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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1989)
Senators say they will listen to students By Pat Dinslage Staff Reporter Politically, the student body at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is “not a force to be reckoned with,” according to state Sen. Ernie Cham bers of Omaha. “They (UNL students) won’t marshal their numbers,” and won’t “get power until they show they rec ognize the value of numbers when used effectively,” Chambers said. “But everything I’ve said can be changed if students get involved in greater numbers on serious issues; issues broader than just... pertaining to the university.” Bryan Hill, chairman of the Gov ernment Liaison Committee, said that historically, 18- to 22-year-olds are the “most apathetic” age group. Hill and other GLC members encour age UNL students to become active in state politics year round. However, Hill said, “I’ll be happy if I can just keep the students in formed.” Hill and senators agree that there are several ways in which students can become involved in the state legislative process. Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln said the first step students who want to become involved in state government should take is to contact campus or ganizations, such as the Association of Students of the University of Ne braska, and express an interest in working within the organization or on a committee. Sen. Bill Barrett of Lexington, Speaker of the Legislature, said that becoming one of 35 legislative pages is the best way for students to become thoroughly familiar with state gov-; emment. Internships also are available through UNL, or students can contact individual senator’s offices, he said. Hill said students should first edu cate themselves about the legisla ture, issues under consideration, their specific senator and his voting rec ord. GLC has background informa tion on the senators, Hill said. Infor mation also can be obtained by read ing a daily newspaper. The next step, according to Bar rett, Chambers and Hill, is to visit the senator to express concerns or discuss certain issues in which the student is interested. Barrett said the Nebraska Legisla ture has been called4 4 the most acces sible legislative body in the nation” because senators make time to meet with their constituents. Chambers said one visit is not enough. The student needs to ‘‘make the senator see that he is really inter ested.” The senator then may use the student as a resource on specific is sues, he said. Because of the limited time avail able to the senators, Hill suggested that students should visit their sena tors only when they are specifically concerned or interested in an issue. Concerns can be expanded to a broader view, even including com mending the senator on the way he voted on a certain issue, Hill said. Wesely said that writing a letter or phoning senators is another effective way for students to express their concerns. ‘People underesti mate the impact of a letter or a phone call. ’ —Wesely “People underestimate the impact of a letter or a phone call,” Wesely said. Generally, senators don’t get that many individual letters, he said. Wesely said legislators want to see young people get more involved in state government. The experience of learning how to be a part of public life and public policy-making can be valuable in any career, he said. The Legislature is aware of the lack of student, involvement and apa thy, Barrett said. If UNL students can only do one thing this semester to become in volved in state government, Hill said, they should come to the “Senators on Campus’ ’ programs. About 25 to 30 state senators will come to the Ne braska Union throughout the spring semester. Sponsored by the GLC, the pro gram gives students the opportunity to voice their concerns and meet their senators personally, Hill said. The program also gives the senators the opportunity to realize that students are interested in legislative issues and to hear their views. Students have a “lot of untapped potential,” Hill said. They are an “important component in the univer sity lobbying effort" “Students don’t carry as much weight as a professional lobbyist,” he said, but when students do go to the Legislature, “Senators do lis ten.” Griesen: System shouldn’t raise fees drops out or loses the card. Griesen said the new system also could increase food service sales at the Nebraska unions, which would affect student fees indirectly. The university has discussed set ting up a food service debit system, he said. With such a system, students could pay a fixed amount at the be ginning of the year and then use their cards to draw on that amount when purchasing food, he said. Currently, if the food services lose money over the course of a year, student fees are used to subsidize the loss. “The more we could get food service sales up, the less we have to subsidize with student fees,” Griesen said. The card, which would cost each student a one-time payment of $7.50 to $10, also would make student life more convenient, Griesen said. With a new computer system, resi dence hall food services could offer a wider variety of meal plans, he said. The current system is 17 years old and running at capacity. Currently, dormitory residents can pay for either 13 or 20 meals a week. But those who take the 13 meal option cannot cat breakfast. The new system would allow students to pick any 13 meals throughout the week, Griesen said. Also, commuters could make payments each semester to use their I Ds as lunch-only passes at the dor mitory food services. Griesen said computer cards would tighten security at the new Campus Recreation Center, making more space available for students who are paying for the center. Security has never been a problem at the older recreation centers, but ineligible people probably will try to use the new center, Griesen said. “(The older centers) have been so unattractive that we’ve had no prob lem keeping people out,” he said. The new system also could tighten security at the dormitories, he said, because the outer doors could remain unlocked. Students could use their cards as keys. Despite some opposition, Griesen said if the system is implemented, seniors probably will pay the same one-time fee as freshmen. Griesen said he would like to give a discount to seniors, who will use the card for only one year, but such a discount would be too expensive from an administrative standpoint. “It’s kind of like a one-day pass to Worlds of Fun,” he said. “You’re going to pay $16.50 whether you get thereat nine in the morning or three in the afternoon.” He said Chancellor Martin Mas sengale probably will decide early this week whether or not to go to the computer system. Griesen said he would like to have the system at least partly operational by fall semester, but said planning must start soon. By Brandon Loomis Senior Reporter Although a proposed university wide photo student identification system would cost about $255,000 initially and $85,000 in yearly oper ating costs, a university official said yearly student fees should not in crease. James Griesen, vice chancellor for student affairs, said 10 percent to 25 percent of the operating costs would be paid by the units that use the computer card system, someof which arc student funded. Each unit also would be responsible for maintaining and replacing its own machinery, he said. But those costs should be offset by the money each unit saves with the new system, Griesen said. ‘‘I don’t sec anything so drastic that we’d raise student fees,” he said. The current ID system is not capable of stopping ineligible stu dents from using the University Health Center and running up about $12,000 in uncollectible accounts each year, Griesen said. ‘ ‘Under the present system, a per son can walk in here, sign up for classes, drop out and still have a valid ID,” he said. Since UNL has no transcripts to withhold from such students, he said, there is no way to make them pay their medical bills. 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