inside todatj
Whodunit?: .
Investigation of the
. card section disruption
continues p. 8
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Wednesday, decembsr 8, 1976 : vol. 100 no. 52 lincoln, nebraska
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Gallup:-PoH
reviled"
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7'."." Photo by Scott Svoboda
Syndicated pcSIster Geoage GsHs? Jr.. fgdce Msa-.
day ct to stsdests at Wayne StsSe.C2e5-ia .
Wayne. Ills peech covered the effects if peSisg.
By Miry Jo Pitzl.
The man with his finger on the heartbeat of the nation,
pollster George Gallup Jr., said America is in danger of
creating an educated elite, quoting poll figures that report
one-fifth of the population is functionally illiterate.
"It's better to let people know what's going on than
to let them live Ln a vacuum ."-Gallup said. His national
polls reflect the attitudes, concerns and opinions of Amer
ica and are carried by newspapers across the country.
The polls cover a spectrum of topics, many of them glean
ed from daily headlines, Gallup said.
Gallup was in Nebraska for a speaking engagement at
Wayne State College in Wayne Monday. He discussed
his polls and their effects on the nation with about 50.
students and faculty members. He also discussed techni
ques involved in compiling his polls.
Gallup Sr., 75, is the chairman of the Gallup Poll,
.known as the American Institute of Public Opinion.
Gallup Jr. serves as president of the institute. Besides
the national poll, .which is run by the father-son team,
the Gallup enterprise has established two independent
gencies, Gallup said, v
Gallup International conducts polls with affiliates in
30 other nations, and the GaSup organization conducts
market research for a full range of clients.
Gallup said his polls touch on almost every area of
Americanlife. -
There are only two kinds of polls we dont do,"
he said, ""private poJHcl research for politicians and
ratings, such as the Nielsen ratings.w-
GaHup polls have interviewed close to one and a half
million people since 1935, Gallup said. They "easily"
have conducted about ljQOQ national polls, he said.
' Questions used on the po"s come from a variety of
sources. Daily headlines and news events provide many of
the questions, as well as ideas gca?atcd by Gallup and his
family from their Princeton, N J. home. GstHup said news
papers subscribing to his syndicated column can buy
questions to be included in the poll.
"Question decision is very much in the way of an art,
.dealing with words," Gallup said. He said questions are
carefully worded to avoid bias. Each question is tested in
a pilot survey in 3 GO sample locations across the United
States with about 25 participants each, Gallup said.
Selection of the regions where a poll will be taken is
mostly a matter of probability, he explained. Through
mathematical procedures, the seven VS. regions defined
by the Gallup- staff are broken into specific blocks.
Interviewers cover their assigned blocks, usually on
Saturdays at 9 ajm., because most people are sure to be
found at home then, Gallup said. The second most com
mon time for conducting interviews is around 4 pjn.
weekdays.
The youngest man in the household older than 18 is
the first person requested by pollsters during interviews, ,
Gallup said. The youngest woman over 18 is asked for
next. Gallup said interviewers follow a definite sequence
of who to ask for when going from door to door.
Pollsters go to every fourth house within a block,
skipping the corner house. The corner house "is usually
the home of someone with slightly greater affluence,"
Galupsaid.
Most pollsters are able to ask two questions within a
minute. No formal training is given to Gallup interview
ers. Tbjey are all "tried by fire," Gallup said, with their
initial assignments done on a test basis.
Gallup polls are conducted every two to three weeks.
Gallup drafts the articles that are writter on the basis of
the poll results. Gallup, a Princeton University graduate
with a bachelors degree in religion, says he still does some
of the polling himself .
i MM I 'I 111! I in IrttHf
I VI . m m m 1 -w7 V. w . hams?
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By Larry Lutz
The Lincoln Police Review Board is dead, following a
compromise by the City Council and Mayor Helen
Boosalis at Monday! Council meeting. Although the
board was not abolished, its name was changed and its
procedure redefined. ..
