The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, March 31, 1969, Image 1

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MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1969
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
VOL. 29, No. 87
ASUN constitution fails to gain approval,
turnout insufficient to validate election
by John Dvorak
Nebraskan Staff Writer
Less than half the required number
of students voted in Friday's referen
dum on the proposed ASUN constitu
tion. Student leaders do not agree on
why the turnout was so small or what
will happen to the proposed constitu
tion. Only 1,273 students voted on the
proposed ASUN constitution, ac
cording to John S. McCollister, elec
tion commissioner. At least 2,700
voters were needed to make the elec
tion valid.
. .OF THOSE VOTING 1,098 were in
favor of the new constitution, and 154
were against. McCollister pointed out
that 7.2 per cent of the students on
the Lincoln campuses voted.
The failure of the proposed con
stitution to gain ratification means
that elections for next year's ASUN
senate and executives will be con
ducted under the current apportion
ment system by colleges.
"No one cared to know about the
election." ASUN Senator Tim Kincaid
said. "There was a lack of interest
combined with satisfaction of the
present system."
Several fraternities and sororities
were told not to vote in favor of the
constitution, Kincaid continued. Many
Greeks didn't want to see the present
system changed. A change would have
hurt the Greeks more than any other
group, he charged.
KINCAID SAID that part of the
blame must rest with ASUN ex
ecutives. "I didn't see (ASUN presi
dent) Mike Naeve or (first-vice-president)
Tom Morgan out campaigning
like they should have." he said.
Perhaps certain other ASUN people
were more interested in the upcoming
spring election than in the constitu
tional referendum, Kincaid suggested.
"At first, we felt it would be an
easy victory for the constitution,"
Kincaid said.
AT NOON on Friday, he went to
the polling table and discovered that
only 150 students had voted. With the
assistance of several other students,
Kincaid then printed some leaflets
urging students to vote in favor of
the constitution. Another student
visited every classroom in Oldfather
Hall urging students to get out and
vote.
Sunday afternoon, Naeve said that
he had been out of town since Friday.
After being informed of the election
results, Naeve acknowledged that no
get-out-the-vote campaign was con
ducted by the ASUN.
Peace Corps recruiting on campus
by Connie Winkler
Nebraskan Staff Writer
Peace Corps recruiters will be on
campus this week according to Wayne
Wagner, one of the representatives.
Kathy Schneider, a graduate of
Central Michigan University who
taught geography and math In
Ethiopia; Dina Roberts of Boston who
worked in primary education and
birth control in Tunisia; Dlanne
Hjornson, a University of Montana
graduate who worked in an adult
literacy program in Columbia; and
Wagner will man a booth in the
Nebraska Union and accept speaking
invitations to living units -and
organizations.
THE REPRESENTATIVES are
very willing to talk to classes, clubs
or groups about the areas where they
have served or about the Peace Corps
itself, Wagner said.
"One of the primary needs of the
Peace Corps is to recruit competent
people with an agricultural
background." he said. It is much
more difficult for an English teacher
to teach chicken breeding than it is
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"In White America," a Community Theater Playhouse production, will be given Tuesday,
April 1, in the Nebraska Union Crib Lounge, the performance, a part of Martin Luther
King Week, begins at 7:30. There is no admission charge. .
"I know I wasn't out campaigning,"
Naeve said. "The Dally Nebraskan
is really the only organized medium
on campus."
ASUN FIRST-vice-president Tom
Morgan offered three reasons why the
referendum was unsuccessful.
The desire among students for
restructuring ASUN was not as broad
based as initially believed.
The proposed constitution was not
acceptable to the students.
Students were against some parts
of the constitution, so they didn't vote
for it at all.
CERTAINLY STUDENTS had the
opportunity to be aware that a
referendum was taking place, Morgan
said. Students needed only to glance
at headlines in the Daily Nebraskan
to know that, he said. In previous
weeks, there was no reason not to
know that a constitutional convention
was taking place.
