Home Sweet Home
According to Jerry McGinn,
director of the Department of
Building and Safety, landlords
must provide a safe, habitable
dwelling for their tenants and
meet the Lincoln housing code,
or they may face multiple fines.
Lincoln's housing code sets
requirements for floor area,
windows, lighting, ventilation,
bathrooms, kitchens, sewage
disposal and access to exits.
^ ^ Aaron Steckelberg/DN
Living quarters
Tenants have right to livable dwelling
By Chad Lorenz
Senior Reporter
Students living on their own for
the first time may settle for second
rate apartments or houses, but they
can expect basic comfort in the
place they call home.
By law, landlords must provide
a safe, habitable dwelling for their
tenants and meet the Lincoln hous
ing code or they may face multiple
fines, said Jerry McGinn, director
of the Department of Building and
Safety.
If tenants encounter a problem
with their property, the landlord is
responsible for making the repairs
or solving the problem, McGinn
said.
The tenant should call the de
partment to complain if the land
lord doesn’t act in a reasonable
amount of time.
An official from the department
will inspect the problem and set a
deadline for the landlord to repair
it, he said.
If the problem endangers the
tenant’s health or safety, such as no
heat in the winter or structural prob
lems, the official will order tenants
to vacate the building, he said. Dur
ing that time, the tenant is not re
sponsible for paying rent.
“Ninety-eight percent of the
time, we get compliance right away
from good owners,” McGinn said.
“If we can’t get an owner to work
with us, we’ll turn it over to the
law.”
Assistant City Attorney Rick Peo
said at that point, he would pros
ecute the owner for violating city
ordinance.
The fines range from $50 to $300
and can be imposed each day the
housing code is violated, he said.
In the case of death or injury, the
county attorney would take legal
action against the owner, Peo said.
Lancaster County Attorney Gary
Lacey is now handling a case in
which a 7-month-old girl died be
cause the owner failed to meet the
building code.
Sanjuana De Santiago died of
hypothermia in a house owned by
Richard Hedrick at 145 N. 18th St.
A water pipe in the above-men
tioned unheated apartment froze and
broke, dumping frigid water onto
the sleeping child.
The Department of Building and
Safety had restricted the buildingto
single-family occupancy, but
Hedrick had split the house into
two dwellings. The upstairs tenant
had been gone for two and a half
weeks.
“The tragedy just makes you
sick,” McGinn said.
McGinn said Hedrick, unlike
most owners in Lincoln, had been
difficult to work with. Buildingand
safety officials made 51 inspections
in three years at that address, he
said.
“He causes this office a lot of
grief,” McGinn said.
McGinn said his office kept a
close eye on Hedrick’s properties
because of previous complaints the
office had received.
After the initial occupancy per
mit is issued for a building, it may
not be inspected for years if tenants
don’t complain, he said.
The department of building and
safety must issue an occupancy per
mit before an owner can rent out a
building, McGinn said.
Six inspectors from the depart
ment will conduct a final inspection
on the building, he said. Each in
spector specializes in an area of
buildingsafetyrelectrical,mechani
cal, plumbing, construction, fire
prevention and housing, he said.
Lincoln’s housing code sets re
quirements in areas such as floor
area, windows, lighting, ventil ation,
bathrooms, kitchens, sewage dis
posal and access to direct exits.
National building codes are
changed based on nationwide di
sasters caused by a lack of regula
tions, McGinn said.
“It’ssadthat ittakesa tragedy to
bring a code up to date,” McGinn
said.
The most recent updates involve
fire prevention through separation
— the use of heavier materials be
tween rooms of a house to keep a
fire from spreading, McGinn said.
When a code is updated, only
new buildings have to meet it,
McGinn said. Old buildings that
met the code when they were built
do not violate the new code, he
said.
It’s through cooperation from
owners and communication with
tenants that building and safety of
ficials can best enforce Lincoln’s
housing code, McGinn said.
“It’s a constant battle to keep a
building safe.”
Senator fights for same-sex marriages
By Julie Sobczyk
Senior Reporter
Although a bill to allow same-sex
marriages in Hawaii was tabled in the
state’s legislature last week, Nebraska
Sen. Ernie Chambers won’t give up.
The Omaha senator is proposing
LB1260, which would amend
Nebraska’s marriage laws to allow
members of the same sex to legally
marry.
Same-sex marriages are not legal
in any state.
Nebraska, as well as other states,
need to allow same-sex marriages,
Chambers said, because it is a 21st
century issue.
“This is an issue related to civil
rights and civil liberties that can’t be
dodged by political bodies,” Cham
bers said. “They have an impact on so
many people.”
The bill would allow homosexuals
to receive benefits such as insurance
and pensions, just as heterosexual
spouses receive, he said.
“Ifthe same-sex marriage isn’t rec
ognized, those benefits won’t beavail
able to the same-sex partner,” he said.
The Judiciary Committee hear
ing date on the bill has not been set,
but Chambers said he hoped the
measure would advance to the gen
eral file.
“Year after year, I’ll be back,” he
said. “I will not be dissuaded because
of criticism or opposition.”
Ifthe bill passes, other states would
be required to recognize homosexual
marriage in Nebraska because of the
equal protection clause in the Consti
tution.
Chambers said other states might
try to get around recognizing
Nebraska’s same-sex marriages but
would have a hard time holding their
claim in federal court.
