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The Sower, Racism Revival
November 17,1989_•_University of Nebraska-Lincoln_Vol. 89 No. fjgy
UNL’s Yost candidate for Florida provost job
By Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter
C University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice
chancellor has been named as a candi
date for a top administrative position at
the University of Florida.
John Yost, UNL vice chancellor for re
search and dean of graduate studies, is among
20 finalists who have been named by a search
committee to fill the office of provost at the
university, according to the UF office of infor
mation and services.
The provost position became available
April 1, 1989, when UF President Marshall
Criser retired and former provost Robert Bryan
became interim president, a secretary with the
Author: Processes,
not single events, >
cause revolution
By Roger Price
Staff Reporter
C(though economic problems caused
some Islamic nations to become more
fanatic after World War II, worldwide
changes in the 1980s could improve their rela
tions with the West, a prominent writer said
Thursday.
Robin Wright, who has written about Is
lamic revolutionary movements, said failures
of post-war communist and capitalist systems
led to disillusionment and caused Islamic na
tions to develop a heightened sense of nation
alism and ethnicity.
Wright, who addressed more than 200
people at the first-ever public presentation at
the Lied Center for Performing Arts, said op
pressed people find religion to be a “last refuge
of dissent.’ ’ Such dissent has made the current
period the “world’s most secular era,’’ she
said.
Islam is unique in this age of dissent, W right
said, because it provides a spiritual foundation
that also lays down laws for governing a state.
But Wright cautioned that not all nations
based on Islamic beliefs should be thought of as
the same.
“Islam is not a monolithic movement,’’ she
said. “It is different in every nation.’’
Ten years after the overthrow of the Shah of
Iran by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran
still is in a state of revolution, she said.
“Revolutions are processes, not single
events,” Wright said.
Wright said that from 1979 to 1982, Iran’s
first three years under Khomeini’s rule, the
government was fighting to survive and con
solidate its hold over opponents, including
Iraq.
By mid-1982, she said, Iran was secure
enough internally to begin exporting revolu
tion, she said.
Wright said that between 1982 and 1986.
the Iranian government reached its peak, and
was able to pay off its entire foreign debt,
which reached S7.4 billion at its height.
At the same time, the United States was
becoming the largest debtor nation in the
world, she said.
But in 1986, Iran’s economy was hurting
because of its war with Iraq and because of
international sanctions in cl feci since the
Shah’s overthrow. As a result, Iran began
implementing reforms, which included re
opening tics with Western nations, allowing
theater performances and relaxing the dress
code for women.
Khomeini, however, felt that the rctorms
were moving loo quickly and ordered an end to
them. At this point, Wright said, he issued the
death sentence for author Salman Rushdie.
Since Khomeini’s death, she said, President
Rafsanjani and Prime Minister Khamenei have
both been more open to reform, recognizing
that Iran will not survive without economic
change. They have instituted a five-year eco
nomic recovery plan.
Wright said these changes have made her
optimistic about the possible release ol Ameri
can hostages in Lebanon.
But, even though Iran would like to sec the
release of Americans, Wright said, the country
no longer has complete control over the mili
tant groups it formed. . ..
‘ ‘They have created a monster, she said.
information office said.
A provost is an administrative official who
oversees such campus matters as university
budgeting, curriculum and personnel.
Yost, 54, said he originally was contacted in
August by Florida officials who told him he
had been suggested as a possibility to fill the
position.
The search com m i ttec c ut the 1 i si of final ists
from 69 to 20 Oct. 27, and Yost said that since
then he has been notified that he still is being
considered.
Although Yost said he is honored at being
considered, he doesn’t know yet whether he
would think about leaving UNL because the
selection process is in a preliminary stage.
“I’m pleased and happy with the exciting
challenges at the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln,” Yost said.
From time to time, academic administrators
are mentioned for professional advancement,
Yost said, and it can be beneficial to explore
those opportunities.
Yost received a doctorate in history from
Duke University in 1965. He started at UNL as
an assistant professor of history in 1967 after
leaching at the University of Arizona.
According to an article in the Independent
Florida Alligator, the UF student newspaper,
Yost received the most votes from the search
committee, getting support from every com
mittee member who voted on the candidates.
Gene Hemp, currently the interim provost,
and Michael Baer, dean of arts and sciences at
the University of Kentucky, received the next
highest number of votes during the Oct. 27
meeting, the Alligator reported.
According to the Alligator, other top vote
getting candidates being considered include
Gillian Cell, dean of the College of Arts &
Sciences at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill; Shirley Clark, vice president for
academic affairs and provost at the University
of Minnesota; Frank Franz, provost at West
Virginia University; and Barbara Hansen, vice
president for graduate studies and research at
the University of Maryland.
UF is located in Gainesville and has an
enrollment of 34,500.
1
Climbing the walls
Phillip Ristvedt, a junior speech communications major, practices rappelling as part of Army ROTC lab
Thursday afternoon. ___
Hill: Hometown support needed for vote
By Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter___
Encouraging students to drum up home
town support, members of Students for
the Right to Vote held an information
session Thursday for students wanting to lobby
for an official student regent vote.
Bryan Hill, University of Ncbraska-Lincoln
student regent and member of Students for the
Right to Vote, told students at the information
session that getting “grass-roots” support for
an official vote is vital.
Concerned students should tell their parents
and other hometown residents why a student
regent vote is important, he said, because get
ting an official vote will require a constitu
tional amendment, which must be approved by
Nebraska voters.
The ex-officio vote student regents have
now isn ’ t enough of a voice on the NU Board of
Regents, Hill said.
Without an official vote, he said, student
regents don’t have any bargaining power.
An official vote would not mean that stu
dents will get extra representation on the board,
Hill said, because students arc encouraged to
bring their problems to their student regent, not
their hometown regent.
Russ Johnson, chairman 01 Students tor the
Right to Vote, said the group wants to lobby for
one student regent voting member, either ap
pointed by the governor or rotated among the
NU campuses.
The timing for lobbying for an official vote
has never been belter, Johnson said, because
many changes currently arc happening with
higher education in Nebraska.
“We’re feeling that wc’vc never had a
better opportunity,’’ he said. “The time has
come, and we’ve got to take the chance.’’
About 20 students attended the information
session.
AIDS services to be advertised to students
By Cindy Wostrel
Staff Reporter
To increase awareness about AIDS test
ing services, the Lincoln-Lancastcr
County Health Department is advertis
ing the University Health Center’s AIDS pro
gram.
Gerald Fleischli, medical director at the
health center, said the health department re
quested the health center’s approval to adver
tise the services available to University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students.
Tim Timmons, a registered nurse and AIDS
program supervisor for the health department,
said the college-age population is especially at
risk.
Studies have shown that nationwide, one in
every 500 college students tested for the HIV
virus was infected with the disease. This gives
the county health department extra incentive to
advertise counseling and testing services lor
UNL students, he said.
Fleischli said a health center nurse told him
tnat sne nas noticed an increase in me numocr
of students using its AIDS services.
In response, the health center will consider
expanding its services to AIDS patients, he
said. First, officials must determine if there has
been a large enough increase in the number of
students using the AIDS counseling services,
he said.
“We’re planning to meet soon and look at
the stats,’’ Flcischli said.
See AIDS on 3