LINCOLN (AP) - When Minnesota Gov.
Jesse Ventura talks about the benefits of a unicam
eral, or one-house, government, he makes some of
the same arguments the father of Nebraska’s
unique system put forth more than 60 years ago.
That doesn’t mean Ventura is studying the
political moves of former US. Sen. George Norris.
“I don’t even know who he is,” Ventura said.
“Who is he?”
Ventura may not know that without Norris, a
populist from McCook who served in the U.S.
House and Senate for a combined 40 years from
1903 to 1943, Nebraska likely would still have a
bicameral, or two-house, state legislature.
Ventura doesn’t care about Norris. He only
cares about the unicameral idea.
“I’ve only looked at the results and how it
works because, really, I am not concerned with
who did it,” Ventura said.
Norris, who was respected by Republicans and
Democrats alike, championed die radical idea of
creating a one-house Legislature for years before
Nebraska voters in 1934 agreed to make the
change.
Sixty-five years later, Nebraska remains the
only state in the country with a unicameral legisla
ture.
The arguments Norris made to persuade
Nebraskans to support the idea are strikingly sim
ilar to the ones being offered by Ventura in his
home state.
Ventura, like Norris, said he favors the uni
cameral structure because it gets rid of secretive
conference committees, it reduces the size of gov
ernment and it makes it harder for lobbyists to
exert influence.
Making his argument sell will not be an easy
one for Ventura in Minnesota, just as it was not for
Norris in Nebraska.
An opposition group, calling itself OUCH -
Opponents of a Unicameral House - has enlisted
die help of heavyweight politicians in Minnesota,
including three former House speakers and a for
mer GOP State chairman.
They aigue that a one-house legislature won’t
save much money and would concentrate power in
the hands of a smaller group, making it easier for
key decisions to be made behind closed doors.
Ventura envisions a Legislature with no more
than 135 lawmakers, and he wants it to be nonpar
tisan. That would essentially eliminate the state’s
67-member Senate.
Nebraska’s Legislature has 49 members.
Unlike Nebraska, where a successful initiative
petition forced the unicameral issue on the ballot,
both the Senate and House in Minnesota would
first have to approve of a unicameral plan before it
would go before voters for the final decision.
Norris said in his autobiography that
Nebraska’s state legislators wouldn’t have been
persuaded to make die switch to a unicameral sys
tem.
Convincing the politicians to vote themselves
out of office will be Ventura’s biggest challenge,
said University of Nebraska-Lincoln political sci
ence Professor Robert Sittig. \
“No one gave him a chance of being elected
governor, and after he pulled that off l suppose
anything is possible,” Sittig said. “But it’s an uphill
battle.”
Ventura concedes it will be a challenge.
“There’s 70 to 80 of them that have the possi
bility of not being here anymore,” he said. “And
professional politicians don’t want to lose their
profession.”
44
No one gave him a chance of
being elected governor, and
after he pulled that off I
suppose anything is possible.
But its an uphill battle.”
Robert Sittig
UNL political science professor
State Sen. Ernie Chambers has served in
Nebraska’s Legislature for 29 years, longer than
any other current member. It’s the people, more
than the form of government, that determine how
well it works, he said.
“Every state has to choose its own poison, and
I’m not in a position to say what would be better
for them,” Chambers said. “You have fewer mis
creants to keep track of when you have a unicam
eral.”
Air Force captain gets jail term
■ Capt. Douglas Bass
will serve four months for
having affairs with two
enlisted women.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE (AP)
— An Air Force captain will serve four
months in a military jail before being
dismissed from the service for affairs he
had with two enlisted women.
Capt. Douglas M. Bass was sen
tenced Thursday after pleading guilty to
nine counts of violating military law for
having sex with the women — includ
ing one he later married—and attempts
to hide one of the affairs.
Bass also admitted to making a false
statement to an investigator and dis
obeying orders to end his relationship
with Krystal Carr, an airman he met at
Offutt and married last month.
He also had an affair with an
unidentified staff sergeant at Barksdale
Air Force Base in Louisiana. That
woman was not under his command.
