tuesday, february 3, 1981
daily nebraskan
page 3
Helping people is main reward for Omaha senator
By Patti Gallagher
When Marge Higgins says the most rewarding aspect of
being a state senator is "getting involved and helping peo
ple with their problems," it's not just an empty slogan.
She has her evidence ready.
Evidence: LB87. Legislation that would allow removal
of intoxicated persons from public places. The bill was
introduced in response to complaints from her elderly
consituents in Omaha-45 percent are older than 65 in
Higgins' 9th district -that "the derelicts were becoming
bolder and bolder."
Evidence: LB503. This bill would give a judge the
authority to give grandparents the right to visit their
grandchildren when parental custody rights might
otherwise interfere.
Evidence: LB504. This bill would penalize inmates
forcing homosexual acts upon other inmates with an
additional one-year sentence, without parole. A guard or
other official involved in homosexual acts would be im
prisoned for two years in the bill's provisions.
Evidence: Liaison persons. Higgins said she has one
liaison in each of her district's seven senior citizens apart
ment buildings, who channel complaints through a
volunteer in her Omaha office. The volunteer deals direct
ly with the problem usually state agencies-to get action
for the citizens.
Evidence: A new apartment. When an 80-year-old wo
man called Higgins to avoid having her water turned off,
the senator-with a few strategic phone calls-got the
woman a new apartment. The woman, who was living in a
two-room house with only a cot for furniture, had heard
on the radio that "Marge Higgins says her primary concern
is the elderly."
"1 will be voting for anything that's good for the elder
ly. Whether it's in Omaha, Nebraska, or outstate Nebra
ska," Higgins said.
Yet Higgins' list of bills is not restricted to concerns of
the elderly. Among the 1 1 she sponsored are bills to
change provisions for reimbursement of sales tax collect
ions, to exempt judgments against counties from the
budget lid, to require the auditor of public accounts to be
a certified public accountant, and to change provisions re
lating to insurance reserves.
Some of the bills, Higgins said, were introduced on be
half of other parties. She doesn't know the details of a
couple of her bills. She signed one at least only to get it
introduced before the deadline; she said she may with
draw her name after further consideration.
But she says she feels she has an obligation to look into
the things important to her constituents. Helping people,
she repeats, is the most rewarding thing.
ASUN Legal Services
selects new director
"It isn't even getting your bills introduced, getting
your bills on the floor, getting them debated," Higgins
said. "It's being in a position to help people."
What Higgins sees as her most important bill the one
that could potentially help the most people-is LB307.
The bill would prohibit use of public funds by private
organizations. It is aimed at the Greater Omaha Chamber
of Commerce.
from her years as the Douglas County Democratic
chairman, Higgins said the chamber of commerce is mis
using tax dollars. The continued allocation of taxes to the
chamber from the City Council and the Douglas County
Boari of Commissioners, led Higgins to resign her position
before the end of her term.
She said that when Sen. Ed Zorinsky was mayor, he
discontinued shifting city taxes to the chamber. However,
the commissioners gave the chamber $40,000 last year,
she said.
"I don't think that tax dollars should be used for that
purpose," she said. But, she said, the bill will probably not
get out of committee.
"The Chamber will have already taken care of it." She
added, however, that "I've got four years to keep it up."
Higgins legislative position is her first public office.
Crediting her husband of 25 years as "the man behind the
woman," Higgins said he encouraged her to pursue the
spot.
Besides the fact that "there is not enough time for the
bills that are coming at you," Higgins enjoys her work.
It has, she said, changed her opinion of state senators.
"Before I ran for office, I did not have a very high
opinion of our legislature. I've changed that 100 percent,"
she said. "They're super people."
- TQ-? I
Photo by Jon Natvig
Sen. Marge Higgins of Omaha.
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By Mary Louise Knapp
Gaining the authority to represent stu
dents in court is one of Shelley Stall's main
goals as director of ASUN Student Legal
Services.
Stall, a 1978 graduate of the UNL
College of Law, was recently hired by
ASUN to replace Robert Hardt, who
resigned in November to take a position
with an oil company in Houston, Texas.
"There is a need for expanded service in
this office," Stall said, explaining that Stu
dent Legal Services attorneys are allowed
only to give legal advice and counsel to
students.
Stall said that granting the Student
Legal Services director further authority
would require student support and the
approval of the NU Board of Regents.
"Other campuses have let people from
student legal services represent students in
court," she said. "I think that it would
work here."
"The students have to show that they
want it too," she said.
Lincoln native
Stall, a Lincoln native, attended Lincoln
Southeast High School and received her
bachelor's degree at UNL in social science.
After graduation, she worked at the Re
habilitation Center for Emotionally
Disturbed Students in Chicago.
"We helped prepare them to go back
into the community," she said.
Stall said she was not entirely sure what
career to pursue after graduation, so she
"took some time off to work and think
about it."
A former ASUN senator, she said she is
glad the ASUN office has expanded and is
offering more services to students than it
did when she attended UNL.
For example, the ASUN credit union
did not exist at that time, and plans had
just begun for the legal services office.
Campus different
Stall said she has not had time to ob
serve ASUN or the attitudes of students of
today, but she said the campus seems
"quite different."
"The campus was not another
Berkeley," she said, "but there was con
siderably more student unrest. Students
now are dealing with different issues than
we did."
After graduating from law school, Stall
worked as a research analyst with the Ne
braska Department of Corrections for six
months. She then moved to North Platte,
where she served as assistant public defend
er until she was hired as ASUN Legal
Services director.
Stall said she wanted to move back to
Lincoln for many reasons.
Her family and friends, most of whom
live in Lincoln, were a major factor in her
decision, she said.
Consumer problems, DWI charges,
traffic violations and minor assault charges
are among the wide variety of legal prob
lems Stall encounters daily.
"The most common problems are landlord-tenant
conflicts," she said.
Students who need further legal counsel
are generally advised to go the Bar Referral
Service, a group of Lincoln lawyer special
ists. The service puts students and lawy ers in
contact with each other. Legal fees are gen
erally lower through the Bar Referral Ser
vice, she said.
Please mark your calendars and join us for
Bridal Reflections of 1981
MILLER & PAINE'S BRIDAL FAIR
FEBRUARY 1-8
MODELING OF BRIDAL FASHIONS
Thursday, February 5, at 6:15 and 7:30
Lincoln Center Store Third Floor Auditorium
REGISTER FOR DOOR PRIZES IN ALL
THREE STORES
Miller & Paine Lincoln Center, Lincoln Gateway
and Grand Island Conestoga Mall
Miller &
n
If T
r
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