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fridav, march 28, 1980
lincoln, nebraska vol. 104, no. 55
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Simon, DeCamp hope to -amend paraphernalia bill
By Gordon Johnson
Sens. Neil Simon of Omaha and John DeCamp of
Ncligh announced Thursday that they will attempt to
amend the ban-the-bong bill to make it more workable.
The proposed amendment would strike most of the ori
ginal bill and allow adults 18 and over to buy parapherna
lia. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Patrick Venditte of Omaha,
said he is opposed to the proposed amendment. He said
he has eno.ugh votes to pass the original bill.
"It is the most ludicrous amendment I have ever seen,"
Venditte said.
Venditte said he has more than 30 votes for his bill
and that he may have as many as 35.
"I'll guaraniee it's over 30," he said. "I would bet my
right arm."
Terry Ford, an administrative aide to Simon, said the
original bill was unworkable and would only give police
problems with enforcement.
"When 991 came up, we looked at that piece of gar
bage and said it wasn't workable," Ford said.
According to an opinion prepared by the attorney
general's office, the bill might be unconstitutional, Ford
said.
However, Venditte disagreed. He said LB991 is the
same as a bill prepared by the U.S. Department of
Justice. The constitutionality of the bill has been upheld
in many states, he added.
"They talk about my bill being unconstitutional.
That's a cop out," Venditte said.
Ford said that the new amendment was the result of
meetings with parents, law enforcement officals, teachers
and people involved in drug education.
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Flyin' north
Photo by Jerry McBride
A lone sandhill crane en route to Nebraska is silhouetted against the
early morning sun. The cranes, which stand more than three feet high
and weigh about eight pounds, fly non-stop from Texas to Nebraska,
where they rest before starting another non-stop flight to Canada. The
cranes, along with ducks and geese, have been traveling through
Nebraska for almost a month.
Other provisions of the proposed amendment would
require stores selling paraphernalia to be at least 100
meters from schools ana playgrounds, Ford said.
Anyone selling drug paraphernalia would be required
to buy a tobacco license and display drug education
material. Money obtained from the sales of tobacco li
censes to the shops selling paraphernalia would be ear
marked for drug education in Nebraska schools, he said.
Ford said the language of the original bill was too
broad. In one instance, a bong might be considered para
hernalia and in another it might not, he said.
"We figured it would drive the cops crazy trying to
figure out when something is illegal and when it isn't,"
he said.
Remaining in the bill is a section that would make
illegal possession of paraphernalia a class III misdemeanor.
Venditte said he hopes the bill will come up for floor
debate next week.
Legislature passes
drug penalty bill
The Legislature Thursday passed LB696, which would
increase penalties for sale and possession of hazardous
drugs.
The bill, which was introduced by the Judiciary Com
mittee and passed with a vote of 44-0, added hashish to
the list of controlled drugs and redefined exceptionally
hazardous drugs:
Defined under the bill as hazardous drugs are any nar
cotics, PCP or -angel dust, amobarbital, scobarbital and
pentobarbital. - . V
Anyone caught in possession of hashish or other excep
tionally hazardous drugs would be charged with a class II
felony compared with a class III felony under the old
statutes.
A class II felony sets a maximum sentence of 50 years
, in prison and a minimum sentence of one year. The
maximum sentence under a class III felony twenty years
and the minimum is one year in prison.
Also included in LB696 is a section which would allow
theft charges to be filed if one fails to return rented pro
perty before the rental time has expired.
The bill would require that the rented property be re
turned within 10 days after the rental contract expires.
However, before charges can be filed, the person
renting the property must be notified by certified mail
that the lease has expired.
Five Year Plan outlines Union renovation concept
By Patti Gallagher
The concept of renovating the Nebraska Union has
been a chain reaction, which ended Wednesday night at
the Nebraska Union. Board meeting with the presentation
of the Five Year Plan.
Two years ago, the Touche Ross management audit ser
vice set the wheels in motion with detailed recommenda
tions for improvements in the unions. Combined with a
Student Research Institute survey analyzing specific
union acility use, the board concluded that building reno
vation had become mandatory for its financial life.
In May of 1979, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Richard Armstrong requested that the Nebraska Union
Planning Committee undertake the task of completing a
long term improvement plan.
After more than 10 months of work and several draft
ings, the Five Year Plan was produced.
70-page plan
The nearly 70-page plan, written by planning commit
tee chairman and past union board president John
Kreuscher, outlines suggestions for major physical renova
tion of the city union.
It was submitted to the union board Wednesday night,
and the board will evaluate it before forwarding recom
mendations to Armstrong and Union Director Daryl
Swanson. .
The major points of the Five Year Plan include con
verting the North Crib into a fast food operation, consoli
dating the University Bookstore into one unit and trans
ferring its ownership to the unions, eliminating the bowl
ing alley and expanding the Daily Nebraskan office.
With money from revenue bonds and earned income
the unions will finance the project over a five year span at
an estimated cost of $1,979,100. Kreuscher said he used
conservative figures in compiling the report, and included
a 10 percent inflation rate.
"Without such a plan it would be inevitable that the
building would fall into further disrepair," Kreuscher said.
'Two million project"
"It is a $2 mUlion project," he said, "but I think it will
be $2 million well spent."
Kreuscher said the renovations would not incur any
additional costs to students, the long range goal of the
plan being to decrease fees with a more efficient facility.
"Student fees would not go up under the implementa
tions of the Five Year Plan," he said. The plan will "in
crease income producing area, (of the unions), directly
affecting students by reducing fees."
The union board will be considering the plan over the
next two weeks and continue discussions on it during
their next meeting April 9.
The board received a financial summary of the unions
from July 1 to December 31 of 1979. Hie report included
increase and decrease percentages, comparing the period
to the same time of 1978.
Sales increase
A summation of all union departments, including food
services, recreation, Campus Activities and Programs,
North and South desk sales, house operations and admin
istrative costs, produced an increase in Gross Product
Sales of 6 percent.
The all-department figure for Other Income Sources
(excluding University Program and Facilities Fees)
increased by 35 percent. According to Nebraska Union
Board President Maynard Krantz, this large increase is due
to a change in accounting procedures. In dealing with a
smaller base figure, any increase will be represented by
higher percentages, he added.
The total labor and employee benefit expense increas
ed by 9 percent, total operating expenses were reported
up 3 percent, and adjusted net income increased 36 per
cent according to the report.
Continued on Page 1 1
They'd rather go south: Animals at zoos weather the
winter in the most unusual ways Page 6
What a break: Columnist describes excuses for not writing
a paper over spring break Page 8
Breaking tradition: UNL gymnastics team may be first
host team to win national meet Page 10