daily nebraskan
Wednesday, October 25, 1978 lincoln, nebraska vol. 102 no. 34
Reagan has 'foot in door of 1980 presidental race
By L. Kent Wolgamott
Omaha-Former California Governor
Ronald Reagan has "not closed the door"
on running for president in 1980, but said
it is too early to make a decision about the
race.
Reagan, appearing at an Omaha press
conference before a fund-raising dinner,
said any announcement of a 1980 candi
dacy would have to come after the Novem
ber election, probably in 1979.
He said he expected several candidates
to compete for the GOP nomination but
refused to comment on who he felt would
be the strongest opponent.
Reagan said he is not changing his po
sitions on issues in order to present a more
moderate image. "The middle of the road
is where people get run over," he said.
"Politics is a world of image building,"
Reagan said. "I have an image of almost
eating my young."
Progressive gains
But Reagan said that once people find
out more about his record as governor they
don't feel that way and pointed to the
elimination of income tax on incomes of
less than $8,000 a year, conjugal prison
visits, mental retardation programs and
minority hiring as progressive gains made
while he was governor.
Reagan said Republicans should be re
alistic and not expect large Congressional
gains in this year's election.
He also said Democrats have been using
the traditional Republican issue of a tax
cut to their advantage this year.
"I'm well aware that Democrats have a
great gift for stealing the other party's
rhetoric," Reagan said. "But it doesn't
make any difference in policies."
For example, he said the tax cut bill,
supported by President Carter and passed
by Congress does not really provide a tax
cut but "only reduces a little" the tax in
creases for next year.
Republicans,, on the other hand, "keep
on foolishly saying what we mean," Rea
. gan said.
Balancing the budget
Reagan said he did not think Democrats
are doing what is necessary to combat in
flation, which he said is "caused by govern
ment spending more than it takes in" and
"will go away" when the budget is
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
Ronald Reagan
balanced."
He said inflation is caused by govern
ment deficit spending of borrowed money
from the private sector of the economy
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Daily Nebraskan photo
This barn was raised last year after it fell and crushed Dorothy and Toto too. Ruby slippers were found in the loft.
Society simulation game practiced in class
By Denice Smee
There is a class on campus which a stu
dent can start a dictatorial regime, own an
industry or get on welfare.
Actually, the class simulates the situa
tions. It is the Political Science 100H class
taught by Richard Weissman.
In this class, Weissman said he uses a
simulated society game where the class is
divided into four groups. Each group has
allocated resources ' except one, the red
group, which becomes the welfare class.
Weissman said the rules of the game
are vague so the students have to make up
many of the rules as they play.
this is because "in society we have to
make our own," he explained.
"I take as little part as possible," he
said.
"You have to make it clear you have to
play the game seriously or it won't be a
fruitful exercise."
Organize themselves
The students organize themselves in the
society the way they want to, he said. This
may mean the rise of a dictator or a demo
cracy. In any case, the students of the three
groups with resources soon learn that they
have to do something about the red group
or the society will not last, Weissman said.
But, the students do not just play games
all semester, he said. The game only lasts
for three or four sessions or until the
students decide what to do with the -red
group and learn how to handle their own
positions, or the society falls apart, which
ever comes first.
Then, Weissman said, he gives an exer
cise at the end of the game which helps to
tie it with real life.
The rest of the semester is spent looking
at society, he said.
Often students can relate something
that happened in the game to a problem in
society, helping them to reach a better
understanding.
Other advantages of the simulation in
clude showing students how leadership
develops since natural leaders form in each
of the groups and why voters become
apathetic, especially in the red group, he
said.
Breaks down tension
Finally, the simulation game helps to
break down tensions between students
which make future class discussions more
relaxed, Weissman said.
Twenty-two students participated in
this semester's game, he said, although it
works better with 35 or 40 students.
Weissman said he has used this game last
spring on his Political Science 100 class and
once at the University of Georgia.
Weissman, who is visiting UNL from the
University of Georgia, wfll offer the simu
lation game again next rpring in his class.
He said students who are interested should
read the course descriptions put out by the
political science department.
He said the honors students who played
the game this semester tended to get into
the game quicker and were "more aggres
sive and more confident."
Two students in the class both said they
enjoyed the game, and thought they
learned a lot from it, but wished it woulu
last longer.
Back-stabbing
Glen Thomas, a freshman pre-law busi
ness economics major, said, at first, the
game was characterized by back-stabbing
among players and high competition.
Chris Thompson, a freshman broadcast
ing major, was described by Thomas as
"probably the richest guy in the class."
Thompson said he did not know how he
made so much money. He just "fell into
it."
Another simulation course on interna
tional terrorism will be offered next spring
by several cross-referenced courses includ
ing history, political science and econo
mics, said Les Duly, professor of history.
It will be offered in conjunction with
classes from Wayne State, Kearney State
and the University of South Dakota, Duly
s ltd .
The class still is in the planning stages,
so the actual type of simulation to be used
is not known, he said.
"There is a lot of literature coming out
about terrorism," he said, "so well be
introducing students to the future."
and printing money, because as the
"money supply is increased by green
backs (the term used for inflated, useless
dollars in the Civil War era)" the value of
the money already in the economy
decreases.
Voluntary guidelines to control infla
tion will not work, Reagan said, because
high wages and high prices are the result of
inflation, not the causes.
He said inflation could be stopped by
balancing the budget immediately and to
say that the budget cannot be balanced
'just isn't honest."
He said the federal budget deficit is
around $40 billion which is less than 10
percent of the total budget, and said he did
not know of any major corporation which
could not tighten its budget by 10 percent.
Cut waste
The government could cut down on
fraud, waste administrative overhead and
fat and put a freeze on government hiring
in order to balance the budget, Reagan
said.
Reagan's trip to Nebraska, which in
cluded stops in Scottsbluff and Omaha,
was paid for by Citizens for the Republic,
a group he heads which assists Republican
candidates across the country.
He said CFR contributed to almost the
entire slate of Republican candidates in
Nebraska.
But Reagan said the emergence of a
strong Democratic party in Nebraska is a
good thing as "the two party system is
what we are trying to preserve," and said
Democratic gains in traditionally Repub
lican states like Nebraska are being offset
by GOP gains in the traditionally Demo
cratic south.
Reagan's campaign tour will take him to
New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New York
and Ohio before he returns to California.
Technician hurt
in fall from pole
A high voltage technician at the
UNL power plant is reported in fair
condition at Bryan Memorial Hospi
tal with possible back injuries and
compound fractures after he tumbled
30 feet from a power pole when the
pole broke Monday afternoon.
Darrell Adams, 51, Rural Route
Davey, had climbed the pole to dis
mantle the power lines, because a
crew intended to bury the wires
underground.
According to Norman Kreps, a co
worker, the pole had rotted just
underground where the crew could
not see it. Kreps said when the pole
snapped, Adams landed on his back,
and the pole fell on top of him.
Adams is reportedly suffering multi
ple fractures above his left knee, and
possibly a crushed or broken back,
although doctors have not yet deter
mined the extent of his back injuries.
The incident occurred on the
north side of the poultry complex on
east campus, and Adams fell in a
grassy area, according to Kreps.
Adams became an employee of the
university power plant less then a
year ago.
inside
Wednesday
The Great Pumpkin arrives in time
for Halloween: Pumpkins have an
interesting history page 14
Tis a funny tale, for true: Playboy
of the Western World plays at
Howell Theatre page 16
Casey at the bat: Several old-time
World Series players from
Nebraska discuss their experi
ences page 1 8