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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1996)
Party members debate platform By Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter Samc-sex marriages, abortion, V chips and defense spending were among the platform topics discussed at the Lancaster County Republican Party’s platform hearing. About 20 people attended the hear ing where the county party’s platform committee listened to public opinion on the county and state Republican platforms. No action was taken on platform planks. Participants wanted the party to take a platform stand on same-sex marriages. Dan Howell, 31, said homosexual marriages hadn’t been discussed enough because people haven’t con sidered another possible outcome: homosexual divorces. “How do you divide property in a same-sex marriage? How do you de cide child custody in a same-sex mar riage?” Howell said. “There seems to be societal issues that someone needs to address.” Patricia Smith, a former commit tee member for the National Republi can party, said the party should neu tralize or remove its stand on abortion because it had divided the party. “We, as a party, are taking a sui cidal approach to this whole question,” Smith said. The party had lost support from Republicans who were pro-choice advocates, she said, and changing the platform would bring them back. Dick Buntgen, 38, said the party was right to hold its position. “I think the party should stand on its principles and pro-life is a prin ciple.” Kip Murphy, who was a former Cuming county party chairman, said Republicans believed government had a right to decide on the issue. Betty Anderson said she thought the platform plank ran contrary to the Republican belief that government shouldn’t meddle in people’s lives or mix religious beliefs with state mat ters. “The government was always and will always be involved in people’s lives,” Murphy said. “Government cannot get out of all personal issues.” Program gives money for cameras to police By Kasey Kerber Staff Reporter A foundation in memory of slain Omaha police officer Jimmy Wil son Jr. has put Nebraska law en forcement vehicles 100 video cam eras closer to a goal of one camera for each vehicle, Gov. Ben Nelson said. In memory of his son, James C. Wilson Sr. is heading the founda tion, which soon will make a $450,000 donation to the City of Omaha to purchase 100 video cam eras for law enforcement vehicles. “We’re well on our way toward our goal,” Wilson said. “One day we hope it will be the entire state.” With the donation, officials es timate that 300 cameras soon will be in use in Nebraska. The ultimate goal of the program is to have ev ery call-for-scrvice law enforce ment vehicle in Nebraska equipped with a video camera. The foundation has not yet de termined how many cameras will be needed. “It would make Nebraska the first state to have a video camera in every vehicle,” Nelson said Mon day at his weekly teleconference. The program is a joint effort of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety and the James B. Wilson Jr. Foundation. Nelson said the video cameras would improve police reporting ac curacy, deter criminals from com mitting violence against police of ficers and encourage officers to fol low procedures more closely. He said the program also would honor Jimmy Wilson Jr., who was shot in his police cruiser. “This program will honor the memory of your son,” Nelson said to Wilson, “and of every fallen of ficer.” Weather delays station’s debut until April 1 From Staff Reports Complications with the broadcast ing tower and the arrival of new stu dio equipment prevented KLKN, Lincoln’s soon-to-be newest television station, from going on the air Mon day as planned. Randal Stanley, KLKN news direc tor, said the station’s debut had been delayed until April 1, in part because rain, snow and cold weather had slowed work on the station’s tower. Also, the station received new stu dio equipment last week, so anchors and crew had to make some adjust ments. The extra week will give the news team time to fine-tune its news cast, Stanley said. In the meantime, viewers soon will be able to watch a 25-minute continu ous presentation on channel 8 that in troduces them to the news team and the station, Stanley said. Richard Bates, operations director for CableVision, said the preview would begin airing sometime this week. Sick Continued from Page 1 fungi in the ventilation system somewhere that’s giving a person problems,” he said. “It’s just a mat ter of finding uniform factors that point to a particular problem.” Phillips said about 15 percent to 20 percent of the United States’ population had either allergies or asthma, and those conditions could worsen depending on the climate in which a person works. “Nebraska is notorious for be ing a very dry state,” he said. “When you have that dust and pollen fly ing around, that 15 or 20 percent is a lot more evident. “Whether or not sick-building syndrome is a factor is debatable.” A good example of sick-build ing syndrome, a term for illness caused by repeated exposure to pol lutants in the workplace, is carbon monoxide poisoning, he said. Vic tims can suffer from dizziness, nau sea or even death. Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards say fewer than 50 parts of carbon monoxide per million parts of regular air is safe for a work environment. Phillips said that guideline had been easily met by UNL. “One of the good things about most of the buildings on campus is that they heat air with hot water or steam,” he said. “That cuts down on a lot of the potential problems we could have with carbon monoxide.” Phillips said any complaints con cerning air quality in campus build ings were dealt with immediately. Sometimes it is difficult to iso late a single factor responsible for an illness, he said. The agent can range from something as insignifi cant as dust mites to much larger problems, such as multiple chemi cal sensitivity (MCS). According to Nebline, MCS vic tims react to mixtures of several dif ferent chemicals in their work en vironments. This contact often comes in long-term, low-dose ex posures to toxic compounds, mak ing it difficult for even the victims “A lot of times there’s a mold or fungi in the ventilation system somewhere that’s giving a person problems. It’s just a matter of finding uniform factors that point to a particular problem. ” RON PHILLIPS environmental health specialist to realize what is making them sick. Victims often suffer from nau sea, rashes, diarrhea, respiratory problems and frequent incidences of common allergic reactions. Phillips said there had been rela tively few instances of environmen tal illnesses at UNL, considering the number of people at risk every day in places such as laboratories and office settings. Even in the residence halls, where hundreds of students are crowded together in close quarters, he said, it is doubtful that the risk of infectious or environmental ill nesses is higher than it would be anywhere else. “Students are going to come in contact with other students,” he said, “but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a better chance of getting a disease. In that situation, it all depends on the hygiene and susceptibility of the people in volved.” Phillips said he didn’t like to blame too many work-related ill nesses on environmental or chemi cal factors, simply because so little was known about the true nature of such afflictions. “There’s a risk involved for ev ery person working at an institu tion,” he said, “and things like MCS are really recent. There’s still a lot to learn about the ramifications and diagnosis of it.” I Perform*' 6214 8MB/1GB, CD, 15" monitor Its multimedia capabilities will show you why the Mac'is one of the most advanced computers. And k with built-in CD-ROM drive, key I board, mouse and all the software Me you’ll need, it makes it easier to bring your work to life. I Power Mac' 7200/90 8/500MB, CD, 15" monitor Makes it easy to bring the vast newworld of the Internet to your desk. And with the Apple* Internet | Connection Kit and a modem, I you'll be surfing on the Net faster (■k than you can say “information superhighway." Ef SI •... Style Writer 1200 With its compact size, it fits (almost anywhere. Making it easy to move wherever you want to go. And with its outstand ing printing quality, it makes your work look amazing. Look, if you think a talking stuffed moose is pretty amazing, listen to this. I was hanging out with some of the boys the other evening. One of them just bought a new Macintosh: Evidently, Apple Is offering incredibly low campus prices on Macintosh computers right now. So he pops in this CD-ROM. Man, you wouldn’t believe what this thing could do. No wonder the Mac~ is one of the most advanced multimedia computers. We’re talking sight, sound, full-motion A video—the works. Gee, wish I could move like that. For more information visit us on the Internet at http://bed.info.apple.com/ Now’s a great time to pack a Mac: The Information Services Computer Shop* * 501 Building - 501N. 10th Street, University of Nebraska, 472-5787, Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5p.m, TUesday until 6 p.m. Students, faculty and staff status must meet Information Services Computer Shop educational purchase qualifications. University ID required to order and purchase. htqjy/compshop.unl.edu/pub/compshopiitm No payment ofprincipal or interest will be required for 90 days on the deferred Apple Computer Loan offer. Interest accrum during this 90-dav period will be added to the principal and mil hear interest which trill he included in the repayment yy monthly payment quoted above is an estimate a total loan amount of $1,45957 wbidt includes a sample purchase price of $1372for the Performa 6214 system shown abort. The total loan amount also includes a 6.0% loan origination fie. Interest is variable based on the Commercial Paper Rate plus a spread of635%. Forexanwle, Ore month of January 1996 badan interest rate of 12.19% with an annual percentage rate (APR) of1397\ Monthly payment for the total loan amount described above would be $2508. Monthly payment and APR shown assumes no deferment of principal and does not include state or local sales tax. Monthly tnmrnfi may nary depending on actual computer system prices, total loan amounts, state and local sales taxes, and a change in Ore monthly variable interest rede. Prequalification expedites the loan process, but does not guarantee final loan approval. StAsernwriacoeptahUverficatim documents must be received before your loan is approved. Offirs shown above apere May15,1996. See your campus stare for details about toe Apple Computer Loan. ®1996Apple Computer, Inc All rights reserved. Apple, toe Apple logo, LaserWriter, Maantosb, Performa, PowtrBook and StyUWriter art registered trademark ot Appk Computer, be. Mac and Power Mac are trademark (fdppU Computer, Ik. PowerPC is a trademark# International Business Machines Corporation, used under licenxtber4hm.AR Modulo* conpuim an designed to be accestibk to inditiiduaU with disabm. lb learn more orTTY800-755-0601._. _._