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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1982)
n Daily n . WCJ1 Wednesday, September 22, 1982 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 82 No. 22 BnfflBffl ASIM vote Jennifer, Fager, .last year's electoral commissioner; is ASUN President, Dan Wedekind choice for the post this'year. I Wedekind said he wIH formally appoint Fager tp the port at tonight's ASUN meeting. The electoral commissioner is appointed by the president. No senate confirmation is needed.' -'"; ' - Fcsr, 21V was,the subject of contro versy last spring, when a suit was filed by Mike Frost, an ASUN presidential candi date, andKathyMach, Their main complaint was that Fager allowed some candidates to post cam paign signs before others. In March, the ASUN Student Court ruled that the commission had failed to rule clearly on the poster issue, and that Fager had given misleading testimony before the court, Fager, denied the charges, and also refused to resign after the court requested she do so ironically, she had been appointed also to serve as a justice on the student court this year, but resigned that position earlier this month, Fager said she reapplied to the post because she felt she was qualified, and the problem -of, last spring's election were a thing of thepast, - , . "Last year, the bluest problem was that we'all knew nothing,' Fager said. We learned as we went along, and that where, we ran into problems. But it was not nearly as bad as people made it out to be. ASUN Second-Vice President Bob Fitz gerald said Fager was the most qualified of the three people who' applied fpr the position. Her - first duty as electoral commis sioner is to supervise the homecoming royalty elections. ; Wedekind said the ASUN Executive Committee recommended her appoint "ment. The executive committee is com prised of the ASUN first-and second vice presidents, along with the .chair persons of senate action committees and the , chairperson of the Govern ment Liaison Committee. '' ' ,I felt very comfortable (making the appointment),' Wedekind said. 'lhave a great deal of confidence in Jennifer's ability," , . - - - Fager, a senior political science major from - Lincoln, said ' the commission membership wfll be completed with the addition of a faculty adviser, a student court justice and an ASUN Senate mem ber. 1 Court mot 'hurt by Fager dispute By Eric Peterson ASUN Senate adviser Dolores Simpson Kirkland said she does not expect a drawn out dispute between the ASUN Student Court and former ASUN electoral com missioner Jennifer Fager to hamper the court in any way in the future. "I think they'll do just fine," she said. "Everyone will breathe a sign of relief and get ready to go on to some thing else." Last spring, a fracas resulted when Fager had been sued in the court for giving differing instructions about stu dent campaign posters. The court said she gave conflicting testimony, and asked for her resignation. In turn, Fager sued the student court, a suit which was drop ped this fall. As well as overseeing student elections, the court deliberates complaints against student organizations, Simpson-Kirkland said. Fund mismanagement and discrimi nation are cases that might be brought before the court, she said, although there have been few such disputes between organizations. A new justice on the court, Michelle Magruder, agreed that jurisdiction over student groups is an important student court function. Magruder used a dispute last year between the International Relations Club and the College Republicans, and argu ments between the two campus Muslim groups as examples of what the student court may be called upon to examine. "If there were no student court, there 'd be no way to resolve problems," Magruder said. Magruder said she thinks the Fager case damaged the court's reputation. "I think the whole thing greatly reduced the credibility of the court in the eyes of students, faculty and the administra tion," she said. "You can't take forever to make decisions and flip flop around on them." Doran Matzke, Vern Daniels, Dan Kurtenbach, Richard Betz, and Magruder are this year's justices. All were appointed by last year's ASUN president, Rick Mockler. There are two vacancies on the court including the position of chief justice. ASUN has advertised the chief justice opening, which must be filled by a law student. Joe Nigro resigned the position over the summer. ASUN President Dan Wedekind said the court members should begin to think through student court procedure to avoid the kind of months-long dispute which occurred between the court and Fager. "What I think is needed now, and hope that they will do, is to better define and refine court procedures." UNL voter registration drive draws 1,237 By Eric Peterson A voter registration drive last week sponsored by the Nebraska State Student Association and the Government Liaison Committee drew 1,237 people, more than twice the number of people hoped for, said Nette Nelson, GLC chair and a member of the NSSA board of directors. NSSA and GLC organizers set a goal of 500 new or changed registrations. Andy Carothers, GLC state liaison, ar j Laura Miyoshi, a GLC vice chair, were in charge of the UNL drive. There will be similar student registra tion drives in all the NSSA schools, said NSSA interim executive director Deb Chapelle. UNO, Peru State and Wayne State colleges all belong to the NSSA. Nelson said one reason the drive was so successful may have been the contro versial gubernatorial campaign. "I'm sure the governor race had some thing to do with it," Nelson noted. "But I think students are becoming more aware (politically). Having the registrars on campus really helped, too." Nelson pointed out that many students remembered last spring's registration effort in the Nebraska Union, and now found the time to register. - There were registration tables staffed by the League of Women Voters on Tues day and Wednesday of last week, in both the City and East campus unions. Both locations were very busy, Chapelle said. Fifty percent of the voters registered as Republicans, 37 percent as Democrats and 13 percent as independents, Nelson said. She noted that some faculty and university staff also took the opportunity to register. - While Nelson did not have the figures for how many were new voters, she pointed out that most people filled out absentee ballot requests or started an out-of-county registration. A little less than half - 488 - registered to vote in Lincoln. There were even some out-of-state voters, Nelson said. In all the out-of-state cases, the NSSA-GLC group merely started the registration process, mailing the necessary information to outstate county clerks. Then the absentee ballot is, mailed back tp the student's school address. Nelson suggested that students bring their absentee ballots in to the ASUN office, where there will be a notary public near election time. The law requires absentee ballots to be signed in the presence of a notary public. However, if the ballot has already been mistakenly signed, it can be signed again, Nelson said. Officials say chances good for new recreation center By Linda Liekhus "Optimistic" is the word the UNL recreation department director used to describe the university's chances of getting a new recreation center. Stan Campbell said the possibility of a new recreation center is being studied by a task force appointed by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Richar Amrstrong. However, the opening of the proposed recreation center is "at least three years away," Campbell said. A new recreation center would offer many of the facilities now available at UNL, but would be compressed into one large area, Campbell said. Current recreational facilities are sup ported by the program and facilities fee paid by all students attending UNL. But in order to support a new, $10 million to $12 million center, an increase in student fees would be necessary, Campbell said. A survey of students voting in ASUN election conducted in the spring of 1981 showed 62 percent of the students would be willing to support a fee increase, he said. Dean of Students David Decoster said he has noticed "overwhelming support" for a new recreation center from students. He added he is "very encouraged by campus activity." Decoster said he is "quite optimistic" about the possibility of a new recreation center because "the need for a multi purpose recreation facility is very obvious." Recreation is "one of the areas on campus where we're providing the least adequate facilities," Decoster said. The task force investigating the pro posed recreation center has used "needs assessment" surveys in order to determine "what facilities are important to students," Decoster said. These survey results, along with the findings of the entire task force, then will be combined into a written pro posal called a program statement, he said. ' . - -it Stat f Photo by Jerry McBridt The bell tolls on the summer of '82 as the Lincoln area's first autumnal frost produces fog over a valley west of Waverfy. 1
