New executive committee, enlarged body proposed
By Mike Patten
ASUN's task force on student government has come up
with a proposal to enlarge ASUN's elected body from 35
to 76 senators.
In addition, the task force proposal calls for a new
executive committee of 10, rather than the current three
man executive committee.
Task force chairman Steve Pederson said the task force
will have an open hearing Sunday in the Nebraska Union
on its proposal. He said the task force also will hear any
new proposals Sunday,
"We'd like to get as much input into this meeting as we
can," Pederson said. Debate will be limited to 10 minutes
a speaker, he added.
The task force proposal calls for 38 senators to be elec
elected by living units and 38 senators to be elected by
their colleges (similar to the current election procedures).
The proposal also calls for the elimination of the
second vice president position. A president and a vice
president would be elected by the student body at-large,
with the president continuing to serve as student regent
and preside over the senate.
Pederson said the task force decided the second vice
president position was not necessary.
"We just thought that there wasn't that much for him
to do," he said. "It would just be creating a position that's
a waste."
Currently, the second vice president coordinates com
mittees while the first vice president presides over the
senate meetings. The president is involved with university
administration.
Pederson said the task force believes the president
should preside over the senate too. This would then free
the first vice president to coordinate committees and elim
inate the need for a second vice president.
The vice president also would serve as the chairman of
the committee on committees and preside in the absence
of the president.
A new position, "secretary-treasurer, would be created
to coordinate ASUN's public relations. The secretary
treasurer would be hired by the president, with ; the
senate's approval, and would not replace the current
office secretary.
The proposal calls for eight standing committees which
would include senators and voting faculty members. The
eight committee chairmen and the president and vice
president serve as the executive board.
daily
friday, november 4, 1977 vol.101 no. 36 lincoln, nebraska
Suicide ranks third on list of causes
of death in young people ages 15-24
By Mary Jo Pitzl
" quietly hung up the phone and buried her face in
her hands. The tears were coming, slowly now, welling up
behind the growing lump in her throat.
It hurt so much inside, like everything she had was
being torn apart. Ever since she came to college, she had
been haunted by a fear of not being accepted. All she
needed was a call like that, she thought bitterly. Rejec
tion, again.
No one to understand ; even worse, no one to even care
enough to try and understand. The tears had broken now
and she sobbed silently, alone in her room.
Hie next morning, when Steve stopped by to pick up
his notebook, Sue didn't answer the door. She couldn't.
Sue had killed herself.
Third cause of death
As chilling as this portrait Tnay seem, it could easily
be true. Suicide is the third most common cause of
death in young people between the ages of 15 and 24,
according to Dr. John J, Schwab, a psychiatrist at the
University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky.
Only traffic accidents and homicides rank higher than
suicides in the national death rate for this age group,
according to Schwab.
In Nebraska, 149 people committed suicide during
1976, according to statistics from the Nebraska Dept. of
Health. Suicides constitute less than one percent of Neb
raka deaths, ranking eleventh behind other causes such
as heart disease, cancer, cerebral-vascular disease and
accidents.
Thirty of those 149 deaths occurred in the 15 to 24
age group, the health department reported.
However, in 1976 suicide was the second leading cause
of death for Lancaster County citizens between the ages
of 15 and 29, according to the Nebraska Bureau of Vital
Statistics.
At UNL, there have been about six suicides in the past
five years, Campus Police Capt. Robert Edmunds said.
Most of these have occurred off -campus, although he said
there was one incident last year in a fraternity house.
Foreign students
Edmunds said at least one half of the UNL suicides
involved foreign students. Causes of death include gun
shot, hanging and carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
These statistics, however, cannot reveal the whole
picture. Many suicides are never recorded, largely because
of the shame connected with the act, according to Kay
Pinkley, statistical analyst for the Nebraska Dept. of
Health.
"Anytime the family is sensitive about it, the- doctor
doesn't have to put down 'suicide' on the death certifi
cate," Pinkley said. Many times doctors record the cause
of death as "unknown" especially if they have any reason
to doubt that the death was self-inflicted, she said.
The majority of Nebraska suicide victims die from a
gunshot, according to Pinkley. She said health depart
ment records show hanging as the next most common
form of suicide. Carbon monoxide poisoning, drug over
dose, suffocation and self-lacerations also have been used
in suicide cases.
