The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 18, 1984, Image 1

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Wednesday, April 18, 1334
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 83 No. 140
tL f-t i ndr S
Mark DavisDaily Nebraskan
The George Kennard House, 1627 II Street.
Tour of capital city opens eyes
and answers historical questions
Analysis by Kema Soderberg
It was an angry day as we donned our walking
shoes. The sky threatened rain. The wind chilled our
faces. But we were undaunted. We were in quest of
the historical Lincoln.
Armed with a camera and a walking tour bro
chure from the Lincoln Convention and Visitors
Bureau, located at 1221 N Street, our campaign set
fourth to slay the dragons of ignorance and bore
dom. The road was easily trod, the sites proved
interesting and, best of all, the entertainment was
free.
The three 35- to 45-minute tours wind through
the capital area, downtown district and UNL. Para
graphs in the brochure tell little-known secrets
about each landmark, but quick stops at some of
these buildings reveal more stories.
Some of the more interesting discoveries follow:
"Nice furniture!" said my comrade as we explored
the Thomas P. Kennard house near 17th and H
streets. Our guide said the house is the oldest in
Lincoln and stood on the outskirts of the city in
1869. The decor, though not the original, pulls you
back to when 30 people lived in Lincoln (then called
Lancaster).
The Kennard mansion housed the Delta Upsilon
fraternity from 1918 to 1943. Our guide said a large
annex at the back of the house was torn down
before the building became a historical landmark.
We showed up at the Governor's Mansion just in
time for the tour. We saw the couches where many a
woman fainted because her corset was too tight. We
tiptoed past the library where Gov. Bob Kerrey
was holding a meeting, trotted through the formal
dining room and flew down the stairs to see replicas
of Nebraska's first ladies. They were all dolled up in
their inaugural dresses. As we gazed, our guide
warned us not to lean against a false brick panel. It
once sucked up a little girl, she said.
We strode with confidence past Daniel Chester
French's stern statue of Abraham Lincoln. The
statue stands near the west entrance to the state
Capitol. French's later statue of Abe stands as a
memorial in Washington, D.C.
The capitol cast a shadow on us. We could not
help but go in. There are 20-minute tours in this
fourth architectural wonder of the world, but, in
true Lewis and Clark spirit, we forged our own way
through the building.
Continued on Page 6
Sexist advertising discussed
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11 11 11 1 - 1 1 1 11
A 71 A ' ' O
Banking official says
future of banking is
financial consolidation
By Mona Z. Koppelman
Rumors that the state had found a prospective
buyer for Commonwealth were dispelled Tuesday
by a UNL graduate and president of a national bank
holding company.
George Rothell, president and director of Inter
state Bancorp, was at UNL as part of the College of
Business Administration's visiting executive pro
gram. Rothell, a UNL graduate and native of Tecum
seh, directs banks in Idaho, Nevada and Washing
ington. Rothell said Interstate Bancorp couldn't buy or
franchise Commonwealth Savings Co. because the
Legislature hasn't passed measures to allow out
state financial companies to purchase the failed
banks.
"No, we would not be interested in buying Com
monwealth," Rothell said. "We are interested in the
state of Nebraska for our franchise program, rather
than the acquisition of a particular institution. As
the laws are now, we couldn't buy Commonwealth,
anyway."
Rothell said when a finance company acquires a
troubled institution like Commonwealth, it takes a
long time to get the institution back on its feet.
"We prefer that anything we acquire has a shorter
range of recovery time," Rothell said. "We are in an
exploratory mode at this time."
Continued on Page 8
7
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Inside
America's tax system is in need of a
change Page 4
KFAB finalizes its on-the-air personnel
for the 1984 Husker football season
Page 10
NCAA wrestling champion Bill Scherr is
headed for the Olympic tryouts . . . . Page 12
Index
Arts and Entertainment 10
Classified 14
Crossword 15
Editorial .... 4
Off The Wire 2
Sports 12
By John Meissner
The topic of the Daily Nebraskan
advertising policy concerning sexism
dominated the agenda of Tuesday's
Publications Board meeting, with
board members embroiled in a con
troversy over who should have the
final say on questionable ads.
After viewing Killing Her Softly, a
film dealing with the degrading role of
women in advertisements, the board
launched into discussion regarding the
creation of an advisory board and the
influence it would enjoy.
The board's discussion was part of a
proposal submitted by a Publications
Board committee. The proposal set
down a definition of sexist advertising
and asked for increased awareness of
"the subtleties and subsequent conse
quences of sexist advertising."
Board member Dan Bernstein in
troduced two amendments to the
proposal. One changed the role of a
proposed member appointed to the
board and the other gave DN staff
members a voice in running question
able ads.
The former measure eliminated a
non-voting position on the board, sub
stituting a consulting member instead.
Consultant may be appointed
Bernstein said a non-voting member
was unnecessary because of the infre
quency of sexist advertisement dis
cussion at board meetings. The board
opted for appointing a consultant; pos
sibly someone from the university adver
tising department.
The latter amendment, which eli
cited a volley of reactions from both
board members and DN staff members,
would have required the editor to con
sult with the advisory board on every
questionable ad. DN editors balked at
the strong wording of the amendment,
arguing that it might violate the First
Amendment to the Constitution.
Spring editor in chief Larry Sparks
called the idea "nothing short of cen
sorship" and said he did not agree to it.
The final draft "encouraged" the adver
tising manager and all DN staff to con
sult with the board before running a
questionable ad.
Dan Shattil, DN general manager,
said present policy gives him the re
sponsibility for determining if an ad is
in "bad taste." The amendment now
designates final direction for all adver
tising content in the Daily Nebraskan
to the editor in chief.
Change was necessary
A change was necessary, according
to Sparks, because decisions on the
content of the paper must be made by
students on the staff, and Shattil is not
a student as defined by the Daily
Nebraskan.
Bernstein said the whole purpose of
the proposal was to get students to at
least consult with people in advance
before running an ad. He said this
would eliminate reacting after the fact
to letters from people offended by a
sexist advertisement.
Both the second amendment and
the overall proposal were unanimously
accepted by the board.
In other action, the board tenta
tively agreed to the proposed 1984-85
budget. The budget asked for a slight
increase in appropriations from stu
dent funds and committed $16,000 to
updating newsroom equipment.