Editorial
. Mike Reillcy, Editor, 472-1766
D^llV Diana Johnson, Editorial Page Editor
\ T^.1 nl S' Jen Dcsclms, Managing Editor
l\l 0DI3Slv3n Wagner, Associate Seres Editor
C hns Anderson, .Associate News t ain*
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Joan Rc/ac Copy Ptsk Chl(f
Joel ('arisen, Columnist
IA fresh VOICE
Party proposes new approach for ASUN
“Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator and
change has its enemies.”
— Robert F. Kennedy
The VOICE Party, with its progressive platform, has earned
the Daily Nebraskan’s support for Wednesday’s student
government elections.
In outlining their candidacy for the executive offices of the Associa
tion of Students of the University of Nebraska, VOICE members
stressed several changes that need to be made in UNL’s student
government.
And they’re changes for the belter.
Christopher Stream, VOICE’S presidential hopeful and the backbone
of the party, promised:
• to hold the line on tuition increases.
• to keep the Government Liaison Committee a concentrated UNL
lobbying force, instead of joining other state institutions such as the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Peru State and Wayne State in the
Nebraska Student Interest Coalition.
• to create a new appointments committee that will bring a broader
mix of Greek, residence hall, off-campus and minority students to
ASUN.
• to take a more aggressive approach in informing students about
ASUN.
stream nas cnuci/.ea asuin ana me Liovcmmcnt Liaison Lommit
tee for jumping the gun on tuition increases this year. GLC, led by
ACTION Party presidential hopeful Jeff Petersen, lobbied for a tuition
raise this year to help increase UNL faculty salaries. The tuition increase
would constitute one-third of the raise, with the Nebraska Legislature
picking up the other two-thirds of the proposed $10 million increase.
While Stream has said GLC should stand alone as UNL’s lobbying
force, ACTION supports joining NSIC. Petersen said joining the other
colleges would give UNL more clout in the Legislature. However,
UNL s needs are different from those at the slate colleges and UNO, and
they could get lost in the shuffle.
The change shouldn’t stop with lobbying.
Stream also attacked ASUN’s current appointments board, saying
that it has ignored qualified independent and minority students in the
government He said the party would redesign the current appointments
board to include Greek, residence hall, off-campus and minority lead
ers. VOICE’S candidate slate supports this.
Members of the ACTION Party, however, want to maintain the
current process. Petersen intends to keep the appointments board the
way it is, and his party offered no suggestions for improvements when
interviewed by the Daily Nebraskan editorial board.
Apathy has plagued ASUN for several years. Many of the elected
positions arc vacant by second semester, leaving the appointments
board to select its “cronies” to fill the spots.
Besides the new appointments board, Stream, first vice presidential
candidate Andrew Wupper and second vice presidential candidate
Steven Showaltcr have developed other programs to encourage more
participation in ASUN.
If elected, they plan todistributc a “survival guide” for students at the
beginning of the year. The booklet would include photos and names of
senators and what openings there are on committees and other vacant
positions. This would help eliminate the “back-room” politics and
appointments that now take place in the UNL student government.
VOICEalso said it would circulate newsletters and other information j
to keep off-campus students informed and would encourage ASUN
senators to attend residence hall floor meetings to discuss issues.
This won’t necessarily solve the problem. ASUN needs to be
aggressive and take the first step in informing students. It needs to bring
the information to the students, not make the students seek the informa
! tion.
ACTION’S platform had one idea that would increase communica
tion with its constituency. If elected, it would arrange monthly meetings
with college senators and their constituency. But once again, getting
students to come to the monthly meetings would be difficult. It would
be better for the senators to approach the students, perhaps by siuing in
on club gatherings and departmental meetings.
When interviewed by die DN editorial board, VOICE members cited
specific problems faced by certain groups of UNL students. For
example, Stream said many off-campus students were concerned about
the legislative proposal to cut the minimum wage for students.
ACTION candidates could not cite specific needs of groups at UNL
when interviewed. Instead, ACTION stressed a broad platform similar
to past ASUN campaigns.
But ACTION shouldn’t be written off entirely. The candidates have
much more experience than VOICEcandidalcs. Petersen served as GLC
committee chairman this year, and first vice presidential candidate
Nate Geiserl has served as GLC vice chairman, a member of the
University Judicial Board and a U.S. Congressional page.
Perhaps the brightest spot for ACTION was second vice presidential
candidate Kim Beavers. She has served on the appointments board and
GLC and is a former DN reporter. She appeared to have a stronger grasp
of issues than her running mates and was the sharpest speaker of the
three.
