- ELECTION 2000 ——
Osborne vows to be independent voice if elected
By Brian Carlson
Staff writer
KEARNEY - If elected to Congress, Tom
Osborne said Saturday, he will be an independent
voice and will put conscience above the demands
of his constituents or party.
“I believe there are principles that supersede
all other considerations,” the former Nebraska
football coach said.
On Saturday, Osborne and his four rivals for
the 3rd District House seat in central and western
Nebraska, squared off in a wide-ranging forum
sponsored by the Nebraska Associated Press
Broadcasters Association.
The candidates touched on an array of eco
nomic and social issues, including farm policy,
gun control and homosexual unions.
The three other candidates - two Republicans
and one Democrat - appear to face an uphill battle
against the coach who won three national titles for
the Comhuskers and has a wealth of name recog
nition.
Republicans Osborne, John Gale and Kathy
Wilmot agreed on many issues, reflecting the
makeup of the heavily agricultural and mostly
conservative district. Their Democratic counter
part, Rollie Reynolds, disagreed on farm policy
and other issues.
Gale, Osborne and Wilmot agreed that the
1996 Freedom to Farm Act has been a success in
the sense that it restored free enterprise to the farm
economy.
However, they said, foreign markets have
failed to open as expected. Free trade means fair
trade, they said.
“The glaring problem has been embargoes
and trade sanctions,” Osborne said. “We should
exempt anything that has to do with food or medi
cine.”
Another important rural economic develop
ment issue is ensuring the district has high-speed
Internet access, Osborne said, “so that a company
in Broken Bow can compete with a company in a
more highly developed area.”
Gale agreed food sanctions should be elimi
nated. He also said the federal government should
provide income supplements and crop insurance
to help struggling farmers.
In addition to supporting an end to food sanc
tions, Wilmot said the government should consid
er ways to control the food surplus that has caused
prices to plummet.
Reynolds said the government should help
reduce output to increase prices.
“The only reason we’re here today is because
we have a failed farm bill,” he said.
The four candidates also were united in oppo
sition to further gun regulations.
“It’s absolutely necessary for a farmer or
rancher in Nebraska to have a gun,” Reynolds
said.
Wilmot said she supported the Second
Amendment right to keep and bear arms, includ
ing concealed weapons.
Gale and Osborne applauded the decision by
Smith & Wesson, a gun manufacturing company,
to voluntarily sell handguns equipped with trigger
locks.
Osborne said current gun laws are adequate
and should be better enforced. The dissolution of
families, as well as violence in movies and video
games, are important causes of recent gun vio
lence, he said.
Asked about immigration policy, Osborne
said he favors loosening current immigration
laws.
“If (immigrants) pay their bills, do their jobs
W Marriage... is
between a man and a
woman. I don’t believe
those rights and
privileges should extend
beyond that union at
this particular time
Tom Osborne
Congressional candidate
and are good citizens, we ought to let them stay,”
he said. “I’m very much in favor of not being ter
ribly stringent.”
Gale, Wilmot and Reynolds said the
Immigration and Naturalization Service should
fight illegal immigration more effectively.
None of the candidates spoke in favor of
affording homosexual couples the same benefits
enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
“I support benefits for a heterosexual couple,
but not for a homosexuafcouple,” Wilmot said.
Gale agreed.
“Homosexuality is a lifestyle of choice, not a
status, so I can’t afford to it the same type of civil
rights protection,” he said.
Osborne said homosexual unions don’t fall
under his definition of marriage.
“Marriage, as I understand it, is between a
man and a woman,” he said. “I don’t believe those
rights and privileges should extend beyond that
union at this particular time.
“I do not favor any kind of discrimination,”
Osborne added. “But we are in danger, as a cul- c
ture, of blurring lines that have been clearly '
defined.” A
Reynolds said he was unprepared to make a
firm statement about homosexual unions, which
he called a “complex” issue.
Asked how each candidate differed from the
others, Osborne’s opponents clearly tried to con
trast themselves with him.
Wilmot said she has a voting record from her
two terms as a member of the State Board of
Education. Unlike Osborne, she supports the
death penalty.
Gale cited his experience as a legislative aide
for the late U.S. Sen. Roman Hruska of Nebraska.
He also sought to contrast his party’s philosophy
with that of Osborne.
“I’m not running as an independent,” Gale
said. “I’m running as a proud Republican.”
Osborne noted that he is not accepting contri
butions from political action committees or dona
tions of more than $300.
“There is absolutely no way I can see that I’ll
be beholden t© any particular interest group,” he
said.
The candidates were asked to rate the impor
tance of conscience, party and constituents’ inter
ests in their voting decisions.
Osborne said conscience was most important,
followed by constituents and party. Wilmot
agreed.
