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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1990)
a Daily Pa8e Mowc 01 cro * ’ f-SJ35.«ed p«~ . Nebraskan 2 lAievVb L/lgCbUi^i Bush proposes troop reductions in State of the Union address he-Reartf-B,*!^ troops swu w rauaiuain an invasion to oust Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega v' Hoars before he delivered his address. Bush telephoned Soviet Presi dent Mikhail Gorbachev to advise him of his proposal to cut U.S. and Soviet forces in Centra! Europe to 195,000 on each side. Bush’s plan would produce reduc tions in the more than 265,000 U.S. troops in Western Europe mid 565,000 Soviet forces in Central and Eastern Europe. There are an additional 35,000 U.S. troops in Britain, Italy, Greece and Turkey who would not be af icciea oy me latest plan. Bush sent Lawrence Eagleburger, his deputy secretary of state, and Robert Gates, the deputy national security adviser, to present his plan and seek approval from the leaders of Eng land, Ranee, Germany and Italy. They returned Tuesday evening with en dorsements, an official said. Bush’s troop cutback proposal won immediate praise from Democrats, including Sen. Sam Nunn, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who said it fit4‘the changing circum stances in Europe and the fiscal pres sures’ ’ at home. The troop offer w'as the surprising — and popular -- centerpiece of a speech in which Bush also proposed lofty goals for American schools and 1 prodded lawmakers to approve his plans for a capital gains tax cut and hi lls deal mg w ith clean air, child care, crime, drugs, education and other issues. In reaction, House Speaker Tho mas Foley embraced the troop reduc tion plan but said Democrats would offer a domestic agenda of their own. W nh ambassadors from across the btgj" " !ri tl« year r Commu wist governments gave way in Po land, East Germany, Romania, Bui <iaria and Czechoslovakia. In sue! loc a lions, Bush said ‘ ‘the ideacallet * * ■‘It’s time to act together,” Busl said in a speech intended to help se an election-year agenda for a Demo craiic-run Congress. Even so, parti sanship was clear when Bush ex toilet his “no new taxes” budget plan Republicans erupted witn applause Democrats didn’t. ___________ Foley said Bush cannot become the “education president,” if his budget for fiscal 1991 includes only a 2 percent increase in spending foi education. The speaker also said Democrats will fight the adnr .stration on child care, clean air legislation, capital gains and the issue of abortion. In his speech, the president con demned racially motivated mail -4 4 We are in a period of great transition, great hope, yet great uncertainty. President Bush -1 f _ bombings, saying the nation “must confront and condemn racisim, anti semitism, bigotry and hate.” And he said, “Our hearts go out to our hos tages -- our hostages who are cease lessly on our minds and in our ef forts.’’ Confronting a sensitive issue, Bush brushed off a proposal by Sen. Daniel Moymhan, D-N.Y., to roll back a Social Security tax increase. “The last thing we need to do is mess around with Social Security,” Bush said. Republicans rose in ap plause, followed by Democrats, in cluding a broadly-grinning Moynihan. Bush also expressed concern over the nation’s health care and directed ■ Health and Human Services Sccrc . tary Louis Sullivan to lead a review of > recommendation on the quality, cost • and accessibility of the health care system “I am committed to bring the stag i gering costs of health care under I control,” Bush said. The president said the challenge i before America now is “to take this [ democratic system of ours, a system second to none, and make it better.” He spoke grandly of a nation where everyone could get a job, feel confi dent that theirchikfrenaresafe, where the environment is clean, the econ omy is strong and where “Made in the USA” is a symbol of quality and excellence. SeeWnglo redeem his pledge to be “the education president,” Bush set a coal of lifting American students to firetplace internationally in math and science, two subjects where they tra- . diiionawy rate poorly. For example, one study has shown that 72 percent of South Korean 13 year-olds can solve a math problem that only 40 percent of Americans that age can solve. He also said the United States must increase its high school graduation rate to at least 90 percent. £low, al most 30 percent drop out. In addition, Bush said that by the year 2000, all children must start school ready to lcam. There was a hint