Kerrey won’t run in 2000 presidential race
KERREY from page 1
Cold War defense restructuring,
health care, education and children’s
issues.
He vowed to be actively involved
in the 2000 race and encouraged can
didates to address the country’s most
serious issues. But he acknowledged
this may be difficult when he is not in
the race.
“That was the strongest argument
for me to run - that there are a num
ber of things that even though I’m
staying in fee arena and fighting for
them, are not going to be addressed,”
he said.
Kerrey said a future bid for presi
dent, perhaps in 2004, is possible.
Although Kerrey said he con
cluded that the Senate was the best
place for him to provide leadership in
2000 and beyond, he acknowledged
other factors contributed to his deci
sion not to pursue the presidency.
Kerrey said Vice President A1
Gore, now considered the front-run
ner for the Democratic nomination,
was not unbeatable. But the formida
ble candidacy expected from Gore
was “a factor.”
The timing of the presidential
race in 2000, when Kerrey’s Senate
term expires, also worked against a
Kerrey candidacy. Had Kerrey
mounted a presidential bid, he would
have relinquished his Senate seat.
“God and the people of Nebraska
willing, my calling is to continue
serving as a United States senator,”
he said.
Legally, Kerrey could have run
for both the presidency and the
Senate in 2000, but he said that
would be unethical.
Former Sen. James Exon, who
attended the gathering of Kerrey sup
porters, said the group was support
- ive of Kerrey’s decision.
“There was a general consensus
that Bob Kerrey made the right deci
sion under the circumstances,” he
said. “We were happy that he made
the decision to continue his outstand
ing service for Nebraska in the
Senate.”
Anne Boyle, chairwoman of the
Nebraska Democratic Party, said she
was pleased Kerrey would continue
to serve the state in the Senate and
provide leadership on pressing issues
such as Social Security reform.
Kerrey’s decision to seek re-elec
tion increases the chances the
Nebraska Democratic Party will
hold onto its last remaining
statewide-elected public office.
Following Mike Johanns’ victory
in this year’s governor’s race,
Republicans in 1999 will control the
governor’s office, one U.S. Senate
seat, all statewide elective offices in
state government and all three U.S.
Congressional seats.
At the same time, Kerrey’s sup
porters were disappointed that the
timing wasn’t right for a presidential
bid, Boyle said.
“I would have to say we are a lit
tle disappointed,” she said. “We
know him best as somebody who’s
not always going to follow polls, and
we need that in our president.”
One person who encouraged
Kerrey to run for president during
Sunday's meeting was James Martin
Davis, an Omaha attorney and
Democratic candidate for Congress
in 1996.
Davis, like Kerrey a Vietnam War
veteran, said he urged Kerrey to run
because he was “a hero.”
“At this juncture in American his
tory, we really need somebody like
Bob Kerrey,” he said. “Historians
and sociologists are all saying we
have an absence of heroes in
America. We wanted to share Bob
Kerrey with the rest of the country.”
Steve Jarding, Kerrey’s national
political director, said Kerrey’s deci
sion was the right one considering
what he would have given up if
unsuccessful.
“You can’t delude yourself in this
. business,” he said. “This was an all
or-none decision, and I think the
decision was right.”
Had Kerrey not been up for re
election in 2000, the decision to run
for president would have been easier,
but not certain, he said.
Jarding said Kerrey would have
been a strong candidate and could
have defeated Gore or other
Democratic opponents. The decision
was disappointing in that sense, he
said.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” he
said. “I think Bob Kerrey ought to be
president of the United States. I think
he has a vision for this country.”
US. trade policy critiqued
By Brian Carlson
Staffwriter
OMAHA - Expanding free trade
can improve the lives of people
worldwide, but U.S. policy must pro
tect those whose livelihoods are
threatened by rapid economic
change# economic experts agreed
Saturday.
The panelists, participating in a
international economics conference
sponsored by Sen Bob Kerrey’s polit
ical action committee, generally
agreed free trade helps most people,
but can cause short-term pain for
those whose jobs are moved by free
trade.
Kerrey moderated three panel dis
cussions whose participants included
Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett,
former Labor Secretary Robert
Reich, Harvard economist Jeffrey
Sachs and other well-known econom
ic and political thinkers.
