students how to build character
By Lesley Owusu
Staff writer
Making a difference and having
positive character were the key ideas
taught to students Monday night at the
Creating a Community of Character
conference featuring Michael S.
Josephson.
Josephson, who is the founder of the
nonprofit Josephson Institute of Ethics,
discussed the importance of character
building in the Nebraska Union.
“One has to be the sculpture of (his
or her) character,” Josephson said. “You
have to know who you want to be, not
what you want to be.”
Josephson also founded the
Character Counts! Coalition, a partner
ship of more than 350 educational and
youth organizations dedicated to
strengthening the character of
America’s young people based on con
sistent core ethical values.
The “Six Pillars of Character,”
which include trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, fairness, caring and citi
zenship, were identified as the most
important requirements of good ethics.
Josephson discussed what qualities
^ r ' - - y V -- ~fZ r ^' ’
can create a good character.
“A person of character makes tough
choices when the cost of doing the right
thing is high,” he said.
Chancellor James Moeser recog
nized the importance of the program at a
Monday noon press conference.
“Character Counts! is not just for
kids,” he said. “The same mechanism
can be useful on campus for our own
students.”
Josephson said many young people
have a false idea of what true character
ethics are really about.
Happiness, maintaining meaningful
relationships and building a good char
acter are the things that young people
need to focus on instead of material
things, he said.
“Wealth, good looks, athletic ability
and fame really mean nothing when
you’re forgotten,” Josephson said.
“Many of us want to be remembered for
our positive contributions we made in
our lives.”
Josephson encouraged students to
start developing their character immedi
ately so they can become better people.
Students must also learn to be content
when they don’t get what they want.
■ m bb^h mb mmmm —^
“Being in control of your life is
being content with what you have,” he
said. “Having a purpose in life gives you
direction and defines your character.”
The program has changed the way
millions of young people behave, he
said.
In Nebraska, 31,000 young people *
have been involved with Character
Counts! programs.
Nearly 85 percent of Nebraska
teachers who have had contact with
Character Counts! said the program has :
been a positive influence on their stu
dents, Josephson said. 2
A QT TTVT SAMPLE BALLOT a CT TT\T
AOUI)l GENERAL ELECTION U IN
MARCH 1, 2(K)0
ASUN Student Government Constitution
| II. “The ASUN Constitution shall be recast so that its language will be
, gender neutral. In order for the Constitution with its newly recast
' language to come into effect the changes made to achieve this purpose
| shall all be approved by the ASUN Senate.”
A “yes” vote here calls for the ASUN leadership to prepare an updated
| version of the ASUN Constitution which would be clearly gender neutral,
(i.e. he/she) before coming into effect, the new language would need to
be approved by the ASUN Senate.
A “no” vote here calls for retention of the male specific pronouns in
places where the Constitution is intended to refer to both males and
females.
Election of the President, First Vice President
and Second Vice-President
Currently, the ASUN President, First Vice President and Second Vice
President, in order to be elected without a run-off election, must obtain
either a majority of all votes cast or receive more votes than his or her
nearest competitor by a margin of at least 10% of all the votes cast -
irrespective of whether the votes were cast for ineligible candidates such
as Mickey Mouse.
A “yes” vote for this amendment will require that the required margin of
difference must only be 10% of the total votes cast for eligible
candidates. This will not interfere with write-in ballots for eligible student
candidates, but it will prevent the inclusion of votes cast for ineligible
candidates in the tally.
A “no” vote on this amendment will continue the current process
whereby the votes cast for ineligible candidates affect the outcome of the
election just as if they had been cast for eligible candidates.
Division of Continuing Studies
The legislative, executive and judicial branches of the Association shall be
as follows:
Section 1. The Student Senate, hereinafter referred to as the Senate.
B. Eligibility.
1. Elected members. To be eligible for election to the Senate, a
candidate must:
Presently:
c. The senator from the Division of Continuing Studies must be enrolled
with at least three (3) credit hours.
Change to:
Delete this section.
A vote “yes” for this amendment would remove a Senate seat
designated to represent the Division of Continuing Studies and reassign
these students to the Division of General Studies. This amendment will
make the credit-hour enrollment requirement for eligibility to run and serve
in the ASUN Senate the same (12) for candidates from the Division of
Continuing Studies (DCS> as they are for all other candidates. It will
eliminate the special rule by which part time DCS students carrying as few
as three hours are eligible to serve.
.
