ASUN votes against joining the NSIC
By Lee Rood
Staff Reporter
After much debate Wednesday night, sena
tors in the Association of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska voted against joining the
recently renamed organization, the Nebraska
Student Interest Coalition.
Senators argued for more than an hour on
legislation that would have approved the NSIC
constitution and allowed four representatives
from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to
attend its monthly meetings.
The legislation fell two votes short with a
vote of 16-9 with two abstentions. Eighteen
votes were needed to pass the bylaw.
NSIC, a group designed to open up commu
nication between the state colleges and univer
sitics consists of students from Wayne State,
Chadron State, Kearney State colleges and the
University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The group, once called the Nebraska State
Student Association, fell apart last spring after
ASUN withdrew from the organization, saying
it cost too much money.
UNO student Paul Hays, chairman of NSIC,
said there are currently no membership fees,
because the group has $20,000 left over from
NSSA.
Hays said the group needs ASUN to join
because it represents the state’s largest univer
sity and is close to the state capitol for lobbying
purposes.
Hays said he could offer no ways in which
the organization would benefit ASUN.
“What can NSIC do for you? Nothing, abso
lutely nothing,” he said. “It’s what you can do
for us.”
But, Hays said, other schools need to hear
information that comes from the capitol.
Hays said he could not come to the Legisla
ture every day to lobby because it wasn’t time
efficient. Neither could student representatives
from other schools, he said.
Some senators said it sounded like NSIC
wanted to use UNL students to lobby for them.
Sen. Andy Jacobitz, called NSIC a bureauc
racy that would take too much of ASUN’s time.
That time, he said, would do nothing produc
tive and would be better spent elsewhere.
Jeff Petersen, chairman of the Government
Liaison Committee, said the members of NSIC
need UNL members to add strength to the
organization.
Petersen said UNLcould benefit from join
ing because it would open communication and
present a stronger voice to the Legislature.
By not joining, Petersen said, ASUN was
leading the organization on because senators
have been making NSIC members “bend over
backwards” all semester.
Sen. Pete Castellano said ASUN senators
should not join the organization now, because
its constitution doesn’t make provisions for
possible costs later on.
Because there is money in the NSIC
budget—Hays estimated $4,000 to $5,000—
that originally came from UNL student fees,
some senators and Petersen said ASUN should
rejoin to make sure the money is spentproperly.
“Right now we have no control over that
money that our students put in,” Petersen said.
Legislature passes helmet bill;
still needs governor’s signature
From Staff Reports
Motorcyclists will strap on hel
mets in January if Gov. Kay Orr
approves a bill the Nebraska Legisla
ture passed through final reading
Wednesday.
LB428, approved 25-20, was in
troduced by Sen. Dan Lynch of
Omaha in January.
Sen. Scott Moore of Stromsburg
made a motion to return the bill to
select file for an amendment that
would re-quire only motorcyclists age
19 and under to wear helmets and
show proof of motorcycle safety
education. The motion to return the
bill failed 22-23.
Sen. JaCklyn Smith of Hastings,
who proposed the amendment with
Moore, said the amendment would
be a good compromise because mo
torcyclists who oppose the bill re
quiring all motorcyclists to wear
helmets would support this amend
ment.
The amendment would save lives,
Smith said, because people who are
educated on motorcycle safety and
have to wear helmets until they are 20
years old, will continue to wear hel
mets.
Sen. Chris Abboud of Omaha
opposed limiting the law to motorcy
clists 19 and under because all motor
cyclists who do not wear helmets on
the highway cause problems for
motorists, he said.
“I’m in favor of personal freedom
as long as that freedom doesn’t in
fringe upon another person’s rights,”
Abboud said.
Amendment posed
to drop voting age
By Amy Edwards
Senior Reporter
Teen-agers who turn 18 before the
general elections in November could
e given the right to vote in the pri
mary elections under a proposed state
constitutional amendment discussed
at a legislative hearing Wednesday.
