Nebraska Nightly; Pop Tax Commentary; Irrigation Forecast; Conscientious Objectors I; Fiscal Impact Bill/Crime; Rural Schools II *; Math & Science Center; Conscientious Objectors II; Pop & Cigarette Taxes; Social Security Cap *; Nutrition License Proposal; Marathon Read/Budget; UNL Stadium Commentary; Rural Schools III *; Groundwater Grant *; Historical Dig Commentary; Legislative Crunch

Well, it's the home stretch for the 1993 legislative session. This is Nebraska Nightly, I'm Nancy Finken. Keith Lutton gives us a glimpse of what remains unsettled in the last few days of the session, including an abortion bill, the budget, and workers' compensation. It's tremendous. If you want to use an analogy, it'd be like the last two minutes of a basketball game. It seems like that's when all the games get won or lost. A Franklin man has a dream to build a major science and math center in that South Central Nebraska town. Federal officials and Western Nebraska farmers are keeping their eyes on water levels for the irrigation season. Senator Bob Kerry talks about the federal budget battle, as senior citizens worry about what could happen to their benefits. Well, I think it'll cause great hardship, but they start to take this income from the social security. We'll have more on these stories after this news from Dave Hughes. Looks like it might be a late night for Nebraska's legislature. Speaker Dennis Box says he'll keep his colleagues as late as possible tonight.

Even though debate has ended on the $3 .3 billion dollar two -year budget, and debate over the controversial court fee bill has been put off until tomorrow, state lawmakers just started to debate the first of 15 Medicaid bills late this afternoon and still have to consider seven revenue bills. State Court of Appeals says a former Omaha police chief failed to prove that state officials invaded his privacy. Former chief Robert Wadman's claim against the state stemmed from a legislative investigation into the failed Franklin Community Federal Credit Union in Omaha. Wadman contended that the state wrongly allowed information to be made public concerning allegations of child sexual abuse against him and some other prominent Omaha men. A grand jury concluded the allegations against Wadman were a hoax. The appeals court said the information that was made public was nothing more than the allegations that Wadman had been accused of. Court said Wadman had in fact been

accused and no invasion of privacy had occurred. Cedar County authorities say a fourth arrest in 18 months has been made in connection with reports of sexual assaults on children in the 149 resident community of Belden. Cedar County Sheriff Elliott Arons says 45 -year -old Richard Sitten, a carnival worker, was arrested Friday in Iowa on a warrant charging him with six felony counts of sexual assault of a child. According to the complaints filed by the Cedar County Attorney, the assaults occurred between September of 1989 and January of 1992 and involved three girls and one boy, all grade school students from Belden, and extreme northeast Nebraska. Arons says Sitten is in jail in Hardington under $160 ,000 bond. Sheriff says Sitten lived in Belden when he wasn't working with the carnival. Arons says the children involved were from two families and were placed into foster care more than a year ago. He also says some of the children were victims of two other Belden men who were convicted previously

of assault charges. Nebraska's congressional delegation split along party lines at a roll call vote on medical research bill. Measure includes controversial provisions that banned immigrants infected with the AIDS virus and allowing fetal tissue research. Democrat Peter Hogan voted in favor while Republicans bill Barrett and Doug B. Ryder voted no. Bill passed on a $290 ,210 and 30 vote. Lincoln City officials say it will cost more than three and one half million dollars to repair flood damage to the city's water well field. Engineers say half the money will be used to build a wall to prevent future damage along the plant river. Officials say March flooding along the plant river knocked out two of the city's water mains. At least one could be repaired in June if the weather cooperates. Damage water mains mean Lincoln is receiving less water than usual. Officials are thinking about a voluntary conservation program because water use increases in the summer. German undercover agents say a Lincoln man poses

a major headache and to rather to their efforts to prevent extremist attacks on foreigners. Eckhart Vertebach heads the German federal office for the protection of the Constitution. He says Gary Lalk of Lincoln is the most important supplier of fascist propaganda to German neo -Nazis. But there's nothing that Vertebach can do. Printing hate literature in the United States is protected by the Constitution, but such materials are illegal in Germany. And if you're planning to travel out of town this Memorial Day weekend, you've got company. Triple A Nebraska says travel over the holiday weekend is expected to be at its highest level in nine years. Be sure to bring a long plenty of money for gas. Triple A says fuel prices across Nebraska average about $1 .17 a gallon for self -serve regular unleted. That's about two cents higher than last year at this time, partly because of a one -set increase in the state gas tax. For Nebraska nightly, I'm Dave Hughes.

With seven days left in the legislative session, lawmakers are busy working out the details on the budget and prioritizing which of the remaining bills will be debated and passed yet this session. Keith Letton reports on just how the senators are coping with this year's end of session crunch. Although there are seven days left in the session, Speaker Dennis Bach of Kimball is reminding the senators that only five of those days can be used to work on bills. That's leaving some senators like Health and Human Services chairman Don Wesley feeling the crunch. It's tremendous. If you want to use an analogy, it'd be like the last two minutes of a basketball game. It seems like that's when all the games get won or lost and that's kind of how the legislative situation is. This is the last two minutes of the legislative session. You're from 90 days now you're down basically to five that you can do anything and then there's just

hundreds of bills out there that are asking for attention, deserve attention. And Omaha Senator Tim Hall is anticipating some long days ahead. Oh, I think you're going to see folks breaking out sleeping bags here pretty soon. Keith, the you know, we're going to be looking at close to midnight every night from here on out. Health and Human Services vice chairman Jesse Rasmussen of Omaha says the senators know there's still a lot to be done in these last seven days and she wishes more we're getting done with regards to health care policy. But I'm a little frustrated that we're still focusing entirely on mandates rather than a major restructuring of our health care system. She says too many people have been holding back waiting to see what happens on health care issues at the federal level. But Senator Dave Landis of Lincoln is taking a more relaxed attitude toward the end of the session. I think the norm is that at the end of the session you look ahead and think can I make it into the lifeboat with my proposals this

year or will they carry over and we certainly have that this year although no more heavily I think than other years. In fact, Landis says other years may have been tougher at the end. The crunch is particularly difficult in the short session because bills aren't carried over. They die on that one. So in fact, I think this crunch is like last year and maybe it was a little tougher last year. Remember the income tax was at the very end of last year? That crunch was considerable. Last year the governor's income tax reform proposal died after lawmakers refused to take it up in the waiting hours of the session. And this year it's also likely there'll be controversial bills at the end of the session. Still waiting on the legislature's agenda are bills requiring a 24 hour waiting period for abortions and a rewrite of workers' compensation benefits. Speaker Dennis Bach. Those last couple days we cannot amend bills because they can't be passed if we do. So we're getting down to the to the very end and when people can see there's still some time

for a filibuster on one ten the abortion bill there's still going to be extended debate on the workers' comm. I think that people are wondering how we're going to get through the rest of the agenda and I don't know how we're going to get through the rest of the agenda. I don't know yet. I think it's up to my colleagues to make that determination as they work their way through. The fact that there are so few days left in the session makes controversial bills like the abortion bill and the workers' comp bill tempting targets for filibustering Senator Wesley. At the time we're trying to do the most is the time that we're also facing the greatest filibustering the effort to slow down bills of people that don't want. That's a very effective thing to do right now because you know we just can't waste time forever on things and so somebody like Senator Chambers or others who who want to block something this is a great time to do it because we just can't sit around we we've got too much to do. But it's possible the budget battle will consume the rest of the session leaving the abortion bill and the workers' comp bill to die at the end of the session. The way things are going now it's possible they might fall through the cracks and we might not get back to any of those issues we might not get back

to anything that's left on on select file or general file depending on how the budget goes because we're going to stick with budget now until budget is done. With the end of the session only a few days away the senators are working their way through another filibuster. Legislators debated a bill that would raise court fees to fund computerization for courts across the state. Senator Scott Moore of Seward asked for a four dollar increase in court costs but was opposed by Senator Ernie Chambers who began offering a series of amendments. This bill 832 is our business at least it's mine and I'm going to deal with it and I'm going to grapple with it I'm going to pull and tear and rip at it. And rip at it he did after several of Chambers' amendments failed some senators like Floyd Vertiska of Table Rock were clearly anxious to move on. Well you've had your way for about an hour and a half now and you haven't got anywhere I'm trying to figure out how we can move this bill. The lawmakers recessed without reaching an agreement on the bill nor could they reach agreement after reconvening. Meanwhile Senator Chambers vowed to fight on arguing that the computerization should

be paid for out of the state's general fund not increased court costs. Senator Moore is determined to achieve what the governor wants in terms of an increased tax and I'm going to do all I can to stop an increase in tax. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Keith Ludden. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the budget resolution this week. The Senate will get the chance after Memorial Weekend. President Clinton is facing opposition to his budget plan from Republicans and Democrats alike. His Democratic supporters are urging him to take his plan to the public via television. The Democrats who support at least parts of an alternative budget package, largely because it scraps the energy tax,

include senators Jim Exan and Bob Kerry. While Exan and Kerry say they still support the president, they maintain their right to disagree with some of his proposals. Senator Kerry sounds the cry to set aside new spending and to reduce existing spending to get the deficit under control. But Kerry, the first to champion health care reform during the presidential campaign, isn't abandoning his pet project. Recently, Senator Jim Exan said he could support and energy tax if the money was used to pay for health care reform. Senator Kerry agrees. Well, I think it has some merit, frankly, although I think most important for us right now is to agree that we are going to live with a fiscal discipline. By that, I mean that we will agree as citizens that whatever it is that we want from the federal government, we're going to pay for it. That we'll have a pay -as -you -go system. The health care trust idea that I've been arguing for and that I believe the introduction likes as well. You get inside that kind of environment. Then the energy tax makes a lot of sense because I can use it to reduce payroll

tax. I can use it to keep pressure off of other taxes. Senator Kerry says the top five entitlement programs of which agriculture is not a part will increase by $44 billion from this year to next. $34 billion of that is health care. Capping entitlement programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is something Senator Kerry supports. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Kerry says spending cuts are possible without cutting into the bone. You can do it without capping the entitlements, but in the end, we have to take action on the entitlements. It's inescapable. We spent, we got $200 billion of taxpayer money being used this year for Medicare and Medicaid, growing to $400 billion in five years. That's unsustainable. You can't continue with that kind of growth. It'll bust the economy to do it. Senator Kerry justifies his support for caps by saying without a growing economy, jobs won't be created and the country won't have the capacity to fund anything. Social Security,

