WEATHER: INDEX
Monday, partly cloudy and mild, high of 50 to D'flest.2
55, northwest winds 10 to 20 miles per hour. Editorial.4
Monday night, fair, low of 25 to 30. Tuesday, Sports.7
partly sunny, high of 50 to 55. Arts & Entertainment.9
Classifieds.11
Voi. 89 No. gety
“Officials still indecisive on report’s proposals
By Jerry Guenther
» • Senior Reporter
and Victoria Ayotte
RScnior Editor
ccause of the far-reaching cf
1rC feels that an independent
consulting firm’s report
might have on post-secondary cduca
jfa lion in Nebraska, some education
H officials said they must study the ree
ls ommendations before deciding
J whether to support them.
Widmayer and Associates, a Chi
'• cago-based consulting firm, issued
the first phase of an educational study
last Wednesday, addressing such is
sues as governance and coordination
in the state.
Some of the recommendations in
the 85-page report include eliminat
ing the current NU Board of Regents
and State College Board of Trustees.
Regent Margaret Robinson of
Norfolk, who attended the presenta
tion and discussion concerning the
report last week, said she is aware of
some of the general implications of
the report but has not yet reviewed it
in depth.
Although the consulting firm con
ducted interviews and used other
meahs to get input from Nebraskans,
R.obinson said, she does not think that
residents of the state are in general
agreement with its findings.
Part of the report, for example^
states that regents and central ad
ministration have not “guided the
development of the three campuses in
i—-—
any effective, sustained way.”
Robinson said that finding conflicts
with views expressed by her constitu
ents.
Many of the firm’s suggestions
would require a change in the state’s
constitution, Robinson said, which
she doubts Nebraskans would be
willing to support.
“I don’t think Nebraskans want
the total change that Widmayer
talked about,” Robinson said.
Although some things outlined in
the report are advantageous to Ne
braska, Robinson said, the Legisla
ture should not adopt any changes
until Nebraskans air their opinions.
Robinson said she doesn’t think
Nebraska has the means to imple
ment some of the recommendations
outlined in the report.
“We are a limited resource state
that cannot be all things to all
people,” Robinson said.
Keith Blackledge, vice chairman
of the Nebraska State College Board
of Trustees, said he thinks the con
sulting firm prepared an excellent
report considering the lime it had to
prepare it.
“The general outline of it is kind
of promising and interesting,”
Blackledge said.
Most Nebraskans would agree
with findings in the report, Black
ledge said, although he thinks the
public needs more time to study the
report.
Blackledge said he thinks most
Nebraskans would agree with the
consultant’s finding that Kearney
State College should become a uni
versity, regardless of whether it be
comes a branch of the NU system.
He also said he is open to the idea
of having individual boards of trus
tees govern each of the separate insti
tutions, while a new board of regents
would coordinate higher education
statewide.
“That might work,” Blacklcdgc
said, “but I need more time to study
it.”
Regent Don Blank of McCook
said he is neutral on the recommenda
tions right now.
The extent of the recommended
changes was a surprise, Blank said,
because they arc “pretty major” and
“far reaching.”
One proposal, Blank said, that
“worries me a little bit” is the rec
ommended change to go from two to
eight governing boards.
Blank said Nebraskans will need
time to examine the proposals before
changes arc implemented.
“I'm very much in favor of . . .
See REGENTS on 3
Presidential search delayed
By Victoria Ayotte
Senior Editor
and Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter
The presidential search
committee will not meet
until the NU Board of
Regents, the Legislature and the
citizens of Nebraska have a chance
to study last week’s recommenda
tions for changing the governance
system of higher education, Re
gent Don Blank of McCook said.
If implemented, the recommen
dations “would change the nature
of the university system’s chief
executive officer’s position,” said
Blank, chairman of the regents’
Internal Governance Subcommit
tee.
Blank said the committee was
to meet Friday, but the search now
will be delayed indefinitely.
Blank has recommended that
Martin Massengale continue serv
ing as interim president for a
longer period of time, and said
Massengale has agreed tentatively
to the plan.
‘A report of this kind
needs a lot of time
to be studied and
digested.'
— Skrupa
Blank said he also discussed the
situation with several other re
gents, who agreed to delay the
search.
