SPORTS_g
Noetzel typical match
NU’s Sandra Noetzel fell to Christie Sim of Kansas
in No. 1 singles action as the Jayhawks defeated
the Huskers 9-0 in Lincoln Wednesday. PAGE 6
A&E
Oscar’s little brother
The Oscars may have been held more than two
-Yf/^C d weeks ago, but the award distribution will con
\ (a tinue this weekend in Lincoln, sort of. PAGE 9
THURS: »AY
April 9, 1998
Fair Weather Friend
Sunny and warm, high 60. Partly cloudy tonight, low 32.
ACTION seizes
victory in RHA
By Ieva Augstums
Assignment Reporter
UNL students, apparently happy
with previous Residence Hall
Association leadership, re-elected
President Ben Wallace Wednesday
for a second year as president.
Wallace, a junior French major,
said he was honored to win the pres
idential election.
"I feel great,” Wallace said. “We
worked hard, and it paid off.”
ACTION took 59 percent of the
vote, leaving opposing party
ENHANCE with 41 percent of the
vote.
Along with Wallace on the
ACTION ticket was vice president
elect Shane Perkins, a junior interna
tional affairs major, and secretary
elect Jill Beran, a sophomore music
education major.
ENHANCE candidate Kristen
Morrow, a junior physics and engi
neering major, received 78 percent
of the vote, winning the RHA trea
surer position over ACTION write
in candidate Brian Oppliger, a
sophomore operations management
and mathematics major.
However, as of 12:30 a.m. today,
Morrow had not accepted her posi
tion.
“I have 24 hours to decide if I
want to be RHA treasurer,” Morrow
said. “I will notify the election com
missioner sometime in the morn
ing.”
Larry Willis, ENHANCE presi
dential candidate and sophomore
accounting major, said he still
planned to be involved with RHA as
a Husker Residence Hall Senator.
Losing the ENHANCE vice
presidential candidacy, Matt
Knobbe, a junior computer science
major, accepted a senatorial position
in Abel residence hall pending vote
recall.
Willis also said he requested a
recall on the votes.
A total of 1,051 residence hall
students voted for RHA executive
board members, while 1,125 stu
dents voted in their local residence
hall government elections.
“I am grateful of the caliber and
quality of the students who run for
office,” Chuck Rensink, interim
adviser for RHA, said. “All students
do a fabulous job with their local
government elections, as well as the
overall RHA elections.”
RHA executive board elections
were held in all residence halls.
Residents in eight halls voted for
their individual hall presidents and
senators, Rensink said.
RHA Election Commissioner
Keri Stenger said voting exceptions
were Burr and Fedde residence halls,
which do not vote for local govern
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residence halls, which vote only for
RHA executive board members.
Those halls hold local government
elections in the fall, she said.
“Both parties had a great cam
paign,” Stenger said. “It was obvious
that each party put in a full effort.”
Beran said ACTION planned a
student-orientated campaign.
“I feel that we had a platform
that students agreed with,” Beran
said. “We truly support students -
they supported us.”
Perkins said he was looking for
ward to working with the newly
elected RHA senate.
“I hope to be an effective chair of
the senate,” Perkins said. “I am look
ing forward to doing great things.”
Wallace said ACTION plans to
continue opening communication
between students and administra
tion.
Please see RHA on 2
Matt Miller/DN
LEGISLATIVE PAGE JOEL WIEGERT, left, sits waiting for a senator to call him for help Wednesday at the
Capitol. The UNL sophomore economics major said some of the pages have clocked eight or nine hours a
day during the last full week of session.
Aides await session end
By Todd Anderson and
Ieva Augstums
Assignment Reporters
When this year’s short legisla
tive session closes Tuesday, sena
tors, staff members and UNL stu
dents employed at the Capitol will
have racked up hundreds of hours.
But several legislative pages
said helping state governmenl
while gaining invaluable experi
ence doesn’t necessarily mean
adding stress to their busy student
lives.