Medicare, all these programs are funded by people in the workplace. We're paying 12 % for retirement, paying 3 % for Medicare, and then paying income taxes on top of it. I think they're getting crushed under the weight of all this stuff. Now, I'm not proposing that you take action that would destroy the security and income of fixed income seniors that are struggling hand amount as it is right now that are having a difficult time paying medical bills, particularly pharmaceuticals. I mean, I want to try to help them with comprehensive reform of healthcare. What I'm concerned about is that I have a situation right now where people that are in the workforce, particularly young couples, are struggling hand about themselves as a result of high taxes and as a result of inability to be able to purchase many of things that used to be relatively easy to buy. But senior citizens are keeping a watchful eye on Congress and the Clinton administration. President Clinton

has supported taxing 85 % of Social Security benefits when a single person has income of more than $25 ,000 or when a couple has earnings of $32 ,000. Right now, 50 % of the Social Security benefits must be on a senior's IRS form when the same income guidelines are used. 87 -year -old Aradis Curl is a retired rural school teacher from Pawnee City. She says Social Security is not her only income, but it's a good share of what she lives on. When wages were very low and I didn't make much, I didn't have much to go on when I when I took the Social Security and I don't really think that,

well, I think it'll cause great hardship if they start the taxing income from the Social Security. Curl says her cost of living is constantly going up and she uses her Social Security to pay for utilities and other routine expenses, including medicine. I have a bad, I have a last couple of years, I've had a tremendous medicine bill and I have to pay that in order to get along. Aradis Curl of Pawnee City. Mike Gill is the Assistant Projects Director for the Senior's Coalition, a Washington -based advocacy group. As far as a working family now who's not making $25 ,000 and feels that they elderly deserve this tax, our response, of course, is that the elderly have planned for their retirement, they don't have the ability to take on a second job or adjust their finances like a younger couple does with prescription

costs and medical costs. It's a fine line and everyone can read the story of the Winnebago Traveling couple using their Social Security fees to pay or Social Security money to pay green fees and such like that makes great print, but the fact is that 90 % of the elderly are not doing that. I mean, this money, whether or not you consider them rich, as budgeted, is not being used to pad their wallets. I mean, it's being used and being used in the economy to pay for medicine and everything else that takes to live as an elderly person, to take an increase 35 % from one year in your taxes, it's just astronomical. Mike Gill with the Senior's Coalition. President Clinton has supported upping the tax on Social Security benefits for those who have at least a $25 ,000 income. Congress is looking at capping entitlement programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The U .S. Bureau of Reclamation says there may be less water

available for irrigation in western Nebraska than was forecast earlier. The Bureau is revising its projections for some of the Wyoming snowpack, which supplies water to Wyoming reservoirs and the North Platte River. Martin Wells has more. Ed Kuma is a forecaster with the U .S. Bureau of Reclamation Office in Mills, Wyoming. Part of his job is to help farmers in western Nebraska determine how much water will be available to irrigate their crops. We look at what the current snowpack is at the various snow course stations that are measured. We monitor precipitation and we also throw in a factor that gives us an indication of whether the fall had low soil moisture conditions to indicate give us some indication of what amount of snow might go into the soil profile. Kuma says initially it looked like a banner year for moisture with good snowpack in the mountains and precipitation for April at normal or above normal levels. Based on that, the Bureau projected the 1993 irrigation supplies

would be 125 percent above normal. Now, during the month of May, we're realizing that some of the snow melt in the lower part of the North Platte River here and that would be the area between Casper, Wyoming and Blendo, Wyoming is not realizing some of the runoff that we anticipated. Even more has apparently been lost to evaporation or has soaked in to the soil than what we anticipated. And Kuma says he isn't sure just why that happened. I really wish I knew. It kind of fooled me because I expected to see a much better runoff peak as the snow is melting and the snow is disappearing quite quickly and it's not resulting in the runoff peak in the river. The result is that the Bureau is now projecting that irrigation supplies will be at 117 percent above normal. To anyone not involved in irrigation, this still sounds like plenty of water, but it may not be. And bleed is the Nebraska state hydrologist. She says the state's

reservoirs are extremely low, so even above average runoff is not going to fill them up. She also says it's unclear if Nebraska is still being plagued by drought. We are certainly have been in drought. This year, the moisture levels in the mountains have looked very good. They are slightly above normal. So maybe we are coming out of the drought, but of course, on terms of the amount in the reservoir, that reflects the last several years, not just this year. So in terms of reservoir levels, we're starting to see arise. Perhaps they're coming out of the drought, but the impacts of the drought are still there. Conditions have been drier than normal in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming for several years now. Ed Kuma says this has been the best year for snow in the mountains out of the last six, but he warns that a good snowpack does not necessarily transfer into increased runoff. It all depends on how it melts. If it's a series of warm days and cool nights, it tends to melt the snow slowly in and off a lot of it goes into evaporation or percolation.

A sudden warming trend day in that tends to bring the snow down quickly or the snow melt or rain on snow will also produce a good runoff. And so you can have the condition where a little bit lower snowpack can produce a better runoff than a higher snowpack because of those parameters and how they occur. Currently in western Nebraska, conditions are dry, which has caused some problems for sugar beet growers. Jim Shield is an extension agent for agriculture in Scotts Bluff and Moral Counties. He says late snows provided plenty of moisture for planning at the beginning of April. Since that time, we've had very little rainfall, especially in the Scotts Bluff gearing. Well, most of the Scotts Bluff County, you get a little bit to the east of us and they started picking up some of the rains. I missed that. But we've probably in Scotts Bluff County as a whole for the last month, have had less than a half inch rain. But Shield says despite the Bureau of Reclimations

revised forecast, he doesn't think farmers in western Nebraska will have trouble irrigating their crops. I guess my concern is not for this year. It sounds like we'll have an ample supply of irrigation water for this year. But the problem is if we have another dry winter next year, we probably won't add a lot of water to the reservoirs and we could have a short water year next year. It's been kind of that way for the last four or five years. From one year to the next, we really don't know what kind of water supplies we're going to have. To put the problem into perspective, it's important to realize how much water would be available to irrigators during a normal year. Dean Jans is an irrigation engineer at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scotts Bluff. Normally, there is enough water in storage at the beginning of the year to irrigate for two seasons with zero amount of rainfall. The last several years now, we've been dependent upon what we receive from the end of the

season, let's say in September, October, up through the winter months until the spring time. We're dependent just on that moisture. There's literally been very little amount of water that's been carried over in the storage in the reservoirs. But Jans agrees, there should be enough water for farmers in the Panhandle to make it through the season. I think the farmers in this area have learned that they can still grow a very good crop. They have to make the management changes in how they handle their water, but they can do it and keep that water around and keep enough water for the crops to survive and do very well. Those management changes include subtle things like reducing the amount of time water is running the fields, as well as technological advances such as more efficient sprinklers and surge valves, which can irrigate twice the area more efficiently in about half the time. Jans says farmers could probably get by with even less water if they have to, and given the history of the problem, they just might. It's a

problem that I've been saying all along that we're not going to see it go away overnight, and we have to deal with this shortage of water right from the beginning and treat it as a very critical thing until we hopefully can get back to a normal situation. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Martin Wells. A Franklin man has a dream, a dream to make Franklin the side of a large scale math and science center. Tim Colbe, who holds degrees in physics and math from UNK, says for 20 years he has envisioned building nucleus, which stands for Nebraska's Universal Center for the Learning, Education, and Understanding of Science. The science center would contain an archive

of scientific information that would be accumulated over time and made available to scientists locally. It would also have a super computer. The idea of that the center would be built under a property relationship of many corporations or agencies or institutions would build at the site. The super computer would be placed there would serve all those corporate interests. Colbe and projects of hoarders talked to about 14 people at a town hall meeting yesterday in Franklin to inform residents of this South Central Town about the proposed 30 to 60 million dollar project. We

envision the center being built cooperatively by funds from corporations, institutions, and agencies who would cooperate as I say together to build a massive facility. This means that we would not be trying to get a giant grant to build a facility rather than we would be encouraging all these diverse interests also really rely on each other. Just as we believe we would like to project the field of nucleus all the branches of science working towards the same common end. Colbe says he has a five -year plan and hopes to target major

corporations soon to invest in the project. Nebraska Nightly is a production of the Nebraska Public Radio Network, Keith Lutton and Martin Wells are associate producers Dave Hughes directs Nebraska Nightly, Ruff Sanchez is our audio engineer tonight. Our news intern is Laurie Holy, an ANSI Fink and producer. The views and opinions expressed on the preceding program are those of the

