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UNL officials plan new smoking policy
I By Ryan Steeves
Staff Reporter
University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials
plan to implement a smoking policy that would
prohibit smoking in most areas of UNL build
ings, but they are awaiting campus input on the
issue.
A memo, released by John Goebel, vice
chancellor for business and finance, stated that
smoking would be prohibited in halls, class
rooms, labs, elevators and emergency shelter
areas. The right to smoke in other areas will be
granted by individual department chairpersons
and will cover only that department’s jurisdic
tion. The areas left to chairpersons’ discretion
include single-occupant offices, auditoriums,
dining rooms and “other indoor assembly ar
eas.”
UNL is scheduled to implement the policy
on July 1, 1988. Goebel said he released the
memo to get reaction from UNL students, staff
and faculty members.
“There was no intent to keep this under
wrap,” Goebel said. “What we want is discus
sion.”
The policy also would:
• require smokers who smoke in their office
to buy and maintain a smoke filter.
• require signs that say “Smoking Allowed”
and “No Smoking” in rooms with both areas.
• prohibit smoking in areas with no signs.
• require deans, directors, department chair
persons, managers and other supervisory per
sonnel to enforce the policy and punish those
who don’t comply.
Goebel sent the memo to several adminis
trators and groups, including all deans and
directors, the Faculty Senate Executive Com
mittee and the Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska Executive Committee.
If responses are against the policy, it may be
revised, he said.
Shawn Boldt, first-vice president of ASUN,
said the ASUN Senate will vote tonight on a bill
that would allow ASUN to survey students
about their opinions on the policy. If passed,
surveys would be available at the Student Infor
mation Center, Nebraska Union 116.
Boldt said ASUN will take a position on the
policy after students have been surveyed. Boldt
said he agreed with the policy’s concept, but
found the policy itself “a little too restrictive.”
“I think as soon as students see all the places
they can ’ t smoke,” Boldt said,‘‘they ’ 11 real 1 y be
upset.”
Goebel said administrators and faculty
members developed the policy after some UNL
faculty members and students asked about
UNL’s smoking policy. The new policy would
g i ve U NL a reasonable set of gu idel i nes that are
consistent with the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air
Act passed by the Legislature in 1935, Goebel
said.
UNL students go to prison for class
By Victoria Ayotte
Staff Reporter
The bars slid back at the Ne
braska State Penitentiary Tuesday
morning to admit 25 University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students.
The students went to the peniten
tiary as a pan of Personality and
Social Structure and Sociology of
Deviants, a course taught by
Suzanne Ortega, assistant professor
of sociology.
The students were taken on a tour
of the penitentiary and had a discus
sion with members of The Seventh
Step Foundation, a self-help group
for inmates.
The purpose of the trip was to
give students a real-life view of
what they are studying, Ortega said.
Coming in the penitentiary, stu
dents had to show picture identifica
tion while security checked their
names. Several students forgot their
See PRISON on 3
ASUN candidates given pop quiz
By Victoria Ayotte
Staff Reporter
Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska presidential
candidates were surprised but re
acted differently when given a test
Tuesday in place of a scheduled
debate.
Action Party candidates took the
test, sponsored by The Innocents
Society, while Voice candidates did
not complete the test and protested
the exam, calling it “an Innocents’
trivia contest.”
Results of the test are scheduled to
be released Friday.
The Innocents Society has given
the test to candidates before. It asked
the candidates questions about uni
versity officials and AS UN proce
dures.
Questions ranged from naming
the president of the university and the
members of the University of Ne
braska Board of Regents to the Ne
braska Union Food Service Director
and the Daily Nebraskan Business
Manager.
Voice presidential candidate
Christopher Stream and Action
presidential candidate Jeff Petersen
said they had not been told about the
test beforehand.
“We walked in expecting to have
a debate,” Petersen said. “I think
there should have been some prior
notification.”
Jeff Dillow, Innocents Society
president, said it was decided at the
last minute to give a test instead of
having the open-forum debate.
“We didn't mean to throw anyone
off, but things happened,” he said.
The Innocents had scheduling
problems and were unable to organ
ize the debate in time, said AS UN
President Andy Pollock.
“It just never came off the
ground,” Pollock said.
Stream said he was upset about
having to take a test and was not
prepared.
“I think the whole thing was set up
unfairly,” Stream said.
Stream said the test was biased,
but Petersen said he thought the test
was a good idea.
“Someone seeking the magnitude
of office we are seeking needs to
have a good understanding of the
people you’re going to be working
with,” Petersen said.
