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Wednesday, march 26, 1980
lincoln, nebraska vol. 104, no. 53
n
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Zatecnka:'Needless damages caused students' exit
By Rich Jurgens
Almost all the residents of Heppner
Three in Neihardt Residence Center have
to move by Friday for what the UNL hous
ing director called "a long history of need
less damages."
Included in the vandalism were damaged
window screens, room doors, ceiling lights
and "a general clutter in the hall," consist
ing of apples, oranges and other items,
Housing Director Doug Zatechka said.
He said the damage done this semester
totals around $1,000.
Dan Dunn, a Heppner Three resident
who will be moving, said it is the general
opinion of those involved that they "over
stepped their boundaries," and probably
should be moved.
Dunn said the students had been warned
several times in writing to stop destroying
university property.
The main concern of the students being
moved is that not all Heppner Three resi
dents were involved in the vandalism and
therefore should not be forced to move.
Housing list
Zatechka said his office will be compil
ing a list of those students not involved,
and they will be allowed to stay.
The students who will leave said they
would give Zatechka a list of residents who
were not involved.
The students defended their destruction
of university property by charging that
poor living conditions exist on Heppner
Three.
The students said Heppner Three is a
fire and safety hazard. The showers have
light sockets directly above them, the fire
hose has holes in it and the nozzle doesn't
work.
One student said he had asked that the
stairwells be painted, but the request was
denied.
A list given to the Daily Nebraskan
enumerated other alleged health hazards
that students said have been a problem in
previous years.
Ware: 'Excellence IF goals
are missed for minorities
By Rose Fitzpatrick
Little has been done to help minority
students at UNL under the provisions of a
five-year plart implemented in1 1 974 by thr
NU Board of Regents to improve UNL
overall, according to the counselor of
Multi-Cultural Affairs.
Lloyd Ware said the enrollment of
Native American students at UNL has
tripled in the last three years, but support
and programs designed for those students
has not increased since 1974, despite the
apparent intention of the regents to do so.
Chuck Roach, president of the Council
of American Indian Students, said he also
questions the sincerity of goals for minor
ity students.
The five-year plan containing the goal
for minorities is called "Toward Excellence
II," an update of an earlier campus im
provement plan.
Roach, in a letter to UNL Chancellor
Roy Young, cited provisions of the plan he
thought applied to Indian students, and
suggested that the university "take a good,
hard look" at guidelines which haven't
been met.
One section of, the plan states that
"UNL (has) an obligation to step up
efforts to recruit and retain students from
ethnic minorities, coupled with more fi
nancial support. Special attention needs to
be paid to special needs of these students
so that they have equal opportunity in
higher education. ,
"During the next five years, major em
phasis will be placed on retaining minority
students, providing ihem with the social,
intellectual and financial support necessary
to motivate the students to remain in
school?'
But Ware said financial aid opportuni
ties open to Native Americans have not
been increased.
Roach said the Office of Scholarships
and Financial Aids steers Native American
students mainly toward Basic Educational
Opportunity Grants and Bureau of Indian
Affairs money and does not look into
other sources.
Other sources include Indian Health
Services and Indian Fellowship grants in
addition to scholarships from special funds
for students with high grade point averages,
Roach said.
In many cases, the financial aid that
Native American students receive is their
sole support, Roach said.
Another of the statements in the
five-year plan regards "non-traditional stu
dents: "For individuals who for one reason
or another have not been able to complete
their college program, the university should
provide easier access to the continuation of
their education. This, in particular includes
women whose education was interrupted
to raise a family. New and different advis
ing and counseling programs will be needed
as well as academic programs which meet
their needs and goals."
Continued on Page 8
Zatechka said he was not aware of all
the problems and that they would be look
ed into.
Money available
He said if a student is paying for some
thing, there should be up-keep. He added
that there is money available to make
changes.
However, he said a rational reaction to
the problems is not to make more holes in
the walls.
Zatechka said the students would be
moved to other residence halls by Friday.
"I'm not going to have people sitting up
there for the next five weeks causing
destruction," he said.
Some of the residents of Heppner Three
are worried about being moved to East
Campus when their classes are on City
Campus.
Zatechka said the students would be
housed where there are open spaces, and
the students would be spread throughout
the residence halls.
"I wouldn't contemplate putting them
together," he said. Zatechka said the group
would not be permitted to live on the same
floor this semester or next semester.
"I have to break up a community that
seems to feed off itself in a negative way,"
he said.
However, he said he would like to work
with the students on their preference on
where to live and said he thought a couple
of students wanted to live on East Campus.
"I don't want it (placement of the stu
dents) to be a vindictive kind of thing,"
Zatechka said.
On the other hand, Zatechka said, "I
won't let them live in Heppner Three
again."
Zatechka said the housing department is
trying to establish positive communities in
residence halls., and that the type of action
going on in Heppner Three could not go on
forever.
Living in a dormitory is like a landlord
tenant arrangement where both parties
have to abide by the written contract, he
said.
"I have a hard time understanding why
legal actions like this have to be taken," he
said.
On the other hand, he said he didn't
want to have 5,000 other students living in
residence halls paying for damages caused
by a few people.
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Photo by Jerry McBride
Residents of Heppner Three, who have to move by Friday, pose for photographer
with personal effects in hall.
Chambers tries to remove $1 million from budget
By Gordon Johnson
Krugerrands became a subject of controversy again
Tuesday when Sen. Ernest Chambers of Omaha cried to
have $1 million removed from the UNL budget because
the university accepted $1 million donated in Kruger
rands. Chambers said the Legislature failed to show concern
for the black students attending the university when
Chambers' amendment was rejected, he said. The amend
ment failed, 34-9.
The amendment would have been attached to LB999,
which sets state general fund support for NU. The bill
advanced to the third round of floor debate ,31-5.
Chambers claimed that the Krugerrands are not
currency, but are an investment pushed by the govern
ment of South Africa in an attempt to legitimize its
racist policies.
"I would be less than a man-less than a black man if I
didn't take a stand on this issue," Chambers told the other
senators.
Sen. Shirley Marsh of Lincoln told Chambers that the
Krugerrands were not given to the university, but to the
NU Foundation, but still Chambers wanted to take money
away from the university.
Chambers responded by saying that it makes little
difference how the money came to the university. The
issue is where the money came from and having the
foundation handy to launder money is very beneficial to
the university, he said.
"The students are aware of the hypocrisy, and so is
everyone on this floor," Chambers said.
After his amendment failed, Chambers opposed
passage of the budget bill, saying that the Legislature
has made it clear that Nebraska does not care about its
black students.
'Today the black people were crushed by a vote of
the Legislature, but I don't have to swallow spit and
take it," he said.
'To me, every vote for LB999 and every vote against
my amendment will be interpreted as support for the
government of South Africa," Chambers emphasized.
Another amendment offered and later withdrawn by
Sen. Loran Schmit of Bellwood would have cut $I47jOOO
from the NU-budget that would cover one Half the cost
of the NU student unions.
Schmit said he withdrew the amendment to get the bill
advanced and to save time. However, he said that he may
not be through with the issue and may push to have his
amendment considered when the bill comes up for final
reading,
Schmit was successful in removing $7,500 from the
budget which would have gone toward research of un
identified flying objects. He claimed that $7,500 was
merely a foot in the door for research, of this kind and
that in the future more money may Be requested,
"This body cannot endorse every single whim brought
before it," Schmit said.
LB999, if passed, would give'NU a 1237 percent in
crease in general fund support for 1980-81. The bill calls
for an NU appropriation of $131 million. Hiis is $2.5
mUlion less than the NU budget request and $5 million
more than the governor's recommendation.