The new board, to "be called the Citizen's Police
Advisory Board, will not hold public hearings during
testimony on complaints against the Lincoln Police
Dept. (LPS). The provision is part of the compromise
proposal by Councilwoman Sue Bailey.
Her proposal followed one by Councilman Bob Sikyta
to abolki the review board altogether. At the weekly
closed meeting Monday morning, Boosalis said &e would
veto any move to abolidi the board.
She said at the Council meeting that she thought there
was still a need for a review board, and that the idea was
stm good even if the present structure did not work.
Critics of the old board, including Sikyta and Police
Chief George Hansen, have said it repeats a function
already performed by LPD. They said the department can
handle complaints against itself and an ouside body is
not needed.
v . Safety vshne
However, Board members disagreed at the Council
meeting, saying a citizens' board could serve as a safety
valve. Board member Ted LaRose said he thought it
would present internal problems if a policeman had to
investigate a fellow officer. . .
Bailey agreed, saying die thought a citizens board
could be more objective and that citizens might be more
willing to file complaints with the board than vyith police
officers. 7-7 ' ' - ' 7 .
She said she patterned her proposal after the Human
Rights Commission's procedures. Under the proposal,
the advisory board wiU review written complaints from
citizens against either individual officers or department
policies. However, under the new advisory board, names
of individuals would be revealed to the public.
Publicizing the testimony and individuals involved was
"Council Chairman Max Denney's primary criticism of the
old board. He said he had supported the board in the
beginning more than a year ago "and had worked long and
hard with John (Robinson, Councif member) to get it
proposed."
Dmny disrpciated - '
"However, I am greatly disappointed with it now," he
said. "And if this one doesnt work, you can be assured
IH be back before the Council to speak against it"
Denney said he voted in favor of the compromise with
some reservations, but added that he thought the new
proposal might work and seemed to be the best move at
the present time.
Councilman Richard Baker also said he was not really
in favor of the new proposal and wanted to abolish the
board. But after Boosalis said she would veto the mors, he
said he decided to vote in favor of the compromise with
some reservations.
Sikyta, the only Council member to vote against the
proposal, maintained that the board was not needed. He
said he thought Lincoln had a fine police department ziA
that Hansen's review procedures were adequate.
Bailey disagreed, saying that after one meeting, she
'didn't think the review board had been tested adequately.
She said the revisions might make it more effective, and
that the name change might help its image.
Cornhusker Marching Band
not going to Biuebormet Bowl
The Corhnusker Marching Band will
not attend the Astro-EIucbonset Bowl in
Houston en Dec- 31, according to UNL
Ctizc&at Roy Young.
Tfee university does not have the
to send the band to
the bov.1 grs. We must stay within our
ilhwance
&ce for the bowl appearance issd ca .
zrs avalhbk." Youcs Slid.
OffHilt cf the bowl hsd said they were
S-Trms ta have the Corchudca lUidiz
Band participate dariig pre-game mi hsli-
CIck Hrnzzs, zr'-nt to the chisce-
of, tail the manrslisa Vzzt tue casa
m-odJ hare to drpmd on a fmdzl"i
wis n.:-2r J hA Thursday. Oa the
hz-di of the lz cf rcrpons to thst zzwt
"I have been very impressed with the
performance cf our bsnd this fall 2nd wish
it were possible for the band to go
to the bowl gsme. These young people
'are fine reprgsentatiirss cf the university,"
Young said.
Robert Fought, director of the band,
di thst "there is expected diisppcint
rat from the band members and myself.
. It's too fcsd, I tllzk we desrve to go."
Fovht till thst TJ3W thsX the dedion
fcr this yc.tr hsi fcssa mide, it is tinss to
ttztl ttytg to plm fcr ths future to arcil
i itirl tl:s i:t-J5 is tzitzl fcr tlliyzx,
. srJ tLtm the rra i,;.!I.r;5 to tee if we
c-t rtt scv-nril-in4 c-'-S fr next yea1,
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