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Friday, mostly sunny and still hot, high in the low- Classifieds ........ .16
September 6,1990•University of Nebraska-Lincoln____Vol. 90 No. 8
ASUN Senate
opposes lid
on spending
By Jennifer Q’Cilka
Senior Reporter
After debating almost two hours, student
leaders voted Wednesday night to for
mally oppose a 2 percent lid on state
government budget spending that will come
before voters in November.
The Association of Students of the Univer
sity of Nebraska passed Government Bill No.
1, which also gave the Government Liaison
Committee power to inform students about
possible effects of the lid.
Doug Oxley, an economics and political
science major, said the passage of Initiative
405, the 2 percent lid on state government
spending, could have bad effects on the univer
sity and the state.
“I personally would leave the state of Ne
braska upon passage of Initiative 405,” Oxley
said.
Nebraska would become a state in which
roads fall apart, children don’t get the educa
tion they need and government does not have
the control to provide services, he said.
This is because inflation is rising at a ‘ ‘natu
ral” rate of 5 percent, but the lid only allows for
2 percent budget increases each year, Oxley
said.
Oxley urged senators to vote for the govern
ment bill.
“My opinion as a student is a vote against
government bill one is a vote for higher tui
tion,” he said. “And it would also be a vote to
cut services at the university.”
ASUN President Phil Gosch said that al
though many Nebraskans signed the petition to
put the initiative on the ballot, they may not
realize the possible effects.
“I think as more people find out what the
effects of the lid would be to our state, to our
university . .. they may become more fright
ened,” Gosch said.
The bill states that the lid could have a
devastating impact on UNL by jeopardizing
programs, reducing the number of faculty and
staff, expanding classroom sizes and markedly
increasing tuition rates.
If passed, Gosch said the lid possibly would
go into effect in January, causing mid-year
Budget cuts at the university. This would re
quire a $23 million budget cut immediately, he
said.
“Academic programs (at NU) would not
See ASUN on 6
J«ff Willett/Daily Nebraskan
UNL student Jameson Cooper pours fake blood on a mock American flag during a protest against U.S. involvement
in the Middle East. Early Warning! and Ecology Now sponsored the demonstration and march Wednesday at
Broyhill Plaza.
Energy plan needed, groups say
Students protest Gulf involvement
By Stacey McKenzie
Staff Reporter
A reddish goo was poured Wednesday
over a black-and-white-striped flag
that had 50 small gas pumps printed
on it, as two campus organizations protested
U.S. military involvement in the Middle
East.
About 16 protesters, some representing
the groups Early Warning! and Ecology
Now, marched from Broyhill Plaza to the
Military and Naval Science Building with
the flag.
The marchers, some clad in army fa
tigues and one sporting a gas mask, chanted
and gathered around the flag as a red sticky
liquid representing blood was poured over
it The flag then was folded - military style
— and marched back to the plaza where it
was spread on the ground in front of the
speakers’ podium.
The first flag was replaced with a second
flag featuring a skull and crossbones.
After the march, about 30 to 40 people
listened as some protesters spoke on issues
concerning the United States’ military in
tervention in the Middle East and the coun
try’s energy policies.
The United States is acting as the world’s
police force, said J Burger, a member of
Ecology Now and a sophomore studying
natural resources.
“I think the actions in the Middle East
are coming to a fruition like this because of
the lack of a national energy plan,” Burger
said. “I think we (the United States) have
sold ourselves short.”
There are various reasons why the pro
testers are opposed to military intervention
in the Middle East, said Nell Eckersley, 1
facilitator for Early Warning! and a junior
Spanish major.
The United States should take preventive
action in non-military ways and should let
the Arab nations deal with their problems,
she said.
Jeff Riggert, a member of Ecology Now
and a junior studying biology, said he pro
tested because a U.S. energy policy does not
exist and should.
Many things can be done to avoid the
need for oil from the Middle East, he said.
Conservation and recycling arc two things
that everyone could do to help, he said, but
President Bush is not promoting those types
of energy savers.
‘‘I don’t see much initiative from the
president,” he said.
Science programs lack minority doctorate students
by brenaa uneng
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln, in line with a national
pattern, lacks minorities gradu
ating with doctorates m science, said
Stanley Liberty, dean of the College
of Engineering and Technology.
There is a lack of minorities in
doctoral studies, specifically in sci
ence, because they need role models
and information about preparing for
careers in science, Liberty said.
Minority students also usually come
from economically disadvantaged
situations, he said, so they may lack
the funds for college.
In a study by the National Re
search Council, 7,167 U.S. citizens
received doctorates in physics, as
tronomy, chemistry, mathematics,
engineering and biological sciences
in 1988. Included were 18 Native
Americans, 324 Asian-Americans, 84
blacks and 163 Hispanic-Americans.
Whites earned about 92 percent o! the
degrees.
In 1989-90,244 students received
Ph.D.sfrom UNL. Ol that number, 75
percent were U.S. citizens. Only 14
of the U.S. students — 7.2 percent --
were minorities.
The lack of minorities earning
science doctorates has become a na
tional concern because, in a few years,
there will be a shortage of college
professors and scientists nationwide,
said Anthony Starace, chairman of
the physics and astronomy depart
ment.
Universities hired a lot of profes
sors in the 1960s to keep up with the
baby boom, he said, and in about five
years there will be large-scale retire
ment.
The number of white males cur
rently in physics is not enough to
S-event the shortage, Starace said.
ut women and minorities now make
up a large percentage of the U.S.
population, so attracting them might
help ease the shortage, he said.
“Wc have got to overcome the
historical problem of underrepresen
tation in students of engineering and
science in order to create a valuable
pool of human resources for the fu
ture industrial competitiveness,*’
Liberty said.
Some UNL science departments
and colleges and the UNL Office of
Graduate Studies are implementing
programs to help attract minorities.
Graduate studies started programs
for minority support and recruitment
in 1989 to increase the number of
minority students in graduate pro
grams, said Merlin Law son, associate
dean of graduate studies.
The graduate studies minority plan
now provides 14 Minority Graduate
Fellowships, six Patricia Roberts Harris
Scholarships and three assistantships,
Lawson said.
The graduate studies recruitment
program includes sending posters and
brochures to about 400 schools na
tionally, advertising in the Chronicle
of Higher Education and supporting
faculty travel and visits to campus by
prospective students, he said.
Roger Bruning, associate dean for
graduate studies, said the department
nad tried to “create a supportive
See DOCTORATE on 5