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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1989)
^Hfl mWm JL/dLll V WEATHER: INDEX IH a/ 9 WEATHER. Tuesday, partly sunny, high 35- News Digest.2 nm 5 SB —a ^5 HB ^hb ^eWBfc, 40, SE winds 10-15 mph. Tuesday night, Editorial .4 i tBH 1 *WmBB AT fig JP^' rH breezy and cold, low 20 25 Wednesday, Arts & Entertainment 6 1 fflTi mil Be HU me wMB fgLr. umjgF Wi mm wk partly sunny, high mid-50s. Thursday Sports . 9 £" ip npjHk ^^8 H| |jr through Saturda;Thursday, chance of Classifieds.11 March 21,1989 _ University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vo!. 88 No. 125 |Senators advance bill stiffening penalties |»y jerry uuentner and Natalie Weinstein Staff Reporters rWl he Nebraska Legislature gave first-round I approval Monday to a bill that places **• stricter penalties on crack and cocaine dealers, despite claims by Sen. Ernie Cham bers that the bill is “a farce and a sham.” it s a pouucian s Din, pure ana simple, Chambers of Omaha said. Senators advanced LB592 31-5 after about four hours of debate. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Chris Abboud and Sharon Beck of Omaha, and Scott Moore of Stromsburg, provides for mandatory mini mum prison sentences for people who manu facture, distribute or possess cocaine or crack with intent to sell. Abboud said the bill does not deal with the individual user. “It deals exclusively with individuals sell ing and trafficking these types of drugs,” ADooua said. According to the bill, a person caught with at least 10 grams, but less than 28 grams, of crack would receive a three-year mandatory minimum prison sentence. Someone caught with 28 grams or more of crack would receive a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. Twenty-eight grams is slightly less than one ounce. A person caught with at least one ounce, but less than seven ounces, of cocaine would re ceive a three-year mandatory minimum prison sentence. Someone caught with seven ounces or more of cocaine would receive a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. The maximum penalty for all four crimes would be 50 years imprisonment. Abboud said 26 states have adopted similar legislation. Chambers said senators would vote in favor of the bill, despite its ineffectiveness, because it would make them look like crime-fighters. “You’re going to pass this knowing it won’t do a thing,’’ he said. See DRUGS on 3 btuaent Court order&Petersea to pick justices By Ryan Steeves Staff Reporter rhe Student Court at the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln Mon day ordered AS UN President Jeff Petersen to appoint new justices by April 5. After 28 minutes of deliberation, the justices unanimously voted that Petersen should appoint the justices before new executive officers of the Association of Students of the Uni versity of Nebraska take office April 5. Eric Aspcngren filed a petition against Petersen in Student Court March 9. Aspengren accused Pe tersen of not appointing justices on lime as prescribed by the ASUN constitution. The constitution requires senators to approve justices, who serve one year terms, 30 days prior to the gen eral election. The general election was marvn id. retersen nas not yei appointed justices. “It was an oversight on my part,” Petersen said. Petersen said he will comply with the court’s order without appealing the decision. He said he will try to make the appointments by Wednes day so AS UN senators can approve the justices at the regular ASUN i meeting. During the course of the hearing, Petersen accused Aspengren of hav ing ulterior motives for filing the petition. Petersen said he thinks As pengren filed the petition on behalf of Stan Mommaerts, a nominee for stu dent court At the time the petition was filed, Petersen said, about five students had applied to be a justice. The president appoints seven justices. Petersen said he thinks Mom maerts wanted the appointments ac celerated because the lack of appli cants would have ensured him a spot on the court. “I believe that is the real motiva tion in this case," Petersen said, um» 11 uiai 13 uuV| uivii & umuv uiai 3 a real flaw in the system." Aspengren said he resents Pe tersen’s accusation. While admitting he and Mommaerts are friends, As pengren denied filing the petition on Mommaerts* behalf. Aspengren said Mommaerts informed him about the missed deadline but did not ask him » to bring the issue to Student Court. "It was my feelings to do this," Aspengren said. Aspengren said he filed the peti tion because he didn’t want the next round of ASUN members to appoint the court. This could iead to 4 ‘court packing," he said, in which mem x bers’ friends are appointed. Without the petition, Petersen would have ignored justice appoint ments, Aspengren said. "I think he was willing to let it go and let the next president do it," See COURT on 3 Wttltav) Uuw/Dalty Nsbiaekan Ke«y Palmar, a freshman ails and sciences major, tells moderator Vaughn Robertson she Is disturbed that tradmonafind minority sorority members refer to each other as ‘tee” and 'they.” Palmar spoke during an open forum in the Centennial Ballroom on increasing cultural diversity in the university sorority system. Minority participation