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Vol. 88 No. 48
Students blast ASUNfor apology letter
By Ryan Steeves
Staff Reporter
Five students and a few senators blasted
the Association of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska Wednesday night for
sending two apology letters Monday without
seeking student input.
AS UN sent letters to Gov. KayOrrand UNL
Chancellor Martin Massengale apologizing for
student booing during halftime of the Oct. 15
Oklahoma State-Nebraska football game. Fans
booed Massengale and Orr after they were
introduced during Homecoming activities.
Students, who spoke in open forum during
the senate meeting, said AS UN acted irrespon
- T • mi
sibty by not seeking student input.
Gifiord Holmquist, a sophomore industrial
engineering major, said senators didn’t act
democratically by deciding the issue them
selves.
“There is no reason for you guys to say you
represent the student body when you don’t ask
the students,” Holmquist said.
Tim Olson of thcCollcge of Law said he was
pleased to sec students taking an interest in the
matter.
But Peter Barufkin, a sophomore pre-med
major, criticized Olson’s praise.
Barufkin said AS UN was hypocriticaf in
supporting opposition to the apology letters
during open forum while denouncing opposi
W a
lion to Orr and Massengale at the same time.
Both sets of students simply were exercising
their freedom of expression, he said.
“We think you’re just kissing up,” Barufkin
told the senators.
But Sen. Kevin Lytle of the College of
Business Administration said the students
speaking in open forum expressed appropriate
criticism, while criticism at theOSU-NU game
was inappropriate.
Olson, who introduced the legislation, de
fended ASUN’s support for the apology bill,
saying students hadn’t shown an interest in the
issue before Wednesday night’s meeting.
“Without student participation, we have to
act on instinct,” he said.
ASUN President Jeff Petersen echoed the
need for more constituent participation in stu
dent government. Petersen cited a recent poor
turnout at the first Residence Liaison Commit
tee meeting Monday as an example of the
participation problem. Although 125 letters
were mailed to student assistants, only three
attended the first meeting.
“I’m a little disturbed that we’re having
difficulty obtaining student comment,” Pe
tersen said.
Kim Beavers, ASUN second vice president,
said ASUN has been “beating their heads
against a brick wall” trying to gel student
See ASUN on 15
usoorne gives lyenrasKa
a boost on California radio
By David G. Young
Staff Reporter
nLos Angeles radio station
will air 12 commercials re
corded by Nebraska football
coach Tom Osborne in an effort to
attract more filmmakers to Lincoln.
The Lincoln Film and Television
Office sponsored the commercials
which will air four times on KMNY
Radio during each of the remaining
three Nebraska games. Lincoln's
KFOR radio recorded the commer
cials while Osborne was at the station
making other tapes.
“We thought it was kind of far
fetched at first,” said Chuck Pemng
ton, chairman of the Lincoln Film and
Television Committee, a citizens’
advisory group appointed by Mayor
Bill Harris. “We finally got into the
serious consideration of it at the last
board meeting, and decided that it <
would be a decent direction to go even i
though it’s never been done before.”
Doug Breisch, coordinator of the
Lincoln Film and Television Office,
said the novelty of the approach will
add to the effectiveness. Breisch said
he expected the idea to get news
coverage in film trade publications,
including the Holiday Reporter and
the Daily Variety.
Penington said several methods of
promoting Lincoln as a film location
have been used in the past. These
include letters to producers and ads in
trade magazines and special edition
publications.
Though optimistic, Breisch is
unsure of the results the spots will
yield.
“I think at this point it’s hard to
tell,” Breisch said. “This is the first
time we’ve done it, so it’s difficult to
tell if it will be more effective. I’ve
been out to Los Angeles four times in
the past year. I’m constantly meeting
people that arc from Lincoln, from
Nebraska, that are in the production
industry.”
Penington said the commercials
are aimed at these people.
“There are a lot of Nebraskans in
Southern California,” Penington
said. “Already you have a target
group of some people who are inter
ested in Comhusker football. The
nature of effectiveness is the total
amount of information you can give
the people so they will think about
Lincoln when they are thinking about
places.”
KMNY Radio, which regularly
has a business format, was paid about
$800 to run all 12 commercials,
Breisch said. He said that this was less
than the cost ad in the
Holiday Reporter.
“Wecan’t afford a ‘top40’ station,
rhe rates on that would just be horren
Jous,” Penington said. “This is a good
arget-audience.”
In each of the two versions of the
30-second commercial, Osborne asks
filmmakers to “look in Lincoln first”
for shooting locations.
“This is Tom Osborne, and we do
a lot more in Lincoln than play foot
ball. We have movies made here too.
Lincoln has a wide variety of typical
Midwestern locations.
