J . S F8IIS I I • AM
Streak snapper Falco it ain’t January 15,1997
The 20th-ranked Nebraska women’s basketball Revenge, jealousy and powdered wigs a-plenty
team broke a two-game losing streak with an 88- will populate the Lincoln Community Playhouse «. .
74 win over Texas A&M Wednesday. PAGE 10 Friday when “Amadeus” premieres. PAGE 13 ^ dy high 31 j? ‘"nnMi^it,! 25
NO. 80
Over the rainbow
to rule changes
By Todd Anderson
Assignment Reporter
Lengthy debate continued in the Legislature
Wednesday as senators worked through various
rule changes proposed by the rules committee
last week.
The proposal that has received the most
attention would limit the number of times a sen
ator can propose an amendment and require that
each amendment be sponsored by three sena
tors.
By using a legal tactic called the filibuster,
one senator can stall legislative proceedings for
hours and prevent a final vote.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said he
feels the proposed rules changes are specifical
ly directed toward him.
j -^-^.“Jhey feelifee^: have to stop me because
they’re scared of me,5’ he said “But they 3bn’t
^ realize that I have than just where I want them.”
Lincoln Sen. Chris Beutler said the fili
buster is a tool that should be used rarely.
Instead, he said, it’s not only used often, but mis
used as well.
“We’re trying to work in terms of any fili
buster and to establish the right kind of bal
ance,” Beutler said.
He and supporters have said, in extreme
cases, use of die filibuster might threaten to
shut down the Unicameral.
“If one senator uses the filibuster to its
fullest extent, we could be reduced to passing
rady 30 bills,” Beutler said. “If we do nothing, a
combination of people will rise and bring the
entire Legislature down.”
Chambers said supporters of the rule
change were trying to quiet him, the only
African-American senator in the Legislature.
And by being singled out by those present
ing the rules changes, he said, his relationship
with certain senators has been damaged, which
Please see RULES on 6
Senator takes
on pressures
of succession
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
Sen. Ronald Raikes is well aware
Frank Solich isn’t the only Nebraskan
with a tough act to follow in 1998.
After longtime Sen. Jerome Warner
of Waverly died last April, Gov. Ben
Nelson appointed Raikes to fill the 25th
District seat. Raikes thus took on the
task of succeeding the state’s most dis
tinguished legislator.
Legislators and state officials
remembered Warner last spring as the
ideal citizen legislator as envisioned by
the Unicameral’s founders.
Bold, diligent and fair-minded,
Warner emerged as an indispensable
resource and creative problem-solver in
such issues as taxes, education and road
construction during his 35 years in
office.
“I expect to be able to succeed, but
not replace, Sen. Warner,” Raikes said.
Raikes, a former member of the
Nebraska Economic Forecasting
Advisory Board and former associate
professor of economics at Iowa State
University, said he is interested primari
ly in issues of taxes, spending and eco
Please see RAIKES on 6
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
IAN ROBERTSON, a Lincoln High School senior taking Astronomy 103 at UNL; peers oot of
the opening of the UNL Student Observatory. Chancellor James Moeser was also on hand
Tuesday night for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting which officially dedicated the observato
ry located atop the new parking garage west of Memorial Stadium.
Chapter member!
By Josh Funk
Senior Reporter
Kappa Sigma Fraternity members
knew they had problems, but had big
plans to prove themselves this semester.
Now, they won’t have die chance.
The fraternity, closed by its national
organization and local alumni board this
semester for failing to meet disciplinary
guidelines, restructured its house in
December to make the necessary
reforms this spring, Kappa Sigma
President Adam Miller said.
Now, as fraternity members strug
gle to regroup, their charter may be
revoked.
At the beginning of this school year,
current Kappa Sigma members and alum
ni signed a strict housing contract with
behavior guidelines and expectations.
But neither side lived up to the bar
gain, Miller said.
“We had our problems, but the
alumni did not live up to their promises
either,” Miller said.
This lack of cooperation coupled
with unclear discipline guidelines con
tributed to the fraternity closing, he said.
“Some of their directives were too
vague to follow” Miller said.
Alumni expectations woe too high
to follow, former Kappa Sigma
President Kevin Reiner said.
“They didn’t see everything we
accomplished this semester,” Reiner
said.
Fraternity members were expected
to consult with alumni before proceed
ing with any problem, Miller said.
But alumni did not always follow
through on the problems, Miller said
“Sometimes after the alumni said
they would take care of something,
nothing happened,” Miller said
A live-in alumni adviser from
another Kappa Sigma chapter reported
back to the alumni board on the fraterni
ty members’ behavior.
“We were being treated like juvenile
delinquents,” Reiner said
The Kappa Sigma house was
preparing to appeal its university proba
tion and move on.
“Our house would have eliminated
any doubts (about our character) this
semester,” Miller said, “but now there is
no chance.”
Now the fate of the chapter will be
decided by the Supreme Executive
Committee at a formal hearing in
Memphis, Tenn., on March 14.
The Kappa Sigma national office
maintains that the local chapter was well
aware of what it needed to accomplish.
“They had several meetings with
their alumni along the way,” said Mitch
Wilson, executive director of Kappa
Sigma Fraternity.
“They just didn’t accomplish what
they needed to do,” he said.
The chapter will have the opportuni
ty to defend its actions in writing or in
person atthe executive committee hear
ing in March.
“Before we decide how to defend
ourselves we have to decide if we will
have enough members left to function
as a fraternity,” Miller said.
The outlook for the hearing is not
good for the local Kappa Sigma chapter.
“In a situation like this where they
knew the parameters before,” Wilson
said, “it is tough to be reinstated.”
«
Sometimes after the alumni said they would
take care of something, nothing happened
Adam Miller
Kappa Sigma president