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ASUN parties go back
on the campaign trail
Candidates gear up for another week of rallying support
ByIevaAugstums
and Kim Sweet
Staff writers
Cheers and moans pervaded two
downtown Lincoln bars Wednesday
night after UNL students sporting
green Voice and red Focus party shirts
found out they would have to wear
them for one more week.
“I thought I was going to be able to
take this thing off,” Andy Faltin,
Focus campaign manager, said. “I
promise I will wash my shirt, but then
it’s back on for the week.”
ASUN election officials deter
mined the Voice party’s narrow presi
dential victory and Focus’ second vice
presidential victory were not enough
to secure the offices.
As a result, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students will go to
the voting booth one more time next
Wednesday in a runoff election, deter
mining who will fill the Association
of Students of the University of
Nebraska’s executive offices.
“No one had really thought that
this would happen,” said Dan
Slaughter, a sophomore advertising
and Focus party supporter. “I am
shocked beyond belief.”
More than 2,700 students - or
13.2 percent of the student body -
turned out for Wednesday’s tight race.
Although voter turnout was down
0.3 percent from last year, Voice party
presidential candidate Andy
Schuerman said, the close results
proved students had an interest in the
parties.
“I think it says that students took
the opportunity to really find out
about elections and really find out
about candidates,” Schuerman said. “I
hope they will take the opportunity to
do it again next week.”
Focus party presidential candidate
Paul Schreier agreed.
“It’s apparent students are voicing
their opinions and focusing on both
parties,” Schreier said. “I’m glad to
see students are concerned about uni
versity issues and student government
ii-7
No one had really thought that this would
happen. I am shocked beyond belief.”
Dan Slaughter
Focus party supporter
representation.”
Unofficial results showed the
Voice presidential ticket defeating the
Focus presidential ticket 1,320 votes
(48.7 percent of the total votes cast) to
1,163 votes (42.9 percent of the total
votes cast).
The results also showed that Focus
party second vice presidential candi
date Trisha Meuret defeated Voice
party second vice presidential candi
date Vernon Miller by 178 votes.
ASUN election rules state that
each party candidate must have at
1 least 50 percent of the total vote for a
victory. Because neither party
acquired the majority of the votes, a
runoff election will take place.
Despite supporters’ surprised
reactions toward election results, the
candidates used the would-be vfctory
parties as their first step toward action
in the extended election week.
“We’re just going to have to take a
deep breath, get some sleep, get up in
the morning and go after it harder than
we did before,” said Rachelle Winkle,
Voice party candidate for first vice
president.
Although there was not enough
time to plan an all-out strategy for
next week, both parties said they
would continue with their previous
efforts to try to build additional sup
port.
“It’s one more week, not three
months,” said Joel Wiegert, Focus
party supporter. “It’s a deadline we all
must reach.”
| Schreier said his party is focusing
on getting out and talking to more stu
dents.
“We will do everything we can to
listen to students and their concerns,”
he said.
Although Schuerman had no spe
cific plans in mind, he said the strate
gy his party used to hear students’
voices during the last six weeks
worked well.
“I plan to do the same things we
did,” he said.
Miller and Meuret, along with Jon
England, Focus first vice presidential
candidate, agreed that mobilizing stu
dents to vote a second time would be
difficult
Miller said the only benefit of a
second election is that apathetic stu
dents can see that their vote really
does count.
Neither party was certain whether
additional debates would be held.
Besides the concern of voter turn
out both parties said next week’s stu
dent senate vote on the proposed
Committee for Fees Allocation bud
get would compete with the election.
Schreier, who is also the CFA
chairman, said he would look into
moving the budget vote date, if possi
ble.
Both parties called for students to
educate themselves about party plat
forms and make an informed decision
in the runoff election.
“I want to make a plea to the stu
dents of the University of Nebraska to
give us one more week to recognize
the efforts of the candidates and make
an informed decision,” Schuerman
said.
Schreier agreed.
“It takes a lot more than a voice to
lead the way,” he said. “It’s going to
take a group of focused students to
make an informed judgment on
Wednesday.”
Habitual sex offenders
Sen. Deb Suttle of Omaha said sen
tencing practices should be reformed to
prevent dangerous sex offenders from
repeating their crimes.
LB467, known as the Habitual Sex
Offender Act and sponsored by Suttle,
would enact a new sentencing point sys
tem to prevent repeated sex offenses.
The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee
heard the bill Wednesday.
Under the bill, a habitual sex offend
er would be a person who was convicted
of a sexual offense and was awaiting
sentencing, was previously convicted
and imprisoned for a sexual offense and
had been assessed at least four sentenc
ing points.
An enhanced point-sentencing sys
tem would assess three points for first
degree sexual assault and sexually moti
vated kidnapping, two points for offens
es such as second-degree sexual assault
and one point for offenses such as third
degree sexual assault.
The bill also would enact mandato
ry minimum sentences for convicted
sex offenders based on the number of
points they had accumulated.
Maximum sentences of life imprison
ment could be handed down for habitu
al offenders convicted of offenses such
as first-degree sexual assault or first
degree assault of a child.
A defendant’s status as a habitual
sex offender would be a factor only in
the sentencing phase of the trial; jurors
would not be told of this status as they
determined whether the defendant was
guilty of the underlying offense.
Mentally abnormal
sex offenders
The Judiciary Committee also
heard a bill Wednesday that would allow
sexually violent offenders to be com
mitted to mental health facilities after
completing their criminal sentences
when they were deemed likely to com
mit more sexual offenses because of
mental abnormalities.
LB435, sponsored by Sen. Carol
^Judkins of Malcolm, would require
imprisoned sexual offenders to be
examined by mental health profession
als at least 120 days before their release.
If the offender was deemed to have a
mental abnormality that could make
further sexual offenses likely, the men
tal health professionals would inform
the county attorney in die county where
die offender was imprisoned. The coun
ty attorney would then petition to have
die offender confined in a mental health
facility upon his release.
Opponents have argued the idea
would dump the failings of the judicial
system into the lap of mental health
facilities. Mentally abnormal people
convicted of sexual offenses should not
be confined with people who are men
tally ill but harmless, opponents have
said.
Child pornography
Because the state has a compelling
interest in preventing child pornography
and child abuse, Sen. Kermit Brashear
of Omaha said die state should do more
to restrict distribution of child nudity.
LB837 would redefine full child
nudity. To qualify as full child nudity,
material would have to repeatedly and
deliberately use fully exposed children
and be designed to call attention to the
nudity.
The bill would prohibit possession
or distribution of such materials when
designed specifically to elicit a sexual
response from the viewer.
But two nudists testified
Wednesday that the bill would unfairly
restrict distribution of their organiza
tions’ materials, some of which depict
children participating in nude recre
ation. These materials contain no sexual
element and aren’t designed to titillate,
said John Bauer of the American
Association of Nude Recreation and
Bob Martin of the Naturist Action
Committee.
Brashear said his bill would not
restrict those materials because they
didn’t meet all the tests for child nudity.
An interesting spectacle unfolded as
Bauer distributed sample copies of his
organization’s promotional material.
Several senators thumbed through the
leaflets titled “Nude Recreation.”
Compiled by staff writer Brian
Carlson
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