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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1995)
COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 94 NO. 85 ■ - : 1 ' __' - i i - . ' ■. . v: jon waiier/un Sen. Dwite Pederson of Elkhorn and Sen. Paul Hartnett of Bellevue joke with each other during Wednesday’s session at the Legislature. Lawmakers introduce 131 bills By J. Christopher Hain Senior Reporter '' • - .. *■ - *• -••• State lawmakers flooded the floor with proposals when the Legislature convened Wednesday morning. Senators introduced 131 bills, the most bills introduced on any single day this session. Today is the last day for sena tors to introduce bills. One senator contribut ing to the rush was Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln. LEGISLATURE Several of his proposals dealt with the political process. One Legislative resolution (LR37CA) would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing the Legislature to meet in a special session after an initiative or referendum was placed on an election bal lot. The Legislature would then propose an alternative and voters could choose from the two at election time. With developments, such as paid peti tion circulators, Beutler said it was impor tant for elected legislators to offer an alter native to propositions that may appear to be good at first but might not be in the long run. Another constitutional amendment (LR3 6CA) proposed by Beutler would allow the Legislature to submit to voters any statu tory change it wanted. Currently, legislators can only submit a constitutional amend ment to voters. Grade school and high school children might not like another bill proposed by Senators introduced 131 bills in the Legislature Wednesday morning, the most bills introduced on any single day this session. Today is the last day for senators to introduce bills. Among the bills introduced: ■ A Legislative resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing the Legislature to meet in a special session after an initiative or referendum was placed on an election ballot. ■ A constitutional amendment would allow the Legislature to submit to voters any statutory change it wanted. Legislators can only submit a constitutional amendment to voters. ■ LB618. It would create minimum homework standards for students in first grade through high school. 9 LB650. Morrill Halt on the UNL campus would receive additional funding to fill empty exhibit space. ?, ■ LB620. For an additional $50 Nebraskans could receive plates with "Nebraska Comhuskers" printed on them. I Beutler. LB618 would create minimum homework standards for students in first grade through high school. Beutler said the bill was spurred by what he felt was the deterioration of the role of homework in school systems. “When you’re talking about ways of im proving the school system without costing money, this is one of the few ways left,” Beutler said. Morrill Hall on the UNL campus would receive additional funding under a bill (LB650) proposed by Sen. Don Wesely of ,I Lincoln. The money would be used to fill empty exhibit space, Wesely said. Having a great natural history collection but not filling it, Wesely said, was like building a house but not putting furniture in it. Husker fans could show their spirit on their license plates under a bill (LB620) sponsored by Sen. Kermit Brashear of Omaha. For an additional $50 Nebraskans could receive plates with “Nebraska Comhuskers” printed on them. UNL student experiences Japan quake By Brian Sharp Senior Reporter When it started, Greg Simon thought he was dreaming. The clock in his bedroom read 5:40 a.m. The room around him was shaking, and he had just come out of a deep sleep. But the tremors lasted only about 20 seconds. So Simon rolled over and closed his eyes. Simon lives in Nagoya, Japan, about 200 kilometers from Kobe. What he awoke to Tues day morning was the worst earthquake to hit Japan in more than 20 years. And where he awoke was a long way from home. Simon, a senior accounting student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been study ing abroad for 1 1/2 years at Nanzan Univer sity. In an interview with the Daily Nebraskan on Wednesday, Simon described the incident and the aftershocks. He said he realized there had been an earth quake, but it didn’t seem major, so he went back to sleep. The alarm clock woke Simon about two hours later. By then, news reports were just starting to get through, he said. There were pictures, he said, and Kobe was on fire. As Simon prepared to go to class, he said he heard on the news that six people were dead When he returned that evening, the death toll had mounted to 1,000. The next morning, it had risen to more than 1,600. While Simon spoke from Japan to the Daily Nebraskan, a news report there said more than 3,000 people had perished. Coming from Nebraska, earthquakes were just as foreign to him as the Japanese culture, he said. He had heard earthquakes were com mon in Japan, but he had never experienced one. He had developed a sense of security, he said — one that he doesn’t have any more. Simon said he was watching the news just before going to bed Wednesday night, and there were reports that aftershocks were ex pected in his area. Those thoughts, mixed with the pictures on television, made for a restless night, he said. Meanwhile, Linda Simon tried for 15 hours to reach her son, but she couldn’t get through. “Usually when I call him he has his answer ing machine on,” she said. “This time, there wasn’t any machine on at all.” At 7 a.m. CST Wednesday Greg Simon picked up the phone. Mrs. Simon said her son had been trying to reach her as well, but had similar problems getting through. Those problems were only doubled for people trying to get into the devastated areas of Kobe and Osaka, Greg Simon said. Phone lines were still down, he said, and the roads were destroyed. All he and others could do was watch and listen to news reports. Simon said he would stay in Nagoya until July or August to finish his last semester. Then he’s coming home. Planned Parenthood fears violence, tightens security Addition of new site may bring more opposition By Wendy Thomas Staff Reporter Fear generated by recent violence toward abortion clinics has driven Planned Parenthood of Lincoln to tighten security. Chris Funk, executive director of Planned Parenthood, said the Decem ber murders of two receptionists at East Coast abortion clinics had in stilled fear in local clinic workers. Talking about the violence is help ful, Funk said, but the grieving pro cess is not over. “There’s tremendous sadness and anger among our staff,” she said. “I mean, it really felt like the earth moved when those women were murdered.” But staff members refuse to be jolted into leavingtheir jobs at Planned Parenthood, Funk said. “We’ve all made conscious deci sions about working here,” she said, “and about what side of the line we’re going to stand on.” Instead of being scared away, Funk said Planned Parenthood would take a close look at security measures. In addition to upgrading its security system, the management team is mak ing plans to improve security at Planned Parenthood’s second site. The second site is planned to open this spring or summer at 3705 South St. and will offer first-trimester abor tions and prenatal care. Some pro-life supporters have voiced their opposition to the new clinic. Dominic Pynes, who lives close to the site, said the new clinic might invite violence to Lincoln. Pynes, one of the first to sign a petition protesting the clinic, said 99 percent of pro-life supporters were nonviolent, but the other 1 percent could be drawn to Lincoln if the clinic opened. * Funk said she hoped that would not happen. “Our view is that we will take reasonable and prudent precautions to create a site as secure as we can,” Funk said. However, some Lincoln residents still say they feel insecure. Kay Siebler, president of the Pro Choice Coalition of Nebraska, said fear of violence would keep people awayfromtoday’sFreedomofChoice J Rally, which is sponsored by the coa lition. “When we were calling people to attend the rally, one woman said, ‘I have a young daughter, and I want her to grow up with a mother, ’ ” Siebler said. The rally, originally intended as a celebration of Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court decision that granted women the right to have an abortion —will now be a more somber event, Siebler said. The rally will be at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Women’s Club, 407 S. 14th St., and will include speakers and music. '