commentators, interviewees, and guests, and not necessarily those of the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission or the staff and management of the Nebraska Public Radio Network. Record shelf and classical countdown coming up next here on Nebraska Public Radio. First, the central time. On again, off again, on again, that's what the legislature has done with the sales tax on pop and alcohol. This is Nebraska Nightly, I'm Nancy Finken. Last night, senators said no to taxing soda and liquor. Today, they changed their minds. Governor Nelson signed the bill requiring fiscal impact studies to accompany prison legislation. We believe as well that it's important to be tough on crime, but also have some idea of the fiscal costs of doing that. Our series on rural schools continues. We'll visit Sunnybrook School in Holt County. State policy is affecting how small schools and

school districts carry out their business, so on the name of quality education at a reasonable price. I think the cost per pupil is extremely maybe high in the rural areas, and maybe that's what they're looking at. But I think when they look at the quality of education that that student is coming out of rural schools with, I think they're finding that their money is well spent. And commentator Stephen Bueller makes some observations about human nature as noted by recent analysis of the UNL Stadium Collapse. But first, this news from Dave Hughes. Authorities investigating suspected Medicaid fraud now have records they seize from 21 pharmacies and 10 Nebraska communities today. No arrests have been made and no charges were filed. FBI spokesman Larry Homequist says it's just an investigative step. At least six warrants were issued in Beatrice while other warrants were issued in Blair, Omaha, Fremont, Holdridge, West Point, Broken Bo, Neely, Wahoo, and Grand Island today. The owner of D's prescription pharmacy

in Grand Island says he was surprised when authorities came in looking for records on drugs the pharmacy has bought and sold. D Rockwell says nothing like that has happened in the 21 years he's operated the pharmacy. An Nebraska coalition of fair trade supporters says the state could lose more than 25 ,000 manufacturing jobs if the North American free trade agreement is approved. Nebraska citizens trade coalition released a study today that says more than 5 .9 million U .S. manufacturing jobs are at risk under NAFTA. Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hanson says the agreement will cause an exodus of jobs to Mexico, which is the last thing the American economy needs. Hanson says companies are attracted to Mexico because labor is cheaper and environmental and safety standards are less strict. The study also says the state's rubber and plastics industries could lose about 4 ,700 jobs, the printing industry about 3 ,700, and the electronics industry could lose up to 4

,900 jobs. The coalition is urging citizens to write the representatives in Congress and tell them to oppose NAFTA. A Nebraska man confined to a mental hospital for killing 6 members of a Sutherland family in 1975 still wants to participate in group outings. Or when Charles Simance will ask a district court judge to grant that request. Lincoln County Attorney Kent Turnbull says Simance is still a danger to the public. The attorney for Simance says the trips from the Lincoln Regional Center would involve outings for fishing, picnics, and bowling. Two teenagers face misdemeanor charges alleging they broke the state's open -burning law in a Beatrice cross -burning. Gage County Attorney Richard Smith says he filed the open -burning violations against the 17 -year -olds in juvenile court because nothing else fit. Smith says there are no hate crimes law, nor are there trespass or criminal mischief charges that fit the infraction.

Starting July 1st, there will be a place for abused and neglected elderly people. Visiting nurses' association has a one -year grant to operate the Omaha Shelter. State officials say more than 1 ,000 reports of abuse or neglect of adults were recorded in Douglas County last year. For Nebraska Nightly, I'm Dave Hughes. The legislature has given second -round approval to sales taxes on pop and a seven -cent increase in the taxes on cigarettes. They also voted for an increase in the tax on beer and wine. They reversed themselves after voting down the tax on pop and the increase in liquor taxes last night. Keith Blooden has the story. Although the taxes on pop, beer and wine stalled Tuesday night, there was little fuss over a five -cent increase in cigarette taxes. The bill was advanced on a 27 -18 vote with no debate. It would raise about $6 .5 million. There was debate over a bill that

would increase the cigarette tax by another two cents to pay for cancer research. Currently, one cent of the present cigarette tax goes to cancer research. Senator Diana Schimmick of Lincoln objected to the way the cancer funds would be distributed. Half would go to the Epli Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The rest would go to other cancer research facilities in the state. Schimmick said most of the money that did not go to the Epli Center would probably be given to Creighton University. Essentially, what we will be doing is giving to one non -state institution, $1 .3 million. And it wouldn't even be so glaring if it weren't this year when we can't find, for instance, $187 ,000 for disabled people. Schimmick wanted to amend the bill to require that half of the money be distributed through a competitive grant process. But she met with solid opposition from Omaha Area Senators. Among them was Senator Ron Witham of Propelian. I think at the heart of the Schimmick Amendment

is a reluctance on the supporters of that amendment to see any state dollars in any way shape or form go to a private institution. I think it is that type of ongoing distrust. Trying to think of a kinder word than prejudice, but I really can't come up with another one. That causes us, whether it be an urban rural split, a rural urban split, a democratic Republican split, any types of splits we have based in the camps in which we put people, that causes us difficulty to move forward. Similar sentiments were expressed by Senator Tim Hall of Omaha. This is another example where our parochial head is rising out of the sand and we're saying we want to mess up what has been a very delicate balance in the negotiations on this issue that have taken approximately four years and come to fruition, and I'll be $5 .95 as it sits on select file. But Schimmick said the bill is a

significant change in public policy. You didn't hear me say, I don't think, that no private entities could or should get public funds. I didn't stand up here and argue that they do. I know that. I guess my question is, why do we change what we're doing when we have a good process? Schimmick's amendment was soundly defeated and the bill advanced to final reading. It was a close vote on the pop tax. Supporters of the tax have offered it as a means of funding teacher salary enhancements promised in 1989. Senator Raymond Jansen of Nickerson has opposed the pop tax calling it a nightmare and Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha agreed. Not only will it be a nightmare on Kay Street in Lincoln, but it'll be a nightmare on Elm Street, Maple Street, and all of the streets throughout this state where any housewife, house husband or house children happen to reside. Senator

Witham, going to one of those old horror movies, and I like horror movies a lot of them are horrible, but I have only one title that I'll quote to apply to your bill. Not you, but your bill. Die, monster, die. But the tax was defended by Senator David Bernard Stevens of North Platt. Bernard Stevens told his fellow lawmakers that the pop tax is a suitable funding source for teacher salary enhancement. You've got a source that the industry themselves are not fighting. You've got a source that taxes things that are already taxed in the state of Nebraska, depending upon where they're sold. And you've got the money that would be put into a funding to get our goals across on the education side. I don't understand how clear and easier a vote can be. Bernard Stevens says some people voted against the pop tax Tuesday night simply because they didn't like the tax and some voted against it because they didn't like the idea of raising taxes for teacher salaries. The bill no longer contains earmarking for teacher salaries. This time the pop tax got just barely the needed 25 votes and at least

one lobbyist watching the debate was seen breathing a sigh of relief. Governor Nelson has said he opposes the pop tax. 30 votes would be required to override a veto. The increase in alcohol taxes was fought vigorously by Senator Stan Schelpepper of Stanton who says the taxes will be a burden on small businesses. I just think that there comes a point when you have to say enough is enough. I think we have reached that point and once again. This is not a bill that we need to have passed to balance the budget. There's enough money in there right now without this bill. This bill is not needed. But at least one senator Floyd Vertiska of Table Rock argued that raising the alcohol taxes was only fair. I voted for the pop tax. I guess if we're going to tax the kids we might as well tax the dads also. The senators may have a powerful incentive to vote for some of the increased revenues. Without them, according to revenue chairman Jerry Warner of Waverly, they may be faced with even less agreeable alternatives. If any of these

measures fail with possible exception of the increase in liquor tax, which is a relatively small amount, if any of the other measures fail, we will be faced with either increase in cuts or in the alternative of looking at the sales or income tax rate adjustment in order to balance the budget. A balanced budget is the one thing the senators must produce before the end of the session on June 8th. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Keith Lutton. Governor Ben Nelson today signed into law a measure requiring the legislature to provide adequate funding when it passes laws that would increase prison populations. Attorney General Don Stenberg had urged the governor

to veto the bill saying it was unconstitutional. But the governor today also announced the formation of an alliance that will formulate a plan to modernize industries in the state. Martin Wells has these stories. LB507 requires that any legislation which would lead to increased prison populations must include the estimated fiscal impact of higher operating costs to the state's prison system. In signing the bill during his weekly press conference today, the governor said he was taking a tough stand on crime with sound reason and that violent criminals need to be dealt with. We believe as well that it's important to be tough on crime but also have some idea of the fiscal costs of doing that. Nelson said the law was good fiscal policy that the legislature would be advised to adopt for other areas. He said it's important when tying together social policy and law to know upfront what the costs are going to be. The governor also said that LB507 was not a new concept. It was recommended by my prison alternatives task force. It

was recommended and discussed by a task force from my predecessor. It's been adopted in Tennessee in some form and it's been recommended by the national conference of state legislatures. Attorney General Don Stenberg and the state legislature have been at odds over the bill. Stenberg has argued that the bill is unconstitutional and urged the governor to veto it. Some lawmakers have accused the attorney general of opposing the bill because he wants to talk tough about crime without being candid about the costs. Stenberg has denied these charges and says the legislature has not taken sufficient action to fight what he says is Nebraska's growing crime problem. The governor sought to distance himself from the conflict today saying the issue was neither partisan or political and he said he could see both sides of the argument as to the law's constitutionality. But if I decline to sign or I vetoed every bill that may be, quote unquote, maybe unconstitutional, I'd be vetoing or not signing quite a bit of legislation

