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Bill addressing teen-smoking
to governor’s desk
A bill aimed at combating teen
smoking was passed by the
Legislature on Friday and has been
submitted to Gov. Mike Johanns for
his signature or veto.
LB 1436, introduced Jan. 20 by
Sen. Ardyce Bohlke of Hastings,
would implement a program that
asks high school students to come up
with ideas on how to prevent and
stop teen smoking.
Designers of the winning propos
al would receive a $5,000 scholar
ship to be used at any of Nebraska’s
public or private postsecondary insti
tutions, Bohlke said.
Bohlke’s bill would be funded
with $500,000 in settlement money
from tobacco companies.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I would
have loved to have gone for $7 mil
lion, but it was a battle to get
$500,000.”
Originally, the bill would have
been funded by increased cigarette
taxes, but Bohlke said she was
pleased things turned out the way
they did.
“We were able to come together
and realize we would accomplish the
same thing (by using settlement
money),” she said.
Teaching bill advances
Thoughts of improving teachers’
salaries and encouraging young peo
ple to enter the teaching field were in
lawmakers’ minds Friday as they
advanced a bill that would create a
task force to study teachers’ pay.
LB 1399, introduced Jan. 20 by
Sen. Ardyce Bohlke of Hastings,
moved from the second round of
debate to final reading.
The bill originally offered an
annual bonus for teachers who com
plete a national accreditation pro
gram. Senators decided to remove the
section that gives money to certified
teachers because there are only eight
nationally accredited teachers in
Nebraska.
Last year’s parties reflect
on election’s eccentricities
■ Candidates in the 1999
ASUN campaign said the
four parties sparked talk
and involvement.
By Veronica Dachn
Staff writer
In an ASUN election that saw two
“traditional” parties take on a couple
of unknown underdogs, one would
expect the end to have been pre
dictable.
Not this year.
Nearly three weeks after Joel
Schafer and Riley Peterson of the A
Team defeated Empower executive
candidates Heath Mello and Cecily
Rometo, last year’s players in the
ASUN election spoke out about the
results.
Association, of Students of the
University of Nebraska President
Andy Schuerman said he was sur
prised at the success of A-Team.
“With the obvious success of A
Team, their atypical background ...
was overall a good thing,” Schuerman
said. “They brought in some new
energy.”
Another of the underdog parties
was Duff, led by presidential candi
date Jason Kidd.
Impact executive candidates John
Conley and Brad Bangs were elimi
nated, along with Duff, March 1 after
they failed to make the run-off elec
tion.
A run-off was held March 8
because no party garnered enough
votes to officially win the election a
week earlier.
Schuerman and First Vice
President Rachelle Winkle defeated
Focus candidates Paul Schreier and
Jon England in a run-off last spring.
Having four parties in the election
this year made it interesting but not
necessarily better, Schuerman said.
There was less fighting between
the parties this year because their mes
sages were similar, he said.
On the other hand, Schuerman
said, there were not as many people
involved with each party because the
students who got involved had four
parties to choose from. | . f
Because of the lower numbers of
people, the advertising efforts of the
parties were not as concentrated this
year, he said, and it was more difficult
to recruit students to be involved.
The extra parties did bring in peo
ple not normally involved with
ASUN, though, Schuerman said.
“There was less emotional stress
and strain on personal relations this
year,” he said. “Because there were
more options and different types of
parties, there was more of a sense of
‘We’re in this together.’”
ASUN Second Vice President
Trisha Meuret ran under the Focus
party last year. She said she was
thankful she didn’t have to deal with
the election this year.
“It was a relief not to be a part of
it,” Meuret said. “Not that I didn’t have
a great time last year, but it’s tiring.”
Meuret said having four parties in
the race “really shook things up.”
It encouraged people who had
never voted before to vote, she said.
“Having four parties was a great
thing,” she said. “Anytime you have
more people interested in helping the
university, it can’t be bad.”
Meuret also said she thought some
students voted in the election because
of things ASUN did this year that
those students disagreed with.
In February, ASUN senators
passed a bill that allowed them to
lobby the Legislature against LB 1405,
a bill that would ban the use of aborted
fetal tissue in research at state institu
tions, such as the University of
Nebraska Medical Center.
