insideVIJ
Wednesday
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Sports
Surles may redshirt next
season, page 8
Arts & Entertainment
Duran Duran says “Thank
You,” page 11
_April X 1995_
UNL gets millions in two minutes
By John Fulwider
Staff Reporter
State legislators Tuesday morn
ing spent more than an hour discuss
ing Nebraska’s relationship with Tai
wan and two min
utes discussing
nearly $4.5 mil
lion in UNL con
struction and
renovation funds.
The Taiwan
measure, intro
duced by Sen.
LEGISLATURE Roger Wehrbein
of Plattsmouth, was an attempt to
urge Congress to recognize the Re
public of China on Taiwan for United
Nations membership. It was pulled
from debate and referred to a com
mittee for public hearing.
A resolution introduced by Sen.
Wehrbein, which approved the ex
penditure of $4,488,400 for the fol
lowing University of Nebraska-Lin
coln construction and renovation
projects, passed with no debate:
• $2.2 million to pave 16 parking
lots on City and East campuses. Tad
McDowell, parking services manager,
said the area-1-2-20 lot west of the
George W. Beadle Center, the area
10 lot south of the Westbrook Music
Building and the area-20 lot north
west of the utility plant on Avery
Street would all be paved.
• $530,000 to install air condi
tioning and upgrade the heating sys
tem in Neihardt Residence Hall.
• $ 1.8 million to acquire and reno
vate an apartment complex at 2222
Vine St. and 2224 Vine St. for use as
family housing.
• $430,000 to acquire the Beta
Sigma Psi fraternity house for use as
university housing.
In the afternoon session, legisla
tors discussed a bill introduced by
Sen. George Coordsen of Hebron.
The bill would change several provi
sions relating to motor vehicles.
Much debate focused on an amend
ment to that bill. The amendment,
introduced by Sen. Don Preister of
Omaha, would have prohibited in
surance companies from practicing
territorial rating — using the place a
person lives to determine his or her
car insurance rates. The prohibition
would have applied only to state
mandated coverage for minimum li
ability.
Nebraska requires all automobile
drivers to have liability insurance
before being issued a license.
Sen. Ron Withem of Papillion,
who was presiding over the Legisla
ture, ruled the amendment not suffi
ciently relevant to the bill.
See LEGISLATURE on 7
. (
State legislators Tuesday
approved $4.5 million for UNL
construction and renovation
funds.
■ $2.2 million will go to pave
16 parking lots.
■ $530,000 is for installing air
conditioning and upgrading
the heating system in
Neihardt Residence Hall.
■ $1.8 million will go to
acquire and renovate an
apartment complex for use as
family housing.
■ $430,000 was approved to
acquire the Beta Sigma Psi
fraternity house for use as
university housing.
DN graphic
GerikParmeie/DN
Inspector Calvin Wells, right, looks for voters through the windows of the Bob Devaney Sports Center during Tuesday’s
primary election while Bernice Goemann, an election board judge, writes a letter. Wells said about 90 percent of the
voters in precinct 3D were students. By 2 p.m., two non-students had come to vote.
Uncontested races produce few voters
Ri# fihric Monartu_
J —--gJ
Staff Reporter -
Voter turnout for Lincoln’s largely uncon
tested primary election Tuesday was lower
than expected, with only 12.78 percent report
ing to the polls. Election Commissioner
Patty Hansen said the low turnout was disap
pointing.
“I was hoping for 15 percent,” she said.
“We’d always like to have a really high num
ber like 80 or 90 percent, but at least its not a
record low.”
Voter turnout hit a record low in the 1993
primary election, with only 9.8 percent of
registered Lincoln voters going to the polls.
The race for mayor and all four city council
seats went uncontested. “Having the
mayor’s race uncontested really hurts our turn
out,” Hansen said. “The city council has the
next most visible offices, and unfortunately,
they, too, were uncontested.”
Mayor Mike Johanns received almost 97
percent of the vote. Coleen Seng advanced in
the race for the first- district city council seat,
and Linda Wilson advanced in the race for the
second-district seat.
Dale Young and Jack Schnebel Jr. both
advanced in the race for the third-district city
council seat. Curt Donaldson will advance in
the race for the fourth-district seat.
