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Candidates show accord
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
FREMONT - The hottest sparks
that flew at Sunday night’s Republican
gubernatorial debate in Fremont were in
the grill John Breslow’s supporters used
to cook some pre-debate hamburgers.
GOP gubernatorial candidates
Breslow, Jon Christensen, and Mike
Johanns showed broad agreement on
conservative principles, often using
similar language as they spoke of the
need for tax breaks, greater government
efficiency, family values and programs
for retaining Nebraska’s brightest stu
dents during the debate, sponsored by
the Dodge County Republican Party.
Although the proceedings were
amicable, candidates disagreed about
plans to limit government spending and
provide tax relief.
Breslow, die state auditor, promised
to reduce spending by 5 percent during
each year of his term by improving effi
ciency. He also would slash property
taxes by 25 percent, he said
Christensen, the 2nd congressional
district’s member of the US. House of
Representatives, favors tax breaks
cemented by a constitutional amend
ment limiting the growth of state spend
ing to 1 to 2 percent per year.
Johanns, the mayor of Lincoln, sup
ports a constitutional amendment to cap
state spending and efforts to lower the
tax burden. He emphasized the impor
tance of limiting state mandates that
local governments have difficulty car
rying out because of local spending lids.
Breslow compared state govern
ment to a gas-guzzling car. By eliminat
ing wasteful spending in state entities,
Breslow said, state government can save
enough to provide property tax relief.
“I’m in favor of very strong lids on
state and local government spending,”
he said “Right now the loopholes in lid
laws are huge.”
Johanns said he has proven his abil
ity to lower taxes. He also transformed a
$1 million deficit at the time he took
office in 1991 to an $18 million surplus
today, he said
Johanns said his proposal for tax
relief would address the state’s labor
shortage and student “brain drain” by
providing economic incentives for
employment in Nebraska.
The debate lacked fireworks or
harsh words, but in interviews after the
debate, candidates were more critical.
Christensen said Breslow’s property
tax relief proposal would be a tough sell
in the State Capitol.
“Every commercial should have a
little disclaimer saying, ‘Subject to
approval of 49 legislators,”’ he said
Breslow defended his plan, noting it
had the support of former GOP gover
nors Charley Thone and Kay Orr and
Omaha tax watchdog Ed Jaksha.
Breslow, who handed out press
releases claiming he led in the polls
with 33 percent to Christensen’s 23 per
cent and Johanns’ 20 percent, said he
would run a positive campaign, and
Johanns reiterated his pledge to make
no attacks on his opponents.
Store owner says closing forced by UNL
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
The owner of downtown
Lincoln’s Nebraska Spirit store said
he’s being forced to close his store
because of unfair competition from
UNL.
Brent White, owner of Nebraska
Spirit, which also houses the Greek
Shop, said it was no longer prof
itable to design and sell Nebraska
athletic wear because two govern
ment-run competitors were less
than a half-mile away from his shop.
The University ofNebraska
Lincoln’s University Bookstore,
along-With UNL’s newly opened
Htrsk^rs-Authentit; store, have
proved to be too much competition
for his store, he said.
And when a government agency
competes against you, White said, it
has considerable advantages as a
tax-exempt entity.
But Gary Fouraker, UNL’s
Associate Athletic Director for
Business Affairs, said White had
been “singing this song” for some
time, and if other stores could com
pete, so could White’s.
“It’s funny that there seem to be
a lot of other stores that carry
Nebraska merchandise that don’t
seem to be having the same prob
lem,” Fouraker said.
In any event, Fouraker said,
Huskers Authentic carries different
merchandise than White’s store.
Huskers Authentic bills itself as
carrying some merchandise not
available anywhere else - most of
which is worn by NU athletic teams.
White said Huskers Authentic’s
original plan was to carry merchan
dise that could not be found at other
stores. But now, White said, about
75 percent of the store’s inventory
could be found somewhere else.
"It’s a competition for revenue,”
White said, “no matter what they
sell.
“That $150 for a jacket could
have been spent at any private busi
ness. A jacket is still a jacket.”
Nebraska Spirit, White said,
designs and produces its own appar
el, which eliminates the “middle
man” between factories and stores.
