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4 JLjf %JL 1 4. A A Cm. A Thursday, March 17,1988
Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
i
Mike Rcillcy, Editor, 472-1766
Diana Johnson, Editorial Page Editor
Jen Dcsclms, Managing Editor
Curt Wagner, Associate News Editor
Chris Anderson, Associate News Editor
Joan Rczac, Copy Desk Chief
Joel Carlson, Columnist
-1
Halls of poison ivy
Senator harms Roskens' effort at Capitol
Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha
seems to have missed
something.
Hall, speaking on the floor of
the Nebraska Legislature, said
he would like to strike $4 mil
lion in research money from the
University of Nebraska budget
bill now before the Legislature.
His rationale is that the
university’s central administra
tion has yet to prioritize and
focus a direction for the pro
posed funding.
Three days earlier, NU Presi
dent Ronald Roskens specifi
cally outlined areas of research
for the $4 million at the monthly
NU Board of Regents meeting.
Roskens dissected the pro
posed funding into four major
categories, gave exact dollar
figures to be allocated to those
areas and proceeded to explain
specific projects to be re
searched within those fields.
Roskens said $1.95 million
will be allocated to biotechnol
ogy; $1.55 million to engineer
ing, physical sciences and com
puter sciences; $200,000 to
water quality research; and
$300,000 to decision sciences.
In biotechnology, Roskens
targeted study in the control of
infectious diseases through the
, production of vaccines, the
application of monoclonal anti -
bodies and the use of molecular
probes for viruses. In engineer
ing, Roskens pointed to re
search in the area of aerosols,
laser scattering, laser metrology
and super-fast cameras.
In his presentation, Roskens
said, “Please note that we intend
to target specific areas, rather
than allocate these dollars to a.
large number of programs.”
Hall said of the central ad
ministration Tuesday: “They
need to sit down and say,
‘Here’s what we want to be and
here’s what we want to do.’”
Roskens’ proposals are not
an example of failure to focus or
prioritize. They arc, instead,
specific and far-reaching re
search goals that would dra
matically improve both learning
and the possibility of securing
corporate research centers in
Nebraska. Lack of research
funding loomed large when Ne
braska lost the multimillion
dollar U S West research and de
velopment center to Colorado.
Phis cannot happen again.
Hall has done more than
spout misguided untruths. He
has damaged the university's
funding opportunity with an
attempt to please penny-pinch
ing constituents. This kind of
attack appears on the wire serv
ice and is sent across the state
riding on the integrity of Hall’s
senatorial title. Hall has dam
aged a well-planned effort to lift (
the University of Nebraska to ,
academic superiority.
Senator defends support of helmet law
It was our intention when I co-in
troduced LB404 in 1985 to mandate
that vehicle operators who drive on
Nebraska highways or streets carry
liability insurance for their own pro
tection and as an indication of their re
sponsibility for their own actions.
Unfortunately, after the bill went
into effect, we had only 33,000 regis
tered motorcycles in Nebraska as
compared to more than 50,000 prior
to LB404. That was an obvious indi
cation that motorcycle riders did not
intend to be responsible as they used
the public streets and highways.
Because of this irresponsibility and
lack of concern for the public good,
LB428 was introduced.
LB428 requires that any operator
or passenger on motorcycle or moped
should wear a protective helmet.
Because of the serious head injuries
and fatalities occurring from these
injuries, this bill has been introduced.
Within 60 days after the effective date
of this act (approximately Sept. 10)
the Department of Motor Vehicles is
to publish minimum standards for
protective helmets. The design of the
helmet wiH reduce injuries to the user
resulting from head impacts. A hel
met purchased prior to the effective
date of this act must conform to fed
eral motor-vehicle safety standards.
Any person who violates this law will
be guilty of a traffic infraction and
fined $50.
The serious nature of head injuries
occurring in motorcycle accidents
was the reason for the introduction of
this bill. Studies show that unhel
meted riders are twice as likely to
receive a head injury of any type as
are helmeted riders and are at least
three times more likely to receive a
fatal head injury. More costs become
incurred from motorcycle accidents.
These costs include the costs to soci
ety as a whole. Often society must be
burdened with the cost of lifetime
care for injuries received in motor
cycle accidents, since many people
involved in serious motorcycle acci
dents do not have health insurance.
These costs include:
• increased insurance costs spread
among all of us who pay insurance
premiums.
• increased welfare costs paid for
by the taxpayer.
• increased welfare costs to sup
port spouse and children left behind.
• other indirect costs occasioned
by removing a productive member
from society.
The costs of motorcycle injuries
are numerous. LB428 is intended to
protect motorcyclists and moped rid
ers from head injuries. Most deaths
from motorcycle accidents are re
lated to head injuries, and these
deaths are related to the lack of helmet
use. LB428 requires the use of hel
mets and will hopefully aid in the
elimination of motorcycle head inju
ries.
I appreciate hearing your point of
view and even though you may dis
agree with mine, I hope you under
stand that my concern for your life
and the life of others outweighed any
political consequences resulting from
my support for LB428.
