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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1980)
A friday, february 291980 Hncoln, nebraska vol. 104, no. 35 19IS1 APU planning to contact Mack football recruits By Michelle Carr , In protest of the NU Foundation's acceptance of 1 300 Krugerrand coins, the African People's Union will send letters to recruited black football players to inform them of what APU calls the "injustices and racist practices of the Nebraska football program." James and Jessie Coe of Phoenix last month donated almost $1 million of South African Krugerrands to the UNL College of Engineering and Technology for the pur pose of buying equipment and financing instruction. APU called the coins a symbol of apartheid government and asked for thei their return, but the foundation decided to keep the coins. The APU called a press conference Thursday to outline further actions. According to APU President Doreen Charles, the organization "knows for a fact" that black athletes at the university are exploited. In some instances, athletes' records are falsified to make them eligible to partici pate in sports, Charles said. Athletes also are encouraged to take easy courses, Charles said. Black athletes are misled because they are required to devote all their time to athletics rather than academics, she said. According to Shomari Asheber, APU campus coordinator, black athletes receive a "joke of an education." He said most athletes graduate without basic reading and writing skills. In addition to a demand for the return of the Krugerrands, APU demanded that profit generated by black football players be contributed to black community devel opment projects and that the university cut its ties with corporations involved in South Africa. If the funds generated by the football program were used properly, the university would not have financial difficulties and would not have to accept the $1 million donation, let alone a $1 million donation of South African krugerrands, Charles said. Sending letters to recruits is an effort to dissuade black athletes from coming to UNL, APU member Hodari Sababu said. "We don't want to see black athletes come here under these conditions," he said. Despite the fact that all football recruits have signed letters of intent to attend UNL, Charles said the letter will alert the recruits to racial exploitation at the uni versity. The group said it plans to send sim ilar letters to potential recruits every year. Tom Osborne, UNL head football coach, said APU members have the right to send out the letters. He said he did not know what effect the letter will have on re cruits. "I really don't know, but we will find out," he said. Although recruits have signed letters of intent, these athletes are not obligated to attend UNL, Osborne added. When approached in early February by members of the APU, D.B. Varner, chair man of the foundation, "flatly refused to return the coins," Sababu said. Sababu said he inferred that the foundation would accept anything. "The foundation should be guided by greater moral and ethical values than that," he said. Because the foundation's policies are strictly economical and not moral, Asheber said APU's strategy is economic and moral. For economic and moral reasons, the group said it decided to send letters be cause football is economically predominant and because the university had "one of its better recruiting years," he said,! . The group plans to suggest a revision of foundation policy at the NU Board of Regents' meeting in March. ASUN's reversal of its stand on the Krugerrand donation stemmed from pres sure from students and letters criticizing the resolution in newspapers, Sababu said. ASUN passed a resolution Wednesday, which commended the Coe's contribution, reversing a Feb. 6 resolution condemning the acceptance of the coins. Sababu said that ASUN's first resolution "wasn't an emotional thing at all. This time (the second resolution) it was made out of emotions." A petition will be included with the letter, signed by persons who support the return of the coins, including Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha. A parallel exists be tween the exploitation of South African black miners and the exploitation of NU black athletes", Asheber said. "The black community concludes that if the university will not understand the oppression of black people in South Africa, then they would not possibly want to, understand their exploitation and oppres sion of black people in Nebraska,'? the letter stated. .jL - te & Yr,- - ; -r Daily Nebraskan Photo Signs of life begin to spring up as the western Nebraska grasses replace the last snow of the winter. This land scape scene was taken in western Nebraska where temperatures have been rising above 60 degrees. Women's athletics funding questioned . By Gordon Johnson State funding tor UNL women s athletics bnefly hung on the balance Thursday during the Legislature's Appro, priations Committee executive session when two senators discussed cutting that item of the NU budget. Also looked at was a proposed NU regional veterinary college. The committee decided to appropriate $27,814 to investigate the need for the school, instead of approving the $117,816 requested by the NU Board of Regents to hire a dean and personnel for the non-existent college. The appropriations committee looked at the NU operating budget to determine the priority the requests should receive. ' In the first round of talks, budget items are listed as priorities, starting with priority one and going however low a senator decides. Sen. Donald Dworak of Columbus said that if an item is not appointed priority one during the first round, it will likely be cut. Sens. Ralph Kelly of Grand Island and Donald Dworak of Columbus said the UNL athletic program could be self supporting if women's athletics were cut. "If you eliminate all women's athletics, the athletic department would he totally self sunnortinc " Hworak 1 j r 1 0) " said. At question was a $619,135 request for the operation of the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Dworak said that at a recent women's basketball game he saw only 50 spectators, which compares to about 1 1 ,000 seen at a men's game. Continued on Page 2 Fourth candidate files to spur student interest' By Kent Warneke It has come down to the final four. A fourth candidate filed for the ASUN presidency five minutes before the deadline Wednesday. Jay Willhoft, a junior history and political science major, filed his letter of intent as an independent candidate. Clark Wilson, a senior in the engineering college, also filed Wednesday for the position of ASUN first vice president as an independent candidate. According to Wilson, he and Willhoft are running individually, but they know each other and share some similar jtoals. In his letter of intent, Willhoft stated two main policies he would work for if elected: to make student govern ment more accessible to students and to improve relation ships between students, administrators and the NU Board of Regents. v Willhoft said by accomplishing these goals, the overall Image of student covernment would be improved and the student body would show more interest in student govern ment. t Willhoft said although he hopes to win the election, one reason he filed was to attempt to increase student awareness of the March 12 elections. "I felt there needed to be more candidates. in the race to stimulate interest which would hopefully get more stu dents to vote," Willhoft said.- "I'm going to campaign pretty hard and I'm hoping to win." Wilson said he filed for the first vic president's posi tion because he thought he could accomplish things for. his college and UNL students in that position and he wanted to be able to promote issues of importance. Wilson attributed his last-minute filing to the natural tendency to leave the job for. other people. He said he realized that if he wanted an issue acted on, he would have to try and do something about it. Wilson said he knows the party system is strong and his chances of winning the election may be slim. "Even if I don't win, I hope to bring out some issues that aren't being dealt with currently," Wilson said. Israel defended: Zionist speaker defends Israel in Talks and Topics symposium Page 3 On their own: Reviewer critiques three solo performer's efforts. Page 8 Southern hospitality: Louisiana should be friendlier for UNL gymnasts than Southern Connecticut. , . Pae 10