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sunny and warmer, low in the 50s Extended .,7
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November 2,1989_University of Nebraska-Lincoln _Vol. 89 No. &lL (/
isser testifies on events leading to firing
Victoria Ayotte
Scsior Editor
aad Laura Smith
Stiff Reporter
□ary Jane Visser, fired from her job as
an adviser in the UNL Division of
General Studies in September 1988,
testified Wednesday that her “unjust” termi
pon destroyed her health and mental state
prevented her from finding further em
inent.
.. ‘It’s hard to get going again when you lose
your job,” Visser said in U.S. District Court,
^•specially if you loved it as much as I did.”
"Visser testified that she applied for 64 jobs
without getting hired. She also said she became
expressed and sought medical help during and
after her last months of employment at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Visser wants her former job back, damages
for emotional distress, back pay and compen
sation for attorney’s fees as retribution for what
sfie says was an unjust firing.
Visser, in her suit against general studies
Director Donald Gregory, Vice Chancellor for
Student Affairs James Griesen and the NU
Board of Regents, alleges she was fired for
Uncovering academic irregularities of athletes.
The university cited poor work performance
as the reason for her termination.
Her testimony recounted the events that led
to her dismissal Sept. 2,1988, as she attempted
to prove that she had a good work record and
was fired because university officials were
concerned about her investigation of student
athletes’ academic standards.
Visser said that while she was an adviser she
became concerned with students, including
many athletes, who were constantly on proba
tion and dismissed because of academic rea
sons.
“I felt sorry for the athletes,” she said.
‘ ‘The same ones got dismissal letters over and
over and over. They had to compete with the
cream of the crop of Nebraska students.”
Visser testified about specific irregularities
she found concerning athletes, including one
athlete who was frequently on probation, dis
missed and readmitted. Visser said that when
she looked at his high school transcript, she
found that he had been a special education
student.
She said she asked then Director of Admis
sions A1 Papik how a special education student
was admitted to the university and he said it
must have been an oversight.
Another case involved an athlete who was
dismissed from UNL and asked for readmis
sion. She said she denied his readmission re
quest, but Papik worked out a contract with the
student with the cooperation of an athletic
adviser.
Visser read aloud a letter written by Papik
about this student which stated that the athlete
was offered “more opportunities than afforded
the general student body.”
Visser said she asked Papik about a third
case in which an athlete had a grade point
average .05 below the required minimum GPA
of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.
After finding out about his dismissal, the
athlete went to a professor who raised his grade
in a course so the athlete’s GPA would be 2.0.
In a meeting in December 1987, Visser and
Gregory discussed an athlete who had failed all
his classes during the academic year, but took
24 credit hours during the summer, Visser
testified.
During the fall of 1987, Gregory talked to
Visser about spending too much time looking
at academic irregularities. She said that after
this, she concentrated on general studies advis
ing, but continued to bring up new concerns
about academic irregularities as they hap
pened.
In the summer of 1987, Visser said she
found out that many athletes with low GPAs
were enrolled in the same health class.
She said she sent a list of students enrolled
in this class to Fred Wagner, then chairman of
the Faculty Senate Grading Committee. She
also sent Wagner a student’s high school tran
script that she found irregular, she said.
The transcript, she said, showed a lot of C’s,
D’s and F’s for the student’s first three years of
high school. The senior year showed signifi
cant changes in the athlete’s grades, including
A’s. Although the grades for die first three
years were typed, the grades for the senior year
were handwritten, Visser testified.
In a March 1988 meeting, Visser and Grie
sen discussed this transcript, the kind of educa
tion UNL athletes were getting and the con
stant “recycling” of students where they are
placed on probation, dismissed and readmit
ted, she said.
Visser said that during this meeting, she
talked with Griesen about athletes who were
enrolled in 13 hours but passing only their
football class. Students cam one credit hour for
playing varsity football.
In March 1987, she told Griesen that new
academic standards would be harder on ath
See VISSER on 2
Williams: Today’s students
need to deal with racism
By Roger Price
Staff Reporter
acial problems still are the
most challenging issue in
*■ today’s society, and it is up to
students, the future leaders of the
l: United States, to deal with them, Juan
Williams said Wednesday.
Williams, a political reporter for
the Washington Post, told an audi
ence of about 100 in the Nebraska
Union that it is easy to rationalize
apathy on racial issues by not seeing
oneself as someone who can start the
civil rights movement again.
Williams, author of “Eyes on the
Jprize/’ a book chronicling the move
ment, said that when today’s students
talk about the civil rights events that
occurred 30 to 40 years ago, they
probably think they’re “talking
about another time, another planet.’’
The people who were involved in
the movement may seem bigger than
life, he said.
By saying it was Marlin Luther
King who started the civil rights
movement, Williams said, some
' people are able to look at the rnovc
i ment as a “dead piece of history.’’
