WEATHER INDEX
Wednesday, cloudy and cold, 30 percent chance News Diflest.2
of light snow, high in the upper-teens, northeast Editorial.4
wind 10-20 miles per hour. Wednesday night, 60 Sports.6
percent chance of snow, low 10. Thursday, 60 Arts & Entertainment 7
percent chance of snow, high 15-20. Classifieds.8
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__Vol. 89 No" afl ICO
Against the elements...
Accounting major Devendran Nadesan braves 30 mph winds Tuesday after
the temperature dropped 45 degrees from Monday.
Discrimination questions raised
Education Committee rejects
drug-related financial aid bill
By Robin Trimarchi
Staff Reporter
The proposed Higher Education Drug
Free Environment Act was killed Tues
day by the Legislature’s Education
Committee despite overwhelming support from
law enforcement, University of Nebraska and
state government officials.
The legislation would have required stu
dents enrolled in state colleges and universities
to participate in a rehabilitation program if
convicted of first-offense, drug-related crimes.
Failure to complete the program would have
resulted in withdrawal of government financial
aid or suspension from classes.
A second drug-relaied offense would have
resulted in withdrawal of stale or federal finan
cial aid and suspension from school until an
approved program was completed.
The bill also proposed requiring all students
enrolling in Nebraska public colleges or uni
versities to sign an “acknowledgement” stat
ing that they understood those penalties.
Sen. David Bernard-Stevens of North Platte
questioned supporters if the bill would affect
all student drug-offenders equally or primarily
would punish those students with the greatest
financial-aid need, while others “go about
their merry way.”
Sen. Arlene Nelson of Grand Island said she
was concerned that the bill “says a lot, but
doesn’t really do anything’ ’ because it does not
get to the “from of the problem.”
After two con vie lions, she asked, * ‘do these
students even try to come back to school?”
Students on financial aid are less likely to be
able to afford rehabilitation programs than
those who don’t need financial aid, senators
said, and also are unlikely to have the money to
return to school.
Senators expressed concern that students
who can afford to enroll in private colleges
without financial aid would not be affected by
the bill.
Supporters said the bill would focus on drug
prevention, intervention and treatment.
Malcolm Heard, director of the Department
of Public Institutions, said the bill would have
a “positive impact” on a “high-risk popula
tion” by placing students in rehabilitation “at
the earliest point possible.”
Those students would have access to state
supported drug rehabilitation programs, Heard
said.
Regent Kermit Hansen of Elkhorn supported
the bill but said the university already has
sanctions for drug offenders under the student
code of conduct.
Bryan Hill, president of the Association of
Students of the University of Nebraska, pre
sented the only testimony against the bill.
Hill said the bill singled out college and
university students, and he urged the commit
tee to amend the proposal to include “an indi
vidual assessment and drug education require
ment” that applied to all Nebraskans.
The bill’s guidelines did not consider the
needs of all those convicted of drug offenses,
he said.
“Not every person convicted of a drug
related offense is a drug addict and needs to be
enrolled in a costly rehabilitation program,”
he said.
Hill said drug use and abuse sometimes
results from low self-esteem.
“Kicking someone out of school,” he said,
would “significantly narrow the most likely
opportunity of improving” a student’s self
esteem.
CFA recommends budget cut
for student referee training
By Roger Price
Staff Reporter
The Committee for Fees Allocation voted
Tuesday to recommend cutting $13,500
for training of student referees from the
intramural sports budget request.
Stan Campbell, di
rector of the Office of
Campus Recreation,
told the committee that
cutting out paid train
ing could make it very
difficult to hire quali
fied personnel.
Several committee
members said they
thought referees should
not be paid to gain a skill they can use else
where.
“To be paid for training, I think, is kind of
ridiculous,” CFA member Sheila Christensen
said.
CFA also recommended that campus rec
reation printonly one newsletter a year, instead
of the two requested by the office. OCR cur
rently distributes one a year.
The reduction is reflected in the commit
tee’s recommendation to cut $3,800 from the
campus recreation administrative budget.
The committee left campus recreation the
option of printing two smaller newsletters by
leaving $ 1,400 in the budget in postage for a
second newsletter.
CFA member Julie Jorgensen said the new
Sapp Recreation Facility “pretty much sells
See CFA on 3
12 universities involved
GLC lobbying for changes in financial aid
By Jannette Bush
Staff Reporter
he University of Nebraska-Lincoln Gov
ernment Liaison Committee has joined
a national coalition to jobby for changes
in the federal Higher Education Act of 1965.
GLC Chairman Deb Fiddelkc said UNL,
along with 11 other schools, is working on
policy recommendations lor Title 1V ol the act,
which deals with financial aid.
Since last summer., Fiddelkc said, UNL
student representatives have attended three
conferences dealing with possible changes in
the act. , . „
After a November conference m Kansas
City, Mo., the University of Minnesota student
lobbying group drafted a ‘ ‘ working policy lor
changes in the act. The recommendations were
presented in January at a conference in St.
Louis. ...
Fiddelke said the lobbying coalition wants
to make these changes in the act:
• Redefining need.
•Changing the requirements for becoming
an independent student.
• Eliminating the cost of applying.
•Simplifying financial aid applications.
• Exempting students and families from
filling out financial aid forms if their incomes
arc at a certain level.
“We would like to see a more simplified
method for applying for federal financial aid,”
Fiddclkc said. “We thought they were restric
tive and need to be changed.”
Fiddelkc said each school will receive a
copy of the working policy draft and will be
responsible for adding amendments.
Although Fiddelke has not yet received a
copy of the recommendations, she said she
expects to get it soon.
Once the working policy is received, Fid
delke said, she will present it to James Griesen,
vice chancellor for student affairs, and John
Beacon, director of the Office of Scholarships
and Financial Aid, for suggestions.
The working policy then will be presented
to the Association of Students of the University
of Nebraska and the student body.
Coalition members will draw up the final
draft in June at the University of Minnesota.
The final draft will be presented to Congress in
1991.
“Strategics for the presentation haven’t been
decided yet,” she said.
ASUN passed a resolution earlier this month
assuring GLC of its support for the coalition.
Clark Sackschcwsky, the ASUN senator
who introduced the resolution, said the resolu
tion gives GLC “extra backing.’’
GLC will need the full support of UNL
students when the policy is presented to ASUN,
said Sackschcwsky, a graduate college repre
sentative.
“We are pushing past the state,” he said.
“We’re going to Congress.”
Lincolnite’s idea
leads to aluminum
recycling program
By Ann Manchester
Staff Reporter _
Gather and Pound Residence Halls
arc installing bins to collect alu
minum cans for recycling, but
they won’t be sharing the profits with
“Can Man” Kcrmil Keeshan.
The executive board of the halls will
keep 90 percent of the profit from recy
cling cans and allot 10 percent to a gen
eral fund dial will be used to maintain the
collection bins.
Keeshan, a Lincolnite who collects
aluminum cans on the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln campus, proposed a
plan to the Residence Hall Association to
RECYCLE on3
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