Kerrey, Hagel dif address
By Brian Carlson
Staff writer
Nebraska’s Senate delegation
offered contrasting opinions on the
policy agenda laid out Tuesday by
President Clinton in his State of the
Union address.
In telephone interviews with the
Daily Nebraskan, Sen. Bob Kerrey
had mostly praise for his fellow
Democrat’s address, while Republican
Sen. Chuck Hagel attacked nearly
every aspect of it.
Kerrey said he welcomed continu
ing good news about the economy,
prospects for paying down the nation
al debt and a specific Social Security
proposal from the president.
“I thought it was a good speech,”
he said. “It was good to hear the
emphasis on our nation’s economic
growth, which will be so vital if we are
to be able to solve a lot of other prob
lems.”
With projected budget surpluses
of $4 trillion over the next 15 years,
the United States has a chance to ser
vice much of its debt and reduce bur
densome interest payments, Kerrey
said. .
By setting aside 60 percent of the
surpluses for Social Security and 16
percent for Medicare, the government
could generate enough savings to
reduce the level of publicly held debt
to its lowest level since 1917, Clinton
said during his address. By Kerrey’s
estimates, that could save $250-$270
billion in interest payments - a helpful
legacy to leave the next generation, he
said.
“That’s a gift of which I’ll be quite
proud,” he said.
Although Kerrey’s own Social
Security proposal differs from the
president’s, he said he welcomed the
president’s proposal. Clinton shares
Kerrey’s commitment to honoring
Social Security’s commitments and
continuing to provide old-age security,
Kerrey said.
Kerrey’s proposal would allow
workers to invest a portion of their
Social Security taxes into private
investments. Clinton proposed that
$2.7 trillion from budget surpluses be
used to fund future Social Security
shortfalls, with a quarter of that
money invested in private markets by
the federal government.
Although Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan said
Wednesday that large government
investments in the stock market could
hurt the economy, Kerrey disagreed.
“I wouldn’t reject (government
investment) out of hand,” he said. “As
for Alan Greenspan saying it would
hurt the economy - I’m doubtful of
that.”
Kerrey also said he applauded
Clinton’s education proposals, partic
ularly his commitment to college edu
cation and early childhood education.
Kerrey said he was satisfied with
Clinton’s remarks on agriculture and
increased defense spending. He
applauded Clinton’s call for increased
finding for Russian nuclear disarma
ment, but said the president should
have gone further and called for
reductions to fewer than 6,000 war
heads each for the United States and
Russia.
The Senate trial of President
Clinton should not distract the country
from addressing its most pressing
issues, Kerrey said.
“We need to keep our nose to the
grindstone and continue to do the
work we were elected to do,” he said.
Hagel, meanwhile, said he count
ed 20 specific references to new
spending proposals, as well as 24 new
government regulation proposals and
no broad-based tax cuts in Clinton’s
address. v
“I think the president missed a
very significant opportunity,” he said.
“It was a big spending, big govern
ment speech.”
Hagel said he was “absolutely
opposed” to government investment
in private markets because of the
potential for political abuses that
could hurt the economy.
He said the government should
introduce privatization into the Social
Security program and allow individu
als more opportunity to make their
own investments.
Clinton’s proposal would amount
to a “quick fix” that would only defer
the program’s long-term financing
problems. That could be disastrous for
future Congresses working without
the luxury of a budget surplus, he said.
Hagel also said he opposed
Clinton’s education proposals, which
would require schools to adhere to
guidelines on teacher qualifications,
classroom discipline and academic
standards to receive federal funds.
“I’m completely opposed to the
idea that local school districts should
be clients of the federal government
with all these new regulations,” he
said.
Hagel praised Clinton for his call
for increased defense spending, but
said Clinton’s neglect of the military
in recent years had created many of
today’s needs.
Further increases will be neces
sary to fund future military operations
and pay adequate salaries, he said.
Hagel disagreed with Clinton’s
call for increased direct payments to
farmers in the midst of an agricultural
downturn. Instead, the president
should seek to open overseas markets
for agricultural products, he said.
“The real answer is coming up
with fast-track authority, opening
international markets and stopping
these crazy unilateral economic sanc
tions,” he said.
On Tuesday, Clinton became the
first impeached president ever to
deliver a State of die Union address.
Hagel said congressional Republicans
were wise to attend the speech despite
the awkwardness.
However, in the midst of his
Senate trial, Clinton should have sub
mitted his State of the Union message
to Congress in writing rather than
appear on Capitol Hill, he said.
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Journalism students visit capital
■ Thirteen residents of
the journalism learning
community traveled to
Washington, D.C., to learfi
about their fiiture careers.
By Aimee Green
Staffwriter
While most students slept comfort
ably in their beds one morning last
week, a handful of students prepared to
take a trip to work.
At 7 a.m. on Friday, part of the jour
nalism learning community on the
ninth and 10th floors of Schramm
Residence Hall boarded a plane for
Washington, D.C.
The 13 students - along with
Schramm Residence Director Keith
Zaborowski, advertising professor
Nancy Mitchell and broadcasting pro
fessor Jerry Renaud - spent five days
touring the nation’s capital and learning
about their future careers.
Housing Director Doug Zatechka
said he was pleased the learning com
munity took the trip.
“They get exposure to the practice
of the profession instead of learning
about it from a book,” he said.
The idea for the trip came about last
semester when Schramm 10 student
■ 11 =
assistant Ka’Ron Johnson told
Zaborowski about his idea for a trip to
Washington.
The College of Journalism and
Mass Communications and the resi
dence hall organized the details.
Students had to pay for food and
transportation in Washington. The rest
was paid for by the residence hall and
die journalism college.
In October, all students who were
interested in going on die trip wrote an
essay. Outofthe40to 45 students in the
community, eight were to be chosen.
But after only 13 people signed up,
organizers decided to take them all.
Freshman advertising major
Nichole Lake said she thought only 13
people signed up for the trip because
most students did not want to write the
essay.
The journalism learning communi
ty is in its first year, and the communi
ties in general began four years ago.
Learning communities were initiat
ed as a means of making students feel
comfortable on campus, said Don
Gregory, director of General Studies.
Much of the students’ academic
activity, including advising, studying
and taking classes, is held in the hall.
Lake said she was glad she joined
the journalism community
“There’s a certain bond... every
body knows everybody. They support
each other,” she said.
Gregory said the trip was only one
of the perks of living in a learning com
munity.
“The trip is just the icing on the
cake,” he said.
The community’s Washington tom
included a visit to the Holocaust
Museum, the National Archives and the
Newseum, an interactive museum
showing how and why news is made.
In addition to taking a tour of the
usual landmarks, the students also
received a behind-the-scenes tour of
USA Today.
They watched the employees put
together the next day’s paper. Then
when the paper came out, they recog
nized the articles.
Seven of the students also witnessed
history in the making. After a two-hour
wait in line, they watched 15 minutes of
the impeachment trial of President
Clinton.
Lake said being able to see the trial
was the most memorable part of the trip.
She said it was interesting to hear
what the people in Washington said
about the trial and the coming State of
the Union address.
“All they were talking about was
President Clinton,” she said.
Zaborowski said the trip benefited
students who took it
“The purpose of the trip is to take
what they’re learning in class and tie it
in with the real world,” Zaborowski
said. “D.C. was successful in doing
that”
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