thursday, march 5, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 38
Election results undetermined Thursday morning
No results from the ASUN election were being releas
ed as of 1 :30 a.m. Thursday. Kim Weiland, chairperson of
the ASUN Electoral Commission, said she had hoped
results could be released by midnight.
However, she said election workers had problems sort
ing the ballots, which led to the delay.
Weiland said she thought the turnout was "real good."
Although she said it slill was too early to know for sure,
she said it looked like the voter turnout was greater than
last year's record turnout.
"But I never guarantee anything with this election,"
Weiland added.
"I think we have a fairly decent chance of getting in
the run-off," said SURE Party presidential candidate Rick
Photo by Mitch Hrdlicka
A Wednesday forecast of sunny weather turned in
stead to a soupy snowful. The heavy blobs of slush
soaked Lincoln.
Mockler. "We were really happy with the turnout," he
said adding that it was partly due to people campaigning
in the residence halls.
Mockler also said he thought there was a higher per
centage of students voting because of the number of
candidates, the referendum issues and the diversity of
parties.
Independent candidate Diane Walkowiak said three of
the presidential candidates-Rick Mockler, Steve
McMahon and Tom Vergith-were essentially "no-change
candidates."
If one of these candidates wins, she said, "I think we're
just going to muddle along just as we have been and not
accomplish anything."
"I was one of only two candidates pushing to change
the structure of ASUN." Walkowiak said.
Walkowiak said time was the biggest obstacle of her
campaign. With classes and work, she said she didn't have
time to establish personal and group contacts. She recom
mended that future candidates get out and talk to stu
dents to get in touch with the mood of the campus.
She said she resented "being treated like a minority
candidate" during the campaign, especially by other
candidates during debates.
"People were so sure that some of us candidates didn't
stand a chance," she said.
Continued on Page 7
RHA run-off s will be March 11
Run-off elections will be March 1 1 for the Resi
dence Hall Association offices of preddent, vice presi
dent and secretary.
Independent candidate Robin Lynch and X Party
candidate Bill Flack were the top two vote getters in
Wednesday's balloting.
Lynch received 31.7 percent of the vote and Flack
received 25.5 percent of the 720 votes cast.
Ane Jensen of the Campus Leaders and Student
Support (CLASS) Party received 23 percent of the
vote. Russ Snygg of the Concerned Adult Residents for
Excellence (CARE) Party received 19.8 percent.
Heidi Friesen of the CLASS Party was elected
treasurer; she received 56.7 percent of the vote. Her
only opponent, CARE candidate Gary Brethour, re
ceived 43.3 percent. Fifty-one percent is required for
a winning majority.
The vice presidential run-off will be between X
Party candidate Steve Rowe and CARE candidate
Tom Macdissi.
Rowe gathered 36.6 percent of the vote to
Macdissi's 33.9 percent. Russ Pahre of the CLASS
Party finished third with 29.5 percent.
The run-off for RHA secretary will be between
Vicki Wagner of the CLASS Party and CARE candidate
Chris Little. Wagner garnered 45 percent of the vote
and Little received 29.8 percent. Richard Betz of the X
Party received 25.5 percent.
VOTE Party candidate found
in violation of commission rule
By Betsy Miller
and Tom Prentiss
The ASUN Electoral Commission Wednesday ruled
that Mike Kratville, second vice presidential candidate for
the VOTE Party, was in volation of a commission rule pre
venting defacing of party signs or posters.
ASUN Sen. Dan Renn filed a complaint on March 1 ,
charging that Kratville tore down a SURE Party poster of
candidate Tim Chandler.
Renn, in his complaint heard Tuesday night, said he was
leaving a SURE Party meeting in the Nebraska Union
when he saw Kratville deface the poster.
"Mr. Kratville tore the poster down, then turned and
saw me standing in the door. He stopped, said 4Oh-Oh,'
and handed me the torn poster. He then said he had torn
down the poster because the candidate depicted on the
poster (Chandler) was tearing down VOTE posters and
putting his posters over VOTE Party posters," Renn said
in his complaint.
