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News Digest.2
Friday, mostly sunny and warm, high in the low- Editorial.4
80s, southeast winds 5 to 15 mites per hour, Siwf«. 7
Fridaynight, mostly dear, low 45 to 50. Saturday, VZ. F'ntartainnmnt.
sunny and warm, high near 80. 4 Enterta,nment.10
October 13,1989_University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. 34
Regents did not violate law, Spire says
By r.miiy Kosenbaum
Staff Reporter
and Victoria Ayotte
Senior Editor
Attorney General Robert Spire Thursday
issued his opinion that the NU Board of
Regents did not violate Nebraska’s Open
Meetings Law when it fired NU President
Ronald Roskens July 31.
Although the regents did not violate the law
in a “strict legal sense,” Spire wrote in his
opinion, the regents “remain accountable to
the public for their actions ...”
“If nothing else, the public will assess the
propriety of their actions at the ballot box,”
Spire said. “As a result, even in instances
where there is a legally legitimate closed ses
I
sion, public omciais should attempt to provide
some type of explanation for their actions.”
Spire said the public is entitled to an expla
nation because officials are responsible to the
public and not to themselves.
“Although not legally required, the concept
of open and accountable government suggests
a fuller public explanation than that made by
the regents,” he said.
The regents were acting legally when they
removed Roskens, Spire said, because they
voted in open session to move into closed
session to consider “personnel matters which
require closed session discussion in order to
prevent needless injury to the persons in
volved.”
Because they were evaluating Roskens’ job
performance, the regents acted within the legal
---
limitations of the Open Meetings Law, which
provide for a closed session in discussion of
personnel matters which may harm an individ
ual’s reputation.
They also acted legally because Roskens
did not ask for an open session at any time
during his performance evaluations, which
were May 12, June 23 and July 21, Spire said.
On July 31, the regents voted to remove
Roskens.
The regents voted for the removal in open
session, but provided no explanation. Spire
said this was legal since divulging the reasons
for Roskens’ removal would defeat the purpose
of holding closed sessions to protect h is reputa
tion.
State Sen. Ron Withem of Papillion, who
requested the opinion by Spire, said he’s confi
dent that Spire’s findings are accurate.
“The attorney general is an expert,” he
said. “It’s good to have a definitive answer.”
Withem said he is pleased with Spire’s
opinion that the public is entitled to an explana
tion of Roskens’ firing by the regents.
“If they can’t explain . . . then I don’t
believe they’ve acted prudently or responsi
bly.” ,
Daniel Meyer, a former legislative aide and
lobbyist who threatened to sue the board of
regents in August, said that because Roskens is
a public figure, the closed session for ‘ ‘person
nel matters” should not apply.
See DECISION on 6
Computer viruses warded off
Kendra Gill
Slaff Reporter
Nationwide rumors that three computer vi
ruses would strike this week prompted
UNL’s Computing Resource Center to
intensify its defenses against viruses, said
Gerald Kutish, associate director of the Com
puting Resource Center.
Although the viruses predicted to start on
Columbus Day and Thursday have not struck,
Kutish said, a virus that usually begins every
Friday the 13th still could occur.
Virus rumors rise several times a year, he
said, but increased concern about the triple
threat predicted for this week required extra
precaution.
The center started preparations for the vi
ruses three weeks ago, Kutish said. Following
its proactive policy, the center sent memos to
deans, directors and department heads warning
them of the viruses and telling them where
antivirus software is available, he said.
Computer coordinators from all colleges
are sent flyers on procedures used to fight and
prevent the spread of viruses, Kutish said.
Newsletters from the center and Business Serv
ices alert faculty members to the possibility of
a virus outbreak, he said.
Faculty members arc particularly con
cerned about viruses because they tend to save
vast amounts of research on freeware and
shareware, common software that is vulner
able to viruses, Kutish said.
The center also runs a hotline that tells
computer users how to avoid viruses, Kutish
said. It subscribes to Virus-L, a bulletin board
that tracks viruses and rates the effectiveness of
antivirus programs, lie said.
An extra precaution the center took was to
send antivirus software to five microcomputer
labs on campus, Kutish said. Programs called
Disinfectant and Vaccine detect and remove
viruses, he said, and can be copied onto lab
users’ disks.
