SPORTS_
Looking for pancakes
Center Josh Heskew, who recorded 116 pancake
blocks last season, is the only returning starter on
the Husker offensive line. PAGE 9
A&E
Holding back
Local punk-rock trio the Manics will probably be
a little more reserved than usual when they per
form tonight at Knickerbockers. PAGE 11
WEDN ;s: AY
April 15, 1998
Taxing Conditions
Blustery, chance of rain, high 60. Windy tonight, low 35.
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 140
Session
ends in
a flurry
By Todd Anderson
Assignment Reporter
Facing the last day of this year's
legislative session Tuesday, senators
passed 32 bills, including Gov. Ben
Nelson's tax-cut package and a con
troversial school-spending bill.
It marked the end of the 95th leg
islative session, one that Nelson
called a success.
He and senators said they were
proud of the w ork the Legislature
completed this year.
Despite his criticism of the
spending increases passed by the
Legislature this year, the governor
praised the Legislature in a press
conference late Tuesday afternoon.
"T he Legislature gets high marks
when it comes to tax cutting." Nelson
said.
i_>ui men mdiK^ aicn i iiilhi un
the spending side," he said.
Speaker Doug Kristensen of
Minden also commended senators
for their hard work and dedication.
“Don't let anyone criticize you.”
Kristensen said. “It's easy to sit in the
coffee shops and the board rooms
and be a Monday quarterback. But
you sat here and listened to the
debate and voted w ithout the luxury
of second-guessing."
Among the many bills passed
Tuesday were two that w'ill decrease
both state income and sales taxes.
LB 1028, which passed 45-2, will
make permanent the 5 percent
income tax reduction that was origi
nally designed to last only two years.
In addition, measures allowing
taxpayers to add an extra S10 to their
income tax deductions and permit
taxpayers who are self-employed to
deduct 100 percent of their health
insurance costs were extended indef
initely.
The bill also includes an increase
in the child care income tax credit.
Please see ADJOURN on 7
MASA
president
leads way
Editor's note: In honor of Chicano
Aw areness Week, the Daily Nebraskan
w ill profile three Chicano leaders at
the university and in the community
who want to make a difference for the
people, for the future.
By Lindsay Young
Assignment Reporter
Ciabrielle Dalton hasn't had to
j deal with the racism many of her
friends in the Mexican American
Student Association hav e.
Because she doesn't look like a
minority. Dalton, who is Mexican and
white, said she doesn't usually experi
ence "all the political correctness that
people put on when in front of minori
ties and take off when they are not.”
"This is what makes me unique. 1
am biracial,” said Dalton, president of
MASA.
one ndb d ueninu-ine-beencb pubi
tion - she said she hears the things
white people wouldn't normally say
if an obvious minority were in the
room.
“I hear a lot of the closet racism,''
she said. “People don't realize I'm
Mexican.”
Because she hasn't been affected
personally by racism, Dalton, 22, said
this may be the reason she has been
more outspoken when talking about
issues minorities face at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dalton has been involved exten
sively with working toward better
recruitment and retention techniques
in her job at the UNL Office of
Admissions and her college, the
College of Agricultural Sciences and
Natural Resources.
Please see DALTON on 7
Daniel Luedert/DN
GABRIELLE DALTON LISTENS to Gov. Ben Nelson discuss filling positions to represent Nebraska’s Hispanic
population needs. Dalton is shadowing Cecilia Olivarez Huerta, executive director of Lincoln’s Mexican
American Commission, for a class project, and meetings with the governor are part of her week.
Meeting to bring racial problems to light
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
UNL students say only a no-holds
barred conversation with federal offi
cials examining the campus racial cli
mate this week will produce positive
change.
Gabrielle Dalton, president of the
Mexican American Student
Association, said she would indeed tell
all in her meeting with the U.S.
Department of Education Office for
Civil Rights today.
“It’s really a chance for us to get
our perceptions out,” she said. “We're
going to be as helpful as we can be as
far as helping them understand what is
going on.”
Past incidents that contributed to
the deterioration of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln's racial climate
have caused the federal government to
step in this week, officials said.
But a spokesman from OCR said
his group’s meetings with UNL offi
cials and students were meant to shine
positive light on several negative situa
tions.
Rodger Murphey, a spokesman
from the U.S. Department of
Education, said three representatives
from the civil rights office are examin
ing UNL’s policies for handling racial
complaints.
Highly publicized incidents that
some people interpreted as racist were
part of what caused the group to
review UNL’s racial climate, Murphey
said.
Events that have been called racist
in the past include Sigma Chi’s cross
burning during a fraternity ritual in
spring 1997 and English Professor
David Hibler’s e-mail that included the
word “nigga” earlier this semester.
Unofficial complaints that were
filed in Murphey s office by unidenti
fied people associated writh UNL also
contributed to the review, he said.
“We got some information from
people who contacted us yet did not
file a formal complaint,” Murphey
said.
UNL is not the only university
involved in a racial climate review.
Murphey said the University of
Vermont also has federal officials on
campus. The University of Nebraska at
Omaha will undergo a review within
the next few months.
Though the federal government’s
civil rights office evaluates schools on
a regular basis, Murphey said, this
review is one that was triggered by past
racial incidents.
This is the first time UNL has been
Please see REVIEW on 8
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http://www.unl.edu/DailyNeb
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