Rustad’s Senate bid official
ByJillZeman
Staff writer
Another candidate officially joined
the heated race for the U.S. Senate seat
currently occupied by Sen. Bob
Kerrey.
Elliott Rustad, a Republican from
Lincoln, officially announced his can
didacy for the Senate on Wednesday in
the Capitol.
Rustad said he decided last fall to
enter the race because he realized the
people of Nebraska felt strongly about
issues he had knowledge of.
“The issues chose me rather than
me choosing the issues,” he said.
Rustad, a physician, said health
care is his primary concern. Other
issues important to him are agriculture,
veterans’ affairs, taxation and retire
ment security.
Rustad said he thought he could
apply his experience as a doctor to the
Senate.
“As a physician, I am involved in
diagnosing a condition, prescribing
medication and curing the problem,”
he said.
Rustad said he wants to make
health care more accessible.
Rustad also acknowledged that his
background is different from other
candidates, including former Gov. Ben
Nelson, Attorney General Don
Stenbeig and Secretary of State Scott
Moore.
“Everyone else has a strong politi
cal background,” Rustad said. “In con
trast, coming from the private sector, I
have a strong background in the issues
at hand.”
Rustad said it didn’t matter to him
who his opponents were because he
was intent on solving problems facing
Nebraskans, in the face of any and all
opposition.
“I think the people in general agree
we need new blood (representing them
in government),” he said.
Josh Wolfe/DN
DR. KEITH CRUTCHER, from the University of Cincinnati, speaks
Wednesday to the Judiciary Committee of the state Legislature about a
bill that would ban the use of aborted fetal tissue in research.
retal tissue research
debated in committee
AlAL from page 1 • - - ;
Cento- was using aborted fetal tissue
in research for Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s diseases.
Schmit-Albin and her organiza
tion, which consists of65,000 house
holds across Nebraska, gathered
9,000 petition signatures against
UNMC’s research.
Dr. Keith Crutcher, professor of
neurosurgery at the University of
Cincinnati Medical Center, said the
research can be conducted without the
use of aborted fetal tissue.
“It seems like an appealing situa
tion,” he said. “People look at all die
tissue and think that since it’ll just be
thrown away, they could put it to a
good use, which is a false hope.” '
Research using aborted fetal tis
sue has been abolished since 1974 in
Ohio, and research done atUCMC
has not suffered, he said.
Crutcher said the research could
use cells obtained from other sources,
such as miscarriages or stillbirths.
UNMC doesn’t use cells from
miscarriages because the cells need to
be viable, and many women do not
know when the actual miscarriage
occurs, said Dr. Sam Cohen, chairman
and professor of microbiology and
pathology at UNMC. ,<
Cohen also said the bill potential
ly could stop promising research con
ducted at UNMC.
“We’ve been looking for alterna
tives for a long time, but the contro
versy has accelerated our efforts,”
Cohen said.
. University of Nebraska Regent
Drew Miller of Papillion said the
research in no way encourages or
legitimizes abortion.
“If an elective abortion is an evil
act, then destroying die tissue is a sec
ond evil act,” he said.
Miller said the research has the
potential to save lives of those affected
by Alzheimer’s orParitinson’s disease.
Miller told Hilgert: “I want you to
tell the people in your district that have
Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease
that we should incinerate tissue that .
could possibly save their lives.”
Leo
Bill would change state statutes
for minors seeking abortions
The Nebraska Legislature’s
Judiciary Committee heard testimony
Wednesday on a bill that would change
parts of Nebraska’s statutes related to
abortion.
LB 1291, introduced by Mark
Quandahl of Omaha on Jan. 18, would
formally state that Nebraska prefers
child birth over abortion.
In addition, the bill would require
that guardians of abortion patients
attend abortions and provide photo
identification proving their identity.
If the guardians could not attend the
procedure, the guardians would have to
send a notarized letter to the physician,
which would express their knowledge
of the procedure.
Nancy Wolf, who testified against
the bill, said she the notary requirement
violated women’s privacy.
Julie Schmit-Albin, director of .
Nebraska Right to Life, said die notary
requirement is necessary.
“There is a Web site that allows ,
children to forge their parents’ signa- .
tures on consent documents,” Schmit- J
Albin said
No action was taken on the bill.
Chambers testifies on annual
capital punishment bill
The Nebraska Legislature’s
Judiciary Committee heard testimony
Wednesday on a bill that would abolish
capital punishment in Nebraska.
LB1118, introduced on Jan. 10 by
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, would
change the maximum sentence for
first-degree murder from electrocution
to life without parole.
“I do not believe that the state
should take die life of any person,” said
Chambers, who annually introduces
bills to abolish die death penalty.
Sean Lewis, a UNL graduate stu
dent, also testified in favor of the bill
and was concerned about the execution
of innocent people.
“We have to decide what loss of
human life is acceptable,” Lewis said
No action was taken on the bill.
Compiled by staff writer George
Green
Bill wouldfund newspaperprogram
■ Newsline for the Blind
may become financed with
state and federal money.
ByGwenTietgen
Staff writer
If you take reading the newspaper
for granted; try reading it with your eyes
closed. ,
LB 1366 would make this possible
for the visualfy impaired through
Newsline for the Blind, a digital voice
newspaper delivery system.
Hie bill, introduced by Sea Chris
Beutler of Lincoln, was discussed
Wednesday in the Health and Human
Services Committee and later advanced
out of committee to general file.
The bill would provide state and
federal funding for Newsline, replacing
current funding by grants, Bedtler said.
Amy Rut, who is visually impaired
and the outreach coordinator for
Newsline for the Blind, said she has
spent a lot of time working on grant
proposals and that this funding would
help.
Rut dialed up Newsline and gave
committee members a dose of what the
voice newspaper system is like.
The system, which uses prerecord
ed voices, provides the visually
impaired with three national newspa
pers-USA Today, the Washington Post
and the Chicago Tribune - and the
Omaha-World Herald.
The bill aims td add at least one
more local newspaper to the list.
Newsline was first available in June
1999 and has beat available statewide
since November 1999.
Barbara Walker is visually impaired
and supported the bill as a representa
tive for the National Federation of die
Blind of Nebraska.
“The blind want access to news just
like you,” Walker said.
Newsline, based in Baltimore, Md.,
is patterned after a system in Louisiana.
, The system provides options, such
as choosing what voice to hear, regulat
ing how fast it speaks and being able to
hear how a word is spelled.
Bob Barns, representing the
American Federation for the Blind,
said: “Since I lost my sight 17 years
ago, I’ve had to ask my jyife what’s
going on, and getting her to read the
sports section isn’t easy.
“I think taxpayers can see the intrin
sic value of this.”
Dave Oertli, who works for the talk
ing book and Braille service for
Nebraska Library Communications,
supported the bill.
“This is an important service that
provides information for those who
couldn’t otherwise get it,” Oertli said.
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