Wednesday M ® ^
January 24,2001 1 ■ /% 1 ^k ft
VolumelOO 1 1/ I /| /A1 I
issue89 a a a M E E I /
dailyneb.com a W a /f j E J E J m/
Since 1901 M ^ V V V 1/
Begin two-way: Mark
Baldridge begins the
breakdown of temporal
barriers
In Opinion/4
Alisha Ingram takes
Nebraska by storm
after batting back from
personal tragedy
In SportsMonday/16
A Ragtime actor
speaks of the play's
power and scope
lnArts/11 ^
NateWagner/DN
Tim Westerberg rearranges hemp hats at Solstice on 126 N.IB* St Westerberg said he wants to stock his store with merchandise that can't be found at the mall.
. •}; : ; i . •••_' I
A new cash crop? Hemp could be legal
BYQWENTTETGEH_
The Agriculture Committee planted the first
seeds of the industrial hemp debate Tuesday.
LB273, introduced by Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm
Creek, would provide for the licensed cultivation and
commercial possession of industrial hemp.
After listening to hours of contradictory testimo
ny, senators decided to hold the bill in committee
until next week.
Industrial hemp would create another potential
cash crop for Nebraska farmers, Schrock said.
“The Declaration of Independence was printed
on hemp paper, and the first American flag was
made out of hemp,” Schrock said.
“The United States is the only industrial country
where the growing of industrial hemp is illegal.”
Industrial hemp, a species of cannabis sativa, has
no more than three-tenths of 1 percent of tetrahy
drocannabinol, or THC, Schrock said.
THC is the chemical in marijuana that affects the
brain. The quantity in industrial hemp is not enough
to affect the brain, Schrock said.
Marijuana is defined as all parts of the genus
cannabis having more than three-tenths of 1 per
cent.
Proponents of the bill said industrial hemp and
marijuana are completely different, and hemp can
be a viable cash crop through the making of clothing,
block construction, shingles, lotion and paper,
among other things.
“If hemp and marijuana are the same thing, a
Pekinese is the same as a Doberman pinscher,”
Schrock said.
Christian Elowsky, a student obtaining his mas
ter's degree in botany, explained to senators the dif
ference between levels of THC in industrial hemp,
marijuana and ditch weed - or pot that grows in the
“If hemp and marijuana are the
same thing, a Pekinese is the same
as a Doberman pincher."
Ed Schrock
Elm Creek senator
________
wild.
Where industrial hemp has three-tenths of 1 per
cent THC, ditch weed has 1 percent ofTHC and mar
ijuana THC levels range between 2 and 20 percent,
Elowskysaid.
“Industrial hemp is a high-yielding cannabis,”
Elowsky said as he passed out several pictures of
Please HEMP on 3
Public voices opinions on stem cell research
BY JILLZEMAN
About 50 people attended a pub
lic hearing Tuesday about research
that may be conducted at NU that
requires the destruction of an
embryo.
Members of the NU Bioethics
Advisory Committee met to hear a
public response to embryonic stem
cell research, which some think
could lead scientists toward a cure
for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson's dis
eases.
The committee, formed last
March by NU President Dennis
Smith, is made up of faculty mem
bers, administrators and community
members.
Five people affected by
Alzheimer’s disease spoke in support
of stem cell research at the hearing.
Rosalee Yeaworth, whose moth
er, brother and husband have battled
Alzheimer’s, said NU shouldn’t ban
the research.
“I don’t pretend to know the per
sonhood of an embryo, but I would
like to think I could speak to the loss
of personhood due to Alzheimer’s,’’
Yeaworth said.
The University of Nebraska
Medical Center doesn’t use stem
cells in research, but the committee
recommended in November that it
can be conducted at NU if certain
guidelines are followed.
First, the research must be
approved and justified by a scientific
review committee.
According to the recommenda
tions:
■ Cells cannot be cloned or
obtained from in vitro fertilization
done especially for the research.
■ Institutional Review Boards
should review all research involving
human embryonic stem-cell
research.
Stem cells are the predecessors to
all the tissues in the body, such as the
heart, brain, lungs or liver.
The cells have the potentiaHo
develop into the cell types of the
body organs.
The research has drawn fire from
anti-abortion rights activists
because it requires the destruction of
an embryo.
The bioethics committee will dis
cuss the hearing at its next meeting
and decide whether to send its rec
ommendations on to the NU Board
of Regents, said Deb Thomas, NU
director of special projects.
If Smith and the regents approve
the committee’s recommendations,
they will become university policy,
she said.
The Associated Press con
tributed to this report.
