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WEATHER: INDEX
Monday, partly cloudy and mild, high 50-55, light New!> DiQ€>st.*
northeast winds 5-10 miles per hour. Monday Editorial.4
night, increasing douds, low around 30. Tues- Sports.6
day, considerable clouds and 20 percent chance Arts & Entertainment.9
of showers, high lower- to mid-40s. Ciassifieds.11
January 15,1990_ _ Umversity of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. Jf /<?
IN U board renews
student regent vote
mier u v-.iik.hi
tort*
ith an emergency vote Sat
urday, the NU Board of
» Regents renewed for one
1 Jdorc year the recording of student
regent opinions.
Bryan Hill, University of Nebraska
^ .Lincoln student regent, introduced a
‘proposal on emergency status that
./ would have granted student regents a
' permanent, unofficial vote on the
Items arc brought up on emer
« . gency status when they are not part of
the agenda.
Regent Kermit Hansen of Elkhom
motioned to amend Hill’s original
motion so that reinstatement would
• last only one year.
Student regents won an unofficial
vote on the board last year. The vote,
which has no bearing on board deci
sions, makes student regents more
accountable by making their opin
ions part of public record, student
regents said.
Last year, regents granted the
unofficial vote on a one-year trial
basis, saying they might strip away
the right unless more students voted
in student elections.
At Saturday’s meeting, Hansen said
last year’s elections on University of
Nebraska campuses, in which only 10
to 12 percent of students voted, prove
that student regents still haven’t gained
f support
As an alternative to the student
regent vote, Hansen suggested that
regents reserve a place on the board’s
agenda for student comment
Regents would receive more di
rect student input with a permanent
place on the agenda for student com
ment, he said.
Hill said the board doesn’t want
i student regents to talk about every
Issue when recording student opin
ions accomplishes the same thing.
Hill said he supports the idea of stu
dent reports at meetings but thinks
it’s a separate issue.
Regent Margaret Robinson of
Norfolk said she resented the impli
cation that regents don’t want to hear
from the student regents.
But Robinson said that even aftei
introduction of the unofficial studenl
regent vote last year, the number of
students voting in student govern
ment elections on NU campuses
remained low.
In response, UNMC Student Re
gent Mark Meyer said that last year,
more than one-third of students at the
University of Nebraska Medical Center
voted in the elections.
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Student Regent Kelli Scars said that
continuing to record the student re
gent vote would increase election
turnout in the future.
‘‘I think part of the problem is that
students arc not aware of the issues.”
she said. ‘‘Throueh the rccordine of
our votes, students will have better
information. That’s going to increase
interest.”
Four or five UNO students attended
the meeting in support of the student
opinion, Sears said.
Hill said he thinks the one-year
trial of recording student opinion
worked well and he is surprised any
one would be against reinstating it
permanently.
Hill said he has talked to many
people who think recording student
opinion is beneficial because it makes
student regents work harder and lets
people know how they voted.
Although regents passed the pro
posal to record student opinion for
another year, newly elected Chair
man Don Blank of McCook said he
would have been comfortable pass
ing the motion for a permanent vote.
If the regents ever have a problem
with the vote, they could discontinue
it, he said.
Groups celebrate Martin Luther King Day
Several University of Ncbraska
Lincoln organizations are planning
M commemorative events today in con
junction with Martin Luther King Day.
Nebraska Assistant Attorney Gen
eral Gene Crump will speak from
. noon to lp.m. in the Regency Suite of
the Nebraska Union. The speech is
sponsored by the Office of Multi
Cultural Affairs and the Institute of
Ethnic Studies.
The University Program Council’s
African-American Special Events
Committee is sponsoring a booth from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the union.
The Afrikan People’s Union will
honor King at its 6:30 p.m. meeting at
the Culture Center, 333 N. 14th St.
Butch Irdartd/OaUy Nttbraskan
Accompanist Larry Jones, right, looks on as Larry Sean Buster finishes a song during
The Annual Nebraska District Auditions for the Metropolitan Opera National Council
Sunday at Kimball Recital Hall.
Students to organize against drug plan
By Sara Bauder
and Jennifer O’Cilka
Staff Reporters
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
student leaders say they will
organize opposition to a pro
posal that would suspend students
convicted of drug-related offenses from
public colleges and universities.
