Changes proposed
for makeup of senate
Place of residence will be a factor
ByIevaAugstums
Staff writer
Depending on a vote by student
government leaders Jan. 13, the face
of ASUN could change for future
University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dents.
„ Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska President
Sara Russell proposed a constitution
al amendment Wednesday night that
would change the senate’s composi
tion by adding one additional senator,
as well as change election proce
dures.
Russell said a new senate body
would have a cross-section of student
representatives from different col
leges and places of residence.
The constitutional amendment
comes from a previous proposal
ASUN President Sara Russell made
in August where a 25-member stu
dent assembly, based on students’
places of residence, would have had
input on ASUN issues and policies.
The senate voted down the proposal
in September.
Under the new proposal, Russell
said, 18 students would be chosen by
their colleges, and 18 students would
be elected by their place of residence,
including residence halls, greek
houses and off-camnus residences.
Each college and living unit
would be guaranteed at least one rep
resentative. Additional representa
tives for both areas would be elected
proportionally, based on total number
of students, she said.
“The idea of this is to guarantee a
good cross-section of students
involved in student government,”
Russell said. “It would finally bal
ance the representation between col
leges and living units.”
A majority of the senate agreed
with the bill; however, some did not
fully support the idea.
Speaker Matt Boyd said students
may have a concern about die number
of seats allocated to students based on
their places of residence.
“It’s a really great idea to have dif
ferent avenues to get elected; 18 and
18 may be too ultraconservative for
people,” Boyd said. “We are in
Nebraska, you know.”
College of Arts and Sciences
u
The idea of this is
to guarantee a good
cross-section of
students involved in
student government.”
Sara Russell
ASUN president
Senator Urrvano Gamez Jr. agreed.
“Off-campus positions tend to
not be filled anyway,” Gamez said.
“Reducing the number is a good
idea.”
But some senators disagreed with
Boyd and Gamez.
“If we want equal representation,
reducing the numbers won’t help,”
said Jason Boykin, a senator repre
senting graduate students. “Let’s
keep them and make students get to
know their constituents better.”
ASUN Director of Development
Marlyne Beyke said student repre
confofmrt in o+ rmirarnmanf
offices varies year to year.
“Some years we’ve had a widely
representative student government,
other years we haven’t,” Beyke said.
“It all depends.”
Senators will vote on the consti
tutional amendment at next semes
ter’s first ASUN meeting Jan. 13.
If passed by the senate, the
amendment would appear on the
March 1999 election ballot.
Two-thirds of the voting student
body would have to pass the amend
ment to change the ASUN constitu
tion. The amendment would not go
into effect until the March 2000 elec
tion.
Russell said each senate member
would still be required to keep in
touch with constituents and would
discuss universitywide issues, she
said.
“We’re not decreasing the respon
sibilities of each senator,” Russell
said. “We’re increasing representa
tion.”
Students
in hot tub
raise money
for housing
■ They will relax near the
Nebraska Union while
raising money for charity.
ByDaneStickney
Staff writer
David Williams and some of his
friends once joked about raising
money for a worthy cause by just
relaxing in a steamy hot tub.
That joke has turned into reality.
The National Residence Hall
Honorary will be sponsoring Hot
Tubbing for Habitat on Friday to
raise money for Habitat for
Humanity.
Williams, president of the UNL
chapter of the National Residence
Hall Honorary, said a hot tub will be
set up from noon to 8 p.m. west of the
new Broyhill Fountain.
Various greek houses and resi
dence halls have been asked to pay
$40 to seat four people in the hot tub
for a half hour, Williams, a senior
English major, said.
“Right now we have 15 groups
that have reserved their space,”
Williams said. “We hope to have 15
more.”
Williams said the goal is to raise
$1,200 to donate to Habitat for
Humanity to build a house for a
family of six.
“We are doing this to heln the
needy family and to spark an interest
in Habitat for Humanity,” he said.
The fact this type of event is
unique does not worry Williams.
“This is the first time that this has
been done, but we hope to make it a
tradition,” he said.
The hot tub will be provided by
Home Innovations, and Pepsi will be
giving away products. Radio station
KFRX-FM (102.7) will be broad
casting live from the event.
National Residence Hall
Honorary is a group of 40 student
leaders from various residence halls
on campus. Its goal is to help the uni
versity to get involved in activities
that provide aid to the community,
Williams said.
“It feels good to partake in some
thing that helps the university and a
worthy cause,” he said.
Star City Parade prepares
to dazzle downtown area
By Dane Stickney
Staff writer
It is once again time for huge
inflatable cartoon characters, march
ing bands and thousands of people to
take over downtown Lincoln.
The 14th annual Star City Holiday
Parade will be held at 11 a.m. on
Saturday.
The parade will begin at 10th and
O streets and work its way through the
downtown area. It will stop in front of
the Comhusker Hotel at 333 S. 13th
St.
Executive Director Suzi Shugert
said this year’s parade would have at
least 67 entries, from large inflatable
balloons to floats.
The parade will be essentially the
same as it has been in past years with
one minor change.
“It will be a little bit shorter,”
Shugert said. “We thought an hour and
a half was too long for little kids, so
we’ve shortened it to around 74 min
utes.”
S
More than 4,000 volunteers will
be involved in the parade, Shugert
said. Their duties involve parade coor
dination, staging and bleacher moni
toring.
Shugert expects 50,000 to 70,000
people to attend the parade. More than
85,000 people are expected to watch
the parade on television on Channel
10KOLN-TV
Shugert said the parade originally
was created as a way to get people to
the downtown area to kick off the
shopping season. However, with many
downtown stores having left the area,
its focus has changed and the parade
has grown into something larger.
“The parade does a phenomenal
amount for the community,” Shugert
said. “It stresses cooperation and col
laboration throughout the city. The
city has shown tremendous support
over the years.”
The parade is the highlight of
many events that make up the Star
City Holiday Festival. Some of the
events include a downtown lighting
ceremony, a polar picnic and ice
66
The parade does a
phenomenal amount
for the community. It
stresses cooperation
and collaboration
throughout the city.”
Suzi Shugert
parade executive director
sculpting.
A post-parade party will be held at
the Cornhusker Hotel. Anyone is
invited for refreshments. The
announcement of 17 awards for the
best floats and units in the parade will
also take place during die party.
“The parade has grown into a fam
ily tradition,” Shugert said. “It is just a
fan thing to do.”
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