“I take full responsibility formy
actions,” Bass said at his court-martial
Thursday.
Bass read a statement to the court
outlining his personal life since joining
the military through South Dakota Air
Force National Guard in 1987. He told
of how his first two marriages failed
because he believed his wives were
unfaithful. He said he wanted to leave
the military, but when his oldest child
was diagnosed with leukemia, he kept
his job to provide adequate health insur
ance for his sick son.
Bass also admitted to suffering a
nervous breakdown and later attempt
ing to resign from the Air Force.
“I offer this more as a roadmap of
who I am,” he said. “I have always felt
like a square peg in a round hole while
on active duty.”
Bass faced up to 28 years in military
prison in addition to being dismissed—
the equivalent of a dishonorable dis
charge for officers.
Bass’ civilian attorney Andrew
Strotman said following the sentencing
that Bass was disappointed in the sen
tence but understands it.
“More than anything, he’s just glad
it’s over,” Strotman said.
Strotman said he plans to file a
request for clemency with the conven
ing authority for the 12th Air Force.
During testimony Thursday, mili
tary attorneys told of how Bass was the
commanding officer over Carr and her
first husband Mien their affair started in
August 1998, shortly after Carr’s hus
band was deployed to Saudi Arabia.
The night Carr’s first husband
returned from overseas duty, Bass slept
with Carr at the house of another air
man, attorneys said.
When military officials learned
about the affair in February, they
ordered Bass to end it. He denied the
relationship to an investigator.
“In February I went in to make a
statement to ease my conscience and
ease my life,” Bass said.
When asked how many times he
had contact with Carr after ordered to
end their relationship, Bass replied: “I
can’t put a number on it.”
He later said it was definitely more
than 100 times.
Carr also refused to end the affair,
and she was convicted of violating mili
tary law. She served 50 days of a 60-day
sentence and was released early for
good behavior in May.
Bass, 33, married Carr, 21, last
month in Elk Point, S.D., after the
divorce from her first husband was
finalized.
Military prosecutor Capt. Stephen
Romine asked the court to dismiss and
imprison Bass. Romine said confine
ment is “absolutely essential” in this
case and urged the military court to con
sider the fact that Carr’s first husband
returned from overseas duty to find his
commander living with his wife.
Strotman asked the judge to give
Bass a “purely military punishment for
a purely military offense.”
Strotman argued that to confine
Bass would stigmatize him as a crimi
nal, subjecting him to civilian criticism
and hardship.
No discharge action has been taken
against Carr, who was not at her hus
band’s court-martial. Military officials
say they expect action to dismiss her
will begin next week.
Police conduct autopsy
in ‘suspicious* death
Lincoln police are investigating
the death of an 86-year-old Lincoln
man found dead in his home
Thursday morning.
Kenneth C. Genuchi was found
by a family member, police said. An
autopsy was under way late Thursday
evening. Police had labeled the death
as suspicious until a cause of death
can be determined.
Police release identity
of man found dead Monday
The identity of a 48-year-old man
found dead on a pallet at the TMCO
company Monday was released by
police as William Sorenberger of
1919 S. 26th St.
Although the cause of death has
yet to be determined, Officer
Katherine Finnell said police did not
suspect foul play.
Officials: Insults sparked fight
A fight broke out near-Lincoln
Northeast High School on
Wednesday after two white men
drove next to and then taunted two
black students, police said.
Finnell said two white men, ages
16 and 20, exchanged insults, includ
ing racial epithets, with two black
Northeast students, aged 16 and 17.
The 17-year-old black student
responded to the insults, Finnell said,
by throwing a piece of concrete
through the driver’s side window,
which was open, causing a 3-inch cut
on the white 16-year-old’s chin.
Finnell said a Northeast High
School security guard and Lincoln
police officers intervened and ended
the conflict.
Both die 16-year-old and 20-year
old white men were cited for disturb
ing the peace. The 20-year-old was
jailed, >
The 17-year-old black student
was charged with third-degree
assault.
Compiled by senior staff writer
Jake Bleed
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