ASUN candidates
eligible for grants
Pepsi, bookstore to match donations
' By Kim Sweet
Staff writer
ASUN election candidates won’t
have to reach as far into their pockets
to fund their campaigns this year.
Thanks to a deal with Pepsi-Cola
and the University Bookstore, execu
tive officer candidates in this year’s
election are eligible to receive $200
in matching funds. Senate, Advisory
Board and Committee for Fees
Allocation candidates are eligible for
$50 in matching funds.
The agreement between the uni
versity, LinPepCo and Follett
College Stores came after the Voice
student election group inquired
whether it could have Coca-Cola as a
sponsor, said James Main, assistant
vice chancellor for business and
finance.
When approached, James
Griesen, vice chancellor for student
affairs, said he recommended the
UNL-Pepsi Cola beverage alliance be
utilized.
Because the future student body
president will also become the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
student regent on the NU Board of
Regents, Griesen said it would not be
appropriate for a campaign to be
sponsored by one of Pepsi’s competi
tors.
Griesen said the grants were not
intended to allow corporations to
influence the student election
process.
“We’re not trying to bring corpo
rations into this,” Griesen said. “The
objective is to minimize the personal
cost of running for office.”
The funds are available to student
election groups, independent candi
dates and write-in candidates alike,
Griesen said.
The funds of candidates belong
ing to student election groups are
• combined. Because the Voice party
has more people running under its
name, it is eligible to receive $3,300.
The Focus party is eligible to receive
$3,050 in matching funds.
As of Friday, Griesen said, Focus
had received 54 percent of the total
funds it is eligible for, and Voice had
received 66 percent.
Three independent candidates
raised the $50 necessary to receive
another $50 from Pepsi and the
University Bookstore.
Griesen said the one-year experi
ment would help ease the financial
burden that came with running for
office.
“Historically, the majority of the
u
We re not trying to
bring corporations
into this. The
objective is to
minimize the
personal cost of
running for office.”
James Greesen
vice chancellor for student affairs
money had to come from executive
officer candidates,” he said.
Unlike many universities, UNL’s
executive offices don’t come with a
paycheck, making the amount of pri
vate funds a candidate has to invest
even larger, Griesen said.
Rachelle Winkle, an executive
candidate running in next month’s
election, said she didn’t realize the
magnitude of the costs associated
with running a campaign.
“It is so much more expensive
than I ever imagined,” Winkle said.
“There are a whole bunch of hidden
costs.”
Winkle said she was happy that
LinPepCo and Follett College Stores
stepped forward to support student
government.
“It helps so much,” she said.
The only funds eligible for match
ing grants are those provided by UNL
students. The ASUN electoral com
mission approves the amounts avail
able for matching funds.
Main said it was the role of the
Electoral Commission to monitor
how the money is spent.
“In discussions, (candidates) gave
us a sense of comfort that we would
n’t be sponsoring a drunken beer-fest
in Frontier Park,” Main said. “If they
demonstrate otherwise, the support
will go away.”
Griesen said it was also the goal
of the Electoral Commission and the
two corporations to make sure the
playing field was level for all candi
dates.
The interest the university’s cor
porate partners have in supporting
perspective student leaders is com
mendable, Griesen said.
“I think it’s great that we have
business partners who are interested
in supporting a strong student gov
ernment.”
Tobacco settlement in dispute
Federal agency may vie for cut, jeopardizing state plan for money
By Brian Carlson
Staff writer
Deputy Attorney General Steve
Grasz urged lawmakers Friday to
petition Congress and the Clinton
administration to keep the federal
government’s hands off Nebraska’s
tobacco settlement.
In a hearing before the
Legislature’s Health and Human
Services Committee, Grasz testified
in support of LR29, a non-binding
resolution that would call on
Congress and the Clinton administra
tion to allow Nebraska to claim its
entire settlement.
“It is now time to ensure the state
of Nebraska is guaranteed the use of
its own settlement funds,” he said.
In the November 1998 settlement
with the tobacco industry, Nebraska
was awarded $1.16 billion for med
ical costs associated with smoking
related illnesses.
But the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services said it
should receive a portion of the settle
ment because federal Medicaid funds
also were used to treat smoking-relat
ed illnesses. In this year’s State of the
Union address, President Clinton said
the U.S. Justice Department would
bring its own litigation against the
tobacco industry.
Grasz said Nebraska and the other
45 states that joined in the lawsuit
faced the risks that came with it, so
they should keep the settlement.
“The lawsuit filed by the state of
Nebraska was based largely on viola
tion of state law under state law theo
ries,” he said. “Furthermore, the state
bore all the risk and expense of the lit
igation and settled without any assis
tance from the federal government.”
Without a prohibition on federal
recoupment of state settlement funds
passed by Congress, Grasz said, the
state could not be sure it would
receive all of the settlement
The 1998 Legislature passed a bill
to place Nebraska’s tobacco settle
ment revenues in the Nebraska
Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund,
which would pay for public health
programs across die state.
In a letter to the committee,
Attorney General Don Stenberg said
federal claims on a portion of
Nebraska’s settlement could jeopar
dize the trust fund and its programs.
“The state of Nebraska should not
be penalized for taking aggressive
action to reduce a known public
health risk, and to secure resources
for preventing youth access to harm
ful tobacco products,” he said.
Payment of settlement funds is
being delayed currendy by appeals. If
those appeals are not resolved in the
next 16 months, Grasz said, the state
will begin receiving payments on July
1,2000 automatically.
Under the settlement, Nebraska
would receive $14.2 million the first
year, $38.1 million the nett year, and
between $40 million and $50 million
annually until 2025.
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