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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1990)
I WEATHER INDEX Thursday, scattered showers, thundershowers, mostly cloudy and not as warm, high near 70, south wind 10-20 miles per hour, 60 percent News.2 chance of rain Thursday night, 50 percent Editorial.4 chance of thundershowers, low in the low 50s Diversions 5 Friday, 20 percent chance of morning showers, Sports.13 then becoming partly sunny, high in the upper- Classifieds 13 SOs. April 26, 1990 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. 142 Big Eight schools’ enrollments remain steady By Jerry Guenther Staff Reporter Despite smaller high school graduating classes this year, officials from several Big Eight schools said they don’t expect their enrollments to change much next year. At the University of Ncbraska Lincoln, applications arc down this year, said John Beacon, director of admissions and the Office of Scholar ships & Financial Aid. But the decrease in applications is about equal to the decline in students in this year's Nebraska high school graduating classes, Beacon said. Admissions to UNL arc at about the same level as last year, Beacon said, and it is still too early to tell whether next year’s freshman class will be smaller. Total enrollment at UNL this semester is 22,498. Undergraduate enrollment is 18,422. Even with smaller high school graduating classes in recent years, UNL has maintained its share of stu dents, Beacon said. Other Big Eight schools arc expe riencing similar trends. Bruce Lindvall, director of admis sions at the University of Kansas, said applications there arc down 18 per cent this year. Lindvall said applications are down for several reasons, including fewer high school students in the state. “It’s only natural you’re going to sec fewer applicants when there arc fewer students,” he said. Another reason for the reduction in applications at Kansas is that the state’s board of rcgcnLs enacted a first-ever $15 Ice on residents who are applying to colleges in the stale, he said. Although the fee has reduced the number of applicants, Lindvall said, next year’s freshman class won’t be reduced substantially because only serious students arc applying. Lindvall said Kansas applications also have decreased because more students are attending community colleges. Kansas also has established tougher requirements for oul-of-slate and trans fer students, contributing to the re duction in applications, Lindvall said. Even with fewer applicants this year, Lindvall said, he doesn’t expect enrollment at Kansas to change much in the long run because the stiffer requirements should cause, higher retention of students at Kansas. Karstcn Smcdal, director of ad missions for Iowa Slate University, said enrollment at ISU has remained at about 26,5(X) during the past five years. New student enrollment has increased each of the past two years, she said. Smcdal said Iowa, like most other stales, has had fewer high school stu dents in past years. But he said ISU has been able to maintain or increase undergraduate enrollment because a higher percentage of high school stu dents in Iowa are attending college. Non-tradilional students, those older than 25, also have increased at ISU, Smcdal said. The university has set See ENROLL on 3 Horticulture jobs abound, official says By James P. Webb Staff Reporter Horticulture students have never had it better, as eight jobs await each of them upon graduation, said Paul Read, head of the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln horti culture department. On the other hand, the shortage of horticul ture students nationwide is worrying depart mental recruiters and employers, Read said. The UNI- horticulture department, which has 60 undergraduate and 23 graduate students, has the capacity for 120 undergraduates and 30 graduate students, he said. The shortage begins with a general lack ot knowledge about horticulture and its many career opportunities, Read said. To combat the problem, UNL’s horticulture department is sending more mailings to high schools and is distributing an updated bro chure, paid for in part by statewide industry leaders. The brochure defines horticulture, explains study options and describes six careers for graduates. “We still arc interested in recruiting our traditional farm, rural and ag-based students,” Read said. “But we also need to get the mes sage out to those top-drawer science students who have an opportunity to have an influence on the future of our society.” i no department oi horticulture also is pur suing “untapped non-traditional” students who are looking for a career change, or for self enriching courses, he said. Next fall, in cooperation with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, an introductory horti culture class will be offered at UNO, he said. “It’sa great opportunity forastudent to test the water and get a little exposure to all aspects of horticulture to see if it's for them,” Read said. Contributing to the shortage was sluggish recruitment into horticulture during the farm crisis of the 1980s, he said. During the last 30 years, horticulture profes sions such as landscape design, sport-turf management, biotechnology and horticulture businesses such as floral shops have grown rapidly, he said. But during the crisis, the number of gradu ates and professionals entering the field