NelSa&kan
Weather: Wednesday, partly sunny and
a little warmer, high in the mid 60s with
winds from the NW at 15-25 mph. Wed
nesday night, mostly clear, tow around 40.
Thursday, mostly sunny and warm, high
near 80.
A&E: Dear John . . .
—Page 6.
Sports: Nebraska will
still get crack at Texas
A&M in Kickoff Classic
—Page 8.
Orr signs education-oriented state budget
By Victoria Ayotte
Senior Reporter
Gov. Kay Orr signed Nebraska’s mainline
budget bill Tuesday, keeping intact a $9.3
lesisLiiire
-s-4 Nebraska!—
million University of Nebraska salary increase
and $4 million research initiative.
“What pleases me most about this budget is
that a vast majority of the new money is tar
geted for education, as I had originally recom
mended in my state of the state address last
January,” Orr said in a news release.
Orr complimented the Legislature for their
support of education and for being “willing to
make this investment in the future of Ne
braska.”
“Salary improvements for higher education
and research funds for the university emphasize
my belief in the central role of education in this
quest,” Orr said.
Orr sliced $2.5 million off the budget bill in
line-item vetoes.
Her vetoes cut $ 160,000 from the Un i versi ty
of Nebraska at Omaha appropriations for fiscal
year 1989. Originally, the $160,000 was appro
priated for the preliminary planning and design
development of a Fine Arts Education Build
ing.
Nebraska State Colleges also lost $70,300
for both fiscal year 1988 and 1989. The money
was intended for directors’ and officers’ liabil
ity insurance coverage.
A $200,000 cut eliminated an adult educa
tion program for 1988-89.
Eleven other agencies also received cuts in
their appropriations.
The policy research department was cut
$50,000 for fiscal year 1989; Legislature was
cut about $85,000; Health was cut $392,000;
Public Institutions were cut nearly $406,000;
and Corrections was cut $5,000.
See ORR on 3
Pickle card amendments defeated
By Victoria Ayotte
Senior Reporter
Nebraska legislators defeated two
amendments to the pickle card bill
Tuesday that would have abolished
pickle cards and made it mandatory
for pickles to be distributed from
machines.
The bill, LB 1232, seeks to regu
late and tax the pickle card industry.
Sens. Richard Peterson of Norfolk,
Jerry Miller of Davenport, Shirley
Marsh of Lincoln, and Wiley
Remmers of Auburn proposed that
the pickle industry be abolished.
Miller said the Legislature was
being led down the path by the pickle
industry.
“We cannot regulate that indus
try,” Miller said.
Sen. Chris Abboud of Omaha also
supported the amendment, saying
there needs to be even more regula
tion than exists under the present bill.
“The only way you’re really going
to get control of this pickle problem is
to do away with them,” he said.
“Pickle card distribution is just not
working.”
Sen. Loran Schmit of Bcllwood
agreed with Abboud.
“Unless you’re willing to regulate
strictly, you have no other recourse
than to vote to outlaw,” Schmit said.
Two senators spoke in opposition
to the amendment during the three
hours of pickle card debate.
Omaha Sen. Tim Hall said many
charities rely on the revenue the
pickle cards generate.
“It would wreak havoc on chari
table organizations,” Hall said.
Sen. Carson Rogers of Ord said
charities that rely on pickle card reve
nue could get the money other ways.
“I wonder how we survived before
(pickle cards)?” Rogers asked.
The amendment was defeated 19
17. An amendment needs 25 votes to
be adopted.
Schmit proposed another amend
ment which would have made ma
chine use mandatory in the pickle
industry.
The pickles would go into the
machines, get counted, go out of the
machines, and then back into the
machines after the pickle was identi
fied as a winner or loser.
This method would better regulate
the pickles, Schmit said. Each pickle
would have a specific code which
would make it impossible toduplicate
the pickles, he said.
“There is no way to control the
distribution of pickles unless you do it
with some device. Unless we provide
for some kind of accurate record
keeping, we have not done anything
in control of pickles,” Schmit said.
Schmit’s amendment also re
quired that pickles only be produced
See CARD on 3
Journalism College welcomes change
Broad range of courses is not mandatory, but helps in future
Ward Williams/Daily Nabraakan
Upholding the cross
Reminding students of the Easter spirit, Dave Cain of
Lincoln spent part of his Tuesday near the Nebraska
Union holding a symbolic cross. Cain said he will be on
campus for the next two weeks.
