DEBATE from page 1 i
speakers they bring to campus, she
said.
Peterson said the university
should work to increase the number
of educational material and speakers
on diversity issues.
Heath Mello, Empower’s presi
dential candidate, and A-Team’s pres
idential candidate; Joel Schafer, said
they would each work to continue
ASUN’s support of domestic partner
benefits if elected.
Mello, a current senator, said he
recently voted in favor of ASUN’s
domestic partner benefits bill. ’
He said this issue is “cut and dry.”
By not offering domestic partner ben
efits, UNL violates its policy of anti
discrimination, Mello said.
Schafer said UNL’s current policy
is an inequality that “needs to be
stamped out.”
“I think that it is a shame for us to
lose very qualified and wonderful
professors ... because of the intoler
ance of our university,” Schafer said.
Second vice presidential candi
dates said ASUN needed to better
communicate with students on the
bill it passed opposing a state legisla
tive bill, which would ban the use of
aborted fetal tissue in research.
Impact’s second vice presidential
candidate, Amy Ellis, said many
ASUN senators did not inform stu
^ We are all very ready for this
campaign to be over '
Mike Butterfield
Empower second vice presidential candidate
dents on the issue.
Mike Butterfield, Empower’s sec
ond vice presidential candidate, said
ASUN’s legislation on fetal tissue
research was rushed.
“I thought that... it needed to take
more time to let senators talk to more
constituents,” Butterfield said.
The candidates also had a chance
to ask their opponents questions, as
well as give brief opening statements.
Butterfield expressed the senti
ments of many of the candidates in
his opening statement.
“We are all very ready for this
election to be over,” he said.
Mello said through the campaign,
he has learned to handle criticism. He
said this “thick skin” would be an
asset to him as ASUN president.
If elected, Mello said he would
work well with all senators, even if
they did not run with Empower.
Schafer said he looks forward to
having an open dialogue with sena
tors.
“I am able ... to go into the office
of ASUN president with no loyal
ties,” Schafer said.
“I want to be open to people’s
ideas and beliefs. I want to hear what
they have to say. ... I think that we
will have a very successful year
together.”
Allison Hamiel, a sophomore
biology and art major who attended
the debate, helped with Empower’s
work parties early in the campaign
because she is a friend of Mello’s. She
was also attracted to A-Team’s adver
tising campaign.
Hamiel said she came to the
debate to decide who to vote for.
“It’s a tough call,” she said.
“I don’t know how much of an
impact ASUN has. so I don’t know
how much of an impact either candi
date will have.
“But ... you have to think about
which candidate would most repre
sent your views. Because there is
always that chance that ASUN will be
able to have a more broader impact on
the entire campus.”
Student plays way to national contest
MUSICIAN from page 1
dren, always on their backs.
“If my parents did that, I would
hate the piano,” she said.
Their positive, unconditional rein
forcement is what kept her going,
Oliver said.
According to Barnes, UNL stu
dents traditionally have done well at
the state level of the Music Teachers
National Association competitions.
Kathryn Koscho reached the national
level last year in chamber music.
However, this is the first time a piano
soloist from UNL has made nationals.
Barnes said the accomplishment
especially was significant consider
ing Oliver is only a freshman. She has
been and will be competing against
upperclassmen and graduate students.
Oliver said it is a great honor and
privilege to play at the national level.
She said she hopes to play her best.
“It’s nice to win,” she said, “but the
thing that really counts is that you play
well and communicate.”
Competitors are given 50 minutes
to perform their repertoires. Their
selections must include a complete
concerto and at least three other solo
pieces.
Participants must have one piece
from each period of music. Factors
such as what each person plays well
and what they happen to be working
on at the time can influence their
repertoires.
Some students opt to time their
material to 50 minutes. Others simply
play and let the judges cut them off.
Judges can intervene and request
specific portions of songs to compare
with other participants. Oliver said at
the national level, the competition is
so strong that judges must try to find
some flaw to separate the competi
tors.
Sometimes it can even come
down to clothing.
“Stage presence is a big deal,”
Oliver said. “You almost have to be
perfect.”
