Johanns lauds children’s health insurance program
By Josh Knaub
Staff writer
A year-old program that provides health
insurance to poor children has been particularly
successful in reaching those eligible, Gov. Mike
Johanns said Wednesday.
Johanns said Kids Connection, an extension
of Medicaid coverage for Nebraska children 18
and under, has enrolled 18,400 out of an esti
mated 24,000 eligible children.
Deb Sherer, program manager, said the
number of eligible children was projected from
census data.
Johanns said Kids Connection was good for
Nebraska children.
“This is a program that I not only support
but am very excited about,” he said.
Kids Connection provides health care cov
erage to children of families living at or below
185 percent of the federal poverty level.
For example, a family of three earning
$25,700 or less per year would be eligible.
Johanns credited his administration with
making sure enrolling eligible kids in the pro
gram was “a top priority.”
“(Kids Connection) has made us the envy of
many other states,” Johanns said.
Bill Wiley of Nebraska Health and Human
Services said the program is funded with both
state and federal money.
Human rights panel to visit UNL
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
Human rights violations may
seem like something that only hap
pens in foreign countries, but many
violations also happen here in the
United States.
This week, students will have the
chance to learn more about the viola
tions that happen in their own country.
Morton Winston, former chairman
of the board of directors of United
States Amnesty International, is in
Lincoln this week to help educate stu
dents about human rights violations.
Winston’s Thursday presentation
will begin with a panel discussion
titled, “U.S. Violations of Human
Rights: Amnesty International
Accuses,” at the Nebraska Union at
3:30 p.m. Discussion will center on
the role the United States has played in
human rights violations.
Winston will then join a panel of
University of Nebraska-Lincoln pro
fessors including Robert Hitchcock,
associate professor of anthropology;
Susan A. Miller, assistant professor of
history and ethnic studies; and Miguel
Carranza, associate professor of soci
ology and ethnic studies.
Winston will also present a lecture
on Friday titled “Human Rights: Civil,
Political and Beyond,” at 2:30 p.m.,
also in the Nebraska Union.
Winston said students may be
unaware of the extent of human rights
violations that go on in the United
States.
“Students think that it’s a problem
over there in Latin America, or in
Africa, or in other third world coun
tries, not over here,” Winston said in
an interview before his appearances.
About every year Amnesty
International focuses on a different
country’s record on human rights. This
year, Amnesty International focused
on the United States with its campaign
“United States of America: Rights for
All.”
The campaign, which began last
October after a year of planning,
focused on police brutality, abuse of
prisoners, abuse of asylum for
refugees, use of the death penalty, U.S.
arms and military training and the lack
of concern by the U.S. for internation
al human rights violations.
Winston has been a member of
Amnesty International since 1977.
During that time he has volunteered
on committees including his local
Philadelphia group and the South
African Coordination Group, which
he previously headed.
Winston is a professor of philoso
phy at the College of New Jersey in
Trenton.
Through this v-isit to UNL,
Winston said he hopes college stu
dents “get a better appreciation of the
facts that are there.”
Bill passes for researching new ID cards
By Veronica Daehn
Staff writer
ASUN senators passed a bill
Wednesday night allowing them to
research a new type of student ID
card.
The new campus card would have
more functions, said Andy Faltin,
chairman of the Government Liaison
Committee.
The card being researched would
not only serve as a credit and debit
card on campus, but at the bank and
other businesses as well, Faltin said.
In order to explore the options
further, the bill was necessary to lift a
moratorium in place by State
Treasurer Dave Heineman.
The moratorium prevented
ASUN from lobbying or finding out
more specific information about the
cards.
“We aren’t making any sort of
qualitative judgment on what the card
should be,” Faltin said. “This will just
open up another option to look at in
financing.”
Faltin said his committee could
not even address the card as an option
unless the bill passed.
ASUN president Andy
Schuerman said the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln central adminis
tration was interested in the project,
and the bill was necessary for ASUN
to get involved.
“With this, we’re volunteering to
join the effort of lobbying,”
Schuerman said. “This does not tie us
to any campus card or any fees. All
this does is empower the Government
Liaison Committee.”
