Nebraskan
August 30,1989 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
WEATHER: INDEX
Wednesday, partly cloudy, warm and humid News Digest.2
with highs in the 80s. Winds 10 to 15 miles per Editorial.4
hour with a 20 percent chance of thundershow- Sports.7
ers and lows in the upper 60s Thursday, Arts 4 Entertainment.11
sunny and warm with a high around 90. During Classifieds.14
the weekend, highs in the 80s to 90s, lows in
the 60s, with scattered thundershowers.
’ Vol. 89 No4
Change and improvement are synonymous to Roskens
By Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter
If ninning a university is any
thing like giving a speech, for
mer University of Nebraska
President Ronald Roskens may not be
completely satisfied with his chief
administrative performance.
‘‘When I give a speech, I never
feel at the end of that speech that I did
as well as I could have, which is
another way of saying that I continu
ously push myself. It’s a form of self
discipline, I suppose, to improve,”
he said Aug. 23.
But Roskens wouldn’t say
whether he is dissatisfied with his
performance as NU president
“I believe that I should leave to
others the matter of judgment of the
extent to which my participation ...
was effective,” he said. ‘‘(I’m) really
too close to be able to give a reasona
bly objective examination.” •
During an interview with the
Daily Nebraskan, Roskens preferred
to talk in a conference room, away
from the familiar large desk he
worked behind for almost 13 years.
He said he didn’t want to give ‘‘the
wrong impression” in photographs
taken throughout the interview.
‘‘You see, this is no longer my
place,” he said, leaving his former
office.
Despite his desire to constantly
improve and give the right impres
sion, Roskens said he has a hard time
calling himself a perfectionist.
‘‘I don’t know that I consider
myself a perfectionist, but I rather
imagine many people who have been
associated with me would,” he said.
‘‘I’ve heard it said occasionally, but
it’s probably mentioned more fre
quently beyond my ears,” he said,
smiling and sipping from a cup of
coffee.
Even though he believes these
associates might label him harshly,
Roskens has nothing but praise for
those he has worked with at NU.
‘‘I have never viewed the role that
I have played ... as singular in its
importance, because a university
president can accomplish little or
nothing alone,” he said. ‘‘He or she
must be able to galvanize those who
make up the institution — inspire
people. 's
Over the years, Roskens has had to
do his share of inspiring.
From almost the beginning of
Roskens’ term as president, NU has
faced financial shortages, and more
than a few times he has been forced to
deal with budget cutbacks during a
fiscal year, which is not an easy job,
he said.
‘‘The lean years are always . . .
more difficult,” he said. ‘‘They lead
to a sense of despair on the part of
many people in an institution, and
some even get to the point of hope
lessness.”
But the professor in Roskens has a
method for boosting morale in low
See ROSKENS on 3
Melissa Me Reynolds/Daily Nebraskan
Former University of Nebraska President Ronald Roskens emphasizes a point during an
interview Wednesday. ”1 believe that I should leave to others the matter of judgment of the
extent to which my participation... was effective,” he said.
Tuition trend slows; aid increases
By Brad Rundquist
Staff Reporter
A decade-long trend toward
higher college tuition
costs nationwide has
slowed this year, according to an
annual College Board survey.
The Associated Press reported
that the survey shows average tui
lion rates rising 5 to 9 percent this
year among the nation’s colleges.
In the 1983-84 school year,
rates at some four-year public col
leges increased 20 percent. Over
the last five years, rate increases
have settled into the 5 to 9 percent
range.
At the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, tuition this year for a resi
dent undergraduate student taking
30 credit hours is $1,810, a 6.28
percent increase over last year,
according to the University of
Missouri Tuition Study.
UNL experienced a 7.4 percent
increase in tuition costs in 1983-84
from the year before.
The study shows that UNL's
1989-90 increase is the second
smallest among Big Eight institu
tions. The smallest increase, 5.15
percent, was at the University of
Kansas. Two colleges, Oklahoma
State and the University of Okla
homa, experienced double-digit
tuition increases.
One positive increase this year
is in the area of financial aid.
John Beacon, director of the Of
fice of Scholarships and Financial
Aid, said the estimated $35 million
awarded by the OSFA is a notice
able increase over last year’s total.
Beacon said he didn’t know last
year’s exact total because accurate
figures weren’t kept until this year.
See TUITION on 6
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Study shows hard times
ahead for college students
By Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter
If a national study last fall chart
ing student incomes is any indi
cation, students who do not
receive financial aid at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln may be hard
pressed to make ends meet this aca
demic year.