“A state would have better luck in
saying they will not recognize any
marriages from a state that allows
same-sex marriages,” he said.
At least two other states last week
considered legislation opposing same
sex marriage legislation.
On Wednesday, a South Dakota
House committee killed a bill that
would have banned same-sex mar
riages. Meanwhile, a California As
sembly committee approved a bill that
would ban recognition of same-sex
marriages from other states.
Chambers, howevers said he was
expecting challenges to the bill.
People who supported ultra-tradi
tional or religious values would show
the most opposition, he said.
“There will be some who find it
unbearable to consider the idea of a
same-sex marriage and feel it shouldn’t
be discussed at all,” he said.
Although Chambers said he had
received only one letter in opposition
to his bill, he was still short on support
for it.
Kristen Job, a senior English major
at the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln, said she supported Chambers
and the bill.
Job, vice president of UNL’s Gay /
Lesbian Student Association, said the
bill could have a strong impact on her
life.
She has been in a committed rela
tionship with a woman for about two
years, she said, but because of laws,
they can’t marry.
“This should not be a question about
special rights for gays,” Job said. “It
should be < , uestion about equal rights.
“A heterosexual couple has the
option to decide if they want to get
married, and homosexual couples
don’t,” she said. “It just shouldn’t be
that way.”
But Amy Rager, a sophomore in
general studies, said she opposed the
bill.
“I don’t believe same-sex marriages
should be approved or made legal,”
said Rager, who is chairwoman of
UNL’s College Republicans. “I be
lieve in the values of the Bible, and I
think it’s wrong according to God’s
standards.”
Workshop urges unity
By Joy Ludwig
Staff Reporter
Students should become more
aware of the power within themselves,
the keynote speaker at the Racial Mi
nority Leadership Conference said to
more than 90 students at the Nebraska
Union on Saturday.
“If you don’t believe in yourself,
then who will?” asked Joel Gajardo,
director of the Hispanic Community
Center.
John Harris, special assistant to the
vice chancellor for student affairs at
UNL and a workshop leader, said be
coming a leader involved having sel f
confidence, following a mentor, be
ing a mediator and having initiative
and communicative skills.
“Leadership is a process,” he said.
“There are many things you have to do
to get to this point.”
Workshop topics included:
• “Taking the first step” for fresh
men.
• “Keeping the fire alive” for up
perclassmen.
• Time management to avoid burn
out.
• “Developing a unity council” for
student ethnic government.
• “Involvement in other organiza
tions” for branching out
After the workshops, a large group
session was led by Dolores Simpson
Kirkland, administrative assistant for
the Department of Students for Lin
coln Public Schools.
. Five ethnic groups were formed to
discuss racial history and issues af
fecting that group. The groups then
came together to share their ideas.
“What’s most important to remem
ber is how we can all come together
and connect with somebody,”
Simpson-Kirkland said.
Reggie Barnes, a freshman psy
chology major, agreed with Simpson
Kirkland.
“It’s important for students to learn
about themselves and other cultures,”
he said. “The quicker we leam this, then
we can become a better community.”
'I HHMIlMII'IIMIIIIIIIIIMBIil—III!" l
Matthew Waite/DN
Robert Goodman, author of “The Luck Business,’’told senators
and media Friday afternoon that adding gambling to Nebraska
would create problems. Goodman’s book exami nestheeffects
of gambling across the United States.
Goodman
Continued from Page 1
economy like Iowa’s.
Nevada has seen major economic
benefits from gambling because of its
tourist base. Convenience-based gam
bling states have not seen the benefits.
Convenience gambling is geared
toward a specific area—within 35 to
50 miles of the casino, Goodman said.
He admitted that the casino did bring
in huge amounts of revenue, while
creating jobs in the casinos.
But, he said, it also shifts dollars
out oft he local economy—including
restaurants, bars, sporting events,
clothing stores and furniture stores.
Revenues, taxes and jobs are then
lost in the local economy, Goodman
said.
“This is a classic example of what
economists call a zero-sum game,” he
said.
A theoretical zero-sum game has
no losers, Goodman said.
“The difference is, people don’t
get addicted to buying hardware,” he
said.
There are demonstrated increases
in problem gamblers after gambling is
introduced, Goodman said.
If it were just counseling that gam
blers would need, the effects would be
insignificant, he said. Problem gam
blers, however, don’t just need coun
seling.
“The economic problem comes
from the way in which problem gam
biers behave,” Goodman said. “They
typically will borrow a lot of money,
and they will typically not pay off
their debts.”
Problem gamblers then don’t pay
bills, then taxes, and some then be
come involved in crime, Goodman
said.
The costs of problem gamblers —
from bankruptcy to processing them
in the criminal justice system—were
estimated by Goodman to be up to $73
million. Iowa encountered six times
that cost.
Nebraska, which is a smaller state,
would be looking at a minimum of $50
million in cost increases, Goodman
said.
With gambling across the Missouri
River in Iowa and across the border in
South Dakota, Nebraska will see an
increase in problem gamblers, he said.
But if Nebraska simply adds gam
bling to fight gambling, that will only
increase the number of problem gam
blers, Goodman said.
Nebraska should not put its
economy at risk by expanding gam
bling, Goodman said.
“You want to preserve what you
already have,” he said, “and you cer
tainly don’t want to put yourself in a
position where you are going to make
things worse than they are and then
have to backpedal a few years from
now, like other states are doing.”