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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1990)
I January 17, 1990_University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. 80 Higher ed restructuring changes introduced By Victoria Ayotte Senior Reporter A bill and resolution designed Z^ to restructure higher educa -*■ tion was introduced in the Nebraska Legislature on Tuesday. Sen. Ron Withem.aspon ?; sor of the bill and resolution, said ; the legislation is I concurrent with the recommen dations made by the Chicago con sulting firm Widmayer and Associates. Senators serving on the Nebraska Higher Education Study Committee introduced the bill and resolution, which call for a constitutional amend ment to enact the changes. If the legislation passes, Nebraska citizens will vote on the issue in November. LB 1141 and LR239CA would create a new board of regents for the Nebraska higher education system and a board of trustees for each university and state college on July 1, 1991. The bill states the Legislature’s intent to pass a constitutional amend ment restructuring higher education, while the resolution calls for voter approval of those changes. The changes would require a con stitutional amendment because the Nebraska Constitution calls for a board of regents to govern the University of Nebraska, and a board of trustees to govern the state colleges. “ ... the purpose of this act is to establish and foster a coordinated system of public post-secondary edu cation of high quality, responsive ness and accountability,' ’ the bill states. Chadron State College, Peru State College, Kearney Slate College, Wayne State College, the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha each would be governed by seven-member boards of trustees. The trustees would be appointed by the governor,except for a nonvot ing student member who would be the student body president of the in stitution. Only four of the seven members could be from the same political party, and a majority would be appointed from areas of the state "consistent with the role and mis sion" of the university or college. The trustees would serve staggered, six-year terms and would be reim bursed for expenses. The boards of trustees would be responsible for management, carry ing out policy adopted by the board of regents for Nebraska higher educa lion, and hiring a president and other personnel. They would have all pow ers not granted to the new board of regents. The trustees could not start new programs without approval from the board of regents. Trustees would submit a budget to the regents, consult with the regents, establish agreements with other educational institutions on trans fers of academic credits, acquire and dispose of property, pay expenses during recruitment of personnel and provide retirement and health bene fits. The new board of regents would coordinate public post-secondary education. Regents would have six year, staggered terms. Voters would elect six regents, two from each con gressional district. The governor, with approval of the Legislature, would appoint the other five regents. Until regent elections in 1992, the governor would appoint three members of the NU Board of Regents and three members of the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees to sit on the new board of regents. The regents would have the au thority to make policies to meet “the educational, research and public serv ice needs of the state,” eliminate unnecessary duplication of programs and “above ail, reflect a commitment to a perspective in decision-making and planning for post-secondary edu cation which will best serve . . .” Nebraska. The regents also would hire a chancellor as chief executive officer to head the board of regents’ office and prepare a comprehensive plan for public post-secondary education needs. One of the biggest powers granted to the proposed board of regents is See EDUCATION on 3 UNL to construct bus shelter at East Campus stop By Robin Trimarchi Staff Reporter Construction of a bus shelter near Bar kley Memorial Center on Hast Campus is scheduled to begin within the week, according to Ray Coffey, University of Nc braska-Lincoln business manager. The shelter is needed to protect students from adverse weather, said Bryan Hill, presi dent of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska. The move to build shelters on Hast and City campuses began in November 19KS when Fran Thompson, a sophomore sociology major, told the ASUN senate that they were needed for -4 4 It was popular once I brought it to the students9 attention. Fran Thompson sophomore sociology major -1 9 - students commuting between campuses on the SlarTran shuttle. Thompson, 40, lives in East Campus stu dent housing. She said having classes on City Campus showed her that the shelters are neces sary. “It was just so obvious that something needed to be done,” Thompson said. *41 kept talking to other students to get them excited.” This fall, with the supportof the UNL Young Democrats and the Adult Student Network, Thompson set up a booth in the Nebraska Union and gathered about 300 signatures from students, faculty and staff members. “It was popular once I brought it to the students* attention,” she said, See SHELTERS on 5 Bill requires NCAA to follow due process when imposing sanctions By Victoria Ayotte Senior Reporter The Nebraska Legislature advanced a bill Tuesday to require that the NCAA follow due process requirements when imposing sanctions against athletes, coaches or institutions. Under die bill’s provisions, if the NCAA didn’t follow due process of law, it would be unable to impose penalties. The NCAA also would be subject to lawsuits for the amount lost because of its actions. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, sponsor of the bill, said its provisions were changed to award actual damages instead of punitive damages if the NCAA does not follow due process. __ See NCAA on s William Lauer/Dally Nabraskan Shelley Smith, a sophomore in elementary education, prices books in the Universtiy Bookstore, “it’s a little late to be getting used books," she said. Manager; Publisher controls textbook prices, not stores By Emily Rosenbaum Senior Reporter Students shelling out big bucks for textbooks this semester may be sur prised to discover that the Univer sity Bookstore “barely covers overhead” on its textbook sales, according to the book manager. Maltha Hoppe said the markup on text book prices is “very small” due to the initial high price the bookstore must pay publishers for the books it carries. According to Hoppe, the price for an individual book usually increases by a few cents each semester and there haven’t been any dramatic increases in book prices this semester. Lorin Price, textbook manager at the Nebraska Bookstore, said there has been a small increase, usually about $1 to $2, in text prices every ycar for the past 20 years. Price said the text markup at the Ne braska Bookstore is about 20 to 25 percent. For example, the bookstore might buy a text for $16, he said, and mark it up to $20. See PRICES on 5 Faculty senate approves new bylaw changes By Julie Dauel Staff Reporter The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Fac ulty Senate on Tuesday approved struc tural changes that could broaden the group’s membership. But according to Faculty Senate President James McShane, the fate of those changes, which will alter the senate’s bylaws, won’t be decided until an open meeting of UNL faculty -4 4 I cannot be happier. The administration and faculty can work together on sig nificant issues. McShane faculty senate president --9 9 - members in late January or early February. If the assembly of faculty members ap proves the changes, the proposal will be sent to all 1,200 to 1,500 UNL faculty members for a referendum vote. The proposed changes, McShanc said, in clude having biannual all-faculty meetings, adding administrators to the senate’s represen tation and changing the number of professors each senator would represent. He said the original faculty senate would increase in membership from about 60 mem bers to about 80 members and would be re named the Academic Senate. A proposed separate UNL Assembly would include the chancellor, the five vice chancel lors, three deans and other faculty members, McShane said. ‘ ‘ I cannot be happier,’ ’ McShane said.4 ‘The administration and faculty can work together on significant issues.” Faculty members and administrators have worked together on recent issues, he said, but with the proposed changes, the senate might have “a major academic voice that includes both the faculty and the administration.” ‘‘We need each other,” McShane said. The chancellor would head the all-faculty meetings in the fall, while the faculty senate president would head the spring meetings. Those meetings would be the first all-fac ulty meetings in more than 30 years, he said. Today, each senator represents 25 profes sors from divisions within each college. With the proposed changes, he said, senate representation would be based on departments with five or more professors. One senator would represent from five to 25 professors. Depart ments with 25 or more professors could have more than one senator. That change, McShane said, would make faculty government more responsive to small departments. McShane said the faculty senate started working with administrators to change the bylaws 3 1/2 years ago.