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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1981)
thursday, february 26, 1981 lincoln, nebraskavol. 106, no. 34 n u Students differ on need for two UNL lobbyists By Patti Gallagher State senators have cautioned student lobbyists in the past not to wage public battle with their own administra tors and regents on the legislative floor, according to stu dent lobbyist and chairperson of the ASUN Government Liaison Committee, Nctte Nelson. Although the UNL student lobbying group has heeded that advice, the potential for pitting student against stu dent now exists: a second UNL student has registered as a lobbyist. Because the student, UNL junior Mike Kratville, has expressed opposition to one of GLCs major issues, Nelson is concerned he may disrupt GLCs theory of presenting a unified student voice to senators. Kratville said he registered as a lobbyist "to serve as another independent voice." He said his personal posi-tion-or the position of the students he is working for will be deferred if it differs from GLCs. "There will never be a conflict between us and GLC," he said. "We want to provide a united university front." But Kratville's position on the State Student Associa tion is opposite that of GLCs. The formation of SSA, a statewide group that lobbies for interests common to all NU campuses and the state colleges, has been a primary project of GLC since last semester. Kratville, ASUN second vice president candidate for the VOTE Party, said "theoretically it (the SSA) sounded good" and that he signed a petition in favor of it. How ever, over the semester break, eight students from Omaha contacted him with questions about SSA. Believes UNL may lose The students saw it as a way for UNL to lose money, he said. Kratville said the students and he considered two assumptions about the SSA. Both involve the loss of $21,000, UNL's 1981-82 tentative budget allocation for the SSA. Assumption one is that the total dollar amount for all postsecondary education is a fixed amount. Money that UNL would normally receive would be split up among the other state schools, Kratville said. Assumption two is that total postsecondary education funds will increase, which Kratville said is what SSA pro ponents have claimed is possible by lobbying. If that is true, the university still would lose its initial $21 ,000 investment, he said. "It's my personal belief that the S 2 1 ,000 should just be pumped into GLC," he said. Most people now don't even know GLC exists, he said. Kratville questioned how GLC could generate interest for SSA with so little recognition itself. Nelson said she doesn't see the SSA as competition for funding for UNL. The SSA, if effective, will be able to secure more dollars for education, she said. Aside from financing, Kratville said he opposes the SSA because of the time it has taken away from GLC. The committee's time would be better spent contacting state senators and working on the university budpt, which GLC has targeted as its primary lobbying concern, he said. Time-consuming issue "The SSA has gotten to be their sole issue this semester and they've neglected to build up their relationships with senators," he said. Kratville said he has met several times with Omaha Sen. Peter Hoagland. Nelson said, however, that GLC has devoted much time to meeting senators and researching the budget. And, she said, the SSA has increased membership in GLC. "We've generated more interest with this one project than we have with any other project undertaken," she said. Nelson also expressed concern that two UNL student lobbyists would present conflicting viewpoints to sena tors. With Kratville working outside of GLC "how are we to know if we will compete on issues?" she asked. Nelson also said Kratville's registration as a lobbyist violates ASUN and NU Board of Regents bylaws. The by laws mandate that only one student be officially recog nized as the university's student lobbyist. Kratville said he recognizes he is not an official repre sentative. The distinction, he said, is that he is registered "for" university students, not "of them. In addition to the SSA question, Kratville said he is lobbying for higher salaries for university professors and other state employees. Because he is a second vice presidential candidate with the VOTL Party, he said he has not had time to follow specific bills in the Legislature. Kratville emphasized his lobbying or view on the SSA will not be a VOTL cam paign issue. If elected and "if a conflict continues between me and GLC, I will work with only GLC and drop my outside interests," Kratville said. Rec Center idea not new-Armstrong By Patti Gallagher Student fees aren't new, nor is opposition to paying them, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Richard Armstrong told students in the Nebraska Union Wednes day. "Student fees have been around a long time at the Uni versity of Nebraska in Lincoln and almost from the time they've been conceived they've been controversial," he said. Armstrong, in an afternoon forum sponsored by the University Program Council's Talks and Topics Committee, explained the fee allocation process and fielded questions about fees