“We’re very comfortable with
Martin Massengale as president so
we’re not in a crisis situation,’’
Blank said.
The regents also should not sign
a contract with the search firm
Heidrick and Struggles, Blank
said, until they are certain of how
they want the search to proceed.
The firm has agreed to wait for
final notice on the search proce
dure, he said.
The university will be in a state
of indecision about future goals
and planning, Blank said, until the
Legislature decides the future of
higher education governance.
“The recommendations sub
mitted by Widmayer and Associ
ates, which have now been en
dorsed by the LB247 committee,
are extensive and significant,”
Blank said in a press release. “The
Board of Regents, the Legislature
_See SEARCH on 6
~~ ' ‘ William Lauer/Dally Nebraskan
Chasing the geese at Pioneers Park is a good Sunday-afternoon sport for 4-year-old Daniel Nolan. Daniel’s
father, Clyne, of 945 S. 12th St., said Daniel was nipped on the finger last week but “he’s never caught one.”
UHC use increases at semester’s end
By DOug Isakson
Staff Reporter
Because of the increasing stress from
final projects and exams, the Univer
sity Health Center is seeing an increase
in patients with physical problems, said Dr.
Gerald Fleischli, medical director of the health
center.
“We’ve seen more stress-related condi
tions in the last three weeks,’’ Fleischli said,
“mostly a variety of gastrointestinal prob
lems.”
These conditions come in two general
types, Fleischli said - gastritis/ulcer, which
causes stomach pains, and spastic bowel,
which causes diarrhea and abdominal pains.
Flcischli said an increase in colds and flu
also has occurred. Although these illnesses are
seasonal, he said, they also can be caused
indirectly by stress. Students with an increased
work load may develop poor eating and sleep
ing habits, which lower the body’s resistance to
diseases.
To avoid stress, Fleischli said, students
should use their time efficiently by starting
final projects early and studying for exams as
soon as possible to avoid last-minute cram
ming sessions.
He also said students should be “very con
servative” in their useof drugs such as caffeine
and alcohol. These drugs may seem to reduce
stress, he said, but actually make the problem
worse.
Although it is not related to stress, Fleischli
said, depression during the holidays is another
seasonal health problem.
In some cases, he said, holiday depression
may be caused by a cond ition called ‘ ‘ seasonal
affective disorder,” which results from the
lack of sunlight during the short days of early
winter. This lack of sunlight affects the pineal
gland, a pea-sized gland located in the brain,
and may cause negative psychological effects.
Another less clinical cause for holiday de
pression is that the season seems to remind
See HEALTH on 6
couriers tote
less baggage
for a discount
By Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter
ravelling light now could be the ticket
for travelling at a discount.
Jesse Riddle, author of the book A
Simple Guide to Courier Travel, said anyone
can qualify for discounted airline fares by
working as a courier for a delivery company.
The only catch is that the traveling couriers
can take only carry-on luggage, while the pack
age they deliver replaces checked baggage,
Riddle said.
"It’s great for studenLs," he said. “They
can usually travel light.’’
Riddle, an attorney from Portland, Ore.,
said anyone who wants to fly as a courier must
first contact a delivery company and give the
company a credit-card number.
* I he company then will purenase a ticket to
the requested location on the requested day,
using the courier’s credit card to pay for part of
the ticket price, he said.
Although delivery companies can pay for
anywhere between 35 to 85 percent of the
ticket price, Riddle said, discounts typically
range from 50 to 60 percent.
He said he soon will travel round-trip to
Hong Kong as a courier for $400. Normally,
the trip would cost $1,200, he said.
On the travel day, a delivery company rep
resentative checks one or two bags under the
courier’s name and meets the courier in the
airport, he said.
When the courier and company representa
tive meet, he said, the representative gives the
courier the airplane ticket and a list of items in
the checked bags.
The list must be presented to a customs
agent when the courier’s flight lands overseas.
Riddle said. The customs agent will check the
manifest against the items in the bags to make
sure the list is accurate, he said.
When couriers leave customs, they will
meet a foreign representative of the delivery
company who will take the bags, he said.
After the exchange is made, he said, the
courier’s job is finished and he or she is left to
enjoy the rest of the vacation.
See COURIER on 6
