ASUN ruled compliant
AbUN from page 1
take action on it until the start of this
school year.
Members deliberated the case, and,
in a 5-2 ruling, said ASUN could dis
play the pink Allies triangle, as it was
not in violation of the bylaw.
ASUN President Andy Schuerman
wrote the defense brief for the court.
In the brief, he said the pink triangle
not only makes the office safe for gays
and lesbians, but for all students.
“.. .(the Bill) provides the opportu
nity for ASUN as an institution.. .to
declare its intention to help ‘define an
environment of personal safety, (and to
show its) commitment to diversity and
mutual respect,”’ Schuerman wrote.
The court’s decision was that the
sticker did not identify a political group
or candidate, Schuerman said.
Steele disagreed with the court’s
decision, and wrote a dissenting opin
ion.
The main reason for dissent was
disagreement over the interpretation of
bylaw No. 6, he said.
“I can assure you this was not a ref
erendum on the Allies stickers them
selves,” Steele said. “This was an hon
est difference of opinion about the
intent of the bylaw.”
Steele said the court has been inac
tive for so long because students do not
know about its service.
Marlene Beyke, ASUN director of
development, agreed.
“(Students’ lack of knowledge) is
part of it,” she said. “Oftentimes, a stu
dent in a student organization doesn’t
know where to go for an outside opin
ion, so they drop out”
Beyke said ASUN does try to pub
licize the student court.
The service is included in all
brochures, and it will be included in the
ASUN listserv message that gets sent
out each semester.
Any UNL student can use the stu
u
It serves as a great
way to do checks and
balances
Andy Schuerman
ASUN president
dent court, Beyke said, as long as the
complaint has to do with a student
organization.
Schuerman described the court as
the judicial branch of student govern
ment.
“It serves as a great way to do
checks and balances,” he said.
Schuerman said he is happy with
the court’s first decision in five years.
“The Allies sticker is a sign of sup
port for the gay and lesbian movement,
and is a sign of a safe place,” he said.
Student leader removed
By Lindsay Young
Senior editor
UNO student government presi
dent Jon Shradar was removed from
office last weekend, and his lawyer Jim
Schaefer said Shradar may have been
treated differently than other students.
Shradar received a letter Saturday
from University of Nebraska at Omaha
administration saying he was put on
disciplinary probation, making him
ineligible to lead UNO’s student body.
Shradar was ticketed at UNO’s
first home football game this year on
suspicion of disorderly conduct.
According to the UNO student
code of conduct, an act occurring on
the university campus that intentional
ly disturbs the peace of any person or
group is subject to disciplinary action.
After examining accusations, the
vice chancellor for student services
can put the student on probation.
Schaefer said Shradar plans on
appealing UNO’s decision. No crimi
nal charges have been filed against
Shradar. If charges are filed, he will be
arraigned in court Oct. 15.
Scott Thomas, speaker of the UNO
student senate and the student who
would serve as interim president, said
he thought Schradar’s conduct was
“worthy of attention.”
Thomas said he had heard there
was “a lot of pressure” on UNO
administrators to remove Schradar
from office, some of which he had
heard was from the Board of Regents.
Students will vote on a special bal
lot Oct. 12-13 to replace Shradar.
Schaefer said his client’s actions at
the game were normal.
“The things he was doing happen
at every football game,” Schaefer said.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily disor
derly conduct.”
Staff members Veronica Daehn
and Sarah Baker contributed to this
report.
I
NU panel
named to
determine
priorities
PANEL from page 1
orities,” Foster said “In that sense, this
is a good type of exercise to go
through.”
Schuerman, who will serve as one
of two students on the committee, said
he was happy to see student representa
tion on the panel.
Schuerman said he was disappoint
ed that there wasn’t student representa
tion from every campus. * n
“But that just means I will have to
do double duty,” he said.
One of the biggest difficulties
Schuerman said he anticipates is the
challenge of setting criteria to apply to
four campuses, each with its own
unique aspects.
bach campus has a unique mis
sion,” Schuerman said. “Creating a cri
teria will be a challenge but will also
present a great opportunity for dialogue
between the campuses.”
It has not yet been determined
when the first meeting of the panel will
take place, said Dara Troutman, NU
assistant vice president for external
affairs and director of external commu
nications.
Troutman said she predicted the
first meeting would be in the fall.
There is no set deadline for the
panel to set the criteria, Troutman said
“President Smith is more con
cerned with getting it done right than
getting it done quickly,” Troutman said
Once the criteria are set, they will
be handed down to each university in
the NU system. It will then be up to fac
ulty and administrators to implement
them.
Creating the criteria is one chal
lenge, Schuerman said, but the next
comes when the campuses are expect
ed to implement them.
“I’m interested to see (the Board of
Regents’) commitment to prioritization
and how dedicated they are to it,”
Schuerman said “I’m interested to see
if they can carry it out or whether the
Board of Regents will buckle under
political pressure.”