from the small audience. The current per student per semester fee of S72.50 funds, in part, six different programs, Armstrong said. Fund A programs, which take S3 .33 of the total per stu dent fee, goes to UPC, ASUN and the Daily Nebraskan. The remaining $69.17 goes to Fund B for the Univcr- Continued on Page 2 Candidates disagree on merits of SSA issue Party believes ASUN ignored CUKE to plan new approaches By Mary Louise Knapp Editor's note: This is the third in a series of profiles on the ASUN president ial candidates. Two profiles will be pub lished each day. The profiles will appear in the order the candidates' names appear on the ballot. The UNL administration thinks student groups should lie ignored, and ASUN is serving its intended purpose by being ignored, said ASUN presidential candidate Mike Frost. Frost heads the ticket of the STUPID (Students Taking Unlimited Part in Democ racy) Party. 1 : i 1 "-! Jut r mw v Mike Frost. ASUN presidential can didate for the STUPID Party. A State Student Association, if formed, would aid ASUN in its purpose of being ig nored, he said. A journalism major from Omaha, Frost said he thinks ASUN elections are some times treated too seriously by the parties involved. The STUPID party provides comic relief to the campaigns, he said. Frost said support for the STUPID party has been greater than he expected at the beginning of his campaign. If elected, the STUPID party will make major changes in the internal structure of ASUN. Frost said. "First, we will change it into a mon archy, and raise the salary of the presi dent," he said. "I heard that the regents had to force Renee (Wessels) to accept a raise," he said, adding that he would accept a pay increase without protest. Frost also said he plans to change the "tacky color" of the walls in the ASUN office to orange. Frost said his political ambitions began when he first saw John Cavanaugh. Frost said his father, who served as a bodyguard for the late President Lyndon Johnson during the 1960 presidential el ection, was another influence upon his de cision to enter the political arena. Frost said Jay Noble, the STUPID Party's candidate for first vice-president, has dropped out of the race because he did not meet the Electoral Commision's 2.0 grade-point average requirement for can didacy. Frost said Angela Johns, the party's can didate for second vice-president, may be asked to fill Noble's position and a new second vice-presidential candidate may be chosen, but no action has been taken. By Betsy Miller Tom Vergith said lie plans to bring a businessman's "pragmatic" approach to the office of ASUN president if he is elected. Vergith, 21, an economics major from Lincoln, is running for president for the CURE Party. (Coalition for University Revitaliation ). "I'm realistic and pragmatic," Vergith said, "I won't react to situations in a reactionary way." Vergith said one of the most important jobs of the ASUN president is to develop a good working relationship with the NU Board of Regents. In this area, he said, he would use a different technique than the current ASUN President Renee Wessels. He said Wessels had a tendancy to mis handle some of the officials she was sup posed to deal with. Vergith said the ASUN president has complete control over the image people will form of the position. "The office takes on the character and '"f 4 - ASUN CURE Party presidential can didate, Tom Vergith. personality of the person in it," he said. ASUN's executive branch also needs to be clearly separated from the rest of the senate, according to Vergith. To carry on with his businessman's philosophy, Vergith said, the proposed State Student Association should be look ed at as an investment which students would be stockholders. "It's a well-conceived idea. If it could be effective, that would be great." he said. Vergith said he is worried that not all state legislators are supportive of the SSA. He said a strong student showing at the ASUN elections will show legislators that students are concerned. As a Business College senator on ASUN, Vergith voted that the SSA issue not be made binding. Since the vote will only show if students favor an association, Vergith said he is worried it won't have enough support. Vergith and the CURE candidate for first vice president. John Vitek. have "taken the time to raise some serious questions" about the future of an SSA at UNL. To help the university secure more money. Vergith said he is in favor of a student foundation. This organization would be comprised of students who would attempt to collect money from local businessmen to support UNL programs, he said. Vergith also said there is no doubt the university needs a new recreation center, but the cost of building a new one would be too much of a burden if students had to pay more tuition. "Yqu can't hit up students for S50 more every semester." he said. The cutoff of the ASUN president's salary will not help attract all qualified candidates to the office, but it shouldn't make any difference to someone who is really committed to the job. he said. Both Vitek and second vice president candidate Laurie Nigro of the CURE party would bring good qualifications to their offices, according to Vergith.