or I'd be setting a precedent. A court can decide that if that needs to be challenged. In a statement issued from his office, the attorney general said he was disappointed that the governor signed the bill, which he called an unconstitutional political gimmick. Stenberg said the bill places special burdens on efforts to fight crime and said it raised the specter that someone who commits and is convicted of a serious crime will go free. The governor had another announcement during his press conference today, which was much less controversial. It involved the formation of the Nebraska competitive alliance, which will assemble a comprehensive and strategic plan for Nebraska's industrial modernization efforts. In making the announcement, Nelson noted that during the change from military to peacetime technology, some restructuring will have to take place. So the purpose of this alliance is to seek some of the $471 million that President Clinton has proposed as part of his technology reinvestment project. And the goals of this effort will be to help defense contractors make the shift

to non -defense manufacturing, to assist in job training for the 21st century in the move technology from the academic sector to the private sector. And to improve our telecommunications and information technology infrastructure. The alliance will involve partnerships between businesses and partnerships between businesses and educational institutions, including the University of Nebraska, as well as the state community colleges. Businesses already involved include bail and manufacturing in Columbus, Valmont Industries, Millard Manufacturing, Broihill, Lockwood and Brunswick. Tommy Thorn is the manager of production programs at Brunswick, which manufactures rocket motor cases for strategic missiles. We're primarily a defense contractor, and as we see the budget goes down, well obviously our employment plus our sales go down. So we're looking forward to this, to help pick up the space, and hopefully we can turn the tide going back up. Thorn said the company is looking to form an alliance with the rail car company in Omaha, and may also pursue a

joint venture to produce natural gas containers for cars and trucks. Department of Economic Development director Steve Butres said several software companies in Omaha, which had done defense software, will team up with healthcare providers. Instead of writing defense software, they're talking about software that will allow patient input to come in for information to be shared around the state so that people can be referred, the information can flow, and the idea would be to take that technology and help improve the quality of healthcare. That's another example. Butres said that several other Nebraska companies will be approached based on their interest in either teaming up with other Nebraska manufacturers, the University of Nebraska, or community colleges. The comprehensive and strategic plan is currently in the process of being put together and will be submitted to the federal government for approval in mid July. Butres says the short term plan is to get funding for the specific projects that have been developed. And the long term goal will be to tie this together with the whole range of dollars that the state is spending that could relate to industrial growth.

The research initiative money that's being spent, the money that's being talked about for EPSCORE, the money that's being invested in the beetle center and the possibilities that that will generate for commercial products that could come out of there. Similar things coming out of the engineering school and out of the med center. Any money for the competitive alliance that came from Washington would have to be matched with local dollars. Butres says some of that money would come from the private sector and some would come from funds within the department. A lot of it will be privately raised, but currently the Department of Economic Development and the engineering school cooperate and spend several hundred thousand dollars in a technical outreach. The money that we spend on that can be redirected. Priorities at the federal level will be given first to plans for converting defense manufacturing into commercial uses. But because Nebraska has few defense industries, butres says the state could be low on the list when the programs are funded. I think because of the relatively low impact here, we're not going to see a huge number of dollars come here. Our intent is to get a proportionate share and I think we have a very good chance of doing that because the president is basically with his experience

as a governor understands that there are a lot of resources in states that can be used. And so he's basically asking the states to come in with a coordinated approach. So states that don't take that, that simply have projects that come in outside of this sort of a framework won't be as competitive as ours will. I'm confident we'll get some projects supported. You know, we've got a very real need that we can demonstrate and some real good projects. So I think we can catch the excitement of some of the federal folks with it. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Martin Wells. The number of school districts in Nebraska remains high, but with policy changes, districts are consolidating. Some schools, those small one or two room schools are even closing. Monday, we began our three part series on rural schools and Nebraska tradition. So tonight in part two of that series, Carolyn Johnson takes us inside a small school in North Central Nebraska.

Or it can make the long e sound. It can say e. Okay. Cap toler lowercase. Lowercase. It's 8 .45 a .m. at Sunnybrook School, Holt County District 46. Three kindergarten children are taking a reading lesson from their teacher, Constance Cronin. By the end of the day, Mrs. Cronin will have taught lessons in math, science, music, spelling, writing, and art to 12 students in kindergarten through third grade. Next door in the other classroom, Elsie Coy teaches fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth grades. There are no seventh graders this year. In social studies, the four fifth grade students are learning about Mexico. Name some Mexican industries. Kimberly. Oh, three. Paintings, plastics, and fertilizers. I have tourist industry. I have

mills, flower mills, steel mills, automobiles, heavy machines, bicycles. Mrs. Coy divides her students day into regular 10 to 15 minute lessons. Fourth grade spelling, fifth grade spelling, sixth grade spelling, eighth grade spelling, and so on through social studies reading mathematics, English, and science. For each class, the students bring their books, papers, and pencils to the teacher's table. Discuss what they've read, check their answers to questions in the textbook, and take a short quiz or check their math problems. District 46 is one of Nebraska's 433 Class I schools, in that it serves only kindergarten through eighth grades. It's the type of school that parents and school board members say they want to preserve against the state's efforts to consolidate rural school districts. School board member, Mary Katzer. I think the cost per pupil is extremely maybe high in the rural areas, and maybe that's what they're looking at. But I think when they look at the quality of education that that student

is coming out of rural schools with, I think they're finding that their money is well spent. The per pupil cost at District 46 is about $3 ,000. The school receives $30 ,000 annually in state aid. All Class I schools were required this year to meet the accreditation standards of the State Department of Education. The accreditation I can't say heard is, it made us get our library up to date. There wasn't a lot that needed to be done like there was at some schools. We are lucky that we do have two excellent teachers here that keep on on top of things, and I guess it made it easier for us. All Class I districts are also required to affiliate with a high school district by July 1st of this year. Under the law, the high school district can levy attacks on the land in a Class I district to help support high school districts that previously received a lump sum payment, called free high school tuition from Class I districts. Mrs. Koi, who has taught at District 46 for 27 years, talks about affiliation. Because we can on

with our teaching here just as we did before. Maybe as years go by, we'll see greater effects of that. But right now, we do have a music teacher that comes out from Clearwater, but I don't think we were doing that before we were affiliated. Mrs. Koi said she occasionally consults with the teachers at the three high schools her students attend, at Ewing and Clearwater and at Pope John the 23rd High School in Elgin. Two years ago when I changed my textbooks in science, I was not sure what they were teaching at 7th, 8th and 9th grade levels in science. And I had been teaching a general science which included some physics and some chemistry and earth sciences all together. And they all seemed to be teaching the animal science or the life science at 7th grade and the

earth science at 8th grade and then physics as the 9th grade. And so I more or less went to the life science and earth science for my 7th and 8th graders so that they would fit me as well. Hundreds of details make up a day at Sunnybrook School. Children from the little room are gathered around the sink in the hallway. Mrs. Cronin is passing out paper cups with pink liquid in them. We're taking fluoride. What's it for? Blake, why do you take fluoride? Who wants to tell me why you take fluoride? To clean your teeth? Well, let's see you do it. Ready, set, go. Squish me around you, Blake. With parents permission, children use the fluoride mouthwash once a week. It's free provided by the State Department of Health to give rural school children the protection against tooth decay that urban children get from fluoridated water. In the afternoon, the little room

watches a movie and finishes an art project. Students in the big room have lessons in music, reading, science and penmanship. Just below that, skip a line. Skip a line. For my eighth grade, I expect them to have nice slant and well -formed letters. Of course, and that comes with practice. In 27 years at District 46, Elsie Coy has had plenty of practice. She and Constance Cronin are just two of the many teachers in Nebraska's Class 1 schools who try to keep the standards set by the State and by tradition for educating Nebraska's children. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Carolyn Johnson. Our series on rural schools concludes on Friday. We'll hear an example of schools working together on their own to consolidate and the story of a community that was forced to affiliate with a specific school because their board had a tough time making the choice on its own.

On Monday, May 17th, a portion of the stands in Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Nebraska -Lincoln collapsed. No one was occupying the seats. No one was injured. Commentator Stephen Bueller. Along with all the ongoing inquiries and press conferences and finger pointing and head scratching, another byproduct of the structural failure is an insistent desire to read the event in some way. The human species likes things to be meaningful to have significance. So even as we move as a culture from superstitious peering into omens to semiotic pouring over signs, we retain the need to interpret. Often the interpretations of this event are

theological. A frequent outcry upon hearing the news has been, there is a God. This means, I suppose, that the fall of the bleachers should be read as a divine judgment upon a similar fall from grace perpetrated by the University administration. The exact nature of the original sin in this case is itself, however, open to interpretation. The theories I've heard include both an overemphasis on football and an under -emphasis on the sport, both the imposition of smoking restrictions and the recent relaxation of those restrictions. Both the presence of erstwhile Oregonians as chancellor and athletic director and the absence of any real supervision, much less controlled of the athletic program by previous administrators and directors. While the last judgment might be a little harsh, the human judgment, not the divine decision, it's the one that leads, I think, to the most sensible reading of what happened. There has been a long history of not so benign neglect where the physical condition of the UNL campus is concerned, dating from stubborn refusal to make use of federal funds during the depression and the

decades after, and continuing through our equally stubborn deferral of much -needed repairs to buildings and updating of equipment. We focus so much of our attention and energy upon what's newly funded, but as soon as it's constructed or otherwise put into place, we decide it doesn't bear further scrutiny. It'll be all right. We decide that until something breaks down, maybe just falls down, and figuratively or literally hits us over the head with the results of our obliviousness. This time it was just a figurative blow, and I suspect that if the hand of God was involved, it was in the merciful sparing of injuries or worse. I hope the university, the legislature, and the citizens of this state get the message and look beyond the friendly confines of memorial stadium toward the rest of the campus as well. Without care, without maintenance, things will collapse. Perhaps the newly repaired stadium will successfully memorialize that painfully basic simple message, but I wonder if we really want things to have that much significance, that

