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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1987)
Y Daily n -a:t 10 to 20 n;ph. Mori rnc,;-,t, i ' ": o .tly c luudy and c o I d L0'.v in the r'Md-sens, Tuesday, Parliy cScudy : -J cd! J. Hk,!i around 30. ; ' .. , ( a CporU Entertainment , . , , ClJt-d P : 2 7.;, . 4 Pep 7 P: - 9 I . 5 11 J" March 9, 1987 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 86 No. 118 Soonslsy remembered. as tamMe and caning By Merry Hayes Staff Reporter Sen. Edward Zorinsky, who died of a heart attack Friday night, was not just an employer but a friend, said current and former UNL students who worked for him. Kathy., Johnson, .a senior business major who- Interned at Zorinsky's Washington office last "summer, said he was "unusual" because he took an interest in everyone. "I was just a lowly intern, and still he took time out to make sure everything was all right with me," she said. Tom Ryan, a 1971 UNL graduate who was Zorinsky's Lincoln field represen tative for three years, said Zorinsky was personable. Ryan said Zorinsky, who was elected to the Senate in 1976 and 1982, was known to be tightfisted with staff salaries and "he certainly was, but on the other hand was easy to develop a friendship with." David Fischer, a 1977 UNL graduate who was special counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee when Zorinsky was the ranking Democrat on the committee, called Zorinsky a "wonder ful boss and a great friend." Fischer said he was most impressed with Zorinsky's humility and accessi bility. "Any time of the day I could go into his office and talk to him," he said. "He By Kent Endacott Staff Reporter Recent budget cuts have had a min imal impact on the NU College of Den tistry, and it remains among the best in the nation, said Dean Henry Cherrick. c However, he said, the college has been hurt by an informal remark made by Regent Robert Koefoot at the regents' February meeting. Koefoot suggested that NU eliminate the College of Den tistry and the College of Architecture to meet the Legislature's order to chop $3.1 million from the NU 1987-88 oper ating budget. The College of Dentistry TED eaii: leinfe try com. FarmAid Ill's location mnceirtain Nelson still wants concert at UNL; it's now up to university By Joeth Zucco Staff Reporter It's still unknown if FarmAid III will be at UNL, although Don Nelson, chief of staff to former Gov. Bob Kerrey, told the Omaha World-Herald the decision would be made by 5 p.m. last Friday. The university hasn't decided be cause the FarmAid organization hasn't yet asked permission to use the facilities or set a date for the concert, said Tom Krepel, assistant to chancellor Martin Massengale. But Jody Fischer, Willie Nelson's secretary, said a proposal for the concert, which Kerrey asked for in a letter mailed Dec. 19, has been sent and now it is up to the university to was never overwhelmed by the status of his office as some other senators were." Zorinsky told a Daily Nebraskan reporter who visited his Washington office last July, "I'm the only senator in the Senate who doesn't have an elec tronic signature machine and the only one with no door on my office. I personally respond to every letter I receive." Karen Barret-Ross, a 1985 UNL graduate who was Zorinsky's Lincoln field representative for more than seven years, also touted his close contact with his constituents and his accessi bility to his staff. "He always remembers where he came from," she said. "He always knew he was just put there to represent the people of Nebraska." Zorinsky was known and respected on Capitol Hill for his independent voting record. He opposed aid to the Contras and was a critic of the Reagan administration's 1985 farm bill, instead advocating production controls. Zorinsky, 58, suffered a fatal heart attack Friday night after performing at the Omaha Press Club "Gridiron Show." He sang "The Great Pretender," with lyrics that lampooned his switch from the Republican to the Democratic party in 1976. (He considered switc !.' back last year.) Zorinsky was mayor oi ha ir.: i 1973 until he was elected to the Senate Regent's remark hurts; budget cuts mild received $3.5 million in state funds for 1986-87. Cherrick said administrators and University of Nebraska Medical Center Dean Charles Andrews told him the proposal will not be taken seriously. Still, he said, "We take this seriously. We have to. He's a regent and one of this university's leaders." Gerald Tussing, chairman of the periodontics department at the Col lege of Dentistry, said that faculty members have not been seriously affec ted by recent budget cuts. "There haven't been any major pro posed cuts other than the ones included with the med center, and we can han dle that," he said. "The damage has come from the unsolicited comments. Even if they have no credibility at all, they are destructive." Tussing said he does not know of any faculty members who are considering leaving for higher-paying jobs even respond. She said she doesn't know the date the proposal was sent. "If the univeristy has said we haven't done it, then I don't know what to say," Fischer said. Willie Nelson still wants to have the concert at UNL, she said. In the World-Herald article, Krepel said Aug. 1 or 8 or Sept. 26 would be compatible with the football team's schedule. However, Don Nelson said the concert could be moved if it couldn't be in September because more per formers would be available then. Don Nelson said he has submitted a copy of the contract that was drawn up when the concert was held at the University of Illinois in 1985. "It would focus national and inter national attention on the University of ;. - " " aa a ar'aara :. ' ' ' ' "" ' . Zorinsky in 1976. