thursday, january 25, 1979
lincoln, nebraska vol. 102 no. 67
Student group advocates publicly funded abortions
By Shelley Smith
The support of publicly funded abortions is an appro
priate action for an association which represents students
in the United States, according to the executive director
of the United States Student Association (USSA).
Frank Viggiano, 25, the director of USSA since
September and a former president of the National Stu
dents Association, told about 40 students Wednesday
afternoon that even though no one knows how all U.S.
students stand on abortion, elected representatives who
serve as USSA delegates can present the views of the
majority.
The National Student Association (NSA) and the Na
tional Student Lobby (NSL) merged to form the USSA
in August.
Delegates all over
It is composed of delegates from every state university
and college in the United States, and each pays dues, ac
cording to ASUN president and UNL delegate to USSA,
Ken Marienau.
According to Marienau, ASUN pays $275 a year to the
USSA from student fees and receives benefits such as
speakers and monthly literature.
Viggiano claims that "students are more than just stu
dents" and stands on social issues involving students
should be voiced.
He said he felt the student body president acts as a
"fair representation of his constitutents."
"That's why they're elected and used as delegates-to
bring what they feel the students think," he said.
In the past three years, USSA supported abortion
causes and the public funding of abortion, opposed capital
punishment and supported rights for homosexuals.
No stand
Marienau said that when he ran for ASUN president
he never took a stand on these issues. He also said the
ASUN senate had never taken a vote on these issues.
The platform, adopted by the USSA in 1978,
supported legalized and public funded abortion, and sup
ported ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Viggiano said while the association felt that education
al issues should "always take preference," at least 60 per
cent of the delegates at the national meeting voted to
adopt the platform supporting these social issues.
Marienau said it was early in the morning when the
platform was discussed and people were worried about
being able to adopt a platform at all.
Quorum loss
"We were in jeopardy of losing a quorum so we voted
to adopt the platform as is and then amend it," he said.
According to Marienau, a delegate then called for ad
journment and the meeting was forced to end.
"I had a bunch of amendments to propose," he said.
"But after the adjournment USSA executives assured us
there would be no lobbying on social issues," he said.
However, Viggiano said he never made the statement
and some lobbying on abortion has been done.
"We do have one staff member working on the issue.
She is paid by national abortion rights committee, but is a
member of our staff," he said.
Well read
He added there was a lot of discussion on abortion
prior to passing the platform and said he felt the dele
gates were "well read" on the issue.
Viggiano said the USSA doesn't claim to represent all
the students, "just to work for the consensus."
"Whatever they (USSA) vote, I have to go along with,
no matter what my personal opinion is. It's the way a de
mocratic system works," he said.
However, the by-laws of the USSA state. that they
"shall express the hopes, aspirations and commitment of
all students in the United States of America."
Marienau argued that many of the stands on social
issues passed in the last three years shouldn't have been.
Controversial issues
"I feel the USSA has the right to consider them (social
issues) but it's not necessary to take a stand on the more
controversial issues," he said.
He did say he felt that as ASUN president he can
legitimately take a stand on social issues because he is an
elected representative.
"No one lives in a void. We can't be expected to con
tain ourselves within a shell. There are other issues which
come into consideration. I did not take a stand on any
issue that did not involve students," he said.
He added that even though the USSA does claim to
represent students, "no one is naive enough to think that
every student supports abortion."
Draw conclusions
"Anyone can draw any kind of conclusion that he sees.
A number of delegates wanted to see an educational plat
form passed and it was at the expense of supporting pro
abortion etc. It will not happen again," he said.
f -
Photo by Bob Pearson
USDA Director Frank Viggiano
Also, Viggiano said, the USSA owes about $19,000 in
back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. He said the
debt was a carry over from 1975 when the National Stu
dent Association was on "President Nixon's bad list."
"We were on a program which enabled us to get tax
deductable grants. We fought to keep that status and
spend close to $50,000 in legal fees, and lost. So we had
additional taxes on income," he said.
Debt reduced
He said the debt has been reduced since 1975 and they
expect to pay the remainder within a short period of time.
In 1968, the NSA was also exposed as being partially
funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. Viggiano
explained that it wasn't a "secret dealing."
"When the revelation was made it was made internally
by the NSA to Ramparts magazine. It was a good revela
tion in terms of getting the CIA out of the NSA," he said.
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Photo by Bob Pearson
Is this the latest in graduate student projects? Graduate student Tim Kingsley
and several other Selleck graduate students put the final touches on their latest
endeavor, a snow dragon.
Pioneer class to rough it
Be prepared for a good deal of expo
sure to the sun, heat, cold, dust, and dirt.
We will have very long days, sometimes
meeting well into the evening. Sanitary
conditions will be crude at best. . . There
will be strange food and water. . .1 suggest
that you bring along something for sun
burn and mosquitos, a good shade hat,
rugged clothes, very tough shoes. . .and, if
you want, something to sit on.
It may sound like a recruitment ad for
jungle mercenaries, but the paragraph
above is actually an excerpt from a UNL
course description. The course is not, as
one might expect, "Introduction to Camp
ing for the masochistic."
It isn't even in the physical education
department. It's a summer workshop entit
led, "The Plains Pioneer Experience" under
the direction of Roger Welsch, Associate
Professor of English and Anthropology.
Plains authors discussed
The workshop will take place outdoors
in Howard County in central Nebraska.
The writings of Willa Cather, Wright
Morris, Marie Sandoz, John G. Neihardt
and other authors who depicted life on the
prairie will be discussed.
"You can teach Cather and Sandoz in
doors and outdoors," said Welsch. "I prefer
outdoors. It's so difficult to talk about 'the
red grass' or 'the sea of grasses' sitting in
the basement of Andrews Hall. It's so
much better sitting in the grass."
He pointed out that it's much easier to
understand how the author felt when stu
dents are "in the context" as opposed to in
the classroom. He has taught the course se
veral times before and his goals for it have
changed with his experience, he said.
Originally Welsch had hoped to simulate
the life of the pioneers by staying on the
grounds at the Stuhr Museum in Grand Is
land and imitating the pioneer lifestyle.
"But we've changed too much," he said.
"We're not capable of the same life as the
pioneers. . .We're not up to it physically or
intellectually."
His new aim is "stimulation instead of
simulation," he said. For example, describ
ing the death of Crazy Horse while stand
ing on the place where it actually occured
evokes a stronger reaction than simply
reading the passage in a classroom, Welsch
said.
Students will meet only for five days in
June, but the classes will be daylong and
grueling, he said. "It's hard for people who
are 20th century products to spend eight
Continued on Page 2
thursday
Bye, bye American Pie: Jesse Colin
Young's new album has a red,
white and blue flair page 8
Later, Sooners: Huskers stay in the
Big Eight basketball race with cru
cial win over Oklahoma. . .page 10
Paper money: Legislative aides devise
a conservation plan for Legisla
tive waste page 1 1
