~ (/ i u v - -
Alcohol sales h< jursbill
postponed indefinitely
A bill that wouta allow alcohol
to be sold until 1:30 a.m. was
indefinitely postponed Monday by
the General Affairs Committee.
LB912 was introduced Jan. 5
by Sen. John Hilgert of Omaha.
Currently, bars, liquor stores
and other retailers must stop serv
ing alcohol at 1 a.m., Hilgert said.
The bill is important because
retailers say there are some people
who go to bars in Omaha and then
drive to Iowa after closing time,
because Iowa’s bars are open until
2 a.m., Hilgert said.
The bill would have allowed
local governments to determine
what time alcohol should stop
being served.
“We need to allow our cities to
compete with the neighboring
states,” Hilgert said.
Committee Chairman Ray
Janssen of Nickerson said he
understood that some people work
late and like to go to the bars after
ward.
“If you get off work at mid
night, should you have to chug a
lot of drinks so you can be done by
one?” he said.
Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek
said he thought the bill should be
amended so alcohol could be sold
until 2 a.m., but the senators voted
against the amendment.
The bill was indefinitely post
poned, and the committee will
decide later whether to advance
the bill to the General File.
/
Senators debate
Sheldon funding bill
Legislators discussed Monday
whether the state should give
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
$3,687 million for renovations.
The bill, which was introduced
Jan. 11 by Sen. La Von Crosby of
Lincoln, would appropriate
money for renovations to the heat
ing, ventilating and air condition
ing systems at Sheldon.
“Remember Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery is a state
jewel; it doesn’t just belong to
UNL,” Crosby said.
Sheldon Curator Dan Siedell
said the museum has a collection
worth more than $100 million,
which could be jeopardized if the
current ventilation system isn’t
improved.
Siedell said it was difficult to
get money for repairs from private
donors.
“It’s hard to put up a plaque
and name it the So-and-So
Ventilation System,” he said.
The committee did not vote on
the bill and will decide at a later
date whether to advance the bill to
the General File or kill it.
Compiled by staff writer Jill
Zeman.
Campus groups collaborate
to plan Black History events
HISTORY from page 1
Black Graduate Student
Association, said the Black
Graduate Student Association
Winter Ball will bring together the
city of Lincoln for Black History
Month.
“We are opening the doors to the
community in an effort to get the
two communities together to share
an event like Black History Month,”
she said.
Anyone is invited to attend the
ball, and the dress code is formal or
semi-formal.
Tickets will be sold Friday in the
Nebraska Union for $10, Fowler
said.
Students of all ethnic back
grounds should attend the programs
offered during Black History
Month, Patton said.
“For African-American stu
dents, this gives them a chance to
learn and celebrate their culture.”
Patton said.
“For students that aren't
African-American, they have the
chance to learn about another cul
ture on campus.”
CALENDAR 6f EVENTS^"
Today'•••••••••••••••••••••••
Workshop: "How to Make the Most Out of a
Recruiter Reception*
Culture Center
5:30 - 7:30 p.M..
t-1
Third Annual Recruiter
Students of Color
Nebraska Union -
6- 8 pJf ..
kt?
February ti, 3000.. ,
"Pop Culture Impacting Racial Stereotypes*
Video and discussion
Nebraska Union
7- 10 p M..
. February 18 - 20, ..
Big XU Conference on Black Student Government
Oklahoma State University
February 27, ..
“1001 Black Inventions*
Nebraska Union Ballroom
7 p.M..
- CITY COUNCIL -
Council hears nudity debates
■ An ordinance that
would ban nudity in public
places draws fire.
By Cara Pesek
Staff writer
Exotic dancing in Lincoln could
be nearing an end.
If an ordinance discussed at
Monday’s City Council meeting pass
es, it would become illegal for a per
son to appear nude in any public
place or for an employee or performer
to have any physical contact with a
patron.
And although the ordinance
would affect all strip clubs in
Lincoln, one club in particular would
suffer.
Mataya’s Babydolls, 5600
Cornhusker Hwy., like many clubs in
Lincoln, features exotic dancers.
Unlike most clubs, though, it also
allows the dancers to touch patrons.
For a price, patrons can lick
whipped cream off a dancer’s thigh or
stomach or eat a cherry off of a
dancer’s nipple.
This sort of contact between
employees and patrons is illegal at
clubs with liquor licenses.
But Babydolls, a juice bar, does
n’t have a liquor license.
Many Lincoln residents would
like to see both the touching and the
nudity come to an end, whether alco
hol is involved or not.
I
U You see more groping and grabbing
and licking and slobbering on cable TV
than you do in my club.”
John Ways Jr.
Babydolls operations manager
Kit Boesch, human services
administrator for the city of Lincoln
and for Lancaster County, said the
proposed ordinance would be good
for Lincoln.
“What happens if we don’t allow
topless dancers?” Boesch asked the
council members. “What do we lose?
The answer is nothing.”
Boesch said the community of
Lincoln needs to set standards for
what is morally acceptable.
“I believe Lincoln is a community
with a conscience,” Boesch said.
But the proposed ordinance met
with more opposition than approval.
John Ways Jr., operations manag
er at Babydolls, doesn’t see anything
wrong with nudity or contact between
dancers and patrons.
“You see more groping and grab
bing and licking and slobbering on
cable TV than you do in my club,”
Ways said. -
He also said more groping takes
place in public places like swimming
pools than at clubs like Babydolls.
Shara Lacy, a former exotic
dancer, said she also saw no problem
with Babydoll’s entertainment.
“It’s a fanfey, nice, classy place,”
she said. “I wish there had been a
Babydolls when I was dancing.”
