Academic Senate urges committee
to reconsider graduation prayer
Senator calls
the resolution
‘slap in the face’
By Angie Brunkow
Staff Reporter
The Academic Senate passed a
resolution Tuesday urging the Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln Com
mencement Committee to reconsider
its decision banning prayer from gradu
ation.
jj The resolution,
which passed with
a voice vote, cal led
for the committee
10131(0 into account
pvft-K * ■■■■ recent dec isions by
SENATE NU Board of
y.x Regents and the
Association of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska thalcallcd for the
invocation and convocation to be re
instated.
The resolution also asked the com
mittcc to consider Chancellor Gra
ham Spanier’s decision to hold a
moment of silence at the December
graduation ceremony.
Paul Finklcr, physics and as
tronomy senator, said he considered
the resolution a slap in the face to
the committee, which has considered
the issue on two other occasions.
Leo Chouinard, math and statistics
senator, said he did not think that was
the case.
“We’re not telling them tochange,”
he said. But the committee should
make a decision in light of the new
developments, he said.
-44
We’re not telling them
to change.
-Chouinard
math and statistics senator
-1* -
Trent Steele, ASUN liaison, said
the committee should listen to stu
dents, whose opinion should be the
overriding factor in the issue.
“The commencement ceremony
belongs to them,” he said.
ASUN voted unanimously with
three abstentions last Wednesday to
recommend that a group of graduat
ing seniors form a committee to de
cide the issue.
In other business, Athletic Direc
tor Bill Byrne said he looked forward
to good relations and communication
between the athletic department and
faculty.
Byrne said the department would
work to help college athletes make
academics, not sports, their No. 1
priority.
Byrne said the department had
many issues to deal with in the future,
including gender equity, cost con
tainment and improved marketing
within the department.
He said he also wanted to increase
the diversity of the staff and coaches.
Spanier also spoke to the senate,
welcoming President Sally Wise in
her new office after the resignation of
former President Roycc Ballinger.
Spanier also briefed the senate on
issues facing the university.
He said enrollment was stable for
the spring semester, but faculty might
notice more competition for classes.
Students enrolled in 1,800 additional
credit hours this semester, he said.
Spanier said the university would
also have to reallocate funds to deal
with Gov. Ben Nelson’s flat univer
sity budget proposal.
Spanier said he supported a mod
est salary increase for all university
employees, regardless of their salary
level.
Also, he said, the university is
close to the final stages of hiring two
new associate dircctorsof affirmative
action.
|-77—77-POLICE REPORT--1
1*^11111111^ 111 iuiii^iii iviuiiucn
1:15 a.m. — Purse, wallet, tapes
taken, parking lot at 13th and Q
streets, $186 loss, $75 damage.
10:21 a.m. — Student taking
‘No Smoking’ signs, Love Li
brary, turned over to Judicial
Board.
>:zop.m.— i an ugius oroKen,
parking lot on 19th Street be
tween R and U streets, S150.
5:51 p.m. — Racquetball court
door shattered, Campus Recre
ation Center, S1,500.
8:02 p.m. — Bike stolen, Ne
braska Union, S3,725.
p.m. — rm-ano-run acci
dent, parking lot at 14th and
Avery streets, S75.
11:49 p.m. — Leather jacket,
purse taken, parking lot at 13th
and Q streets, $334 loss, $50
damage.
Director predicts trouble
for students under stiff law
By Becky Becher
Staff Reporter
The director of UNL’s Student
Legal Services said she had not yet
seen any students charged under
new, stricter drunken driving laws,
but she expected that to change.
“We get five or six DWI cases a
month,” Shelley Stall said. “DWI
won’t stop just because the laws
change.”
Under the new Administrative
License Revocation law, which
went into effect Jan. 1, drivers who
exceed .10 percent blood alcohol
content or refuse to take an alcohol
test will have their licenses taken
away by the arresting officer and be
issued a 30-day temporary license.
-44
DWI won’t stop Just
because the laws
change.
-Stall
director, Student Legal
Services
-*» -
The driver then has 10 days to
request a hearing before the Ne
braska Department of Motor Ve
hicles. If a hearing is not requested
or the driver is found guilty, driv
ing privileges arc revoked for 90
days.
In addition to the license revo
cation law, Stall said, other penal
ties for DWI have increased.
Under the stiffer penalties for
driving while under the influence,
the maximum sentence for a first
time offender is 60 days in jail, a
$500 fine and a six-month license
revocation.
UNL Police Chief Ken Cauble
said penalties needed to be strong
enough to deter people from drink
ing and driving.
The new penalties will reduce
drinking and driving “if people
think before they drink, but once
people start drinking they stop
thinking,” Cauble said.
Stall said students didn’t think
of the consequences of driving
drunk, but that many students would
be shocked to learn they could go to
jail for DWI. The costs involved
might also shock them, she said.
A private attorney may charge
from $500 to $1,000 for represen
tation.
However, any UNL student
slopped in Lancaster County who
has not been convicted of two prior
DWI offenses can be represented
free of charge by Student Legal
Services, Stall said.
Stall said drunken drivers were
dangerous and should be kept off
the road, but she said she was un
sure if license revocation and in
creased penalties by themselves
would be effective.
Students need to be responsible
when they drink and should plan
ahead by having a designated
driver, Stall said. Stall said she
hoped students would avoid situa
tions that would put them in a posi
tion where they could lose their
licenses or go to jail.
Student Legal Services has pub
lished a handbook that includes a
section explaining license revoca
tion and the new penalties for DWI.
Ii also explains students’ rights.
The handbook is free and will be
available next week.
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College
Continued trom Page 1
said.
Richardson said he expected the
larger magazine to be a bigger time
commitment than the 20 hours a week
he and Moncricf devote to the project
now.
For example, the two students plan
on taking a week to drive throughout
the Midwest to distribute the maga
zine personally.
But Richardson said experience
with the local magazine would help in
dealing with future obstacles.
Production of the magazine was
difficult at first, because neither part
ner knew how to deal with printer
lingo or how to sell ads, he said.
But luck, hard work and business
smarts came together for the publica
tion of the first issue last August.
Hard work helped reduce produc
tion lime from a month for the first
issue to a week for the most recent
one.
Moncricf said he and Richardson
were able to charge competitive ad
vertising rates by working out of
Richardson’s apartment.
“To keep costs low, we do 100
percent of the work ourselves," he
said.
The two, who have known each
other since grade school, said they
complemented each other well:
Richardson handles the journalistic
aspects of the magazine, while
Moncricf handles the business aspects.
While dividing the work between
themselves may keep costs down,
Richardson said, low profits mean
money is not the main incentive for
producing the magazine.
“As far as the hourly wage goes,
it’s small," he said.
But Richardson and Moncricf
agreed the lime, energy and money
put into College Today was balanced
by the fun and experiences.
“We just have fun with it,’’
Richardson said.
The two have traveled to Elko,
Ncv., to do a feature story on gam
bling and to Ames, Iowa, for a review
of the U2 concert.
Moncricf said he also valued the
practical knowledge about market
ing, journalism and advertising he
gained from the experience.
“Anything they could teach me in
a college course, I learned on the
streets," he said.