State records do not show how many suicides occur
among students, Pinkley sajd.
Serious problem
A check with several counseling and mental health
inside fridatj
Run it out of (own on a rail: Students protest the
sale of vending machine "junk food", they pre-
fer the natural stuff. p. 3
Poppin those corks: Exploding soda pop bottles
are a danger to beverage guzzlers. p. 5
Painting for his room and board: UNL artist in
residence, Charles Miller begins his stint on
campus p. 12
"centers on' campus and in Lincoln indicates that although
suicide is a serious problem, it is not prevalent in Lincoln.
According to Robert Heins, director of the University
Health Center's Mental Health Clinic, said Nebraska is
a fairly stable, conservative state. This may be why Neb
raska's suicide rate is low in comparison to national
figures, he said.
Kathy Brzezinski-stein, psychological counselor at the
UNL Counseling Center said "here in Nebraska, all the
basic social institutions still are fairly intact.
"When people get burned out, there are people in the
family you can turn to." She added that the social
support offered by friends and the clergy also is strong in
Nebraska.
More elusive than actual suicide records, however, are
the number of attempts and contemplations. These figures
are almost impossible to obtain, because counselors feel
few cases are recorded.
Heins said the mental health clinic handles about 10
suicide attempt cases a year.
"They end up here after going to the emergency
room," he said, Heins- explained that these cases, are the
result of violent actions that need medical , attention.
Many of these violent attempts would go unnoticed if
it were not for a friend or family member, Heins said. It
is rare that a person who has attempted suicide will seek
medical aid on his own, he added
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medical aid on his own, he added. ... ,
Hyde is fighting to put the gas nozzle
UQUI IMLU lIMUUIII UUMDUIMCIO I ICII IUD
By Marjie Lundstrom
At first glance, gas station row in Lincoln may look
typical of any city, but there is one thing missing-the
self-service station.
However, Harlow Hyde, a Lincoln independent candi
date for First District Congress says he will fight the
Lincoln City Council to put the nozzle back in gas
consumers' hands.
In 1967, the city council voted to outlaw self-service
gas stations in Lincoln by deleting a section of the
Uniform Fire Code that would permit them.
This action wa a "back door" way of prohibiting the
stations, Hyde said, and he would like to see the issue
placed on the ballot.
Self-service gas stations are not a fire hazard, he said,
because if they were, they would not be permitted under
the section of the Uniform Fire Code that the city council
deleted.
Lincoln Fire Chief pallas Johnson said he is neutral
on the issue, but added that the "fire record of self-service
stations is no better or no worse than regular gas
stations."
Hyjle said college students should be concerned with
the issue.
"I think college students would be up-in-arms about
this," Hyde said. "Idon't think students can affordto
spend any more money than is absolutely necessary for
gasoline."
National surveys have shown that self-service gas
stations are less expensive than other stations, he said. In
addition, self-service stations would improve the city's
overall economy, he said.
Consumers can make their own buying decisions, he
said, and the government should not "intervene."
?Tve got my own money, and I don't need any cotton
picking government telling me what I can and can't buy "
he said. "There still are plenty of full-service stations one
can use if he is so opposed to self-service stations."
Hyde said his Interest in the issue is not related to his
Congressional campaign.
- Nevertheless, City Council Chairman Richard Baker
said he believes the city council made the right decision,
and that Hyde is "looking for any issue he can put his '
hands on."
"I'm not convinced that self-service stations are in the
best interest of the city in safety points," Baker said.
Baker said he recently stopped at a self-senice station
in Abilene, Kan., and had a difficult time finding the
attendant.
"That attendant had no way of knowing if I was smok
ing or if I even knew what I was doing," Baker said.
"Gasoline is a very flammable liquid, and many people
don't know how to operate the pumps. I still ( don't
feel comfortable with them."
The city council has heard little opposition to the po
licy, Baker said.
"If there is such a demand for self-service, I'd like to
know where the people are because we haven't seen
them," he said, t
But Baker and other city council members probably
will hear more on the issue, Hyde said he already has
written the mayor and other public officials, and plans to
appear before the city council soon. 0
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Photo by Mark Diliingiley
Obsolete since 1967, the self-service sign-is a rare
sight in Lincoln. Congressional candidate Harlow
Hyde says he will fight the ban on local self-service
stations.