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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1988)
Weather: Tuesday, cloudy and colder, flurries possible, high in the low to mid 20s. Tuesday night, 40 percent chance of snow, low of 5 above. Wednesday, consid erable cloudiness, 30 percent chance of flurries, high 10-15 above. A&E: Strindberg’s ‘Miss Julie’ at Temple — Page 6. Sports: Beau Reid to miss Oklahoma game — Page 5. • Dole, Gephardt shine in Iowa Caucuses By Mary Nell Westbrook and Amy Edwards Senior Reporters DES MOINES, Iowa — Republicans and Democrats were stunned when Par Robertson’s “invisible army” materialized Monday night to overtake Vice President George Bush at the Iowa Caucuses. Robertson, a former TV evangelist, finished second to Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., who had 37 percent of the vote. Robertson received a surprising 25 percent. “They were testing me,” Robertson said. “It didn’t work. It backfired.” The Democratic caucus was closer than the Republican straw poll. Congressman Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., finished first with 31 percent of the vote. Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., finished second with 27 percent and Massachusetts Gov. Mike Dukakis was third at 22 percent. Rev. Jesse Jackson received 9 percent of the vote to finish fourth and former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt followed with 6 percent. Al though former Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., did not make a showing in Iowa for the caucuses, he received .32 percent of the vote. Sen. Albert Gore Jr., D-Tenn., recently pulled out of the Iowa race and received .01 percent of the caucus vote. Simon said he was pleased with his showing in the Democratic race, but was shocked by Robertson’s upset of Bush in the Republican rare “No wonder Bush left town,” Simon said. Robertson’s second-place finish at the cau cuses has given his campaign a “tremendous boost,” Robertson said. At a press conference earlier in the day, Robertson said he believed his campaign was picking up momentum after he had visited 53 Iowa cities in five days. Although beaten by Robertson and coming up with 19 percent of the vote, Bush said he has “not given up fighting.” Bush also warned Dole and Robertson that he is “coming after them” in the New Hamp shire primary. Bush may be fighting, but according to Bill Brock, Dole’s campaign spokesperson, “he’s got a desperate problem.” George Bush Jr., Bush’s oldest son, said his father’s campaign has “just h it a bump in a long highway.” Dole was surprised by the vote, but said Robertson’s showing in Iowa would broaden the Republican party. Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., finished fourth with 11 percent, former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont followed with 7 percent and former Sec retary of State Alexander Haig with 0 percent. One percent of Iowans voting had no prefer ence. The candidates will be up against voters again Feb. 16 at the New Hampshire Primaries. Michael McHaffey, Iowa Republican Party chairman, said New Hampshire may show a drastic difference from the Iowa results be cause of the candidates’ regional backgrounds. Dole did well because Kansas is a neighbor ing state, McHaffey said. Robertson’s main support crept up from the South, McHaffey said. Bush may find his territory in New Hamp shire, McHaffey said. Many Republican caucus-goers were skep tical about the poll’s outcome. Andrea Schroder, chairman for Bush’s ac tion committee, said she was disappointed that Iowa voters didn’t take the election “more seriously.” “When push comes to shove, that’s not who they want,” Schroder said. “It was not a sincere vote,” she said. “It was a protest vote.” Dave Hansen/Daily Nebraskan Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson rallies with striking John Morrell workers Monday morning in Sioux City, Iowa. Earlier, Gephardt said the race is volatile and that he had “never accepted the front runner position,” although he had been pre dicted to win the Iowa Caucuses. When questioned if he would change his view after the caucuses, Gephardt said, “any public servant reassesses issues as you go along.” Simon was reported in Saturday’s Des Moines Register poll to have only 1 percent of the vote. He said he was pleased to get 27 percent. The Iowa media has reported that Simon’s campaign is broke and possibly even $300,000 in debt after the Iowa campaign. Simon said he “never had a well-financed campaign like Dukakis.” He said he thinks he can continue to run close in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming — all of which come after the New Hampshire primaries. Rep. Mark McBurney, D-R.I., said he took two weeks off work to campaign the Iowa Caucuses for Gephardt. McBurney said he was pleased Dukakis came in third because “(Dukakis) is more