“Directors say that makes for good
location shooting. We’re anxious to
spread the word, and we thought you
might help us carry the ball. Tell
anyone you know in the film business,
when they’re looking for locations,
look in Lincoln first,”Osborne said in
the commercial.
Penington said the Film and Tele
vision Office received special fund
ing from the Lincoln Economic De
velopment Division to pay for the
spots. The Film and Television
Committee has a yearly budget of
$14,000.
. David Fahieson/Dally Nebraskan
UNL professors Ivan Volgyes, Lloyd Ambrosius and David Forsythe discuss the views of
presidential candidates as Dave Cassiday, a UNL senior history major, takes notes.
Professors discuss election positions
By Chris Carroll
Suff Reporter
nhrec University of Ne
braska-!, incoln professors,
panelists in an election fo
rum sponsored by the University
Program Council’s Talks & Topics
committee responded to questions
Wednesday on what the presidential
candidates are likely to do if elected.
Issues discussed, in the Crib of the
Nebraska Union, included the
candidate s positions on South Atn
can sanctions, banning of ballistic
missile testing, and the future of the
Strategic Defense Initiative. Profs.
Lloyd Ambrosius, history, David
Forsythe, and Ivan Volgyes, political
science made up the panel.
The professors alsodiscusscd their
opinions on what realistically can be
done to address these problems.
Questions were presented by Brian
Herbin and Jeff Wendland, facilita
tors of the UPC Talks & Topics
committee.
The two candidates, Vice-Presi
dent George Bush and Governor
Michael Dukakis, perhaps differ the
most on their approach to apartheid in
South Africa, Ambrosius said.
He said Bush believes satisfactory
reforms will come under the existing
South African government. The Re
agan Administration has taken this
stance, known as constructive en
SeelSSUES on 15
Officials rationalize extended-year degrees
By Eve Nations
Staff Reporter
Today’s college students arc taking
longer than four years to complete
their degrees because of increased re
quirements and financial burdens placed on
them, according to Robert Furgason, vice chan
cellor for academic affairs.
Furgason said one reason students take
longer to complete degrees is because they
work more.
“A lot of students gel part-time jobs, and as
a consequence, they arc dropping their loads,’
he said.
In the past few years, Furgason said, there
has been a gradual rise in the number of students
who take more than four years to complete
degrees.
He also attributes the new trend to changing
attitudes among students.
“There is a tendency for students not to be
overly concerned with getting out in four
years,’’ Furgason said. “I think this is some
times good.”
He said students that stay longer than four
years may receive a more well-rounded educa
tion because they take more general electives.
Furgason said some colleges, such as the
engineering college, require more electives.
That is one reason students graduate later, he
said.
“I think this is a positive change,” he said.
Alfred Witte, associate dean of the College
of Engineering and Technology, said most
engineering students take four-and-a-half to
five years to complete the engineering pro
gram.
“A lot of the students can’t take big loads
during their freshman and sophomore years
because the classes arc very difficult,” he said.
Bert Alfrey, director of the Teachers Col
lege Student Services Center, agreed that more
requirements and working students contribute
to the five-year trend.
‘‘The average now is usually eight semesters
and two summer school semesters,” he said.
“Also, approximately half of our students do
work besides going to school.”
Alfrey said he started “seeing the norm
change about five or six years ago.”
“Parents have been adjusted to thinking that
college should only take four years to gradu
ate," he said. “Students accept the fact that it
takes longer to graduate but parents don’t.”
Some students get pressure from their par
ents to graduate in four years, Alfrey said.
“If the parents are paying for the students’
education, they will sometimes tel! students
that they’ll pay for the first eight semesters and
after that, the students arc on their own. They
don’t realize that it is not very possible, in most
programs, to finish in eight semesters,” he said.
Tim Levcnhagen, a fifth-year recreation and
park management major, said the main reason
he is taking five years is because hechanged his
major.
“I’ve changed my major several limes be
cause I wasn’t interested in the program or I
wasn’t doing well enough to stay in, he said.
*
“In a lot of programs, even if you stay in the
same one, you can’t finish in four years.”
Levcnhagen said he knows of many people
who started college at the same time as him that
arc still in school.
“It is more of a norm to be here for five years
even though they are still called four-year
colleges,” he said.
Another fifth-year senior, Michelle Peirce,
said she is taking more time because she also
changed her major. But she said financial bur
dens have also played a role in this decision.
She said she works to pay for her college
expenses and usually takes between 12 and 15
hours per semester.
Peirce, a recreation major, said she did not
expect to be in college for longer than four years
when she started.
“I didn’t think it would take more than four
years,” she said. “I thought college was only
supposed to take four years. Thai’s what every
one told me, but I never realized what hell it
actually was.”