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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1990)
------- WEATHER INDEX Thursday, mostly sunny, high in the upper-40s, N 9 north wind 5-15 miles per hour Thursday night, Fr)lfnrial'.a dear, low around 20. Friday, mostly sunny, high D)versjons.5 in the low 40s. Sports.13 Classifieds.14 February 8, 1990______University of Nebraska-Lincoln__ Vol. 89 No. ' ... " " 1 ■■■ 1 I Abortion bill testimony heard by committee By Matt Herek Staff Reporter The Nebraska Legislature’s Ju diciary Committee heard about five hours of testimony on four bills from anti-abortion and pro-choice supporters on Wednesday. Most of the testimony was given by anti-abortion supporters. Throe of the bills would restrict abortion rights; the other v bill would broaden them. About 30 people testified on all four of the I bills, including LB854, spon sored by Sen. John Lindsay of Omaha, which would require a woman to sign an informed consent statement be fore getting an abortion. The bill also would require a woman to wail 24 hours after signing the statement to have an abortion. LB889, sponsored by Sen. M.L. ‘ ‘Cap’ ’ Dicrks of Ewing, would pro hibit the use of public funds for abor tions except in cases of medical emergencies. The measure would take away state money and facilities for abortion. LB 1024, sponsored by Sen. Jim McFarland of Lincoln, would pro hibit abortion at any stage during pregnancy for the sole purpose bf gender selection. LB 1054, sponsored by Sen. Dave Landis of Lincoln, would eliminate emotional and religion-based word ing in abortion-related statutes. The bill also would repeal an existing parental notification statute and would allow public employees to receive insurance for abortions if their lives arc in danger. Jim Cunningham, director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, testi fied in favor of the anti-abortion bills. Taxpayers should not have to pay for slate-financed abortions if they do • not believe in them, he said. Cindy Nutter of Lincoln described herself as ‘‘a victim of Planned Par enthood,” because the group only offers abortions and “they want money.” Nutter said she nearly died from an abortion and didn’t realize the ramifications of the procedure. Pam Yaksich, director of the Omaha Christian Action Council, testified in favor of LB 1024. She said that if women started having abortions based on gender preferences it could lead to abortions for things like vision problems or obesity. Claire Hartford, a member of the Christian Action Council, agreed with Yaksich. “It is morally wrong to have an abortion on the basis of sex,” she said. Kyle Hanson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior, said she is opposed to her lax dollars being used for abortions. Public money could better be used for things like cdiieaiion. she said. Peggy Truman, of Lincoln City Pro-Life, testified in opposition to Landis’ bill. “My concern is not only for the baby, but for the mother,” she said. “Abortion is murder,” she said. Truman also said that if the anti abortion bills were passed it would “hit the pro-death people in the pock ctbook.” A former teenage mother from Columbus said the proposed chang ing of language in LB 1054 would confuse teenage mothers. Marlene Vitcck said she might have aborted her baby if she had been told it was just a fetus and not a living human being. Rev. John Smeller, associate min ister ol'lhc First Plymouth Congrega tional Church in Lincoln, testified in favor of Landis’ bill, “to preserve women’s rights to practice religion.” Smeller said not all religious people in Nebraska agree that life begins at conception, and language in the state statutes must respect ihosc beliefs. ‘‘The slate’s language must not set one religious preference over another,’ ’ he said. Virginia Johnson, president of the board of Planned Parenthood of Lin coln, said the anti-abortion bills cause legal problems, especially Dierks’ bill. LB889 violates the rights of free speech, the confidential relationship between a doctor and a patient and it denies a Constitutionally protected activity. Gail Hanna, a “pro-choice rancher” from Valentine, said that if the anti abortion laws arc passed they would compound the problems of medical care in rural areas where doctors arc unavailable. She said of her 1953 abortion, “it’s a choice I have never regretted.” Al Schaeben'Daily Nebraskan President Bush waves as he debarks from Air Force One at Eppley Airfield on Wednesday evening. Bush is in Nebraska to boost Gov. Orr s re-election bid and to visit the Strategic Air Command headquarters. Forum answers questions Panelists favor restructuring education By Matt Herek Staff Reporter Members of a study commit tee that recommended re structuring higher education in Nebraska agreed Wednesday that the powers of coordination and gov cmancc do not have NJ to be held by the same board. [ State Sens. Jcr- I i ome Warner of I LvJ Wavcrly and Ron Withcm of Papil lion and Harold Enarson, a senior consultant in the h.