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and zoology from NUin 1949. ege one M the best though faculty salaries rank in the lower third of public dental colleges. Tussing said he recently rejected an offer from another university that would have doubled his salary. Faculty morale, Tussing said, is at an all-time high. He said faculty members "have a feeling of rallying around the college." "In a professional school, you get esoteric and caught up in your own projects," he said. "But in the last two years with the budget deficiencies, we were at first frightened and then it rallied people to say, 'Hey, this is a state asset.' Not a lot of people know the quality of the product, and that's our problem." The College of Dentistry, which opened in 1899 as l private institution, is one of the oldest colleges at NU. It offers a four-year program and special ist programs. Ninety percent of the students are Nebraska residents, Cher Nebraska," he said. "It would show that it is a place where problems are dealt with that affect the broadest issues of society, like agriculture instead of a small academic circle." Jay Milligan of Students for FarmAid III said the group has been looking at what their role can be if the concert is held here. He said they want to get as many students involved as possible. "If students want to do something to get the concert to Lincoln, I think they need to try not to get overanxious about it," Mulligan said. "They need to be patient but not let Nebraska forget about having FarmAid and at the same time bringing $1 million dollars into Nebraska's economy; to pass it up would be tragic." Funeral services were Sunday at the Beth El Synagogue. (See related story, page five.) rick said. According to a 1986 report put out by the American Association of Dental Schools, NU ranks fifth in the country in quality of entering freshmen. The College of Dentistry also pays for 20.4 percent of its operating budget through clinical services provided to the com munity the highest percentage in the country. Only two of the 35 other public dental colleges in the United States receive a smaller state appro priation than the NU college. "I want to emphatically tell you this is one of the best dental colleges in the country," Cherrick said. "Least amount of state funds, best entering freshman class if that's not a bargain, I don't know what is." Cherrick said that a financial-impact study conducted by the College of Den tistry shows that eliminating the col lege would cost the state money. "The dentistry college is like a major business," he said. See DENTISTRY on 3 Parents group to advise UNL By Kevin Cowan Staff Reporter Parents' of university students met Saturday in the Nebraska Union to organize a parents-support group. Associate Vice Chancellor for Aca demic Affairs Jim Griesca said the parents da)cu.v:cd pneral objectives, including a newsletter, an advisory body of parents and better repres entation of the u.iivorsityia Nebraska communities, The committee accep ted volunteers for a cere group cf ; : t t s t k at v '. a : t as a: o x c ( a: ( i . o 1 i!y. "J f r; it! J; cf th. j ro I 1" ' ,I ' j - : aU.-; i t! i r ':. 1 f,.."-.i M i r.a r " l ' ' r' ( v '.; Rec-center bids include donations By Jen Deselms Senior Reporter A request by UNL officials that contractors submitting bids for the construction of the proposed indoor practice field include cash or in-kind donations, as part of their contract proposals, is being studied by the attorney general's office. No opinion had been released as of Sunday, said Assistant Attorney General Yvonne Gates. But Omaha Sen. Chris Abboud said Sunday he expects one by next week. The examination of UNL's request began after Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha asked for Attorney General Robert Spire's opinion. In his written request to Spire, Chambers said UNL "has made it clear that whichever contractor offers to sweeten the pot . . . stands the best chance of landing the contract." This approach "seems to smack of something of which I shall not apply a name," according to the Lincoln Journal. While Chambers and local contrac tors question the legality of the request, Jack Goebel, UNL vice chan cellor for business and finance, said the suggestion for donations is an attempt to get the best quality at the lowest cost. UNL General Counsel Richard Wood said that by building donations into the bid process the university hoped to avoid any appearance of impropriety with gifts, according to the Lincoln Star. Goebel said an addition has been made to the request to clarify that pledges from contractors will be re turned if the contractors do not receive the contracts. Goebel said the request was created after some contractors indicated an interest in donating to the building project. University officials then incor porated donations into the bid process. Although incorporating bids into construction projects has never been done at UNL before, Goebel said, the procedure has been used in other contracts. Several years ago donations were included in bids for computer equip ment. Goebel said the attempt to include donations in the first phase of the rec-center construction is a straight forward attempt to get it out in the public view. During a meeting of the Appropri ations Committee on Friday, Abboud questioned the legality and ethics of the request. In an interview Sunday, Abboud said the combination of incorporating gifts into bids and the "design-build" approach to construction creates problems in estimating construction cost. In a design-build approach the type and quality of construction materials are not specified. Abboud called this approach rare. Abboud said he understands that donations are necessary for the project since no state money will be used, but gifts should not be included in bidding. The contractor for the project should be chosen on the basis of who makes the lowest bid, he said. Although the inclusion of donations into bids applies only to the first phase of construction, it will slow the approval of the entire project, Abboud said. But Abboud said the problems with the design-build approach and the bids can be worked out. The Appropriations Committee will wait to make recom mendations on the entire project until Spire releases an opinion on. the bid process.