Sen. Dan Lynch
District 13
Nebraska Legislature
Sc
:>■
4
" ...put now x peep i must itwe thd News of thp primaries to
QTHPRS. I AM WITHDRAWING To MV flPPROOM To RPAP A GOOD BOOS 1"_
Sennett defeats Mickey Mouse
Two write-in votes put columnist into ASUN office as senator
Inave veniureu mio me po
litical arena twice in my life.
When I was 16, I ran in a
special election to fill a vacancy on
my high school’s student council. I
was soundly defeated by Terri Waters
— a teeny-bopping cheerleader with
braces who could only put a sentence
of more than three words together if it
began, “Two, four, six, eight.”
Four years later, I found myself
drafted to run for president of my
itudent government in college. A
;mal! caucus of concerned constitu
ents saw the election being handed on
he proverbial silver platter to a yup
pie 10 years ahead of his lime — the
eollege-agcd male counterpart to
rerri. They asked me to mount some
Kind of competition. I did. I won. I
spent most of the next year regretting
it.
Two experiences, covering the
only two bases to be covered, right?
You run; you lose. You run; you win.
Certainly, if you do not run, you
cannot lose. And, as Sybil told Harold
in that greatest of all movies, “Chari
ots of Fire,” “If you don’t run, you
can’t win.” Right? Not, apparently, at
the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln.
Imagine my surprise when I found
out last Thursday that I had been
elected to the Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska as a
Graduate College senator. I did not
run. I did not think about running. I
didn’t (and, please believe me, this is
unusual for me) even vote. But Gus
taf, a friend and fellow grad student
with an office down the hall, knocked
on my door, pulled me away from the
slumbers of my dissertation research
and said,“Congratulations, Senator.”
I quipped, with all the non-interest
I could muster, “That’s Sennett, Gus,
and why should I be congratulated for
falling asleep in Plantinga’s ‘Nature
of Necessity?”’
“That’s Senator, Jimmy, and I
don’t give a rip about your sedated
studies. You have been elected by
your peers to represent them in that
monolithic bastion of students’ rights
and suntan-consumer protection
agency— AbUlN.
Il seems that there are six scats in
AS UN for Graduate College senators.
A whopping one-third of those were
claimed by people who managed to
muster enough concern to get their
names on the ballot. Three more went
to other exuberant individuals who
orchestrated write-in campaigns. One
spot was left. Out of all the extra
write-in votes amassed — such as
Mickey Mouse, Mike Dukakis, Ger
aldo Rivera and Pat Paulsen — I
apparently received more than any
one else. I got two. There arc two
people out there in university land
who, with their joint and apparently
independent efforts, managed to land
me in a scat of prestige and power.
-1-L
It’s a little frightening, isn’t it?
Because of a fluke and, most likely, a
couple of jokes, I can become a duly
ordained law-making official of the
largest institution of higher education
in the state of Nebraska. Of course,
this is not the most spectacular feat of
its kind in political history. It did,
after all, take two more votes to put
me into ASUN than it did to put
Gerald Ford into the White House.
Nonetheless, I feel kind of special. I’d
like to know if anyone has ever gotten
in on one vote, or if I have set some
kind of record here. Maybe I will ask
to be director of ASUN archives, so I
can dig back and find out
I know who one of my supporters
is. Good ol’ Gus, who only went to
vote because some friends of his were
among the aforementioned candi
dates, pulled my name out of fat air
and filled in the blank. He also insists
that he is the one who put me over the
top, since he voted late in the day. But
I would like to know who cast the
omervote.inguremcuirccui umiccii
to get together so the winning candi
date can be treated to the gourmet
meal of his choice. If you arc my
mystery backer, please drop me a line
here at the Daily Nebraskan so you
can get invited to the celebration. Gus
is buying.
There are so many details to attend
to now. I suppose I should call a news
conference to accept victory and say
nice things about my defeated rivals.
“I hope that Mickey andGcraldo will
not be discouraged but will continue
to pursue public service through
whatever opportunities they might
have. I understand that Mike is al
ready involved in another, albeit less
prestigious, political campaign.”
I also need to make sure my closets
are clean. I am, after all, an ordained
minister named “Jimmy.” But, be
lieve me, I don’t even know how to
spell “prostetute,” and niy wife has
never been inside T.J. Maxx. I may
have lusted in my heart, hut that only
makes me as bad as St. Augustine, and
I think I can live with that.
Finally and, I understand, this one
is for real, 1 must file a financial
disclosure statement for my cam
paign. That ought to be loads of fun.
“I spent no money at all on this cam
paign. Enclosed please find receipts
to document these figures.” Robert
Dole spent millions in the South and
came away with nothing on Super
Tuesday. I didn’t even buy Gus a cup
of coffee, and 1 ride a tidal trickle of
support to victory. I wonder if I qual
ify for matching funds.
It was William Tecumsch Sher
man who said, “If nominated I will
not run; if elected I will not serve.” I
was not nominated and I did not run.
I have been elected, but I don’t know
whether I'll serve. I admire
S herman ’ s resolve, but he d idn ’ t ha ve
Gus breathing down his neck, want
ing to be appointed press secretary.
Senuett is now a politician as well as a
graduate student in philosophy and campus
minister with College-Career Christian Fel
lowship.
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