By the end of the week, the
going tO UPC should know Mohr’s resched
^ rr uled performance date, which will
pay Off probably be sometime in the
On the spring, she said.
P Despite talk of a potential
rescheduling, Mohr’s no-show still
and then impacts the UPC. The group has
already paid for television and
radio advertisements - money the
backed members wish to regain from
Ogf^ On Mohr, she said.
„ UPC has stopped its advertise
US. ments for Mohr’s performance,
but must still spend money to
Courtney notify the public of Mohr’s post
Wachal poning, she said.
committee Wills said she was surprised
chairwoman M^hr backed out so close to the
- performance date.
“I guess he’s too interested in
being a movie star than being a
‘ comedian,” she said.
Courtney Wachal, chairwoman of UPC’s novelty
committee, said she had been working on bringing
Mohr to campus since last year.
“All this work was finally going to pay off on the
24*, and then he backed out on us,” she said.
And Wachal, who has been instrumental in
organizing Mohr’s appearance, will not see the bene
fits of her hard work because she will graduate in
December, she said.
Wachal said she was surprised and disappointed
that Mohr canceled. On Sunday, UPC was still making
arrangements for Mohr’s stay in Lincoln, die said.
Wachal said Mohr should reimburse the UPC for
publicity expenses as well as the cost to refund the
tickets.
“We did everything for this guy,” she said. “It
seems like he doesn’t care about us.”
Scott McOurg/DN
FLYING HIGH: Lambda Chi Alpha member Jason Friedrichsen and Kappa Alpha Theta member Katie Haller jump on a trampoline to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The philanthropy,
supported by Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, raises money through theTrampoline-a-Thon by having members jump 24 hours a day from Oct 17 until Saturday.
Students one step closer to votinq with a mouse
■ In one week,senators will vote
on an amendment to make
elections available at the click
of a button for UNL students.
BYJILLZEMAN
Members of student government
educated themselves about online vot
ing Wednesday before they make the
decision next week on whether to bring
it to UNL
John Conley, Electoral
Commission director, and Mike
Echternacht, Technology Fees
Advisory Board chairman, presented
information about an online voting
system that could be implemented at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as
soon as next spring.
Next week, Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska President
Joel Schafer is expected to introduce a
Dill requesting a constitutional amend
ment to implement online voting, said
Riley Peterson, first vice president
Schafer was out of town for person
al business Wednesday.
“I think people are generally in
favor of the idea,” Peterson said. “I’m
excited.”
If the senate approves the amend
ment, a special election will be held
Nov. 15 to vote on the constitutional
amendment, Conley said.
The special election will occur after
the Nov. 1 Homecoming election,
which will use paper ballots.
Conley said he didn’t want to place
the constitutional amendment on the
Homecoming ballot because he want
ed more time to educate students
about online voting.
Several senators expressed con
cern about the security behind online
voting. Conley detailed more specifics
about the online voting system to the
senate to address members’ questions.
To vote, students must first access
the What About Me section on the UNL
Web site.
There, they must enter their stu
dent identification and pin numbers.
After voting, each ballot will be marked
with a time stamp, indicating what
time to vote was cast, he said.
Information Services and the
Electoral Commission are still dis
cussing whether to include a stamp
that would report where a vote was
cast, Conley said.
But the vote will not be tied to the
student's computer, so all votes will still
be confidential, he said.
Some senators also mentioned the
possibilities of someone voting more
than once, someone hacking into the
system and candidates campaigning at
places with many potential voters,
such as fraternities, sororities and resi
dence halls, which is forbidden.
Although the unexpected may
occur, Conley said the system was sta
ble and safe for elections.
“Our last resort would be to nullify
an election,” Conley said. “But I think
elected officials would want to win on
merit, not deception."
Conley said so far, he’s heard most
ly positive feedback from students
about online voting.
Although the senate has not voted
on the issue, Echtemacht said he was
pleased the group was able to discuss
the issue before voting on it next,week.
Student feedback before the elec
tion will also benefit everyone in the
decision-making process, he said.
“The more representation we have,
the better.”
In other business, the senate unan
imously passed a resolution support
ing the ‘Stop Violence Against Women'
rally, which will be held at noon Friday
in front of the Nebraska Union.
t
Prosecution, defense rest cases in Bao trial; verdict expected today
■The defendent could be convicted
of first-or second-degree murder or
manslaughter and could face the
death penalty if convicted.
BY JOSH FUNK
The prosecution and defense point
ed fingers in the closing arguments of
Linh Bao's murder trial Wednesday,
detailing their versions of a February
shooting death.
The lawyers pointed their fingers
like guns at the jury to describe the
angle of shots Bao fired into Vu La’s car,
which was one of many details of the
Feb. 5 night disputed at trial.
The jury deliberated from noon to
8:45 p.m. before stopping for the day.
The six men and six women were
sequestered overnight, and they will
resume deliberating today at 8:30 a.m.
to determine whether Bao acted in self
defense or if the shooting was deliber
ate.
Bao could be convicted of first- or
second-degree murder or manslaugh
ter and using a weapon to commit a
felony. If convicted, he could face the
death penalty.
“This case is not about whether
Linh Bao killed Vu La,” Deputy County
Attorney Andy Jacobsen said. “It is
about the manner in which Linh Bao
killed him.”
Th^ defense argued that Bao feared
for his life that night after being beaten
up twice.
“Linh Bao did not murder Vu La,”
defense attorney Robert Hays said. “He
killed Vu La in defense of his family
against two men who followed him
home from a party.”
Jacobsen told the jury that Bao’s
actions make it clear that he intended
to kill the 37-year-old La.
r ./
“With (Bao’s) deliberate use of a
gun, what else could be intended?”
Jacobsen asked. The prosecution reject
ed the idea that Bao was protecting his
family because he left his wife and child
outside with the men while he went
inside to load his gun.
Hays described Bao as being in a
panic that night and said Bao tried to
scare the men with the gun.
“I’ll concede that not everything
I inh Bao did that night was rational,"
Hays said. “He was afraid for his life.”
The attorneys agreed on the follow
ing events in their arguments:
On the night of Feb. 5, Bao went to a
Vietnamese New Year’s party with a
friend, but he did not know many other
people there.
At the party, Bao got into a fight with
La and two other men, though it is
unclear what or who started the dis
agreement. Then the men were asked to
leave the party.
Bao got a ride home to the trailer
park, and near his home, Bao spotted
La’s car following and jumped out.
Bao ran inside his house and got his
380-caliber handgun, but it was
unloaded.
Please see TRIAL on 3
