Page 8
Daily Nebraskan
Friday, September 20, 1985
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By Shelley Stall
Student Legal Services Lawyer
Question: I have a friend who got
married last June. She recently left her
husband and believes the marriage is
finished. She was told by a relative who
claims to know a lot about legal mat
ters that she could get the marriage
annulled since she has been married
less than one year. Is this true? How is
annulment different from divorce?
Answer: No, your friend cannot get
an annulment based on the fact that
she has been married less than a year.
Divorce vs. Annulment. An
action for divorce asks the court to
dissolve a valid marriage. The judge
grants the divorce if the marriage is
irretrievably broken and reasonable
efforts at reconciliation have been
made. The marriage is officially dis
solved six months after the date the
Judge signs the divorce decree.
An annulment destroys the exist
ence of the marriage from the date of
the wedding. The grounds for annul
ment are limited to specific unusual
circumstances that are spelled out in
the Revised Statutes of Nebraska.
Void Marriages. An annulment
can be obtained in Nebraska when a
marriage is void or invalid based on the
following reasons: 1) either person had
a husband or wife living at the time of
the marriage, 2) either person is insane
or mentally incompetent at the time of
the marriage, 3) when the people are
related as parent and child, grandpar
ent and grandchild, brother and sister,
first cousins, uncle and niece or aunt
and nephew.
Voidable Marriages. In some
instances, marriage is regarded as
"voidable," which means that although
unusual circumstances exist, the law
will allow the marriage to be valid
unless one of the parties takes action
to void it. Grounds to annul voidable
marriages include:
One or both parties is younger
than 17 years old, they do not have
parental consent and they do not
cohabit.
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O One of the parties is inflicted
with a venereal disease or is impotent
at the time of marriage.
0 One of the parties agreed to
marry under the threat of force or fraud
and the parties do not cohabit volun
tarily. In these situations, cohabitation after
the innocent party becomes aware of
the grounds for annulment can destroy
the chance of obtaining one.
If your friend's marital problems do
not fit any of these categories, she will
not be able to get an annulment. She
should discuss her legal options with
loskens
an attorney.
Question: Until last July, I shared
an apartment with someone. We didn't
get along, and I moved out after the
lease expired. My ex-roommate con
tinued to live there alone. Since the
utilities were in my name, I called the
gas, electric and phone companies a
week before I moved and told them to
terminate service on my move-out date.
I just received a bill for service at the
old apartment for July and August. I
wasn't even living there then. I called
the electric company and they say
there is no record that I ever called and
terminated service. They said I have to
pay the bill.
A few days later I received notice
that they're going to cut off service at
my new apartment. I called my ex
roommate and told him to pay the bill.
He hung up on me. Do I have to pay this
bill? What can I do?
Answer: Immediately write your
ex-roommate a business-like letter
explaining the situation. Attach a copy
of the bill and notice and ask that he
pay the bill by a specific date. Explain
that if the bill is not paid in full by that
date, a small claims lawsuit will be
filed. The ex-roommate used the elec
tricity and he should pay for it.
A consumer has the right, before the
disconnection date, to request a con
ference with the utility company
regarding any aispuie over tne pro
posed disconnection (see 19-2702 to
19-2715, Nebraska Revised Statutes).
The request must be in writing and
should include information regarding
date you called the company, the date
you moved out, your ex roommate's
name and address. The electric com
pany will have to meet with you before
shutting off service.
If your roommate doesn't pay the bill
and the matter is not resolved at the
conference with the electric company,
two possible courses of action remain.
Pay the bill and sue your ex-roommate
in small claims court or talk with an
attorney about appealing the confer
ence decision and possibly filing a law
suit against the company.
Your problem is a good example of
why it is wise to terminate utility ser
vice by a dated letter, keeping a copy
for your own file. The letter can be used
as proof that you notified the company
if this type of problem arises.
visits Chinese
By Ann Harrell
Senior Reporter
NU President Ronald Roskens says
Chinese universities differ from U.S.
campuses, despite efforts to pattern
higher education after U.S. models.
