tuesday, january 27, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 12
NU no-alconol rule to be studied bv committee
By Patty Pryor . . ,
While sonic residence hall directors and
student assistants favor a change in NU's
no-alcohol policy, at least one UNL admin
istrator is predicting the continuation of a
dry campus.
Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor for
student affairs, said, "The living units (on
campus) are not an appropriate place for
alcohol to be present."
If alcohol is allowed in residence halls,
he said, the drinking would become more
obvious, and those students who don't
drink might be offended or uncomfortable.
The proximity of the downtown area,
where a number of bars are located, should
lessen the need for allowing alcohol on
campus, he added.
The official condoning of the presense
of alcohol would lead to probable abuse,
he said, especially among minors.
"There would be real difficulty in en
forcing (the legal drinking age)," he said.
"It would become an extra step" for stu
dent assistants and residence directors.
Armstrong said he thinks the basis for
the regents' policy was the feeling that
allowing students to drink is not consistent
with the purpose of a university.
Regents opposed
"The Board of Regents is very adamant
about this." he said. "I don't know of any
item that's more sensitive to them."
Fven though NU is one of only a few
universities in the Big Fight with a no-
alcohol policy, Armstrong said th.-ir
almost beside the point when one is dealing
with the regents' personal feelings.
Still, the policy's effectiveness is
questionable by some. Mike Connery,
Harper Hall residence director, said 20 per
cent of the students in that hall were
written up for alcohol possession during
the first semester.
"With reasonable certainty, you can say
SO percent (of the residents) drink in the
dorms." he said. "A lot of it is done quiet-
iy"
Connery said he sees the possibility of
serious drinking problems developing
among students.
"A good number get caught up in it and
become obsessed with it." he said. "A lot
of freshmen adopt an alcohol mentality,
and drinking becomes a real mindless thing.
They're not even thinking about it."
Connery said he believed the no-alcohol
policy plays a role in forming this attitude
and adds to the problem.
"There's probably a lot of people who
drink because they're not allowed to." he
said.
is
'It makes it much more exciting to have
to sneak a few cans in under your jacket.
The fact that you might get caught adds to
the excitement," he said.
Connery said abolishing the policy prob
ably would improve the situation, and
couldn't make it any worse.
Problems not foreseen
From previous experience, he said
allowing alcohol in residence halls really
doesn't present any problems.
"If people are allowed to drink, they're
not going to drink as much," he said.
"I'd rather take my chances with letting
it allowed. We should deal more responsib
ly with students, rather than playing cops
and robbers with them all the time.
"If you treat someone as a mature indi
vidual, they'll respond as a mature indivi
dual," he said.
Jim Travis, residence director in Abel
Hall, said he has not encountered any ser
ious problem with violaters of the current
policy.
The alcohol is poured out. he said, and
a report is sent to the residence director
about the incident. For first offenses, the
director sends a letter to the parties in
volved, and sometimes has a conference
to discuss the violation.
While Travis has not had much diffi
culty in dealing with students who are
caught, he said he thinks there is "pretty
widespread violation of the policy."
"We're not out looking for anybody,"
he said. "But when it's so well-known how
much violation of the policy there is, just
how effective is it?"
On football Saturday's, people come in
and get "disgustingly drunk" on university
property, especially in parking lots near
Harper Mall, Travis said.
Both Travis and Connery agreed that
housing staffs make a real effort to enforce
consistently the policy, but when the
police do not enforce it outside the resi
dence halls, Connery said, it creates a tre
mendous amount of disrespect for the law
among students.
"A lot of credibility is lost," he said,
adding this feeling among students reaches
into other areas as a result.
"Students have no trust in the state, in
the police, or in the school." he said. "I've
never seen students who have as much dis
trust as here."
Football Saturday problems
Armstrong said that after the problem
on football Saturdays was brought to his
attention, notices were printed reminding
campus visitors of the state law. The
notices were distributed in parking lots
west of Harper Hall and outside University
roiice Headquarters.
"It's not accurate to say the police were
doing nothing," he added.
Patrolling police cars intercepted the
tailgate parties, he said, and asked them to
stop. Citations were given only when a con
frontation resulted, he said.
A committee of students and staff mem
bers is studying the possibility of changing
NU's no-alcohol policy.
Bill Flack, a senior physics major who
heads the committee, said the group cur
rently is preparing a survey to determine
patterns of alcohol use and abuse on cam
pus, but he added that any plans at this
stage are only tentative.
