t? p Daily n A J.JJl(PJli(0 Thursday, March 15, 1984 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 83 No. 121 Legislature passes resolution to begin Douglas impeachment By Petty Prycr The Legislature voted Wednesday to begin impeachment proceedings ag ainst Nebraska Attorney General Paul Douglas. The vote on LR277, sponsored by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, was met with scattered applause from the capacity crowd. Only one public official has been impeached in Nebraska history. The state's first governor, David Butler, was removed from office in 1871 on a charge of misappropriating state funds. Douglas' impeachment was consider ed after legislators passed a separate resolution, LR278, condemning the at torney general's actions in his dealings with Commonwealth Savings Co. and Marvin Copple, son of Commonwealth President S. E. Copple. Both resolutions, along with a third recommendation for censure, were de bated in a special five-hour meeting of the Legislature's Commonwealth Com mittee March 4. Much of Wednesday's discussion con cerned Douglas' knowledge of his in volvement in inside transactions bet ween Copple and his secretary, Judith DriscolL In earlier investigations, Douglas gave conflicting testimony concerning his awareness of such transactions. Several senators called for impeach ment proceedings rather than con demnation to allow Douglas the oppor tunity to defend himselt Impeachment proceedings must be taken up within 10 days by the state Supreme Court, which will conduct a full trial on the events in question. "I felt that Paul Douglas needed that opportunity to go to the supreme court and defend his actions," said Sen. Ber nice Labedz of Omaha, who voted for impeachment during the Common wealth Committee's March 4 meeting. "If I were in his situation, I would ask for impeachment; I'd ask for my day in court," she said. Chambers, in introducing the im peachment proposal, said that passing just the condemnation resolution alone would be "a symbolic washing of the hands by Pilate." Others also expressed support for both condemnation and impeach ment. "We've just condemned the attorney general now he's going to serve another two years with that hanging over his head?" Sen. Don Wesley of Lin coln asked. "The same reasons that justify condemnation also justify im peachment. ; .;. Continued cn Pc3 3 ' 1 ' ' ' ! I- v. . , -' v - v , j . ; -.x x7-rv . ' ; '... i r . ..... X J----' f . X : '54 ' .- ..- . - k , ; J .v x "!. " V ' k : , . ll I I I I I Craig AndresenOs'ly Nebraskan Aim party candidates Paul Edens, Mark Scudder end Curt Olteans cele brate their ASUN election victory Wednesday night Loss surprises Goldstein Reactions were mixed from the five losing ASUN parties Wednesday night. United Students presidential candi date Kevin Goldstein said the election results surprised him. "I was especially surprised at the margin," Goldstein said. The second place US party received 22 percent of the vote, while the Scudder's Aim party recieved 38 percent. Goldstein said US campaign meth ods had not been as effective off campus and' in residence halls as he had hoped. This affected the size of the voter margin, Goldstein said. Mike Geiger, presidential candidate for UNITE said he was disappointed at the loss. "But, I've won and lost things before, and when I lost, something better has often turned up," Gieger said. Geiger said his campaign and the election were "seriously affected" by the Electoral Commission ruling, which stopped UNITE's campaigning at 8 am. Wednesday because of improper filing of its financial statement. , In Wednesday's Daily Nebraskan article, "Error stops UNITE campaign," also hurt the party, Geiger said. Geiger said he thought the headline was mis leading because voters thought his party was disqualified. Although not surprised by the out come, Fashin presidential candidate Tim Burke said he had hoped a last minute media blitz by his party would provide a winning margin. Aim is a "fine, good party," Burke said. "I just hope they appoint me to some high executive office." "I'm crushed...speechless" said Ed Bennett, first vice presidential candi-' date for the Don Ho party. "Oh well, we knew we didn't have a chance." "We didn't kiss enough babies, I guess," said Jeff Jackson, presidential candidate. - "I'm glad we didn't win," Bennett said. "They'll get more done than we'd have time for." "We didn't plan on winning," said John Hazuka, presidential candidate of the Rco party. "We just wanted to corrupt the other parties." "If Aim needs any corruption, well do it for them," said Hazuka. j : " 1;' I mi. ! i i m il ii .i i li - , I Crsij AndrcsenDa'.Iy Nebraskan Sen. Ernie Chambers listens to arguments in favor of Attorney General '. Paul DcuIr.3 befcre epealdr.g cn his racticn for the impeachment of Dongas. - A ';. r". '": ' .It SUM elecctMdDini mGtimy By Terry Hyland Aim Party candidate Mark Scudder easily captured the ASUN presidency Wednesday, outdistancing his closest opponent by almost 400 votes. Scudder's running mate for first vice president is Curt Oltmans. Scudder was as surprised as anyone when the final tally came in about 1 1 :45 p.m. Wednesday. "I'm just very happy right now," Scud der said. He spent election night with more than 100 Aim supporters crammed into his home on the outskirts of Lin coln." "I don't think I would have won if if hadn't been for the organization of my candidates," Scudder said. "We had people out 12 hours (yesterday), and no one's ever done that before. The whole party is so close, there is a unity among us that's almost like family." Aim also swept the early senatorial seat returns, with one exception on the business advisory board, where an Aim candidate lost by two votes. A total of 2,266 students voted in the election, representing about 11 per cent of eligible voters. Dave Spencer, director of ASUN Elec tion Committee, said the turnout was better than expected He said he thought reducing the number of polling places to three for the elections might have an effect on voter turnout. But the effect was negligible. "Three polling sites still pulled in about the average for every (previous) election," he said. The final vote totals and percen tages: Aim, 871, 38 percent; United Students, 494, 22 percent; United, 300, 13 percent; Don Ho, 298, 13 percent; Fashin, 180, 8 percent; Roo, 89, 4 per cent. There were 34 write-in votes. Complete election results will run in Friday's Daily Nebraskan. I K L-. V ' j j .'.' 1 t i- - ' " it - -v - - t Davs Trouba Da!!y Nebraskan Troy Ililysrd, Julie MecsbnOr and Kevin Goldstein cf the United Stu dents psrty reset to their less in Wednesday's ASUN elections. - i Jl