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January 16,1989 _University of Nebraska-Lincoln_ Vol, 88 No. 79
| Student regents get to vote, unofficially
bj Lisa I vnestsneyer
Stuff Reporter
Saturday was an “exciting day”
for University of Nebraska stu
dents after the NU Board of Re
gents voted to give its student mem
bers an unofficial vote, Student Re
gent Jeff Petersen said.
“This is one of the best things to
happen to students in a long umc as
far as gaining status and representa
tion at the university,’ ’ said Petersen,
who is also president of the Associa
tion of Students of the University of
Nebraska.
The Board voted 5-3 to give the
three student regents the opportunity
to formally stale their positions on
matters voted on by the board. The
students’ voles will be recorded in the
board’s minutes, but will not be
counted when voting results are tal
lied.
The student regent vote will be in
effect on a trial basis for one year.
The board will re-examine the issue
at its December meeting and decide
whether to make the vote permanent.
Student Regents Joe Anderson of
the University of Nebraska Medical
Center, Paula Effle of the University
of Nebraska at Omaha and Petersen
agreed that the trial-period stipula
tion helped in getting the resolution
passed.
* *1 think it was a good compromise
to get this going,” Petersen said. “It
will also put more pressure on the
student regents, because if we don’t
act responsibly, we 11 lose the vole. ”
The student regents also agreed
that having their votes recorded will
increase their accountability to their
student bodies. The student regents
must thoroughly study issues facing
the board and be aware of what’s
going on, Petersen said, so they can
justify their positions on issues to the
students.
Regent Nancy Hoch of Nebraska
City, who was appointed as chairper
son of the board at Saturday’s meet
ing, said she supports the student vote
as a way to resolve the concerns stu
dent regents have of being more ac
countable.
“This is something positive,”
Hoch said. “It is important they
(student regents) have that input.”
Regents Margaret Robinson of
Norfolk, John Payne of Kearney and
Rosemary Skrupa of Omaha voted
against the resolution.
Robinson said the students always
have had the opportunity to take
board agendas to their own student
government meetings and let stu
dents know their opinions on issues.
This accomplishes more than keep
ing a record of a non-voting opinion,
she said.
Payne said student regents always
have had ample time to express their
opinions on controversial subjects.
Ninety percent of the board’s voting
is on routine matters, he said, which
do not necessitate recording student
* See REGENTS on 8
Butch Irtiand/DaHy Nttoraakan
ASUN President Jeff Petersen listens to a discussion during Saturday’s NU Board of Regents
meeting.
a a
Regents approve buying computer equipment
By Lisa Twiestmeyer
Staff Reporter___
The NU Board of Regents approved
Saturday the purchase of about $1.6
million worth of computer equipment
to increase the capacity for university adminis
trative needs.
The board voted to purchase a used main
frame computer system from Comdisco, Inc. to
replace the existing central processor. The
board also voted to purchase two IBM disk
controllers and an IBM disk storage unit for
$438,208.
Saturday’s vote ended a three-month delay
in the decision to purchase the equipment. The
board reviewed recommendations for the pur
chase in October, but later decided to delay
action so it could receive bids from more ven
dors.
Regent Kermit Hansen of Elkhom said the
board's main concern is that current general
registration and drop/add activities will have as
much computing capacity as possible. Ac
counting, purchasing and other business ad
ministrative offices have helped by delaying
their computing work, he said.
Wilfred Schulz, assistant vice president and
director of university-wide computing, re
ported that registration is running smoothly
and processing is at an acceptable speed.
Ron Lockard, president of the Lincoln Inde
pendent Business Association, commended the
board for deciding to wail to accept more bids.
He said that although his previous comments to
the press had questioned the bidding process,
IBM itself “hasn’t done anything wrong."
Hansen asked Lockard if he fell the univer
sity had taken part in bid rigging and a lockout
of suppliers. Lockard replied that the percep
tion of the public seemed to suggest that.
Lockard said his concern was that the bids
could have been written without specifying the
IBM brand name and model numbers.
Hansen said he took “strong personal is
sue” with Lockard’s comments in a Jan. 9
Omaha World-Herald article, saying the com
ments suggested the board was “a party to and
supporting fraud.” Hansen then demanded a
retraction.
Lockard said Hansen had misinterpreted his
comments, saying the regents had instead
stopped any fraudulent action by keeping the
bidding period open longer. He apologized for
any personal offense Hansen had taken, but
refused a retraction.
In other action, the board approved 5-3 an
amendment by Regent Margaret Robinson of
Norfolk to move student record keeping back to
the campuses. Student records are currently
kept on the central computer at Central Ad
ministration.
Robinson said she introduced the amend
ment because of complaints she had received
about delays in getting information from stu
dent records for financial aid and other pur
poses.
State Sen Don Wcsely spoke to the board
on increasing UNL’s involvement in Ne
braska’s economic development.
Stanley Liberty, dean of the College of
Engineering and Technology, gave a presenta
tion on the college’s engineering research
centers and their role in industrial development
in Nebraska.
■ i.ll . • /UM • ■
’Dem bones
being identified
at Morrill Hall
By tin Twiestroeyer
Staff Reporter
A 10 million-year-old
camel ankle bona, half of
an ancient bison skull and
the tooth of a Titwothci^ were
among the discoveries identi
fied at the “Bring Your Skele
tons Out of the Ooset” pro
gram Sunday at Morrill flail
About W people from
•areas Nebraska brought in
bones, sheik and teeih for UNt
scientists tc Identify during the
afternoon program, part of the
museum's Sunday Afternoon
with a Scientist series.
Michael Voothies, curator
of vertebrate paleontology, said
I the primary reason for the pro
gram is to help people identify
fossils they have found.
“People usually bring in
grocery bags full of stuff,”
Voorhies stud. “1 really get a
kick out of it. ’
SKELETON on 3
Gregory Brown Idantlfltd • bona for Jaok Soukup of Eagla at tha Bring tha Skalatona Out
of tha Cloaat program at Morrill Hall Sunday aftamoon. Soukup brought In many bonaa
found In a creak naar Unwood. About 400 paopla attandad tha avanf
-■ ... ...
Ainieuc ornciais
to analyze effect
of new tax law
By David G. Young
Staff Reporter
change from the 1988 tax
laws could have a signifi
cant effect on donations to
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Athletic Department, according to
Richard Wood, NU vice president
and general counsel.
The provisions of the tax bill
passed by Congress in November
change the deductibility of athletic
department donations, Wood said.
Under the new law, donations which
are in any way tied to obtaining ath
letic tickets will be only 80 percent
deductible, he said.
Keith Miles, legai council for the
NU Foundation, said the previous
law, passed in 1986, allowed the
Internal Revenue Service to take into
account the monetary value of ticket
purchasing rights. This appraised
value would not be tax exempt, he
said.
For example, under the old law, a
donor could give $ 1,000 to an athletic
program, only to have the IRS deter
See BILL on 8