Netiraskan
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Weather: Wednesday, sunny and
warm, high in the mid 70s with winds
from the S at 10-15 mph. Wednesday
night , partly cloudy and cooler, low be
tween 35-40. Thursday, mostly sunny
but cooler, high in the low to mid 60s.
A&E: Broad - Aid
—Page 8.
Sports: Coaches prepare
for signing date —Page
6.
Orr signs bill to finance school in Curtis
By Anne Mohri
Senior Reporter
A year of anticipation ended Tues
day when Gov. Kay Orr signed a bill
to finance the Nebraska College of
Technical Agriculture in Curtis.
Orr signed LB 1042 in a wheat
filled room in the Agronomy Green
house Complex on the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus.
The college was scheduled to close
June 30. Curtis was eliminated from
the University of Nebraska budget
last spring and given financing for
one year.
Roseanne Wilson, a second-year
production agriculture student at
i
Curtis, said the passing of LB 1042
will give future students the opportu
nity to attend Curtis and get the edu
cation that has been offered in the
past.
With the signing of LB 1042, Orr
said, the state can guarantee a future
for the farmers and food producers.
Curtis provides the opportunity for
“students to access the technology
and then transfer it through an on
hands application,” she said.
“The school of Curtis gives us the
transfer technology to those that are in
agriculture production and agricul
ture-related businesses,” she said.
Nine of the students now studying
at Curtis and three graduates from the
college attended the signing of the
bill.
“Those future farmers we know
have been well-educated and started
off on good futures and some of them
right here among us..Orr said.
UNL Chancellor Martin Massen
gale said, “Curtis has always been an
outstanding quality program in agri
culture, and 1 think this is a great day
for agriculture in Nebraska.”
Gerald Huntwork, associate direc
tor of Curtis in charge of academic
affairs, said,“We're very pleased that
the passage took place and we will be
able to cont inue to offer a high-qual
ity technical education in agricul
ture.”
-1
Ward Wllllams/Dally Nebraskan
Gov. Kay Orr signs LB1042, appropriating money to the
Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, at a greenhouse
on UNL's East Campus.
Faculty celebrates raise
Orr declares more work needs to be done
By Victoria Ayotte
Senior Reporter
Gov. Kay Orr, two state senators
and University of Nebraska-Lincoln
faculty members celebrated the $9.3
million salary increase appropriated
by the Nebraska Legislature for 1988
89 at the Faculty Senate meeting
Tuesday, but said more work needs to
be done.
“This is the time to celebrate all the
success that has come to the Univer
sity of Nebraska this year,” said Jim
Lewis, Faculty Senate president.
“Now it’s our responsibility to take
the opportunity to respond to the
challenge.”
Orr said the state’s top priority for
1988 was to improve education.
“I’m very proud to say we kept our
word,” she said. “Education is once
again moving in the right direction.”
Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly
said he thinks the governor’s state
ment of priority to education and the
long history of the university in the
state made the difference in getting
the salary increase and research
money.
“There was one other reason why
things went so well — we had the
money,” he said.
Sen. David Landis of Lincoln
agreed that the governor’s prioritiz
ing of salary increases in the budget
was the key factor in getting approval,
but cautioned against thinking the
salary increase is the end of the line.
“Upon taking our first strong step,
it's our (the Legislature’s) tendency
to declare victory and move on and
that can’t happen in this case,” he
Chancellor Martin Massengale
applauded faculty members for
their commitment to improving the
university.
“We’ve made a lot of progress this
year. We were clearly focused, we
were tenacious, we were successful,”
he said.
Massengale also encouraged the
See SENATE on 5
Low pay, respect
Minority faculty slam UNL
By Ryan Steeves
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln loses and can’t attract
minority faculty members because
of its environment, a group of mi
nority faculty members said.
In a meeting of the Chancellor’s
Commission on the Status of Mi
norities Monday night, minority
faculty members criticized UNL
for stereotyping, paying low sala
ries and not having enough minor
ity programs, library materials and
intellectual vibrancy.
Colin Ramsay, assistant profes
sor of mathematics and statistics,
said student and faculty attitudes at
UNL are not conducive to minori
ties. Ramsay said students do not
understand minorities and stere
otype them. He said he’ll leave
UNL after the summer because of
these attitudes.
