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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1989)
“tjiL "Y* 'fl *tl WEATHER: Wednesday, oceas. ,NDEX B jpjj jj| sional freezing drizzle changing so snow, S I Hf awCTfc. .-aw B highs in the 30s, NE winds 10-20 mph News Digest.2 1 Bs I Jr B iTl B 9r^B Wednesday night light snow flumes with Editorial 4 TOk 1 «. - 9 9 TO B JB m fl^f JR B H decreasing cloudiness after midnight. Art & Entertainment 11 |i W 9 99k SB 9 iows m uppcr 14:6,15 Thursday. h>gns m .sports 7 JL B ^ L/l CUJVC1.JL i. 1 ,g^s i January 25,1989 _ University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 88 No. 86 Legislature rejects amendment to LB180 By Jana Pedersen Staff Reporter An amendment to LB 180, a bill allowing Nebraska resi dents age 60 or older to at tend classes at state colleges and — • gL universities tuition-free, was voted down Tuesday in the Nebraska Legis lature. I ' ' .—" The amendment, which would have made financial need a stipula tion for eligibility for tuition-free classes, came three votes short of the 25 votes necessary to add it to the bill. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. James McFarland of Lincoln, said the amendment was proposed to make the bill more attractive to senators who are worried about its fairness. Only residents who are not work ing full-time and are receiving gov ernment benefits would have been eligible for tuition-free classes under the amendment, he said. But resi dents who are not retired or do not otherwise have financial need would have been required to pay for classes, he said. Sen. Howard Lamb of Anselmo, who voted against the amendment, said he thinks the bill also is unneces sary. Because many institutions in Nebraska already allow residents 60 years old or older to take classes tui tion-free, Lamb said, passing the bill would only cause problems. ‘‘I think (this bill) is going to clut ter up the halls with retired people wanting to audit a class,” he said. If the Legislature approves the bill, Lamb said, he is afraid slate colleges and universities will need to ask for more money to support the tuition-free students. Also, many of those who would be eligible for classes could afford to pay for them, he said. The amendment would not work, he said, because it does not provide funding for monitoring those eligible for tuition-free classes. After the amendment was de feated, Lamb made a motion to in definitely postpone the bill. But before the bill was postponed, McFarland asked to have it laid over. ‘‘I don’t think it’s necessary to spend a lot more time debating the bill,” he said. McFarland said he would like the opportunity to talk to other senators about the bill. Six senators were absent from the vote. McFarland said he was plan ning to talk to those senators to find out if they arc in support of the bill. Unless five more senators agreed to support the bill, McFarland said, he would not ask for it to be placed on the agenda again and would wait until next year to try to get it passed. Investigation was planned Araujo disclaims allegations By Brandon Loomis Senior Reporter A University of Nebraska-Lincoln fac ulty member said Tuesday that an investigation into the alleged unethi cal conduct of the former coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center was planned before her resignation Jan. 16. Helen Moore, associate professor of sociol ogy, said she sent a letter last semester to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James Griesen telling of the “appearance” that the center’s coordinator, Katherine Araujo, was practicing unethical supervision. Moore said she could not release details of the allegations, because Araujo would be un able to defend herself. “But what I think is significant is that she resigned before the investigation took place,” Moore said. Moore, who leaches courses in women’s studies and served on a committee that re viewed the center in 1983, said she sent a letter to Araujo informing her about the planned investigation on the last day of the fall semes ter. Araujo, who said Sunday she had resigned because of harassing phone calls and vandal ism to her car, reaffirmed her claim Tuesday. “I had had it with the stress and harass ment,” she said Araujo said the prospect of an investigation had no bearing on her resignation. She said she knew of Moore’s allegations, and that an inves tigation would have disproved them. Even if the allegations had proved true, Araujo said, a lawyer told her nothing more than a warning from the university would have followed. Moore said other university employees had been fired in the past for actions similar to those she suspected of Araujo. She said she learned of the alleged misconduct through her own presence at the center and its