Instead, Williams said, the civil
rights movement should be looked at
as people trying to make a change.
“I don’t believe there is one per
son in this room who has less in the
way of political power than the
people who made that civil rights
movement,’’ he said.
Williams said college students
helped the movement succeed by
participating in rallies, marches and
protests.
Students today should compare
themselves to these students and real
ize they can make a difference, Wil
liams said.
“You, I, we are the people who
make history, the people who make a
difference,” Williams said.
‘You, I, we are the
people who make
history, the people
who make a dif
ference.’
—Williams
llwi,- %. < ^ •. •
In addition to racism, he said,
homelessness, hunger, poverty and
AIDS also threaten society.
All of these problems can be
solved, Williams said, if people get
involved.
People must say, “We have the
power to deal with this, if only we
want to stand up,” Williams said.
Williams encouraged the audi
ence to start its own fights, to see
what the problems really are, to make
a difference, and to make a mark on
society.
ASUN passes beer resolution,
discusses information day plan
From Staff Reports
ASUN senators voted 23*1 to
pass a resolution Wednesday
supporting an application lor
a license to sell beer in the food court
area of the Reunion.
In other action, senators discussed
plans for ASUN Information Day.
Devi Bohling, first vice president
of the Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska, said ASUN
senators and members of college
advisory boards will set up booths on
City and East campuses to promote
student awareness on student govern
ment. ...
Bohling said most senators will set
up booths in buildings where many
students in their respective colleges
have classes. For example, College of
Business Administration senators
will have a booth in the CBA build
ing.
Other colleges such as architec
ture, criminal justice, general studies
and graduate studies will have repre
sentatives in Nebraska Union on City
Campus, Bohling said. There also
will be a booth in the East Union, she
said.
Bohling said senators and advi
sory board members will distribute
information on ASUN, including a
list of senators’ names and phone
numbers, as well as information on
student fees, Government Liaison
Committee, Student Legal Services
and the Student Information Center.
- ftavld Hanserv'DaHy Nebraskan
Ronald Roskens gives a press conference at the University Club Wednesday.
US. agency needs'director
Roskens says nomination pending
By Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter '
* onald Roskens confirmed
Wednesday that President
p Bush intends to
nominate him to head the U.S.
Agency for International Develop
ment.
The former president of the
University of Nebraska made the
announcement Wednesday morn
ing at a press conference at the
University Club where he also
announced that he will work as a
spokesperson for the Nebraska
Cable Communications Associa
tion.
Roskens said he was told Mon
day by Chase Untermeyer, the
White House official responsible
for clearing presidential appoint
ees, that Bush intends to nominate
him to head the U.S. agency, other
wise known as AID.
Roskens said he is elated about
the nomination and is familiar with
the agency through some AID
programs in which U NL s Institute
of Agriculture and Natural Re
sources has participated.
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln is involved in several AID
projects as part of (he Mid America
international Agricultural Consor
tium, including a dry-land agricul
tural project in Morocco.
AID also is responsible for eco
nomic and foreign aid to more than
70 developing countries, Roskens
said, but he is unsure what duties
he would perform.
“You have to remember this is
a new proposition,” Roskens said.
“And I’m learning along with
you.”
The next step in the nomination
process is for the FBI to perform
background and security checks,
which probably will take at least
two months, Roskens said.
The U.S. Senate also musi con
firm his nomination, Roskens said,
and he expects the entire nomina
tion process to take about three
months.
The previous head of the
agency, Alan Woods, died of can
cer earlier this year, Roskens said.
Roskens served as president of
the NU system from 1977 until
July 31, when he was ousted by the
NU Board of Regents. Roskens
also served as chancellor of the
University of Nebraska at Omaha.
from 1972 to 1977.
Before coming to the Univer
sity of Nebraska, Roskens was vice
president for administration at
Kent State University and was
serving in that capacity when Na
tional Guard troops opened fire on
a group of students protesting U.S.
involvement in Vietnam on May 4,
1970. Four students were killed.
One of his duties was to report
to Washington, D.C., and explain
what Kent State administrators
thought had happened.
Roskens said he knows both
Bush and Secretary of State James
Baker.
He said he first wa.. introduced
to Baker about eight or nine years
ago when Baker was the chief of
staff fot former President Reagan.
He met Bush about six months
after being introduced to Baker.
Roskens said he has been con
tacted about other federal posi
tions, but said he can't disclose
these positions.
While working for the cable
association, Roskens said, he will
be a consultant and spokesperson
for the industry.
Although Roskens said the de
tails of his activities with the asso
ciation have not been worked out,
one of his duties will be to record
public service announcements.
Roskens said the cable position
will not be full-time, and he re
gards the job as an opportunity to
raise awareness of the educational
benefits of cable television
throughout the state.
Roskens did not disclose the
salaries of either position.