"It is not my responsibility to
sponsor a campaign, nor was it Mike
Naeve's or Cheryl Adams's," Morgan
said.
Nor was it the job of the electoral
commission to sponsor such a cam
paign, Morgan continued. That com
mission must publicize the date and
location of the election and set up
the polling places, which they did,
he continued.
"STUDENTS WERE given the op
portunity to express their opinions on
it," Morgan said. "They did. I can't
see beating a dead horse."
John Heil, a delegate to the con
stitutional convention, said, "I just
don't know what could have been
done. I'm disappointed."
Quite a bit of work and time was
put into the constitution, he said. It
wasn't the best of all documents.
Probably there should have been moro
of a get out and vote campaign, Ileil
added.
THE FRIDAY election date was
also unfortunate, Heil said. Students
tend to go home for the weekends.
Another big problem is that students
feel that the ASUN makes no dif
ference to them, Heil said.
No one knows or cares to predict
what will happen in the future. One
group of students, however, plans to
take the election to student court.
CLIFF J. Sather, president of
Harper Hall, said Sunday that he and
a group of students are not going
to let the constitution be written off.
Sather contends that conditions for
the election were not met. Other
for someone with an agricultural
background, he continued.
In the countries in which the Peace
Corp people work 80-90 per cent of
the population is directly involved In
agriculture. In the United States only
six per cent of the population works
in agriculture and this means a
shortage of people in this field,
Wagner said.
APPLICATIONS for the Peace
Corps are down for several reasons,
Wagner continued. "We are
discouraging people without college
degrees or a specific skill that con
be used overseas from applying."
Specific skills would include nursing
or home economics or agricultural
training.
"We are also discouraging people
from applying earlier than a year
before they want to go overseas, he
said. It used to be that 40 per cent
of the people who received invitations
went into training, with this new
policy it is up to 00 per ecnt.
Many people dislike working for the
government and therefore shy away
from the Peace Corps, Wagner said.
Many are disenchanted with the
students are involved with Sather but
he would not release their names.
An illegal facet of the election may
be the voting booth set up, he sug
gested. The use of ID cards and
ultraviolet lights may have been too
involved of a process, thus causing
long lines.
POLLING PLACES were to close
at 7:30, but Sather said that officials
manning the polls began leaving
sooner than that.
Sather plans to ask student court
to declare the election null and void,
and to hold another election, perhaps
this spring.
"All in all I was pretty disgusted,"
he said. "I think that a lot of blame
must be carried by the Daily
Nebraskan. The overriding influence
on campus is carried by the paper."
'THE NEBRASKAN could have
done a lot more than it did, Sathejr
continued. Perhaps a special issue,
devoted entirely to the proposed con
stitution, could have been published,
he suggested.
Several alternatives appear to be
State open housing proponents speak;
bill to remain in committee past April 10
by Susie Jenkins
Nebraskan Staff Writer
Proponents of the 19G9 Legislative
Open Housing Bill filled the galleries
and floor of the Capitol West Senate
chamber Thursday as the
Miscellaneous Subjects Committee
heard Sen. Don Elrod's LB718.
The bill would be the first state
law to outlaw housing discrimination
in Nebraska, and will be sent to the
floor of the Legislature April 10 at
the earliest, according to committee
chairman Harold Moylan.
Moylan said the bill will be held
in committee for two weeks because
one of the committee members. Sen.
Herb Duis of Gothenburg, will be
absent this Friday, and the week
following is Easter vacation.
A similar open housing bill was
turned down by the 17 Unicameral.
THIRTY-TWO speakers represent
ing homebuilders, realtors church and
minority groups appeared in favor of
the bill. First speaker was Gcv.
this week
government because of the Vietnam
war. They feel it is hypocritical to blow
up one side of the world and have
Peace Corps representatives on the
other side, he said.
EVERY 30 hours as much money
is spent in Vietnam as supports 15,000
Peace Corps volunteers in 62 coun
tries, the Pence Corps staff and
training facilities for one year, he ad
ded. Volunteers are still running about
55 per cent men and 45 per cent
women.