pertinent meaning. Commentator Stephen Bueller, if you'd like information on submitting commentary to Nebraska Nightly, call 402 -472 -7722, leave your name and telephone number. Nebraska Nightly is a production of the Nebraska Public Radio Network, Keith Ludden and Martin Wells are associate producers, Dave Hughes directs Nebraska Nightly, our audio engineer tonight is Ralph Sanchez, Laurie Holy is our news intern, and I'm Nancy Finken producer. The views and opinions expressed on the preceding program are those of the commentators, interviewees, and guests, and not necessarily those of the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission or the staff and management of the Nebraska Public Radio Network. First night of Mueller's Symphony No. 9 tonight, a performance by Chicago Symphony Orchestra,

and you'll be able to compare and contrast performances tomorrow night on the Minnesota Orchestra. You'll also hear Mueller's 9th. State forecast for Nebraska tonight. First, there is a... The reading of an 800 -page bill this morning causes some senators to consider changing legislative procedure. This is Nebraska Nightly, I'm Nancy Finken. Senators passed a bill to help small businesses, but the length of that legislation was anything but small. A federal grant helps the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation carry on its education mission outside the state. I've often said and been saying for the last ten years that our groundwater here is like our Rocky Mountains. It's something we need to treasure and preserve, and certainly it's going to be a force for change in the future. This weekend, Nebraska Public Television broadcasts three military reunion documentaries. I'll talk to Bill Gansel and his father Dwight about Bill's project on conscientious objectors, a rare opportunity for a journalist to include his father in his work.

You would think that a conscientious objector would be telling his son all the way along. This is what we believe, you know, that kind of thing as you're growing up out of every other kid. And we'll have commentary tonight from Connie Bush, who thinks the proposal to tax pop is unfair. We'll have more on these coming up after this news from Dave Hughes. The doors are now locked on Irwin Charles Simance. A judge says the man confined after being acquitted due to insanity for the 1975 killings of six members of a southern family can no longer leave a state mental hospital. Lincoln County District Judge Donald Rowlands says that Lincoln Regional Center officials have failed to properly notify police when Simance has been allowed away from the center for supervised recreational outings. Now Simance can't leave the center until his doctors testify at a hearing. A Los Angeles couple is facing felony drug charges following the seizure of

950 pounds of process marijuana on I -80 near the Sutherland interchange. The Lincoln County Attorney's Office says 24 -year -old Oscar Calderon and 23 -year -old Silvia Calderon each are charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and failure to affix a drug tax stamp bond was set at $100 ,000. The Nebraska State Patrol says troopers stop the pickup truck pulling a trailer because the truck was serving. Troopers found the 39 bales of marijuana weighing 12 -27 pounds each in the trailer. An 18 -year -old Pierce Youth has pleaded guilty to a second -degree murder in the shotgun shooting of his father Christopher Manzer entered the guilty plea to the lesser charge and charges of first degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in Pierce County District Court. Manzer had been charged with first degree murder in the death of 37 -year -old Mark Manzer. Authorities said Christopher Manzer shot his father three times and

wounded his 15 -year -old sister early in the morning of November 15th, the family's rural Pierce Home, sentencing as sent for July 29th. The maximum sentence for the second -degree murder charge is life in prison. Nebraska Attorney General Nan Stenberg blames the increase of violence on the tube. Stenberg says violence on television is largely responsible for the rising rate of crime. He says that citizens should protest even if not much can be done to change TV programming. Stenberg made the comment during a talk today in Norfolk. The Archdiocese of Omaha says a Catholic priest isn't doing his job and should be removed as pastor of a local church. But the Reverend Richard Cherry refuses to leave St. Peter's Church and the Archdiocese is taking the issue to court. Archdiocese's attorney Edward Hots says a Douglas County District judge will be asked next Tuesday to order Cherry off St. Peter's property, Cherry refuses to comment. And former U .S. Trade Representative Clayton Yiders isn't at all upset that a

free trade agreement could send some American jobs to Mexico. Yiders says that's already happening. He says the North American free trade agreement will create more and better jobs in the U .S. Nebraska native was in Omaha today for a business conference. For Nebraska Nightly, I'm Dave Hughes. According to legislative veterans, it was the longest bill ever read before the Nebraska legislature. More than 800 pages long, it took six hours to read, consuming most of the day. Keith Ludden has the story on that and other legislative matters. That's Omaha Senator Carol Perch at the clerk's desk, helping out with the final reading of LB -121. Throughout the morning and part of the afternoon, she was one of several senators and even legislative staffers who helped spell clerk Pat O'Donnell in reading the 800 -page bill. The Nebraska Constitution requires that each bill be read in its entirety before final passage. Even though some legislators call the

practice mumble time, supporters of the practice say it gives the senators time to sit and reflect on a bill before casting a final vote. But some legislators are beginning to ask if enough is enough. One of them is Senator Scott Moore of Seward. It's a rule. I'm not that opposed to final reading. I think it's a good moment for reflection before I take a vote on a bill. But I think I don't need 4 .5 hours to reflect on a bill like this. The senator who introduced the longest bill in legislative history is Senator Doug Christensen of Minden. He's also the senator who has introduced a constitutional amendment to strike the requirement that a bill be read in its entirety. I've had the rules of the road this year, which was an extremely long bill, almost 400 pages. And then this one that's 800 and some pages long. So those two bills have certainly brought home the fact to me that need to get rid of final reading. My constitutional amendment doesn't totally ban it, but says that if 25 % of the members want to have a bill read in its entirety, you can do so. So I don't ban final reading totally, but I

eliminate it as an absolute requirement. One person who supports the Christensen proposal is clerk of the legislature of Pan O'Donnell. For the most part, he and his assistant Dick Brown are the ones who have to read all those bills. I think if, you know, with something on the bill that obviously is important but is easily understood by the members going through the exercise and spending six or seven hours reading is really not time well spent. I hope the voters would think about that when they get a chance to vote on the next fall. But not everyone wants to completely do away with final reading. Senator Stan Schelpepper of Stanton. I think we need to have three votes on every bill. Whether we read the bill this way or whether we would have an explanation put on our desk about each bill, a short synops that we would have to read. And before we voted on the final time and maybe read a short, short synops about every bill. Because we get very few bills like this bill. This is, you know, very unusual bill where you get a bill with 900

pages. It just doesn't happen that you get bills that long. At the end of the busy session with the pace building to a frenzy, some senators like Schelpepper and Moore, a lot of occasions are in order. This is an example of the absurdity of that rule. You have to read a 400 page bill. And I mean, it's like reading a novel. Nobody's listening. It shows what a joke the present rule is. And so it certainly does give some credence to the question, why? After the marathon reading session, lawmakers passed the bill allowing the creation of limited liability companies. Wednesday night, the lawmakers advanced a supplementary budget bill that restored some of the cuts made in the mainline budget bill, including more than $7 million for the University of Nebraska. Some money was added to the supplementary budget bill Wednesday night. The bill now earmarks $5 million of pop tax money for teacher salary enhancement and $415 ,000 for the state patrol chips program. Senator Ernie Chambers succeeded

in adding $38 ,000 for multicultural education. Last week, during debate on the mainline budget bill, Senator Don Wesley attempted to restore $187 ,000 for aid to community mental retardation programs and failed. Wednesday night, he succeeded, but he lost to fight to restore funds for the medically needy caretaker program. That, he says, was a big disappointment. And that's a really big issue to me. I think there's a lot of things in that budget that aren't as important as that. I think one of the fundamentals is trying to make sure people's health has maintained. And when you take that away, all the other things are nice, but medical care is a necessity in my view. He says the state may end up paying out more later because the caretaker relatives will have to seek other resources. What are their options now? Their options are, well, let's just quit the job that I've got. And then I'll qualify for both Medicaid and ADC. And that'll cost even more money to the state, but they'll get their medical care. So that doesn't gain anything for us. And the other option

is maybe eventually just go to the counties and say, can you take care of my medical needs? And then the counties have to pay for it if they lose income and assets. Wesley says 5 ,000 Nebraskans will be left without medical coverage. Senator Stan Schelpepper of Stanton says he supports the Supplementary Budget Bill, but with the knowledge that Governor Ben Nelson will likely veto portions of it. He says he'd rather spend less money on the University of Nebraska. I wish we would have had more restraint on LB 330 and probably taken a lot of things out of it before it got as far as it did. But once the trains started coming down the track, there was nothing we could do but they just kept rolling. But Senator Doug Christiansen of Minden calls the budget a real feat considering the rising costs of Medicaid. What I've liked more things into the secondary budget, absolutely, I would have. The needs are great. I would have loved to have more money. But I am a realist and I'm comfortable with what happened, LB 330, particularly restoring the cuts to higher education because I

think it's just very, very unfair to balance Medicaid on the backs of higher education. And had we not done LB 330, that's what's going to occur. One of the important factors in balancing the budget is a proposed new tax on POP and increased taxes on alcohol. Governor Nelson says he's opposed to the POP tax and more skeptical about its chances. So is Schelpepper. I don't think the POP tax is actually going to pass the legislature. It's been able to only get 25 votes along with the alcohol tax. Both those two bills have been able to only be garnered 25 votes after some arm twisting and some senator to say, well, let's pass it over one more time to keep it up with the other bills. But I don't know whether those two bills, the POP tax and the alcohol tax are going to get 25 votes. But if they do, it's going to take 30 votes to override the governor. And the governor, I know we don't have 30 votes to override the governor on either one of those two bills. If the POP

