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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1989)
- -- — —" ■—---— ■■■ ■ ■ — ■■■ ----- ' - 1 ■■ ' —1 ' - ■■ '■ - n -jk T i Daily * WEATHER: INDEX I B ^0^9^. jjflWVb ■ At?* jEfiBBbk. Friday, 40 percent chance of light snow or rain News Digest.2 ijfSk. E gm rak IBP iflBk Bir »Y| eL » K dr * tM WsT^Wm with highs from 30-35. Friday night, freezing EdUoriai........ 4 I Tam?', 8 Hi Wm S WLJbL tr|^ Wm fn rain becoming snow. Saturday, 90 percent Arts & Entertainment... 8 I B Jr a ^ lB%h .^TB_ B 1 t^%-tosrow-po“lbly^wi,t’f*9hs as-tt.v:.v.v.v.■.:::« March 3,1989 __ University ot Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 88 No. 113 ASUN candidates hold first debate; common theme is fighting apathy . By Eric Pfanner Staff Reporter About 150 students gathered in the Crib of the Nebraska Un ion Thursday to hear the first AS UN debate between candidates of the BEER, IMPACT, VOICE and SLUMBR parties. The current executive officers of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska -Jeff Pe tersen, Nate Geisert and Kim Beavers — asked questions about problems and issues they faced this year. Fighting apathy among students and ASUN senators was a common theme throughout the debate. Bob Gestring, presidential candi date for the BEER party, said stu dents become less apathetic when their fees are being allocated. “It takes getting into their purse strings to make students realize ASUN has power,” he said. Bryan Hilljpresidential candidate for the IMPACT party, said monthly senator constituency meetings were too irregular this year. To improve attendance, he said, the meetings should be publicized better and made more consistent. Trevor McArthur, presidential candidate of the SLUMBR party, said attendance at senator constituency meetings could be improved by ‘‘at tacking people” on campus, kidnap ping them using ‘‘nets and dart guns,” and bringing them to meet ings. Candidates also addressed apathy among ASUN senators. Monika Jegeris, first vice-presi dential candidate for the PRIDE party, said members of the PRIDE See DEBATE on 6 Connie Sheehan/Daily Nebraskan IMPACT party’s Bryan Hill listens as SLUMBR party’s Trevor McArthur speaks at Thursday’s ASUN debate in the Nebraska Union. Bill allows action against discriminators of AIDS victims By Jana Pedersen Staff Reporter Increasing education about the AIDS virus was the focus of proponent testimony on a bill discussed Thursday in the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska Legisla The bill, LB465, would allow people with acquired immune defi ciency syndrome to bring civil action against any party who discriminates against them in the areas of employ ment, housing and education. John Taylor, executive director of the Nebraska Civil Liberties Union and member of the board of directors of the Nebraska AIDS project, spoke in support of the bill. He said dis crimination against people with AIDS is a problem in the state. ‘ ‘This is not a question of whether discrimination occurs in Nebraska,” he said. ‘‘The question is whether we are going to let it continue.” Susan Adkisson, a representative of the Mexican-American Commis sion who spoke in support of the bill, said the bill would be one step toward increased awareness about AIDS within the state. “True, this disease is frighten ing,” she said. “What is even more frightening is how we as individuals. . . are going to deal with this dis ease.” Education is the key to under standing and decreasing fear about the disease, she said. Informing people that it is safe to associate with people with AIDS is important to prevent discrimination, she said. If LB465 passes, Adkisson said, it would help promote increased aware ness about AIDS as well as prevent discrimination. As of March 1, there were 100 reported cases of AIDS in Nebraska, Adkisson said. This figure only includes cases of AIDS diagnosed in the state, she said, not people with the disease who may have moved to the state, or people who have the human immunodefi ciency virus, HIV, which causes AIDS. Additionally, Adkisson said, the Nebraska Department of Health esti mates that anywhere between 800 and 2,000 people in the state may have an asymptomatic form of the disease. Many of those people who fear they have been exposed to the AIDS virus are afraid to be tested because they may face discrimination if they test positive, Adkisson said. These people also will be affected if the bill is passed, she said, because they will no longer be afraid to be checked for the virus. Virginia Wilkinson, AIDS pro gram director for the