After graduation, Oliver has con
sidered getting a masters degree in
music, but she is keeping her options
open.
“A lot can happen in five years,”
she says, “but I’ll always enjoy play
ing the piano whatever I do.”
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On-air
with confrontations
SHOW from page 1
But as the phone was answered,
Rometo, struck with panic, said her
name was “Lindsay” and that she was
a student calling from Neihardt.
“I made an irate, emotional deci
sion to call in,” Rometo said. “When I
got on the phone, I panicked.”
The call didn’t go unnoticed by A
Team first vice presidential candidate
Riley Peterson, who has known
Rometo since the two were in junior
high together.
Peterson was listening at home.
“I’ve known Cecily since seventh
grade,” Peterson said. “I knew her
voice.”
Peterson called A-Team presiden
tial candidate Joel Schafer, who was
on his way to KRNU in Avery Hall to
have his turn on the show.
When Schafer arrived at the radio
station, he confronted Mello, who was
leaving the show when he arrived.
“I confronted him with it,”
Schafer said. “Things were heated - I
was pretty angry.”
The call upset all the candidates in
the Empower party, causing them to
emotionally break down after the
radio show blunder, Mello said.
“We have so much emotion riding
on this campaign,” he said.
So goes things when you’ve spent
hours upon hours planning strategy,
campaigning and trying to pound the
ideas you feel strongly about into peo
ple s heads.
“I was listening to the radio and
hearing Heath, and I’m so used to
bringing things up to him,” Rometo
said.
During his appearance, Schafer
mentioned that he thought the caller
was suspicious.
Rometo called again while
Schafer was on the show and told him
she impersonated a student and apolo
gized. She then gave Schafer the
opportunity to answer the question
she asked Mello.
“I realized my mistake as soon as 1
made it,” Rometo said. “I think it was
very big of me to admit and admit it on
the air.”
Tony Bock, host of “Hot Lunch,”
said he was surprised by the call.
“I think it was an error in judg
ment,” he said. “It just shows how
competitive they were.”
Afterward, Rometo and second
vice presidential candidate Mike
Butterfield met Schafer to apologize.
By Tuesday, rumors were also
spreading that Mello was drunk on the
air. He said it was pure exaggeration.
“I had a few drinks with dinner,
but I was drinking responsibly,” he
said.
Mello and Rometo said they
hoped the incident wouldn’t affect
their chances in the election.
Tuesday afternoon, partly as a
result of Monday’s incident and partly
because of concerns with the newspa
per’s sponsoring a debate, Mello told
the paper A-Team had agreed with
Empower and would not participate in
Tuesday night's debate.
However, later that day, after
reconsidering, the two parties decided
they would participate.
Mello has expressed concern that
press coverage had been slanted
against the Empower party.
He said Schafer has made nega
tive comments during debates that
haven’t been mentioned in the news
paper. But most of all, he was con
cerned for Rometo.
“She might be the strongest candi
date of all four of us.” he said.
By Tuesday night’s debate, the
four seemed eager to put the incident
behind them, clear up the rumors and
get on with the election.
Peterson said he was upset about
the call but hoped it wouldn't be peo
ple’s deciding factor in today’s vote.
“It was dumb what she did,” he
said. “But everyone does dumb
things.”
After talking extensively with
Mello and Rometo, Schafer said he
wouldn’t judge their characters by the
incidents.
“I think Heath will do a good job.”
Schafer said. “I think Cecily will do a
good job.
“As far as people. I still think the>
are good people.”
Poncho Sanchez
Latin Jazz Band
Lied Center for Performing Arts
. Lincoln, NE
Tickets: 472-4747 or
1-800-432-3231
Box Office: 11:00am-5:30pm M-F
Website: www.unl.edu/lied/
TEN YEARS
_1 _ _ Lied Center programming is supported by the Friends of Lied and grams from the National Endowment (or the Arts,
lNeOmSKa America Arts Alliance and the Nebraska Arts Council All events are made possible by the Lied Performance
nay .mitt or Fund which has been established in memory ot Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
University of Nebraska-Lihcoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.