tax does not become law, teachers will have to wait another year for more money in their paychecks. Before lawmakers adjourned at the end of today, Speaker Bach had a few words of wisdom. I would like to encourage people to get lots of rest over the weekend because next three days are going to be very long days. We're going to put in some very long hours. We've got a lot of work to do yet before the session's over. And I do want to remind people that any amending that's going to take place on any bills has to be done in those first three days. After the Memorial Day weekend, lawmakers will have five days left in the session. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Keith Ludden. The Nebraska Groundwater Foundation has received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, which will help fund a national forum

on pollution and groundwater issues. The forum is being conducted in conjunction with national environmental groups and will focus on finding innovative solutions to pollution problems. Martin Wells prepared this report. The Nebraska Groundwater Foundation was founded in 1985 with a mission to educate the public about groundwater issues. Today, the organization has about 1200 members throughout the United States, though its programs are primarily focused on Nebraska. One of the issues the group is concerned about is non -point source pollution, which is pollution caused by rainwater runoff from non -specific sources, like construction sites, parking lots, fertilized lawns and agricultural areas. To help raise awareness about this type of pollution, the foundation applied for and received a $75 ,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to convene a national forum on non -point source pollution issues. Susan Seacrest is the president of the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation. We're very interested in this project and national forum on non -point source issues because of the traditional identification with

surface water that non -point source issues have always had. We understand that here in Nebraska non -point source pollution can greatly affect our underground water supplies. And my interest in becoming part of the partnership in having the grant was to make sure that groundwater was not forgotten in this discussion and also that some of the positive actions that we're taking here in Nebraska could be showcased for the nation. The foundation will be helping develop the forum along with the National Geographic Society, the Conservation Fund, the USDA, soil conservation service, as well as Proctor and Gamble and Chevron. The $75 ,000 has only part of the cost of the forum. The rest of the money is still being collected. Although the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation was the recipient of the EPA grant, the group won't actually keep the money. Instead, it will be passed along to the Conservation Fund in West Virginia, which is the facilitator of the forum. Larry Selser is the program coordinator. We were encouraged by the Environmental Protection Agency and others to facilitate, if you will, a national forum on non -point source pollution that would bring together

groups from public agencies, the private sector and non -profit organizations to sit down and through a series of workshops around tables come up with innovative solutions, particularly non -regulatory solutions. To the problem of non -point source pollution. Selser says non -regulatory actions are needed because non -point source pollution would be practically impossible to regulate. We envision this process taking about 12 or 14 months at the end of which we hope to work with the partners involved in the forum and others to demonstrate some of these innovative practices that are developed throughout the course of the forum. And then perhaps use outreach vehicles of the National Geographic Society and others to highlight these successful innovations to a great percentage of the American people. Susan C. Cress says the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation will have a strong voice in the development of the content of the

workshops and will serve as a resource and advocate of groundwater issues. She says she'll be helping with the selection of speakers and hopes that at least one of the national workshops will be held here in Nebraska. Paul Selser of the Conservation Fund says that's certainly a possibility, though he says so far no plans have been finalized. Selser says he relies on groups like the foundation who are very involved in water issues. And I think from my seat as I survey the national scene, I think it's quite clear that the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation is the lead organization, at least nonprofit organization dealing with groundwater issues. And so we're thrilled to be involved with them on this important initiative. With one of the world's largest aquifers under much of the state, Susan C. Cress says Nebraska's have a greater stake in solving the problems of non -point source pollution. I think it's greater simply because we have so much to lose, we have a tremendous resource. I've often said and been saying in the last 10 years that our groundwater here is like our Rocky Mountains. It's something we need to treasure and preserve. And certainly

it's going to be a force for change in the future because water issues will only become more important as time goes on. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Martin Wells. Prior to World War II, conscientious objection was not a legal alternative to military service. The draft law of 1940 said conscientious objectors would complete alternative service that would be work of national importance. Sunday night at 8 o 'clock, Nebraska Public Television presents a special, a matter of conscience, a profile of a group of Midwestern CEOs who met well assigned to a mental hospital in Iowa during World War II. Any TV's Bill Gansel produced the documentary, which features several CEOs, including Bill's father Dwight Gansel. There were 17 ,000

people, mostly men, who declared conscientious objection, objector status, or got conscientious objector status during World War II. This is the war to end all, you know, what Stadster Keller's called, the last good war. And 17 ,000 people said, no, we cannot find it. And they served alternate service in alternate service jobs, defined as jobs in the national interest. For many of those people, they started out in forest service camps, fighting forest fires. Some of those people volunteered to be smoke -jumpers, to parachute into burning fires in a way to prove that they weren't cowards because that was an issue at the time. Gradually, as more and more people were drafted, other people took jobs. The public institutions, like mental hospitals across the country, were defining that they had known that they were facing

chronic work shortages. And so some of the CEO units were set up in mental hospitals around the country. Cherokee, Iowa happened to be one of that, and that's the group that we concentrated on. And personally, Bill, because of your father being part of that CEO unit, this issue really had to hit home. Well, if I can go back a little bit, one of the things that's interesting to me is that growing up, I didn't really know about this story. You would think that a conscientious objector would be telling his son all the way along, this is what we believe, you know, that kind of thing, as you're growing up. By the way, every other kid, I was a war -mongering little kid. You know, I had guns, I had bows and arrows, and all this other kind of stuff. And it wasn't until I got into high school that we went back to a reunion of the CEO group at Cherokee, Iowa. And then I began to find out what that had done during the war and that kind of stuff. I began to hear some of those stories, and that got to be real interesting to me. And I wrote to a number of the

people who were in that alternate service unit who were doing alternate service at Cherokee, Iowa. And realized that there were some interesting stories there. The network had done a couple of programs about veterans in World War II, and all Hell Can't Stop us, a program entitled All Hell Can't Stop us, and then had done a program about women veterans from the Vietnam era, entitled Not On The Front Line. And I went to Gene Bungie, my boss, and just said, I think there's an interesting story. Another part of that whole story, and that's one of the reasons that we decided to go ahead and do the program, and then to hear them as a block, in a sense. I have to ask your dad, how did you feel? Obviously, you allowed Bill as a young child to play with guns and play army or war, whatever it is that little boys do. I did the same thing when I was a

kid. I'd carry a scar on my left hand, from a time that I was sent out to the Woodlot to chop sunflowers with corn knife. And they were all Africans. Why Africans? I don't know, but they were Africans, and I was swinging and lunged, swinging them down and whacked, hit my hand instead. So, now is that answer your question? I'm not sure it answers your question. So you thought it was perfectly okay for Bill as a young child to play the same kinds of games you played, and that when he was an adult, he'd make whatever choices he made just as you did? I guess our emphasis as parents was more in terms of how do you treat life with respect? And I guess it didn't really zero in on war as such. So Bill, when you went to the reunion and share a key with your dad, it must have been a real eye

opener? Plus that, at that time period, the Vietnam War was heating up, and so it was an obvious personal decision that I would have to make. And eventually came to ask for CEO status and was actually given that on Thanksgiving Day, incidentally one year. Notice came on Thanksgiving Day, which is the day after Thanksgiving actually. Did you feel pressure to do that because of your father's opinion? No, I mean, he has always, it's part of the philosophy, I guess, of parenting that at least the vice stands for my end of it. That, you know, I could obviously make any choice that I wanted to make. There was a pretty open type of, you know, the decisions that I could make, and the big ones were the ones that I could make on my own. At the hospital in Cherokee, I understand the conditions were less than adequate. Tell us about what the CEOs were able to do to turn things around at the hospital there. Well, the most

dramatic thing would be the change that occurred on the men's violent ward, which was rather quickly, as I remember it, became staffed entirely by fellows from our unit. Every night on that unit, any number of men would be put into straight jackets for the night. Well, and beyond that, there were stories about, as a patient, a new patient would be assigned to the violent ward. They would get three steps inside the door, and they would be beaten before, I mean, at a time before the CEOs, became more attendance there. They would be beaten either by the other attendants, by the civilian attendants, or by other patients. For absolutely no reason, as a farmer. To establish charge. But the fact that there was a group of persons who weren't just worn down by the system, which would happen when any one person would go into a situation like that and want to change

things, they'd just get worn down by the system. But a group of persons who had outside contacts as well and could tell the story to friends and family and other people and make contacts with newspapers like Bill said, I'm convinced that that's probably a major change, if not the major change, or reason for change in the whole mental hospital system in the United States. At least hasten that change. And one of the doctors at Cherokee acknowledged that when we were there. Tomorrow night on Nebraska Nightly, I'll conclude my interview with Bill Gansel and his father Dwight. Bill is the producer of a special on conscientious objectors, which airs Sunday night at 8 o 'clock on NETV. The proposed pop tax illustrates how creative senators can be at forging

inequitable tax policy when special interests come to collect. Commentator Connie Bush. Seeking to fund and overdue IOU to Nebraska's teachers, senators employ a favorite political standby. Tax somebody who won't know they've been taxed for something they won't know they've been taxed for. So put a tax on pop, a bad habit supported by kids, and promise to hand the money over to teachers. I am reminded of Harry Houdini, who was renowned for his astounding ability to wiggle out of tight spots through contortion and illusion. 25 senators gave second round approval to the pop tax, which the governor may or may not veto. They learned a lesson when Senator Byer's food tax trial balloon fizzled earlier in the session. To justify singing out non -nutritional beverages for attacks, Senator Withham declared that they shall no longer be known as food products. What are they then? Bad habits, health hazards, entertainment? Maybe a new type of sin to tax, but not food. Senator solved the question of what constitutes food in beverages by adopting a 10 % rule. Any beverage with at least 10 % fruit

