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Friday, January 27, 1984
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 83 No. 87
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egents, Legislature .
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oimaea on smenanien t
Ey X'nity Pxycr
Sen. Vard Johnson of Omaha wants
to bring legislative control of the state's
post-secondary schools more in line
with the amount of legis
appropriated to these schools.
In testimony Thursday before the
Constitutional Revision and Recreation
Committee, Johnson explained the mo
tivation behind LR223. The resolution,
which would be voted on in the next
general election, allows the Legislature
the power to decide the governmental
structure of the University of Nebraska
and the state's colleges and vocatio
naltechnical schools.
In figures representing legislative
appropriations for the last 10 years,
Johnson showed that "consistently,
more than a fourth of the state budget
has gone to fund higher education."
With so much state funding support
ing them, Johnson said, the Legisla
ture should have more say on how
these schools are governed.
Once passed by the voters, the reso
lution could eliminate the NU Board of
Regents if the Legislature opted for a
different form of university government
Johnson, however, stressed this is
only one possibility and not a direct
outcome of passing the resolution. )
Tith thi3 amendment, if passed by
the voters, we could still have a Board
of Regents, we, could still have a State
College Board of Trustees and we could
still have local control of the voca:
tional and technical schools," he said.
"The Legislature could decide that the
present structure is best. This just
gives 49 elected people the ability to
make structural changes if they see fit
in the future." .
One opponent seeing no need for
structural changes is Regent Chair
man Edward Schwartzkopf; who also
testified Thursday.
"I am a great believer in preserving
the rights of that government closest
to the people," Schwartzkopf said. "The
current system of elected regents
directly responsible to the people has
worked well for all the citizens of
Nebraska."
Schwartzkopf voiced concern about
the public's loss of power in electing
regents, saying it will make the univer
sity government too far removed from
its constituents. ;
' "Once they vote on this amendment,
that's it they'll have no more vote,"
he said.
Johnson, however, pointed out the
parallel structures between the regents
and the legislators, since both are
elected bodies.
Calling it his "Pollyanna bill," John
son said the legislation is not aimed at
dismantling current governing bodies.
"This bill is not saying one critical
word about the Board of Regents or,
the State Board of Trustees," he said.
"It just talks about structure. It really
should not be that threatening of a
change." -
Johnson said much of the opposi
tion to the bill is rooted in the state's
traditionalist nature. - - - - - - -
"The one reason the voters won't
pass this is that we're traditionalists,"
he said. fThere's a knee-jerk response
that says, 'My goodness, they're going
against tradition.' But you can't make
an omelet without breaking the egg."
Legislative control of post-secondary
school governments would also elimi
nate much overlapping and duplica
tion of services, Johnson said.
' ' '
.... , - '
Colle
ige alcohol rules vary,
UNL unlikely to alter policy
Winter festival Friday
Ey Lcii PauJben
The 10th annual Wal
purgisnacht, which beg
ins tonight at 7 p.m. in
the Nebraska Union, will
present the ultimate in
university programming,;
one of its organizers said.
The Walpurgisnacht fes
tival was designed to show
case the facilities of the
Nebraska Union and dis
play the variety of pro
gramming the University
Program Council is cap
able of sponsoring, said
Gayle Yamauchi, chair
person of the Walpurgis
nacht Committee.
Preparations for the fes
tival began last spring with
an organizational meeting.
The members were divided
into sub-committees, and
chairpersons were elected
from the UPC members,
Yamauchi said.
Armed with a $3,219
budget, the committee
chose the types of acts
they wanted and over the
-summer Yamauchi con
tacted various talent agen
cies. This year for the first
time there will be two
main acts; hypnotist
James Mapes and come-.
diari Tom Parks. ,
liiiiiiiii
f-3 Vv
Yamauchi said the com
mittee chose a hypnotist
because they wanted an
act involving audience par
ticipation. Mapes will use
about 20 people from the
audience in his act.
The committee decided
to have a second act since
there was extra funding.
