The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 23, 1987, Image 1

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October 23, 1987 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 87 No. 42
Massengale says aid office is free to talk
But chancellor supports limit on access to staff
By Joeth Zucco
Staff Reporter
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chancellor Martin Massengale said
Thursday that the staff in the Office of
Scholarships and Financial Aid have
the freedom to visit with the press as
guaranteed by the First Amendment.
“We don’t tell anyone they can’t
talk with the press,” Massengale said.
James Griesen, UNL vice chancel
lor for student affairs, reportedly told
William McFarland, director of the
financial aid office, that he could not
talk with the press unless Griesen was
present.
On Monday, a Daily Nebraskan
reporter attempted to talk with McFar
land and was refused the opportunity.
Massengale said that Griesen indi
cated to the staff members that they
should limit their time with the press
when there are students waiting.
“In terms of managing his units,
Griesen’s concern is for the students,”
Massengale said. “There should be a
limit on time used for others.”
Massengale said that what Griesen
was trying to get across was that
management would be more appro
priate to talk to than the staff.
“It depends on the information
you’re talking about,” he said. “Wc
want to get the information out in a
broad context. Different people have
different information. We want to get
the total information out to the press.”
Massengale said that there is al
ways work on improving comm un ica
tion with the staff and their supervi
sors and the supervisors and their vice
chancellors. The problem was cited in
the North Central Association of Col
leges and Schools accreditation report
earlier this year.
Massengale said that the current
media coverage of the financial aid
office would not solve problems any
sooner. He said that the administra
tion has been working on solving them
for a long time.
The financial aid office has re
ceived a 16 percent increase in the
state budget this year. Massengale
said that the office is behind schedule
in computerizing. The computers
would help speed up the process, he
said. Massengale also said that the
office hasn’t been able to add the
needed manpower.
Engineering fees
could be raised
Regents to mull surcharge
By Amy Edwards
Senior Reporter
A proposal to impose a tuition sur
charge on students in the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engi
neering will be discussed at the NU
Board of Regents meeting Friday at 1
p.m. in Varner Hall.
The surcharge, which could go into
effect during the 1988-89 school year,
is designated for equipment purchases
to meet requirements for accredita
tion of the engineering college, Joe
Rowson, NU director of public affairs,
said Thursday.
AS UN President Andy Pollock
said the surcharge sets a bad precedent
within the Engineering College and in
other colleges. If any college needs
money from now on, students may
suffer through tuition increases, he
said.
'It's a shame that it
boils down to in
creasing student
tuition as the last
alternative.'
-Pollock
“It’s a shame that it boils down to
increasing student tuition as the last
alternative,” Pollock said.
There will also be a report on a
collective bargaining agreement with
University of Nebraska at Omaha
faculty members to distribute their
portion of legislative funds.
Rowson said
collective bargain
ing is used for the
Omaha campus
because the UNO
faculty union, the
American Associa
tion of University
Professors, dis
puted he
university’s plan
for distribution of the funds.
UNO is the only University of
Nebraska campus with a faculty un
ion.
The regents will also vote to ap
prove the design development for the
student recreation centcr/indoor prac
tice field phases lb and II.
Phase la, the indoor practice field,
is expected to be completed early in
November. Phases lb and II arc the
addition and completion of racquet
ball/handball courts and a track to the
Coliseum.
Rowson said a late item, authoriz
ing the administration to make a pur
chasing bid on Husker Hall, was
added to the agenda.
James Gricsen, UNL vice chancel
lor for student affairs, said Husker
Hall could be used for several types of
student housing.
Husker Hall, 705 N. 23rd St, is
being sold by the Comhusker Co-op.
UNL vice chancellor among
six finalists for position
at Florida university
From Staff Reports
Robert Furgason, vice chancellor
for academic affairs at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, is one of six
candidates being considered for presi
dent of the University of West Florida
in Pensacola, -
Fla.
The field of
candidates was
reduced from 10
to six Tuesday.
Other finalists
are Hugh Lee
Thompson of
Indiana Univer
sity, Morris Marx _
of the University Furgason
of Mississippi, Duane Leach of the
University of Texas, Beverly Beeton
of the University of Alaska and Ed
ward J. Hayes of Savannah State
College.
