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Friday, January 20, 1984
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 83, No. 82
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Commoimeslbk report disclosed
By Drad Kchns ,
Special Assistant Attorney General ,
David Domina and Assistant Banking
Director John Miller have completed
their investigation of public officials
involved with Commonwealth Savings
Co. of Lincoln.
The 197-page report, given to the
media Thursday at a press conference,
was released by Domina after he forced
members of the press to agree to keep
its contents confidential until 6 a.m.
Friday. The reporters will be given to
Gov. Bob Kerrey and state senators
sometime today.
Officials examined were Gov. Kerrey,
former Gov. Charles Thone, former
Assistant Banking Director Barry Lake,
former Banking Director Paul Amen,
Sen. John DeCamp, Attorney General
Paul Douglas, Deputy Banking Director
Charles Mitchell and Assistant Attorney
General Ruth Anne Gaiter.;
In the report, Domina and Miller
indicate that Kerrey, Thone, DeCamp
and Mitchell at no time acted question
ably in matters concerning Common
wealth. The report also said that no
concrete evidence had been found to
show that any public employee "tipped
off a Commonwealth depositor so
that funds could be withdrawn prior
to Nov. 1, when the bank was declared
insolvent.
Although the report does not claim ,
to have found specific criminal activities
A.
among public officials, it does list some
actions as questionable.
More than 100 pages describe the
actions of Douglas. Documents show
that Douglas and close friend Paul
Gaiter, a Lincoln attorney, purchased
78 lots from Marvin Copple, a Lincoln
land developer and vice president of
Commonwealth, and sold them for a
profit of $118,288.67. Sixty of the lots
were sold to Copple's personal sec
retary, Judy Driscoll, who financed her
purchases through Commonwealth.
The Driscoll loan is among the list of
outstanding Commonwealth loans.
Douglas took out loans from Common
wealth loans.
Douglas took out loans from Common
wealth to purchase the land. He made
no down payment and was allowed to
extend his notes past their original
maturity dates.
Miller and Domina found no inten
tional negligence on the part of Ruth
Anne Gaiter, who is the estranged wife
of Paul Gaiter. Mrs. Gaiter was assigned
by Douglas to monitor banking depart
ment activities. She was given no specific
instructions regarding the investigation
of Commonwealth. The report attri
butes her inaction to a lack of exper
ience and the absence of instruction or
direction from Douglas. Prior to being
assigned to banking in June 1983, she
had no previous experience in investi
gation of financial institutions.
Mrs. Gaiter was the only member of
the attorney general's staff who was
personally indebted to Commonwealth.
The report also noted that Mrs. Gaiter's
husband was a close, personal friend
of Commonwealth President S.E. Copple
and had served as legal counsel to
Marvin Copple, S.E. Copple, and to
Commonwealth Savings. .
The report said former Banking Di
rector Paul Amen withheld information
concerning the shaky financial condi
tion of Commonwealth because he
believed that "the failure of one major
industrial in Nebraska would precipi
tate the insolvency of the Nebraska
Depository Insurance Guaranty Corp.
and the subsequent, domino-effect
failure of most of all of the state's
industrials."
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Cr!j AndresenDfilly Nebraskan
Special Assistant Attorney General David Domina (left) and Special
Assistant Eanldr.3 Director Jchn Rliller (riht) discuss their report on
the pnhlic cfl!cil3 involved in the Ccze-Treallh .cse The report was ....
released at a prce 3 conference Thurciy dtemccn.
s
egents, senators disagree on amendment
Ey Pm Alvrcrd
The two sides of LR225CA, the constitutional
amendment that if passed would place the univer
sity under the direct control of the Nebraska Legis
lature, met face-to-face Thursday in a Constitu
tional Revision and Recreation Committee hearing.
State Sen. Karen Kilgarin of Omaha, who pro
posed the amendment, said the Legislature has an
inherent right of responsibility to oversee the money
for a public institution.
Since 1 977 the legislature has had no control over
the one-fifth of the state budget which goes to the
NU system, she said.