The Nebraska Legislature’s Mili
tary and Veterans Affairs Committee
advanced the resolution that pro
‘It they don’t reg
ister and don’t
vote for the first
time, the next
time it’s easier not
to.’
—Chambers
posed the amendment.
LR253 proposes an amendment to
Article VI, Section 1, of the Nebraska
Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution says no state
can deny anyone over the age of 18 the
right to vote, but leaves the possibility
of younger voters to state legislatures.
Six people spoke and about 30
Omaha Central High School students
attended the committee hearing in
support of the resolution.
Wesley Vogel, an Omaha Central
senior, said it is important to let these |
17-year-olds vote in the primaries
because voters choose who will repre
sent their party in the general elec
tions in the primaries.
Vogel said it is not fair that people
who pay the same taxes as those over
18 are not allowed to vote for govern
ment officials. If the resolution is
passed, Vogel said, more young
people will get involved in govern
ment issues.
Richard Siteig, 70, of Lincoln, said
it is only appropriate that people who
have a voice in the government are
allowed to vote in both primary and
general elections.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha
said people who cannot vote in the
primaries are not as likely to register
for the general election.
Chambers, who introduced the
resolution with Sen. Carol Pirsch of
Omaha, said many high school stu
dents know more about government
than people in other age groups.
“If they don’t register and don’t
vote the first time, the next time it’s
easier not to,” Chambers said.
Seniors from Norfolk and Auburn
high schools sent petitions to the
committee in support of the resolu
tion. No one spoke in opposition.
The committee went into execu
tive session to vote on the resolution
so the students could see the proposal
advance.
The committee advanced the reso
lution to the floor of the Nebraska
Legislature with a 5-1 vote.
Butch ketand/Oaily Nebraskan
Chambers
Compensation for athletes
Chambers says football players deserve monetary restitution
By Any Edwards
Senior Reporter_
James O’ Hanlon, a University of
Nebraska-Lincoln representative
to the Big Eight Conference and the
NCAA, testified at a legislative
hearing Wednesday against a bill
that would pay Nebraska football
players.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha
introduced his bill before the Gov
ernment Military and Veterans
Affairs Committee, saying athletes
should be compensated for their
lime and commitment.
Chambers said athletes should
be paid because they are the only
students who cannot get a career
related job while attending college.
The NCAA prevents schools
from giving student-athletes com
pensation beyond tuition, books,
room and board. If athletes accept
money from anyone besides their
parents, the school’s team can be
put on probation and will not be
allowed to participate in NCAA
sponsored events.
O’Hanlon said although the bill
identifies many of the problems
with intercollegiate athletics, UNL
would not be able to participate in
the NCAA if the bill passed.
Two criteria must be followed if
athletes are to be paid for intercol
legiate athletics, O’Hanlon said.
First, he said, if the university paid
all students, they would be allowed
to pay student-athletes as well.
Also, if there is some condition for
pay, such as a certain number of
years at the university, pay for ath
letes would not be a breach of
NCAA rules.
Chambers said because Ne
braska football is contracted like
any big business and money is “the
generating force” behind football,
the athletes who generate that
money should be compensated for
it.
“We are dealing with a highly
competitive, multi-million-dollar
corporation and the men are forgot
ten,” Chambers said.
The bill would eliminate prob
lems with athletes talcing money
under the table to support them
selves, Chambers said.
O’ Hanlon said the passage of the
bill would hurt other sports pro
grams. Football revenue helps sup
port other sports that aren’t self
sufficient, he said. If the revenue
was used to pay football players,
O’Hanlon said, sports dependent on
football revenue would have to be
eliminated.
Chambers said this is “ali the
more reason” for football players to
be paid. He said sports that don’t
bring in money could be treated as
intramural activities.
If passed, the bill would not go
into effect until April 15, 1989.
Chambers said this would give
senators the opportunity to repeal
the law if the NCAA decides to take
action against the university.