At the beginning of the year,
White said, he put his Nebraska
Spirit and Team Spirit screen print
ing businesses up for sale, but with
the increased competition Huskers
Authentic posed, he was unable to
sell the store.
White is requesting the universi
ty close Huskers Authentic’s doors
and move its inventory to the
University Bookstore.
If closed, White said, the exist
ing Authentic store could become
an NU Hall of Fame museum.
He said it didn’t make any sense
for UNL to operate two stores sell
ing basically the same thing.
Huskers Authentic’s closing
would bring justice to the taxpayers
of the state, White said, by closing a
store that competed against its own
citizens.
But in a letter to the Lincoln
Independent Business Association,
UNL Chancellor James Moeser said
shoppers would pay the same taxes
at the university store as they would
at any other store.
“While it is the case that the uni
versity is exempt from certain taxes,
it is not the case that merchandise
sales are exempt from any sales
tax,” he said.
Party seeks diversity inASUN
mimm 1 irom pagei
Miller said COMMIT’s proposed
NU Week of campuswide activities,
similar to Homecoming, and an
improved environment for internation
al students would make more students
feel welcome at UNL and ASUN.
Miller said right now he did not feel
represented in ASUN.
“As a student of color, I can sympa
thize with international students,”
Miller said. “With COMMIT we are
very open and very willing to make
personal visits and let them know we
care.”
Miller said the biggest problem at
UNL was “the (racial) divide,” but an
ASUN senate with all types of students
could help close that divide.
I
uiversuy is so mucn more man
ethnic and racial backgrounds,” Linder
said. “It’s about different perspectives
and being involved with different
things.”
Linda:, who is a student assistant in
Schramm Hall, said COMMIT senato
rial candidates such as Miller, Urrvano
Gomez, a member of Latinos United in
Pursuit of Academic Excellence; Paul
Schreier, who works heavily with UNL
Information Services; and Olusegun
Okubanjo, a UNL graduate student
from England all would bring different
perspectives to COMMIT.
COMMIT’s platform also includes
updating the ASUN Web site, introduc
ing an award for instructor best inte
grating technology in the classroom,
ana oeginning an aiconoi-awareness
orientation for new students.
Through continued personal visits
to student organizations by
Hoffschneider and Linder, Russell said
COMMIT remains on a mission to hear
different opinions. “People tend to
appreciate personal contact,” Russell
said. “You take time out of your day to
come see them.”
Linder said when she attends stu
dent organization meetings she is
always listening for student concerns to
add to ho* idea page.
“Our platform was developed from
ideas and concerns students brought to
us,” Linder said. “We did not start it
until January because we wanted to
find students concerns.”
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Staff has final say on rigor
RIGOR from page 1
devoting their time to studying, not to
cashiering at a grocery store.
Because the changes Bahar calls
for are societal, he said many people,
including university faculty, students,
parents and legislators, had to be
involved in working toward a solution.
The solution, Bahar said, is allow
ing students to attend a university
without working at jobs that have
nothing to do with their majors.
With the extra time students will
have by not working, Bahar said, they
could take advantage of world-class
opportunities at UNL.
Bahar said students have to put in
the effort to take advantage of special
programs like undergraduate
research, which he said was offered at
UNL.
“It’s very hard to make students do
anything that doesn’t contribute
immediately to their objective, which
is just getting by,” Bahar said.
To go beyond “just getting by,”
Bahar said, he creates challenging
courses for his students.
But because UNL’s student body
consists of both those at the top of
their classes and the average “rank
and-file student,” it is necessary for
Bahar to teach at two levels.
“The top students cannot be short
changed,” Bahar said, “but we can’t
say (to the average students), ‘We’re
going to put up die post, and if you
can’t jump over it, you’re done.’”
Sean Courtney, professor of voca
tional and adult education, said facul
ty members should strive to use innov
ative ways of teaching.
By implementing “learner-based”
teaching, Courtney said, the concern
with academic rigor would take care
of itself.
“(New research) is forcing us to
rethink what classrooms are about and
what the role of the teacher is in stu
dent learning,” Courtney said.
He said traditional classrooms in
which the teacher was the center of
learning were outdated.
