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.