By Ryan Johnson
Staff Reporter
Although the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln’s College of Journal
ism is satisfied with its curriculum, it
is open to change, said Thomas
Spann, chairman of the college’s
curriculum committee.
Spann, associate professor of
broadcasting, said most journalism
students take about 75 percent of their
classes outside of the college. Such
classes include foreign language,
political science, Western civiliza
tion and economics.
The college requires students to
have three 12-hour concentrations or
a 24- and a 12-hour concentration in
departments outside the college.
Under the proposed curriculum
change, general/liberal education
classes would constitute about 25
percent of a student’s workload.
The journalism curriculum is a
“demanding curriculum to begin
with,” he said, which turns out liber
ally educated students.
The college is open to curriculum
changes only if there is a good reason
for change, Spann said.
For example, he said, about five
years ago, the college started requir
ing students to take courses in West
ern civilization and the American
political system. He said teachers
thought many students didn’t know
enough about their culture and gov
ernment.
The college curriculum will
change, he said, if the faculty sees
deficiencies in its students.
“We are al ways looking at how we
can be better,” he said.
The proposed curriculum change
would require more emphasis on non
Westem cultures, an area in which the
journalism college does not require
classes.
Spann said that while the journal
ism college “will be the last college to
say we should be isolated,” the stu
dents should understand the Western
system before others. Students have
the option of taking classes emphasiz
ing outside cultures, but the college
does not require them.
The college does not want to turn
See SPANN on 3
Ex-Husker football player killed in hometown
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
and Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
♦ A former University of Nebraska
Lincoln football player was shot and
killed on March 31 about a block
away from his home in Brooklyn,
N.Y.
Michael Becton, a wingback on
last season’s 2-3 freshman squad, was
shot while walking away from an
argument. He died instantly from the
blast to his head.
New York City Police Sgt. Norris
Hollomon said Becton was found
dead at the scene.
“There were words exchanged
between two groups,” Hollomon said.
“The groups split, and the victim was
shotas he was walking away from the
group. Shots were fired from a dis
tance and struck Becton at the right
temple in his head.”
Becton’s mother, Verna Dauway,
said her son was returning from play
ing basketball with friends when they
heard shots that sounded like fire
crackers. The group ducked down,
and after six or seven shots were fired,
the only person who didn’t get up was
Becton.
Hollomon said the incident wasn’t
gang-related, but no arrests have been
made. He said there are no suspects
yet, but the investigation is continu
ing.
Services for Becton, 17, were
Tuesday at Mount Calvary Unified
Freewill Baptist Church in Brooklyn.
Several hundred people attended the
funeral, including New York City
Schools Chancellor Nathan Qui
nones.
Dauway said Becton was buried in
his Nebraska football jogging suit, and
his Husker football helmet was put in
the casket with him.
“Michael loved football,”
Dauway said. “He often talked about
winning the Heisman Trophy under
Coach (Tom) Osborne and working
behind quarterback Steve Taylor.”
Becton, a 6-foot, 210-pound walk
on from John Jay High School in
Brooklyn, started as a linebacker his
junior and senior year.
He left Nebraska in late January
for academic and personal reasons,
Dauway said.
“He started the second semester
but was having trouble with his
grades,” Dauway said. “He was hav
ing trouble keeping up with football
and school, and his grades were suf
fering. So we decided it was best for
him to come home.”
Nebraska freshman coach Shane
Thorell said Becton was improving
and he was enjoyable to be around.
“He was a very good person and a
nice kid,” Thorell said. “He was a
good player to work with and very
coachable.”
Thorell said hedidn’tthink Becton
was planning to return to Nebraska,
but Hollomon said Becton was plan
ning to return to Lincoln in August.
Dauway said Becton was planning on
returning in August and making the
Husker team.
“We had a talk and we decided that
academics came first,” Dauway said.
“He was a good, smart boy.”
Alfred Becton, Mike’s father, also
said his son was planning on returning
to Nebraska, although he received
some scholarship offers from a few
teams on the East Coast.
“He was hopeful of getting a schol
arship,” Becton said. “He was either
going back there to play football or go
back there to go to school.”
Osborne said Becton was never
promised a scholarship, but was in
vited to walk-on.
“It’s really tragic,” Osborne said.
See BECTON on 3