de clined because people thought horticulture was in a slump along with agriculture, he said. Vacant internships and research positions and two to three jobs per graduate student arc a nationwide phenomenon, Read said. 4 4 Because the job market is so good for BS graduates, we’re not getting as many quality people going onward for graduate programs,” he said. “This is going to approach crisis proportions as we hit the mid-1990s.” The decreased numbers of students entering the field is compounded by retiring profession als and has4 ‘dried up the pipeline,’’ Read said. Industry representatives often visit the de partment to “sec who’s hot in their field” or to recruit students directly, he said. See HORTICULTURE on 3 Students testify against auto shop By Pat Dinslage Staff Reporter Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu dents testified Wednesday in Lancaster County Court at a preliminary hearing on four felony charges against Judson R. Cushing, owner of Judson Automotive, 601 N. 27th St. The two students, Katherine Taber and David C. Schroeder, are plaintiffs in two of the four cases involving theft, theft by deception and criminal mischief, according to county court records. Taber, a second-year law student, testified that she took her car to Judson Automotive on Oct. 30,1989, for an engine compression check and repairs lo the clutch, which was still under warranty from previous work by Judson Auto motive. She said she was told the compression check and the clutch repair were free. Al ter the disas sembly of the engine and unaulhorized repairs to die car’s heads, Taber said, she was forced to pay about $440 before Cushing would reas semble the engine and release her car two weeks later. ‘‘I had no choice,” she said, because she had no way of getting the car back without paying Cushing, had no other vehicle to drive and could not sell it while the engine was in pieces. Schroedcr said he look his car to Judson Automotive in September 1989 for a price estimate to repair an oil leak on his 1974 Porsche 911. Schroedcr said he wanted an estimate only, and no repairs were to be per formed before receipt of an estimate. When two weeks had passed and he had not received an estimate, Schroedcr said he went to. Judson Automotive and found that his engine had been removed from the car without his authorization. He said Cushing told him a part that was needed before an estimate could be completed already had been ordered. When he returned the next week, Scnrocder said, he was given a bill for $1,600 to cover work already completed, and the total bill would come to $3,300 for repairs. He said he told Judson Automotive employees that no further work was to be done. See JUDSON on 3 Al Sc ha ben Daify Nebiaakan Watching the turf grow? University of Nebraska-Lincoln groundskeeper Marvin Little (right) and football student manager Ray Peterson watch sprinklers as they water down Memorial Stadium’s turf Wednesday. Little said the turf is watered prior to football practice to cool it off and cut down on injuries. Griesen: Fighting words tough to administer By Jennifer O’Cilka Staff Reporter In an open forum Wednesday night James Griesen, vice chancellor for student af fairs, said the proposed Student Code of Conduct changes concerning the fighting words provision will not be easy to administer. Speaking to the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, Griesen said that because the policy is so controversial, students and faculty membci s must have faith in student judicial board actions if changes are passed. Because the proposed code is so broad, Griesen said, potential for misuse exists. “We’ll never be able to define everything,’' he said. If the provision is adopted, the “use of fighting words by a student to harass any per son on the university campus. . .’’ would be prohibited under the new Student Code of Conduct. Griesen said any reported violations of the provision would first be handled by a faculty member. The faculty member would contact the violator and try to handle the violation informally. If that was impossible, he said, the case would go to the judicial board. Cases heard by the judicial board could be appealed or taken up in civil court, Griesen said. Griesen gave the example of one black student and one white student fighting in a residence hall. If the while student called the black student an offensive name, and the black student hit the white student, Griesen said, officials would have a way to prosecute the white student for using the offensive term. Under the present code, the black student would be the only one prosecuted. “We’re talking about a very limited set of words,’’ he said. “My example of two students fighting in a dormitory is reaching deep down into a grab bag of racial words that would really hurt that person.” Griescn said university officials have de cided to replace the original words “ ... or other individual characteristics” with “sex ual orientation.” Rodney Bell II, chairperson of the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln Gay and Lesbian Alum.ii Association, said he thinks the fighting words policy is “a humanitarian attempt to decrease harassment” as long as it fs not mis used by administrators. Tami Lindau, a member of the judicial board, said she thinks the proposed policy is too broad and will cause technical problems within the board. .. ...