The commission, in its findings, asked for "relief in
student court." Section C-6 of the Electoral Commission
regulations states "offenders will not be allowed to hold
elected office or appointed positions of ASUN during the
calendar year of the offense."
Kratville said he was upset because the complaint
makes more of the issue than it really is.
"You don't hang someone or put them in the electric
chair for shoplifting," he said.
Kratville said he had taken down the SURE poster be
cause it was in an illegal location and he planned to give it
to SURE presidential candidate Rick Mockler.
He also said SURE candidates had removed illegal
VOTE Party posters with the same intent of returning
them to the party, but electoral commission rules are in
effective because they only allow for legal action to be
taken if the student was caught in the act of defacing
posters.
Jean Gittler, electoral commission member, said the
commission had no way of knowing what the Student
Court would decide if Kratville is elected.
The commission also dismissed two other complaints.
A suit claiming Kratville covered SURE posters with
VOTE posters was dismissed for lack of evidence
Kratville had lodged a complaint against Chandler for
defacing VOTE posters, but his motion was also dismissed
for lack of evidence.
Testimony heard in capital punishment hill
By Kini Hachiya
People lined up on both sides of the
fence during a Judiciary Committee hear
ing Wednesday, testifying both for and
against LB202. which would repeal Ne
braska's death penalty.
Introduced by Sen. Ernie Chambers of
Omaha and co-sponsored by Sen. Don
Dworak of Columbus, LB202 would sub
stitute a mandatory 30 year sentence on
those convicted of first degree murder.
Chambers read a letter from death-row
convict Harold Otcy to Gov. Charles Thone
in which Otey responded to Thone's recent
endorsement of the death penalty.
Otey denied that during an interview
with Thone last summer that Thone spoke
with him about the death penalty. He
alleged that Thone promised no portion of
the interview would be made public and
said the visit was orchestrated and manipu
lated by Thone's aides.
"Don't give the public the idea that
someone whispered in your ear that they
wanted to be the guinea pig, that they
wanted to be the first one," Otey's letter
said.
Chambers said nearly all of the 600 per
sons on death rows in the United States,
including the 1 1 in Nebraska, are poor or
minorities. Only five of the 600 are
women. He said this focus on minorities is
an example of the disparate and capricious
way death penalties are meted out.
"Far worse murders have been commit
ted by those who are part of the general
prison population who are not facing
death," Chambers said.
Dworak said he is supporting the bill be
cause he has a strong pro-life philosophy.
"Human life must be protected and pre
served," he said. "The state must not kill.
There is no legitimate justification for state
sanctioned killings."
Dworak said there is no evidence that
death penalties are a deterrent.
"The fact that people are on death row
in Nebraska shows it is no deterrent," he
said.
"Vengeance is a feeling of luxury that
does not justify state sanctioned taking of
human life."
The Rev. Charles Nichols, of Omaha's
Westbrook Evangelical Free Church, said
God instituted the death penalty and
authorized man to carry out his word.
"The person who took the life
shows he doesn't value life-why should we
be asked to show mercy?" he asked.
"God instituted the death penalty. To
say it is immoral is to say that God is
immoral, which he is not," Nichols said.
Nichols said that deleting the death
penalty because it does not deter murder
is a weak argument.
"Tickets and losing points don't stop
speeders, jail doesn't deter robberies. Does
that mean we should drop the punishments
for these crimes?"
The Rev. Vernon Pollema, of Lincoln's
Reformed Church of the United States,
agreed with Nichols that the non-deterrence
argument is flawed.
"If a local law officer is justified in kill
ing in defense of others, why can't the
government kill in defense of its citizen
ry?" he asked.
He said that the inequity of poor and
Continued on Page 6
n n u
imms tmirsGay
Insanity reviewed: Omaha senators propose
revisions in the criminal insanity
law Page 6
Go East Young Man: Three new drinking
establishments in East Lincoln hope to
lure the crowds from downtown . Page 8
California Connection: Nebraska's chances
at defending its Big Eight swimming title
depend heavily on its Cahfomia
recruits Page 1 1