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F. I v c t i « n
^(NEWS
ASUN
Elections
Complete
student
government
election
coverage.
Page 3
Thursday
45/20
Today, partly sunny.
Vol. 93 No. 121
The ‘eyes’ have it: It’s VISION
ASUN election
turnout lowest
in three years
By Heather Lampe
Staff Reporter
oter turnout for the ASUN elections
this year was the second lowest in 10
years, said Mark Byars, chairman of
the Electoral Commission Wednesday night.
Out of22,629 students eligible to vote, only
2,611 students, or 11.5 percent, voted.
The VISION presidential and first vice pres
idential candidates won with 1,498 votes, 57.37
percent of the total votes and 6.6 percent of the
total student population.
The RESUME presidential and first vice
presidential candidates received 228 votes or
8.73 percent of the total votes and 1 percent of
all students.
The LETTUCE presidential and first vice
presidential candidates received 291 votes or 11
percent of the total votes and 1.3 percent of total
students.
The electoral commission onlycounlcd votes
for LETTUCE in which the names of the can
didates were correctly fillcd-in. Others were not
counted, Byars said.
Judy Rishcl, second vice presidential candi
date for VISION, won 1,591 votes, 60.9 percent
of the total vote.
Joey Whitney, second vice presidential can
didate for RESUME, received 330 votes, or
12.64 percent of the total vote.
The remaining amount of votes for presiden
tial candidates were write-in votes and un
marked ballots, but because of an electoral
commission ruling, Byars said the numbers
could not be released.
“We can tell you the number of votes for
LETTUCE because J.B. Howell and Andrew
Loudon and the Electoral Commission wanted
them to proclaim eligibility for office before
they debated,” Byars said.
Byars said the Electoral Commission would
not release vote counts on ineligible write-ins
such as David Lctterman, because they were
following the precedent ofprevious campaigns.
Other unofficial election results include:
• A $23 per student facility fee for Nebraska
Unions and University Health Center — 1.959
yes; 496 no.
• A $75.13 per student fee for operation of
the Health Center— 1,546 yes; 912 no.
• A $34.08 per student fee for support of the
Nebraska Unions— 1,671 yes; 770 no.
• A $33.98 per student fee for support of
Campus Recreation Programs — 1,973 yes;
485 no.
• A 88 cents per student allocation of student
fees to support the Daily Nebraskan — 1,591
yes; 841 no.
• A $1.01 per student allocation of student
fees to support the University Program Council
campus speakers programs — 1,487 yes; 937
no.
Jon Waller/DN
VISION presidential candidate Andrew Loudon, right, and Anne Stockfleth celebrate after receiving the news
that they had won Wednesday’s ASUN election.
Loudon’s ticket
nearly performs
election sweep
By Brian Sharp
Staff Reporter
ndrcw Loudon said becoming ASUN
president with nearly 60 percent of the
student vote did not come as a surprise
to him.
But with the win, Loudon said, came an
increased responsibility.
“I feel very confident that 1 can do a good job
(as president),” he said. “But at the same time
I feel a lot of responsibility.
“This isn’t something I’m going to get and
then forget all the promises that have been made
over the past two or three months.”
Of the 2,611 students who voted in Wednes
day’s ASUN elections, 1,498—or 57.4 percent
— voted for the VISION ticket of Loudon and
Britt Ehlers, first vice president-elect.
Loudon said the percentage sent a clear
message students believed in the principles
outlined in VISION’s platform.
Loudon said keeping student fee increases to
a minimum, reforming the reviewing system of
tenure for professors and reinstating the Aca
demic Success Center were all on his agenda for
the coming year.
VISION second vice president-elect Judy
Rishcl received 1,591 votes, or 60.9 percent and
7 percent of the total student population. VI
SION nabbed 77 of the 78 positions on their
ticket. Their only loss was in the College of
Architecture.
Having an almost all-VISION student sen
ate will allow policy-making tobeeasier, Loudon
said. The party has worked well together, he
said, which should transfer to a productive and
effective working student government.
That effectiveness had been questioned by
other parties throughout the campaign.
“The fcelingsofcynicism toward the student
government ... that’s something I’d like to
change,” Loudon said.
“I’m not blind,” he said. “Thirty-two percent
of the student body (voting write-in)... suggests
to me that there is considerable doubt in student
government.
“I think we combat that by providing leader
ship through our actions.”
In the past week, accusations of behavior
See VISION on 6
Helvie: Barney confessed for deal
By Angie Brunkow
and Matthew Waite
Senior Reporters_
Scott Barney wouldn’t have
revealed information
about Candice Harms’
murder without a plea agreement,
defense attorneys said Wednesday
at Roger Bjorklund’s sentencing
hearing.
“He wasn’t going to give up the
location of the body unless he got a
deal,” Chief Deputy Public Defend
er Scott Hclvic said as he cross
examined prosecution witness Lin
coln Police Sgt. Greg Sorensen.
Sorensen said Barney agreed to
reveal who killed Harms and where
her body and the murder weapons
were located. In exchange, county
attorneys agreed not to file murder
charges against him, Sorensen said.
“He wanted a deal,” Sorensen
said.
At the time Barney provided
authorities with information, po
lice had no leads in the ease,
Sorensen said.
Before Barney’s confession, the
location of the body and weapons
and the identity of Harms’ assail
ants were unknown, Sorensen said.
“I don’t know anybody, period,
who knew ... anything about the
death of Candice Harms,” he said.
“Nobody had any idea.”
Hclvic said that put Barney in a
good position.
“Mr. Barney kind of had you
over the barrel... and he was using
his position he had you in to get
something for himself,” Hclvic said.
The same day Barney’s attorney
came to authorities with informa
tion about the murder, Hclvic said.
Bjorklund requested a meeting.
Sorensen said he didn’t have time
to meet with Bjorklund that day.
Bjorklund, who was in jail for
robbery charges, had been cooper
ating with authorities about the rob
beries, Sorensen said.
Helvie said Bjorklund might
have revealed information about
other crimes that day.
“He might very well have talked
to you about the Harms case,” he
said.
Under questioning from Deputy
County Attorney John Colborn,
Sorensen said Bjorklund told him
that if Barney had not come for
ward, he would never have been
arrested.
Helvie objected to the line of
questioning but was overruled by
Lancaster County District Judge
Donald Endacott.
Helvie asked Sorensen if he
See BJORKLUND on 6
Engineering college debate
gets personal with article
By Jeffrey Robb
Senior Editor
he debate on adding an engi
neering college to UNO got
personal with the publication
of an article written by Omaha busi
nessman David Sokol.
In the spring 1994 issue of the
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Alumni Newsletter, Sokol compared
a memo released under the direction
of Stan Liberty, dean of the University
of Ncbraska-Lincoln College of Engi
neering and Technology, to one that
would be released in a communist
society.
Sokol, who was unavailable for
comment Wednesday, wrote that the
memo stifled faculty expression on
the engineering debate.
According to the article, the memo
stated: “Obviously, giving an impres
sion in those situations that a code of
silence has been imposed upon per
sonal faculty expressions would have
negative connotations. If you foresee
that such instances might occur, 1
suggest that you discuss beforehand
with Dean Liberty directly what prop
er limits of discussion about the plan
ning process should be.”
Liberty wouldn’t comment on
Sokol’s statement.
“I don’t think it’s constructive to
respond to personal attacks on me. It
doesn’t serve the institution well, nor
the citizenry,” he said.
Liberty said he wasn’t concerned
about defamation of character, and he
wasn’t considering a libel lawsuit. As
one involved in controversy, he said,
he should expect to be hit with polit
ical rhetoric.
See SOKOL on 6