or vegetable juice would forever be known as real food and not taxed. Anything last would be fair game. I can see the lid popping open on endless tax opportunities for other unfood items. Think of all the things that people eat which are low in nutritional content. What about products high in salt? Everyone knows that potato chips and pretzels can run up blood pressure and make you thirsty for pop. And what about sugar? Who says ding -dongs or ho -hoes contribute to health while they make you fat? Imagine entire shells of unfoods that could be moved into this lucrative tax maker's nevana. Senators could be found spending hours and hours in grocery stores searching labels for real food ingredients. How many products would qualify as food, once the emulsifiers and food additives are discounted? Soon, the entire state aid to education could be funded by taxing bad eating habits. And we would still have no sales tax on food. Houdini himself would be dazzled. While Senators were dancing their pop tax fandango, Mary Morgan began a two -step campaign

for legislative approval of a temporary Omaha sales tax hike. In this spring's election, Omaha voters approved the added tax for a $20 million auditorium renovation. Although this approach illustrates the ideals of equitable, straightforward, broad -based public finance, the sales tax hike has nevertheless generated a cool response from Senators. Omaha voters said, will all pay for an amenity that benefits Omaha residents and share it with Nebraska's too. Senators, who seem to be jealous regarding the state tax base, said, Fat Chants will share the water with youth -hursty citizens, who have the gall to come to the well and ask for a drink and broad daylight. I wonder if the guard dogs of the state sales tax are the same Senators who would institute a food tax, one food at a time, in order to eke out a payment for teachers. To 25 votes for a pop tax, mean we have only 24 Senators who would follow Omaha's equitable approach and say, let's honor our commitments and ask everyone to share in their payments. Who believes in Houdini's magic anyway?

Commentator Connie Bush, if you'd like to submit, commentary you can call 40247277222, leave your name and telephone number. Nebraska Nightly is a production of the Nebraska Public Radio Network. Keith Ludden and Martin Wells are associate producers, Dave Hughes directs Nebraska Nightly, our news intern is Lori Holy, Ralph Sanchez is the audio engineer tonight, and I'm Nancy Finken, producer. The views and opinions expressed on the preceding program are those of the commentators, interviewees and guests, and not necessarily those of the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission, or the staff and management of the Nebraska Public Radio Network. Mr. Dorchester up next and there has been a program change

instead of Mueller's Symphony No. 9 and D Major, which we heard last night in Chicago anyway, going to hear an all -grig program with guest conductor, him on Mihail, and soprano Amanda Holm Grimson. Should nutritional counselors be licensed in Nebraska? This is Nebraska Nightly, I'm Nancy Finken. Coming up tonight, Martin Wells reports on the proposal to licensed nutrition counselors, but a health department spokesperson says comment to his office so far has been against the measure. They feel that this is an infringement on the right of an individual to choose, the kind of person who they go to for advice in this area, and they simply don't feel that it's appropriate. Our series on rural schools concludes tonight. We'll show you how three communities are working together to build a new school, and another situation where the local board couldn't make a decision and was told what to do by the State Reorganization Committee. Time

it'll get over, but I'm sure there was definitely some hard feelings because of the fact that we could have just originally affiliated, and then we'd have been in running our own show, and this way we've got out of our hands and somebody else has run the show. And I'll conclude my interview with Bill Gansel and his father Dwight, Bill's public television special on conscientious objectors airs Sunday night, and we'll wrap up the show tonight with commentary from Betty Stevens, but first this news from Dave Hughes. The State Health Department is taking public comment on a proposal to license people who provide nutrition counseling. Currently, Nebraska has a voluntary certification program. Martin Wells has more. Nutritional counseling has only been regulated in Nebraska since 1987 when the current certification bill was

passed. David Montgomery is the program administrator with the Nebraska Health Department Policy and Planning Division. No one can call himself or herself a certified nutritionist or certified dietitian unless they have the credentials from the State, but certification doesn't restrict anything that an individual can do. It's not a scope of practice, so it doesn't limit the ability of someone to give nutritional counseling or nutritional therapy if they're not certified. Licensure would in fact restrict people's ability to engage in those functions unless they had a license. The Health Department is currently organizing and administering a review to determine if licensure is needed. This is being done at the request of the Nebraska Dietetic Association. In this case, the Dietetic Association felt that the current method of regulating dietitians and nutritionist was not working in the state, so they are proposing full licensure. Montgomery says the Policy and Planning Division of the Health Department is taking a neutral stance on the issue. He says a technical

committee is currently discussing the proposal. Several other bodies appointed by the Director of the Department of Health will also make recommendations. The Director will review the material and issue a report through what is known as a 407 process. It's a mechanism for providing recommendations to the legislature. Anytime there's a proposal to license or credential a new health profession or to change the scope of practice of an existing health profession or otherwise significantly change the way it's administered, only the legislature can act to credential health professions or to change scope of practice. The department through this review doesn't actually take any action, but the recommendations are listened to very carefully by the legislature. They use them to help them evaluate bills that come before them. No one from the Nebraska Dietetic Association was available for comment about the proposal. But in a written statement, the association said that individuals seeking nutrition treatment need assurances that the people they go to for help are fully qualified in the field. Under the proposal, the state

bureau of examining boards would decide whether or not an individual is licensed to provide nutrition care. David Montgomery says regulating nutritional counseling is proving to be tricky because an exact definition of the terms nutritional counseling or nutritional therapy has yet to be determined. In a very strict sense, it means the use of nutritional remedies for diagnosed conditions or problems of the human body. In a very broader sense though, it could refer to the type of general counseling and advice that goes on all the time among individuals. And this is where the committee is struggling right now and where exactly can this line be drawn and in fact can a reasonable line be drawn. Montgomery says the Nebraska Dietetic Association is not trying to restrict the kind of informal nutritional advice that goes on between individuals every day. What they do hope to restrict is people going into the business holding themselves

out advertising themselves to the public as a nutrition counselor and nutrition therapist. If someone who is qualified to give this kind of advice, when in fact they do not have appropriate qualifications to do so. The written comment period for the proposal is almost over and Montgomery says so far most of the comments have been opposed to the licensing. They feel that this is an infringement on the right of an individual to choose the kind of person whom they go to for advice in this area and they simply don't feel that it's appropriate. Montgomery stresses that the review period is not a popularity contest but says the public's concerns will be considered. If you would like to comment on the proposal, written comment should be sent to the Division of Health Policy and Planning at the Nebraska Health Department in Lincoln. The department is taking written comments only and they must be postmarked no later than this Saturday. All recommendations will go to the State Board of Health in late summer. The earliest the legislature

could introduce legislation would be next January. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Martin Wells. For decades through legislation and policy changes, Nebraska has attempted to consolidate its hundreds of Class 1 school districts in order to use education dollars more efficiently. The legislature is considering laws that would encourage small high schools to consolidate as well. In this story, Carolyn Johnson reports on the effects of policy and legislation on Long Pine Elementary School and on the schools in Orleans, Oxford and Beaver City. The Board of Long Pine Elementary School met for the last time on May 10th. Its work will now be done by the Board of the Ainsworth Public Schools. The State Reorganization Committee has ordered the two school districts to merge. Jerry Elers is superintendent of Ainsworth

Public Schools. He attended the meeting and assured the Board that there are no plans to close the Long Pine School. Working with Long Pine in terms of an actual merger is very new. And as a result of that, a lot of the things I'm not familiar with are current practices here. And as a result, I can explain to him how we would do it in Ainsworth and how we hope the mesh will work in terms of their policies and hours. But for all practical purposes, we'll continue for the balance of this year. Working with an advisory group from Long Pine and continuing their current practices. And then we'll be operating with Ainsworth policies starting in September. State law requires all kindergarten through eighth grade school districts, called class one districts, to affiliate with a high school district this year. Affiliation brings the property of class one districts into high school districts for tax purposes. But allows the class one districts to keep their autonomy and their own boards. Long Pine failed to meet affiliation deadlines because its board and patrons couldn't agree on where to affiliate. With Ainsworth Public Schools are

with Rock County High School in Bassett. Finally, the state ordered Long Pine to merge with the Ainsworth Public Schools. Tom Erickson teaches seventh and eighth grade at Long Pine School. He said there were hard feelings about the merger. Oh, I think at the time, I mean, you know, time, it'll get over. But I'm sure there was definitely some hard feelings because of the fact that we could have just originally affiliated. And then we'd have been in running our own show. And this way, it got out of our hands and somebody else has run in the show. So there, yeah, there's bound to be a small community. There was some hard feelings. In the next general election, patrons of Long Pine can run for the board of the merged district. Jack Rorick is president of the outgoing board. When that happens, I think you'll find that the percentage of rural folks on the board increase. It seems like that they have the desire to run and serve on the boards. And that's just

where it happens up in this country. Rorick said the political issues have been discussed enough and it's time to get on with the business of educating the children. Long Pine teachers anticipate new opportunities for students because teachers will be shared across the larger district. Linda Alberts teaches fifth and sixth grade at Long Pine. I think that it will give my students the opportunities that they don't have right now. For example, the more specialized subjects like art and PE and music, I think they'll have access to teachers that are better at teaching those things that I am, for example, since I don't have any background or very much of a background in those kinds of subjects. Teachers also expect that Long Pine's 50 -some students will receive computer instruction and take part in more sports programs. Under contract with the Ainsworth district, the Long Pine teachers will receive full family health coverage, whereas now they receive only single coverage. The salary base will rise from Long Pine's current base of $16 ,000 to

Ainsworth's base of $17 ,500. State efforts to consolidate schools extend to small town high schools. The issues facing these schools are different from those of class 1 schools, but the desire to keep local control is common to both. Legislation is now being considered that would encourage small high schools to merge. Under LB 94, high schools that are within 15 miles of another high school and have fewer than 45 students would not receive state aid beyond the average state amount paid, per student, in the state. The communities of Oxford, Beaver City, and Orleans have felt state mandated change coming. In April, the three communities passed a $7 .3 million bond issue to build a new junior senior high school in the country, midway between the three towns. A single board will govern the new kindergarten through 12th grade district, and each town will keep its own elementary school. Maryland Cibles teaches English and journalism in the Oxford community schools. I was in favor of it. My most of my family was.

