DEC9

Page 1

DATE WITH A BARMATE

HUSKER WOMEN’S DEFEATS CREIGHTON 66-55

Playboy chooses UNL student for bartender award PAGE 3

Victory against in-state rival leads to 8-1 season PAGE 10 friday, december 9, 2011

volume 111, issue 074

DAILY NEBRASKAN dailynebraskan.com

Virginia Tech shooting results in two deaths dan holtmeyer daily nebraskan

A still-unidentified man shot and killed a patrol police officer before apparently killing himself yesterday afternoon on the Virginia Tech University campus in Blacksburg, Va., according to law enforcement and government officials. Deriek Crouse, 39, was a four-year veteran of the university’s force and is survived by a wife and five children and stepchildren. Crouse was shot shortly after noon in front of several witnesses at a routine traffic stop in a parking lot near Lane Stadium and McComas Hall, a gym and sports building. The shooter, who was not involved in the stop and apparently walked up to Crouse, then fled the scene, police said.

A campuswide alert and description of the shooter, conveyed by text, phone, email and other media, soon followed from the university. It warned all students and faculty to stay where they were and lock their doors and city residents to stay away from campus. That alert was lifted after four tense, rumor-filled hours, when law enforcement officials determined there was no longer an “active threat.” They didn’t clarify the shooter’s status or whereabouts at the time the alert was lifted. Soon after the officer was shot, more gunshots were reported in another parking lot called the Cage, next to the university’s Coliseum and less than half a mile away. A second male was found there with a fatal gunshot wound, according

to the Virginia Tech Police. A weapon was recovered near the scene. The man was initially identified as a victim, but after widespread speculation, officials announced late Thursday evening that the man was indeed the shooter. This is the second shooting on the campus since April 16, 2007, when student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty and wounded 25 others before killing himself. It was the deadliest school shooting in the country’s history, and Thursday’s news brought it once again to everyone’s mind. “Today, tragedy again struck Virginia Tech,” the university’s president, Charles Steger, said in a hastily called afternoon press conference that coincided with the end of

SHOOTING AT VIRGINIA TECH LEAVES OFFICER, GUNMAN DEAD Thursday, an unidentified man shot and killed a Virginia Tech police officer at the Cassell Coliseum lot. The man then fled toward The Cage parking lot, where he was found with a fatal gunshot wound and died at the scene.

Cassell coliseum lot

The Cage parking lot

bea huff | daily nebraskan

the campus alert. “I can only say that words don’t describe our feelings. Our hearts are

broken again, for the family of our police officer.” University officials had

va tech: see page 6

MARY-ELLEN KENNEDY | DAILY NEBRASKAN

Adam Kruger, a sophomore agriculture business major, Derek Goll, a freshman general studies major and Tyler Brummond, a sophomore agriculture business major, play basketball at the East Campus Rec Center on Thursday. The rec will be closed for good by May 2012. The new rec is expected to open by May 2014.

nickolai hammar | Daily Nebraskan

Adrian Lara, a computer science graduate student, rides his bike to work at the Scholl Center every day. He said if the five-minute ride was any longer, it might prevent him from commuting with his bike during the winter time.

snow ride

story by tammy bain | photo by nickolai hammar

W

hen Rafael Leano, a Colombia native, gets ready to head to class this winter, he doesn’t just throw on a coat for a brisk walk. He layers. And layers. Leano will bike to class, all harsh-Nebraska-winter long. Leano, a first-year graduate student in computer science, is just one of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln students who will continue biking to campus, despite freezing temperatures, icy sidewalks and streets that may not always be cleared. Unable to depend on the shuttle system every day, which only runs until 5 p.m., Leano either bikes both ways to class or brings his bike with him on the shuttle to bike home. And Leano is no snow-biking expert – this is his first winter in the United States. With bike routes from his apartment not being cleared

off, he said he rides in the street where the roads are usually cleared. When they aren’t cleared, Leano often has to get off his bike and walk it for part of his trek. Leano said his experience with Nebraska winter drivers has been positive so far. “When they pass, they keep distance,” he said. But he still takes extreme caution. “I’m still taking the chance,” Leano said. Though he’s currently trying to purchase a car, Leano said driving would be just as challenging, because he’s never had to drive during winter conditions. “If you ride in the snow and you fall, you get up,” he said. “If you drive, then you could get in a crash.” Leano said he still plans to bike after buying

bikers: see page 2 point/counterpoint page 4-5

So this is Christmas an atheist, a muslim, a christian and a jew discuss the holiday

a&e page 5

Steam leaks threaten East Campus Rec Frannie Sprouls One more semester is left for the East Campus Activities Building, otherwise known as the East Campus Recreation Center. But the end might come sooner than May 14. Since the heat was turned on in October, more than a dozen minor steam leaks occurred, said Stan Campbell, director of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Campus Recreation. If a major steam leak were to happen, the building would be closed and equipment moved to the temporary building. “If we do have a major steam leak, it’s going to be a lot of money to repair,” Campbell said. “It just doesn’t make sense to put a lot of money into a building that’s going to be demolished.” The finishing touches on Fleming Fields Annex

basketball page 12

(Re)Make my day columnist helberg reflects on unoriginal films @dailyneb | facebook.com/dailynebraskan

if you go

Daily Nebraskan

Running out of time Husker men have improving to do before Big Ten play

when: Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. where: Sunflower Room, Nebraska East Union

Students will have the chance to offer their input into how the East Campus rec center will turn out. Students from East and City Campus are invited to attend.

Building (FFAB), located near 33rd Street and Leighton Avenue, will be finished by Jan. 1, 2012. Equipment will be moved into the FFAB if a major steam leak occurs. “I think we could do it in a two-week period,” Campbell said. “We’d have to hire a company to move the

east rec: see page 6

Weather | snow

26°9°


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
DEC9 by Daily Nebraskan - Issuu