’
Tax increase
could help NU,
regent says
By Lisa Donovan
Senior Reporter
NU Regent Chuck Wilson of Lincoln
told lawmakers Monday that he thought
one way to honor the university’s 1991
92 $35 million budget increase request was to
raise taxes.
“I feel so strongly about investing in the uni
versity ... what has to be done has to be done,”
Wilson told the Legislature’s Education Com
mittee during a budget hearing.
State Sen. Chris Bcutler of Lincoln said he
wanted to know if the University of Nebraska
expected tax revenues to pay for its entire
budget request.
“Realizing how painful that is (tax increases),
how much of the $35 million would you have
us raise taxes for? All of it?” Bcutler asked.
Wilson and NU President Martin Massen
galc said that at this point it would be difficult
to make a prediction.
The NU system, which includes the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Ne
braska at Omaha, the University of Nebraska
Medical Center and the soon-to-be University
of Nebraska at Kearney, has requested
$308,866,691 for 1991-1992, which would
require a $35 million increase in state funding.
The Appropriations Committee, in its pre
liminary recommendation, proposed
$275,491,617, which would be a $2 million in
crease in state support.
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NU president Martin Massengale (left) and NU Regent Chuck Wilson testify about the NU budget before the
Legislature’s Education Committee.
Charges cleverly timed, party says
By Dionne Searcey
Staff Reporter_ _
The HORIZN parly made last-minute
charges against ENERGY presidential
candidate J. Matt Wickless so that EN
ERGY would not have a chance to give its side
of the story, ENERGY party members said
Monday.
At a press conference, ENERGY said the
HORIZN allegations were “cleverly held in a
press conference” Friday so that ENERGY
wouldn’t have much time to respond before the
elections for Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska on Wednesday.
But Colin Theis, senatorial candidate for
HORIZN, said the conference was held late in
the week so the party could verify the allega
tions.
“We waited until the last minute because we
didn’t want to lie about anything he did,” Theis
said.
HORIZN members said at Friday’s press
conference that Wicklcss had treated some
members of the Residence Hall Association to
a SI 3.05 Burger King dinner during his term in
the RHA senate. They also said he remained in
the senate when his grade point average fell
below the required 2.0.
ENERGY campaign manager John Gibson
said Monday that RHA did not officially ac
cuse Wickless of being unable to meet the GPA
requirement when he was an RHA senator in
1989.
Gibson called the allegation involving the
Burger King dinner “stupid” because it was not
a major issue.
“It wasn’t a big deal. It was nothing,” he
said.
Wick less agreed.
“The $13.05 is five one-hundredths of 1
percent of RHA’s budget each semester,” he
said.
Theis disagreed on the ramifications of
Wickless’ alleged action.
“If it was me in that situation politically, I’d
say the same thing,” Theis said. “It’s a matter
of credibility, responsibility and ethics, and I
think he failed at all three of those.”
Perestroika not working yet
Future worries Soviet professor
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Staff Reporter_
Events in the politically turbu
lent Soviet Union will have a
direct effect on the future of
world freedom, according to a profes
sor of history from Moscow State
University.
Apollon Borisovich Davidson, who
spoke Monday in Oldfather Hall, said
changes now under way in the Soviet
Union could destabilize the country,
leading to anarchy or a dictatorship m
the tradition of Joseph Stalin or Sad
dam Hussein, which would endanger
world peace.
Because “it is evident the Soviet
Union is still a superpower despite its
difficulties,'’ Davidson said, a dicta
torship could threaten “the future of
humanity."
He praised Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev’s political reforms, or
perestroika, but he faulted them for
causing many of the Soviet Union’s
problems.
“Perestroika has so far had no
positive economic effects. The old
system doesn’t work, and the new
system isn’t working yet,” he said.
Davidson said perestroika’s main
difficul^was that the Soviet Union’s
new dcffltaratic institutions have no
experience or tradition to draw from
and have no real power.
“The people are tired, and they
don’t trust the government,” he said.
“They have been working for
decades for a better future which has
never appeared.”
Davidson said a second difficulty
with perestroika was factionalism
among the Soviet Union’s 200 na
tionalities and 15 republics.
“We have regions inside republics
declaring their independence from the
republics, which arc declaring their
independence from the country,” he
said.
Disputes have contributed to a
growing trend of conservatism in the
Soviet Union, he said.
He said KGB leaders, the patri
arch of the Russian Orthodox Church
and various government officials sent
Gorbachev a letter in December
demanding he enforce discipline in
the country, regardless of the legality
of such actions.
Davidson said there was signifi
cant opposition to perestroika in his
country.
“Many people support Gorbachev’s
capitalistic moves, but there is a strong
anti-capitalistic movement,’’ he said.
He said a major obstacle to per
estroika is that years of government
propaganda have caused many Sovi
ets to dislike the West and the United
States specifically.
He said he was unsure if Gor
bachev would survive as president.
“I respect this man. He is the first
Soviet leader I can respect.
“But the situation he inherited is
so difficult that I don’t know (if he
can survive).”
Davidson said he agreed with an
author who had described Gorbachev
as “the man who changed the world
and lost his country.”
He ended his speech by saying he
was not optimistic about the near
future of the Soviet Union.
“I love my country, though, and I
want to hope it will find the right
way.”
Party’s recycling
pledge challenged
By Cindy Kimbrough
Staff Reporter
An ENERGY parly platform
requiring use of recycled
paper wasn’t followed by
the party on its printed platform, a
copying company employee said.
The ENERGY party running in
the elections for the Association of
Students of the University of Ne
braska did not print its platform on
recycled paper, Kinko’s employee
James Hilyard said.
The party has said it printed its
party posters on recycled paper.
ENERGY’S platform states that it
would require all ASUN documents
to be printed on recycled paper
and press for university documents
To be printed on recycled paper.
; ENERGY was the only party that
1 pledged to print its platform on
recyclable paper.
Hilyard, a junior advertising
major at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, said he recently assisted
ENERGY party members with some
of their printing and they did not
request recycled paper.
J. Matt Wickless, ENERGY
presidential candidate, said that
because of time restraints, the plat
forms and some signs endorsing
certain candidates were not printed
on recycled paper.
Kinko’s, 1201 Q St., was close
and had quick service, which is
what ENERGY needed under the
two-week time allowed to prepare
for elections, Wickless said. He
said Kinko’s requires pre-ordering
for printing on yellow recycled
paper, which would have taken too
much time.
Wickless said that two months
ago the party surveyed Lincoln
printing companies for one that
could pnnt on yellow recycled paper
with soybean ink.
Capitol Graphics, 123 N. 25th,
printed all 4,000 ENERGY logo
posters on recycled paper with
soybean ink, he said.