Instead, rigorous classrooms are
those where students and teachers
have a dialogue with each other, and a
teacher is more of a “facilitator” than a
lecturer, Courtney said.
The assessment x>f learning,
Courtney said, was something under
consideration by many faculty mem
bers.
Research shows, Courtney said,
that students learn better when they set
class goals and assess their comple
tion of those goals along with teach
ers.,
“You do have to give grades,”
Courtney said, “but grades become
less important than the fact that the
students themselves are sensing what
they’re learning, along with die teach
ers.”
The focus of academic rigor dis
cussions, Courtney said, should be on
teaching.
Ford said continuing discussions
will help “academic rigor” become a
reality in all UNL classes.
“I want to say that we shcfuldjust
tend to our garden - just worry about
students when they get here - and we
should do that,” Ford said. “But we
also, as universities, need to try to
influence society.”
Alleged murderer arrested
Lincoln’s SWAT Team was called
into action Thursday afternoon to
apprehend a man wanted for murder in
Omaha.
James Bradley was arrested at a
home in the 1600 block of Southwest
10th Street after he fled, nude, out the
back door of his house. Bradley didn’t
get far before SWAT Team members
made the arrest, Lincoln Police Sgt.
Terry Sherrill said.
Bradley was wanted for the
September 1997 murder of Victor
McFarlane, Omaha Police Sgt. Bill
Kingston said.
McFarlane had just arrived at his
veterinarian Is office with his dog when
Bradley burst in the door, shot the dog
and McFarlane.
Bradley was positively identified by
a witness at the scene of the murder, and
police have been looking for him since
September.
Bradley was transferred back to
Omaha Friday, where he will be tried for
murder.
Men arrested for possession
Police arrested two men for posses
sion of crack cocaine around 10 p.m.
Thursday after the Lincoln/Lancaster
County Narcotics Task Force executed a
search warrant at a home in the 1600
block ofWhittier Street
Mickey Williams, 33, and Terrion
Atkins, 18, were arrested at their home
after police found nearly 40 grams of
crack cocaine and $1,600 cash, Lincoln
Police Narcotics Capt Duane Bullock
said.
Both men were arrested for posses
sion of a controlled substance, ami more
charges could follow. The children
found at the house were taken by social
services, and the men were also cited for
neglect
Complaints from neighbors led
police to the home, which they kept
under surveillance for a couple of
weeks before obtaining the warrant
Chlorine found in water
Firefighters* spent six hours
Thursday night tracking down the
source of a high concentration of chlo
rine in the water systemj)n West O
Street that gave some Super 8 Motel
customers an unpleasant shower.
Calls reporting a stinging sensation
in the shower accompanied by a strong
chlorine smell began coming in from
the Super 8 Motel, 2635 W. O St.,
around 10 p.m., Lincoln Fire
Department Chief Ron Kennett said.
Firefighters tested the water in sur
rounding businesses to find the extent
of the contamination.
The chlorine originated from a new
water main on West A Street that had
been installed recently. As a precaution,
the water department always sanitizes
new pipes with a high concentration of
chlorine.
One of the valves on the new pipe
leaked, sending the chlorine into the
water system.
Once the source of the chlorine was
pinpointed, firefighters shut off the
valve and opened fire hydrants to drain
tiie pipe.
After the affected businesses ran
their faucets for a few minutes, the chlo
rine was gone.
The only lingering effect of the
chlorine was some additional sediment
in the water system Friday that could, be
eliminated by running the water for a
few minutes.
Don’t steal the Charmin
A homeless man was arrested for
stealing a package of Charmin Bath
Tissue from the Region Three group
home at 1405 C Street 4:30 am. Friday.
An employee found Danny
Edwards, 31, hiding behind the office
door after tiie employee was awakened
by noise in the office, Sherrill said.
Edwards, holding a package of
Charmin, told the employee he was just
looking for a place to stay.
While the employee called the
police Edwards ducked out, but police
caught up with him not far from the
home.
Edwards matched the description so
police conducted a pat-down search,
which revealed the missing Charmin.
Edwards was arrested for burglary.
Compiled by Senior Reporter
Josh Funk