Nebraska De partment of Health, said the bill is especially necessary for those who test positive foi the HIV but are not affected by the later stages of the AIDS virus. “Most HIVs are capable of stay ing in the mainstream of society,” she said. See AIDS on 6 Buying term papers Service sells papers cheap By Roger Price Staff Reporter Although a university official calls the service “unscrupu lous,” Independent Writing Service will research, compose and type a term paper for any class, freshman through graduate, within 72 hours. James Griesen, vice chancellor for student affairs, said this service was “something we should use any means to terminate.” Griesen said paper writing like this is “totally unethical” and “certainly totally contrary to our mission as an institution of higher education ” ‘Our company is like a VD clinic, a lot of people need us but no one will admit it.’ —Cannon James Cannon, managing edi tor of the company referred to his service as a “mercenary paper writing service.” “Our company is like a VD clinic, a lot of people need us but no one will admit it,” Cannon said. The Lincoln office serves stu dents from area colleges including the University of Nebraska-Lin r\ Got a’« on All MY PAPERS BUT \l HAP To SELL [SmY CAR! John Bruce/ Daily Nebraskan coin and Nebraska Wesleyan Uni versity, Cannon said. He said that within the next month he will be opening two of fices in Iowa, one in Missouri and one in Texas. “We are equalizing the gap between the middle-class and the rich students,” Cannon said. He said rich students have al ways been able to afford to buy papers, but the other students haven’t had the resources. Cannon said his service is changing that He said that before his service, the going rate for writing term See PAPER on 6 Decrease in science degrees could cause faculty shortage By Lisa Twiestmeyer Staff Reporter A decreasing number of stu dents earning degrees in the sciences could have a “dev astating” effect on the number of science faculty available in the fu ture, according to one University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor. Pill-Soon Song, chairman of the chemistry department at UNL, said predictions of a nationwide faculty shortage in the 1990s are already coming true. Fewer students are pur suing degrees in the natural sciences, he said, and this trend must be re versed. “When you combine the basic problems of not enough students coming into the sciences and not enough Ph.D.s in the sciences, the situation is very devastating,” Song said. “We don’t have to wait until the 1990s,” he said. “The problem ex ists now.” In 1975, Song said, 19 percent of students who earned Ph.D.s in chem istry chose academic careers in the field. In 1985, the number fell to less than 8 percent More students earning advanced degrees in chemistry are choosing jobs in the industry, he said, because they can earn higher salaries. This is causing vacancies in chemistry fac ulty positions at universities all over the nation, he said. In 1988, Song said, there were 380 chemistry faculty positions available across the nation. About half of those positions could be filled, he said. This shortage causes an “ex tremely competitive” market for chemistry faculty, Song said, and universities must find ways to make their departments attractive to avail able applicants. UNL has done well in attracting quality chemistry faculty, Song said. Last year, the department hired one associate professor and two senior faculty mernbeis who arc “outstand ing chemists,” he said. But it took a “tremendous effort” by the admini stration and the department to make UNL competitive with other institu tions, he said. UNL had to come up with the money to offer competitive salaries and start-up funds to attract new fac ulty, Song said. Start-up funds in clude money given to a professor for setting up research laboratories, con ducting research and hiring graduate assistants. Through the UNL administra-. lion’s help, the department was able to offer $300,000 in start-up funds to the two new senior faculty members, Song said. But, he said, some schools are currently offering from $500,000 to $1.5 million in start-up funds for every new chemist. “If we are not able to do it (offer competitive start-up funds), our sci ence programs will be way behind those of our peer institutions,” Song said. Song said chemistry departments must convince undergraduate stu dents to pursue advanced degrees in chemistry to curb faculty shortages in the future. UNL’s chemistry depart ment already has devised a program to help accomplish this, he said. See SHORTAGE on 7