Reich said that although the U.S.
economy is in its best shape in 30
years, with relatively low unemploy
ment and inflation, average
Americans are growing skeptical of
free trade policies. A Wall Street
Journal poll found that 58 percent of
respondents thought free trade was
bad for Americans’ economic well
being.
Free trade has gained momentum
in recent years, with the implementa
tion of the North American Free .
Trade Agreement and the ongoing
development of World Trade
Organization policies to govern inter
national trade.
But a gap divides the ideas of the
political elite who support free trade
and the views of ordinary Americans,
he said. Reich attributed this to the
fear that Americans will lose jobs to
countries where companies pay lower
wages, leaving laid-off American
workers with few job options.
Buffett agreed with Reich that
free trade policies have downsides.
“Competition in capitalism is bru
tal, and there are going to be disloca
tions and losers. We realty need poli
cies that take care of people who lose
jobs through no fault of their own.”
At a time when growing global
ization stands alongside the threat of
worldwide recession, the United
States must be a strong leader in the
world economy, said Ted Sorensen,
former special counsel to President
John F. Kennedy.
“We can’t have it both ways,” he
said. “We can’t continue to lead the
world politically if we retreat from the
world economically.
“A Nebraska farmer can be far
more threatened by a bank failure in
Tokyo today than he would have been
by a bank failure in Toledo, Ohio, dur
ing the Great Depression.”
Master plans still need
work, NU regents say
REGENTS from page 1
and renovate research and academic
areas, university officials said.
NU President Dennis Smith said if
regents were concerned about retention
rates and the national rankings of the
university’s campuses, they needed to
look at making the improvements rec
ommended by the plans.
UNL recently fell to the third tier
from the second tier in the latest U.S.
News and World Report undergraduate
rankings.
“We need to invest in people and
provide the space necessary,” Smith
said.
To do this, Smith said, the university
needs to keep up with its peer institu
tions and other top universities and col
leges in the country.
Regent Chuck Hassebrook of
Walthill said focus on Nebraskans’
needs didn’t seem to be the plans’ prior
ity.
“I think a campus plan is a vision of
where the university is going,”
Hassebrook said. “The vision I see that
is troubling me is that it’s a vision of the
university going in the direction that
places emphasis on prestige.”
But, what the campuses look like
plays a part in the mindset of prospective
and present students, UNL Chancellor
James Moeser said.
Moeser said the organization of
campus needs to show the university has
a strategy for continuous improvement.
The university is setting design guide
lines to follow when renovating and con
structing facilities.
Regent Drew Miller of Papillion said
adding classroom space to UNL was not
necessary. The university doesn’t effec
tively use the space it has, he said.
Before discussion began on UNL’s
plan, Koller said classroom space was
well-used and generally in excellent
condition, but some areas need improve
ment.
Regents were skeptical of the overall
costs of implementing the plans, focus
ing mostly on UNL’s.
Hassebrook asked Koller for an esti
mated price of UNL’s plans.
“We don’t have an estimate number
for that, but we can estimate $200 mil
lion, roughly,” Koller said.
Moeser said the construction would
be completed with state and private
funds.
Some renovations are being done
under LB 1100, a bill that allotted $5.5
million to renovate buildings on the four
NU campuses in the next 10 years. The
university will provide matching funds
to supplement the state’s contribution.
Some projects under UNL’s Master
Plan include a grassy corridor that will
extend from Memorial Stadium to the
Beadle Center, improvements to the
Bob Devaney Sports Center and a new
recreation center to be built on East
Campus.
Sorority, regents negotiate
Alpha Chi Omega supporters debate house’s future
By Lindsay Young
Senior staff writer
A plan that could ultimately knock down a sorority
house brought about 70 Alpha Chi Omega Sorority
members and supporters to the regents meeting
Saturday.
The women came to negotiate with the NU Board
of Regents on an agreement giving them say in details
concerning the construction of a new house on campus.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Master Plan
calls for a grassy corridor that would replace Vine Street
and extend from Memorial Stadium to the Beadle
Center.