dominates discussion By harm Bander guff Rsponer ranting representation in 8 wtite PanheUenic Associa XJi tion to a black sorority and trying to increase minority partici pation in the grade system domi nated a panel discussion Monday aimed at improving cultural diver sity in UNL sororities. The panel discussion was part of the PanheUenic Spring Program on Cultural Diversity and was at tended by members of all sororities at the University of Nebraska Lin coln. Beth Hansen, a junior French and English education major and a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, said the gretk system is not diversified enough. “Look at yourselves,” she said. “Thegreek system is way too white. We need to consider Span ish, American Indians and other minorities and diversify.” One of the three panelists, Leslie Lewis, a senior pre-med major and member of the black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, said that although it would be difficult for her sorority to reach the mini mum-member requirement of the National Panhellenic Council, her sorority should stilt be recognized as a member of Panhellenic. She said that because of the small number of blacks available to rush at UNL, reaching the member requirement is difficult However, Tiffany Seevers, president of the Panbcuenic Asso ciation, said Alpha Kappa Alpha is not presently recognized on the UNL campus because its national chapter has not petitioned UNL, for permission to start a local chapter and join the Panhellenic Associa tion. She said that the minimum niember requirement had been waived in the past for Zeta Phi Beta, UNL’s only recognized black sorority. Robin Uecker, a sophomore advertising major and member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, said that in order to fit into Panhellenic, all sororities should have to abide by the same rules. Lewis said Panhellenic should accommodate minority sororities by making representation propor tional. “We don’t want to be assimi lated, but accommodated,’’ Lewis said. • She said that she wants her so rority to be recognized as a sepa rate entity with some of the same goals as other sororities. Lisa Morris, a sophomore busi ness major and member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, said she thinks people don't understand exactly what minorities want from traditional sororities. — « Morris also said Macks labeling their sororities “Mack sororities'’ is keeping the gap of communica tion open. Courtney Butherus, a junior journalism major and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, said that part of the reason more blacks are not in sororities is be cause they are a small minority on campus. Before the panel discussion began, suggestions for increasing cultural diversity in the greek sys tem were discussed. One of these suggestions was to change the wording in the Panhellenic rush booklets to en courage minority participation. TtMfWK Slndeier contributed to the etory. Commission scrutinizes state’s colleges By Larry Peirce Senior Reporter The Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecon dary Education gave its an nual review Monday and presented suggestions on how to conserve re sources at the state’s colleges. IggjjMBg Eric Seacrest, program review chairman, told members of the Ne braska Legislature’s Appropriations and Education committees that postsecondary institutions need to monitor their programs to avoid du el ication. At least two public postsecondary institutions offer similar programs that don’t meet “statutory perform ance criteria” for degrees conferred and credit hours taken per faculty member, he said. The University of Nebraska-Lin coln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha offer graduate programs in political science and psychology that don’t meet state standards. To conserve money and resources, the commission recommended that the institutions monitor these pro grams and jointly explore options, including attracting additional stu dents, Seacrest said. The commission also updated the status of programs that in the past had failed to meet statutory criteria. The undergraduate programs that UNL continues - but that do not meet statutory criteria - include physics and astronomy, philosophy and soci ology. The math and statistics, soci ology, and physics and astronomy departments continue graduate pro grams that do not meet statutory cri teria. State statutes require that aca demic programs, failing to meet state criteria, be reviewed. UNL is con uniting me programs without moni toring^ them, Seacrest said. Failure to meet requirements doesn’t mean a program must be dis continued, because some programs show growth trends, and others are vital to their institution’s mission, he said. The commission also noted that: • UNL is considering a master’s degree program in legal studies and museum studies, and a doctorate program in home economics. • Kearney State College cited a need to confer a Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Fine Arts degrees, which are now beyond its authority. • Chadron State College cited a need to offer a master’s degree in business administration. The pro gram has been approved by CSC’s board, but the college lacks funds to implement it. See REVIEW on 3