Gale said the district’s interests came first and
that he would weigh the demands of conscience
and party in each individual case.
Reynolds said he would trade votes if neces
sary to gain support for his own priorities, even if
it meant supporting programs he otherwise would
not support.
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Reinhard named Fulbright scholar
By Kimberly Sweet
Staff uniter
Days after learning that a universi
ty committee recommended he be
fired, UNL. Professor Karl Reinhard
got some good news last week.
The professor in the School of
Natural Resource Sciences learned he
will be spending five months in Brazil
next year as a J. William Fulbright
Scholar at Brazil’s national school of
public health.
During his stay, Reinhard said he
would be lecturing about and research
ing parasitism, which he said signifi
cantly affects the tropical environment
that characterizes Brazil.
“It’s a tropical country,” he said.
“Parasitism becomes a significant
problem, since it’s the most tropical
environment around.”
Reinhard learned about the presti
gious appointment just days after
receiving a report from a special panel
appointed by the Academic Rights and
Responsibilities Committee that rec
ommended he be fired.
Reinhard has been in the center of
controversy over the university’s possi
ble mistreatment of American Indian
remains.
The report alleged that he did inva
sive testing on remains, published
research he obtained illegally from the
remains, transmitted unethical and
immoral behavior to his students and
created a hostile environment for cer
tain faculty members and students.
Reinhard called the allegations out
rageous and said he would likely take
legal action.
Reinhard said he was especially
pleased to learn he received the
appointment after hearing from
Fulbright program officials that there
were many entrants for Brazil’s pro
gram this year.
“Brazil was extremely competitive
this year,” he said. “It’s an especially
significant honor.”
During the five months he will
spend in Brazil, Reinhard said he hopes
to hold a congress on the evolution of
parasitology.
He also hopes to study modem par
asitology in an area of the country
called Pantanal - the wettest area in
South America.
Reinhard’s work will be a continua
tion of what he did during a previous
stay in Brazil from 1997-98.
Judy Pehrson, from the Council for
International Exchange of Scholars,
said Reinhard’s appointment will begin
March 1,2001.
7 T
The Fulbright program was estab
lished in 1946, at the end of World War
II, by Sen. Fulbright of Arkansas.
The purpose of the program is to
increase understanding between the
United States and other countries
through the exchange of people and
their knowledge and skills.
The U.S. State Department is the
main sponsor of the program.
Reinhard is the second professor
from the University of Nebraska sys
tem to be accepted into the Fulbright
program recently.
Last month, the University of
Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha
announced that Howard Gendelman
was selected to be a Fulbright Research
Scholar.
A small part of Gendelman’s
research has involved the use of aborted
fetal tissue.
The university has been criticized
by some in the state, including some in
the state Legislature, for the use of the
tissue in research of diseases such as
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The Associated Press contributed
to this story.
- RHA -
Residence halls get parking representative
By Jackie Blair
Staff writer
The Residence Hall Association
discussed its position on the Parking
Advisory Committee Sunday night.
The residence halls have been allo
cated a seat on the committee. RHA is
voting next week on a bill that will
make it responsible for appointing a
slate of candidates that will run for the
representative position on the parking
committee.
The Association of Students at the
University of Nebraska will make the
final selection.
The bill will also give RHA’s vice
president the duty of coordinating a
meeting once a month with the student
representatives and the parking com
mittee.
RHA president Jadd Stevens said
RHA is voting on taking the responsi
bility because if ASUN added the duty
of finalizing the selection, it could be
easily overlooked. Andy Schuerman,
former ASUN president, said he trusted
RHA to handle the responsibility by
itself.
Stevens also said this gave RHA the
first voice in parking decisions.
In other business:
■RHA passed a bill that will
donate $250 to the RHA at American
University in Washington D.C. for
“Project Playground.”
This project will build a new play
ground in an effort to make the
Southeast D.C. area a better communi
ty
Stephanie Voge, RHA National
Communications Center chairwoman,
said that Kansas State University,
University of Kansas and smaller
schools are matching the $250 dona
tion, and that it is a great fund to con
tribute to.
■Transition day for the newly
elected RHA members will be Sunday
from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in the Neihardt blue
TV lounge.
The transition ceremony will be
held that same night at the weekly
meeting at 6:30.
Matt Knobbe, RHA Election
Commissioner, said that voter turn-out
for the elections on Wednesday wasn’t
as great as it should have been.
“I’m glad to be done,” Knobbe said.
■This week is Harper-Schramm
Smith’s Spring Fling. Activities
throughout the week include sand vol
leyball and basketball contests,
Karaoke, a Velcro wall and much more.
The Smith desk can be contacted at
(402) 472-1063 for more information.