According to the study conducted
by the New York-based research firm
CollegeTrack, students had personal
earnings of just over $4,500 last year.
Stuart Himmelfarb, president of
CollegeTrack, said the firm con
ducted the study last fall. It was based
on 1,350 interviews from full-time
college students at 30 colleges and
universities nationwide.
Even though UNL was not in
cluded in the study, Himmelfarb said
the results are projectable for college
students across the country.
He said students’ actual buying
power might be greater than the aver
age $4,500 they earned last year,
because two-thirds of all students
nationwide receive money from
home.
Figures from UNL Institutional
Research & Planning indicate that it
will cost undergraduate resident stu
dents $4,240 for tuition, room and
board during 1989-90.
Of that $4,240, $1,810 is for tui
tion. That figure is based on a student
taking 15 credit hours each semester
at $51 a credit hour. Students also
must pay $140 in fees each semester
for seven or more credit hours.
Students are charged $1,075 for
room, and $ 1,355 for board, based on
20 meals per week.
That leaves an “average stu
dent,” as defined by the study, with
about $250 to pay for books, trans
portation and miscellaneous ex- -
penses. Student incomes from the
survey do not include financial aid
awards.
James Griesen, vice chancellor for
student affairs, said he thinks it is
becoming more difficult for students
to afford college.
But, Griesen said, even though
college costs have escalated at a rate
above inflation, students’ ability to
See FIN AID on 6
Shooting prompts vigil to call attention to gay-bashing
By Natalie Weinstein
Suff Reporter
Members of Lincoln’s gay/lesbian
community will hold a candlelight
vigil Sept 7 to bring attention to and
“to grieve for all those people who have been
victimsof anti-gay and anti-lesbian violence,”
according to a vigil coordinator.
Nanci Rivenburg, a coordinator and a junior
biology and women’s studies major at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the vigil
was prompted by the shooting death of J. Eric
Jones early Sunday morning at 11th and F
streets. The vigil is not an attempt to make
Jones a martyr, she said.
“He is no less or no more important than
anyone who has died from the violence,” she
said.
The vigil will take place at 8 p.m. Sept 7 on
the north steps of the Capitol.
Jones, 27, of 4619 Bancroft Ave., was at
tending a party Saturday night at 1032 F St.
Rodney Life, a 30-year-old partygoer from
Lincoln, said the crowd was a mix of homo
sexuals, heterosexuals, blacks and whites.
Lancaster County Attorney Mike Heavican
said that according to witnesses, five men came
into the party at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday and
began harassing some partygoers about their
sexual orientation. They were asked to leave
and did.
When one partygoer went to his car, the men
confronted him andhit him in the head. He lost
his glasses during the assault and went back to
the party to get help finding the glasses.
Shortly after 4:30 a.m., Jones and several
other men came back outside with him and got
into an argument with the five men who had
harassed them earlier. During the confronta
tion, Jones was shot once by one of those men.
The bullet severed a main artery and lodged in
his abdominal wall. He died less than two hours
later. Another person at the party received a
minor head injury during the confrontation.
Two Omaha men have been arrested in
connection with Jones’ death. Neither has been
formally charged, Heavican said.
One was booked on a charge of second
degree assault. Another was booked on charges
of manslaughter and the use of a weapon to
commit a felony. A third is being held as a
witness and could possibly be charged. Heav
ican said police are searching for the other two
men.
Heavican said those at the party have told
police they were harassed about being homo
sexuals.
“That’s fine. They were there,’’ he said.
“But from the standpoint of any legal investi
gation you have to look at the escalation.’’
The derogatory remarks and gestures were
part of the series of events, he said. Heavican
would not be any more specific, saying the rest
will have to come out in a trial.
Heavican may hesitate to pinpoint the mo
tive behind Jones’ death, but members of the
gay and lesbian community won’t
Margie Winn, a vigil coordinator and a
senior advertising major at UNL, said the
crime is clearly a case of gay-bashing.
“My impression is that there is no question
that it was directed at the gay community,
whether or not at J. (Jones) himself,’’ Winn
said.
Life said he heard the men accused of the
crime making anti-gay gestures and remarks.
“When J. was willing to stand up for the
rights of homosexuals,” Life said, “he imme
diately became a target.”
Shawn Leavitt, a senior business major and
an acquaintance of Jones, said people
See VIGIL on 6