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thursday, decemter 5, 1 974
' lincoln,nebraska vol.98 no. 48
no
Landlord-tenant law defines both parties' rights
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David Rasmussen, Student Legal Services lawyer.
Nebraska has a new landlord-tenant
law LB-293, that is scheduled to go into
effect on July 1, 1975.
David Rasmussen, ASUN Student
Legal Services lawyer, said Wednesday
afternoon at the landlord-tenant legal
seminar that LB-293 will be a great help
to tenants by defining the rights and
obligations of landlord and tenants
alike.
He said most public libraries, as well
as the Law College library on City
Campus, have copies of the law
available for study.
Rasmussen said renters run into
problems because they don't know what
they've signed in leases.
Rasmussen said most renters don't
know how to get out of leases.
Ways to terminate leases
One way, he said, of getting out of a
lease, is if the renter thinks there is a
violation, such as bug-infested walls. He
can call the city housing inspector, who
will inspect the premises, and if there is
a violation the landlord's license can be
revoked.
Rasmussen said another way to
terminate a lease is to give 30 days
notice, preferably at the beginning of
the month. By writing on the back of the
rent check a person can indicate 30 day
r
ASUN
considers
ous
policy
religi
ASUN senators will wait until
next week to decide whether to
accept or reject a recommendation
on religious policy submitted by
the ASUN-CSL Religion
Committee.
Senators who were disillusioned
with the recommendation said that
it was "nothing more than the old
Regents policy." Others said it
wasn't libera! enough or that it
needed to be rewritten because of
vagueness.
Near the end of the meeting,
senators left and the quorum was
lost. At the Dec. 11 meeting, the
last one this semester, senators
will decide whether to accept or
reject the recommendation.
In other business, President Ron
Clingenpeel gave the senators a
presentation on decision analysis.
Decision analysis, a process
which Clingenpeel became ac
quainted with during his recent trip
to Wisconsin for a student leader
ship conference, is designed to
help senators make more rational
decisions.
: "You can take this process into
any committee," Clingenpeel said.
Clingenpeel explained that basical
ly decision anaysis is "putting
down on paper the way you're
going to make a decision."
He urged all senators to take
notes on the process because he
said it would be important for them
to learn how to use the process in
their committees.
First, Clii.genpeel said, senators
must differentiate between their
needs and their wants. Then, they
must weigh and rank their needs
and wants.
He explained that weighing and
ranking musts and wants are
different processes. Ranking in
volves decisions that are most
desirable.
notice; thus a person has proof he has
given notice.
Rasmussen said he thought short
term oral leases would be preferable to
students because they are much easier
to break.
He said this is especially true if your
roommate leaves and you are respon
sible for the entire rent. A tenant is
jointly libel, he said.
Preventive tips discussed
Rasmussen discussed preventive tips
on renting. They include:
find out who the actual owner of the
property is and write down that person's
mailing address and phone number.
ask for the name and current
address of the previous tenant and
contact that person regarding the
landlord and problems that may have
occured. If the landlord will not give the
name, he may have something to hide.
talk to one or two of the neighbors
(when the landlord isn't present) about
the property and the landlord.
thoroughly inspect the property for
defects or damages prior to entering
into any agreements to lease. Check all
appliances to make certain they operate.
Make a list of the existing damages and
have the owner or his agent sign and
date it then keep it in a safe place.
Continued on pg. 11
The Constitutional Revisions
Committee voted to form two
groups to work on the constitution.
Senator Mark Hoeger suggested
that they "divide into two groups
those who want to amend the
present constitution and those who
want to form a whole new
constitution."
Hoeger proposed that the sena
tors meet after each has done his
study and make a recommendation
to the Senate. If there is not
agreement, a minority report may
be submitted, Hoeger said.
The ASUN book exchange will be
open during finals week in order to
give students a chance to sell their
books. It will be open from 10 a.m.
until 5 p.m. that week.
Sharon Johnson, first vice presi
dent, urged senators who had free
time to contact her. She said people
are needed to help work during
those hours.
Private cleaners save UNL money, ease labor shortage
By Randy Gordon
The continued use of a nonuniversity
custodial company to clean UNL's Nebraska
Hall has saved the university money and
helped supplement a shortage of janitors at
UNL, according to two university officials.
Ronald Wright, UNL assistang director of
business and finance, said he proposed the
use of an outside company to clean Nebraska
Hall as an experiment because there was a
shortage of custodian applications.
"Our custodians were trying to clean too
many floors and were starting to get their
dobbers down," Wriqht said. "It was not
done to take jobs away from university
custodians because there weren't any there
to begin with.
"In effect, we went out and bought labor
that we couldn't obtain otherwise," he said.
System is economical
Wright said the contract system "has
merit in a large and complex building like
Nebraska Hall" because it is economical.
It was costing UNL $90,000 a year to clean
the building before the agreement with a
local maintenance company was reached in
1973, according to Wright.
He said the John Irwin Maintenance Co.
cleaned the building for $67,000 annually.
The current contract is with the Hayman
Janitorial Service. It calls for about $60,000
yearly.
"But it (the contract system) has to be
watched closely and evaluated often to see
how well it's working," Wright added. "So
far, the cleanliness level is fairly good."
The cleanliness level is a percentage of
cleanliness set for buildings by the custodial
and physical plant managers.
First contract cleaners
Wright said the use of contract cleaners
began when a blanket order with the Irwin
company, of 230 Wedgewood Dr., was
approved by the UNL's Department of
Administrative Services.
He said the agreement allowed Irwin's
company to set up a cleaning system in
Nebraska Hall for six months on a trial basis.
Wright said Irwin's custodians cleaned the
building from May, 1973 to September, 1973.
The agreement did not require sealed
bidding because Irwin was hired as a
consulting firm, for which bids are not
required, Wright said.
Cleanliness studied
"We were really studying customary
practices and the standards of cleanliness of
contract cleaners," Wright said, "because
there are no national standards set."
The current agreement with the Hayman
firm, 630 N. Cotner, began Oct. 1, 1973 and
has been renewed twice.
Tne Hayman company received the
contract after having the lowest of four sealed
bids, Wright said. The firm's bid, $14,000 for
a three-month period, compared to $16,000
paid to the Irwin company for the same time
period.
Wright said the bid was made with the
Business Affairs Office and was ratified by
the Board of Regents Finance Committee.
Ken Walvoord, UNL assistant custodial
manager, said Custodial Services was having
diff.culty hiring new employes when the
contracting program began two years ago.
Continued on pg. 2
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