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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1990)
UNL officials predict drop in new student enrollment By Jennifer O’Cilka Senior Reporter New student enrollment at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln is expected to decrease by 200 to 250 students this fall because of a drop in Nebraska high school graduates. James Gricsen, vice chancel lor for student affairs, said the projected decline was a minor adjustment that would have little effect on the univer sity. Last year, UNL’s fall enrollment was 23,926. Peak enrollment at UNL came in 1982, with 25,075 students. Gricsen said he expected this year’s total to be about 23,700. “That (decrease) is almost an exact reflection on the decline in the num ber of high school students,’’ he said. The number of h igh school seniors in Nebraska dropped 5.36 percent during the past year, from 20,554 in 1989 to 19,452 in 1990, Griesen said. That number is expected to de cline again next year by about 7.68 percent, Griesen said. “It’s iust a function of population trends and shifts,” he said. Griesen said he was not worried about this year’s decline. “It’s a small enough decline that we don ’ t have to worry about the base eroding for student fees or tuition,” he said. Some adjustments to the housing budget may be the only ones needed to compensate, Griesen said. More students may get single rooms, he said. “It’s nothing serious,” he said. “Nothing we can’t live with.” Housing Director Doug Zatcchka said the number of applications for residence halls shot up after early reports of a large decrease from last year. At one point, Zatcchka said, hous ing applications were down from last year by 150-200. “We still expect (numbers) to be down a little bit, but not as bad,” he said. Last year’s occupancy rates were higher, so occupancy was expected to be down a little this year, he said. Zatcchka projected a rate of more than 90 percent full, but said he could not be sure yet. He said final occu pancy figures would not be available until next week. Gricsen said a university-wide census would be conducted the sixth day of classes. Definite enrollment figures will be available after the census. 1 Brian Shellito/Daily Nebraskan UNL spends summer debating divestment, Kearney vote By Matt Herek Senior Editor The University of Ncbraska-Lin coln didn’t take a break this summer when students went off to take a vacation, study, sleep or work. Debate concerning the NU Foun dation’s refusal to divest from South Africa continued to rage, the Nebraska Supreme Court decided to allow Kearney State Col lege to become part of the University of Nebraska system, and UNL received a record number of research awards. James McShane, UNL Academic Senate president, who is working to get the foundation to divest from South Africa, offered a compromise to the NU Board of Regents. He said the foundation could in vest in South Africa the same way the Merrill Lynch investment company does. Merrill Lynch keeps track of companies that do business in South Africa and it will not invest in those companies unlcssaclient specifically asks for such an investment, McShane said. The foundation would be selec tively investing, he said. “(If the foundation) were willing to say, ‘Well, we’re insufficiently unsure about this, but for people who ... would like to invest in this particu lar area, we might be willing to ac cept it, although under ordinary circum stances we don’t invest our money here,’ it seems to me that would be a reasonable kind of compromise,” McShane said. Many UNL faculty members feel “very strongly about this issue,” McShane told the regents. Some faculty members formed an action group to work for South Afri can divestment, said UNL English professor Paul Olson. Olson said the group is informal and discusses ways to encourage the foundation to divest. Olson said he is “very surprised with the enthusiasm and concern” about the divestment issue and with what the group is doing. Another issue that hasn’t been resolved is Kearney State College’s fight to get a vote on the N U presiden tial search committee. KSC is scheduled to become part of the NU system July 1, 1991. The Board of Regents denied KSC voting membership on the search committee during its June meeting. Regent Rosemary Skrupa of Omaha had said she would introduce a reso lution giving KSC voting member ship at the board’s meeting in July, but said at that meeting she would wait until the September meeting to introduce the resolution. Skrupa, who originally voted against the resolution, said part of the reason she changed her mind was because of a letter written to Regent Chairman Don Blank by state Sen. Doug Kristcnscn of Mindcn. The letter had a “very persuasive logic to it,” she said. Kristensen said it was an insult to the Nebraska Legislature and to KSC toexcludc it from voting membership on the committee. Granting KSC voting membership would have been an excellent oppor tunity to bring it into the university system on an important matter, he said. “It was an excellent opportunity that they (the regents) fumbled,” he said. Excluding KSC from voting membership “doesn’t work well in this system,” Kristensen said. A new requirement implemented for the UNL Teachers College will affect student teaching assignments in the fall, according to Alvah Kilgore, associate dean of the college. The change requires students to have substantial teaching experience in schools with at least a 10-percent minority enrollment. The requirement is part of the Teachers College Multicultural En richment Plan, Kilgore said. This will be a transitional year, Kilgore said, and the college still has some things to work out in imple menting the new requirement. Tom Krcpel, director of university relations and assistant to U NL ’ s chan cellor, resigned his post to take a position in Minnesota effective Sept. 4. Krcpcl will become an associate professor at St. Cloud State Univer sity in St. Cloud, Minn., in ihc Center for Educational Administration and Leadership, He said his experiences in his four years at UNL would provide a back ground for his teaching position at St. Cloud. It was disclosed over the summer that the amount of money UNL re ceived in grants for the 1989-1990 fiscal year increased. The research initiative helped in stimulating this growth, according to Bill Splinter, interim vice chancellor for research. UNL received a record S29.7 mil lion in research awards in 1989-1990, SI.5 million more than the previous year and almost $7 million more than in 1987, before the research initiative program. The program, established by the Nebraska Legislature two years ago, provides money for economic devel opment research in Nebraska. 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