Fetal
debate
may end
■The proposal, filed by Sea Kermit Brashear,
would limit floor debate onabill that aims to end
fetal tissue research.
. BY GEORGE GREEN
For more than a year, a chorus of debate has
trailed a controversy over research at UNMC that
uses tissue from aborted fetuses.
During the debate, questions have been asked,
and more than once, voices have been raised.
But if a motion filed by Sen. Kermit Brashear of
Omaha passes, the volume of discussion may drop.
Brashear’s motion focuses on LB462, which
would forbid public institutions from conducting
research that uses tissue from aborted fetuses.
Sen. Carol Hudkins of Malcolm, chairwoman of
the Rules Committee, said the motion would sus
pend operating rules and mandate the Legislature
vote on the bill without the option to discuss or
amend it.
But Hudkins said LB462, introduced by Sen.
Dwite Pedersen of Elkhom, must move out of the
Judiciary Committee before the Legislature can con
sider Brashear’s motion.
And before it can slip out of the committee, the
bill must face a public hearing and a vote by the
committee members.
Moreover, she said, the senators must discuss
the motion to halt debate before they vote on it.
During that discussion, she said, senators will dis
cuss the bill, too.
Finally, Hudkins said, every bill must pass three
rounds of debate by the entire body. Brashear’s
motion would close mouths only during the first
session, she said.
Brashear said he doesn’t want to limit relevant
Please see FETAL on 3
Chairman asks
for 80% DN cut
BY CHARLIE KAUFFMAN
The Committee for Fees Allocation met Ttiesday
evening to decide the future use of student fees for
ASUN, the Daily Nebraskan and the Lied Center for
Performing Arts.
In the process, some members of the committee
tried to cut next year’s funding for the Daily
Nebraskan by more than $40,000- a decrease of more
than 80 percent compared to last year’s student fees
funding.
CFA Chairman Brian Lore proposed the decrease,
which gave the Daily Nebraskan $9,513 in student
fees funding for the next academic year.
Lore proposed the smaller funding act as a sub
sidy to the Daily Nebraskan’s annual profit
Because the Daily Nebraskan made an unusually
large profit last year, Lore proposed student fees be
cut comparably.
Please see CFA on 3
What's your sign: Today marks Chinese year of the snake
BY SHARON KOLBET
For people who have forgotten or broken
their New Year’s resolutions, there’s a second
chance.
Break out the noisemakers - for today
begins another new year.
While followers of the Gregorian calendar
start their newyear on Jan. 1, cultures that fol
low the Chinese lunar calendar officially
begin the newyear on Jan. 24.
“This is the biggest holiday in China,”
University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Kun
Lu said.
Lu, president of the Chinese Students and
Scholars Association, helped organize the
upcoming Chinese New Year celebration to
be held Saturday in the Nebraska Union
Centennial Ballroom.
“In China, the holiday is about family,’’ Lu
said. “Most people spend the evening with
relatives, and then at midnight they go out
side for fireworks.”
This year in addition to the traditional
dinner and performances, the student organ
ization has added fireworks to its schedule of
events.
Lu said after the festivities in the
Nebraska Union, the attendees will travel to
17th and Vine streets for a fireworks show.
The UNL celebration has grown over the
years.
With the help of increased advertising
and a new Chinese radio show on
KZUM-FM, Lu said the 600 tickets that went
on sale last Tuesday sold out in a mere 10
hours.
Only a few tickets remain for people who
want to attend the event, Lu said. For tickets,
people should call 742-5260.
While known to most Americans as the
Chinese New Year, Le Nguyen, president of
Lincoln’s Asian Caucus, said the event is cele
brated as the Lunar New Year by other Asian
cultures.
"Vietnamese, Japanese and Koreans also
celebrate this day,” Nguyen said.
Growing up in a Vietnamese family,
Nguyen said her Lunar New Year festivities
have centered on family.
"It is three days of celebration,” she said.
“We visit family, make food to place on the
altar and receive lucky money from relatives.”
Nguyen said the Asian Caucus has sched
uled a Friday Lunar New Year program at the
F Street Recreation Center, 930 S. 13th St. The
event, which runs from 5 to 7 p.m., will fea
ture a traditional lion dance,Vietnamese food
and a costume fashion show.
Nguyen said like other Asian cultures, the
Vietnamese tradition follows the 12-phase
Chinese zodiac.
In the Chinese zodiac each new year cor
responds to one of 12 animal characters, as
well as one of the five elements (water, fire,
wood, metal and earth).
For those who want to celebrate the new
year, today is the day to say good-bye to the
metal dragon and hello to the metal snake.