More than 260 candidates applied.
The field was narrowed based upon
how the candidates met the selection
criteria, said Patty Dismore, adminis
trative coordinator for the presidential
search commission at the University
of West Florida.
Candidates will go to the Univer
sity of West Florida in the next couple
of weeks for campus forums and will
have interviews with the board of
regents on Nov. 16 and 17.
The final selection is expected
Nov. 24, Dismore said.
John Bruce/Datty Nebraskan
340 Nebraska Union to become
a land of Dungeons, Dragons
By Amy Edwards
Senior Reporter
You are captured by slavers and
shackled in a covered wagon.
Somewhere along the way to sell
you, the slaving caravan loses its
food wagon and you have to do
without.
The caravan stops for the night.
You hear something attacking the
guards. It sounds like wolves.
The next morning no one comes
to check on you. The elf in your
party breaks his chain and goes out
to see what’s happening.
There are a half-dozen bodies
and a couple of horses lying on the
ground. All of them are half-eaten.
Of the original three wagons in
the caravan, only one remains.
The land around is barren, a
wasteland with only a faint trail the
caravan was following.
The game begins again.
Every Tuesday night, Nebraska
Union 340 becomes a fantasy
world for University of Nebraska
Lincoln students.
The fantasy world is created in a
game called Dungeons and Drag
ons, where players match wits in a
world set in medieval times.
The world, like real life, has no
set rules. Players live out the lives
of their characters, said Phil Lutz,
president of the UNL Dungeons
and Dragons Club.
“Dungeons and Dragons is like
acting except there is no stage,”
Lutz said.
Characters and actions are de
termined by the roll of the dice. Six
different dice are used in the game.
Characters are based on three
different categories. The “class” of
a character determines its gender,
capabilities and skills. The “race”
also determines abilities, along
with what a character will be.
Humans, dwarves, elves and
halflings — creatures that are half
human and half elf—are the four
main races, Lutz said.
Statistics, or scones, is the last
category. A character’s strength,
intelligence, wisdom, dexterity,
constitution and charisma make up
the statistics.
A character is drawn up by a
random roll. This prevents players
from getting a character that is too
strong or too weak for the world
they are in.
A world is the overall setting for
each game. In every world, there
are numerous “dungeons” the
players go through. Lutz designed
the primary world the club uses
five years ago Since then, the
world has been altered to suit the
expectations of everyone in
volved.
Lutz said a world can last as
long as everyone is willing to play
in it.
The dungeons in each world arc
designed in correlation with the
amount of magic and money in the
world. Dungeons can be anything
from a deserted castle to an island
and can last a few hours or weeks
on end, Lutz said.
The Dungeon Master usually
creates the dungeons. The Dun
geon Master, the referee of each
game, decides what will happen.
A Dungeon Master actually
tells a story. Lutz said. The Dun
geon Master creates a scenario that
the characters can live or die in. He
designs the plot, the scenery and
the encounters for each game.
Anyone can be a Dungeon Master,
Lutz said; all they need is a good
working knowledge of how the
game works.
Wally Barsell, a pre-pharmacy
sophomore and member of the
Dungeons and Dragons Club, said
he became interested in the game
when he saw a television show that
depicted Dungeons and Dragons as
an evil and demonic game.
“It isn’t demonic,” Barsell said.
“You have to keep in mind that it’s
just a game and not get too in
volved.”
Chabella Guzman, a junior
broadcasting major, joined the
club this year.
Guzman said she had tried play
ing the game at home, but couldn’t
learn how. She said she heard about
the club and went to the first meet
ing not knowing anything about
how the game worked.
“The game’s fun. I like the fan
tasy aspect of Dungeons and Drag
ons,” she said.
Kevin Jameson, a senior history
major, said he likes playing Dun
geons and Dragons because it’s a
competition of wits.
“It’s fun because it’s something
other than a game where someone
says, 'This is the way it is,”’ he
said.
The UNL Dungeons and Drag
ons Club started in the late 1970s.
But, Lutz said, the club wasn’t ^
made official until five years ago.
Anyone can join the club. Lutz
said about 30 regular players par
ticipate each week. The Dungeons
and Dragons Club meets every
Tuesday in Nebraska Union 340
from 6:30 to 11 p.m.