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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1973)
dailu thursday, april 12, 1973 lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 98 .ii.ij i in.li. . ii i U..I. . 1.1.0 ... .... i 1 Law school receives $1 ,000 for minority recruitment by Dennis Onnen After hearing arguments that a lack of minority students in the UNL College of Law is "very detrimental to legal education", ASUN passed a resolution Wednesday night giving $1,000 to the UNL Student Bar Association (SBA) for use in its minority recruitment program. The Senate voted to endorse UNL law student John Robinson in the upcoming Lincoln City Council election and approved the formation of budget and appointments committees. The Senate also accepted the Student Fee Task Force Review Committee Report. The minority recruitment resolution, introduced by Sen. Brian Waid, pointed out that there is now only one minority student in the UNL College of Law. It said that "the result of this dilemma is that no Chicano, one Indian and less than 10 black lawyers practice in this state." Speaking on behalf of the resolution were Jim Gordon, president of the SBA; Alan Frank, assistant professor of law; and David Ludtke, associate professor of law. "We would be tremendously handicapped by not getting this money," Gordon said. He said that UNL can't compete with other schools which have minority recruitment programs. He pointed out that many minority people leave the state to attend law school. Waid said if the SBA was given the $1,000 there was a "very good probability" it could receive a matching grant from tiie Law School Services Fund of the American Bar Association. In other action, Sen. Gail Watson, member of the task force review committee, said that only a few changes were made from the preliminary ASUN reports on the fees report. The preliminary report advocated "complete revision" of the zero-based budgeting recommendation which would establish year-by-year funding for organizations. The review committee report also suggests that the majority of voting members of the proposed Facilities Allocation Board be students. The allocations board would receive requests from organizations for funds. All students on the board should be appointed by ASUN, the report added. The revised ASUN report went on to say that faculty members should be on the board only in an advisory, non-voting capacity and that the chairperson should be elected from the board. The report recommends that the comptroller, the vice chancellor for student affairs, a regent's representative and a student activities staff member be voting members of the allocations board. The proposed appeals board should be a standing body with students comprising a majority of the membership, the report said. The Senate also approved formation of a budget committee; it will take requests from student organizations for 1973-74 funding before April 27. The appointments committee formed Wednesday will establish interview committees which will consist of three senators, one executive, and one interested person, with one exception. Sen. Mary Vofxjril proposed an amendment calling for four senators, one executive, and two interested persons on the committee which interviews applicants for the Council on Student Life. Voboril's amendment was adopted. l.t tl i I -.vfumtmamai ,. -. ,- If . j W : y . f i .j ,, 1 .1 js4 4 photo by Bill Ganol Sen. Mary Voboril (left). ..urged acceptance of her amendment calling for seven members on the Council of Student Life interview committee. Indian students secure free tuition Indian Awareness Week got underway Wednesday with the announcement that Indians will receive free tuition at the University of Nebraska, apparently beginning next semester. Robert Mackey, state Indian commissioner, said he, Gov. J.J. Exon, NU President D B. Varner and Sen. Richard Marvel had hammered out an agreement about tuition. "This will not be restricted to reservation Indians it will apply to any Indian who is a resident of the state," Mackey said. Later he added that free tuition would be granted to any person who is at least one-quarter Indian. Indian tribal councils will determine which persons are not one-quarter Indian if the question arises, he said. Mackey's 22-minute speech, interrupted once by applause, keynoted the third annual Indian Awareness Week which will run through Sunday. It is sponsored by the UNL Council of American Indian Students and the Nebraska Union Program Council. About 35 persons attended the opening session. Much of Mackey's talk concerned what he called the dual standard of law used in the so-called "Indian Bounty Act of Thurston County." The law, which Mackey said was "racist and barbaric," provides Thruston County with $2,50 a day for eadi Indian held overnight in the county jail. FnartoH in 1957. the law affects mostly Winnebago Indians. Mackey said his office has been trying to repeal the law. The latest repeal effort is LB131, which Mackey said will come before the Legislature for a vote "any day." The bill is sponsored by Sen. Duke Snyder of Omaha. However, Mackey expiessed disappointment that a proposed amendment to the bill would giant $500,000 to expand the ptogtam to other counties, instead of killing it. He said the Nebraska Association of County commissioners has been applying pressure against LB 131. "They want to sabotage our bill," he said. The Thurston County sheriff recently visited Lincoln and said Thurston County needed the current law or the county would go broke, Mackey said. "That's real tough," Mackey countered. "If a county has to survive by persecuting a segment of its population, it's pielty sad." He also said the Thurston County stioi iff tequested additonal funds be allocated to the county. But the money "would not go to help the Indians hut to expand jail facilities so the county could hold more Indians" and thus get mote bounties, Mackey said, Coffey Equal opportunity report postponed by Adella Wacker The findings and progress of the NU Equal Opportunity Office will not be repotted this semester, coordinator Barbara Coffey said. Coffey, who became coordinator of the new two person office in Novemlxjr 1971, had earlier said a report would be finished in April. The report was to include a computer survey showing the number of minority persons and women that NU employs and what kinds of jobs they hold. However, Coffey said, she will file an equal opportunity progress report with NU President D. B. Varner, The report was requested in the University Five Year Plan's anti discrimination statement, The report is due in September. An equal opportunity task force was formed last month to help draft the report, she said. The force includes: Jim Suter, UNL ombudsman; LeRoy Ramsey, director of minority affairs; and Patricia Knaub, instructor of the Women in Contemporary Society course. The task force also has six members representing the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the NU Medical Center. The persons serving on the force are "individuals who are in key positions to see and know" the discrimination situation within the University, Coffey said. Tim Mrnnn ic "rn; v m ;in imam sunn1 now Knaub said. The UNL task force has met once. Both Knauh and Suter said the group is still talking out its plan of attack. Coffey said much of hei time duiin'i this first year was spent telling depaitment chaiimen about the University's affirmative action plan foi hiring women and minorities. She said she expected the Septombei repot 1 to (jive the equal opportunity office some bettei diirction. and give her "supixjrtivo assistance" in net job. Coffey said much of her work next year will be checking on contractors and suppliers doing business withNU. When doing business with an agency teceiving federal funds, like NU, the firms ate tequiied by law to practice equal opportunity hiring, and sign statements to that effect. But people "sign statements all the time," she said. Coffey said she expects the Health, Education and Welfare Department (HEW! to beef up its civil rights laws enforcement soon. If so, UNL will have to "push, monitor and show greater compliance than in the past," she said.
