monday, January 19, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 6
Regents give College of Nursing booster shot
By D. Eric Kircher
Although the NU Board of Regents Saturday decided
not to close the UNL College of Nursing, NU President
Ronald Roskens cautioned against over optimism.
"I don't think anyone should leave this room with a
false sense of security when we are facing, as we have
been, very real prospects of funding deficiencies," he said.
"We need your support of the university's budget."
NU Medical Center Chancellor Neal Vanselow told the
regents that Nebraska has a shortage of nurses and he
couldn't recommend a reduction in NU nursing programs.
Jane Ford, Southeast Nebraska Health Systems Agency
director, testified that dropping the Lincoln school would
harm medical care in southeast and out-state Nebraska.
Lee Adams, vice president of Bryan Memorial Hospit
al's nursing school, said nurses' roles in medicine are
expanding and the NU nursing school should be expand
ed, not cut.
Gov. Charles Thone's proposed 12.8 percent increase in
the university budget won't require major reductions in
the nursing program, Vanselow said.
If a cut in the budget is needed, the regents should con
sider dropping Lincoln's expensive two-year nursing pro
gram, Vanselow said.
Cuts in state and federal aid to schools and resistance
to future tuition increases will determine cuts to be made,
Vanselow said.
"Thank goodness that it looks like we will receive a
reasonable budget," Roskens said, referring to Gov.
Thone's proposed 12.8 percent increase in university
funding.
Regent Kermit Hansen of Omaha proposed raising
tuition for students attending crowded colleges, such as
nursing, engineering, business administration and others.
The increase in tuition would return to the college, he
said, and help pay for expansion. However, differential
tuition would cause problems, Hansen admitted.
Peaceful march commemorates 1960s leader
By Ward Wright Triplett HI
A scene from the 1960s was revisited Saturday morn
ing when more than 50 persons took part in a march to
commemorate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr.
The march began at the Malone Community Center at
2030 T St., and followed a route down 0 Street to the
state capitol. It was the second of two Lincoln events
honoring King, the civil rights leader of the 1960s who
was assassinated in 1968. The first was a program at
Lincoln High Thursday night.
"We have wanted to present programs like these in the
past, but this is the first year we've been organized enough
to do it," said Fannie Thompson, adult service director
for the Malone Center.
"The reason for the march is that, if you look back on
Dr. King, the most significant thing he did was with peace
ful demonstrations. By doing this, we can keep what we
wanted going, and not forget the things he said."
The march ended in the Capitol Rotunda where music
was played by the Newman United Methodist and Mount
Zion Baptist church choirs. Also two speeches were
presented. The first was a rendition of King's "I Have a
Dream" speech, given by Harry Peterson, director of State
Department of Motor Vehicles.
The second speech was by the Rev. Daniel C. Raines,
who acknowledged the proclamation by the city of
Lincoln, the state of Nebraska, the Lincoln Board of Edu
cation, and the Legislature that called for making King's
birthday a national holiday, similar to other American
, c
Photo by Mitch Hrdlicka
A Saturday morning ceremony honoring Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrated in the rotunda of the Nebraska
Capitol. About 50 participants walked from the Malone Community Center to the Capitol, where they joined
others in singing and prayer to honor the memory of the civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968.
heroes like George Washington and Abe Lincoln.
Raines said that while much of what King worked for
seems to have come about, there is still work to be done.
"In a city like Lincoln, it is difficult to see where
the racism is," said Raines. "We celebrate him in his open
ing of the public transit and the restaurants. We celebrate
him because we are no longer segregated by race.
"That may be commendable or lamentable. For
although the symbol has been erased, the fact remains. We
now stand in the unfortunate position of having an invis
ible enemy, but still as stigmatic, and enemic as ever."
Describing racism as a cancer, Raines said that people
will suffer under it until they stop pretending it doesn't
exist.
"A disproportionate number of blacks nationwide still
is the last hired and the first fired. They still are held out
of prestigious positions because of their color," Raines
said.