“I enjoy going to work, even
during late session,” said Ryan
Junck, a legislative page and
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
sophomore political science and
philosophy major.
Throughout the last two
weeks, senators have been work
ing overtime - sometimes from 8
a.m. until 9 p.m. - to pass key
measures.
Drawn-out debate translates
into longer hours for pages, but
not necessarily more-intense
work. Legislative pages run
errands, make copies and fetch
coffee for Nebraska’s 49 senators.
“The work is the same, the
hours are just different,” Junck
said.
Junck said the job required
paying attention and staying alert.
“I've given up sleep for cof
fee,” he said.
For students like Junck, sitting
through long debates means giv
ing up more time than usual. For
others, a serious time crunch
invites excess pressure.
Freshman business major
Brandon Katzberg, a legislative
intern for South Sioux City Sen.
Pat Engel, said he has felt the
urgency to get bills through the
legislative process.
“I’ve been feeling that strong
push,” Katzberg said. “There are
more articles to read, things to
file and letters to write.”
Mindy Franzen, Riverdale
Sen. Jim Cudaback’s administra
tive assistant and a senior politi
cal science major, said stress lev
els have been higher while trying
to persuade the Legislature to
override the governor’s veto on
one of Cudaback's bills.
But any new tasks have not
interfered with her schoolwork,
she said.
Sara Eagle, a legislative page
Please see STUDENTS on 3
‘Top Gun’ supports Christensen
By Josh Funk
Senior Reporter
Republican gubernatorial candi
date Jon Christensen brought out the
big guns for support Wednesday: the
man whose flying was the basis for the
movie “Top Gun .”
California Republican
Congressman Randy “Duke”
Cunningham was traveling through
Nebraska with Christensen to Lincoln,
Norfolk, Hastings, Grand Island and
York in a show of support. He and
Christensen spoke to the media
Wednesday at Christensen’s campaign
headquarters, 317 S. 12th St., in
Lincoln.
Cunningham was the original
“Maverick” in the skies over Vietnam,
and his flying feats inspired the movie
starring Tom Cruise.
In air-to-air combat Cunningham
was unmatched, continually downing the
best the North Vietnamese had to offer.
As one of Vietnam’s few flying aces,
Cunningham’s skill became legendary.
Later in the war, Cunningham had
to change his call sign from
“Maverick” to “Duke” because the
North Vietnamese started to recognize
the call sign and gun for him, he said.
Cunningham went on to teach at
the Navy Fighter Weapons School, the
Top Gun program, before retiring from
the military.
After building a successful busi
ness in San Diego, Cunningham was
elected to Congress in 1996 where he
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sits on defense and appropriations
committees.
Cunningham said he admires
Christensen for his convictions.
“I’d fly Jon’s wing anywhere,”
C unningham said.
Christensen also introduced two new
campaign ads highlighting his tough
stance on crime and promise to cut prop
erty taxes. The ads begin airing today.
Cunningham went on to comple
ment Christensen’s leadership and
vision in his four years in Congress.
“Jon has kept his word on every
thing,” Cunningham said. “What better
person could you have for governor?”
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Senators cooperate on
death penalty proposals
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
Legislators maneuvered
Wednesday to secure passage of
bills prohibiting the execution of
mentally retarded persons and
making it easier for cop killers to
die.
LB1266, which would exempt
mentally retarded persons from the
death penalty, was advanced from
select file to final reading - one
step from the governor's desk.
Similar provisions had been
included last year in amendments
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to LB422, which would add an
aggravating circumstance in sen
tencing for killers of police offi
cers. But many senators believed
the measure deserved a public
hearing, and the mental retardation
exemption was reintroduced as a
separate bill this year.
LB422’s sponsor, Sen. Gerald
Matzke of Sidney, did not want his
bill to proceed until it had been
Please see BILLS on 3