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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1983)
p, Y ri Oanly ri fi j inui siy January 13, 1983 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 82 No. 01 (LDifDpaai? cdoi1(C cobwmw mmm mwm U O Li Uy Marcia Waikentin Several UNL computer science profes sors and students are staging a sit-in at Chancellor Martin Massengale's office. Lester Lipsky, professor of computer science, said he and two other professors began Monday by taking turns sitting quietly in the chancellor's office. They tell inquirers they are waiting until action is taken to alleviate a crisis in computer science education at UNL. Lipsky said several students have volunteered to take shifts in the sit-in. They plan to continue until something is done. "We're expecting a very long sit-in," he said. Computer science enrollment has trip led since 1973, Lipsky estimated. Future expansion is limited only by the share of university resources given to computer science education. He said the present facility needs 50 percent expansion just to handle the students it has now. "Staffing is so poor we can't even give the micro (computer) class this semes ter," he said. About 340 students signed a waiting list to get into closed computer science classes this semester. Out of those, only 84 got the classes they wanted. Of equal importance is the lack of SMppirug GDooclesiir waste ftforoiLoglh) OoticoIoti poteoD'iioa hazard, Yomgbe&g says City councilman Eric Youngberg pre sented a piogram on the dangers of nuclear waste shipments at Wednesday night's ASUN meeting. Youngberg said he believes there is great potential for damage when nuclear wastes are shipped by rail or trucks, and he has proposed a city ordinance to set guidelines to make shipments through Lincoln safer. Youngberg said he favors a national policy on nuclear waste ship ments, but the federal government has refused to pass a policy. Dave Smith, a UNL student and brake man for the Burlington Northern rail road, also spoke against nuclear waste shipments. "My concern is kind of a selfish one because I am worried about myself mainly. I have to work with 70-ton casks (contain ing nuclear waste)," Smith said. "It puts a tremendous amount of strain on railroad equipment." Smith said he feels that more research needed to be done on the casks. Although they may pass the Department of Trans portation tests, such as a 30-foot drop onto pavement or a half-hour fire at 1475 degrees, he said he does not feel this proves the casks can stand up to a real accident in the real world. "The computer simulation tests are not enough," Youngberg said. "The casks have never been physically tested as most are in the rest of the world." "There are problems with the trans portation route through Lincoln," Young berg said. "The major problem I have is that it was a corporate decision, not a public one. I have no way of knowing which alternative routes were considered." Youngberg stressed that he did not advocate the closing of nuclear power stations. He said he only wanted to look at different alternatives, like safer trans portation methods or dry vault storage for waste materials. Mo 1 0 adk Collegiate cirowrnDirog well Ewiniw CSong By Leslie Forbes UNL's Mr. Black Collegiate will be chosen at the first annual Mr. Black Col legiate Pageant Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Nebraska Union. The contest is in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, and the theme will be based on his famous "I have a dream" speech. The event is sponsored by the Afri kan Peoples Union, the black student government at UNL, said Dawn Brown, secretary of APU and one of three pa geant coordinators. Eleven black men, who are at least part-time students, applied and were accepted as candidates for the contest. The contestants will be judged in these areas: an introductory speech in which they will share their "dream" for world improvement, a three to five-minute ta lent segment, a formal wear segment during which they will dance with the woman of their choice and on their res ponse to an impromptu question. Brown said. The winner will receive a trophy, a crown and the title of Mr. Black Col legiate. First and second runners-ups will receive trophies as will Mr. Persona lity, who will be chosen by the contes tants. There will be a $3 admission fee to 'the pageant. It is open to the public. Proceeds will go to funding the sixth annual Big Eight Conference on Black Student Government to be held Feb. 18-19 on the UNL campus. In the fu ture, proceeds will be used to send dele gates to the conference, Brown said. The idea originated from pageants sponsored at other schools, but Brown said APU would like to make it a Big Eight event. The matter will be voted on at the conference. King spoke to and led many civil rights activists in marches, boycotts and other non-violent protests for equality for blacks. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Saturday will be the 54th an niversary of King's birth. "Nobody but blacks recognize him now," Brown said. She said some calen dars don't even acknowledge his birthday, whereas others don't list it accurately. The agenda for the pageant is as fol lows: welcome, tribute to King, intro duction of contestants, introduction of judges, explanation of scoring, talent segment, slide show on the Big Eight Conference, formal wear segment, ques tion and answer, entertainment by Rosa lind Moore (reigning Miss Black UNL), presentation of awards and Kappa Al pha Psi fraternity dance. computer terminals and hardware to meet the students' needs. Lipsky called the present system "archaic, decaying, dila pidated and a disaster." "We believe that the chancellor's of fice is acting in good faith," Lipsky said "but so were the previous chancellors and so far nothing has been done." Keith Larsen, a graduate student in computer science, said he plans to join the sit-in. He said most of the terminals are 1968 models and have a slow response time. The department also is in desperate need of new microcomputers, he said. Larsen said the NU Foundation has allotted $500,000 for academic comput ing, but so far no action has been taken. The money could be used to purchase either a mini-system to service 60 stu dents or 60 personal IBM computers, he said. A decrease in the number of graduate teaching assistants has forced the present assistants to take heavier teaching loads with no increase in pay, he said. In addi tion, the department has stopped hiring undergraduate graders. Professors have been compensating for this by assigning fewer programming assigments, which means less learning, Larsen said. Neither Massengale or John W. Strong, vice chancellor for academic affairs, could be reached for comment. 11 vnwofNj Staff photo by Dave Bentz Lincoln Mayor Helen Boosalis has a view from her office of the state Capitol where she soon will be spending much of her time while working as Gov. Bob Kerrey's director of the State Commission on Aging. Not bemg put out to pasture By Mike Schmoldt Is a move from the mayor's office to the State Commission on Aging the same thing as being put out to pasture? Mayor Helen Boosalis, who will make the move June 1 , doesn't think so. She says she might be taking the job "to keep other people from being put out to pasture." Gov. Bob Kerrey appointed Boosalis director of the commission last week, but she will not take office until after her second term as mayor expires in May. "The more I thought about it, the more excited I became," Boosalis said about tire Kerrey offer. She said the new job would be "far less demanding and less stress ful" because there are only about 35 em ployees in the commission compared to the 1 ,800 city employees she is responsible for as mayor. "That doesn't mean I won't work as hard," she said. The first woman to be mayor of Lincoln said she will meet this week with the acting director, Heather Hong, to learn about the goals of the aging commission and how it is organized. In the meantime, Boosalis said she is reading up on the pro blems of the elderly and forming ideas on how to solve them. The average age of Americans is climb ing as the postwar "baby boom" generation grows up, Boosalis said. "We need to plan now how to deal with that aging population," she said, "and plan how to help people keep their independence as long as they can." , Boosalis said people should recognize that the needs of different age groups are not the same. People age 65-75 have needs different than those of people age 85 and up, for example. Other concerns of the elderly include housing, health care and utility costs, and social security benefits. Boosalis said her experience with zoning in city government might help her explore alternative housing. "Loneliness and social isolation are also tremendous problems for the aged," she said. As attitudes about the elderly change, we may even see elderly people moving into cooperatives with younger people or inviting other elderly people to move in with them, Boosalis said. Boosalis was president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors for one year and she said the contacts she made while president should help her while she is on the commission. The mayor said she is excited about working in the Kerrey administration because of the challenge of her job and because "the governor has a great potential. He's a leader and I look forward to a pro ductive term in office." After 24 years in city government, Boosalis said she also is looking forward to handing over the reins."