I think maybe we just see the people just see that we're going to have to go where we want to go or we're not going to get a choice someday. At the Cafe and Service Station called Inconvenient Corner in Beaver City, Dan and Michael Brown talked about the merger of the Orleans Oxford and Beaver City schools. Dan, a senior at Beaver City, studied school consolidation for his entry in speech contest. He offered his opinion about why Nebraska's have been reluctant to reorganize schools. I think in Nebraska people are just reluctant to change anything. I mean, they've seen it work. Even if it hasn't been working recently, it worked once or whatever. It worked well for a little bit. So they think there's a possibility of it working well again. Sometimes things don't always do that. Dan's cousin, Michael, will be in the new school's first graduating class. Over the years that more classes will be offered, probably more sports will be offered, maybe clubs, different things will be generated through the larger schools. But I

do think that more will be offered, and it will be more advantageous to the students. Nebraska's Commissioner of Education, Joe Lucha -Harnes, has a prediction. I think in ten years Nebraska schools will be mostly K -12 school districts, not completely, but generally because the tax system will have equalized. I believe that most of the small communities will have to do as Orleans Peevers City and Oxford have done in order to be able to deal with the economics involved. But in so doing, they will create better high schools, so we'll have a lot fewer high schools. With over 700 school districts, Nebraska is the last Midwestern state to reorganize its system. That's down from over 7 ,000 districts in the 1920s. If the past indicates anything about the future, the debate over tax equity, school size, and local control is likely to continue. For Nebraska Public Radio, I'm Carolyn Johnson.

Last night on Nebraska Nightly, we broadcast part of my conversation with Bill Gansel and his father Dwight, both conscientious objectors. The senior Gansel during World War II and Bill during the Vietnam War. Bill has produced a documentary on CEOs who during World War II were assigned to work at a mental hospital in Cherokee, Iowa. In tonight's interview, Bill explains how CEOs, including his father, faced rejection. From the stories that they talk about, they were ostracized at Cherokee. They were only able to socialize with themselves. I mean, the other regular civilian attendants did not want to have anything to do with them. There were a few who braved

the system enough to say hello and to talk with us, and that sort of thing. But certainly for probably at least half of the time, the first half of the time that we were there, the two and a half years. Other employees wouldn't sit at the same table in the cafeteria. So the isolation was almost like being imprisoned because of what you believed or ostracized. Because during World War II, it was such a patriotic time. The country for the most part was behind what was going on in large numbers. It wasn't an unpopular war like the Vietnam War. And I would assume that you had to face some criticism and some isolation that maybe you wouldn't have had to face in a less popular if we can use that term war. But at least World War II didn't tear the country apart like the Vietnam War did. It didn't provide the country with hell

like Vietnam War did. It's an interesting dichotomy too because for me at any rate, because this was also the war in which for the first time, the country and the objection was recognized. Before that in World War I, there was not a legal option to declare CEO status. And people who tried to do that were drafted anyway, sent to boot camp. And I find this really ironic given the later history. They were often diagnosed as having mental problems. Sounds like Russia now. And we're in many cases were beaten or given diets of bread and water or that sort of thing, all to test their faith. And some of them were jailed, two Quakers who were in 11th -worth prison for refusing to go were killed, were beaten so severely that they died. And so as a result of that,

the historic peace churches, the Quakers, the Mennonites and the brethren, lobbied Congress and got the official recognition for CEO status for World War II. And established what was known as civilian public service, shortened to CPS, which are the people who sponsored the camps at Cherokee and other places. During the Vietnam War, you were prime drafting age, I assume. Yes. And you chose CEO status. How have you dealt with that? A lot of people during the Vietnam War who didn't want to be drafted went to Canada. Right. And I had friends who went to Canada because they had not gotten the status. My history with that was very easy and I've got a level of guilt about that because I got, I think it largely because when I wrote in, I applied for CEO status when I first registered. I mentioned that dad

had been a CEO in World War II and they probably looked at that and probably said, well, yeah, okay. And so I didn't have to get letters together, I didn't have to go through this big fight in order to get the status. And then after I got the status and was available to be drafted, the lottery was in place at that time and I got a high number. And so I ended up not having to do all of the service and to a certain extent, I've got a guilt feeling about that, about not having to do my part, quote unquote. During the reunion, we got into a lot of discussions about, you need to know the viewer at home needs to know why these guys declared CEO in the first place, you know, where that kind of comes from. And whether or not they can justify them, their beliefs. And so I was asking the questions, I tried to put myself in the devil's advocate place and asked the questions, what do you do about a dictator like Saddam Hussein in the desert storm war? How do you deal with somebody like that? And their

answers are very interesting, I think. But Dwight, is it really a specific war? I mean, can you really use a different justification based on whatever conflict the United States may get into, whether it's Saddam Hussein or Hitler or whoever it may be in the future? Is the reasoning the same, if you're a conscientious object or in one war based on principles that I'll ask you to tell me about, are those same principles, do they hold true in any violent conflict then? Yeah, that's a really tough question and I've been asked it now at least once in another interview. And I guess my answer has been that if in World War II I had known what was happening to the Jews and Gypsies and other quote undesirables, I don't know if I would have made the same decision. I don't know. So I guess in that sense I'm not an absolute

pacifist. But it seems to me like constantly to be working at the kinds of things that make for peace rather than just letting things drift and events develop without some efforts at trying to resolve conflicts in a non -violent conflict. So violence for some causes you might be able to support? Yeah, I can certainly support a police force for instance, I mean within a city you need a police force. That's not a war. Well, no. What about what's going on in the former Yugoslavia? I mean you mentioned if you had known what was going on to the Jews and the Gypsies during World War II that maybe it would have changed your mind. Let's bring it up to current day. We haven't had any cleansing going on. Yes. We have factions that it's hard

to tell who the quote unquote good guy is. Yeah. And I don't know. I don't know what the answers are. Do you think that your dad is a typical conscientious objector that once you're a pacifist you're not always a pacifist that there is some? I think that there's a whole range of beliefs within, certainly within the group that we dealt with within the Cherokee group. I think what they shared was a feeling that there has got to be a better way to do this, you know, to that war is not a real great answer to solve, you know, international crises and international conflicts. Bill Gansel produced a documentary on conscientious objectors in the Midwest during World War

II, which included his father Dwight, that show air Sunday night at 8 o 'clock on Nebraska Public Television. They come twice each week on these light spring afternoons to one of the most historically significant sites in the state. If these dozen volunteers have a common name, it is diversity, commentator Betty Stevens. They are young and old and in between. They work with shovels and trials excavating three designated areas in the gridded backyard of the Canard House. This house, built with open prairie on at least two sides in 1869, was the home of Nebraska's first secretary of state, Thomas Canard. It is believed to be the oldest house within the original plot of

Lincoln, and in 1968, it was dedicated as the Nebraska Statehood Memorial. Because it preceded the arrival of the railroad, the materials it was constructed of were believed to have been hauled overland from Nebraska City. The Canards lived in the house until 1887, the year of Libya, Mrs. Canard's death. Since then, it was used as a boarding house, fraternity house, and a single family dwelling. In 1923, the rear wing of the house was removed, and two -thirds of the current archaeological dig is in search of the footings of that wing, so that if funds for its reconstruction become available, its dimensions and location can be accurately recreated. That is the technical reason for this current search. But those who dig here fight the rain and sun of these May afternoons

for as many reasons as there are people. One volunteer said he joined the effort to broaden his life experience. Another said she was merely curious. And another who has been a part of more digs than he can remember said he does it because he loves history and enjoys being a part of its preservation. And another said he is there because family rumors say that his mother -in -law once served as upstairs maid in this famous house. What are they uncovering? To the amateur eye, not much, really. A piece of an old bottle. A bent striker from a doorframe. A clay marble. A glass collar button. When it all comes together under the professional eye in the lab, it may reveal some small piece of historical knowledge not known before. So they do the work for free that they would not do for any amount of money.

And for at least one of the volunteer diggers, it provides the stage for an enactment of her fantasies. I can hear Mrs. Canard's long skirt and pedicotes sweep across the grass. I can see the little boys huddled around their marble game in the backyard a century ago. And I suspect that somewhere under the soil around this house are the remains of one of the Canard girls dolls. The fantasy holds steady. The actual finds can wait. Commentator Betty Stevens. If you'd like to submit commentary, call 402 -472 -7722, leave your name and telephone number. Nebraska Nightly is a production of the Nebraska Public Radio Network, network manager Steve Robinson. Keith Lutton and Martin Wells are associate producers, Dave Hughes directs Nebraska Nightly, Jeff Smith is our audio engineer tonight, and I'm Nancy Finken producer.

The views and opinions expressed on the preceding program are those of the commentators, interviewees and guests. And not necessarily those of the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission or the staff and management of the Nebraska Public Radio Network. I believe in

you, there in my dreams I saw the truth, and there it was, my dream come true. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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