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March 17,1988 _ University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 88 No. 123
Frost says chain distribution widespread
By Brandon Loomis
Senior Reporter
An illegal chain distribution, or pyramid
sales scheme, has established links at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a
Nebraska assistant attorney general said.
Denise Frost said a concerned potential
customer sent her a copy of the game last week.
She said the pyramid sales are widespread on
campus.
The “Lucky 13,24 Hour Madness Dash” is
a package sold for S10 containing a list of 13
names and a $5 money order.
Upon purchasing the package, paiticipants
cross out the name at the top of the list and mail
the money order to that person.
The next step is to make two copies of the
new list complete with $5 money orders, and to
sell them for S10 each.
Each of the steps must be completed within
24 hours. An accompanying letter says that
within 13 days, each new participant s name
will have reached the top of the list, and they
will begin to receive money orders amounting
to $40,000.
“It amazes me how stupid people are,”
Frost said.
Such games are inherently risky, and violate
the Nebraska Deceptive Trade Practices Act
and the Consumer Protection Act, she said.
The Deceptive Trade Practices Act makes
illegal any sales technique in which the buyer
helps the seller make a sale to another person.
It also outlaws pyramid sales, which are
defined as sales devices “whereby a person,
upon a condition that he make an investment, is
granted a license or right to recruit for profit
one or more additional persons.”
Frost said the “Lucky 13” game clearly is a
case of pyramid sales.
“If they do a referral where you give them
money and they give you names in return,
that’s chain referral, and that’s illegal in Ne
braska,” she said.
Frost said the sales also are illegal because
the packages contain misleading letters saying
that since the plan does not involve mailings to
uninterested people, it is legal.
“Is this an illegal activity?,’ ’ the letter asks.
“Legal authorities state ... it is perfectly
legal.”
“That is a misrepresentation of Nebraska
law,” Frost said, because it falsely presents the
law and does so to make sales.
A UNL student who asked to be identified
by his first name, Charles, said he bought into
the game last Friday. He said “Lucky 13” is
commonly played in his fraternity and in the
entire greek system.
Charles said he was skeptical when he first
heard of the plan, but decided to try it after
talking to the woman who was number three on
the list. He said the woman, a Nebraska
Wesleyan University student, had received
$105 in her first six days of participation.
By selling the two packets, Charles said, he
made back the money he spent to get involved.
Now he can sit back and wait for money,
without worrying about losing anything.
“That’s the beauty of this thing,” he said.
“You can’t lose money unless you have no
desire to make money.”
He said he has not made any money yet.
Lt. Ken Cauble said the UNL Police Depart
ment was alerted to the scheme last week, but
canceled an investigation because the county
attorney’s office said it saw nothing illegal
about “Lucky 13.”
Cauble said students contacted police ask
ing about the legality of the plan. He said the
students had been approached by other stu
dents.
The county attorney’s office is reviewing
the case, Cauble said.
See FRAUD on 3
BttR heads violations list
with 86 campaign rules broken
■»y fcve Nations
Staff Reporter
Although every party running in
the ASUN elections had nu
merous campaign violations,
the BEER party stole the rule-break
ing show with 86 violations.
The ASUN Electoral Commission
met Thursday to discuss the violations
and the action to be taken against the
offenders.
The BEER party, which had a
maximum of $1,075 to spend during
the campaign, accumulated $430 in
fines for their violations -- most of
which occurred on election day.
The other parties had less than half
the number of BEER’S violations: 34
violations for SLUMBR totalling
$160; 21 violations and $91 worth of
fines for the PRIDE party; and 37
violations totalling $145 for the
IMPACT party.
BEER party violations ranged
from placing a party poster in a poll
ing booth to putting three BEER stick
ers on the Director of the ASUN Elec
toral Commission’s van while he was
checking a polling site.
Mark Fahlcson, the commission
director, said the BEER party also
took a polling booth from the ASUN
office the night before the election.
“They had it in their room and they
were taking pictures of themselves
voting on a sample ballot,” he said.
-w ^ m m a
i wo independent candidates,
Mark Hoffman and Joe Bowman,
received $415 and $85 in violations.
Hoffman put up more fliers than are
allowed in one area and used the
AS UN logo on his fliers, which is
prohibited. Bowman placed posters
in restricted areas.
Independent candidates, Fahlcson
said, are charged with violations just
“as a formality,” and do not have to
pay the fines.
Fahleson said the commission is
unsure how they will enforce the vio
lations if the parties spend more than
their budgets.
“We are looking into community
work as a possibility,” he said.
