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News Digest.2
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partly sunny and breezy, high in the low 80s. Art.*Entertainment. 2
— V01^90 No 20
Foundation votes to divest from S. Africa
By Ryan Steeves
Staff Reporter
After months of public pres
sure, the NU Foundation an
nounced Friday that, in accor
dance with state law, it would divest
of companies doing business in South
Africa.
Terry Fairfield, foundation presi
dent, said the organization ’ s Board of
Directors voted unanimously to di
vest.
Fairfield announced the policy
change at a press conference Friday
afternoon and later at a dinner of the
foundation’s trustees. The foundation
is a non-profit, private organization
that solicits money for the university.
Fairfield confirmed that the new
policy would affect only one founda
tion investment: a stock worth about
$1 million in Abbott Laboratories, a
health care company.
He said that directors felt it was
necessary to divest because their origi
nal position not to divest had placed
the university at risk with some con
stituencies and financial sources. It
was not the directors’ intention to do
that, Fairfield said.
“The last three years have been
very good and very positive for the
university,” he said, “And we want
to see that that continues.”
The partial divestment probably
will not veil the foundation from the
public eye. Some groups, such as the
Anti-Apartheid Coalition of Nebraska,
are calling for it and the university to
divest from all companies doing busi
ness in South Africa.
Under Nebraska law, state agen
cies can invest in firms doing busi
ness in South Africa as long as the
firms meet criteria aimed at develop
ing equality between blacks and whites.
Arthur D. Little Inc. of Cambr
idge, Mass., evaluates the companies
and places them in four categories
according to how well they comply
with the criteria.
Firms in Category I are considered
to be making good progress toward
equality and are exempt from Ne
braska’s list of forbidden companies.
Those in the last three categories --
IIA, IIIA and IIIB -- are on the state
list, and agencies cannot invest in
them.
Fairfield said the foundation will
wait until October to divest. A new
rating comes out then, and it’s likely
Abbott will jump to a Category I firm,
he said.
The foundation also has invest
mentsincompaniescurrentlyinCate
gory I that could fall into latter cate
gories, Fairfield said. In that case, the
foundation “probably” will divest of
those companies, he said.
Those wanting to verify that the
foundation is following the new pol
icy will have to trust the organization.
Fairfield said the foundation will not
disclose investments in its portfolio.
The new policy and the precarious
ratings system present problems for
the money-wary foundation, Fairfield
said. Investment strategies usually are
long term and are vulnerable to the
ratings, he said.
“If you have rankings every quar
ter and one firm goes from IIA to I, I
to IIA, you have to buy, sell, buy, sell,
regardless of whether the market is up
or down,” he said.
The ratings are annual, however,
and some campus groups and leaders
say the key word is sell.
Joseph Akpan, president of the
Nigerian Student Organization, said
that although he is pleased with the
foundation’s announcement, he hopes
the organization goes further.
Akpan said he wants the univer
sity and tiie foundation to totally divest
But even more importantly, he wants
them to develop useful programs for
black South Africans such as scholar
ships and exchange programs.
Fairfield said the foundation is
considering financing such propos
als.
The NU President’s Special Com
mittee on South Africa is working on
the proposals and could have some
concrete suggestions in a month to six
weeks.
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historic Apollo 009 spoco modulo on
Restoration plans uncertain
[Apollo 009 damaged
By Dionne Searcey
Staff Reporter
Years of exposure to Nebraska weather
have damaged the Apollo 009 space
capsule more than two trips through
space did.
The white paint on the outside of the
spacecraft is faded, chipped and cracked.
Pm of the outer shell has broken off. The
windows are dirty and scratched and, inside,
wires are tangled and equipment is covered
with rust.__
The spacecraft, which was donated to
UNL in 1972, has sat outside Morrill Hall
for 18 years.
Plans to restore the craft have been de
veloped, delayed, then resurrected.
Bob Carpenter, UNL campus architect,
said officials are beginning to re-examine
restoration plans for the craft but are uncer
tain about what needs to be done.