* I firm that recom mended the changes, spoke as panel ists at a forum Wednesday morning that discussed LR239CA and LB 1141. About I (X) people attended the forum at the Comhuskcr Hotel to ask the panelists questions about the leg islation. If the legislation passes, each state college and NU campus will be run by a seven-member board of trustees. A Board of Regents for Nebraska Higher Education would oversee the boards of trustees. According to the legislation, the trustees would be responsible for management, carrying out the board of regents’ pol.ucs and hiring a presi dent and other personnel. The new board of regents would make policy, be responsible for deci sion-making and planning and would hire a chancellor. Enarson said a lay board of trus tees govern ing a single campus would have more “intimate knowledge” of the issues confronting a single insti tution than a board that governs sev eral. A lay board of trustees should be able to address all of the issues if it spends one or two days a month in meeting and the same amount of lime preparing and researching, he said. Under the current system, the NU Board of Regents usually meets once a month and decides policies for the three NU campuses. “We desperately need lay persons who are thinking about education,” he said. Wilhem agreed with Enarson, saying that Nebraska docs not have a good method of dealing with the total spectrum of higher education. The new legislation has attempted to deal with the issues at hand, he said. The only negative testimony he heard on the legislation were worst ease scenarios, but they still will be considered, Wilhem said. This legislation is not meant to increase the Legislature’s power, Warner said. “The suggestion that there is a change in power is simply not true,” he said. The Education Committee will advance the proposals to the floor of the Legislature, Wilhem said. I Parker: Society at crossroads, prejudice reduction necessary By Jennifer O'Ciika Staff Reporter I Dr. WiUiam C. Parker began by say ing that he wouldn't be giving a speech, but instead would be leaching “prejudice reduction." Parker, vice chancellor for minority af fairs at the University of Kentucky at Lex ington, told the crowd gathered in the Ne braska Union that lie strongly believes people can learn to deal with their prejudices. Society has reached a “crossroads" be tween learning to get along with people who are different from ourselves or sinking into total chaos, he said. 'When l teach, that means you have to leant/' he said Parker said he wanted audience mem bers to share their ijeas, because that is the best way to teach others how they can be more sensitive to those who are different from themselves, -y T?1 - -rM . - —-. .-.. .. " Prejudice reduction, Parker said, involves learning to perceive a person's uniqueness as positive, doing something in higher edu cation to deal with bigotry and easing the hurt and rejection of those discriminated against Parker said no audience members were racist or sexist, and they attended the “workshop” to become even more sensi tive to others. Parker said he assumes that everyone, no matter what race, ethnic group or sex, has been discriminated against “My guess is that you didn’t fed very good aoout it, did you?" Parker said. He pointed out that failure to act when people foci discriminated against or when they witness discrimination is considered acceptance of discrimination. Bigotry causes deep scars, he said. People lose their self-esteem, and become depressed, but “guilt is the glue that holds bigotry " * i.r*J UNL colleges take steps to prepare for surge in retirement age faculty By Carri Koetter Staff Reporter Even though University of Nebraska of ficials say 25 percent of faculty mem bers will reach retirement age by the year 2000, deans of the most affected colleges at UNL say there is little cause for concern. By the end of the decade, 25.6 percent of the faculty members at the three campuses will be 65 or older, according to Randy Haack, NU assistant vice president and director of budget and analysis. The colleges most affected, Haack said, will be the UNL College of Journalism with 50 percent of the faculty expected to retire by the year 2000; the UNL College of Engineering with 35.1 percent expected to retire; and the UNL College of Architecture with an expected 31.8 percent. Haack said the individual colleges arc tak ing steps to prepare for the surge in retirement age faculty. A tenure buyout program, initiated in 1988, has lured 88 faculty members into early retirement, bringing younger professors in. The tenure buyout program would benefit ihc university, Haack said, by stretching out the period of lime in which faculty members would have to be replaced. W. Cecil Steward, dean of the College of Architecture, said the early retirement option will help eliminate some of the expected turn over at the college by the end of the decade. Three full-time faculty members arc involved in the tenure buyout program, he said. The College of Engineering and Technol ogy will try to compensate for an expected 35.1 percent retirement factor by increasing recruit ing efforts, according to Dean Stanley Liberty. But Liberty said he is not particularly alarmed about the retirement situation. “We have been aggressively recruiting many good, young, prospective faculty members,” Liberty said, “And so far with great success.” College of Journalism Dean Neale Copplc said he is not concerned about the expected 50 percent of professors who will be 65 in the year 2000. That percentage, he said, only takes into account assistant professorships and above and does not include faculty members who are hired at the college as professional lecturers. See FACULTY on 2