of this in Bush’s budget, which proposes S230 million - a 70 percent increase -- in money for states to improve the abilities of teachers in those two disciplines. In addition, National Science Foundation programs for science, math and engineering education would receive a SI00 million increase, to S410 million, under Bush’s proposal. Grand jury ordered in Franklin probe OMAHA - A grand jury requested by the attorney general will investi gate child abuse allegations that sur faced in the closing of an Omaha credit union, Douglas County’s dis trict court judges decided Wednes day. However, the judges denied Attor ney General Robert Spire’s choice for a special prosecutor to lead the grand jury probe of allegations tied to the Franklin Community Federal Credit Union. Instead, that job will fall to Douglas County Attorney Ron Staskicwicz. Presiding District Court Judge Janies Buckley and at least seven other judges signed an order late Wednesday to convene the grand jury. Spire had asked for the grand jury earlier in the day and said the panel could begin its work in about a month. Spire said a grand jury — with its tradition of secrecy -- could ‘‘get at the truth properly and fairly.” He said there had been leaked in formation, “unsubstantiated facts and highly publicized rumors” as investi gations continued into allegations that surfaced during investigations into the failure of Franklin. He asked the Douglas County dis trict judges to appoint Vincent Valentino, deputy York County at torney, as special prosecutor in the ease. Buckley would not comment on why he decided to deny Spire’s re quest for a special prosecutor. He said he would file an order on his decision today. The grand jury will have the power to subpoena witnesses and records. But because members arc sworn to secrecy, there is a reduced chance that inappropriate information would leak, Spire said. “Jurors must not be subjected to outside information that is question able, unsubstantiated and inflamma tory,” Spire said. Spire referred to allegations made by former slate Sen. John DeCamp of a cover-up in the investigation. Spire also repeated objections he made earlier to a mailing of DeCamp’s memo to 10,000 homes in west Omaha by real estate broker Denny Henson. The memo names several people al legedly accused by three people of involvements in child abuse. Sen. Loran Schmit, chairman of the Legislature’s committee investi gating Franklin, said Spire didn’t advise him in advance that he would call for the grand jury. “I think wccontributcd to the facts that led to the calling of the grand jury . . . There would not have been a grand jury if there had not been a legislative committee,” Schmit said Wednesday. When asked if his committee would cooperate with the grand jury if called upon to do so, Schmit said: “I will be discussing that with our legal counsel and the committee.” Gorbachev denies rumors of his possible resignation as Communist Party chief MOSCOW - Mikhail Gorbachev on Wednesday denied a report that he might resign as head of the Communist Party while remaining Soviet president, and a leading newspaper called him too valuable to risk losing. Another newspaper, the party daily Pravda, urged authorities to strengthen the powers of the presi dency to protect Gorbachev from efforts to oust him. Correspondents covering Gor bachev’s meeting with Brazilian president-elect Fernando Collor dc actr^H ahnuf a WKtcm tele vision report that he was consider ing quitting the party leadership. “All this is groundless,” Gor bachev said in remarks that led the Soviet television news Wednesday night. “It is in someone’s interest to propagate such things.” He added that similar rumors are becoming common in the So viet Union, and “it demonstrates that we are a different country, a different society. Everything is discussed, and discussed openly.” Gorbachev has strengthened the presidency and tried to shift power from the ruling Communusl Party to the elected government. But it is far from clear whether the reforms have gone far enough for him to dare relinquishing the top post in the party, which has been the source of power for all previous Soviet leaders. The Pravda article, based on a debate among prominent figures, appeared to tell readers that party power still is paramount and that the presidency is not strong enough to be the country’s main leadership post. The pohucal turmoil conics while the Soviet Union is tom by nation alist and ethnic violence in Azer baijan, drives for independence in several republics and an economic