Contests pitting more than two candidates
against each other included Airport Authority
and the fifth and sixth district Board of Educa
tion seats.
UNL turnout low at primaries
By J. Christopher Hain
Senior Reporter : ~
After 12 hours of polling, only nine
voters found their way to one election poll,
tucked in the southwest comer of Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
Three members of the Lancaster County
Election Board staked their ground at 7 a.m.
Tuesday for Lincoln’s primary election.
They set up a table, chairs and four election
booths for precinct 3D, which includes 1,838
registered voters. UNL City Campus stu
dents make up the largest portion of regis
tered voters in 3D.
Shortly after the polls opened at 8 a.m.,
the first voter arrived and optimism soared.
Calvin Wells, election board inspector,
expected as many as 30 people to vote at the
Devaney Center poll. But that was not the
case.
All three workers — Wells, Bernice
Goemann and Mark Gross — have worked
previous elections, and they knew that a
city primary usually received a low turnout.
Gross, 24, a University of Nebraska
Lincoln graduate student in economics, said
he had worked presidential elections when
students waited in line for as long as 1 1/2
hours to vote.
But Gross also has worked a city primary
at precinct 3D. He said no students voted at
the Devaney center in the 1993 primary.
Only 9 voters actually cast ballots in
1993 out of 1,887 registered voters in the
precinct, said Patty Hansen, Lancaster
See STUDENTS on 6
Shirley S. Doan and Robert A. Grundman
advanced in the race for the fifth district board
of education seat and Sally G. Wysong and
Richard B. Bouma Jr. advanced in the sixth
district race.
John L. Hoppe Jr. and Edward P. Raines
won six-year seats on the airport authority
board. Phyllis Chambers and Connie Dawson
each won four-year seats on the board, beating
current board member Fredrick A. Eiche, who
has been on the board for more than 30 years.
“I think after 30 years anyone would be
disappointed, but I’m not feeling bad. I’ll take
it the way it comes,” Eiche said. The air
port authority is a five-member board that
manages Lincoln Municipal Airport. Robert
Miewald, a political science professor at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the low
See TURNOUT on 7
Rising prices
can’t stop most
football fans
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Although season football ticket prices have
increased by $14.50 compared to last season,
an additional game and lingering national
championship fever will attract more sales for
the 1995 season, a UNL official said.
In 1993, season tickets for seven games
were $56. In 1994, they jumped to $73 for six
games. This year, students will pay $87.50 for
the Comhuskers’ seven home games.
Gary Fouraker, assistant athletic director
for business affairs at the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln, said the schedule wavered
between six and seven home games about
every two years.
Student purchases have remained about the
same for the past three years, Fouraker said,
and he expects the national championship to
draw even more students this year.
“As inflation continues year to year, you’re
going to have increases,” he said. “That comes
with the territory.”
Current funds and national-championship
revenue could not absorb the additional $ 14.50,
he said, because the athletic program needed
the money for waterproofing the stadium and
expanding its women ’ s restrooms—two mul ti -
million dollar projects.
x xic uiajuxiiy ox ine aimcue program s runus
come from ticket purchases and television
revenue, he said. And unless the state finances
the program through taxes, students can expect
ticket prices to gradually increase.
Even if student tickets increased to $200,
one student said he would buy them — but he
would not be happy.
Ryan Kaiser, a sophomore elementary edu
cation major, said he was a devoted fan but was
dissatisfied with the price and the 1995 sched
ule.
“We’re not playing many good home games
this year,” he said. “The best game we have is
Oklahoma.”
Higher ticket prices could drive students
away, he said, and he didn’t expect the national
championship to increase sales.
But Mike DiGiacomo, a senior criminal
justice major, disagreed.
“Everybody wants to see the national-cham
pionship team play and defend their title again,”
lie said. “When a team does good, a lot more
people are going to be fans — they’re band
wagon fans.”
Students don’t have a choice when it comes
to ticket prices, he said, but the increase was
fair. ‘
“You have to support the program some
how, especially a national-championship pro
gram,” he said.
DiGiacomo said he was just happy he could
pay the half-price student rate and not the full
rate of $175.