Hugh Genoways, director of the Nebraska
Stale Museum, said that “from the mu
See APOLLO on 6
Retired professor continues
labor of love after 54 years
By James P. Webb
Staff Reporter
At 14 pages, the r£sum6 of Elvin Frolik,
professor emeritus of agronomy, is big
ger than some undergraduate research
papers.
Thai’s no small wonder for the 81-year-old
DeWitt native whose career began with a de
termination to find a job
during the Great Depres
sion.
Since then, he has
worked in a series of ag;ri
cullure-related jobs, in
cluding a span of 54 years
at the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln.
His involvement in
the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Re
sources is just as vigorous today as when he
joined the faculty in 1936. As a member of two
private organizations, he supports the insti
tute’s programs by fund raising and by lobby
ing the Nebraska Legislature. He also has started
a fund in his family’s name with the NU Foun
dation emphasizing the quality of students at
the college.
And from his office at 202 Agricultural Hall
on East Campus, Frolik researches the history
of the college, what he calls his “labor of
love.”
What began as an interest in the mid-’70s
has led to a 500-page book titled “College of
Agriculture of the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, The First Century.” The book, co
authored by Ralston Graham, covers adminis
trative units, major programs and topics of
special interest from 1874, the first year stu
dents entered the college, to 1974.
Frolik said the most remarkable part of the
college’s history is the hardships it endured
during its development. The reason the college
was established was not because people were
demanding it, but because of federal money
available to universities under the Morrill
Land Grant Act of 1862, he said.
“I suppose the biggest thing is that some
people didn’t think of agriculture as quite proper.
... The College of Agriculture had to establish
itself both with the people of the state and with
the academic circles within the university.”
See FROLIK on 3
UNL studies athletics
By Alan Phelps
Staff Reporter
To help with a study aimed at developing
uniform standards for participation in
NCAA championships, Nebraska’s
athletic department is taking slock of its game
plan.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has
begun a voluntary self-evaluation of all aspects
of ns athletic program to help the NCAA set up
a nationwide certification program for athletic
departments.
The NCAA will use the report, due in early
1991, with reports from other universities to set
standards to judge schools for participation in
NCAA championships. This program then will
be presented to NCAA membership for pos
sible adoption in 1995.
The study also will help UNL, said A1
Papik, Nebraska assistant athletic director for
administrative/academic services.
“We’ll get to know ourselves a little belter
and this should make us more effective and
efficient,” Papik said.
Teachers College Dean James O’Hanlon,
UNL spokesman for the project and ultimate
author of the report to the NCAA, agreed.
“It’s like a Good Housekeeping Seal of
Approval,’ ’ O’Hanlon said. ‘‘The program will
set a series of goals or standards to strive for. ’ ’
Papik said UNL Chancellor and NU Interim
President Martin Massengale, who is chairman
of the NCAA Presidents Commission, encour
aged UNL’s involvement.
Massengale said the program is a way of
telling the NCAA that UNL respects and rec
ognizes the rules. He also said it will benefit the
university because it allows UNL to ask inter
nal questions.
Papik agreed.
“I think that any time a department does an
in-depth self-study, they find out a lot about
their organization, structure, services, strengths
and weaknesses that normally aren’t detected,”
Papik said. ‘‘We’ll have something to compare
what we’re doing against.”
The only other Division 1-A school cur
rently in the pilot study is the University of
Califomia-Los Angeles, Papik said. The NCAA
is looking for about 40 schools, with at least
one school in each major conference, he said.
The program, which began in mid-Septem
ber, will continue for the next three months as
-* 4
It's like a Good Housekeeping
Seal of Approval. The pro
gram will set a series of goals
or standards to strive for.
OHanbn
dean
Teachers College
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athletic department staff members, coaches,
student athletes, faculty members and adminis
trators examine areas of the athletic program.
They will study academic, financial and ad
ministrative issues, the institutional mission,
commitment to compliance with NCAA regu
lations, conductof student athletes and coaches
and the student-athlete experience.
The study will be extensive, Papik said.
‘‘There are 20 to 30 questions we must
answer about each area,’ ’ he said. Results from
interviews of students, faculty, alumni and
coaches will be sent to the NCAA to compare
with results from other pilot schools.