Roskens returned Sept. 8 from a 17
day tour of China at the invitation of
the Chinese Ministry of Education and
several Chinese universities. It was his
fourth trip to China.
Suppression of academic freedom
during the Cultural Revolution caused
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Chinese universities to lag behind those
in the United States, Roskens said. Ten
years ago, China's universities were
used as indoctrination centers for pol
itical purposes, and the faculty simply
was dismissed. As a result, facilities on
Chinese campuses are not as up-to-date
as those in the United States.
"They're having a difficult time
catching up," he said.
However, Roskens said, recent con
struction and rapid advances in buying
new technology mean Chinese univer
sities are moving ahead rapidly.
"The government has placed a very
high priority on education," he said.
Roskens described one incident in
which two officials of the Inner Mongo
lia Agricultural College rode 37 hours
by train to meet with him in Shanghai
because bad weather prevented him
from flying to Inner Mongolia.
"I think that suggests some dedica
tion and commitment," he said. Roskens
said the governor of Inner Mongolia
visited Nebraska.
"Their climate and geography are
very similar to Nebraska's," he said.
"They would like very much to have a
sister relationship with the state of
Nebraska."
Contact between students and faculty
follows a different pattern in China,
Roskens said. Not only do Chinese stu
dents and faculty members live on
campus, but the ratio of faculty to stu
dents is much more favorable. In China,
there are six students for every profes
sor, he said. At NU, there are about 23
students for every professor. But despite
the increased opportunity for student
faculty contac, the Chinese process is
much more formal.
. . Vol
i ' W
II WW fa
u yu m m
1
For help with your homework, see the University Bookstore's complete selection of study guides.
Everybody needs help now and then.
So if you can't make heads or tails out of
zoology (or . any other subject), come see us.
We carry the entire set of Schaum's outlines,
the complete Problem Solver series, every title
of Cliff's Notes, and many foreign language
dictionaries and grammar books.
Stop by and take a look! Our study guides
could become some of your closest friends.
iTheBQOKSTQRE
UNIVERSITY OF NFRRASKa
Books and more!
Lower Level, Nebraska Union. 14th & R 472-7301
Monday-Friday 8:OOAM-5:30PM Saturday 9:00AM-5:OOPM Closed Sundays
Services Available: Copying, Photoprocessing, Typewriter Rental
Wfestern Union.
If you have a legal problem or ques
tion for this column, send a letter to
Ask Your Attorney, co Shelley Stall,
Student Legal Services, Nebraska Union
335.
Chinese college students are typi
cally the same age as U.S. students,
Roskens said, but there are more older
students on Chinese campuses. Many
people who were denied a college edu
cation during the Cultural Revolution
are returning to school now, he said.
Chinese campuses lack an organized
social life. They have no sorority and
fraternity system, Roskens said.
During his visits to major Chinese
universities, Roskens spoke about U.S.
organization and administration of
higher education. He also discussed
the possibility of faculty exchanges
between NU and China. Although most
of these exchanges still are being dis
cussed, Roskens said, several NU faculty
members already have visited East
China Normal University in Shanghai,
and several professors from that insti
tution have been at NU.
During his visit, Roskens was given
the title of "Honorary Distinguished
Professor" by East China Normal. This
distinction is comparable to an honor
ary degree in the United States, he
said.
"I was deeply honored and very
moved by the ceremony," he said. "The
president (of the university) spoke very
enthusiastically and knowledgeably
about the University of Nebraska and
about our exchange program."
A growing U.S. and Japanese influ
ence is particularly noticeable in China
today, he said. Music, clothing, taxis
and private cars are among the signs of
Western culture that are increasingly
visible.
"Obviously they have concluded that
the Western orientation is the tilt
they're going to take in the years
ahead," he said.
Roskens said his interest in foreign
universities developed from an interest
in international education.
"I think we must do everything we
can to widen the horizons of our people
so we come to understand that the
globe is a very small place," he said.
Roskens said he was interested in
China because it is a major country
that has been open to the United States
for only a short time.
"When it's one-fifth of the world's
population, it seems imperative to me
that we understand their culture like
we do (that of) the western world," he
said.
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