A volunteer's pay Is based on the
country in which he works enough
to get by on a subsistence level. "1
got $80 a month when I worked In
Bolivia." Wagner said. A volunteer
nlso gets $73 a month set aside for
his readjustment when he returns to
the U.S.
A graduate of the University of
Wyoming from Wilmington, la.,
Wagner served his two years in
Bolivia as a community organizer. He
was connected with the National
Community Development Program of
Bolivia and had as a partner an
Ayarma Indian from the community
in which he worked.
available concerning the proposed
constitution.
Morgan said that students could
circulate a petition to put the con
stitution, as is, on the spring election
ballot, slated for April 30.
THE ASUN Senate could also place
the constitution on the spring ballot
Ty a two-thirds vote, Morgan said.
But each article would have to be
approved separately by the Senate.
Such action would cause the con
stitution to be entirely reworked, ac
cording to Senator Robert P. Zucker.
There would be a thousand
amendments, he said.
Kincaid broached the possibility of
continuing the election Monday.
Students who did not vote Friday
would then have another day to cas.t
a ballot. This possibility was ruled
jut Saturday by the Electoral Com
mission. Heil said there might be another
constitutional convention, in the fall
f course. In Hell's opinion, nothing
nore can be done before next fall.
Morbert T. Tiemann, who has made
jassage of the bill a top priority for
ihis Legislative session.
Elrod noted that the Nebraska bill
would be broader in coverage of
housing practices than the 1968 Federal
Housing Act in the area of apartment
rental. The Legislative bill includes
certain multiple dwellings not Inserted
in the federal law.
"Don't say that this law is poorly
written," Elrod warned the audience
and committee. "We Worked with
many groups in preparing our bill."
UNIVERSITY G RADUATE
student Tom Dean represented the
Democratic Coalition speaking In
favor of the bill. Dean told the com
mittee that although the bill was "too
weak," and betrays ignorance of the
extent of racism in Nebraska, the
Coalition finds the bill a "first step
in providing equal right for citizens
of Nebraska."
The lone opponent of the bill was
A. J. Treutler of Omaha, sometime
anti-income tax advocate and now a
candidate for mayor of Omaha.
"To say that I am aghast at the
generalities of this bill is an un
derstatement," Truetler told the
committee. "I favor open housing, and
am not opposed to good legislation."
Treutler went on to point out several
parts that he maintained were major
flaws.
AMONG OTHER THINGS, he
warned that one of the penalties sec
tions gave the state the power of
"gestapo tactics as bad as in
Germany."
When he was through. Elrod said
"big deal," and estimated that
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I On campus
today
Dr. Francisco Jlucrta, chairman of
the Liberal Party of Ecuador and vice
chairman of the City Council of
Guayaquil, will visit with fueulty and
students at the University of Nebraska
and offtcluli In state and locul govern
ment, according to Dr. Roberto Ks-quenujJ-.Mayo,
director of the
University's Institute for Latin
American and International Studies,
lluerta'i schedule Is: 121:30 p.m.,
luncheon with faculty and students.
Faculty Club at the Culverslty; J:30-4
p.m., coffee with students and faculty,
room 707 Oldfather Hall: 4-5 p.m.,
IJncoln City Council meeting, City
County Building.
The alumni of (he Experiment In
International Living are planning a
meeting for old members and pro
spective members April 1 at 7 p.m.
In Hurnctt. room 117. Anyone In
terestod In spending a summer abroad
Is encouraged to attend the meeting.
The Experiment arranges for students
to live with a famuy and travel ex
tenslvely in a country of their
choice.
"Happy Gypsies." the Foreign
Film scheduled for April S, was
destroyed In a fire and has been
replaced with Felllnl's icidemv
award winning film "8li."
A scheduled speaking appearance
by New Orleans District Attorney
James Garrison April 1 at the
University has been cancelled. Gar
rison hud been scheduled as one of
right speakers In a series sponsored
by the Nebraska Union Talks aud
Topics Committee.
