I
Tl Daily Tl
8
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Thursday, February 11, 1982
Vol. 109 No. 24
Lincoln, Nebraska
Copyright 1982 Daily Nebraskanfj
Mp
Candidate objects to ASUN election procedures
By Betsy Miller
A complaint calling for the "indefinite suspension" of
the March 3 ASUN elections was filed Tuesday afternoon
against the ASUN Electoral Commission.
Mike Frost, STUPID II Party presidential candidate,
and Kathy Mach filed the complaint, which has seven
major complaints about the commission.
Frost said the complaint was not filed on behalf of the
STUPID II Party, but because he is concerned that the
election rules are not providing a "fair and equal contest."
"We arc asking for the suspension of the 1982 ASUN
elections until the commission can draw up a clear and
Proposed bill would
ban some employees
from joining unions
By Alice Hrnicek
Opponents of a bill that would prohibit
certain public employees from joining
unions united Wednesday to testify against
the bill.
Only the bill's sponsors, Sens. Howard
Peterson of Grand Island and Elroy Hefner
of Coleridge, spoke in favor of the mea
sure to the Nebraska Legislature's Business
and Labor Committee.
LB610 would prohibit teachers in pub
lic schools, police, firefighters, deputy
sheriffs, members of the Nebraska State
Patrol and Nebraska National Guard
from joining unions.
The bill also would not allow public
funds to be used when a public employee
appears before a legislative committee
or negotiates terms of employment.
Some of Peterson's comments were met
with loud booing from public employees
and union representatives, of whom about
a dozen testified, calling the bill uncon
stitutional. Peterson said he hopes to avoid public
union strikes, wluch have occurred at the
federal level, even though they are out
lawed. The state's recessionary economy
could prompt state employees to strike
if they refuse to accept wage cutbacks,
he said.
"It's necessary for them (public employ
ees) to sacrifice some personal rights to
ensure the continuity of government,"
Peterson said.
However, Sen. Tom Vickers of Farnum
said the private sector provides many
essential services and that it also should
be prohibited from forming unions under
Peterson's reasoning.
"What if farmers join together and say
we are not going to provide any food?"
Vickers said. "Isn't food a public service?"
Sen. Bernice Labedz of Omaha said she
was concerned that if public unions were
discontinued, the Legislature would be for
ced to join labor negotiations instead of
keeping wage talks between a department
and a union.
"I can see the Legislature ending up in
an awful lot of trouble," Labedz said.
"Won't we be spending all our time with
this?"
Jim Gruhn, president of the Omaha
Association of Firefighters, said there have
been no strikes in the 28 years of the
union's existence. A clause against strikes
is in the union's collective bargaining agree
ment. Nebraska AFL-CIO president Gordon
McDonald said the measure would interfere
with the duty of officials in presenting
ideas to the Legislature if they are forced
to use vacation time to appear at hearings.
Since the development of Omaha's
first labor union in 1970, the city has been
better able to administer its duties and dis
cuss employee problems, said Gary Trout
man. Omaha personnel director.
A UNL freshman, Patricia van Horn,
said that if teachers were not allowed to
have unions, students would not be ensur
ed of getting the best possible education.
School boards would try to decrease tea
cher salaries, she said, attracting lower
quality teachers.
precise set of election rules," the suit reads.
If action is not taken, he said he will file suit in student
court.
Electoral Commission Director Jennifer Fagcr said the
commission has the power to consider the complaint and
decide if it will act on it.
However, she said Frost and Mach could appeal the
issue to the court if the commission turns down their re
quest. The suit alleges that:
posters for the RliAL Party and candidate Brian
Stonccipher were posted on campus before Wednesday.
Frost said Electoral Commission rules specify that posters
7!
lift -II
4j "ff lll '!m i
Photo by D. Eric Kircher
Workers continue to prepare the Cornhusker Hotel for its upcoming
demolition Wednesday by removing the stone heads that adorn the
sides of the building.
may not be put up before Wednesday.
-the Electoral Commission's interpretation of the
posters rule is incorrect. The rule reads that posters can be
displayed between Feb. 10, 1982, and March 3, 1982.
However, Frost said the commission gave RliAL Party
members permission to post signs betore that time, but
made no attempt until Tuesday to tell other parties they
could do the same thing.
