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. .. ...
