50/30
Partly cloudy with chance
of wet snow or rain.
Tuesday, partly sunny.
Young Democrats ’ Republican officers resign
_ _ a • • J ■____
By cnuck Green
Senior Reporter
Two University of Nebraska
Lincoln students elected last
week to offices in Young
Democrats resigned Sunday amidst
controversy over their ties to an op
posing organization.
The selection Thursday night of
Chris Peterson and Rob Bryant —
both members of the UNL College
Republicans — touched off protests
from Young Democrats members and
administrators.
Students say they intended to encourage political involvement
On Sunday , the students announced
their resignation, saying their “wake
up call” to apathetic UNL students
had been made.
The controversy began when eight
new Young Democrats members, all
believed to be College Republicans,
attended Thursday night’s meeting.
Only six Young Democrats attended.
After the meeting began, the new
members of the Democratic organi
zation announced their intentions to
run for office.
Peterson, a senior business major,
was elected president of the UNL
Young Democrats chapter. He is a
lobbyist for the ASUN-appointed
Government Liaison Committee and
amemberof the UNLCollege Repub
licans.
Bryant, a senior finance major,
was elected treasurer of Young Demo
crats. He is the College Republicans’
fund-raising chairman.
Both Peterson and Bryant were
eligible forelection because they paid
the organization* s $5 membership fee.
Peterson said he and Bryant had
intended to show students what could
be accomplished through organiza
tion. He said their intention was not to
sabotage the Young Democrats, but
to encourage studcntpolitical involve
ment.
But Bill Avery, professor of politi
cal science at UNL and Young Demo
auvisci, >vuu nt uiuugm uiv/i^
was a different motivation.
“The Republicans have a long,
well-established track record of dirty
tricks,” he said. “It’s distressing to see
that these kids arc engaging in it this
early. They only showed that they are
capable of cheating and deception.”
. Avery said he was disturbed by the
deception demonstrated at such an
early phase in the students’ political
careers.
“One has to wonder about young
See DEMOCRATS on 3
Stad McKee/DN
First lady Hillary Clinton addresses a large crowd at the Lied Center Friday about her health care plan.
Cooperation needed, Clinton says
By Jeff Zeleny
Ssntor fktoorm___
Cooperation is the key to better health
care in the United States, Hillary
Rodham Clinton said in her Friday ad
dress to a health-care conference at the Lied
Center for Performing Arts.
“The greatest way for us to realize a better
future is by cooperation, so America can once
again be saved,” the first lady told a crowd of
more than 2,100.
In the past, loo much time has been spent on
arguing about who was to blame for the increas
ing costs, she said. Americans must now look
past the disputes and gel together for solutions.
Clinton used personal examples of people in
— 44 .. 1
Americans will be secure
knowing they have access
to health care, no matter
who they are.
—Hillary Clinton
first lady
-tf -
the United States who have been affected by
problems with health-care costs.
More than 100,000 Americans lose their
health-care insurance every month, she said,
and at least half of them are full-time workers.
Clinton told the story of an uninsured woman
who had a clerical job at a steel factory. The
woman went in for a physical examination, and
was told she had a lump in her breast. She was
refused surgery for not being insured.
"The surgeon said, ‘If you had insurance I
would biopsy that,” Clinton said. ‘“Since you
don’t, I will watch it for a while.’”
Clinton said she was concerned about insur
ance for farmers and ranchers in agricultural
states such as Nebraska. Often they squeeze
every extra cent they have to pay for a single
family policy, which doesn’t provide adequate
See CLINTON on 6
Health-care costs
need controlling,
speakers agree
Americans need improved
opportunity to appropriate,
efficient care, officials say
By Kara Morrison
Senior Editor
and Karan Okamoto
Staff Reporter_
Lack of information about the current
health-care system is making reform
difficult, officials said Friday ata health
care conference in Lincoln.
Nevertheless, speakers agreed that accessi
bility and spiraling costs of health care must be
improved.
Sen. Bob Kerrey, chairman of the two-day
conference, “Health Care in the 21st Century:
National Challenges, Nebraska Solutions," said
he favored setting up a trust fund in which all
federal dollars for health care were pooled so
taxpayers would know exactly how much was
being spent.
Kerrey said rising federal costs, which would
be more evident with the creation of a trust
fund, necessitated health-care reform.
Janet Shikles, director of health financing
and policy issues for the U.S. General Account
ing Office, agreed that rising health-care costs
were a major economic problem for the coun
try
President Clinton is not going to oe aoie to
make good on his promise to reduce the deficit
until something is done about health care,”
Shikles said.
Shikles also gave statistics on declining
accessibility of health care in the Un ited States.
“One-third of the very sick did not see a
doctor last year,” Shikles said. “And nearly
100,000 Americans are losing their health in
surance each month.”
Other statistics, however, arc hard to come
by, said Shikles, whose main job is researching
Medicare, Medicaid and other national health
plans.
**'You can’ tgel data on how plans are doing,”
she said. “We can’t even get price data” from
pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, she
said.
Dr. Paul Ell wood, president of the Jackson
Hole Group, which is working with health-care
leaders to devise reforms, proposed a comput
erized “smart card" for policy holders.
Ideally, the card would entitle its holder to
health care at almost any facility and would
See HEALTH on 6
Board selects search committee, accepts new measures
Group raises student fees,
approves design report for
sound system for stadium
By Kristine Long
Staff flMPortor _ __
The NU Board of Regents selected mem
bers of the presidential search commit
tee Saturday while rejecting a proposal
to add a second student to the group.
Jennifer Newhouse, student regent from the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, made the
proposal, saying students should have the most
say out of all the nominees cm the search
committee ballot.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln student re
gent Keith Benes said he had heard the excuse
that the NU president didn’t have much contact
with the students anyway. But, Benes said, the
president didn’t have much contact with fac
ulty, either.
See COMMITTEE on 6
Group raises student fees,
approve design report for
sound system for stadium
By Kristine Long
M Htoortm
NU Board of Regents members tackled
issues from golf grass to greenhouses
Saturday, approving several measures
dealing with die UNL campus.
The first amendment was a change in the
structure of the Research Council. The amend
ment changed the primary interaction of the
Research Council to the Vice Chancellor for
Research instead of the Dean of Graduate Stud- -
ies.
The amendment also increased faculty rep
resentation from two to three in biological
sciences, physical sciences, social sciences and
humanities.
The board approved the $2.75 increase in
——— See REGENTS on 6
Li-. _• -1> ±r, ~r‘ • £ --