But the bulk of ACTION’S platform is merely an extension of past
ASUN office-holders. For example, its promise to establish an inde
pendent book -exchange program has been proposed in the past and
never really look hold.
What ASUN needs is change. It needs to have better contact with its
constituency and more equal representation. It should focus its lobbying
force on UNL needs, as opposed to joining forces with other colleges.
A vole for VOICE would accomplish these goals. A fresh approach
is just what ASUN needs.
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Robertson backs out of lawsuit
Spoilsport candidate says he lacks time to prepare defense
Whai a spoilsport Pal
Robertson turned out to be.
After filing a $35 million
lawsuit to defend his alleged honor,
he’s now trying to drop the whole
thing.
Now we’ll never know if he was
the heroic, patriotic young Marine
lieutenant he claims to have been. Or
if he really asked hispowerfu! daddy,
a U.S. senator, to keep him away
from the front lines of the Korean
War.
The whole purpose of the lawsuit
was to answer these questions and to
punish Pete McCloskcy, a former
congressman and Marine, who said
that Robertson was chicken back in
1951, when they were both on a
Korea-bound troopship.
In fact, McCloskcy says
Robertson is still chicken for backing
out of the lawsuit after McCloskcy
went to all the bother of preparing his
defense.
McCloskcy says his defense
would include testimony from other
Marines on the same troopship, who
remember Robertson talking about
how his daddy would make sure he
got off in Japan.
Robertson did wave goodbye to
his buddies in Japan. And he re
mained there for four months, while
most of the others went on to fierce
combat duty. Many died. Others,
such as McCloskcy, suffered terrible
wounds.
McCloskcy says his defense
would also include evidence that
when Robertson finally reached
Korea, he was tucked safely behind
the lines and his duties included
being a liquor officer.
The accusation that he was a liq
uor officer seems to irk Robertson as
much as being labeled chicken. He
has vehemently denied ever being a
liquor officer and says no such mili
tary position ever existed.
That surprises me. Of course liq
uor officers existed. I even knew one.
He used lo fly to Japan and return
with a planeload of liquor. We con
sidered him to be a most admirable,
essential officer in the outfit. In any
popularity poll, he scored far higher
than, say, the mess officer, who gave
us chipped beef on toast, or the chap
lain, who gave us lectures on shun
ning lewd women. The liquor officer
just gave us hootch.
So 1 don’t understand why
Robertson is so incensed at being
called a liquor officer. While it may
be true that an army travels on its
stomach, there arc pleasant moments
when a gtxxi liquor officer makes it
possible for it to fall flat on its back.
But to get back to Robertson’s
lawsuit and his last-minute decision
to drop it.
He says he would have preferred
to have a trial and prove that
McCloskcy was a liar, but he just
doesn’t have time because he’s so
busy running for president.
If he pursued the matter,
Robertson says, he’d have lo stop
campaigning and begin preparing for
the trial, which was scheduled to
begin today, which is Super Tuesday,
the big primary day down South.
And that could deprive the Ameri
can people of an opportunity to make
him our next commandcr-in-chicf.
All that could be true, I suppose.
But Robertson filed the lawsuit about
a year and a half ago, so I would think
his lawyers would have their ease
thoroughly prepared by now.
And on Super Tuesday, as on any
other voting day, there isn’t much
that a candidate can do besides show
up at a polling place early to have his
picture taken.
After that, it’s just a matter of
waiting for the polls to close and the
vote to be counted. A candidate
might just as well wait in a courtroom
as anywhere else.
In fact, it isn’t likely that
Robertson would have to spend much
time in court at all. In many trials,
including libel cases, the plaintiff
and defendants don’t have to be there
most of the time. The lawyers throw
motions around, the judge rules on
them, the witnesses testify, the jury
listens. About the only lime
Robertson would have to be in court
would be when he testified.
Even that appearance wouldn’t
significantly interrupt his campaign,
since his testimony would bring him
scads of publicity, which is what
campaigning is all about.
So 1 don’t understand why
Robertson has chosen to miss the
opportunity to defend, as he put it, his
honor.
The trials would be a chance lor
him to describe his combat experi
ence, since his official biographies
have always said he was a “combat
Marine."
And it would give him a chance to
explain a happy letter that his late
father sent to a friend, passing along
the good news that a big general had
told him that Pal would remain in
Japan awhile for special training.
So it’s disappointing that
Robertson would decide to drop out
just when the action was about to
begin.
Of course, McCloskey would say
that it wasn’t the first time.
G 1988 Chicago Tribune
Royko is a Pulitzer-Prize winning colum
nist for the Chicago Tribune.
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