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February 15,1989 _ University of Nebraska-Lincoln_ Vol. 88 No. 101
Representatives of public schools oppose bill
By hve Nations
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska Legislature’s
Education Committee heard
testimony Tuesday on a bill
that would change priorities for the
awarding of State Student Incentive
Grants and state overmatch for the
SSIG funds.
If passed, LB651 would alter
funding for private and public
postsecondary schools by consider
ing the cost of the institution instead
of the personal resources and needs of
a student.
Representatives from private in
stitutions favored the bill because it
would provide greater financial assis
tance to private schools.
John Ober, a representative for
private colleges, told the committee
that the passage of LB651 will “en
sure students attending independent
colleges a fair and acceptable share of
funds.”
Two other representatives from
private institutions, Union College
President John Wagner and Doanc
College President Fred Brown, also
urged support for the bill.
Representatives from public col
leges and universities told the com
mittee that the passage of the bill
would greatly deplete funding for
students who attend lower-cost pub
lic schools.
Tom Johnston, a representative
for community and technical col
leges, told the committee that if the
bill passed, it would shift $350,000 to
$450,000 from public sector schools
to private, four-year institutions.
“This bill favors full-time private
institution students,” he said. “It
would take funding away from the
people who really need it.
“If you take funds out of commu
nity colleges, we will have students
who won’t be able to afford any
postsecondary education.” .
Richard Hoover, vice chancellor
for educational student services at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha,
expressed his opposition to the bill.
“We had $5.6 million of unmet
need at UNO last year,’ ’ Hoover said.
“Any change in funding would be
detrimental to students who need
financial aid.”
James Griesen, vice chancellor for
student affairs at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, also stressed the
importance of continuing funding for
public schools.
Public institutions have large
numbers of students who need finan
cial aid but there are not enough funds
available, Griesen said.
In a written statement presented to
the committee, Debbie Fiddelke,
UNL’s student lobbyist, stated that
she opposed the bill because state
funds would not be received by stu
dents who have the greatest need.
ASUN introduces
bills opposing LB 160
By Larry Peirce
Senior Reporter
Bwo bills opposing the merger of Kear
ney State College into the University of
Nebraska system will be introduced at
tonight’s Association of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska meeting.
ASUN President Jeff Petersen, who spon
sored the bills along with Sen. Jill Durbin of the
College of Arts and Sciences, said the bills
oppose KSC’s merger and call for a task force
to study higher education prior to any reorgani
zation.
Petersen said the bills are in response to
LB 160, a bill in the Nebraska Legislature that
would make KSC part of the Nu system.
He said their bills show suonger opposition
than a resolution passed at last Saturday’s NU
Board of Regents meeting. That resolution,
like the ASUN bills, calls for a task force to
study reorganization of Nebraska’s educa
tional systems.
See ASUN on 3
Alcohol, Valium consumed
in apparent suicide attempt
From Staff Reports
University of Nebraska-Lincoln gradu
ate student was reported in fair condi
tion Tuesday at Lincoln General Hospi
tal after apparently attempting to commit sui
cide earlier in the day.
Lt. Albert Maxey of the Lincoln Police
Department said police went to the student’s
home, 134 S. 17th St., after receiving a phone
call from a Crete resident at about 11:20 a.m.
The man had allegedly taken four Valiums and
drank an undetermined amount of alcohol.
Maxey said he did not believe the suicide
attempt had been life-threatening.
Lt. Ken Cauble of the UNL Police Depart
ment said a UNL professor called Monday at
about 11 a.m. to warn police about the student.
The professor received a note from the student
earlier in the morning saying the student was
going to commit suicide. The note later was
given to the Lincoln police.
The student is enrolled in the Department of
Theatre Arts and Dance.
Maxey said it appeared that the student had
been receiving treatment at the University
Health Center. Cauble said a health center
counselor reportedly went to Lincoln General
following the student’s admittance.
