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Vcl. i2, No. S3
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By Mona Koppclman
Pending legislation may give talented
high school seniors the opportunity to
complete their senior year at a university
or technical college.
Lincoln Sen. Chris Beutlcr and Sen.
Tom Vickers of Farnam are co-sponsoring
LB141, which would permit students
to simultaneously complete their high
school education and pursue higher edu
cation through an early transfer program.
The bill states that "credits earned
while participating in the program shall
count both as high school credits and as
post-secondary credits.
"This is only with the approval of the
parents," Vickers said. "If a student is
not emotionally mature enough to go on
to the university or institution of higher
learning, the parents would recognize that
and not give their approval."
Students must be academically in either
the top 10 percent of those in the class
accepted to an accredited college or uni
versity or in the top 10 percent accepted
to a Nebraska technical community col
lege. Standards for determing the top 10
percent are left to individual school dis
tricts. Early transfer students receive a con
ditional diploma dependent on the com
pletion of their fourth year of high school
in good standing at a university or college.
"Some people call it an 'early out,' "
Vickers said. "It's not an 'early out,'
it's an early transfer. You can't just quit
school after your junior year and get a
high school diploma."
The bill also would create an early
transfer scholarship fund administered by
the State Department of Education. Early
transfer students would receive money for
tuition, books and fees up to 51.000.
"The $1,000 scholarship idea is de
signed to act as an incentive for students
to participate in the program," said Ken
Winston, legislative aid to Beutlcr. "Other
wise, they (students) would suddenly
have the burden of paying tuition a year
early without much chance of any usual
means of financial aid.
"This sounds like it might be an addi
tional cost to the state," Winston said.
"It's really not that much. Currently,
according to the Department of Educa
tion, it costs an average of 52,500 per
year per (high school) student. About 30
percent of that is state funds at the pre
sent time - about $800 per pupil. There
fore, if the Legislature lays out $1,000 for
a student to go to a university, it's a pretty
close trade-off.
"Theoretically, it could ease some of
the burden on the local area because over
60 percent of the $2,500 per student
comes from local property taxes," Win
ston said. "We recognize that for a school
with 50 seniors, of which two or three
transfer, that's really not going to alle
viate much of the burden. But perhaps
it would lessen some of the pressure to
fin a a physics or foreign language teacher."
Winston said that one ot the ioreseen
benefits to smaller high schools is this
relief of pressure to develop expensive,
highly specialized courses which they
can't afford.
"Probably those students in that top
10 percent of their class would be the
ones most needing advanced science and
math classes," Winston said. "An early
transfer to a college environment would
provide the needed challenge for those
students."
Continued on Page 6
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Staff photos by Joel Sartore
Clockwise from top left: "IYn Just a Girl Who Cant Say No," was the song that Laura Miyoshi performed during the
pageant's talent competition; the new Miss UNL Julie Meusburger is congratulated by friends after the pageant; Sheri
Rennerfeldt warms up for her dance act.
J L
Miss UNL,
Moss Lincoln named
in local contest
By Marcia Warkentin
Amid tears and cheers, Julie Meusburger and Shelly
Boehmer were crowned Miss UNL and Miss Lincoln,
respectively, at the 1983 Lincoln Area Scholarship Pa
geant Saturday night at the Nebraska Center for Continu
ing Education.
"I just thank God; that's all I can say," Meusburger,
a UNL sophomore in civil engineering, said after the
contest. "The only way you can do something like this
is iT it's for the glory of God."
Meusburger, a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority,
played Doppler's "Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy" on the
flute for her talent presentation. s
Boehmer, a UNL junior majoring in music theater,
said being crowned Miss Lincoln was "unreal."
"The interviews were wonderful," she said. "It's
great to be treated like an adult instead of a student."
Boehmer, a member of Alpha Phi sorority, sang "My
Man" for her talent presentation. Like last year's Miss
Nebraska, she had to start her song over after forgetting
the words.
UNL's Melissa Blaisdell, a junior marketing major,
Nancy Rogic, a sophomore pre-med major, and Kim
Smith, a sophomore in fashion merchandising, were
runners-up. Shari Shell, a UNL junior majoring in ele
mentary education, won the talent award. She combined
her singing and dancing talents to perform a song from
"Cinderella."
Jean Somerhalder, co-director of the Lincoln Com
munity Women's Club which sponsored the pageant,
said talent counted for 50 percent of the judging points.
The girls also were judged on poise, character, and car
riage while modeling evening gowns and swimsuits and
during personal interviews before the pageant.
"It's (the pageant) not based just on figure and face,"
Somerhalder said. "It's not just a beauty pageant."
The 15 semifinalists who competed Saturday were
chosen from 32 applicants, she said.
Paul Douglas, Nebraska's attorney general and one
of the pageant's judges who has judged contests in Kan
sas and Iowa, said judging the talent presentations is the
most difficult part.
"I have to compare a ballet dancer with a singer,"
he said. "That's what makes it so difficult."
Meusburger and Boehmer each received $350 scholar
ships. They will join 28 other girls from 14 other pa
geants across the state for the Miss Nebraska Pageant in
June.
