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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1993)
Voters crash underdog candidates’ PARTY Growing support comes too late to earn victory By Chuck Green Senior Reporter Just moments after Steve Dietz heard the resultsof Wednesday night’s ASUN election were announced, he and about a dozen members and sup porters of PARTY raised their glasses in a schnapps toast at Barrymore’s, 124 N. 13th St. But the toast was to hard work, not the results. Dietz and Leslie Strong, PARTY’S presidential and first vice-presiden tial candidates, were defeated by Keith Bcnes and Trent Steele, who received 50.22 percent of the vote. Dietz and Strong received 1,368 votes, or 43.12 percent, compared with the 1,593 for Benes and Steele. In the race for second vice presi dent, Malt Maser drew 1,241 votes, 39.14 percent, compared with VOICE candi date Jill ’s 54.47 percent, or 1,727 votes. According to unofficial results, had Benes and Steele received just nine fewer votes, a run-off election would have been required. Despite the loss, Dietz said he wasn’t discouraged. “I have mixed feelings,” Dietz said. “I understand the way campus poli tics work, and I knew we had to be huge underdogs. But I really fell like people understood that I was in touch with what they were thinking. “I guess I’ll have to wait until it sets in to see how disappointed I am.” PARTY, which announced its plat form in January, began as a light hearted approach to the election. But Dietz admitted that as the campaign ing wore on, PARTY members be came more serious about winning. As a result, Dietz was not surprised by the closeness of the race. “A week ago, if I had seen these numbers, I would have been sur prised,” he said. “But the last couple weeks, I think people started realizing where I was coming from, and I could feel the momentum building. It was just a matter of whether the momen tum was built soon enough “Obviously, it wasn’t.” Despite the momentum, Dietz wasn't sure if the result would have been different if the election had been two weeks away. “There are always a lot of ‘what ifs,”’ he said. “But we did the best we could. But at least we made them (VOICE) work for the win.” And, he said, he was satisfied that during his campaigning, he never promised anything he thought he couldn’t deliver. “I just always did what I felt was right/’ Dietz said. Dietz, Strong, Maser and other PARTY members moved to the Al pha Tau Omega fraternity house, 1433 R Sl, to celebrate the end of weeks of hard work. They were met by about 100 PARTY supporters in the fraternity’s basement. “Our opponents said the election was all about leadership,” Dietz told his supporters. “Well, in just three weeks, we got more than 1,300people to vote for us. I don’t see any more leadership than that. “What we did in less than one month almost caught up with what they did in six months.” As the party continued, Dietz ad miued that the disappointment was starting to set in. “I would have loved to be student body president and student regent,” Dietz said, shaking his head. “But I think we made people take a look at why they run for student government. “For now, that will have to be enough.” One senator’s vote enough to let Sigerson veto stand By Andrea Kaser Staff Reporter ASUN President Andrew Sigerson’svetoofSl ofa $2.22 Cam pus Recreation fee allocation increase passed Wednesday with only one sena tor supporting the veto. The vote left some senators un settled. “It seems ironic, not only to me, ASUN fails to stop removal of $1 from Campus Rec allocation but to the entire senate,” said Andrew Peshek, College of Business Admin istration senator. Parliamentary rules require a two thirds vote of the entire membership of the senate to override a veto. Of 32 voting members, only 22 were present. In order for the senate to override the veto, all 22 senators would have had to vote against it. Shane Tucker, a general studies senator, cast the lone dissenting vote. Tucker, a member of the,Commit tee for Fees Allocation, voted earlier along with the rest of the committee in support of the Campus Recreation increase. Peshek questioned Tucker’s be havior because of the con trad iction in his record. Tucker said he tried to amend the increase during a com mittee meeting, but his attempt failed. In light of the Legislature’s pro posed university budget cuts, Tucker said, the need for the increase did not outweigh the burden it would put on students. “We can’t just keep slapping these extra taxes on students,” he said. Teachers College Sen. Kim Heyne said if more members had been present at last night’s meeting, the veto would have been overridden. Several mem bers of the victorious VOICE party were not present, she