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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1994)
■4 SPORTS Life without Calvin 1-back Calvin Jones makes an official statement concerning TUGSOSy his decision to enter the NFL ^ /23 draft. Also, Nebraska players Today, partly sunny respond to Jones'departure. ggfiSfe, partly pag0 y sunny and warmer. — Nelson calls for reforms without taxes By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter__ Governor Ben Nelson unveiled his pro gressive plan for the 1994 Legislature Monday in the annual State of the State Address. The plan calls for reforms in welfare, juve nile justice and health care—programs that the governor said all could be initiated without a tax increase. “Our fiscal house is in order,” Nelson said. “Revenues are coming in ahead of projections. We have a solid budget reserve. “We’ve set priorities and can accomplish uui imuauvcs wmiuuia tax increase.” Nelson’s welfare plan called for a change from welfare being a spider web to a safety net. He called the current sys tem a model of confu sion and memciency. Nelson “The SyStem has be come a trap — an endless cycle of shattered hopes and missed opportunities for a better life,” he said. The plan’s proposals aim to: • Simplify the procedures for establishing paternity. • Simplify orders for child and medical support. • Increase collections of child support. Nelson, whose crime plan focused on the juvenile justice system, said the current system was completely outdated. The governor called for the most dangerous of youthful offenders to be detained in a secure confinement facility. He also proposed creat ing boot camps for non-violent offenders. “When your twelve-year-old is not safe riding his bike on a neighborhood street, it’s time to change the rules,” Nelson said. “The people say it’s time, and we know it’s time. “We must put teeth in our juvenile justice system and instill hope in the future of young Nebraskans.” Additional spending on crime measures in Nelson’s plan came with the addition of an automated fingerprint identification system, DNA testing, a State Patrol strike force and grants for local law enforcement. See NELSON on 6 President-elect visits university, meets officials From Staff Reports _____ U President-elect Dennis Smith kicked Noff a three-day Lincoln visit Monday, meeting with central administration of ficials and the chair of the UNL biology department. Jack Morris, chairman of the department, said the discussion focused on Smith’s academ ic history. He was the former dean of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California-Irvine. Smith has been the president of UC-Irvinc since 1987 and was named the fifth president of the University of Nebraska in November. Smith’s three year contract takes effect March 1. ~ 1 Morris said he was anx ious to see Smith take an important role in the de ■LmtL_mm partmcnt ot biology, but Smith understood that Smith could not neglect his re sponsibilities as NU president. Smith promised to maintain scientific jour nals and academic a fill iation, Morris said, even though he could not play a direct role in the department of biology. “I am anxious for his involvement in the department because of his academic excellence in biology,” Morris said. Smith also met Monday with current NU See SMITH on 3 Missouri students attempt to settle mischief charges By Angie Bronkow Senior Reporter A court appearance for five University of Missouri-Columbia students who al legedly stole a statue from the Sheldon Memorial Sculpture Garden in November was continued Monday for two weeks. Woody Bradford, an Omaha attorney who appeared for the students in Lancaster County Court, said he would try to work with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to get the case dismissed before the scheduled Jan. 24 court date. The county attorney decides if a case can be dropped. Jason Mott, 19, Jason Meyer, 19, Richard Daniel, 19, Brad Schuster, 18, and Craig Rehmert, 18, were arrested Nov. 21 for crimi nal mischief in the thefiof a 3-foot-tall Abraham Lincoln statue. The students did not attend Monday’s hearing. Criminal mischief charges are Class IV fel onies, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a $ 10,000 f me, or both. The felony has no minimum sentence. Lincoln police arrested the five men after they saw them carrying the statue down the sidewalk near 30th and Y streets at 3 a.m. The five men, all members of the Missouri See MISSOURI on 3 Slaci McKee/DN State Sen. Ardyce Bohlke of Hastings is the Legislature’s new education committee chairwoman. “I’m always concerned that we should be doing all we can to keep our best students in the state, and I’m not sure we’re doing that,” she said. School senator Bohlke wants education to stand out among glut of bills By Kara G. Morrison Senior Reporter_ In a non-budget legislative session, with the spotlight on welfare reform, health care and anti-crime legislation, one state senator says education won’t be forgotten. “Educational issues are still at the top of most people’s priority list,” said Sen. Ardyce Bohlke, chairwoman of the Legislature’s Education Committee. Bohlke replaced Sen. Ron Withem of Papillion, who became speaker of the Legisla ture last week. Bohlke boasts that she is a product of public education. The i rrici ATllDr senator from Hastings LtuloLAIUKL auended Omaha Public Schools and is a University of Nebraska Lincoln graduate. After graduating with a degree in speech pathology, Bohlke taught in the Omaha Public Schools for four years. She spent eight years on the Hastings Board of Education and was a district representa tive for the Nebraska Association of School Boards. And because she has two sons who arc in the process of finishing degrees, Bohlke said higher education was something on which she had kept an eye. “I’m always concerned that we should be doing all we can to keep our best students in the state, and I’m not sure we’re doing that.” Heightening academic standards and maintaining good facilities help attract such students, she said. Letting either slide, Bohlkc said, could mean losing students to other schools. “Part of attracting quality students is having adequate facilities,” she said. Bohlke also said she supported the universities’ plan to increase admissions standards. The NU Board of Regents approved the tougher standards last January. Though the Legislature has not listed education as one of its top priorities this session, Bohlke said education had a role in all of its proposals — from gun-free school zones to new welfare requirements. Other anti-crime proposals include allowing schools to take more action against students who commit a crime on the school premises. Another education bill Bohlke expects to go before the Legislature this session would increase residency requirements for out-of-state students in order for them to receive in-state tuition. Bohlkc said the tougher policy would make Nebraska’s requirement comparable to other states. Requiring school districts to have gifted education programs is something Bohlkc said she wished the Legislature had passed last year. She will push for its passage this session. Public school funding should be another big issue for the committee this year, she said. Funding questions surfaced frequently, Bohlke said. This session, a common levy property tax has smaller schools in some districts fearing they will have to consolidate. Another funding question could involve a school voucher plan, which Bohlkc said was introduced in California. Under California’s proposal, parents would have received a voucher to be used for their child’s education at either a public or private school. The California Legislature defeated the plan, she said. “It was a huge topic because it would have put public money in private schools,’’ Bohlke said. Now, however, the new chairwoman has additional tasks: moving the Educa tion Committee office, getting used to an expanded staff and finding time for meetings with education leaders and Sen. Withem, the former committee chairman. But Bohlke said she didn’t expect all the preparation, on top of the already packed legislative agenda, to affect her work as chairwoman. “When I was appointed to the Legisla ture, my main focus was always educa tion,” she said. -
