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Reasons for Roskens’ firing sought
Former legislative aide threatens to sue NU regents
By Sara Bauder
Staff Reporter
A former congressional aide to
Sen. John DeCamp is threat
ening to sue the Board of
Regents unless they disclose their
reasons for firing University of Ne- •
braska President Ronald Roskens.
Daniel Meyer, who was De
Camp’s aide for seven years, sent a
letter to Regents Chairman Nancy
Hoch on August 3 informing her of
his intention to sue.
“The recent action of the Board of
Regents terminating the contract of
Dr. Roskens and then paying Dr.
Roskens a small fortune to complete
the termination with the stipulation
that neither the Board of Regents nor
Dr. Roskens would tell the public the
who, what, where, why, or how of his
termination appears to me, as a tax
payer, to be improper,” Meyer wrote
in the letter.
“An agreement - conspiracy may
be the proper term - to conceal from
the public the how and why of the
expenditure of the Board’s funds has
occurred.”
The regents removed Roskens
from the NU presidency July 31 by a
7-1 vote. Roskens had two years
remaining on his contract and will
receive his salary and benefits
through June 30,1991. Roskens will
receive about $250,000 for that time
■period.
Regents eye study ofNU structure
»y Laura amitn
Staff Reporter
University of Nebraska
Regent Robert Allen of
Hastings said that plan
ning a study of the university’s
Central Administration will be a
top priority at the regents’ Sep
tember meeting.
Allen and Regent Don Blank of
McCook said they believe now is a
good time to look at the university
structure to see if changes need to
be made.
Regent Don Blank of McCook
said, “Any time you have a
changeover in the top position, it s a
good time to look at the system.”
The regents removed NU Presi
‘We want to get
more education for
our education dol
lar’
-- Allen
dent Ronald Roskens from office July
31.
Allen said some people have ques
tioned whether the university needs a
Central Administration.
“Nancy Hoch (chairman of the
regents) has pointed out that some
major universities don’t have a
central administration,’’ Allen
said.
He said he is impressed with
the administrators who work in
Central Administration, but said
he feels the committee should
look there to make sure money is
not being wasted.
Allen said he hopes the study
will be able to save money for
taxpayers.
“We want to get more educa
See REGENTS on 4
In his letter, Meyer wrote that
under Federal Freedom of Informa
tion laws and state open meeting
laws, citizens have a right to know the
reasons for the regents’ actions. He
said because the university receives
federal funds, federal laws apply to
the case as well as state laws.
Meyer said he decided to seek
action against the regents after read
ing about the firing of Roskens in a
newspaper.
“I picked up the Omaha World
Herald one morning and read an ar -
ticle on President Roskens,’ ’ he said.
“It kind of upset me when I read it
‘ ‘Then I turned the page and found
a little article on the town of Bruno.
They needed $250,000 for safe drink
ing water, and the state won’t pay for
it. I got to thinking about what the
taxpayers must feel like in Bruno,
when Roskens is going to get
$250,000 for not working.”
Meyer said he then decided to do
something about the situation instead
of just complaining about it
Although in Meyer’s letter to
Hoch he had said the Board had ten
days to respond before he sued, he has
since extended that deadline. He said
he is waiting for the board’s attorney
to give the reasons for the secrecy
surrounding the Roskens’ firing.
Charles Wright, the board’s attor
ney, said he is in the process of as
sembling information which has been
requested by the board. He said when
all the information has been re
viewed, Hoch would make the deci
sion about releasing it.
Meyer said he does not think he
should have to act at all, but that
larger groups should be taking action
against the regents. He said students
should especially consider taking
action.
“Isn’t it strange that tuition and
fees keep going up, and the board
decides to pay someone for not doing
a job?’’ he asked. “ A strong student
leadership would file a suit.’’
Meyer said students should be
collecting money and suing to see
that $250,000 is not going to be spent
paying Roskens for no longer being
the university president.
He also said the press should do
something about the regents’ refusal
to give reasons for Roskens’ firing.
In a letter to Jim Raglin, manager
of the Nebraska Press Association,
Meyer asked the association’s help in
learning “what was behind the pay
ing of over $260,000 to a dismissed
employee.”
Raglin said he did not know if the
association would take any action or
not.
“We go to court often for open
meeting laws,” he said. “Any time
public officials conduct business, it
should be done in public.”
Raglin said that since the regents’
action already had occurred, there
was no need to act immediately to get
them to disclose their reasons for fir
ing Roskens.
“I just don’t know if we will take
any action or not yet,” he said.
Attorney General Robert Spire
said that although generally public
See LETTER on Page 2
Burial remains returned
By Cindy Wostrel
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln will return skeletal
remains and burial goods to the
Omaha Indian Tribe in accordance
with recently passed LB340, said
John Wunder, Great Plains Studies
director.
LB340 allows Native Americans
to reclaim skeletal remains and burial
goods of their ancestors from public
institutions and agencies.
Dennis Hastings, tribal historian,
said that while the tribe may study the
burial goods, which probably date to
the Spanish and French eras, it will
rebury the skeletal remains.
“They’ve been out long enough,’’
Hastings said.
Wunder said he believes UNL has
had the remains and burial goods
since the 1930s, when they were
unburied in northeastern Nebraska.
Hastings said that in the 1930s,
when the remains and burial goods
were excavated, the archaeologists
did not notify the Omaha Indians that
they were unburying the remains and
goods.
At that time, Hastings said, the
Nebraska State Historical Society
and the university had reached a
“gentleman’s agreement’’ in which
all materials unburied in northeastern
Nebraska would become the property
of the university, and all materials
found elsewhere would become the
property of the State Historical Soci
ety.
Hastings said the institutions then
hired other people to unbury the
remains.
Hastings said he was unable to
find any record of scientific studies
done on the remains. He said it’s
ironic that they excavated the re
mains without studying them.
‘ ’I think archaeologists should not
get away with this,’’ Hastings said.
‘They need to be accountable.’’
Yet, Hastings said, he is not criti
cizing the current officials. He said
that since the 1930s, archaeologists,
UNL and the State Historical Society
have developed better relations with
the Native Americans.
Wunder said negotiations have
See BURIAL on Page 4 ■
Al Schaban/Dally Nebraskan
Elis© Buchman fishes a juggling pin out of Broyhill Fountain Friday afternoon as her
partner, Tom Gellatiy, sneaks up behind her. The two jugglers from the Omaha Emmy
Gifford Children’s Theater were only part of the entertainment at the honorary dinner for
trustees of the Cedars Home for Children.
