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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1997)
is p o t t « ue THURSDAY Signing day The blues, brother • February 6,1997 Eric Crouch, a quarterback from Millard North, Matt “Guitar” Murphy is known for much more ■ headlines Nebraska’s 22-member football recruit- than his work in the backup band for the Blues JUST PLAIN GRAY ing class. PAGE 9 Brothers. FACE 11 Cloudy, light wind, later, low 20. ?- -- . w'% x. . VOL. 96 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 95 ----—__’V & fi Lane Hickenbottom/DN LOBBYIST PAUL O’HARA, left, talks with lobbyist Jim Cunningham in tho Capitol Rotunda last Thursday morning. O’Hara lobbios for O’Hara & Associates, while Cunningham lobbios for the Nebraska Catholic Conference. Voices that carry: Lobbyists say it all By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter ^ The voices that rise above the din of cohstant chatter at the State Capitol are the ones with money behind them. “Money is a megaplione,” said Walter Radcliffe, who has been a lobbyist since 1977. People know that lobbyists of ten have a say in which bills rise and which bills fall — and it’s not be cause they have well-developed vo cal chords. _ It’s because of their clients’ pocketbooks. Lobbyists are hired by clients — often hospitals, special-interest groups like the American Associa tion of Retired Persons, or corpo rations — to work full time repre senting their interests at the Capi tol. Besides the money transactions between clients (known as “princi pals”) and lobbyists, money flows from principals to legislators in the form of campaign contributions, according, sometimes, to who votes their way. “You try to elect your friends and unelect your enemies,” Radcliffe said. More than money The other side of the lobbyist’s coin is that they provide an invalu able service to legislators. Sen. Dwite Pederson of Elkhom said if he!s studying a bill’s effects Please see LOBBY on 7 Allant Increases rates to support upgrades By Josh Funk Staff Reporter Nobody ever said technology was cheap. Effective March 23, all residential Aliant Communications customers will experience a change in their rates to pay for improvements the company has made. Aliant will raise its basic rate from $12.50 to $13.75 per month, but at the same time it also will lower its long distance rates. All 175,404 of Aliant’s residential customers were notified of the rate change on Nov. 8, 1996. Lela Kelliher, Aliant Communica tions specialist, said callers who use their long-distance often may end up With a small net change in their bills. the^Rrst baSir ^vice rate increase in five years. The increase is tQ pay for the $ 128-million investment Aliant has made in improving its ser vices. Aliant has installed fiber-optic lines and digital switching centers to im prove its service. The fiber optics are installed in a ring to prevent a loss of service if the lines break. In the event of a break, the signal will just reverse direction in the ring and continue. “Customers should notice that then calls are going through faster with the Nebraska Pbeae Rates TUa MAIAnK * aI ^IaIaMAaI^A Sa AAA n A A«1 Kui IL «l ■ ■ *-1--I-MM ■ .M m ■■ !aa 'Basic Service does not include several additional charges that may be allotted by Sprint/United Aaron Steckelberg/ DN fiber optics,” Kelliher said. The digital switching system has allowed Aliant to offer several new ser vices to its customers such as caller identification and last-call return. Officials said the long-distance rates are being revised in response to the Telecommunications Act recently passed by Congress. “We are eliminating the subsidies in long-distance service to encourage competition and those savings are be ing passed on to the customer,” Kelliher said. Even with the impending increase in rates, Aliant Communications will compare favorably with other cities. In other areas of Nebraska such as Omaha, Grand Island, Alliance and Lexington, the basic rate for phone ser vice is $16.25 a month. Customers who think the rate change is unjustified can petition the Nebraska Public Service Commission to have the rate change reviewed be fore March 10. Two percent of Aliant Communi cations customers, or 3,509 people, must petition the commission to jus tify a hearing. “Legally, Aliant can raise its rates 10 percent a year,” said John Burvainis, deputy director of the public service commission. “If we receive enough petitions the commission will hold a hearing to re view the rate change. Then the com mission will set the rate.” Sigma Ghi could face sanctions From Staff Reports Sigma Chi could face sanctions from its international organization for the cross burning that took place dur ing a Jan. 23 pre-initiation ritual. Burning a cross is a direct violation * of national fraternity policy, according to Mark Anderson, president of the Sigma Chi Corporation in Evanston, Bl. “We are not racists, and we did not want to do things that would lead to the perception that we are racist,” Anderson said. The international organization's ban on cross burning was issued twice and is now a part of the Sigma Chi policy = manual; Anderson said. The local chap ter could face sanctions ranging from demanding a simple apology to with drawing the Sigma Chi charter, he said. When questioned Jan. 27 about the incident, Anderson said he thought the reported cross burning was a misun derstanding. The ritual likely involved only the fraternity’s symbol, the Norman Cross, he said. A Norman Cross has flared ends and is featured on the Sigma Chi fraternity crest. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Dep$3 ment officers said they discov^r^d ft We are responding, and we will carry out whatever punishment they deem as appropriate. ” Richard Rice Sigma Chi chapter adviser about 30 Sigma Chi fraternity members engaged in a historical ceremony out side Lincoln on Jan. 23. No arrests were made regarding the ritual, which included Confederate uni forms, rifles, sabers and the burning of a 6-foot cross, they said. Craig Vacek, Sigma Chi president “at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the burning cross was used to re enact the early heritage of Sigma Chi heraldry—when Emperor Constantine had a vision of a burning white cross before his successful invasion of Rome. Vacek said die ceremony was not racially motivated but a ritual to reen act the founding of Sigma Chi by sol diers during the civil war. The frater nity has since apologized for allowing the opportunity for misunderstanding. International Sigma Chi officials reported they have conducted an un official investigation and asked for the local chapter to respond to some ques tions about the incident. “We are responding, and we will carry out whatever punishment they deem as appropriate,” said Richard Rice, a Lincoln attorney who advises i the local chapter. UNL did not punish the fraternity because the incident did not violate any specific university policy. The university’s Interfratemity Councilalso did not sanction Sigma Chi. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http://www.unl.edu/DailyNeb
