monday, march 29, 1970
pegs 4
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UPON TOE RUIN .
OF THIS COUNTRY.
-SAM ADAMSJ775
"! II
guest
Losers' sour grape attitude
proves voters chose wisely
By Todd Patterson
Having been an ardent reader of the Daily Nebraskan
for nearly four years now, I have never been stirred to a
point that would warrant writing to the editor. That state
has been altered after reading comments made by unsuc
cessful presidential candidates in the March 17 ASUN
election. Statements that make reference to the "fucking
Greeks", the -incompetency of Bill Mueller, and the pur
ported practice of Greeks voting along living unit lines,
cannot go unanswered.
1 am a member of the Greek system. I was an ASUN
senator and a member of the Executive Board in 1973.
During the entirity of my term of office my fraternal af
filiation never unduly affected my decision-making
capacity. For although I am a part of the Greek system, I
am foremost a student of UNL.
' It is unfortunate that this status is all too often negIec-!
ted."An ASUN member belonging to a fraternity or.
sorority is equally affected by the issues of alcohol on
campus, tuitiqji increases and the ultimate use of student
fees.
As far as Mr. Mueller's incompetency is concerned, that
will have to be proven by time. Having been a senator I
can state that an ASUN senator or officer need not have
any previous experience or extensive knowledge of the or
ganization to assume office. In fact, past performance
would seem to indicate that experience and concretized
opinions only shackled the Senate with entrenched view
ports and limited flexibility.
Rhetorical barbs that declare that Greeks vote along
fraternal lines challenges my intelligence, as well as the
intelligence of other Greek electoTates. Obviously, the de
cisiveness of the victories illustrate that many indepen
dents supported the newly elected candidates.
Finally, those losing individuals that cite the Daily
Nebraskan publicity as a tool to the Greek slate's success
should re-examine their stance.
I congratulate the handling of the election by the news
paper staff. When I ran for office, the paper daily coin
tained blatant endorsements of individuals and parties.
During this election the practice was minimal.
As a matter of fact, I believed that the newspaper
attention to the Greek slate would prove to be politically
fatal to the group. Logically, I assumed that a strong
counter wave of independent disgust and apprehension
would shatter the slate. Happily, I was proven wrong.
I commend the independent voters that voted their con
science rather than automatically condemning" Greek
candidates to an untimely election defeat. I believe that
the caustic and irresponsible remarks made by the rejected
candidates serve well to indicate an objective and intelli
gent choice of future ASUN members. I congratulate you
and your embryonic Senate and wish you the best of luck.
Todd W. Patterson is a senior in the College of Arts and
Sciences from Lincoln.
rarefied
li
Legislature braces if self
for might y veto onslaught
By Dick Piersol
As the Nebraska Legislature enters the final four days
of the 1976 session, the senators concerns turn to hurried
passage of those bills which must be passed. First, they
will finish the work on budget matters and then, those
bills most important to them.
They also prepare the cadres for what is sure to be a
wealth of vetoes from the governor's office. Gov. J. James
Exon has pledged to hold the line on taxes, perhaps re
duce them, and intends to use his line-item veto power
liberally.
The line-item veto is a peculiar power. The governor
may reduce appropriations by any amount he wishes. He
may not increase an appropriation.
The senators may restore an appropriation with 30
vetoes. But to override a line-item veto in a given bill, they
must override all vetoes in that bill. That makes it a lot
tougher to get the 30 vetoes required, especially when
almost all appropriations are contained in a few bills. This
year most state agencies appropriations are in LB 691,
with higher education appropriations in LB690.
Power pendulum
In an attempt to swing the power pendulum the other
way, the senators voted test session to submit a constitut
ional amendment to the voters in the November general
election. That amendment would permit the senators to
override individual line-item vetoes in a bill, while letting
others stand.
- The senators meet three days this week and will return
for one dsy next week to consider the governor's vetoes.
Time caught up with the Legislature, as usual, this
year. The final chapter of what they accomplished is yet
to be written, but because- of the time limitations, we
know what they apparently considered priorities. Those
are the bills left on general file to die of neglect. Some of '
thera wl be revived in the next session, some never will
fcesseatdn. .
Some cf the items left behind include the entire revised
Nebraska Criminal Code. This' legislation most certainly
will be revived next January. Along with the code
revision, LB702, Omaha Sen. Ernest Chambers bill to
abolish the death penalty, subsequently amended by the
Judiciary Committee to require capital punishment in
certain cases, cannot pass. It is doubtful Sen. Chambers
will cease his efforts to outlaw capital punishment.
Nebraska Coordinating Commission
Also left on general file is a bill to establish a Nebraska
Coordinating Commission for Higher Education. Everyone
seems to agree legislation is needed in that area, but
practically no one agrees on how to go about it.
