V . - jVt J t
April 4, 1934
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 83 No. 130
Mondale sweeps
New "York contest
From The Iteuter News Report
NEW YORK Walter Mondale Tuesday night
swept toward a decisive victory in the New York
primary and a commanding lead over stumbling
rival Gary Hart in the race for the Democratic presi
dential nomination.
With 93 percent of the precincts reporting, Mon
dale had captured 45 percent of the vote to Hart's 27
percent. Rev. Jesse Jackson placed a close third,
with 24 percent of the vote.
Jackson attracted a big turnout among black
voters, who gave him their overwhelming support.
Mondale early victor
Mondale's margins over Hart were sq strong
among so many major voting groups that ABC, NBC
and CBS called him a clear winner as soon as the
polls closed.
The New York vote will distribute 252 delegates
the biggest block yet chosen to the Democratic
presidential nominating convention in July and will
swell Mondale's lead considerably.
In 28 state votes conducted before today, unoffi
cial estimates gave him 716 of the 1,967 delegates
needed for nomination, Hart 435, 101 for Jackson
and 320 uncommitted.
Mondale gsins wide support
Just as important for old-guard liberal Mondale
was the psychological boost to his long comeback
drive against "new ideas" candidate Hart, upset
winner in New Hampshire and several other early
primaries.
Except for a Hart win in Connecticut a week ago,
the former vice president has now beaten him in
every major state over the past three weeks includ
ing the coveted northern industrial bastions of
Michigan, Illinois and New York.
Interviews with voters leaving the polls today
indicated Hart's slide and Mondale's recovery reach
ed remarkable proportions, at least in this state.
An ABC News survey said Mondale beat Hart
am6ng men, women, all races and religious groups,
all but the very wealthiest income groups, all but the
youngest age groups, and in cities, suburbs and
rural areas.
The poll showed Mondale's charges that Hart is
fuzzy on the issues and is more image than sub
stance had hurt the senator for more than Mon?
dale's own perceived weakness pf alleged ties to
special interest groups. .
Mondale also swept three major voting blocs
Jews, Catholics and trade unionists, who turned out
in droves. He yielded the fourth major bloc, blacks,
to Jackson.
ABC's estimated blacks would cast nearly one
quarter of the state vote and Jackson would take 80
percent of that total.
' Craig AndresenDaliy Nebraskan
High schoolers gather in the Nebraska Union Tuesday for the eighth annual Foreign Language Fair.
The event attracted more than 1,700 teen-agers from around the state.
Foreign Language Fair at UNL
draws Nebraska high school students
By Jay Mulligan ,
Letter-jackets and portable stereos invaded the
Nebraska Union Tuesday as more than 1,700 high
school students attended the Foreign Language
Fair.
The fair, in its eighth year, brings high school
students from across the state to UNL for a day of
competition, learning and fun.
High school Juniors and Seniors received a map of
campus, a schedule for the day and information on
summer and fall modern language programs.
"Everything is going very smoothly," said Walter
Centuori, vice chairman of the UNL modern lang
uage department and fair director. Centuori said
the fair was one of the largest gatherings of people
from across the state, third only to the state fair and
Nebraska football games.
Things are not always so easy for.the people who
have to clean up afterwards.
Frank Kuhn, assistant director of operation for
the Nebraska Union, said large crowds pose cleanup
problems.
Kuhn said the only real problem with having the
fair at the union is that it requires a lot of space.
""The problem is that it (the fair) has grown so
much it has almost outgrown our facilities," Kuhn
said. But Kuhn saidthe fair is still a good chance for
the high school students to become familiar with the
union.
"We get a chance to showcase the union," Kuhn
said. 'The union is diverse. We do a lot of things for
the community, state and the university."
This year's fair featured a computer display that
allows students to test their foreign language skills
while learning about computers. ,
Radio Shack supplied two computers, which both
high school language students and teachers used.
Ron Frame of the Radio Shack Computer Center,
46th and O streets said the computers had two
programs for students to try. One program, written
in Spanish, required students to answer questions
back in Spanish. If the students wrote the right
answers, the computer rewarded them with their
horoscopes. The other program, written by several
students attending the fair, tested students on their
knowledge of German.
Kerrey, may put holdings in 'blind trust'
By Brad Kuhn
-
Gov. Bob Kerrey has found that
sometimes business and political car
eers don't mix.
Responding to a story in the Tues
day Lincoln Star, Kerrey told repor
ters at his weekly news conference
that he is considering placing his busi
ness holdings in a "blind trust" where
he would divorce himself from per
sonal business dealings for the re
mainder of his term.
The story described an alleged ex
tortion attempt in which Lincoln de
velopers Robert Rentfro, Jerry Joyce
and. their lawyer, Alan Plessman, al
legedly made a videotape describing
details of transactions between Rent
fro, Joyce, and State Security Savings
Co. of Lincoln.
The two have accused William F.
Wright, part owner of State Security,
and James Stuart, Jr., president of
Commerce Group Inc., which owns the
National Bank of Commerce, of partic
ipating in insider loans and informa
tion connection with the May 1983
purchase of Shoppers Fair. Shoppers
Fair is a retail area next to the East
Park Plaza Shopping Center.
County records show the area was
sold to American Investment Group in
May 1983 for $2.65 million. At the time
of the purchase, Stuart and Fred Kie
chel, a Lincoln physician, were the only
partners in AIG.
Rentfro and Joyce have accused
Wright of arranging for AIG to pur
chase Shoppers Fair at a low price.
Wright, Gov. Kerrey and Dean F.
Rasmussen of Omaha, the governor's
brother-in-law and business partner,
joined the AIG partnership sometime
after the Shoppers Fair transaction.
Rentfro and Joyce allegedly distrib
uted the two-hour, copyrighted video
tape to Stuart, Wright, Gov. Kerrey and
other persons involved, with a letter
demanding substantial sums of money
and other concessions, threatening to
file a lawsuit against AIG, and embar
rass Wright and through him, his busi
ness associate Gov. Kerrey, by turning
the tape over to law-enforcement ag
encies unless the demands were met.
Gov. Kerrey said he received a letter
and a videotape sometime around
March 24. He said that because of the
nature of the letter, he did not view the
tape, but turned it over to legal counsel
Omaha attorney Bill Campbell. Camp
bell advised him to hand both the let
ter and the tape over to the U.S. attor
ney's office and the FBI. He also noti
fied the Nebraska attorney general
and the State Banking Department.
Banking Director Roger Beverage,
who held a hearing on the' matter
Monday, said he has found nothing to
indicate any impropriety on the part
of Wright in connection with the tran
saction. Kerrey said that Beverage took
sworn statements from everyone in
volved in the incident and that the
investigation is continuing.
For the sake of public trust, Kerrey
said he may have to temporarily sep
arate himself from his private business.
"I c, an't afford to be involved in litiga
tion for the remainder of my public
service career," he said. "ItTs something
that I don't want to do. It's something
that's not in my best interests, but it's
something I may do."
Asked if having to separate himself
from his business would adversely af
fect his decision to run for a second
term, Kerrey appeared to have mixed
feelings.
Continued on Pans 7
. : . i
Inside
Corncobs, a UNL spirit group,
plans to rejuvenate its ranks with
a push for new members later
this month Pags 6
Nebraska women's golf team
finished fifth in the Big Red In
vitational Psga 11
KLMS brings back a fair
weather friend Paga 13
Index
Arts and Entertainment. 12
Classified 13
Crossword 15
Editorial 4
Off The Wire ,...-2
Sports 10
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