Several students attended ASUN
meetings to voice their concerns over
the bill.
Because of this, Schuerman
agreed that more students realized
they should vote this year.
There was more publicity about
ASUN programs like NU on Wheels
and ASUN legislation on controver
become disenchanted with the elec
tion process, he said, because of
unpredictable, outside factors like
press coverage.
“It’s still a crap-shoot as to who
wins,” Schreier said. “That has frus
trated a lot of good candidates. So
much depends on the way the DN
reports.”
A-Team’s victory was not a sur
prise, though, Schreier said.
“A-Team didn’t necessarily
deserve to win, but maybe some other
parties deserved to lose,” he said. “It
will be interesting to see what hap
pens”
Schreier said A-Team had good,
insightful ideas, but their lack of expe
rience would hurt.
“Schafer doesn’t know how to be a
regent,” Schreier said.
With Schafer’s administration,
students will get to see what sort of
checks-and-balance system is in place
within the senate and the university
administration.
Meuret said she was impressed by
Schafer and the rest of the A-Team.
She said she talked with Schafer
siai issues sucn
as domestic
partner benefits
and fetal tissue
research, he
said.
“(These
things) made
students aware
of the authority
that’s vested in
ASUN student
government,”
Schuerman
said.
Both
Schuerman and
Meuret credited
the Daily
Nebraskan for
publicizing and
U Because there
were more
options and
different types of
parties, there was
more of a sense of
‘We’re in this
together.’”
Andy Schuerman
current ASUN president
and A- leam s
Second Vice
Presidential can
didate Joel
Webber three
weeks before the
election.
“I really like
them,” Meuret
said. “They’re
not traditional,
and that’s one of
the reasons why
they’re so
appealing.”
Schuerman
said he hopes A
Team’s victory
will encourage
others to get
involved.
influencing this
year’s election.
Schuerman said the Daily
Nebraskan editorial board embraced
A-Team’s reform mentality, and that
helped them win the election.
“It’s very clear that the Daily
Nebraskan has a significant influ
ence,” Schuerman said. “I hope that
the editorial staff’s support of (the A
Team) doesn’t end. It’s important they
remain interested.”
Schreier blamed the Daily
Nebraskan for categorizing the parties
this year.
He said Empower and Impact
should not have been deemed the
establishment parties, and A-Team
and Duff should not have been tagged
non-traditional.
“If A-Team and Duff hadn’t been
portrayed as non-establishment par
ties, who would have thought they
were non-establishment parties?”
Schreier said. “The Daily Nebraskan
solely did that.”
Schreier said he was disappointed
in this year’s candidates and did not
support any of them.
A lot of qualified candidates have
“I’m hopeful
this will engender in students the feel
ing of ‘I can do it, too,’” Schuerman
said. “But I’m cautiously optimistic
about (the emergence of ‘non-tradi
tional’ parties). I’ll have to see it to
believe it.”
Despite A-Team’s victory,
Schuerman said there would not be a
drastic change in ASUN because it is
not possible. Students will still be
involved in administrative decisions,
he said, because that’s the way the sys
tem is set up.
“(Students) will still be sitting
next to the administration,” he said.
“We have an amazing connection with
the decision-making process here.
Those things will lend themselves to
there not being a revolution in
ASUN.”
Schuerman said Schafer will real
ize that soon after he takes office this
week.
Meuret said A-Team’s victory
should be inspirational to other “non
traditional” students who want to get
involved.
“I hope this will pave the way for
outside groups to come in,” she said.
Teachers who complete the
accreditation program will still be rec
ognized but will not receive monetary
awards until funding is added into the
state’s budget, Bohlke said.
The bill also creates a loan for
giveness program for students who
enter teaching fields where there is a
shortage of teachers, such as industri
al technology, music and math.
If students become teachers in
Nebraska schools, one year of their
student loans could be forgiven for
each year they teach, Bohlke said.
“(The bill) helps attract teachers to
Nebraska, especially graduates com
ing out of school who can apply for
loan forgiveness,” she said.
Compiled by staff writer Jill
Zeman
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