As a result of that proposal, which has not yet been
approved, the university would need to demolish both
the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority house and the vacated
Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity house.
The Alpha Chi house could be rebuilt a couple of
blocks south at 16th and R streets.
Chancellor James Moeser pledged not to use emi
nent domain to acquire the land where the house is.
If UNL took the land in that way, the university
would pay only fair market value for the land, which
would compensate for less than half of the cost needed
to built a new house, Vice Chancellor for Student
Affairs James Griesen said.
That would leave the sorority reaching for money it
may not have, he said.
It is estimated it would cost from $2 million to $2.7
million to build a new house. The sorority would receive
*. only $ 1 million in fair market value from the old house.
“They expressed that concern to us saying, ‘We
don’t want to go extinct,”’ Griesen said.
A proposed amendment would give members more
say in looking at issues such as cost of a new house,
«
I have a hard time in
relocating a building
as a priority.”
Chuck Hassebrook
NU regent
available parking and a construction timeline.
If an agreement that satisfies both the university and
the sorority is not made before Aug. 1,1999, the house
will stay put, said Mark Hunzeker, the sorority’s attor
ney.
A few of the regents said they didn’t like the pro
posed relocation of the sorority house.
Many said they didn’t see moving the house for
Memorial Mall as a priority over projects that could
provide additional classroom space.
Regent Drew Miller of Papillion said he was not in
favor of the move if Memorial Mall was to be imple
mented.
Regent Chuck Hassebrook of Walthill agreed.
“I second Miller’s statement,” Hassebrook said. “I
have a hard time in relocating a building as a priority. I
don’t see that as being a priority.”
But Moeser said the Memorial Mall was a priority
because it would not only make the campus more
pedestrian friendly, but it also would add to the campus
aesthetic.
That, he said, was an important part of a university
learning environment
“I’m not anticipating building green space for its
own sake.”
Questions? Comments?
Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588
or e-mail dn@unl.edu.
durrang the academic year; weeldv during the summer sessions.The pubfcfes access
Readers are encouraged to submit stcwopsand comments to the Daily Nebraskan
_ . {402)472-^88.
bo j J^^^pt|onsa^e,$55P''oneyear•
p^;SS3^^ 1400
ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1998
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editor: Erin Gibson
Managing Editor: Chad Lorenz
Associate News Editor: Bryce Glenn
Associate News Editor: Brad Davis
Assignment Editor: Kasey Kerber
Opinion Editor: Cliff Hicks
Sports Editor: Sam McKewon
A&E Editor: Bret Schulte
Copy Desk Chief: Diane Broderick
Photo Chief: Matt Miller
Design Chief: Nancy Christensen
Art Director: Matt Haney
Online Editor: Gregg Stearns
Asst Online Editor: Amy Burke
General Manager: Dan Shattii
Publications Bard Jessica Hofmann,
Chairwoman: (402) 466-8404
Professional Advisor: Don Walton,
(402)473-7248
Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch,
(402)472-2589
Asst Ad Manager: Andrea Oeltjen
Classified Ad Manager: Mami Speck
] Thursday set for impeachment activities
WASHINGTON (AP) - The full
House will take up the four articles of
impeachment against President Clinton
on Thursday in what is expected to be a
long and contentious debate. House
Republican aides say-final votes could
spill into Friday.
The Judiciary Committee, which
passed the articles, first must write a
final report on its inquiry. House rules
call for a waiting period of two legisla
tive days - Sunday doesn’t count -
before the articles can come to the floor.
That means the articles will be
available Wednesday, the same day that
Speaker Newt Gingrich has notified
lawmakers to return to Washington.
Republican and Democratic leaders
plan party caucuses that day, with
debate on impeachment to begin
Thursday morning.
Incoming Speaker Bob Livingston
has tapped Rep. Ray Lahood, R-Ilh, to
preside over the debate. Judiciary com
mittee chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois
will act as GOP floor manager, and
ranking Democrat John Conyers of
Michigan is expected to manage the
debate for his party.
Hyde said Sunday that he expects a
“prolonged debate ... I would be for
expanding the time considerably so
everyone can talk who wants to.”
They do not plan a vote on censure.