Sr.£su. News digest
Candidates clash over change, character
ST. LOUIS — Bill Clinton and
President Bush argued over character
and the economy Sunday night in a
three-way debate with Ross Perot.
From taxes to crime to AIDS to
foreign policy, the three men grap
pling for the White House outlined
differing visions in a 90-minute de
bate.
In his first major campaign appear
ance, Perot provided a series of one
liners and offered himself as an out
sider who could shake up the system.
Bush began the debate by saying
he felt the most important issue sepa
rating the candidates was experience.
But Perot was quick to ridicule the
notion by observing that it’s true, he
had no experience in “running up a
S4-trillion debt” or in overseeing “a
gridlock government” or presiding
over a crumbling education system.
“If it’s time for action, I’ve got the
kind of experience that counts,” he
said.
Kusn, criticized inrougnout ms
campaign for paying loo little atten
tion to domestic affairs, promised to
name James Baker as his domestic
coordinator. It had been thought that
Baker was interested in returning to
his former post as secretary of state.
Perot said, “We do have to have
change,” and that the first priority
should be to rebuild the nation’s job
base.
The opening moments were highly
charged, with Bushcriliciz.ingClinton
for anti-war activities while he stud
ied oversea* at Oxford University
during the Vietnam war. In contrast,
Bush held out his service during World
War II.
Clinton responded directly to Bush,
who seemed not to return his gaze.
- a
7ne government has
lost touch with the
people. We’ve got
to change the system.
Perot
-f* -
“When Joe McCarthy wentaround
this country attacking people’s pa
triotism, he was wrong,” Clinton
said. “Your lather (Prescott Bush)
was right to stand up to Joe McCarthy.
“You were wrong to attack my patrio
tism. I opposed the war, but I love my
country,” he said to applause from the
audience. Bush said he was not at
tacking Clinton’s patriotism, but his
character and judgment.
Clinton’s running mate, Sen. A1
Gore, said Bush had finished fourth
behind Clinton, Perot and moderator
Jim Lchrer.
- 44
I offer a new direction:
invest in American
jobs, American educa
tion, control health
care costs, bring this
country together
again.
Clinton
-tf -
Clinton made several references to
his own life. He noted that he came
from a broken home and, in arguing
against decriminalizing drug use, that
his brother was a recovering drug
abuser.
On taxes, a subject of conflicting
television commercials, Clinton said
his economic proposals would shield
all households with incomes of less
than $200,000 from tax increases and
“restore some fairness to the lax code.”
portraits by Brian Shellilo/DN
- it
I hope I’ve earned your
trust because a lot
about being president
is about trust and
character.
Bush
-ff -
“We’ve got to have no more trickle
down,” he said.
Bush, who has charged that
Clinton’s plan would raise taxes on
the middle class, said, "You end up
socking it to the working man.” Over
and over, he characterized Clinton
economics as a tax-and-spend pro
gram.
Perot said his own economic plan
included a period for “shared sacri
fice,” and defended his proposal to
raise the gasoline tax by 50 cents a
gallon.
“1 know it’s not popular... but the .
Sic who will be helped by it the
jwill be the working people who
will get jobs created by this tax.”
The president said he was anxious
to work with a “brand new Congress”
next year, though there is no guaran
tee he would be more successful with
the new lineup than with the old.
Bush insisted the nation’s prob
lems were not so severe as Clinton
claimed. “This country’s not coming
apart at the seams,” he said, and the
United States has recovered from
worst problems than the current ones.
But Clinton said American wages
had declined in the last 12 years of
Republican rule in the White House.
Perot said international competi
tors were doing better than the United
States, with business and government
working hand in hand.
Each man had two minutes lor a
closing statement. Perot used his to
underscore his outsider’s candidacy.
“The government has lost touch with
the people. We’ve got to change the
system,” he said.
Clinton said, “I offer a new direc
tion, invest in American jobs, Ameri
can education, control health care
costs, bring this country together
again.”
Bush had the last word and asked
voters for “four more years.” He re
called the collapse of communism
and other dramatic world events of
the past four years, and said he would
turn his attention more to domestic
issues.
“I hope I’ve earned your trust be
cause a lot about being president is
about trust and character.”
Columbus maintains hero status
NEW YORK — The reputation
of Christopher Columbus remains
relatively untarnished 500 years
after his arrival in the New World,
an Associated Press poll indicates:
About two of three Americans re
gard him as a hero.
The anniversary of the Italian
navigator’s first voyage across the
Atlantic has brought renewed scru
tiny of the explorer’s effect on the
natives of the land he mistook for
“the Indies."
Columbus robbed, brutalized
and enslaved Native Americans and
started centuries of destruction of
their cultures. But only 15 percent
in the poll said they agreed with
those who called Columbus a vil
lain.
About 64 percent said he was a
hero. Nine percent said he was
both. The remainder said he was
neither, or were unsure.
A majority, 56 percent, said they
would like to sec Columbus Day
observed as a celebration, while 32
percent wanted it to be a solemn
day to reflect on the past. The rest
were unsure or wanted it observed
both ways.
The poll was taken Sept. 30 to
Oct. 4 among a random sample of
1,001 adults by ICR Survey Re
search Group of Media, Pa., part of
AUS Consultants. The margin of
sampling error was plus or minus 3
percentage points.
History has recorded that Co
lumbus was devoted to— perhaps
obsessed with — the idea of sailing
west to reach “the East.” He spent
more than seven years preparing
and seeking the backing of the Span
ish monarchs for his 1492 voyage.
Those polled were more likely
lo see Columbus as motivated by a
quest for knowledge than by greed.