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Martin Luther King Week
I Schedule of Programs I
I Monday, March 31
3:30 Hyde Park with Panel of Afro-American Students, Union Lounge
Tuesday, April 1 i
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Martin Luther King readings and recordings, Room 203
I Union
12: 30-3: 30-Films on Black America, Union Lounge: i
"Ku Klux Klan: Its History and Outlook" I
I "Weapons of Gordon Parks"
I "I Have a Dream" I
3:30 Hyde Park with Afro-American Students and Community Leaders, I
Union Lounge 1
7:30 "In White America" production dealing with American history i
and race problems, Union Crib Lounge
Wednesday, April 2 i
I 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Martin Luther King readings and recordings, Room 203 1
I Union s
12:30-3-.30-Peace Vigil, Corner of 14th and R Streets
3:30 Martin Luther King Memorial. Union Ballroom MLK readings, 1
I singing and the black and white views of King's death, presented by I
Tom Windham and Phil Scribner I
I Thursday, April 3 1
I 12:30-3:30 Films on Black American, Union Lounge I
"A Time for Burning"
I "Freedom Movement": 1877-Present i
I "Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Man of Peace" I
I "Martin Luther King" I
I 3:30 Hyde Park (open to all students). Union Lounge
I Arm bands will be available at Nebraska Union booths all week. 1
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Treutler was just "making a
tamapaign speech."
Some provisions of the bill state
that "it shall be unlawful to:
Refuse to sell or rent after a bona
fide offer, or to refuse to negotiate
for sale or rental because of race
color, religion or national origin;
Publish any statement that in
dicates any limitation based of race,
color, religion or national origin ;
THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS listed
under the bill are religious organiza
tions which have specific housing,
, .
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Sen. Edward Danner of Omaha was one of 32 people
who testified on behalf of LB 718, a state open housing
bill, before committee last week. The bill is receiving
partisan and non partisan support from a number of eco
nomic, political, religious and education interest groups.
Theaters pre
"The Nebraska Union Film Society
is in trouble. We are in trouble
because of circumstances beyond our
control," Tom Lonnquist. film com
mittee member said this week. "We
inherited last semester's problems:
we've been against the wall much
of this semester."
Enlarging on the committee's pro
blems, Lonnquist discussed a condi
tion under which the committee must
contract for a film:
"There Is a clause in the contract
that says If a commercial theater In
town wishes to show the film, they
(the distributer) can cancel us out."
he said. "This has happened with two
of their films."
Also, one of their films was can
celled because of bad weather, and
the film planned for showing next
week was destroyed by fire. Lonnquist
continued. "We had planned to show
A Mar. for All Seasons.' but that's
playing at the State Theater now. so
we "cancelled it." he said.
Lonnquist attributed the low at
tendance of the Union's weekend film
series partially to the quality of the
such as Catholic chanceries; private
clubs providing lodging; and landlords
who rent four or fewer rooms within
their own homes."
Elrod said that houses that qualified '
in this category were considered
legally private homes, and were in
eligible under state statutes.
Provisions would be administered
by the Equal Opportunity Com
mission, which will have the power
to prevent the owner of any property
in question from disposing of it during
action against him.
- empt films
films presented.
"We presented about 23 films this
year: next year, we plan to cut down
on this number and show films of
better quality." he said.
"We have an excellent Foreign Film
Series planned next year." Lonnquist
said. "We plan to show 16 films
one of these, probably the first on,
will be free."
Other ptans for next yeai include
a Thursday night High Camp film
series, including W. C. Fields, and
Laurel and Hardy movies, and a
"restructuring" of the " N . U .
Cinema." a publication that reviews
the Foreign Films series.
"The 'N.U. Cinema' will be more
professional next year." Lonnquist
said. "It will present critical reviws
of the films rather than Just
synopses."
To fill in the weekend film schedule.
Ixmnquist said that the committee
plans to show several underground
films.
"These are not stag movies." he
emphasized, "but examples f
American underground art."
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