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.