"So it becomes the charge of us all to identify that
invisible monster that is eating away at our innards, before
it destroys us."
Raines said he felt that King's past work stands as a
recognition of what can be done and that there is still
much to do.
"He had a dream, and we are the reason that dream
will come true."
The 20-degree weather held down attendance,
Thompson said. The lack of students attending the pro
gram seemed to be a disappointment to the organizers.
Only three UNL students, Domingo Colon Jr., Ron
Hoagland and Warren Bell, all members of the Kappa
Alpha Psi fraternity, were present at the Saturday
ceremonies.
UNL Multi-Cultural Affairs Director Jim mi Smith,
said he thought the low attendance by students was a
sign of the difference between UNL's black population
and Lincoln's black community.
"What this begins to communicate to the black com
munity is that the students seem to not be in touch with
what it (the community) is doing," Smith said.
Bell said there needed to be more advertising for the
event.
"I don't think you can really blame the students. It
seems to me there was a breakdown in the communica
tions to the campus," Bell said.
"I felt there was a need to come out to continue an
effort that King began, and I think there is a need for all
people to come out."
The proclamations for a King National Holiday, a
movement which has been spearheaded nationwide most
notably by black singer Stevie Wonder, will be displayed
at the Malone Center.
Board questions legality of student regents' pay
By D. trie Kricher
Future ASUN presidents will serve with
out pay if the NU Board of Regents ap
proves a proposal by Regent Kermit
Hansen of Omaha.
The proposal will be voted on next
month.
Hansen told the board he was concerned
that the salary might be illegal because,
according to Nebraska's constitution,
regents receive only reimbursement for ex
penses. Each campus' elected student presi
dent is a non-voting student regent.
ASUN President Renee Wessels told the
board the two positions are separate and
the student president and student regent
have different duties.
Wessels said Nebraska Secretary of State
Allen J. Beermann told the ASUN senate
that students voted in the spring elections
for a student president, not a regent.
Wessels said that unless the regents seek
a ruling on the legality of the salary, they
would be deciding a political question and
interfering in the internal affairs of student
government.
She suggested the board ask State
Attorney General Paul Douglas to rule on
the legality of student presidents' salaries.
NU attorney Richard Wood said he
thought the payment is legal.
"1 think the board needs to make a
policy decision, whether the student presi
dent is going to be paid as student regent,"
Wood said.
The regents can stop student president
salaries without a ruling on the legality of
the payments.
VVessel later said ASUN would look into
the legality and constitutionality of the
salaries before the Feb. 2 meeting.
The UNL student president receives
SI 60 a month for eight months, plus part
of a general fund during summer months.
Wessels said she received $75 a month last
summer.
In their student election, UNO students
voted to continue paying their officers.
About 650 of nearly 1 ,000 voters favored
the salary. UNO Student President Florene
Langford said.
If the board over rules the Omaha refer
endum, it would lower future voting totals,
Langford told the regents.
After the meeting, Wessels said "a signi
ficant number" - nearly 44 percent - of
UNL students in a December survey oppos
ed salaries of ASUN executives. The ASUN
Commission on Student Fees conducted
the telephone survey of 293 UNL students.
Wessels predicted voters would approve
the salary referendum. Students contacted
in the survey didn't realize the officers
work hard and have many responsibilities,
she said.
Student voters in the 1981 spring
election vill decide a referendum on pay
ment to the three ASUN executives who
now receive a salary from student fees.
Wessels listed the duties of student
presidents for the regents, prompting
several regents to suggest splitting up the
student president and student regent
positions. But the Nebraska constitution
requires the student president to act as
student regent for his or her campus.
monciay
Bugged with the Bug: Nebraska health
officials report many cases of influenza
in the state, and say university students
are highly susceptible Page 3
Long Trail: Local human-interest show
widens to national coverage of "Good
Morning America" Page 6
Splish Splash: The Nebraska swimming and
diving team placed second in its own in
vitational meet Saturday Page 7