functions. “If the allegations were accurate, it would merit firing,” Moore said. Griesen said Tuesday no investigation will be conducted. He refused to comment if an investigation had been planned before Araujo resigned, as Moore suggested. “She’s releasing dial, not me,” Griesen said. Brad Munn, UNL Affirmative Action/ Equal Employment Opportunity officer, also refused to comment, saying the privacy act kept him from releasing any information. Moore said even if an investigation of ethics had not been planned, several students and faculty members outside the center had ques tioned Araujo’s effectiveness as coordinator. Although Araujo claimed to have made the center open to more diverse viewpoints, Moore said, the center was diverse before Araujo became coordinator in 1987. Moore quoted statistics that she said show public usage of the center had decreased between 1983 and 1988. Sara Boatman, director of the Office ol Campus Activities and Programs, w hich over sees the center, said she is not confident that See ARAUJO on 6 CFA approves DN budget request nl G. Young nor c Committee lor Fees Allocation nanimously approved the Daily Nc raskan’s 1989-90 budget request Tuesday evening. CFA approved 94 cents per student per semester in student fees to help supplement the DN ’ s printing costs. The DN will receive a pro jected $39,193, an amount which is unchanged from this year. CFA also heard the formal budget request for the Association of Students of the Univer sity of Nebraska. Jeff Petersen, ASUN presi dent, requested $121,102 for ASUN’s 1989-90 budget, a decrease of 7.7 percent from this year. “I would have liked to decrease it more, but I could just not find places to do it without hurting ASUN,” Petersen said. ”1 decided we’d examine each part of the ASUN budget to make sure we’re getting the most from our money.” Part of the decrease comes from the consoli dation of iwo jobs funded by ASUN, Petersen said. The positions of the Student Information Center’s staff assistant and Government Liai son Committee’s administrative assistant were removed in favor of a GLC-SIC secretary/ receptionist. The job consolidation resulted in a decrease of 81 percent in the Government Liaison Committee’s proposed budget to a 1989-1990 budget of $4,17/. The 1988-1989 allocation was $14,688. CFA’s ASUN budget subcommittee will submit its recommendation at the CFA meet ing Thursday evening. CFA will vote on the proposal at that time. UNL, community colleges develop credit-transfer agreement By Scott Cunningham Staff Reporter__ More than a year of hard work by “at least one hundred people” at the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln and the state’s six Nebraska community colleges should help students transfer more easily to UNL, according to Ellen Baird, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. Baird said a credit-transfer agreement be tween UNL and the community colleges should be finished by April in time for implem entation in the fall. The arrangement, which has been in the works since 1987, should insure that credits transfer between community colleges and UNL automatically, Baird said. The agreement also is "a matter of eco nomic efficiency,” she said, both from the students' standpoint and the state’s. The need to simplify matters and cut red tape for the students and faculty members involved are two reasons for the agreement, Baird said. Currently, students go to individual depart ments and faculty members in order to verify their transfer credits. Because the credit trans fer verification is done on an individual basis, all student cases do not receive equal treat ment. The new arrangement, Baird said, will “centralize and regularize” transfer credits to make sure all students get fair and equal treat ment, with the exception of some courses which need to be judged individually. Baird said she and Barbara Boettcher, assis tant director of admissions, initiated the proj ect, which involved every department at UNL and people at each community college. Bob Eiker, president of Southeast Commu nity College, said the agreement will be “a major step in articulation.” Eiker said he hopes the agreement will allow his college to have a transfer guide. The guide, he said, would allow students to sit down with their advisers and find out which credits transfer in case a student decided to transfer to UNL. Baird said more than 50 percent of freshmen in postsecondary education enroll in commu nity colleges. Students that transfer from community col leges to UNL are assets to the university be cause they do very well academically, she said. Baird said that in the fall of 1987, community college transfer students had a higher cumula tive grade point average than transfer students from other postscconoary institutions.