Lacy said there is often more
physical contact between patrons and
dancers at clubs where touching is
off-limits than there is at Babydolls.
Babydolls has more security, she
said, and the women who work there
know what they can get away with,
Lacy said.
“At other bars, the girls do all they
can do for a little extra money,” Lacy
said.
After the public hearing on the
proposed ordinance, City Council
members voted unanimously to split
the ordinance into twoNparts: one
which would prohibit nudity4n public
places, and another which woilld pro
hibit contact between patrons and
employees of non-liquor serving
establishments.
A few exceptions will be added to
the nudity ordinance. Nudity would
be excused for breast-feeding, small
children and art.
The two ordinances will be up for
discussion again at the Feb. 14 City
Council meeting.
- LEGISLATURE -
Gambling bill, fails to advance
/ "■ *• ••• IrBSP ' a#
By Jill Zeman
Staff writer
Gamblers who hoped they-could
drop their quarters in slot machines on
Nebraska American Indian reserva
tions will still have to make the trip to
Iowa, where casino gambling is legal.
LR289, which was introduced Jan.
10 by Sen. DiAnna Schimek of
Lincoln, could have changed that.
, The bill would have allowed voters
to decide whether the state constitution
should allow casino-style gambling on
federally recognized Indian reserva
tions in Nebraska.
The General Affairs committee
discussed the issue Jan. 24 and decided
Monday not to advance the bill to the
floor. ,
The eight-member committee
voted 4-4 on the issue, so the bill is not
dead, but it won’t be addressed on the
floor this session, said Sen. Jim
Cudaback of Riverdale, committee
vice chairman.
Schimek, who has voted against
legalizing gambling in the past,
explained her 180-degree turn-around
by saying this was an issue of sover
eignty.
The federal government recog
nizes American Indian tribes as sover
eign entities that can establish their
own laws, Schimek said.
The resolution addresses issues of
economic development, Schimek said.
The unemployment rate on
American-Indian reservations is more
than 70 percent, which is partly
because reservations are in remote,
inconvenient locations, Schimek said.
The resolution would help tribes
who are seeking economic self-suffi
ciency, Schimek said.
Legal casino gambling would only
be permissible on Indian lands recog
nized by the federal government as of
1988, Schimek said.
The Legislature needs to take a
strong step on the issue because the
state and the tribes are playing a game
of tug of war, Schimek said.
“It should be up to the Indian peo
ple through their tribal councils to
decide if tins is what they want on their
reservation,” she said.
There are four distinct tribes in
Nebraska: the Winnebago, Santee
Sioux, Omaha and Ponca.
Vincent Bass, vice chairman of the
Winnebago tribe in Nebraska, said
casino gambling is needed for the
tribes to maintain economic stability.
“We don’t see ‘the good life’ on our
reservations,” Bass said, referring to
the slogan: “Nebraska: The good life.”
Bass said he was disappointed the
tribes had to resort to gambling for eco
nomic development, but they are try
ing to diversify casino revenue for
other business ventures.
Pat Loontger, of the anti-gambling
group Gambling with the Good Life,
said Nebraskans have consistently
voted against the expansion of casino
gambling.
“Problem gambling is an addiction
that destroys families,” Loontger said.
“Why would we want that?”
Riverdale Sen. Jim Cudaback said
this was an issue Nebraskans should
have a say on.
“We’re not voting whether we
should legalize gambling; we’re voting )
whether this is a ballot issue,” he said.
Cudaback said he was disappoint
ed with the results of the committee
hearing.
“Such a major issue should be
before more than just eight people in a
committee,” he said.
a
-ASUN ELECTION
Campaign fine causes Fishpond to pull out of election
ByJiUZeman
Staff uriter
One of the most unconventional
parties in the ASUN student govern
ment election has dissolved for finan
cial reasons.
Members of the Fishpond party vio
lated a rule requiring parties to put the
phrase “ASUN Student Government
Ejection” on flyers.
The Fishpond flyer only contained
the words “ASUN Election,” so the
group was fined $20 by the Electoral
Commission, said Josh Hesse; execu
tive director of Fishpond and a senior
electrical engineering major.
Members of the Electoral
Commission revise the rules for elec
tions every fall, and the Association of
Students of the University of Nebraska
must approve them in the fall and
spring, said Chanda Miller, a senior
international relations and political sci
ence major and member of the commis
sion.
Miller said the first infraction of the
rules came from the Impact party who
had left the date off campaign material.
Impact was also fined $20.
“We felt Fishpond’s violation was
the same as Impact’s,” Miller said.
Miller said campaign guidelines are
distributed to each party when they sign
up, and rules are available in the ASUN
office.
Hesse said he didn’t have a copy of
the official rules with him at the time he
made the posters, so he had to
the wording.
The Fishpond party, which
ed of three members, had planned on
spending $ 15 on their campaign, Hesse
said.
Fishpond didn’t have as much
money as the other parties in the elec
tion, and they had only spent $ 1.36 so
far in the campaign., Hesse said.
“I’m the first to admit we’re kind of
cheap, but we weren*t going to prosti
tute for money,” Hesse said.
” I’m the first to admit we ’re kind of
cheap, but we weren’t going to
prostitute for money.”
Josh Hesse
Fishpond’s main platform was to put
fish in the Broyhill Fountain, and Hesse
said he had planned to run an issue
based campaign.
“We were encouraging candidates
to bring up issues that were topical,” he
said.
Fishpond executive director
Hesse said it seemed to him that no
one other than the Impact Party and
Empower party could afford to win the
election.
“I wish the other parties luck
because they’re really going to need" it,”
Hesse said.