daily nebraskan
thursday, november 9, 1978 lincoln, nebraska vol. 102 no. 43
Fellow Democrats not helped by Exon Senate win
Analysis by L. Kent Wolgamott
Although he was swept into office by a
two to one majority, Nebraska Gov. J.
James Exon did not seem to have any coat
tails on which fellow Democrats could ride.
Exon's easy victory against Republican
Don Shasteen in the race for the U.S.
Senate and Rep. John Cavanaugh's re
election in the Omaha dominated 2nd Con
gressional District were the only glimmers
of hope for Democrats in a night which
may have marked the re-emergence of the
Republican party as the dominant force in
Nebraska politics.
Surprisingly comfortable GOP victories
were won by Rep. Charles Thone for the
governorship and by Douglas Bereuter in
the 1st Congressional District, to lead the
Republican effort.
Thone defeated his Democratic oppon
ent Lt. Gov. Gerald Whelan by more than
58,000 votes, carrying 81 of the state's
93 counties.
Omaha showing
He also had a very strong showing in
heavily Democratic Omaha, losing to
Whelan by a smaller than expected margin.
Although the Thone showing in Omaha
may have surprised the Democrats, it did
not shock Thone's running mate, Lt.
Gov. Roland Luedtke.
"I felt it (momentum) moving during
the last weekend of campaigning," Luedt
ke said. "I felt it moving our way, I was
talking to people for two hours at the UNO
game and at a parade in North Omaha."
The strong Thone showing in Omaha
probably aided Cavanaugh's Republican
opponent, Hal Daub, who ran much closer
to the incumbent than most had expected,
losing by less than 7,000 votes.
However, most observers feel Cavanaugh
has solidified his hold on the seat for
future elections.
Aided Bereuter
Thone's strong showing in the 1st Dis
trict, which he has represented for eight
years in Congress, also aided Bereuter in his
win over Democrat Hess Dyas.
Bereuter defeated Dyas by more than
27,000 votes, 58 percent of the votes cast.
He carried 25 of the 27 counties in the
district.
Dyas, who has now sought and lost
national office three times, Wednesday had
no announcement about his future political
plans.
Bereuter credited his victory to out
standing organization and volunteer effort.
A Bereuter campaign aide said Tuesday
night that efforts by the National Rifle
Association to assist Bereuter also had a
large positive effect on the Bereuter vic
tory, especially in the rural counties in the
district.
In the vast 3rd Congressional District,
incumbent Virginia Smith won the night's
biggest victory over her Democratic
challenger, Marilyn Fowler, receiving 80
percent of the vote, winning by more than
94,000 votes.
GOP control
Republicans also were returned to the
major constitutional offices in the State
house as Attorney General Paul Douglas,
Secretary of State Allen Beermann, State
Treasurer Frank Marsh and State Auditor
Ray A.C. Johnson won easily over their
Democratic opponents, giving the GOP
complete control of the major state offices.
Nebraskans also rejected all three initia
tive measures offered on the ballot Tues
day, defeating increased state aid to edu
cation, the bottle bill and the five
percent limit on local government
spending. Large campaigns caused the de
mise of two of the measures.
The aid to education proposal was
placed on the back burner earlier this year
when supporters of the measure to
place the limit on local spending gathered
enough signatures to put it on the ballot.
This forced state education associations
to devote most of their resources to
fighting the limit rather than supporting
state aid.
However, the strategy proved to be
wise, as the limit favored in many pre
election polls, lost by 45 to 55 percent.
Anti-lid campaign
The anti-lid campaign was primarily
carried out on a local level and did not de
pend on statewide advertising.
However, the campaign against the
bottle bill, which was also heavily favored
in pre-election polls, operated in the op
posite manner, as a high budgeted state
wide ad campaign urged Nebraskans to
vote against the proposal, which they did,
almost two to one.
Proponents claimed the campaign was
misleading and filed charges with the
state Sunshine Commission which has a
year to reach a decision on the matter.
The Nebraska results seem to fit a pat
tern of GOP strength in the Midwest.
Republicans captured both Senate seats
in longtime Democratic stronghold Minne
sota and also captured the governorship,
striking a decimating blow to the
Democratic-Farmer-Labor party of the late
Sen. Hubert Humphrey.
Democrat's upset
Republicans also upset Democratic in
cumbent Senators Dick Clark in Iowa and
Floyd Haskell in Colorado.
They also filled three seats being
vacated by retiring senators with the
victories of Larry Pressler in South Dakota,
Nancy Landon Kassebaum in Kansas and
Al Simpson in Wyoming.
The GOP also picked up the statehouse
in South Dakota.
Overall, Republicans gained three seats
in the Senate and 1 2 seats in the House of
Representatives, according to the Associa
ted Press.
They also appeared to gain seven
governorships nationwide, according to
A.P.
However, Democrats will still maintain
their overwhelming majorities in both
the Senate and the House.
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Photo by Marie Billingsley
Listen guys. You either play by my rules or you don't play at all.
Ruptured power line leaves both campuses in the dark
By Kris Hansen
Ruptured insulation lines caused a 20
minute power outage on both UNL cam
puses Wednesday.
Frank Grant of the Lincoln Electric
System said insulation blew up at the
substation at 8th and J streets, which in
turn shorted out four other stations and
the feeder line to the university.
The outage, from 10:55 to 11:15 ajn
affected the area from Holdrege to South
streets and 2nd to 16th streets, Grant said.
This included both campuses, as well as
downtown Lincoln.
"We don't know why it went," Grant
said, 'it could be weathering, age -it's
some problem in the insulation which
caused it to short."
The sub -transmission station carried
34,500 volts of electricity, Grant said.
Trapped in elevator
Three students were trapped in
residence hall elevators during the outage.
Two, trapped in the Harper elevator, were
rescued almost immediately, according to
Harper Maintenance Manager Fred Osten.
The other, stuck on the Abel elevator,
had to wait for the electricity to come
back on to be released.
A fire alarm went off at the East
Campus dairy store because of the short
circuit. Production halted while employees
evacuated, one worker said,ut there were
no major effects on production.
Computers were inactive for over an
hour and a half because of the outage.
Susan Frank of the computer center, said it
took about an hour to charge the machines
up again after the power came back on.
While the programs already in the
computers were not affected, Frank said,
partially entered programs would have to
be redone. She also noted the sudden
power loss was hard on the machines since
more time usually is taken to turn them
off.
No problems
The University Health Center reported
no problems other than slight inconveni
ences from the power outage. The center
has a back-up power source which handled
all the necessary areas, one official said.
No problems with research were
reported in the Life Sciences department,
although there were some difficulties
getting around in the building.
"It might be too early to tell." said
Suzanne Prather, life science assistant
professor. "It's one of these things with
after effects that you find out about later."
Prather also said that, since she was in
the windowless interior of the building, she
had to use a cigarette lighter to find her
way around.
inside thursday
Say what? Election commissioner
refutes ASUN contention
page 3
Sounds of silence: Mime lets per
formance speak for him. . . .page 8
Boom yer Sooner: UNL football
seniors looking forward to a final
shot at Oklahoma page 10