daily nebraskan lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 18 n Violent acts cause fear among UNL Iranians By Val Swinton As the former hostages recount abuses at the hands of their Iranian captors, there are reports that some Iranian students in Lincoln have suffered at the hands of Americans. Peter S. Levitov, UNL director of inter national educational services, said some Iranian students at the university have been threatened or even beaten, and the inci dents have cast a pall of fear over most of UNL's 180 Iranian students. "I indicated that numerous incidents were reported to our office," Levitov said. "And when it was suggested the students report them to campus or city police, they refused for fear of retaliation and for fear of bringing Iranian students into public light." Two months ago, an Iranian student was driving home when he noticed that he was being followed, Levitov said. The driver of the other car pulled up beside him and the occupants shouted insults at the student. Rather than lead the occupants of the other car to his home and family, the stu dent drove into a well-lit parking lot, where he was pulled from his car and beaten. The student required hospitalization, he said. Another foreign student, not Iranian but possibly mistaken for one, was kicked vhile standing in front of a downtown store. Levitov said the student told him that when he attempted to solicit witnesses for his report to police, bystanders turn ed away and refused to talk to him. "It's inhumane, it's cowardly, it's un American," Levitov said of the incident. Levitov is quick to add, though, that he doesn't believe that most Americans or Lincolnites are guilty of such violent anti Iranian sentiment. But the action of a few have affected most of the Iranian students in Lincoln. "There have been some incidents affect ing more of the students which have been undeserved," he said. "They probably have had a ripple effect on the others." Levitov has not been immune from the abuse that has plagued the foreign students. "I have been personally threatened as a result of my continuing work in support of international students at the university," he said, refusing to elaborate. "It's affected my emotional state," he added. Iranian students have suffered other problems, Levitov said. Because of the friction between the two countries, stu dents have found it difficult to exchange letters with their families in Iran. "Please don't go from New York to Tehran," he said. Because the mail must first go through a third country, some students have also found themselves short of money from home due to postal delays. And some families who found themselves out of favor with the new Iranian regime have no money at all to send to relatives in America, Levitov said. Suit questions fairness9 of VOTE party name By Mary Louise Knapp A suit requesting an opinion on whether the name of a party running for the ASUN election can be used with out impairing a fair election was filed in Student Court Tuesday, the same day the party announced its intention to run. ASUN President Renee Wessels said that the Electoral Commission, which filed the suit, is concerned that the party's acronym. VOTE, might be confused with instruc tions to vote in campaign literature. VOTH stands for Viable Opportunities for Total Efficiency. Kim Weiland, a member of the Electoral Commission, said that the "instructive use" of the word "vote" on campaign posters might be construed as an endorsement for the VOTE party. She said t hat members of the party had not been in formed on Tuesday that the suit had been filed. Steve McMahon, the party's candidate for ASUN pres ident, said during his campaign announcement that he had heard some complaints about the use of the acronym VOTE, but that neither he nor other ASUN members had been directly approached about the matter. McMahon, 20, a political science, English and philosophy major from Omaha, said expanded service and better leadership in student government are the party's major goals. "ASUN is running around without direction and with out leadership," McMahon said. McMahon said ASUN should expand its student service programs and serve as a liaison between students, faculty and administrators. Expansion of ASUN Legal Services to allow the legal service attorney to represent students in court and requir ing more senators to help with the ASUN Book Exchange are two examples of improved service the VOTE party will try to implement if elected, he said. Wendy Wiscmann, 21, a journalism major from Omaha, is the party's first vice-presidential candidate. Mike Krat ville, 19, from Omaha, is the candidate for second vice president. He is majoring in economics, English and philosophy. Daily Nebraskan Photo The VOTE (Viable Opportunities for Total Efficiency) party announced its candidates for ASUN offices Tuesday in Andrews Hall. From left to right they are Wendy Wisemann, candidate for 1st vice president; Steve McMahon, presidential candidate; and Mike Kratville, candidate for 2nd vice president. She said that ASUN has the responsibility to open channels of communication between students and UNL staff, and to make students aware of the services it pro vides. "ASUN has two problems," Kratville said, "lack of respect and lack of credibility." The VOTE party will try to restore students' confidence in ASUN, he said. McMahon said that the 18 percent increase in the UNL budget requested by the NU Board of Regents is "un realistic," and that more efficient use of funds allocated to UNL is one of the VOTE party's goals. "I won't say that we will not support the 18 percent budget increase, but we should use the 12.5 percent increase (recommended by Gov. Charles Thone) more efficiently," he said. McMahon said that the party has not yet determined whether or not it will support the formation of a State Student Association. "I have apprehensions about it," he said. "I have not yet taken a stand on the issue." McMahon said the VOTE party will draw up a full statement of its platform sometime this week. Epley case focuses attention on off-duty policy By Kim Hachiya When UNL strength coach Boyd Epley was disciplined last month by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for violations involving misuse of state property for personal financial gain, his was the first case the commission has investigated involving a university employee. Thomas Burke, executive director of the so-called Sun shine Commission, said that although his office usually is associated with political campaign fund disclosures, invest igation into alleged misuse of state property is also a pri mary function. Burke said Epley's problems began when a competing distributor of weight-training products complained to the commission about Epley's activities. The complaint against Epley alleged that he received a royalty commission for the sale of AMF products, sold a vitamin supplement and used UNL Athletic Department facilities to promote a book while employed by the uni versity. Epley later waived a hearing on the matter and con sented to a commission order to stop the illegal activities. According to the Lincoln Jtmnul. Epley repaid UNL for royalties received from the sale of AMF equipment to the university. Burke speculated that incidents such as the one involv ing Epley could be "the rule rather than the exception" at UNL. Although he said he did not know of any other specific violations or violators, he said he hoped the in vestigation would prompt the university to review its off duty employment policy. "It's common knowledge that some university employees-be they professors, members of the athletic department or various research people-engage in activities on campus which might be categorized as off-duty employment," Burke said. "The NU Board of Regents and the Chancellor have historically recognized that many instances of off-duty employment benefit the university and the state of Ne braska. If the board finds a legitimate public purpose to be served by permitting state owned property to be used, the off-duty jobs will continue. "I'm sure the regents appreciate the potential for abuse. That is why specific guidelines and channels have been proscribed." NU General Counsel Richard Wood said regents bylaws 3.4.5 outlines the procedures by which an NU employee may engage in outside employment. Wood said the university encourages professors to en gage in outside employment and consulting as a means of "broadening experience and keeping abreast of profession al activities." For most outside activities, on'y approval by the college dean and the campus chancellor is necessary, Wood said. However, some activities require approval by the regents. Continued on Page 3 Wednesday Cheap students: Students will have to learn to economize in order to attend college in the future, according to a state education official Page 6 Urban Cowboy: Mickey Gilley's nightclub may have start ed the year's most outrageous trend, but you won't find him complaining about his new found popular ity Page 8 Shootout in Soo norland. The Husker basketball team in vades Norman, Okla. tonight for a battle with Okla homa Page 10