* Kutish said users can help reduce the spread
of viruses by using only legal software, keep
ing the original copies of programs and creat
ing backup copies of their work.
The center has received many calls from
concerned computer users, Kutish said.
“This is the biggest rumor mill I’ve seen
since the Martians invaded Grovers Mill,” he
said. “But with increased precautions, we’ll
keep the Martians at bay.”
Possible lawsuit has UNL groups
adopting ‘wait and see" attitude
By Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter
Members of both COLAGE and ASUN
are adopting a “wait-and-see” atti
tude after Dick Wood, general coun
sel for the University of Nebraska, told the
Association of Students of the University of
Nebraska it could lead NU into a lawsuit if it
denies funding for COLAGE speeches.
Dave Whitaker, chair of the Committee
Offering Lesbian and Gay Events, said the
committee would “wait and see” if legal ac
tion would be necessary after Fund A alloca
tions are decided.
ASUN’s Committee for Fees Allocation
will recommend Fund A allocations to ASUN
near the end of the semester, Whitaker said.
Until then, he said, COLAGE members will
prepare to justify their funding requests and
will follow the same process as last spring.
Whitaker said COLAGE probably will re
quest funding for such programs as panel dis
cussions and educational Films.
If ASUN refuses to approve funds again this
year, he said, COLAGE then will have to
decide if it wants to take the student govern
ment to court
But, he said, because COLAGE is part of the
NU system, any lawsuit will have to come from
outside the university, not directly from CO
LAGE.
Whitaker said the Nebraska Civil Liberties
Union already has been contacted and ex
pressed interest in acting on behalt of CO
LAGE.
“We’re hoping it won’t come to that,” he
said.
Steve Thomlison, ASUN general studies
senator, said he would have to “wait and see
what the student body thinks’’ before deciding
whether he will oppose funding for COLAGE.
When COLAGE asked for funding in the
spring, Thomlison opposed it.
Because few students supported the idea, he
said, senators didn’t support it.
“There would be no difference if students
would voice the same opinion on, for example,
the African student group,’ ’ he said.
See COLAGE on 6
The morning after
asrasissffiissi:
last of 1,000 Nsbraska-Colorado football tickets Thursday morning.
Alumni Association plans to appeal postal audit
By Ryan Steeves
Senior Editor
and Theresa Sindelar
Suff Reporter _
An official with the Nebraska
Alumni Association said the
organization plans to appeal an
audit by the U.S. Postal Service,
which is billing for postage due on
“improperly used discounted mail
ing rates.”
Bryan Van Deun, the Alumni
Association’s executive president,
said tl»e audit, which was conducted
earlier this year, was targeted at bro
chures that offer discount rates for
alumni group tours.
The trips offer alumni an opportu
nity to travel to places like Africa and
Asia, he said. A faculty member usu
ally travels along with the group to
explain the regions and customs, he
said.
About 10 trips a year are an
nounced by the brochures.
Van Deun said his group feels the
tours are educational, but the postal
service disagrees.
' The issue is lltal we followed the
rules before and they accepted our
mail,” Van Deun said. ‘‘But now
they’re reinterpreting the rules.”
Van Deun said the Alumni Asso
ciation has been following the same
mailing procedures for at least 15
years.
Although he refused to reveal the
amount paid to the post office, Van
Deun said the association paid the
audit bill and is considering an appeal
to get the money back.
If the appeal fails, the audit bill
would go to the travel agencies for
last year’s mailing, he said, and
would lead 10 a 40 percent increase in
future mailing for the association.
The postal service is investigating
university alumni associations na
tionwide.
Van Deun said the Nebraska
Alumni Association is joining the
Council of Alumni Association Ex
ecutives, which is considering legal
action against the postal service.
“They (CAAE) have a good
case,” Van Deun said.
Dave Failor, manager of commu
nications for the post office in
Omaha, said the postal service is
concerned that materials mailed by
non-profit groups are benefiting for
profit businesses like travel agencies.
Non-profit organizations can mail
at reduced rates as long as the materi
als mailed benefit the organizations
only, Failor said.
Bill Atkins, program manager of
the post office’s central region finan
cial office in Chicago, said postal
inspectors began investigating non
profit organizations when postal offi
cials discovered that some groups
See ALUMNI on 6
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