of a threat than Simon.” McBurney said he doesn’t thinks Simon will “do anything” in New Hampshire. Iowa Caucuses make Des Moines atmosphere lively By Victoria Ayotte Staff Reporter DES MOINES, Iowa—Presiden tial candidates and a record 3,000 reporters gathered downtown Mon day amid snow and heavy traffic for the Iowa Caucuses, while life for most residents was business as usual. Des Moines resident Linda Johnson said she wasn’t affected by the caucuses. “I can’t really see what’s the big deal,” Johnson said. While there were probably many lowans who shared Johnson’s opin ion, business people and shoppers in the sky walks enjoyed the crowds. Some residents came downtown just to see the crowds. Ed Johnson, a retired resident, sat in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel waiting to see some action. “It’s pretty exciting,’’ he said. Roger Stanfield, also retired, said the crowds were really big compared to a normal day. “It’s really great. It brings Des Moines to the attention of the whole country,” Stanfield said. Satellite dishes brought the cau cuses to Craig Bindrum’s attention. “I thought it was Star Wars or something,” Bindrum said. While presidential campaign staff members were using Monday for last minute campaigning, Breck Sham poo representatives did a little cam paigning of their own. Breck personnel were downtown with signs reading “Vote for your favorite Breck girl.” Employees handed out ballots and campaign buttons for their own version of an election. Downtown businesses felt the impact of the caucuses through in creased sales and customers. ‘It's really great. It brings Des Moines to the attention of the whole country.’ —Stanfield Jennifer Bahlmann, manager of Michael J’s Clothing Store, said there was a lot of traffic. “A lot of out-of-town people makes a big difference,” Bahlmann said. Many hotel restaurants had ex tended operating hours because of the caucuses. Rick Phillips, vice president of communications for the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, said the total economic impact of the caucuses could be more than $15 million. “That’s of small importance com pared to the exposure Iowa gets,” he See DES MOINES on 3 ' Employers favor decreased minimum wage By Brandon Loomis Staff Reporter Employers testified Monday in support of a bill to decrease mini mum wage for student employees, while four students opposed the bill at a public hearing in the State Capi tol. Sen. Howard Lamb of Anselmo introduced the bill, saying that each year many students are unable to find jobs and continue their educations. Lamb said Kansas and Wyoming have similar laws, allowing employ ers to pay students $1.60 per hour. Lamb’s bill would decrease Nebraska’s student wage from $3.35 to $2.85. Paul Eldien, operator of a Lincoln Dairy Queen, said employers should be able to pay students less than minimum wage, since most student employees are in a transitional stage legjsfatiife between unskilled and skilled labor. “We feel we are in a training pro gram,” he said. Eldien also said the $3.35 mini mum wage gives hiring priority to non-students, since they have fewer schedule conflicts than students. Chuck Harris, vice president of the Nebraska Restaurant Association and owner of the Dew Drop Inn in Ravenna, said students whose sched ules conflict with work are harder to work with than non-students, there fore students should be paid less. “My income is low enough,” he said. “I’m dam sure not going to support the rest of the town’s kids.” John Petersen, president of the Nebraska Restaurant Association, said a lower minimum wage would help the state approach total employ ment for those students who want jobs. “I’m not here to discriminate against students,” he said. “All our association would like to do is open it up for students to at least get some job experience.” Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a member of the Business and Labor Committee, said total student em ployment is no excuse for slave wages. “When there was slavery, there was total employment for black people,” he said, “but those people did not totally appreciate total em ployment.” Donald Hanway, speaking on behalf of the Nebraska Coalition for Women, said if the bill is passed, the “best and the brightest of the workforce will go to other states.” The bill would discourage low income single women from attending college, he said. Bill Mitchell, a non-traditional history and Spanish junior at Wayne State College, said about one-third of Wayne State’s students are non-tra ditional. Since the bill has no age limit, he said, it discriminates against older students who support families. Mitchell said students who work to get through college wilMeave the slate in search of better conditions for their families. This would create a “brain drain” in the state, he said. “For the sake of Nebraska we should not pass LB 1096,” he said.