dailu mi
thursday, September 14, 1972
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 7
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. 1
East Union . . . funds appropriated.
East Union
completion date set
for Fall 1 974
by John Russnogle
After 20 years of being housed "temporarily" in the
activities building on East Campus, East Union personnel now
can look forward to a permanent home.
The Board of Regents voted Monday to allocate $2.5
million for construction of a new East Union building. Money
for the new structure will come from $26.9 million bond let in
1964 and 1966 for construction of student housing and other
facilities.
The proposed completion date for the new structure is Aug.
31, 1974. The principle site for the building is directly west of
C.Y. Thompson library in an area which now is a mall.
Proposed facilities for the new building include a
combination snack bar and coffee house, grill and kitchen
facilities, four bowling lanes, space for recreational facilities
and office space for staff and organizations.
The East Union was originally used as recreation facilities
and office space for the men and women's physical education
departments.
What used to be handball courts ,is now space for offices,
ping pong and pool tables and a snack bar. The second floor
gymnasium still is used for basketball and as a meeting hall for
public events.
When the East Union moved there in 1952, the ho u si fig was
intended to be temporary.
Four proposals have been drawn up since then for
construction of a new building. The previous three have been
rejected, according to A Bennet, Union director, primarily
because of a lack of funding.
Bennet said it is"generally understood" that after the new
building is completed the East Union will be returned "as
gracefully and quickly as possible" to the physical education
department.
Campaigns
prompt
absenteeism
by Thomas M. DeFrank
Washington-One of the more peculiar
spectacles in American politics is that of the
man who campaigns 18 hours a day and spends
millions of dollars to get himself elected to the
U.S. Senate-and then bothers to spend little
time in the Senate Chamber.
Absenteeism has long been a growing
problem in the Senate but now, in an election
year, it is becoming a way of life.
With about one-third of the body up for
re-election, and half a dozen others who made
themselves "visible" around the country in the
hopes of a Vice Presidential nomination,
respectable turnouts for key votes in the
chamber were increasingly hard to come by.
And even many of those who are not
struggling upward and onward are frequently
out of town -lecturing or junketeering or just
having fun.
Though criticism of these practices has
become common outside the Senate, recently it
was voiced from within by Maine's Margaret
Chase Smith, one of the few senators with an
attendance record impossible to fault.
The Senate, said Smith, who once answered
2,941 consecutive roll calls, "has become a
springboard to those who would use it even
abuse it for their selfish interests, whether,
such interests be commercializing their position
and title with the acquisition of high-price
lecture fees or running for the Presidency."
She also denounced "those senators who are
bent upon squeezing out every bit of
Senate-paid world travel and entertainment
they can while they are a senator."
Smith then proposed what is probably the
constitutional amendment least likely to be
passed this year: a measure requiring the
expulsion of any member who for any reason
at all, including sickness-misses more than 40
per cent of the votes in any session.
Though absenteeism is general, this year's
bumper crop of Senate Presidential possibilities
was particularly vulnerable to criticism. Yet
they were following a time-honored pattern.
In 1960, Hubert Humphrey answered only
49 per cent of the Senate's roll call votes, John
F. Kennedy only 35 per cent. Four years later,
Barry Goldwater was present for only 28 per
cent. In 1968, Eugene McCarthy's voting record
was 5 per cent, the worst in the Senate.
The major difference this time around is
that the candidates started earlier. For example,
on one major vote last year-Humphrey's losing
proposal to postpone further development of
the MIRV warhead-only 51 senators showed
up for the roll call.
Prominent among the absentees were six
Democratic Presidential possibilities-Muskie of
Maine, McGovern of South Dakota, Jackson of
Washington, Kennedy of Massachusetts, Bayh
of Indiana and Harris of Oklahoma.
But the absenteeism was bi-partisan. The
entire Republican leadership-Minority Leader
Scott, Minority Whip Griffin and GOP Policy
Committee Chairman Allott-were also AWOL.
On another occasion, Majority Leader Mike
Mansfield glumly watched his move to table the
draft bill beaten down-with six of the 11
senators who had voted for it earlier in the
session absent for the roll call. These included
four Presidential hopefuls. It brought on a rare
Wasington phenomenon-a show of anger by
the Majority Leader.
There is, of course, some justification for the
empty seats in the Senate during debates, given
the burden of committee meetings, the
demands for personal attention made by
turn to page 2
ASUN changes
resolution procedure
The ASUN Senate Wednesday changed its operating
procedure and passed a resolution which requires that all
resolutions submitted for the agenda by 5 p.m. Monday be
acted upon at the next meeting.
Resolutions introduced from the senate floor will continue
to be automatically tabled unless three-fourths of the senate
decides otherwise and votes to suspend the rules.
The rule change will not apply to measures dealing with
money.
Formerly, either a one-week wait or suspension of the rules
was needed before the senate could act immediately on any
resolution.
Tabled until next week wa a resolution asking the
University to boycott all non-union picked lettuce. The senate
also tabled a resolution to incorporate and establish a
committee to draw up bylaws for the proposed student
cooperative.
Arts and Sciences Sen. Bill Freudenburg presented a report
on the relationship between the senate and the Council on
Student Life (CSL), which has authority over most
non-academic matters on campus.
Conflicts between the two groups have arisen in the past
over jurisdiction on various matters.
The senate tabled a motion to approve Freudenburg's
report, which includes suggestions for improving
communication between ASUN and CSL, designating areas of
authority for both and establishing committee rules.
Other ASUN business included election of Ann Henry as
speaker pro tern of the senate. She replaces George Ayoub,
who resigned.
Senators Vince Boucher and Kathy Paseka, Arts and
Sciences, and Vern Broders, Business Administration, were
elected to the senate executive committee.
Carolyn Lee, Teachers College, was appointed senate
representative on the academic planning committee.
Arts and Sciences Sen. Patti Kaminski, who was re-elected
by the largest number of votes in her college in the last
election, has resigned, it was announced Wednesday.
UntxcuMd atwantat: Cindy Mapet, Arts end Sclancat; Torn Bander,
Gradual and Prof (tonal.