SPORTS
It’s a fan thing
Attendance is down at Nebraska men’s basketball games.The rea
sons? Find out in the third of the three-part State of the Huskers
report. PAGE 7
A&E
Practicing what you teach
UNL Professor Marly Swick has published her
second novel, “Evening News.” In March she
_ goes on a national tour. PAGE 9
WFTWFSnAY
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January 27, 1999
Clouded Vision
Cloudy and breezy, high 42. Cloudy tonight, low 20.
Take the long way home
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
TRENT ANDERSON, a junior English and education major, walks home over the 10th Street overpass Tuesday after a day of classes
at UNL.
Jury still out
on long-haired
law student
By Ieva Augstums
Senior staff writer
NU College of Law administrators and professors
found themselves tangled up with a hairy issue Tuesday
after one of their students was denied permission to
argue misdemeanor cases in court this semester.
Thayne Glenn, a third-year NU law student, was told
he could not participate in the Criminal Clinic offered
through Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey's office
unless he cut a substantial part of his shoulder-length
hair.
Some NU professors are questioning whether stu
dents can be discriminated against based on their
appearance, though Lacey stands behind his decision.
“1 understand (Lacey’s) rationale. It's a very conser
vative establishment,'' Glenn said. “However, this has
become an issue of principle.”
Glenn has never met Lacey.
“He made his decision, and I made mine,” Glenn
said. “I wasn’t going to cut my hair.”
When contacted by the Daily Nebraskan, Lacey
would not comment on his reasons for not letting Glenn
attend the clinic.
Students who participate in the clinic, which is
offered only to third-year law' students in good standing,
are chosen through a lottery process.
Please see HAIR on 6
School aid issue delayed
By Shane Anthony
Staff writer
The Legislature delayed its first
vote Tuesday on a S22 million school
aid question.
Citing recent comments in newspa
pers, Sen. Ardyce Bohlke of Hastings
asked the Legislature for unanimous
consent to pass over LB 149. No one
voiced any objections.
Bohlke said she wanted to eliminate
concerns about rushing into the bill.
Gov. Mike Johanns has expressed
concerns about the bill, which is intend
ed to prevent a S22 million cut in school
aid next year and change the formula
that determines that aid. Johanns is
expected to address the issue today in
his State of the State Address.
“His objective, or the goal he would
like to see everyone set, is to see greater
predictability and stability in the
finance formula,” said Chris Peterson,
Johanns' press secretary.
Bohlke testified earlier to the
Education Committee that the bill was
intended to provide more predictability
and stability.
Peterson said part of Johanns’ con
cern was that an LB 149 provision set
ting the local effort rate - a major com
ponent in calculating state aid - at 10
cents below the maximum levy rate
could cause more instability, he said.
A recalculation of state aid that
schools learned about Dec. 1 sparked
LB 149. That recalculation showed the
schools received S22 million more in
state aid this year than they should have.
Under current law, schools would be
required to pay back that S22 million by
cuts in next year's budget.
Johanns will propose spending
S576 million for school aid next year,
«- -
It's too important to
have anyone feel that
they; are being rushed
to a decision."
Ardyce Bohlke
Hastings senator
Peterson said - $22 million less than
what has been certified to schools this
year. The next year, he said, Johanns
would propose spending $594 million.
But Bohlke said forcmg districts to
pay back the money could hurt schools
and work against property tax relief
two ideas she said are important to her
constituents. Schools learned how
much state aid they would receive this
year on Dec. 1, 1997. They are current
ly spendmg that money, she said.
If they are forced to pay back the
S22 million next year, she said, schools
would have to either cut programs or
seek a property tax raise to survive.
“It brings a halt to the course we've
been on over the past couple of years,”
she said. The combination of a number
of bills led to the violent swing, she said.
“It’s our mess.”
Peterson said Johanns wants to look
at LB 149 in terms of the total budget
picture. If the Legislature takes the time
to look at tax relief and wait for a dear
er picture of what LB149 would do,
lawmakers could make a more
informed decision, he said.
Bohlke said she asked to pass over
the bill because she did not want to rush
it through.
The Education Committee
advanced the bill quickly so senators
could talk to their school districts and
determine whether or not they support
it. She said she expected the bill to come
before the Legislature again next week.
“It’s too important to have anyone
feel that they are being rushed to a deci
sion,” she said.
If the bill moves to general file, she
said, the next step - a vote to place it on
select file - would not occur until at
least March 15. By that time, she said,
the Department of Education would
have a corrected state-aid picture.
The bill does need to pass by Apnl
1, so schools could have time to make
staffing decisions by an Apnl 15 dead
line, she said.
UNL Latino fraternity
ready to make an impact
By Veronica Daehn
Staff writer
With the support of the greek
system, some members of the
UNL Latino community are
working to expand a fraternity
and. in the future, maybe even start
a sorority.
Sigma Lambda Beta
Fraternity, a traditionally non
exclusive Latino fraternity, gained
membership in the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln's greek system
last November.
Since then, President Jose
Phillips and the group's eight other
members have been making plans
for the fraternity's future.
This semester, Phillips said
Sigma Lambda Beta members will
focus their energy on helping with
an after school program for Latino
youth.
“With this program, we’ll not
only better the community, but
ourselves, too,” he said.
The fraternity originated last
spring when Phillips and fellow
member, junior Juan Izaguirre,
held a meeting for those interested
in joining.
New members will have a
chance to join the fraternity this
semester, Phillips said.
A meeting for prospective
members will be held Feb. 8 at
6:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union
Colonial room. Phillips encour
aged anyone interested to attend,
as the fraternity is not exclusively
Latino.
“Anyone who is willing to
commit their time and put in hard
work (can be a member).” Phillips
said.
Patrick Luis Foster, a sopho
more Sigma Lambda Beta mem
ber, said his experience has been
beneficial.
Though he wasn't involved in
a failed attempt to start the frater
nity two years ago, Foster said he
was inspired to start a chapter after
attending the United States
Flispanic Leadership Conference
in October 1997.
“We felt we needed a home for
ourselves,” Foster said. “Since the
greek system is predominantly
white, we wanted to let people
know we were here.”
Please see LATINO on 6
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