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monday, january 29, 1973
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 62
Gathering marks war's end
by Dennis Onnen
It seemed more like a press conference than a
peace rally. Cameras were set up and lights flashed on
the podium as newsmen wandered, making
preparations for the event to follow. A band played
off to one side.
The occasion was a gathering in the Capitol
Rotunda Saturday morning to celebrate the end of
the Vietnam War. Excluding newsmen and the band,
only about 60 people weathered the snowy trip to
the Capitol.
Newsmen were still in various stages of preparation
when Gov. J.J. Exon arrived. He shook hands and
chatted with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
and American Legion members who composed most
of the crowd. After newsmen had finsihed their work
and readied their cameras, Exon and the other
speakers advanced to their seats behind the podium.
"We gather here in peace once again to honor our
heroes," Exon began. "We pray that never again will
it be necessary for Nebraskans to gather for such a
ceremony."
He praised the men and women who took part in
the war for their "unselfish response to the beckoning
of our country."
The solemn tone of his tribute continues. "We
didicate this day of peace, Jan. 27, 1973, to those
Nebraskans and other Americans who contributed so
very, very much to our interests and the preservation
of freedom on our earth," he said.
Steve Fowler, a member of the Unicameral and
past-ASUN president, spoke about the "conflicting
rush of emotions" he had when he learned of the
war's end.
He said he felt not only relief, but also "despair,
disgust and disillusionment." Disillusionment, Fowler
said, over "the unresponsiveness of the government"
to the pleas of the people for peace.
Continuing, Fowler spoke of people he knew who
fought in the war, some who fled to Canada to avoid
the draft, some who didn't flee and were jailed and
some who campaigned for peace candidates. He
respected all of them because "they did what they
felt was right," Fowler said.
He expressed his hope for peace in the future, and
his belief that the United States "should not shape
the world to its will."
The state commanders of the American Legion
and VFW, Ed Chizek and LeRoy Wilson, added
expressions of gratitude and hope for the future.
While families of prisoners of war and men missing
in action listened, Robert Ahlschwede, president of
the Nebraska committee for Forgotten Americans,
lauded "families who have been cruelly deprived and
have gone through the agony of not knowing where
their son was."
Jack McCuistion, state coordinator for the
National League of Prisoners and Missing in Southeast
Asia, added his praise of these families.
After Exon said some final words, a prayer was
offered and the gathering was over, almost as soon as
it had started.
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UHC to refer abortions to city hospitals
Although a policy has not yet been developed on
abortions, the University Health Center (UHC) will
not perform them "because we don't have the
facilities," according to UHC Director Dr. Sam
Fuenning.
In the wake of last week's Supreme Court ruling
forbidding the state to interfere with aboritions
through the third month of pregnancy, hospitals are
gearing up for an increase in abortions. UHC will refer
its abortion cases to city hospitals, Fuenning told the
UHC medical staff during its annual meeting
Thursday night at the Nebraska Center.
Fuenning reported that University attorneys were
looking over the Supreme Court decision before
giving firm advice, but that the statement "does say
(abortions may be performed) in accredited hospitals
only and by a licensed physician."
Although all the doctors at UHC are licensed, the
14-bed hospital is not yet accredited, Fuenning told
the group. Fuenning said he thought, however, that
the hospital may "eventually" be accredited.
In the meantime, pregnant students wanting
abortions will be referred to UHC's pregnancy
counselors. Pending a policy on abortion at UHC,
each UHC doctor and his patient will decide on the
matter. Should they decide on on an abortion the
student might be referred to a consultant and would
be operated on in a Lincoln hospital, Dr. Fuenning
said.
"Any removal of tissues needs sterile facilities,
and, in my opinion, this kind of procedure
(abortions) should be done by community hospitals.
We shouldn't take on anything for which we're not
equipped."
Students needing surgery which can't be
performed at the UHC hospital are usually covered by
medical insurance, Fuenning said in an interview. He
said he didn't know if abortions would be covered by
medical insurance, but that he "would imagine it
would." He also added that "we do plan to
re-examine the insurance policies."
A central issue discussed Thursday by the medical
staff was whether an abortion is major or minor
surgery.
"If it requires general anesthestic, I don't think
anyone on the staff feels it is a minor surgical
procedure," Fuenning said.
In New York, where abortions have been legal for
two years, the operation is considered minor and is
done in out-patient clinics. But, doctors on the UHC
staff doubted that abortions done in out-patient
clinics were as safe as those done in hospitals.
As for UHC's birth control pill policy, Fuenning
told the staff that the Dill's prescription is "entirely
up to the doctor."
"With the lowering of legal age to 19, if an
individual comes in and they are already sexually
active, it is up to the doctor to decide all medical
procedures. . .it's up to the doctor," Fuenning said,
Preliminary task force report gives
center clean bill of health
by Sara Schwieder
The University Health Center (UHC) received a
hearty pat on the br-k last week from Dr. Frank
Stone, head of a .ask force which has been
investigating UHC for four months.
Referring to criticism of UHC by the Board of
Regents last year and the subsequent furor which
prompted Chancellor James Zumberge to appoint the
task force Stone said, "It's a crying shame that there
has been this time, money and effort expended to
investigate one of the finest student health centers in
the nation."
"Dr. Samuel Fuenning, director of UHC, is known
across the nation as 'Mr. Student Health' and
wherever he goes, he gets the red carpet," Stone told
the medical staff. "He's done a fine job."
Stone presented a progress report from the task
force at the annual meeting of the 41 -member Health
Center medical staff at the Nebraska Center.
Although Stone's report was only preliminary it
did indicate the direction that the final report will
take when completed in March.
The preliminary report concerned four major
areas: business affairs and funding, facilities,
personnel policies and UHC costs. All received good
marks from Stone.
Stone gave a similar preliminary report to the
Board of Regents several months ago in executive
session.
The preliminary task force report recommends
that UHC business affairs be moved to the
comptroller's office until a cost-accounting system
can be developed. Cost accounting means finding the
most efficient way to spend money allocated to UHC.
Stone said Fuenning "had tried doing this a long
time ago, but that the University said it couldn't do
it."
Stone said his committee also had reviewed
student free funded operations at UHC and had
recommended minor changes in the Environmental
Health and Safety Unit. The task force also
recommended that courses taught by doctors at the
Health Center be financed through tuition instead of
the UHC budget.
Stone said his committee found the UHC hospital
facility "justified" and recommended its continuance.
Regents Robert Prokop of Papillion and Robert
Koefoot of Grand Island said last spring that the
hospital facility should be closed because it was badly
run, unnecessary and costly.
Stone, however, said the task force considered that
the 14-bed hospital is efficient.
"Due to the excellent preventive medicine
program at the University Health Center the hospital
has been able to reduce the number of beds from 32
to 14" Stone said. "It costs $47 or $57 per day to be
hospitalized downtown (in a Lincoln hospital), while
student health costs about $25 per day."
Stone also said that the UHC's personnel policies
"have been in conformity with all University
personnel policies for as long as I can remember."
Prokop had indicated last spring that he thought
equal opportunity laws were not being followed at
the center.
In other action, the medical staff approved a
proposal calling for the formation of an advisory
health board to "give some direction" to UHC. The
proposal will go to the Board of Regents for final
approval.
The advisory health board, if approved, would
consist of -interested doctors, students, administrators
and citizens. The staff indicated that the proposed
advisory board should be "broad-based with wide
representation," and "outside of the medical staff so
we won't get too ingrown."