A vote “no” for this amendment will allow a person enrolled in only three
hours (and who meets the other criteria) to run for a seat designated to
represent the Division of Continuing Studies.
I
STUDENT FEE FUND B SURVEY
ASUN is surveying student opinion on the Fund B portion of
student fees. This is strictly a survey which will enable
ASUN representatives to further realize student sentiment
on student fees. DISTRIBUTION of student fees collected
from each full-time student per semester for the fiscal year
1999-2000.
FACILITY FEE.$38.00
UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTER,.$98.07
NEBRASKA UNIONS.$48.39
CAMPUS REC. PROG.&FACILITIES. $59.70
1 )YES NO Do you approve of $38.00 of your student fees
being collected to support the Facility Fee for the financing
the Nebraska Union, East Union and Health Center?
2) YES NO Do you approve of $98.07 of your student fees
being collected to support Jhe operation of the University
-Health Center”?' • v ^ V Vi A
3) YES NO Do you support $48.39 of your student fees
being collected to support the Nebraska Unions?
4) YES NO Do you support $59.70 of your student fees
being collected to support Campus Recreation Programs
and Facilities?
i
I
ALL FUND A FEES ARE REFUNDABLE UPON
REQUEST
FUND A Student Fee Allocation Question
Refundable upon request.
ASUN must conduct a student referendum on the following fee
agencies. This question is conducted in compliance with
Regental Policy. Any agency voted down on this referendum will
NOT be funded for those specific lines of their budget.
Distribution of Student Fees collected from each full-time student
per semester for the fiscal year 1999 includes:
Daily Nebraskan...$1.19
University Program Council Speakers Program...$0.50
Do you approve the allocation of a part of student fees collected
to support the Daily Nebraskan during the 2000-2001 fiscal
year?
YES NO
Do you approve the allocation of a part of student fees collected
to support campus speakers programs during the 2000-2001
fiscal year?
YES NO
This question is conducted in compliance with Regental Policy of
Fund A Student Fees approved September 6,1991.
■
__I
Case could ;
clear up state j
abortion law
By Michelle Starr
| Staff writer
The first of two petitions to the U.S.
Supreme Court were filed Monday
concerning a 1997 Nebraska law that
bans partial-birth abortions.
Tlie court’s decision could clarify a
long-standing national debate about the
extent of women’s rights to terminate
pregnancies.
Similar laws banning partial-birth
abortions have been adopted in 28 other
I states since 1995. But courts have
blocked the bans in 19 of those states.
The case, Attorney General Don
Stenberg vs. Leroy Carhart, a Bellevue
doctor who performs abortions, is on
appeal by the Attorney General’s office
to decide whether the U.S. Supreme
Court agrees with an 8th Circuit Court
of Appeals ruling.
The ruling said a state law banning
partial-birth abortions was unconstitu
tional.
The law would make performing
partial-birth abortions for any other rea:
son than saving the mother’s life a
felony with a 25-year prison sentence.
In Stenberg’s petition, it states that
the law was made to regulate abortion,
making late-term abortion, which is
also called dilation and extraction, ille
gal. It does not affect the common use
of dilation and evacuation procedure.
Dilation and extraction involves
extracting the fetus through the birth
canal, cutting the skull and draining the
contents.
Dilation and evacuation involves
extraction of the fetus from the uterus in
pieces by Using forceps. It is done with
in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.
As written, the law is so vague it
potentially bans all abortions, which
conflicts with the Roe v. Wade decision
27 years ago, said Margie Kelly,
spokeswoman for the Center of
Reproductive Law and Policy.
The center, which was responsible
for blocking laws banning partial-birth
abortion in 14 other cases nationwide,
is representing Carhart, Kelly said.
Carhart will be filing a brief March
29, and arguments will be heard from
the high court on April 25, Kelly said.
Nebraska law defines partial-birth
abortion as “partially delivering vagi
nally a living unborn child before
killing the unborn child and completing
delivery.”
It also refers to “living unborn or a
substantial portion thereof.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf
ruled no one could define what a “sub
stantial portion” was.
Stenberg said in the petition that he
disagreed with the ruling and that the
law is written clearly. He also said it
does not stand in the way of a woman
seeking an abortion.
Carhart disagreed and said the law
limited women’s choices.
“I oppose the state of Nebraska’s
efforts to make abortion illegal, and I
will be before the Supreme Court in
April because I believe that all women
and their doctors should not lose the
right to make personal decisions about
their life and health,” Carhart said.