said. Despite Wednesday’s election, Heyne said, allocations arc one of the most important functions of ASUN, and for the members of the presiden tial ticket of VOICE to not be present was irresponsible. “I think it was a very bad political move,” Heyne said. ‘‘We needed the members. I was disappointed because we needed the vote. Both Trent Steele, the first vice presidential candidate for VOICE, and Jill Anderson, the second vice-presi dential candidate, were not present. Andrew Loudon, VOICE’S campaign manager, and Kelly Archuletta, VOICE’S treasurer, also were not present. Ttirnout Continued from Page 1 lot poll, had no legal bearing on the committee’s decision. ASUN President Andrew Sigerson said he believed prayer should be allowed at graduation provided itrep rcsented different religions. “We’re going to send a message to the administration and make sure that they know there arc students in sup port of graduation prayers,” Sigerson said. A constitutional amendment to change the minimum number of credit hours required for graduate student ASUN senators failed, receiving 57 percent of the vote. About 27.4 per cent of voters opposed the change. Voters also expressed support for users of student fees. The Fund B survey to approve $75.57 for the University Health Cen ter won support from 60.1 percent, while 34.1 percent disapproved. * The student fee of $32.72 to sup port the Nebraska Unions was ap proved by a 65.8 percent vote. About 27 percent of voters were opposed. The $32.82 student fee for the Campus Recreation Center was ap proved by 75.8 percent, with 18.4 percent dissenting. A survey of Fund A student fees, which arc refundable upon request, resulted in 67.1 percent of the voters approving an 84-ccnl allocation to the Daily Nebraskan and 25.95 percent disapproving. Voters also showed their support for a $1.33 allocation to the Univer sity Program Council speakers pro gram, with 60.3 percent approving and 32 percent disapproving. Bradley said the election results were unofficial as of Wednesday night. Gore Continued from Page 1 of environmental issues that deal with the economy.” Improving highways, roads and solid waste management treatment plants all create jobs to help the economy, Nelson said. A member of the UNO Student Senate told Gore he was concerned about Clinton’s student loan proposal, which would give students the oppor tunity to pay back their money through work. The senate member said he already had a good job and didn’t want to give it up to work somewhere else to pay back his loan. He also was afraid the plan would -44 Many Republicans like his (Clinton's) economic plan. —Gore Vice-president -—ft - make student loans harder to acquire because ofincrcased demand,but Gore said that wasn't true. “If you look at the current student loan program,” Gore said, “billions and billions of dollars are wasted ev ery year.” After the meeting/ Marlin Massengale, president of the Univer sity of Nebraska, said he thought the new student loan option was a good one. “It’s an option that we should look at,” Massengale said. “Certainly it gives another opportunity for students that we didn’t have before.” Massengale said the national eco nomic discussionswerc timely because of the current fiscal problem that faced Nebraska. Education is a top priority with Clinton, and Massengale hopes to see that carried through to the state level. “We had a good hearing yesterday with the Appropriations Committee,” he said. “Hopefully they understand the importanceof education, notonly to the state, but the nation if we are to remain competitive.” Kuwaiti-American arrested on charge of helping with trade center bombing NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A Pales unian-American chemical engineer was ordered Wednesday to be held without bail on a charge of helping to bomb the World Trade Center. He became the second suspect di rectly linked to the fatal blast. Nidal A. Ayyad, 25, was arrested at his suburban Maplewood home by an FBI SWAT team. He was brought before a magistrate on a complaint charging him with “aiding and abet ting the malicious damage and de struction” of the trade center. Ayyad, a Kuwaiti -bom natural ized American citizen, was linked to Mohammed Salameh, charged last week with renting the van used to carry the bomb that devastated the skyscraper complex Feb. 26, killing five people. li.S. Magistrate Dennis Cavanaugh ordered Ayyad held without bail. At the defense request, Cavanaugh sched uled a hearing for Friday to determine whether Ayyad was the person who was sought by the government. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. “I’m sure he had nothing to do with it,” said Reziq Ayyad, Ayyad’s 17 year-old brother. l4The only thing he did wrong was to know Salameh. He has the right to choose his friends.’’ James Esposito, the FBI's special agent in charge for New Jersey, said Nidal Ayyad s chemical background was significant, but Esposito declined to say whether Ayyad was believed to have made the bomb. “By his educational background hehascxpmisc that lends itself to this kind of crime,” Esposito told report ers. “He certainly has some expert knowledge because of his training in the chemical engineering field.” Ayyad and Salameh knew each other for more than a year, Esposito said. The FBI said Ayyad and Salameh shared a joint bank account, and that Ayyad’s business card was found among Salameh’s personal effects when Salameh was arrested Thurs day. Ayyad works as a research engi neer for Allied-Signal Inc. On the day before the bombing, an FBI complaintsaid, Salameh was seen making numerous trips to a Jersey City storage warehouse where explo sives and bomb-making materials were later found. He also was seen making telephone calls from a pay phone nearby, and records show lour calls were made from that phone to Ayyad’s line at Allied-Signal, the complaint said. The day before the bombing, Salameh and an undetermined num ber of other people made numerous trips to the storage shed using a yel low Ryder rental truck, the complaint said. Discovered in the shed after the bombing were several hundred pounds of urea, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, other chemical compounds and chemical equipment such as graduated beakers, flasks, and a mortar and pestle, the FBI said. VOICE Continued from Page 1 that his bad luck was over. He said work must begin immediately to en sure progress wasn ’ t lost in the change of administration. ' . “We’ll start working with current administration for as smooth a transi tion as possible,” Bencs said. “You can’t possibly know all the ins and outs.” Steele, finishing his first year as first vice president, is looking at the next year with optimism. He said he would focus on more things to benefit students. “The No. 1 issue will be the minus grades issue,” he said. As the stu dent liaison to the Academic Senate, Steele said, he will watch the grading issue closely. Budget cuts are students’ lop pri ority, Steele said. The Government Liaison Committee will continue to work hard to overturn the possible $13.98 million cuts to the NU system. Although residence halls are also a priority on Steele’s agenda, he said where students live shouldn’t be a major focus. “I don’t see things in terms of living units,” Steele said. “Issues like parking and grades don’t have any thing to do with living units.” Although in his second year as the second man on the ASUN totem pole, Steele said he was happy with his position. “I ran for First vice because that’s the job I like doing,” he said. “When I came to UNL I didn’t know a soul. Everyone should get involved with student government” Jill Anderson, second vice presi dent-elect was accused of being a token candidate throughout the elec tion. * “They weren’t referring to my qualifications,” she said. “There’s a lot more to second vice.” Anderson said she would be active on the Five-Year Projection Commis sion, which investigates all aspects of the university. Racial affairs will be big on Anderson’s priority list she said. More communication is needed between people in all areas, she said. Andrew Sigerson, current presi dent of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, attended the victory party. Sigerson said he was there to con gratulate the winning party, not just to show his endorsement of the VOICE ticket. “From my perspective,” he said, “PARTY ran a hell of a campaign." -World Wire -- Amtrak train hits truck, kills driver KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP)— An Amtrak train struck a propane truck Wednesday, setting off an explosion and killing the truck driver, authorities said. The accident occurred atacross ing on private land when the truck apparently pulled into the path of the train, said Brent Bahler, a Na tional Transportation Safety Board spokesman in Washington. The 11:10 a.m. crash shook a Comstock Township office build ing a half-mile away, witnesses said. Amtrak officials said none of 46 passengers on the Wolverine from Chicago to Detroit was injured. But Kalamazoo County Sheriffs dispatcher Rita Morrison said sev eral people were injured. Nebraskan 34*140?rsTlKS? 4£!0£l!?P^'^^theUNLPubllcatlonsBoard.NetfaskaUnion •umnS?** Monday throo°h *• academic year: weekly durtnfl phoS^472- r^.Th^y^*0. >ub(Ty ***\ *daaa and comments to the Dally Nebraskan by totoe~ Monday through Friday. The public also has access ««-WfcdCVTifi *° ‘b*Da),y Nebraska Nebraska Union 34,1400 H St, sT2S!'fflsrasiasrNe 1**» DAILY NEBRASKAN