The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 10, 1990, Image 1
_______ FTu»S$»v. - - . ,wi,„ 11 „,yyi„w„..», »r<r WEATHER INDEX _ Tuesday, partly cloudy, breezy and cool, 40 per- News.2 ^t^^k I cent chance of showers .high in the mid to upper- Editorial.4 40s, north wind 20-30 miles per hour. Tuesday sports 5 m m nighJ' '?w 'n Lhe'0wj° Wednesday, Arts & Entertainment ... 6 M H partly cloudy, high in the mid-to upper-40s. Classifieds 6 April 10. 1990 8 B ' University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No State senators place beefed-up commission on November ballot By Emily Rosenbaum Senior Reporter Slate senators Monday gave Nebraska voters the power to determine the course of higher education governance. On the last day of the 60-day legislative ses sion, senators . voted 35-12 to place LB1141, which pro poses a consti tutional amendment to create a more powerful Co ordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education, on the November bal lot. LB 1141 originally was intended as the implementation legislation for LR239CA, another proposed constitutional amendment to pro vide for changes in higher educa tion governance. LR239CA was passed over Monday. On Wednesday, Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly successfully stripped LB 1141 of its original intent and added provisions to grant the coordinating commission budget authority and the power to coordi nate programs and academic ac tivities. The current commission serves only as an advisory board. Under LB 1141, the structure of the NU Board of Regents and the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees would stay the same, but the boards’ duties would be re duced to day -to-day management of the institutions. The original higher education legislation,LR239CA, would have replaced the current NU Board of Regents and die State College Board of Trustees with an overall govern ing board and institutional boards of trustees. The Legislature passed over LR239CA Monday at the request of Sen. Ron Withem of Papillion, the resolution’s sponsor. Withem said his proposed con stitutional amendment seemed to be “causing confusion” with the amended LB 1141. He said that although he favors his original proposal “we should focus our efforts on 1141.” The proposed coordinating com mission would be made up of 11 members to be appointed by the governor and approved by the Legislature. Six members would be chosen from districts of about See EDUCATION on 3 Davki Hansen/Daily Nebraskan State Sen. Ron Withem of Papillion, addresses the Legisla ture on Monday afternoon during the last day of the 60-day session. State budget nearly balanced as session ends ay victoria Ay one Senior Reporter Suite senators adjourned for the year Monday night after over riding millions in gubernato rial vetoes and leaving the state just about at the legal level for a balanced budget. The state must have a 3 percent reserve over a balanced budget and came within a half million of reaching that point Monday night. Sen. Jerome Warner of Wav crly gave senators a running total of how much was left to override and still maintain the legal 3 percent re quirement. The Legislature has an “obliga tion” to follow through on this, he said, and urged senators to give “careful thought” in voting to over ride bills. Senators defeated a motion to re instate SI90,000 for development of a public events center and headquar ters building at the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center at Mead. Senators approved a $269,000 override of funds for National Guard tuition credits. The budget realities came home as senators rejected most veto override attempts on the mam deficit appro priations bill, LB 1031. 1 he Legislature deleatea an over ride attempt on the governor ’ s veto of $24,000 for a chinch bug specialist at the University of Nebraska. Sot. Spence Morrissey of Tecumseh supported the override, saying south east Nebraska is “infested” with the bugs. “There are a lot of little buggers out there running around,” he said. Warner said the Legislature has recognized in part the seriousness of the chinch bug issue and private funds or reallocation within the university could make up for the partial veto. Senators also defeated an override attempt of Phase II of the LB247 study committee, which would look at role and mission of the universities and state colleges. Nebraska legislators approved over riding the language related to a $900,000 veto for UNL’s East Cam pus greenhouse renovation but did not reinstate the appropriation. The Legislature had appropriated $ 1 mil lion, and the language said the project cost should not exceed $1.9 million. Orr vetoed that language, which makes it unclear whether the state wants the project completed. Outside funds could be used to take over for the $900,(XX) greenhouse renovation. Sen. George Coordsen of Hebron said. An override attempt failed to rein - state $24,100 for counseling of the Nebraska Indian Community College. Senators also defeated a $395,(XX) override attempt to reinstate money for Museum of Nebraska Art at Kear ney State College. Senators reject governor’s veto of recycling bill By Victoria Ayotte Senior Reporter State Sen. Rod Johnson of Sut ton on Monday used some strong language in urging Nebraska legislators to override the governor’s