The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 12, 1979, Page page 8, Image 8

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    page 8
dally nebraskan
frlday, October 12, 1979
Professor
: Legislators too busy
By Wayde Wrlch
Time, information and staffs of state legislators can be
useful If used and managed properly, according to a
nationally recognized political scientist.
In a speech before Nebraska state legislators, Alan
Rosenthal, professor of political science at Rutgers Uni
versity, said many legislatures are so busy with large
amounts of information they are unable to find what they
need,
"Some legislators have too much staff and are finding
out the staff is making more work for them," said
Rosenthal, director of the Eagleton Institute or Politics.
"It should be the job of the staff to figure out what
information is relevant to the concerns of the legislators."
Rosenthal said time Is also an Important factor in legis
lation, "Full time sessions give the members no time.
They are being pulled 110 different ways and have no
1
FOLK
Jerry Rail & Jan Marra
Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th
COUNTRY
Sally Cowan
Monday the 15th and Tuesday the 6th
FOLK
Kelly & Erin McGovern
Wednesday the 17th
TRADITIONAL JAZZ
Del Whitcomb Trio
Thursday the 18th
121 NO. 14th
474-9394
0 0 o
I 0 o o
J1
i
time to think "he said.
Instead or Increasing the lengths of. the sessions, he
said, senators should use extra time to oversee possible
new ideas and formulate possible legislation.
"Mostly, they need time to think,"
Rosenthal said there are three ways to run a legislature:
ignore problems and hope they go away, Increase time,
Information, and staff every time there is a problem or
employ management skills to use existing Information und
staff effectively.
"The senators should have a better supervision and
management of their staff and better control or the Influx
of information."
Rosenthal, author of "Politics in New Jersey, said one
thing not to do is copy other legislatures. "What is good
for Minnesota may not be good for Florida, What is good
for Wisconsin may not be good for Ncbraska-and nothing
works for New Jersey "he said.
Rosenthal said he could not offer specific' Information
to Nebraska legislature but gave general information from
observations of legislatures nationwide,
"From what Pve seen, Nebraska's Legislature is doing a
good job of holding down legislation," he said. "States
like California and New York are passing so much legisla
tion that they have no Idea what laws they are making and
what these laws are doing to their state,"
4 Rosenthal said Legislatures are using Information from
companies to limit those companies,
"Businesses. arc spending most of their time justifying
their movements and are finding It hard to run their
businesses,"
Rosenthal said if the staffs would become information
brokers and pass on only information that is really
needed, senators' jobs would be much easier.
Rosenthal was invited to Lincoln as part of a Legisla
tive Council Seminar for state legislators. The seminar was
a program on the better use of legislative staffing,
V(j(3Dilj(o(3
8 a.m.' 10 a.m, -Commission on Status of Women,
Room 216,
10:30 a.m.l:30 p.m .-Bowling Exams, The Rostrum,
1 pMA pji. -Muslim Student Association, Room
401,
1 p,m,4 p,m,-Student Y Ja Group, South Crib,
1 p.m,8:'30 pjvu-Chl Alpha Campus Ministry, Room
402.
UPC City Art Print Sale, Main Lounge
Marshal warns
about false alarms
Dy Rich Jurgcns
Dormitory residents may cry wolf once too often,
said State Fire Marshal Wally Barnett,
This week is National Fire Prevention Week, and
although UNL buildings don't have any major prob
lems, the dormitories do, Barnett said, lie said there
has been an increased number of fire calls reported
by dormitories that arc cither false alarms or small
fires set by students.
Barnett said dormitory students should start re
porting the names of people who start small fires.
"Kids up there (dormitories) had better get
Involved. If they don't, they (firemen) may be
carrying them out, and It won't be because we
didn't try to tell them," said Barnett.
Barnett said there was no state law that says the
fire department must answer every call.
However, Barnett said the problem with dormi
tory fires probably would continue until there Is a
serious fire, where someone doesn't get out in time,
then "all hell will break loose."
Barnett said people become conscious about lire
safety when it directly affects them. For Instance,
he said, the lire at Hickman where two children
were killed made the residents there aware of fire
safety. But he said that concern would wear off as
time passes.
Fire safety should be practiced 52 weeks a year,
Barnett said. This week Is spent stressing fire safety
and honoring firemen who have died on duty.
Barnett said there were no major fire hazards in
the UNL buildings. If there were safety hazards,
they wouldn't be opened, he said.
The buildings with chemical labs are watched
closely, he said, because they deal with potential
fire hazards.
Two weeks before the semester began, Hamilton
Hall was given 48 hours to cleanup the large
numbers of chemicals sitting around before classes
could be held there, Barnett said.
He said Hamilton Hall is still checked once a
week because of the number of bomb threats re
ported last year.
In 1969, Avery Hall was closed until fire escapes
and exit doors were installed, Barnett said.
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