Yamauchi suggested that
Parks perform after she
saw his performance at a
convention she attended
last summer.
"I thought he would be
a good act because his
comedy relates to a stu
dent's life," she said.
The idea for a UNL Wal
purgisnacht came from
Sara Boatman, Campus
Activities and Programs
director. Boatman heard
of another school having
one and she thought UPC
might like to try it at
UNL. The first few festi
vals consisted mainly of
lectures. It wasn't until
four or five years ago the
committee started to bring
in main acts.
The festival will end ear
lier this year. Instead of
lasting from 8 p.m. until
3:30 a.m., it will take place
from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m.
Yamauchi said the hours
were changed because at
tendance during the last
hour last year was so low
it wasn't worth staying
open.
Yamauchi said the past
two weeks of planning
had been hectic. Com
mittee chairpersons have
been working five to eight
hours a day trying to work
out the last-minute details.
Most of the preparations
have been running smooth
ly with the exception of
the publicity. The public
ity committee has been
under a lot of pressure
because they had only two
weeks to put the program
together and get public
ity out, she said. Yamau
chi said next -year she
hopes to see an improve
ment in the publicity and
attract a larger crowd.
Dy JudiNycren
According to a recent survey of Big
Eight and nearby universities, the "king
of beer" is part of the college "high life"
on many campuses.
The survey revealed six of the Big
Eight schools, the University of Iowa,
and Nebraska Wesleyan University per
mit some form of alcoholic beverage on
campus. UNL and the University of
Missouri are the only colleges that
prohibit alcohol on campus.
Although the colleges follow state
drinking laws, the survey showed the
drinking age on campus varies from
college to college. Oklahoma and Okla
homa State allow students 21 and
older to possess alcohol on campus;
Wesleyan permits students 20 and old
er; Iowa and Iowa State permit students
19 and older.
Kansas and Kansas State grant
students 18 and older the right to
drink 3.2 beer, but prohibit all other
liquor on campus. According to Kansas
state law, liquor other than 3.2 beer
can be consumed at age 21. Colorado
permits students 18 and older to drink
3.2 beer and allows students 21 and
older to consume "hard" liquor.
.With the exception of Iowa State,
the college drinking policies are deter
mined by administrators and regents.
Glenn Burger, Iowa State's coordina
tor of residential life, said the student
government adopted the policy in
1972-73. The government chose to allow
alcohol on campus, he said, because
"we feel strongly about giving students
options." The choice to drink or not to
helps students develop decision-making
skills, Burger said.
Iowa State follows strict alcohol
guidelines concerning residence hall
sponsored parties, Burger said. In order
to have an alcohol party on campus, he
said, a student group must have per
mission, signed guest lists and names
of the bartender and bouncer.
Currently, Iowa State is examining
policy improvements Burger said. The
university is attempting to form pro
grams that encourage non-alcoholic
parties, decisions not to drink and
food supplies at alcohol parties, he
said. -
June Davis, coordinator of informa
tion services for residential halls at
T Uxl !a. 1--1 J 1
lowa, saiu uie university aireaay nas a
program like the one Iowa State wants
to implement. Iowa has a formula
specifying the amount of food that
must be supplied based on the amount
of alcohol and number of people pres
ent at campus-sponsored parties, she
said.
- While alcohol programs help avoid
some problems, Fred McElhinie, Kansas'
director of residential programming,
said allowing 3.2 beer on campus cuts
down on alcohol problems.
"It (allowing alcohol on campus) has
demystified things," he said. "It's not a
forbidden fruit."
Continued on Parte 2
I - : . , j
inside
NETV branch pioneers in
videodisc technology . . Ps3 7
Celeste seeks professional
guidance in her continuing quest
for the White House . . . Pegs 11
The Nebraska's men's and
women's basketball teams will
try to end their two-game losing
streak when they play at Colo
rado Saturday .... Pegs 12
Index
Arts and Entertainment 10
Classified . 14
Crossword 15
Editorial....,.., 4
Off The Wire 2
Sports 12
