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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1999)
SPORTS ■ Country Kubik Nicole Kubik has taken her game from the family driveway to the Devaney Sports Center to excel for the NU women’s basketball team. PAGE 7 A & E_ Acting your best UNL theater students head to Ames, Iowa, for a round of national competition. The students will perform a full-length play. PAGE 9 TUES AY January 20, 1999 The Gray Unwashed Mostly cloudy, high 46. Cloudy tonight, low 30. L V VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 83 - - - —.■ ■■ - ■ - r ' - ■ ..- - Congressmen find address unrealistic By Brian Carlson Staff writer President Clinton called for too much gov ernment spending, too much federal control over school districts and not enough tax breaks in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, two of Nebraska’s Republican congressmen said. Reps. Doug Bereuter and Lee Terry spoke with the Daily Nebraskan after Clinton’s speech, the first State of the Union Address ever deliv ered by an impeached president. The speech came the same day Clinton’s lawyers began his defense in his Senate impeachment trial. Bereuter criticized Clinton for offering a slew of new spending programs while offering only one mention of a tax break. “It was the longest laundry list the president has ever given us in terms of spending pro grams,” he said. “1 don’t think he left out anyone or anything.” Bereuter said Clinton’s new spending pro posals, many of which depend on continued bud get surpluses for funding, could lead to explod ing costs in future years. New spending programs drawing from bud get surpluses threaten the very promise Clinton made Tuesday night, Bereuter said - to use those surpluses to save Social Security. “The important thing for Americans to think about is the cost of these programs into the sec ond and third years and beyond,” he said. “It would amount to a very major increase in the size of the federal budget.” Clinton proposed that $2.7 trillion - about 60 percent of projected surpluses of $4 trillion - be used to fund shortfalls in future Social Security benefits . Some of those funds would be invested by the government in private funds. Bereuter applauded Clinton for making a specific Social Security proposal that could be the basis for a bipartisan solution. He warned, however, that government administered investments in private funds could lead to abuses. For example, the government could make politically motivated investments or gain undue influence in corporations. “Count us very suspicious (of government investment),” he said. “I would prefer that we would have the option to use part of what we con tribute to invest in our own way.” Bereuter said Clinton’s education proposals would give the federal government too much power over local school districts. “He is proposing that he is the chairman of local school boards,” he said. “Once you open up the federal checkbook, there’s no end to how far or how big it could grow.” Bereuter applauded Clinton's call for increased defense spending but said congres sional Republicans may seek more. Bereuter also advocated research for a missile defense system. Bereuter said he also supported Clinton’s call for tax credits for stay-at-home parents, as well as his request for fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements. Terry agreed that Clinton had requested sharp spending increases. “I struggle to find out what segment of soci ety he left out,” he said. “He touched on every emotional aspect of society, and he had a new spending program to accompany each one of those. “All these new warm, fuzizy and emotional programs, I oppose.” Terry also said he opposed most of Clinton’s education proposals because they would extend federal control over local schools. As for Social Security, Tern/ said he shared Bereuter’s concerns that government investment schemes could lead to abuse. “What we need to do is give dollars to indi viduals so they can make their individual invest ment decisions,” he said. Terry said he agreed with Clinton that the government should use budget surpluses to save Social Security, but he said any remaining sur plus funds should be returned as tax cuts. He said he was pleased with Clmton’s call for increased defense spending, which he said was necessary after defense cuts in recent years. Although Clinton’s speech was unprecedent ed and delivered in the midst of bitter, bipartisan disagreement over his fitness to hold office, Terry said he saw nothing unusual in Clinton’s delivery or in the response by members of Congress. Bereuter noted that Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is presiding over Clinton’s Senate trial on charges of peijury and obstruction of justice, did not attend with fellow members of the court. This indicated the unique political context of the address, he said. Two House managers in the Senate trial, Please see REACT on 6 ---■—| Lane Hickenbottom/DN AARON CARRIZALES, a junior elementary education major and a member of the track team, rolls water from the Ed Weir track on Tuesday afternoon. Rise in ’98 robberies worries police By Shane Anthony Staff writer-' Overall, serious crime in Lincoln decreased slightly in 1998, but an increase in robberies concerns police. Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady released the 1998 crime data at a press conference Tuesday morning. Police said they are concerned about burglar ies, and an increase in violent crime, he said, but, generally, the data show little dramatic change. “Lincoln is a very safe place com pared to other cities,” he said. The .2 percent overall decrease for Part I crimes - including murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, residential and commercial burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson - was driven by a decrease in larcenies, Casady said. Larcenies decreased by 2.2 percent - 231 fewer incidents than last year’s figure. Violent crime, however, increased by 4.1 percent from 1997 to 1998. A big factor in that increase, Casady said, was a 17 percent increase in robbery. Those crimes were up 30 percent by midyear. Police investigated 172 robberies in 1998, very close to a peak of 178 in 1994. Robberies are dangerous because someone is physically threatened, Casady said, often with a weapon. He cited an April robbery in which a conve Please-see CREME on 3 Cops and robbers While Lincoln saw a slight increase in violent crime in 1998, property Crime continued to decline steadily. Offenses per 100,000 population, 1989-1998. 8,500 $50 8,000 || 4 A A | 6,5000— 6.000 J, ° ° 9!*°% ... 450 5 ooo LI Violent crimes ^ □ Propejjy crimes o to • £^^0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 John Frank/DN Bills may stiffen penalties for habitual sex offenders By Jessica Fargen Senior staff writer It is a cycle, some lawmakers said. People commit sexual crimes, serve time in prison and are released with little or no evaluation or treat ment. Sometimes, they commit the same crimes and are put back in prison. Two bills introduced in the Legislature last week would aim to put an end to the cycle by stiffening penalties for habitual sexual offend ers and requiring more evaluations and treatment before they can be released from prison. LB467, introduced by Omaha Sen. Deb Suttle, would create longer mandatory sentences and a possible life sentence for habitual sexual offenders. The bill, a version of legislation proposed several years ago by for mer Lincoln Sen. Don Wesely, would enact a point system for habitual sexual offenders. Under the bill, crimes are assigned point amounts, such as Please see BILLS on 3 Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at dailyneb.com