But Petersen thought some ques
tions on the test were unfair.
Stream thought the test favored
the Action party because members of
the party have already worked with a
lot of the people listed on the test, and
would score higher.
“All it (running ASUN) takes is a
desire to work hard. I donot think tbit
it is a qualification,” Stream said.
“They’re (The Innocents Society)
already excluding me because I don’t
know enough of the right people,”
Stream said.
Dillow said the test is fair and was
not intended to be biased against
anyone.
“The test covered important areas
that any person running for office
should know,” he said.
Curtis bill put on hold
By Mary Nell Westbrook
Senior Reporter
Members of the Nebraska
Legislature’s Appropriations Com
mittee voted 5-4 Tuesday not to
advance a bill to finance the Ne
braska College of Technical Agricul
ture at Curtis, but the bill’s sponsor
expects the measure to advance to
day.
Sen. Owen Elmer of Indianola,
who made LB 1042 his priority, said
he spoke to one committee member
who voted against it and that member
said he would ask for reconsideration
of the bill. Elmer would not identify
the committee member.
Elmer said he was surprised the
bill wasn’t advanced to the floor.
He said he spoke to committee
members earlier in the day and
thought they would pass it.
After Gov. Kay Orr decided to
support the college and others
showed additional support, Elmer
said he thought the bill was home
free.
Under LB 1042 the school would
get $700,000 for the current fiscal
year and 1.4 million for 1988-89.
Sen. Chris Abboud of Omaha,
who voted against the bill, said he
also was surprised the bill didn’t get
the five votes it needed to advance.
Sens. Scott Moore of Stromsburg,
Gary Hannibal of Omaha, Lowell
Johnson of North Bend and Jerome
Warner of Wavcrly, chairman of the
committee, also voted against send
ing the bill to the floor for debate.
Abboud said he didn’t think the
budget could handle the expense of
keeping Curtis open. He said if the
University of Nebraska Board of
Regents had made the bill a higher
priority it might have passed.
Moore said after giving so much
money to the university he thought
the state “just couldn’t afford to do
it.” When it came to Curtis or soil and
water conservation, Moore said he
thought the money would be better
spent on conservation.
Bob Cochrane, Orr’s communica
tions director, said the governor was
disappointed that the bill didn’t get
out of committee, but she will con
tinue to work hard on the bill.
Orr met with Elmer Tuesday af
ternoon and she is confident the
committee will reconsider the vote,
Cochrane said.
And Warner agrees the issue is not
dead.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” he
said.
Panel confronts prejudice
Speakers say pride in background needed
By Dan Dwinell
Staff Reporter
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha
told University of Nebraska-Lincoln
students Tuesday that he tells his
children to be proud to be black and
fight prejudice.
“I told my kids if they ever hear the
“N” word I don ’ t gi ve you perm ission
to fight, I want you to fight,” Cham
bers said.
Chambers was part of panel dis
cussion entitled “I am. We are” to
expose students to different ethnic
and cultural views in the Sandoz Hall
main lounge.
The organizers of the event, San
doz Student Assistants Lisa Ramirez
and Mary Pat Mallam, said the dis
cussion was an extension of Black
History month.
Chambers said there are several
ways to solve the problem of black
prejudice.
“If you want to talk we’ll talk it
out, if you want to walk we’ll walk it
out, if you want to fight we ’ll fight it
out,” he said.
“White people think that they are
the standard for everything,” Cham
bers said.
Vaughn Robertson, counselor for
Multi cultural Affairs at the Student
Center, said the only two black
people his daughter sees are her par
ents.
“That bothers me,” he said, “it
really bothers me.”
Kit Boesch, administrator of the
Department of Health and Human
Services of Lancaster County agreed
with Chambers that there are many
ways to deal with discrimination.
Boesch, former cross country,
track and fencing coach at Ohio State
said she wasn’t treated equally with
the men coaches.
“Ranting and raving doesn’t get
you anywhere,” she said. “There’s a
lot of different ways of doing it. You
have to work the system.”
After Boesch finished speaking, a
member of the audience, Shawn
Bordeaux, said he was angry that
there wasn’t a Native American on
the panel.
“I’m a Native American and I’m
proud of it,” he said. The panel
members invited him to sit with
them, but he declined.
Marty Ramirez, psychologist at
the UNL Counseling Center, said
there is a great confusion about Chi
canos in the United States.
He said the Chicanos’ standard of
living has improved, but there is
room for improvement.