DrvkJ Frana’Dully N«tor«sJun
Carl Warner sits outside the shanty town built In the plaza north of the Nebraska union by Early Warning! Klamer
Is a sophomore political science major from the Netherlands.
Students start work on plaza shantytown
By Roger Price
Suff Reporter
I. .. ...
With Bob Marley’s “One Love”
playing in the background, about
15 members of Early Warning!
and other concerned students started work
on their shantytown Tuesday night on the
plaza north of the Nebraska Union.
The shantytown, constructed of old door
frames, bicycle boxes and other donated
materials, was being built to raise people’s
awareness about the problems the homeless
face, said Joe Bowman, the facilitator for
the group.
‘This project is to create an awareness.
.. living in Lincoln you get so sheltered,”
said Michele Emo Syvert, a freshman
women’s studies major.
Mike Sorrell, one of the students work
ing on the project, said there are more than
700,000 people living in similar shanty
towns in Peru and more than two millic^i
homeless in the United States.
He said that one fifth of these people arc
employed, but still can’t afford housing.
Katie Toiler, a freshman engineering
major, said: ‘‘The point is that other people
are out there in the cold without even these
materials, and this is to show our solidarity
with these people.”
Amy Frederick said that the group has
been planning this for months and everyone
was “psyched” even though “it would be
nice if it was warmer.”
Ginger Dzerk, Early Warning! secretary,
said the group was planning to work late
into the night and some were planning on
sleeping in the shanties either Tuesday or
Wednesday night.
“It makes me realize when people have
to live in these things, how awful it must be,
especially when it’s this cold,’’ Dzerk said.
The temperature was around 25 degrees
while the group was constructing the shan
tytown.
Dzerk said the group plans to tear down
the shantytown Thursday.
Craig: Doctoral shortage limits home-ec labs
By Roger Price
Staff Reporter
A nationwide shortage of
people with doctorates in
home economics is causing
the number of lab sections in some
homc-ec courses to be limited at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
according to Karen Craig, dean of
Home Economics.
One factor responsible for the
shortage of available professors is the
small number of universities that
offer doctorates in these disciplines,
Craig said.
Another factor is that many who
do earn their doctorate in home eco
nomics go on to work for government
and industry because the salaries are
higher, Craig said.
Currently, UNL has about 55 fac
ulty members in home economics, 40
of whom arc involved in teaching,
but, Craig said, she would like to add
about five more doctoral positions.
Craig said each faculty member
usually leaches three three-hour
courses each semester.
She said faculty had expressed
concerns that this was an unusually
heavy load to expect of them. Ac
cording to the Institutional Research
and Planning office, the average
hours each full-time equivalent pro
fessor spends in the classroom is 9.5
credit hours per semester. This figure
represents the average amount of
time faculty would spend in the class
room if their sole responsibility was
teaching.
One of the effects of this shortage,
Craig said, is that the college has had
to cut around 10 lab sections in under
graduate courses forcing some stu
dents to be turned away, and other
sections are offered only once every
other year.
One solutidh, to this prtiblem was
introduced to the NU Board of Re
gents Saturday. Craig said the regents
will vote next month on whether the
college will offer a doctoral program
to compliment their masters program
that is the second largest in the nation.
The proposed doctoral program
would involve restructuring current
staff allocations by having some
advanced graduate students teach
undergraduate courses and having
professors leach graduate courses,
Craig said.
Craig said she doesn't plan to hire
doctoral graduates from UNL be
cause “it is not academically good
policy to hire your own people.
Craig said hiring people from other
institutions promotes the interaction
of ideas.
She said that by increasing the
number of people with doctorates in
home economics, the number of
people available to work at UNL also
would rise.
While most openings for faculty
positions in other colleges at UNL are
sought by around 30 applicants,
Craig said openings in home eco
nomics currently set about six appli
cants because of the shortage of
people with doctorates.