crisis. It also comes just five days before what is expected to be a fiery meeting of the parly’s Central Committee — the one body with the official power to remove Gorbachev as party leader. Progressives hope to present an alternative party program at the meeting. In addition, it is likely to be the hard-liners’ last chance to make a power play before the vot ers decide on their future in local Gorbachev and republic-level elections in February and March. Gorbachev told journalists he had just returned from the south, apparently referring to his retreat on the Black Sea, where he was preparing for the Central Commit tee meeting. Cable News Network reported Tuesday, in an account attributed to an unidentified party source, that Gorbachev had spent eight days sequestered outside Moscow w hile he considered quilting. President Bush telephoned Gorbachev on Wednesday, but White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwatcr said there was no “di rect” discussion of the rumors. Fitzwatcr said the two leaders talked about arms control. Secretary of State James A. Baker III discounted the TV network rejXMt as ‘‘just a rumor.” In Moscow. U.S. Ambassador Jack Matlock received an audience in the Kremlin, the Tass news agency said. However, it said he and Polit buro member Lev Zaikov talked about Soviet-U.S. relations. Mat lock said the meeting was sched uled months earlier and the topics were “not connected to any other events.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Gerasimov also denied the reports. “In the long run, power will belong completely to the soviets (elected councils), and the party will exercise its influence through its members in the soviets, which is the usual way for every democ racy,” Gerasimov said. Nebraskan Editor Amy Edwards Graphics Editor John Bruce uu." t w„ Photo Chief Dave Hansen Wire Editor Brandon Loomis Production ManjQe' Katherine Pc V Copy Desk Editor Darcte Wiegert Advertising Manager Jon Oaehnke Sports Editor Jett A pel Sales Manager Kerry Jeffries A'is s t ntertamment Publications Board Editor Michael Deeds Chairman Pam Hein Diversions l ditor Mick Dyer 472-2568 Sower Editor Lee Rood Professional Adviser Don Walton . 473-7301 br irk^ I 144 080) ** fkit>uS>>00 oy the UNI Publications Be i . ' . 400 H St , l incoln. NE Monday through Friday during the acudir weewy aunng summer sessions ' “ 10 subrni1 story ideas and comments to the Daily Netvu * 1 ’ ‘ f acces&^o rhe’p ' **'rwfcw'l9 a m af>d S p m Monday through Friday TfwpuOKJ <’ •** SubsSiaS^^l?f2^!2 Fof ,ntofmalion. contact Pam Eteirv 472 2588 -uudso ipno pr ia is $45 tor one year St l?r2m“lS lo n,e Da,‘y Nebraskan. Nebraska Urnon 3< < St .1 incoln Nl MStM10448 Second class postage pa,a a! Lincoln. NE __ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1990 DAILY NEBRASKAN Vote Continued from Page 1 Although all student representa tives agreed that the student vote was necessary, some state college repre sentatives expressed concerns about the voting structure. Connie Lauritscn, a representative from Kearney Stale College, suggested that the student regent vote be rotated from state college to university yearly so each institution can have equal representation. ASUN Continued from Page 1 funding because funds would be evenly distributed among univer sities and colleges, Trupp said. Massey said he docsn ’ t thfhk it is appropnate for GLC to act on such an important issue without consulting ASUN. “Now we’re stuck with prob lems because we need to turn in (GLC) petitions by Feb. 5,” he said. College of Arts & Sciences Sen. Julie Jorgenson said she thinks it*s too late and the issue should have been brought before ASUN sooner. Russ Johnson, chairman of Stu dents for the Right to Vote, said ASUN’s failure to act is an ex ample of ASUN senators being uninformed about student concerns and issues. He said the legislative hearing Tuesday has been well publicized and AST IN rftould have acted sooner. Johnson said he hope* the leg islature won’t take ASUN’s fail, ure to acta* popular student opin ion. "I haven't talked to one stu dent who was against LR239(CA),M Johnson said‘‘And I've talked to a kit of them.'* Johnson said OLC and his or sanitation have collected more than 500 signatures in less than two days. Johnson said the Legislature ob viously won’t put its business on hold until AS UN members decide on the issue. “I think their reasons for ta bling the bill are dead wrong,” Johnson said. AS UN will hold an emergency meeting tonight at 9:30 to possibly continue discussion on the issue.