Other suggestions made by the
commission for making sure fines are
paid included holding grades or re
stricting graduation.
Funding for each party is deter
mined by the number of candidates in
each group and is generated by the
parties themselves.
“We set the limit of spending,”
Fahleson said. “The parties can get
funds through such ways as dona
tions. But the parties have to gener
ate their own money. The A SUN
office doesn’t give them money.”
Fahleson said fines will be deter
mined officially Tuesday after the
parties turn in their last financial
statements.
Regents have no plans to alter JN U discrimination laws
By Eric Pfanner
Staff Reporter
Despite recent controversy
over gay rights at the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, the
NU Board of Regents has no plans to
change NU bylaws to include a policy
statement prohibiting discrimination
against homosexuals.
The regents would need to pass a
resolution that would change the
wording of section 18 of the Univer
sity of Nebraska Charter, which pro
hibits discrimination on the basis of
age, sex, color or nationality.
Nancy Hoch of Nebraska City, the
chairman of the board, said she would
have to see how such a resolution
would be worded before she could
decide whether or not she favored it.
Regent Don Blank of McCook also
said he would need to see a specific
proposal before making a decision.
But Donald Fricke of Lincoln and
Kermit Hansen of Elkhom said they
do not think a change in the charter is
necessary.
John Payne of Kearney said he
does not think he would support a
change, either.
“Maybe someday you will under
stand,” he said. “When you are 45,
you look at the world differently.”
Margaret Robinson of Norfolk
said she does not know if she would
support the change.
“I prefer to think of college stu
dents in other terms than sexual pref
erence,” she said.
But some members of the board
said they would support including
gay rights in section 18.
Rosemary Skrupa of Omaha said
she would support the addition if a
“logical” proposal were made.
Skrupa said such a proposal
should be made by the UNL student
regent because the Committee Offer
ing Lesbian and Gay Events has been
a UNL issue.
Robert Allen of Hastings said he
would have to see a proposal before
he could decide whether he was in
favor of a change or not, but said that
UNL should “follow the lead of other
institutions,” when making a deci
sion to change the wording.
Allen said he and five other re
gents will attend the Association of
Governing Boards conference in
Boston this weekend. Allen said he
will ask regents and trustees from
peer institutions what they are doing
about the gay rights issue.
At several other state universities
a specific policy statement has b»^n
written into the university bylaws.
See REGENTS on 3
I Alternative Indian burial bill indefinitely postponed
By Jana Pedersen
Stiff Reporter
Opponent complaints about the
“secretive” way LB691 was
drafted led to die indefinite
postponement of the bill Thursday in
the Government, Military and Veter
ans Affairs Committee of the Ne
braska Legislature.
LB691 was proposed as an alter
native to LB340, the Unmarked
Human Burial Sites and Skeletal
Remains Protection Act that is await
ing second round approval on tne
floor of the Legislature.
Sen. John Weihing of Gering,
sponsor of LB691, said he proposed
tne bill as a “reserve” to LB340.
Walter Echo-Hawk, an attorney
with the Native American Rights
Fund based in Boulder, Colo, who
spoke in opposition to the bill, said
LB691 was an unfair alternative be
cause, unlike LB340, it wasn’t
drafted with the consent of American
Indian tribal leaders.
The main difference between
LB340 and LB691, however, is not
only in language, weihing said, but
also intent
One of the most controversial
aspects of LB340, the disposal of
human remains already in state muse
ums, he said, is not dealt with in
LB691.
LB691 is not intended to resolve
current disputes, Weihing said, but
instead attempts to lay the foundation
for future procedures for dealing with
remains.
Ron Bozell, a professional arche
ologist who spoke in favor of LB691,
said the bill was a compromise.
LB691 is the only bill which
equally recognizes the concerns of
Native Americans and archeolo
gists,” he said.
But, Echo-Hawk said, LB691
could not be a compromise because it
fails to protect the rights of American
Indians.
The avoidance of dealing with the
status of remains currently being dis
played in state museums is one of the
main faults of LB691, Echo-Hawk
said.
Also, he said, the bill places com
ptcie control oi remains in uic nanus
of the Nebraska State Historical Soci
ety, requiring it to consult with Indian
tribal leaders only if possible.
Giving the society such control is
unfair, Echo-Hawk said, because in
the past, including the drafting of
LB691, the society has failed to coop
erate with tribal leaders.
LB340 on the other hand, Echo
Hawk said, was developed carefully,
with input from both the Historical
Society and tribal leaders, and should
be the bill of compromise.
