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monday, October 24, 1977 vol. 101 no. 30 Uncoln, nebraska
daily
Re-evaluation of
rape laws urged
By Rex Henderson
The Nebraska Legislature's Judiciary Committee Fri
day heard testimony urging changes in the state's rape
laws during the final hearing on the new criminal code.
Gothenburg Sen. Herbert Duis said rape laws should be
stiffened. Duis said rapists should be held for psychiatric
evaluation after the first conviction. Current laws call for
the evaluation after the second conviction.
Duis also suggested bail requirements be stiffened.
Nebraska laws now require 10 percent of bail to be posted
for release.
The coordinators of rape centers in Lincoln and Omaha
said there should be three classifications of sexual assault,
instead of the two currently in Nebraska law.
Jill Fenner, coordinator of the Rape Education Center
in Omaha, said acts currently classified as a second degree
sexual assault, should be broken into two seperate classi
fications. Second degree sexual assault, a felony, should include
forced sexual contact where the victim is seriously injured
or under age 14. When the victim is over 14 and unhurt,
the assailant should be charged with misdemeanor sexual
assault, she said. -
Fenner also urged the Legislature to reword a portion
of the law which defines serious personal' injury as
"extreme mental anguish,"
Fenner said the word "extreme" should be dropped.
Mental anguish should be defined as any trauma that
requires professional treatment, she said .
A tougher prostitution law was requested by Omaha
city prosecutor Gary Bucchino.
Security
By Joe Starita , -
' Security problems at Nebraska Hall are
blocking an ASUN attempt which would
allow students to have their coffee and
drink it too.
At issue is equalizing late-night study
areas between the City Campus and East
Campus, said Ken Christoffersen, ASUN
vice president,
The study area at Nebraska Hall is open
until 2 ajn'Christoffersen said, but there
are no vending lounge areas available. Stu
dents must trek to the East Campus Law
til ' s l
State Senators Wally Barnett
Bucchino 'suggested that second offenses for prosti
tution be punishable by imprisonment.
. The Nebraska Civil Liberties Union executive director
Barbara Gaither disagreed with Bucchino, saying that
prostitution is a "victimless crime" and should not be sub
ject to criminal penalties.
Gaither also voiced support for determinant senten
cing. There is "too much disparity in sentencing by
judges," and "too much discretion by the parole boards,"
she-said.
Photo by Tim Ford
(left) and John DeCamp
Sen. John DeCamp of Neligh appeared before the com--mittee
to discuss new gambling laws he is drafting.
The new laws would distinguish between professional
gambling and casual, social gambling.
Both would remain illegal under DeCamp's bill, but the
penalty for social gambling would be less servere.
Omaha Sen, William Brennan appeared in his position
as state AFL-CIO president to oppose requirements that
picketers stay 50 feet from the entrance to plant
entrances and 50 feet apart.
probl
ems blocking attempts to open lounge
College, where candy and - coffee make
studies a little easier to swallow at two in
the morning, he said.
As a result, "the city campus under
grads using the law study lounge are
crowding out the law students," he said.
Opening the lounge area at Nebraska
Hall (closed four years ago because of
recurrent vandalism) would take the pres
sure off of East Campus, he said, "and
make for a better situation all the way
around,"
Love Library lounge
Originally, ASUN pushed for a study
Office change not immediate
By Anne Carothers
No immediate action will be taken on
the reorganization of the student activities
office, following its placement under the
administrative control of the Nebraska
Unions Director Al Bennett.
Although the "possibility of change is
real", Bennett said he has requested a
90-day study period before any changes are
made.
Nov. 1; the student activities office will
be placed under Bennett's administrative
control by Vice Chancellor for Student
Affairs Richard Armstrong's directive.
Bennett said he didn't expect any
changes would be made until second semes
ter. He said he and his staff will be using
the 90 days to study the present level of
operation of the student activities office.
Bennett also corrected a previously
published statement that Armstrong's
inside mondaij
Look at Blondie and Dagwood:
Study says model of long lasting
marriage may help those on the
rocks p.5
He may not be campaigning, but. . .:
Former president Gerald Ford
returns to UNL next semester, p.7
Huskers knock the chips out of
the Buffaloes: Nebraska crunches
Colorado for the 10th time in
a row PI0
directive ordered the merging of the stu
dent activities office and the Union Pro
gram Council office.
Although there are services In the two
offices that overlap, the offices will not
automatically be merged, he said,
s One of the overlapping areas is advising,
Bennett "said. He explained that both
offices do similar kinds of student advi
sing. Another overlap area is in office space,
receptionist and secretarial help. The
Union office, the programming office, and
the student activities offices each use
different offices, each have a receptionist
and their own secretarial pools. '
Bennett said although changes could
mean some people's jobs may be jeopar
dized, he is 'concerned with "real-live
people doing real-live jobs."
He said he also is concerned with reor
ganization that will provide more efficient
service to the students for their money.
The Nebraska Unions and the student
activities offices are financed through B
fund monies of student fees. The program
ming office is .financed through A fund
monies which are allocated by the Fees
Allocation Board, Bennett said.
Bennett said he would be happy if
changes "would just stop the inflationary
curve" of those programs' budgets. He said
he doubted if the reorganization would
decrease the amount of money the pro
grams use in student fees, but hopes that
extra services could be added without an
increase in cost.
Bennett said organizational changes
would be submitted to Armstrong for his
approval before they could be fitted into
the budget next spring.
I "lounge in Love Ubrary' but lack of space
and concern by library officials that
scattered food debris would deteriorate
"some prized old books" shelved that plan,.
he said.
"Love (Memorial Library) is out of the
picture now unless some money comes in
to restructure the library" he added.
Gene Meerkatz, director of vending ser
vices at UNL, said Nebraska Hall has had a
lot of vandalism in the past and security of
the building would be the major obstacle
to overcome.
"Prospects for opening the lounge area
lodk dim at this point," he said. He added
that Campus Police has requested a wall or
steel fence be erected first.
"A structure like that would cost
$4,000 or $5,000, and we don't have
enough money to do it. Even if we did, the
restrooms would then be' sealed off.
Two-sided question
"I would be willing to give it another
try, but I don't think Campus Security is
going to," Meerkatz said.
The question of opening the lounge is a
two-sided question for Campus Police,
said Capt. ' Robert Edmunds, of the UNL
Campus Police,
"If we don't open the lounge, then the
students come down on us,' he explained,
"but if we go ahead and open it without
proper security, then we'll get complaints
from people using the high-priority equip
ment (museum and communications)
stored in the building."
Edmunds suggested an attempt first be
made to determine how much of a demand
there is to have a lounge area available in
Nebraska HalL
"I don't want to see an entire building
opened up for half a dozen people," he
said. "A study should be made to find out
how many people would use it and
whether or not it would be profit-making.
"If there is a demand, then there should
be a fence, or gate of some kind to assure
security for the rest of the building."
That demand exists, according to Christoffersen.
i uiuiK. siuuems iook ior someimng
like a lounge area to help them study," he
without a cup of coffee."
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Pftoto by Ttd Kkk
Last years Homecoming King, Kevin Meyer, crowns 1977 Homecoming
queen Donna Larsen, as 1977 king Brad Iioppens locks on.
See related story pg. 6.