Ramsay said that because he is
black, students and faculty are sur
prised to discover he is a professor.
He said all students and blacks at
UNL were not kind to him. This
lack of camaraderie, Ramsay said,
was one reason he decided to leave.
Ralph Vigil, professor of history
and ethnic studies at UNL, also said
students and faculty members are
surprised to leam that he’s a profes
sor. Vigil said he once asked about
his check and was mistaken as part
of the grounds crew.
Esther Martinez, assistant pro
fessor of modem languages and lit
erature, said being a minority and a
woman affects student evaluations.
Martinez, a member of the commis
sion, said students tend to rate
minorities and women tower than
other instructors. She denounced
American Asian Black Hispanic
Indian
Source: Institutional Research and Planning, University of Sebraska-Lincoln,
1984, 1987.
the idea that teachers should try to
be appealing to receive good evalu
ations.
Ramsay said a lack of intellec
tual vibrancy among UNL students
was a major reason for his decision
to leave. He said students in the
United States aren’t as dedicated to
learning as students in other coun
tries.
Ramsay said his classes make it
a big joke when he asks students
what they have read during the
weekend. Usually they laugh, he
said.
“The university is not terribly an
intellectual place,” he said. “It’s
very disconcerting to me.”
Vigil said he has seen a lack of
intellectual vibrancy among stu
dents who take ethnic studies
classes. Students think they’re
doing a minority professor a favor
by learning about his or her culture,
Tom Laudor/Daily Nebraskan
he said. In return, they expect the
class to be easy, he said. Some
students don’t expect to be tested in
such classes, he said.
Ramsay said UNL needs to at
tract more minority faculty mem
bers so students can become more
accustomed to them and better
understand them. UNL may have an
intellectual appreciation for minor
ity recruitment, but it needs to
develop an emotional one, Ramsay
said.
Miguel Carranza, chairman of
the commission, said UNL needs to
develop an energetic program to
recruit minorities. Carranza, who is
also director of the Institute for
Ethnic Studies, said a greater num
ber of minority faculty members
will contribute to greater accep
tance among students and staff.
See COMMISSION on 3
State groundwater levels stay constant
By Phil Richmond
Staff Reporter
Despite Nebraska’s third-place ranking in
the nation for groundwater use, statewide
groundwater levels remain generally constant,
a U.S. Department of Interior official said.
Mike Ellis, hydrologist for the U.S. Geo
logical Survey’s Water Resource Division, said
Nebraska’s groundwater levels replenish them
selves in most cases.
“There are some problem areas in the Upper
Republican District,” Ellis said. “But steps are
being taken to correct that.”
The Upper Republican District is in extreme
southwest Nebraska. It includes Perkins, Chase
and Dundy counties.
Groundwater levels in some areas of Perkins
and Chase counties have decreased 30 feet or
more since wells were first installed, according
to the Geological Survey’s records.
On the other hand, levels along the Platte
River in Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties
have increased by 50 feet or more, according to
the records.
However, these are rare instances, Ellis said.
Dan Schultz, resource conservationist for
the Lower Platte South Natural Resource Dis
trict, which includes the Lincoln and Lancaster
County areas, said groundwater levels in the
district have risen in the past few years.
Schultz attributed the rise to recent weather
patterns.
“We’ve had some pretty wet seasons in the
past few years,” Schultz said.
He said there have been no periods of sub
stantial decline sinceprcdevelopment. Prcde
velopment is a term referring to the water levels
at the time wells were put in place.
Roger Figard, superintendent of water re
sources for Lincoln, agreed with Schultz.
Figard said water levels at the city’s wells
near Ashland haven’t changed significantly
since predevelopment.
“It’s gone down in drier periods, but then it
seems to return to a uniform level by the end of
a season,” he said.
Ellis said it’s difficult to estimate how long
Nebraska’s groundwater will last.
‘‘There are too many variables involved,”
Ellis said. ‘‘If com went up to $5 per bushel
thcre’d be irrigation wells'going up left and f
right. So it’s difficult to estimate how long it
will last.”
Ellis said virtually all Nebraskans get their
water from the ground. He said four towns in
Nebraska use surface water because they are in
areas where groundwater is low in quantity or
See WATER on 3 "