Daily
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
cms
Thursday, April 1, 1982
Vol.109 No. 53
Lincoln, Nebraska
Copyright 1982 Daily Nebraskan
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ASUN Senate committees
forming, constitutions pass
Photo bv D. Eric Kircher
Ramona Weatherly launches a kite for Karen Tangeman on a windy, sunny Wednes
day, in a grassy area east of Memorial Stadium.
By Uetsy Miller
The 1982-83 ASUN Senate took more
steps to begin organizing its committee
structure at its Wednesday night meeting
in the East Union.
The senators have not yet been assigned
to committees, but Kathy Roth, speaker of
the senate, said they should be on commit
tees by the end of April.
In the meantime, the senate passed a bill
that allows the ASUN Executive Commit
tee to act as a Constitutions Committee
until a Constitutions Committee is formed.
The senate then approved the constitu
tions of Towne Club, the Bowling Team, a
Criminal Justice organization, the Univer
sity Child Care Governing Board, the Stu
dent Sections of Consumer Affairs Majors,
Phi Theta Kappa-Alumni Association, the
Institute of Transportation Engineers, the
Nebraska Engineering and Technology Exe
cutive Board and a design organization in
the College of Home Economics. All these
organizations had their constitutions re
viewed by the Executive Committee.
Roth said most university-related groups
must have their constitutions reviewed
yearly by the senate.
Eight ad -hoc committees, which can
consist of ASUN members, faculty mem
bers and students in general, were approved
by the senate to investigate issues related
to financial aid questions, the ASUN leg
islative process, the Student Foundation,
the Student Legal Services Advisory Com
mittee, admission restrictions, student
communication, lab fees evaluation and the
University Bookstore.
Roth said ASUN President Dan Wede
kind wanted action to be taken quickly.
She said she thought the ad-hoc commit
tees can work independently from other
ASUN committees.
Wedekind and first vice president Bob
Fitzgerald are in Philadelphia attending an
American Association of University Stu
dents conference, Roth said.
The senate voted to allocate $100 to
pay the registration fees of Fitzgerald and
Wedekind .
Hie senate also approved Doug Dey,
a freshman from Waverly majoring in
pre-law and agricultural economics, as its
new parliamentarian.
Regents' bylaw on political activity under review
By Vicki Ruhga
NU attorney Richard Wood has been
asked by UNL Chancellor Martin Masscn
gale to review the NU Board of Regents'
bylaw on political activity by university
faculty members.
Lincoln city councilman Mike Stein
man, who also is a UNL political science
professor, is the only faculty member
affected by the review.
"In 1979 when I first ran for council, I
went through the notification process
listed in the bylaws," Steinman said Wed
nesday. "I have again notified the
chancellor that I will seek re-election."
When he ran for city council last time,
Steinman said, he made a request to the
chancellor. The chairman of the political
science department and the dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences wrote a
reaction to Steinman 's request, and based
upon that, the chancellor allowed him to
run for the office without any conditions,
he said. The process took three days last
time, Steinman said.
Steinman said he has the same job now
that he had then, that of a full-time faculty
member. Although he was on leave to work
in the governor's office last time when he
notified the chancellor, he was teaching in
the fall when the election took place, just
as he hopes to be teaching next year, he
said.
"Given what I now know about the by
law, I intend to run for re-election," Stein
man said .
Wood said that he is reviewing the by
law, and hopes to have an opinion to
Massengale within the next 10 days. Wood
said time is not an important factor be
cause the election is a year away.
The bylaw states that faculty members
have the right to participate in political
life; however, each faculty member must
perform the duties of his or her position at
UNL without interference from outside
activities.
Any UNL employee who is thinking
about filing as a candidate for any part
time public office to which he may be
elected or appointed must notify the
chancellor and appropriate dean or division
head, according to the bylaw.
"It shall be the duty of the chancellor
to determine to what extent such political
activities will interfere with the employee's
regular duties and to decide to what extent
his duties and compensation shall be cur
tailed," the bylaw states.
The criteria for the chancellor's decision
will be the amount of time which he or she
will be required to devote to political
activities during the period assigned for the
performance of his duties at the university,
and the time he would devote to such
activities as classes, research and counsel
ing. The duration of the political activities
also would be considered by the chancellor.
Political leaders say Reagan changing students
By Eric Peterson
Leaders of two student political groups
see UNL students' moving in different dir
ections politically.
"I think (President) Reagan is pushing
UNL students toward the center," said Jim
Vitek, who heads the Nebraska Young
Democrats. Me cited reductions in social
programs and disagreements with present
foreign policy as reasons for the shift.
"A lot of students are insisting that
there be nuclear disarmament talks," Vitek
said.
Steve Grasz, chairman of the Nebraska
College Republicans, said UNL students are
not necessarily becoming more liberal, but
are concerned with different issues than
most other Nebraskans.
"Most students tend to think like their
parents politically, but I think students
tend to focus on different things," Grasz
said. "Parents may have taxes as a priority,
while students are very involved with
financial aid."
According to the Secretary of State's
office, figures from the Nov. 4, 1980
election show 424,963 registered Republi
cans and 376,534 registered Democrats in
Nebraska.
Grasz said students as a whole are not
especially politically active.
"Most students seem to be concentrat
ing on studies and their careers," Grasz
said.
He said the College Republicans will
campaign for student involvement in
several state races this year, including the
llliil
Photo by D. Eric Kircher
Leonard "Steve" Grasz
U.S. Senate race in which former Strategic
Air Command vice commander Jim Keck, a
Republican, is running against incumbent
Democrat Ed Zorinsky.
"It's irenic that a Republican state like
Nebraska has two Democrats in the
senate," Grasz said. "We want to help
change that."
He said the College Republicans will
also work to re-elect Gov. Charles Thone,
the three Republican congresspeople, and
Photo by D. Eric Kircher
James Vitek
certain state senators.
"The state legislature races are officially
non-partisan, but some of the races have
pretty clear Democratic and Republican
divisions," Grasz said.
He said Reagan's performance will be a
favorable issue for Republicans in Nebra
ska. "Two-thirds of the people approve of
Reagan's performance in the state," Grasz
said, and noted Nebraska's approval rating
was the highest in a national poll.
Grasz said the College Republicans
group has about 60 members, and has been
involved with strategy training by a team
from the party headquarters in Washing
ton, D.C. The College Republicans group
has a $3 membership fee.
Vitek agreed that Reagan's economic
performance will be the major political
issue this year.
"The Republicans will either be running
on it or trying to distance themselves from
it," Vitek said. Reps. Bereuter and Smith,
who are from more rural or conservative
districts, will probably campaign on the
administration's popularity there, Vitek
said. But Rep. Hal Daub, whose Omaha
district has a high unemployment rate, may
try to downplay his support for Reagan, he
said.
Vitek said the Democratic nominee for
governor will probably attack "what
Thone's done by just not doing tlungs."
Lincoln businessman Bob Kerrey and form
er state senator George Burrows are
currently running for the Democratic
nomination.
The biggest student issue this year is
financial aid, he said.
"There's a debate over cutting off stu
dent loans or making it so restrictive that
no one can get them," Vitek said.
Vitek said the Young Democrats group
is mostly but not exclusively university stu
dents. He said group members will partici
pate individually in election races this year,
but not as a whole.