Other sacrificed legislation includes: establishment of
county civil service commissions; uniform and cleaning
allowances for state patrolmen; guaranteed privacy for a
student's school records; requirements that polling places
be accessible to handicapped voters and provisions for
voter registration by mail; increased exemptions from in
heritance taxes to $300,000; provision for state recrea
tional trails and a Nebraska Trails Council; an allowance
for pharmacists to sell drugs by generic rather than com
mercial names (at a cost savings to customers); specifica
tions for limited life of state agencies and legislative
review thereof; requirements that those receiving un
employment compensation accept public service employ
ment; the American Indian Arts and Craft Act prohibiting
false labeling and sales; and an act permitting voluntary
recitation of the Lord's prayer and the pledge of alleg
iance in elementary schools. "
Some of those bills may deserve their oblivion, others
failed for no good reason except time or someone's failure
to pull the right strings at the right time.
One bill remaining on general file that most senators
wish would go away forever requires, the Legislature,
rather than the State Board of Equalization, to set sales
. and income tax rates.
The senators appropriate the money. They should also
be directly responsible for raising it
In response to several letters in the editorial section of
the Daily Nebraskan of March 17 concerning minorities,
I haw something to say. Minorities are minorities because
the Anglo majority makes them minorities. So you, the
Anglo majority, have nothing to say since you are the
cause of why the minorities are what they are today. As
long as you, the majority, put down the minority you
caused, you will always get reactions from them.
Chicana
Krig a valid candidate
I was shocked by both the attitude and logic expressed
in a letter to the editor on Wednesday, March 17 that
criticized UNL student, Charlie Krig's candidacy for UNL
regent. The attitude of 'let's let our elders take control"
does not even attempt to veil the underlying implication
that UNL students are infantile and naive. This is precisely
the attitude that has prevented those students who are
mature adults from gaining the respect and responsibility
that is the right of all people.
This attitude leads to the kind of faulty logic, stereo
typed concepts, and ridiculous questions like "What does
a UNL sophomore know about being a regent?" The'
question should be, what does a regent know about UNL?
Being an NU student would be a definite asset for a
regent to be sensitive to student,. faculty members and
adniinistrative needs, and be available for input from these
sources.
Steve L. Osborn
Efficient organization
I would like to take this opportunity to tell Mr. Paul
Morrison that I feel he had become a victim of the more
efficient so called "Greek slate," and its organization to
get voters to vote. As far as the common student can tell,
your campaign didn't reach many people in the sense of
appealing to your photograph. So motivating people
through friends and living units, as Bill Mueller did, seems
to be far more effective. It's a shame for you to be so
bitter since there was at least 96 per cent of the student
body that you could have appealed to in trying to defeat
Mueller, since he only received about 4 per cent of the
support of the students. The resources were there, but the
organization was poor.
.. For as far as not knowing what the ASUN Senate does,
as Bill Mueller claims he does not, may I ask who really
does know? In the three years I've attended UNL it seems
that no one can get it to work at all. I've yet to see a
major issue pass that affects the average student.
Neal Dunning
Real issues ignored
Okay, so the Greeks are back after an absence of a few
years-so big deal, (Got your ire up?)
Look at this election from the outside, from the
majority of students who are not in the ASUN Senate or
on one of the committees. From out there, the ASUN
Senate looked like a lot of people with an inflated picture
of their group importance. We see seemingly trivial jand
petty bickering over straws in the windirom a group so
insecure it can't be open-minded enough to tolerate a
little dissent. The ASUN vs. CSL controversy, because of a
little "Wrongspeak, conjured up visions of the Red Queen
screaming "off with their heads." At the very least, the.
ASUN Senate did a very poor job of looking important,
effective or even necessary.
And this election-wow! The campaigns were blah, at
least for those of us who work and missed the "big
debate." The posted material and the sophomoric quotes in
the Daily Nebraskan all sounded like 'Tweedle Dum vs.
Tweedle Dee vs. the Boogie Man."
There are some real issues, some real problems, some
things that do need work. From here (i.e.: a non-in-crowder)
it looks like some key considerations were being
largely ignored.
The Stupid Americans Party was the only one that did
anything different-a bit of comic releif that helped the
otherwise murky and mundane UNL version of a Romper
Room circus.
Let's give em a chance before casting the first stones.
It may be that previous noninvolvement on the part of
Mueller will provide a fresh perspective, a much needed
fresh perspective.
Don Sutton
Rezoning tactic
On March 17, a hearing was scheduled before the Gty
Planning Commission concerning the rezoning of the
property at 132S and 1319 RSt. McDonald's Restaurants
will complete the contract to buy this land from Nebraska
Bookstore Co. if it is rezoned for business.
At the hearing I was told that it had been postponed
until April because the person representing the applicant
for rezoning was ill. This may be true; but if the hearings
stretch out into the summer, interested student groups
will not be able to attend. I hope this is not a tactic to
make concerned people lose interest.
A publicly scheduled hearing should be held as plan
ned. The applicant should have sent t substitute repre
sentative. . . Paula Surmxnn
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