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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1972)
Harper, Schramm, Smith debate visitation by Michael (0. J.) 'Nelson Harper, Schramm and Smith residence halls Monday aligned themselves with Abel-Sandoz and Burr-Fedde residence halls in calling for "strict enforcement of the present RHA visitation policy" for the next two weeks. Able-Sandoz and Burr-Fedde requested the enforcement Sunday night. Harper and Schramm halls also called for implementation of the Magrath plan in two weeks with or without the consent of . the . Board of Regents. The regents will meet Saturday, March 4, to discuss official adaptation of the proposal. Harper will adopt the policy effective Monday, March 6, while Schramm will begin Saturday, March 4. Smith Hall made no commitment on a date for implementation. The idea of strict enforcement of the present policy originated Sunday at a meeting of students. Student Affairs and Housing Office staffs, and administrative officials. At the Sunday meeting student assistants (SA's) said that the present policy is "unenforced and unenforcable." An RHA official then suggested that the policy be enforced "to the letter'' in order to show students "what the present policy really is." The decision to request enforcement was made at "town hall" meetings at Harper and Smith, while the Schramm decision was reached at a meeting of the hall's student government. Smith and Harper each had more than 150 students attending their sessions. Schramm had about 50 present when the decision was reached. Opinion at all three halls was divided at the meetings. Some students called for immediate implementation of the Magrath policy, but were restrained by their student government leaders and SA's. Harper defeated a motion midway through their session which called for a Wednesday implementation. Throughout the discussion, solidarity with the other halls was emphasized. One student explained the necessity of all the dorms acting on the same date. 'They can't bust 5,000 people," he said. "We're in this together. We're not fighting for the rights of just our own dorm, we're fighting for every student on this campus. We have to stick together." Staff members at all three meetings were asked about the possibility of the housing staff taking disciplinary action against the SA's and residence hall directors. A Harper SA explained that the dormitory staff is not taking a leading role in the movement and would continue to follow University procedures in case of a violation of the present policy. 'The staff probably won't be disciplined," ha said, "well be fulfilling our responsibilities to the University. "But that doesn't mean we can't go ahead," shouted a student in the group. "Another student reminded the Harper gathering that NU President D. B. Varner and UNL Chancellor James Zumberge will speak in the dormitory Monday night at 7 p.m.. He said "students should take half of what Varner says with a grain of salt." "Remember, he (Varner) has other interests besides the students in the dormitory. He's afraid that we'll anger the Legislature," he said. any day of the week for a 12 o'clock noon and one-half The way it is . . . The present Residence Hall Association (RHA) policy is as follows: 1. RHA hours may be held maximum of six hours between hour before closing hours. 2. The RHA Hours shall be open to residents of the participating groups and their guests. It is emphasized that these events stress educational, social and cultural activities. Such activities may be formal or informal. 3. Decisions to have RHA Hours will be made by the individual floors in accordance with specific voting procedure determined by that floor. 4. Arrangements will be made by the participating floor or floors to insure that the rights of the other floors not participating in RHA Hours will not be abused. 5. Residents must keep their doors fully open providing an unobstructed view of the room during the time guests are present in the room. 6. Faculty andor staff andor parents shall be present during the event. 7. In order to achieve individual and group responsibility, the planning and implementation of the RHA Hours shall be performed by the students in cooperation with the residence statt. 8. These events must be planned and registered in advance with the residence director. The proposed guest rights policy for dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and cooperatives at UN L suggests these policies: 1. Guests of the opposite sex would be allowed in either house lounges or student's rooms for no more than six hours each day between noon and midnight Monday through Thursday; between noon and 1 a.m. on Saturday and between 1 p.m. and midnight on Sunday. Residents would vote to determine the six-hour block for their unit Supervisory responsibilities would rest with student leaders and the University staff. 2. Any student not wishing to live in a housing unit permitting coed visitation or who cannot obtain parental consent will have the opportunity to live in a unit that does not permit visitation. 3. Any student not of legal age must have parental consent to live in a housing unit where visitation is authorized. Consent may be revoked by a parent at any time. 4. Rules and regulations within the limits mrmittMl K lau. will be developed and published 5. Violations will be handled in conjunction with established University disciplinary procedures. CSL Chairman threatens to resign The chairman of the Council on Student Life said Tuesday night he would resign if CSL members are ever forced to act under political pressure. "Their votes can be questioned but if a person votes because he feels under a threat, I won't be chairman of that kind of body," said Franklin Eldridge, associate dean of the College, of Agriculture. Eldridge made the statement after ASUN Sen. Roy Baldwin told CSL he will introduce a resolution at Wednesday's Senate meeting demanding the immediate recall of all ASUN appointees to CSL who don't "wholeheartedly support" dorm itory residents on the coed visitation issue. The Council discussed Baldwin's statement in executive session before calling for a special meeting Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Nebraska Union to take action on the visitation issue. Eldridge told students at the Residence Hall Association meeting Tuesday, that he has. requested a meeting with the' Board of Regents to present the Council's views before the board makes- its expected ; visitation policy 'decision March 4. A resoltuion by CSL member Mike Berns expressing support for students in efforts ' to change visitation policy by all nonviolent .means and encouraging dormitory residents to adopt their own visitation policies was tabled until the special Wednesday meeting. After Tuesday's meeting, CSL student members Terry Braye and Meg Hall also said they would resign if student members are threatened with the loss of their Council positions. Calling Baldwin's action inappropriate for someone running for president of ASUN, Braye said, "If this body isn't free to act upon its own conscience and better judgement, it can't be effective as a policy-making body." Although the eight student CSL members are appointed by ASUN, the Council is directly responsible for its actions only to the Regents. Baldwin srid it wouldn't be fair to conceal his plans and he was going to tell the Council his intention wasn't to be coercive but the CSL moved into executive session before, he could finish. ,' Although the ASUN constitution doesn't provide . for. recall, Baldwin said the ; Senate could take action under its power to make regulations' -for organizations and to do -what's needed for the general welfare of students. ; IFC debates action IFC will discuss the question of coed visitation Wednesday at an 8:30 p.m. meeting in the Nebraska Union according to a statement issued Monday by the IFC Executive Council. The statement said: "If any action is to be taken by the fraternities it will be as a result of this meeting. Until then, no further comment can be made." The statement was an outgrowth of a Sunday meeting between Greeks and dormitory representatives. Howard Epstein, IFC president, said the issue is "too important to just railroad through. We'll have to wait and see what the opinion of the house members is." Ha said ha believes mort Greeks think the present system is adequate, "even though many would prefer a more liberal policy." Zumberge, students meet Officials of various student groups will meat Wednesday with UNL Chancellor James Zumberge. Representatives from Panhellenic, the Inter-Fraternity Council, ASUN, Housing Policy Committee and the Residence Hall Association (RHA) will discuss the coed visitation issue with the Chancellor. In an interview Tuesday, Zumberge said he would have some suggestions to make to the group. , He declined to mention what the exact suggestions are, saying the ideas "are not yet totally firm." "I'm more interested in finding out the true magnitude of .the problem I'm dealing . with. I also want to know what the feelings of the students are," he said. r. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1972 THE DAILY NEBR AS KAN PAGE 3 4 4 114 1