veto of the recycling bill he sponsored. Johnson said Gov. Kay Orr’s veto message on LB 163, to pro vide a compre hensive plan and grants to reduce solid waste, probably did not serve any purpose “other than to piss us off.” Johnson later said that may have been a poor of words, but he fell strongly that On had missed the point when she ob jected to LB 163. urr naa saia me dim lanea 10 nuna on the Legislature’s past work on the solid waste issue. “That’s what the purpose of this bill has been from the teginning,” Johnson said. The Environmental Protection Agency will change regulations and force hundredsof unlicensed landfills in Nebraska to close if the Legislature does not act, he said. “Why wait until the train hits you before getting off the tracks,’’ he said. Johnson said LB 163 would “get us moving down the road’’and off the tracks with its provision for a $1 tax on tires, fee for businesses and 5500,000 from the state treasury. That money will be used to create a plan for waste reduction and grants to local govern ments to help them license their landfills. “I guess I’m just asking you to have the guts to vote for the bill,’’ he said. Sen. Elroy Hefner of Coleridge opposed the override, saying the fee to businesses is “unfair,” and the bill singles out one part of the problem, tires, to lax. “This problem is too important to ignore,” Sen. Don Weselv of Lincoln responded. “To avoid doing something this year, to me, just delays the inevi table,” Johnson said. Senators over rode the veto 31-16. Spring break protesters arrested for trespassing at nuclear test site By Matt Herek Staff Reporter Ten Lincolniies and University of Ne braska-Lincoln students went to Ne vada for Spring Break -- expecting to get arrested. Nell Eckcrsley, a sophomore social sci ences major, said they were protesting nuclear weapons testing, ecological damage from the tests, and that land for a test site in southern Nevada was taken away from the Shoshone Indians. The protesters were arrested for trespassing March 31, along with about 800 others at the Nevada Test Site, she said. Eckcrsley said she went to the protest, spon sored by the anu-nuclear group American Peace Test, so the U.S. government would hear that she and thousands of other protesters think the test site should not exist. Eckerslcy said the land she was arrested on belongs to the Shoshone Indians. It was placed under government supervision without permis sion from the Shoshones, she said, who have riot received reparations for it. Tyler Divis of Lincoln said that when he was arrested he was placed in a holding cell until buses arrived to take him on a60-mile trip to Beatty, Ncv., where he was given a ticket for trespassing and released. Eckersley said she thinks her arrest will not catch up with her in the future unless she tries to become a U.S. citizen. Eckersley said she currently is a British citizen. The citizens of the area around the test site have mixed feelings about the annual Peace Test, she said. Some people thanked the protesters for trying to make their homes and the world safe from nuclear weapons, she said, while others think they arc just hippies causing trouble and not solving any problems. Divis said that while they were in Nevada, some of the protesters from Lincoln helped set up and run a community center. They posted the activities and events that went on, coordi nated rides and consolidated information about what other groups were doing around the coun try. Protesters also participated in workshops and demonstrations, Divis said. See PROTEST on 3 Selling T-shirts in Nebraska Union banned for religious bias By Todd Neeley Staff Reporter UNL’s Affirmative Action compliance officer Monday decided that Stu dents for Choice could not giveaway or sell a T-shirt because it contains what he considered a religiously biased statement. Bradley Munn said in a press release that “if pamphlets were being passed out this would be tolerated, but displaying the shirt and vending it on University of Nebraska Lincoln property can be seen as degrading and humiliating to many Roman Catholics and others.” The shirts about * ‘The Incredible Shi ink ing Woman ’ s R ight to Choose “include the statement “rated PC, papal guidance is suggested.” If that statement were removed, Munn said, he would not oppose sales. He said the issue at hand is not whether a group is for or against abortion, but that students with Catholic backgrounds or any other religion would be offended. ‘‘It’s difficult to draw the line,” Munn said. ‘‘No one would disagree that if the shirts read, ‘Kill all Jews, assassinate all gays or rape all women,’ that they should ... be removed and not sold on our cam pus.” He said stores in the union also would not be permitted to sell T-shirts that said some thing ‘‘degrading to the pope.” Munn said it wouldn’t be fair to allow students to do one thing ‘‘in a student owned-and-operated building” and not al low others to do the same. Munn said the group wasn’t asked to stop selling all its shirts, ‘‘only from displaying and selling this one.” He said that if the group were to sell the shirt in any place other than approved union booth, it would be less likely to be banned. Munn said he will ‘‘convene with other UNL administrators to develop a wntten policy” to make sure items sold on campus See SHIRT on 3