Six in lOcitedhiscuriosity about
the world as a motivation. Half
agreed that he was motivated by a
sense of adventure. Forty-four per
cent cited a search for gold and
profits. Just 20 percent said a desire
for fame was one of the motiva
tions.
Men were slightly more likely
than women to mention fame and
profits. Those who considered Co
lumbus a villain most often saw
him as motivated by the search for
gold.
Eighteen percent of men but
only 12 percent of women consid
ered Columbus a villain. While a
majority of those who vilify Co
lumbus wanted the holiday to be
solemn, a third of them still wanted
it lo be a celebration.
Red Cross evacuates
3,000 from Sarajevo
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina
— Red Cross officials made plans
Sunday locvacuatc 3,000 women and
children from the besieged Bosnian
capital, where food and fuel arc des
perately short.
Intense fighting was reported over
night around the city, and on Sunday
government troops pounded an arc of
land linking rebel Serb territories in
the north.
But for the first time since the U .N.
Security Council banned military
flights over the breakaway Yugoslav
republic last week, there were no re
ports that Serb rebels staged air raids
on government-held cities.
In Serbia, the dominant partner in
the new Yugoslavia, voters went to
the polls to decide whether parlia
mentary and presidential elections
should be moved up. Opponents view
the hastily called referendum as a
ploy by hard-liners to hold onto power
despite worldwide condemnation of
Yugoslavia’s role in instigating the
ethnic bloodshed in Bosnia.
Around Sarajevo, residents grimly
welcomed heavy rains that helped to
ease a dire water shortage. Steady
bombardments were reported during
the night near thccapital’sairport, the
old town and the suburbs of Stup and
llidza.
Nine mortar rounds landed Satur
day near Camp Beaver, the U .N. peace
keepers post near the airport, but none
of the U.N. troops was hurl, U.N.
spokesman Mik Magnusson said.
i—-1
Debate
Continued from Page 1
vocalize our support.”
Mark Byars, a freshman account
ing major, agreed.
“I’ve been involved in a number of
campaigns, stickcring, hammering up
yard signs, making phone calls. This
is something that really doesn't hap
pen all that often.”
For some, the trip provided a once
in-a-lifetime chance to see the presi
dent in person as he walked from the
Drury Hotel near Union Station down
town into a wailing limousine.
“It was neat to actually be there
and be part of the crowd that was
cheering for him,” said Cara Catlett,
a junior political science major.
About 2(X) supporters erupted in
applause when Bush and his wife,
Barbara, walked around the car and
waved to the onlookers as fireworks
exploded in the air above.
The students from Nebraska trav
eled to Forest Park Community Col
lege to listen to the debato via loud
speaker with other College Republi
cans. The community college was
about three miles from Washington
University, the site of the debate.
Afterward, students once again
cheered on the presidential motor
cade as it zoomed back to the hotel.
Andrew Sigerson, president of the
Association of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska, said he thought
Bush held his own.
“I think he made a very respectable
showing.”
Sigerson also said he didn’t think
the president was specific enough on
some issues. But the outcome of the
debate will depend on how it is por
trayed in today’s newspapers, he said.
Jon Schcvc, a freshman business
administration major, said he thought
Bush would benefit from the debate.
“His ratings will go up — his and
Perot’s,” he said. “Clinton’s will go
down. People just don’t like Slick
Willie.”
Despite the right-winged atmo
sphere of the trip, the group’s bus
driver, Terry Stunden, remained
unswayed by the president’s appeal.
“Busfi is an ass!”
KKAR
Continued from Page 1
contract for an additional three years.
John Mitchell of Omaha, president
of Mitchell BroadcaslingCo.,KK AR
AM radio of Omaha and five other
Nebraska radio stations, appeared at
the meeting to protest the vendor se
lection process.
Mitchell said he had offered the
university a larger fee, higher rev
enue-sharing percentages and more
services, but was eliminated because
he preferred a five-year contract with
a five-year extension option at his
discretion.
Mitchell said he might have been
willing to compromise on thetermsof
the contract, but never was told he
must do so to remain in consideration.
Jack Goebel, UNL vice chancellor
for business affairs, said the univer
sity had informed all potential ven
dors that the three-year term of the
contract was not negotiable. He said
the university insisted on the three
year plan to stay flexible in uncertain
times for national college sports broad
casting arrangements.
Despite Mitchell’s protests, the
regents voted 8-0 for the KFAB plan
and authorized completion of con
tract negotiations with the station. All
four student regents voted against the
contract.
SIS
Continued from Page 1
But NU President Martin
Massengale recommended the SCT
system on the grounds that systems of
the IA family were already in use at
the University of Nebraska at Omaha
and the University of Nebraska at
Kearney.
. “Every single consultant I talk to”
recommends that the campuses’ stu
dent registration systems be able to lie
into each other, Van Horn said. Tying
in is more easily and cheaply achieved
when the systems belong to the same
family, he said.
The integrated system would re
place a patchwork of computer pro
grams used to store student records at
UNL. The system will run on the
university’s IBM480 mainframccom
puter under one of the relational data
base management systems.
Nebraskan
Editor Chris Hoptsnspergcr
472- 1766
Managing Editor Kris Karnopp
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Editorial Page Editor Dlonna Saarcay
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Copy Desk Editor Kara Walls
k Sports Editor John Adklsson
Art Director Scott Maurer
General Manager Dan Shattll
Production Manager Katharine Pollcky
Advertising Manager Todd Sears
Sales Manager Jay Crusa
Classified Ad Manager Karan Jackson
Publications Board
Chairman Tom Massey
488-8761
Professional Adviser Don Walton
473- 7301 ,
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