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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1994)
Gubernatorial challenger says he’ll reform tax system Spence says total redesign would be first agenda item By Jeffrey Robb Senior Editor Republican candidate for governor Gene Spence continued his guberna torial campaign with a rally Thursday evening in the Haymarket. Spence criticized Gov. Ben Nelson on taxes, on crime, on the economy and even for living in Omaha instead of the governor’s mansion. Equity Continued from Page 1 “I see a lot of positive interac tion between females and males in class,” Thorp said. “Any casual observer would not get the idea of a chilly climate.” On the syllabus for his classes, he said, there is a statement that says CBA will not “tolerate sexual or racial harassment in the class room.” He said about two-thirds of pro fessors at CBA used the statement on their syllabuses. “We do have some problems,” Thorp said, “but the AAUP study greatly overplays the situation.” Regents Continued from Page 1 tion of change in the college as “alarm ing and discouraging." The report includes criticism of evaluation procedures, salary decisions and appointment to graduate or tenure positions. In other business, the board will be asked to approve a motion to add the Nebraska College of Technical Agri culture in Curtis as a campus of the university. Spence also announced his plan for changing Nebraska’s state govern ment, calling it “Forward Nebraska.” Spence said the plan would do three things: redesign state government, redesign the state tax structure and maximize the power of the state’s agricultural and economic base. The state tax structure is the most immediate of the problems, Spence said. The tax system has been in a mess for a long time, Spence said, and is incomprehensible and universally unfair. “As governor, the first item on my agenda will be the total redesign of the tax system in Nebraska,” Spence said, “starting with no preconceived no tions about what it should be.” For 100 years, the state has tried to patch together a solution, Spence said, but he would deal with the entire system instead of tinkering with its parts. With the Nelson administration, Spence said, the mess has continued. “Governor Nelson and the tax com missioner have made it almost impos sible for people to prepare their tax returns because 910,000 tax forms are wrong,” he said. Because of inefficiency in the tax system throughout Nelson’s term, Spence said, people paid higher taxes, and schools didn’t receive their full endowments. Another part of Spence’s plan would take care of inefficiency. Spence said if elected, he eventually would redesign state government so that it provided its services better and more cheaply. Spence said he wouldn’t throw money into current programs or create new ones. “I give you my word, and I keep my word, that I will not hesitate to make these changes,” Spence said. “And I will make the difficult decisions that truly will take Nebraska forward.” Spence also said crime must be dealt with today. Nelson has failed to deal effectively with the problem, he said. Law enforcement is making the arrests, and the prosecutors are get ting the convictions, Spence said, but after that the system breaks down. Thorp said the Gender and Mi nority Issues Committee had been looking for ways to address gender issues at CBA. “The AAUP report sounds like we arcn’ t doing anything,” he said, “but we feel we are making progress.” For example, he said, five of the last six faculty members hired have been female. And s ince more and more wom en will be hired as professors and recruited as students in CBA, he said, it is important to work out the gender differences among mem ers of the college. “We’re trying to get male col leagues to sit up and take notice,” Thorp said. By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter A state legislative bill that initially promoted pretrial diversions for first time offenders was altered during de bate Thursday to instead increase sal aries for probation officers. With the new provisions established in LB779, the salaries of probation officers would be increased to equal those of payroll officers. The original provisions of LB779, involving pretrial diversions for those charged with driving while intoxicat ed, were scrapped because of a lack of votes, Sen. John Lindsay of Omaha said. The bill in its revised form moved on to final reading Thursday. Lindsay, who sponsored the bill, said the probation officer issue had been a concern of the Judiciary Com mittee for the past few years. “Probation officers are horribly paid right now,” Lindsay said. “If proba tion can be done correctly, it can be much more cost-effective than pris ons.” Lindsay said the current annual salary for probation officers was $ 19,000. Each ofTicer supervises about 140 cases a year, he said. The yearly cost to maintain one prisoner can amount to $20,000. “For the same cost of keeping a person in prison, we can provide one on-one supervision,” he said. This individual attention would lead to better supervision and success with probation. “We could have less people repeat ing criminal behavior and it would cost less,” he said. Lindsay said studies proved offend ers were better controlled by experi enced probation officers. “This is the logical perspective,” Lindsay said. More individual attention by pro bation officers to offenders would de ter future crimes, he said. By increasing salaries, Lindsay said Nebraska would be able to retain more of its qualified officers. Omaha pro vides a training ground for probation officers, many of whom are going to Iowa or federal prisons instead of Nebraska, he said. Prior to 1986, the college was part of the NU system and was under con trol of the regents, but it was in danger of closing. The Legislature and then Gov. Kay Orr decided to make it a separate college to keep it going. After 1986, it was not part of the university system but under control of the Board of Regents. The board also will be asked to approve an amendment to incoming President Dennis Smith’s contract. The proposal would allow for Smith to retire before 10 years of university service. Macintosh LC 4/80, Apple Color Plus 14" Display, Apple Extended Keyboard II, PLUS the Apple StyleWriter II. Only $1,378 after $100 rebate! Right now, when you buy an already affordable Macintosh* LC 475 with mance in the future, if you need it. But that& not all. You’ll also take home an Apple' StyleWriter' II or LaserWriter,' you’ll receive a $ 100 mail-in rebate seven popular software programs while supplies last. That’s a complete from Apple ’ Thatfc a hundred bucks now on a computer with fast 040 Macintosh system with a lot of goodies, at a really unbeatable price. So, performance. Plus the Macintosh LC 475 is upgradable to PowerPC perfor- what are you waiting for? College may last four years, but this offer won’t. Appfe The CRC Computer Shop* 501 Building - 501 N. 10th Street, University of Nebraska, 472-5787, Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, Tuesday until 6 p.m. ♦Students, faculty and staff status must meet CRC Computer Shop educational purchase qualifications. University ID required to order and purchase. 'Offer valid Ihmu/ff 3/31/94 or wbde supplies Iasi. See )vur Authorized Apple Campus Reseller for details Offer void where prohibited by law QIW4 Apple Computer, Inc All n/ffts reserved Apple, the .Apple logo, laserVrtler. Mm.'mttib and StylevOier are rtytslmd trademarks nf Apple Computer, Inc PowerPC is a trademark of bilemahorial Husmess Machines Corporation. used under license therefrom Spence said Nelson should not let convicts free just because they kept out of trouble while in jail. Spence also blamed Nelson’s appointed parole board for putting criminals back on the street. “As governor, I will eliminate the pol itically-appointed parole board sys tem as it exists today,” Spence said. “As governor, I will accept responsi bility for making parole decisions.” Nelson came out against this idea, Spence said, saying the governor doesn’t have time to do that job him self. Spence said he would make time by living in the governor’s mansion instead of in Omaha. Each day, Spence said, he would save two hours of travel time and could devote that to his work. Bill would raise probation officers’ pay Original pretrial diversions bill lacked support in Legislature -44 We’re preventing crime instead of punishing. If there’s no crime, there’s no victim. — Lindsay state senator -11 “What happens is we spend more to train these officers who end up going to another state," he said. He said federal salaries started at 50 percent higher than those in Ne braska. “We could retain some good, expe rienced officers,” Lindsay said. “As time goes on, we will have more offic ers who will be able to get to know the offenders, know the families and know what kind of support services are nec essary. “We’re preventing crime instead of punishing,” he said. “If there’s no crime, there’s no victim.”