-a section of the commission rules that make candi
dates responsible for all actions taken in their campaigns is
ambiguous. The rule says candidates are responsible even
for the actions of people uninvolvcd in their campaigns.
Fager said the rule is ambiguous because it would be
too complicated if every action candidates can or cannot
take was spelled out.
-the rule specifying the number of posters a candidate
can place on campus bulletin boards is also ambiguous.
die commission is not ensuring a fair election for all
parties. Frost said the STUPID II Party attempted to file
for student organization status, and later found out it did
not qualify because it used the same party name as it did a
year ago. Frost said his party was not aware of this rule
until Monday.
-two different times were given as official filing dead
lines for the election. Electoral rules read that the dead
line was Wednesday at 9 a.m., but the petition students
used to gather signatures said the deadline was 4 p.m.
Wednesday.
Fager said a typographical error in the petition caused
the confusion. She said the correct deadline was 9 a.m.,
but that all petitions filed at 4 p.m. were accepted be
cause of the error.
Frost said the students who thought the deadline was
9 a.m. were hindered if they didn't get the signatures re
quired by 9 a.m. and then assumed they could not run.
- the rules do not specify what would happen if a first
vice presidential candidate could not hold office. The suit
asks if the slate would be knocked off the ballot, or if the
party would be allowed to substitute a new candidate.
The revised electoral rules this year required that the
president and first vice president candidates run together.
Presidential candidate
withdraws from race
ASUN Sen. Brian Stonccipher told the Daily Ncbras
kan at the senate's Wednesday night meeting he is with
drawing from the ASUN presidential race.
Stonecipher said he decided not to file with the Elec
toral Commission because he thinks other presidential
candidates have added important issues to their platforms.
"One of our main intentions when we were running
was to get some issues out in the open and in front of the
public where they (other parties) had to react to them,"
Stonecipher said.
When he decided to announce his candidacy, Stone
cipher said he already had an idea he might drop out of
the race if he could get other candidates to pay atten
tion to certain issues.
Restoring ASUN's credibility was one topic Stone
cipher said was important. He said several parties revised
their platforms to mention the ASUN credibility problem
after he announced his candidacy for senate president and
began voicing his opinion on senate problems.
At the meeting, the senate appointed UNL students
Pat Meister, Tim O'Keffee, Sidney Pinney, Susan Noel
and Susan Hansen to the Nebraska Union Board.
Nette Nelson, chairman of the Government Liaison
Committee, urged the senate to try and make students
aware of the federal budget proposals to make major
changes in educational funding and that $590 million
in federal financial aid may be cut in 1982 and 1983.
Increase in nine parking fines approved
Nine fine increases were approved by
the Parking Advisory Committee Tues
day, according to Sherry 1 Chamberlain,
an accounting clerk who takes minutes
for the meetings.
Ray Coffey, secretary of the Parking
Advisory Committee, said the recom
mended increases will be sent to interim
Vice Chancellor for Business and Fin
ance John Goebel and Chancellor Mar
tin Massengale for their approval or dis
approval. If approved, the fines for a movable
permit not displayed and an improperly
displayed permit would be raised from
$1 to S2, Chamberlain said. Penalities
for improper parking, left side parking
and residing in a motor vehicle would
increase from $3 to $5 .
The increased fine for no valid per
mit passed with one dissenting vote,
the only increase which did not pass
unanimously, according to Chamberlain.
It was changed from $10 to $15. The
penalty for unauthorized parking in re
served stalls would also be raised from
$10 to $15, she said.
The largest fine increase was the
handling and service fee for wheel
lock and immobilization, which was
raised from $5 to $20.
Another change involving the wheel
lock was that the release of an immobil
ized vehicle must be obtained by 6 p.m.
on the immobilization date, rather than
the previous 8 pjn., or the vehicle will
be impounded, Chamberlain said.
One reduction was made in tines,
according to Chamberlain. The failure
to provide notice of registration change
was lowered from $3 to $2, she said.
Proposed changes were also made in
the lots in which certain parking permits
are valid. Area 1 permits would be valid
in East Campus lots 24 and 28, as well
as the previous 25 and 27 lots. Area 6
permits would be valud in City Campus
lots 21, 22 and 23.