If the new cards are adopted, a pri
vate bank would sign an agreement to
finance them, Faltin said. Without
that financing, there would be an
increase in student fees for each card.
The increase in fees was a con
cern, but Faltin said there are no
specifics of the price increase right
now. Most questions cannot be
answered until more research is done.
Passage of the bill ensured Senate
approval, and the Government
Liaison Committee can now begin ■
gathering information.
John Grebe, Teachers College
senator, said he thought the bill was a
good idea.
“This bill’s just helping us look at
options,” he said. “That will never
hurt any student body to do.
Information’s always good at this
point.”
Faltin said updated campus cards
are inevitable and recommended an
“overhaul of the current system.”
Cody Northrop, College of
Engineering and Technology senator,
agreed.
The new cards will provide
opportunities necessary to the univer
sity, he said.
“With centralized printing and
access to buildings, it’s going to be
the future of this campus anyway.”
Faltin said though the bill has
passed, nothing is certain.
“(It’s) all a work in progress,” he
said. “We’re just looking at options.
Nothing’s set in stone.”
Fire, arrest follow argument |
By Jake Bleed
Senior staff writer
An argument early Wednesday
morning resulted in a fire-gutted apart
ment and a 23-year-old man in police
custody.
John Kinnaird, 23, was arrested on
an outstanding warrant for contempt
and possession of marijuana with intent
to manufacture after police found sever
al marijuana plants in his apartment.
Fire Inspector Chuck Schweitzer said
the fire was intentionally set.
Police and fire crews responded to a
call from 1924 F St. Apt. 5 at about 2:25
Wednesday morning. Schweitzer said
smoke could be seen pouring from the
building and that the blaze caused
extensive damage to the apartment. He
said the fire was under control after
about 10 minutes.
Officer Katherine FinnelL said
police entered the apartment and found
several tire-damaged rooms, a dead
adult dog of unknown breed and five
small marijuana plants. Police said the
dog died of smoke inhalation.
Finnell said Kinnaird and a 29-year
old woman got into an argument in the
evening that ended when the woman
left. Finnell said the woman left for her
parents’ house, which she reached
approximately the same time police and
fire crews received the fire call.
Police found Kinnaird on the scene
after arriving, Finnell said. Kinnaird
told police he had also left the house
and, returning, found the house on fire.
The fire caused an estimated
$ 15,000 in damage to the apartment and
$5,000 to the contents of the apartment.
Schweitzer refused to state the spe
cific cause of the fire while the case was
still under investigation but said the fire
did not start naturally.
Finnell said the argument began
after Kinnaird failed to meet the 29
year-old woman on time.
He said 76 percent of the money came from
federal sources as part of the national
Children’s Health Insurance Program, while 24
percent was from state coffers.
Johanns said Nebraska, measured against
other states in Children’s Health Insurance
Program recruitment, was third in the nation.
He said the program’s success was based on
the extensive use of outreach programs.
“We must continue to aggressively promote
Kids Connection,” Johanns said. “It is the right
thing to do.”
Jeff Elliott, director of Health and Human
Services Finance and Support, said the pro
gram was effective in recruiting eligible chil
dren because it used existing Medicaid
employees, so a new agency did not have to be
created.
Elliott said this freed funds for outreach and
education programs.
Elliott said that while the program’s recruit
ing was impressive, it was not finished.
“Every eligible child should have health
coverage,” he said.
Scherer said that as part of the effort to
enroll every eligible child, a Kids Connection
information booth was set up at the state fair
and at several county fairs.
In its first year, Kids Connection paid $3.4
million to health care providers.
An additional $553,270 went to administra
tive and marketing costs.
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Congratulations! The Gamma Theta Chapter of Alpha
Tau Omega at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
received the 1998-1999 True Merit Award, an honor
reserved for only the top 5% of all ATfl chapters for
superiority in chapter operations, campus leadership,
and service to the community. Gamma Theta was also
awarded for excellence in communication and
excellence in scholarship.