Board of Regents Chairman Edward Schwartz
kopf of Lincoln said the regents feel the Legislature
already directs expenditures of the state general
funds to the NU system, and the change is not neces
sary. The board both respects and adheres to its direc
tives" from the Legislature, he said.
The Nebraska citizens, by voting for LR225CA,
would return to a system which worked very well for
105 years Kilgarin said.
The majority of the states have a governor
appointed, legislature-approved board to operate
its universities, Kilgarin said. These states include ,
Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota, Missouri and Wyom
ing. In addition, Nebraska is one of any four states
that have no appointees.
"But those states aren't Nebraska," Regent Mar
garet Robinson of Norfolk said. The relationship
between the regents and the Legislature works well
and need not change, she said.
There are many reasons to change the regents
from an elected body to an appointed body, Kilgarin
said. These include: maintaining citizen participa
tion through the Legislature and freeing the regents
to make the wisest decisions apart trom tne pres
sures of voter approval, she said.
Under the Kilgarin plan, the regents would re
main in office four years instead of the present six
years.
The candidate who spends the most money cam
paigning for voter approval often wins the election,
Kilgarin said.
Committee member Clarence Jacobson of Hast
ings, speaking against the bill, said the Legislature is
in session one-fourth to one-third of the year, while
the regents have the opportunity to meet monthly
to decide university issues.
In favor of it, Don Wesely of Lincoln said the board
now lacks diversityHe cited the Legislature as an
example of a diversified institution that should
decide university issues.
Janet West, president of the UNO American Asso
ciation of University Professors, is in favor of ap
pointed regents.
"Members should be selected for proven qualities,"
she said.
State Sen. David Newell of Omaha, a co-sponsor of
LR225CA with James Pappas of Hershey, said the
regents often act like elected lobbyists for specific
campuses or programs.
- Continued cn Pass 5'
L
Inside
UNL livestock judging team takes, 10th
place at national competition in Denver ....
Pzz? 3
Nebraska women's track team -opens de
fense of its national indoor title Saturday
against Southern Illinois at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center Pzz? C
Daniel Therriaulfs Battery is the first pro
duction for a local theater group .... Fez 9
Ail
Arts end Entertainment . . . . . ..... . . . . . . . '
Classified ...13
Crossword ..11
Editorial . 4
Off The Wire 2
Women share political know-how
By May C. neilly
The growing importance of women in politics is
the focus of "Womanpower" a conference sche
duled tomorrow at the new Cornhusker Square
Convention Center.
Rose Meile, assistant director of the Nebraska
Commission on the Status of Women, said the
conference was formed to give women a chance,
to learn the legislative process and meet women
in politics. The conference is sponsored by the
commission and 21 other women's organizations.
Meile said this is the first "Womanpower" con
ference to take place in Nebraska,
Speakers at the program sessions and work
shops in the conference will be mostly Nebras
kans, state senators and other government
leaders. -
The keynote address, "Womanpower" by Nancy
Perlemaft, will emphasize pay equity and "the
power women have to make a difference," Meile
said. Perlsiaan is the founding executive of the
Center for Women in Government at the State
University of New York at -Albany. .
The luncheon scheduled with women senators will
feature a discussion about projects in Nebraska
such -as: Women's Equality Day, which will be
sponsored by the Nebraska Coalition for Women
in late August; Legislative Forum, which will take
place in February and March across the state;
Women in Action, a political action committee;
and other projects dealing with women in the
legislative process.
At the workshops and sessions, Meile said, the
commission tried to offer everything from elemen
tary legislative topics to very refined subjects.
Originally, 200 people were expected to attend
the conference, but more than that have registered
and she expects even more.
The three major sessions in "Womanpower" are
"The How-To's of the Legislative Process" "Legislar
tive networking: Information Dissemination" and
"Issue Briefing and Strategy."
"Womanpower" h the kickoff of celebrations to -take
place this year for the 20th anniversary of
the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women.
A dinner in the state capitol and a birthday
celebration at the governor's mansion are planned
for February and March.
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