* Bryan Hill, president of the Asso
ciation of Students of the University
of Nebraska, said AS UN plans to
organize a statewide coalition of stu
dents to lobby against Gov. Kay Orr’s
proposal if it is introduced in the
Nebraska Legislature this week.
Deb Fiddelke, Government Liai
son Committee chairman, said the
proposal must be introduced by
Wednesday to become a legislative
bill.
Both Fiddelke and Hill said politi
cians should not use education as a
weapon against students.
“My concern is that education is
something everybody should get re
gardless of whether they’ve used drugs
in the past,” Hill said.
According to Gary Rex, director
of Orr’s Policy Research Office, the
bill would require students enrolling
in any state-supported institution to
acknowledge that they are aware of
the law.
A first conviction on drug-related
charges would require the student to
enter a rehabilitation program. With
a second conviction, the student would
be suspended from school until he or
See DRUGS on 5
Regents respond to education proposals
By Jennifer O’Cilka
Staff Reporter
The NU Board of Regents on
Saturday issued a statement sup
porting election, not appoint
ment, of higher education boards and
asking for more power for the pro
posed board of regents.
Regents offered their opinions as a
reaction to the recommendations made
for Nebraska’s postsccondary educa
tion system by the consulting firm
Widmayer and Associates.
Consultants from the firm recom
mended replacing the existing gov
erning system with a board of trustees
for each university and state college
and a coordinating Board of Regents
of Nebraska Higher Education.
The boards of trustees would con
sist of seven members appointed by
the governor and approved by the
Nebraska Legislature to serve six
year terms and one elected student
representative. The new board of
regents would consist of six elected
and five appointed members.
The regents staled that the govern
ing boards of institutions of higher
education must be elected by the voters
in regular elections.
Regent Rosemary Skrupa of Omaha
said Nebraskans should have the right
to control education in the state through
their dollars and their votes.
Regent Chairman Don Blank of
McCook said that all the regents
seemed to agree that voter input is
important to higher education.
See LB247 on 5
I B1114 would lower legal blood-alcohol level
I Drinks are equal Blood Alcohol Content Chart
to 102. of 100
proof alcohol or
one 12 on.
4Yl.15l.12l .111 .09
5yI .191.161 .131.121 .111 .09_
This chart represents the proposed intoxication nercentaees
1 approximate blood alcohol level figures in percentages.
content in one hour It m Source: Sgt. Neil Miles oj the Nebraska
takes about one hour to I—• State Patrol Traffic Div.
. lower the blood alcohol u.
9 content .01. L. . ..
—--Andy Manhart & Michello Paulman/Daily Nebraskan
By Jerry Guenther
Staff Reporter
A bill introduced last week to
lower the legal blood-alcohol
content for motorists would help
reduce the number of traffic acci
dents in Nebraska, sponsors say.
LB 1114, sponsored by four Ne
braska state senators, would lower
the legal blood-alcohol level from .10
to .08.
State lawmakers backing the pro
posal say the lower level is needed
because new evidence suggests drink
ers become impaired at lower blood
alcohol levels than'previously thought.
State Sen. Sharon Beck of Omaha,
one of the bill’s sponsors, said tech
nological advances have made pos
sible more sophisticated and accurate
tests of blood-alcohol levels.
As a result of the advanced tests,
Beck said, research indicates that
people become impaired from alco
hol more quickly than was once
thought.
“We’re seeing evidence that people
are becoming impaired at even .05,”
she said.
Slate Sen. Roger Wchrbcin of
Plattsmouth, another sponsor, said a
study by the American Medical Asso
ciation shows that drivers already arc
impaired when their blood-alcohol
content reaches .05.
A 185-pound man who drinks three
12-ounce glasses of beer in one hour
would register about .05 blood alco
hol content, Wchrbcin said.
Beck said that compared with leg
islation in other states that would lower
the level below .08, LB1114 is “a
moderate step.”
‘‘The intent is only to be posi
tive,” she said. ‘‘We’re not trying to
infringe on anyone’s right to drink.”
Such a bill is needed in Nebraska,
Beck said, because drunk drivers kill,
maim or injure many innocent vic
tims each year.
Wchrbcin said between 42 and 45
percent of all traffic accidents in
Nebraska arc alcohol related.
Nationally, he said, the percent
age of accidents involving motorists
who have consumed alcohol is even
higher than in Nebraska.
Beck said she hopes the bill will
help raise people’s consciousness about
consuming alcohol and driving.