"We intend to use the survey as
evidence of the ineffectiveness of the cur
rent DollCV. he said. t (the nresent
policy) does nothing to foster responsible
drinking."
The Lincoln Council on Alcoholism and
Drugs provided nine of the survey ques
tions. Flack said, which deal with the
effects of drinking habits in areas like
studies, friends and family relationships.
The survey also will inquire about the
frequency and amount of drinking by
students and the number of minors
involved.
The committee is seeking advice from
the Sociology Department, he said, to help
ensure that results are as accurate as
possible. Some changes might be made in
the survey if any recommendations are
made by the department.
Continued on Page 3
&&H oil
L i i
Photo by Jon Natvig
A Coliseum usher and University police officers Henry Gourdin and Tim Tolle
try in vain to get the name of this lost girl at the Missouri-Nebraska basketball
game Saturday. The incident ended happily when her mother rescued her back
to the stands for the remainder of the game.
State legislators propose salary increase plans
By Patti Gallagher
State senatois are once again talking
about pay increase for themselves.
The monthly salary for a legislator is
$400. Consider the month of February
to determine an hourly wage: $400 divided
by 1(0 hours (4 weeks at 40 hours each)
comes to $2.50 per hour.
That $2.50 is further reduced, accord
ing to at least two state senators, when you
consider most in-session weeks far exceed
40 hours. The estimate of Sen. Vard John
son of Omaha puts the legislative salary
at about 15 cents per hour.
That. Johnson said, can lead to a souv
enir legislature."
"If only persons who have done fairly
well economically" can afford to run for
a seat, "the composition f the legislature
doesn't refelct the make-up of the state."
Thus: LB 138. Johnson's bill proposes
a constitutional amendment be brought
before the voters in the 1982 elections to
raise the legislative salary to not more
than one-third of the governor's.
If the bill were in effect today, state
senators would be paid SI 3.333. a third
of Gov. Charles Thone's $40,000 annual
slary.
Johnson said the bill will be passed bv
the legislature because most senators sup
port a salary increase.
Voter approval needed
The trouble, he said, is getting voter
approval. Because the current $400 salary
is part of the Nebraska constitution, it
can only be changed by a majority vote in
the next election. That is where it has been
defeated in the past.
In addition to tilting the composition
of the Legislature to more wealthy persons,
Johnson said, the salary contributes to the
tremendous turnover of senators.
And although the three-year member
say s he enjoys his position, because of the
"gross unfairness in asking state legislat
ors to give a significant amount of their
time. . . .and still receive $400 a month,"
the day may come when he will say, "The
heck with this business." and turn to some
thing more financially lucrative.
LB416, sponsored by Sen. Sam Cullan
of Hemingford, also proposes a salary in
crease. Cullan's bill asks for a doubling of
the wage, to S800 per month.
Cullan said he used the Consumer Price
Index in preparing his bill.
Salary figure compromise
"If legislative salaries kept up with the
Consumer Price Index, we would be mak
ing in excess of $ 1 ,000 per month," Cullan
said. The $800 figure was a compromise,
he said.
Also included in Cullan's bill is a pro
posal to restrict bill introduction in the 60
day session to three per senator. There is
currently no limit in either the short ses
sion or the 90-day session.
LB416 would also increase the member
ship of the legislature from 50 to 60.
All three parts of LB416 would require
voter approval, according to Cullan, be
cause all are currently part of the state
constitution.
Sen. Bernice Labedz is sponsoring a
third bill to change the legislative salary.
LB531 would amend the constitution to
read that the salary not exceed the amount
provided by law.
This would allow senators to set their
own salaries and to be open to debate
during each session.
If passed, Labcdz's amendment would
go before the voters in the 1982 genera
elections.
A fourth bill to change the salary is
sponsored by the Constitution Revision
and Recreation Committee. LB474 provid
es that a seven-member Legislative Comp
ensation Commission make salary recom
mendations at the beginning of each leg
islative session.
The recommendation could not ex
ceed the median family income in Neb
raska under the bill and would be sub
ject to approval by the legislature.
If the recommended salary adjustment
were accepted, it would become effective
in the following session.
The fast lane: Sen. Ernie Chambers wants a
65 mph speed limit on Nebraska's inter
state page 2
A Neo-CIassic Experience: Jazz-based band
finds television taping a rewarding out
,et Page 6
An Easy Victory: Husker Wrestling Coach
Bob Fehrs says UNL should have little
trouble defeating Northwest Missouri
State tonight page 7