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VoUslO No. 30
| Distribution of student loans delayed
I By Stacey McKenzie
Staff Reporter
omc students will have to wait longer for
their guaranteed student loan checks af
ter some lenders delayed disbursement
last week because of the federal government’s
floundering about this year’s budget.
Lending institutions and guarantors of stu
dent loans are up in the air about how to
proceed with guaranteed student loan process
ing because of lack of information, said Randy
Kamm, vice president for policy and opera
tions areas at the Nebraska Student Loan Pro
gram.
“We are anticipating that there will be an
increase in the origination fee for loans made
this week,” Kamm said.
The origination fee, the initial fee a student
is charged for a loan application, was set at 5
percent before Oct. 1. Depending on how
government operations proceed, the origina
tion fee could be set at 5.5 percent, retroactive
to Oct. 1.
Government may raise initial fee
The Nebraska Student Loan Program still
was guaranteeing loans last week, but stopped
Friday because of uncertainty about what leg
islation would govern during the coming week,
Kamm said.
“What President Bush is threatening—he is
not going to sign a continuing resolution and he
will put the sequester back in place. This could
go active Oct. 1,” Kamm said.
“So you’ve got this bubble of loans from
Monday (Oct. 1) to today (Friday) that have
that big question mark on them.”
Bush did not sign the continuing resolution,
sending the budget back to Congress for more
work to meet deficit reduction requirements.
Union Bank and Trust Co. stopped process
ing loans Oct. 1, said Kathy McConnell, assis
tant vice president for student loans.
Union Bank is one of the larger student loan
institutions in Nebraska, processing about 7,000
student loans a year.
“There has been no direction from anyone
is to if the origination fees are to stay at 5
percent or change to 5.5 percent,” McConnell
said.
First Federal Lincoln processes about 400
student loans a year, but it also stopped as of
Oct. 1, said Larry Byers, first vice president
consumer lending manager.
National Bank of Commerce Trust & Sav
ings started disbursing student loan checks on
Friday afternoon, after holding them since Oct.
1, said Candi Tuxhom, student loan adminis
trator.
“As far as NBC is concerned, if it is retroac
tive the 1st (of October), we will send the
customer a bill for the extra .5 percent,” she
said. “We don’t see that as causing problems.”
Students who don’t pay the extra 0.5 percent
probably will have the amount held from their
second disbursement, she said.
Comhusker Bank has disbursed student loans
at the 5.5 percent origination fee as of Oct. 1,
said Brian Johnson, spokesman for loan ad
ministration.
“We will be moving at the 5.5 (percent rate).
That has been something we’ve had to work
with for the last two years,” he said.
John Beacon, director of the Office of Schol
arships and Financial Aid at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said that although two- and
three-day delays because of budget negotia
tions are common, the week-long delay has
caused some students to question why they had
not received their loan checks.
“It’s usually a couple of days (delay), and
students don’t even notice it,” he said.
Students have been blaming the university
for slow processing time, but the university has
had no control over it, Beacon said.
“It’s really more the lending institutions.
They don’t want to do the paperwork,” he said.
“Some students have to assume responsibility,
See LOANS on 7
t urgason to leave
UNLfor presidency
at Texas university
By Pat Dinslage
Staff Reporter
V ^ obert Furgason, vice chancellor for aca
demic affairs, announced Friday that he
-^^•will leave the University of Nebraska
Lincoln on Dec. 1 to become president of
Corpus Christi Slate University in Texas.
Furgason, 55, has served as academic af
fairs vice chancellor since 1984. He said he is
t pleased with the progress UNL has made dur
ing that time.
“I’m pleased about the
foundations courses and
honors programs that have
been developed,” Fur
gason said. “The inaugu
ration of the international
graduate student program
has helped substantially
Iin improving me instruc
lional component.”
He said he also is
pleased about the guide- Furgason
lines that have been establ ished for faculty pro
motion and tenure, which he said were positive
for maintaining and developing high-quality
instruction at UNL.
Corpus Christi State will provide new chal
lenges, Furgason said.
“It’s a very unique opjxiriunity,” he said.
“It’s exciting to take a relatively young univer
sity and mold its character and needs for the
21st century ”
Corpus Christi State, which is part of the
Texas A&M system, currently offers only jun
ior and senior undergraduate and graduate
f courses, Furgason said,
t In 1989, the Texas Legislature authorized
Corpus Christi State to begin offering fresh
man and sophomore courses by 1994. The
addition would expand Coipus Christi’s enroll
ment from the current 4,(XX) to about 15,(XX)
See FURGASON on 6 .
Using your brains ... J,"vl™WD*"»Nrt'“i“"
Jim Landon, biology and science research teacher at Seward High School,
performs an ancient American Indian prodedure of using brains to tan a deer
hide. Landon uses brains instead of harsh chemicals that aren’t environmentally
safe. He performed the last stage of the 10-hour procedure outside Morrill Hall
Sunday as part of the Sunday Afternoon with a scientist program.
Health Center
examines plan
for new clinic
By Doug Isakson
Staff Reporter
Agrowing need for disabled stu
dent services has prompted the
University Health Center to
consider expanding a monthly reha
bilitation clinic.
Last December, the clinic was
started as an experimental project to
treat paraplegics and quadriplegics.
Now, the clinic has turned into a
permanent program at the center.
Suzanne Wagner, a registered nurse
who coordinates the
clinics, said demand is high for the
services.
The clinic’s hours, 3 to 5 p.m.,
leave time for only four or five pa
tients, Wagner said. Often, she said,
the clinic has to stay open past 5 p.m.
to treat patients.
Ed Boyd, a sophomore English
major, said the clinic on campus saves
students a trip to the Madonna Center
for treatment.
Boyd is one of the patients at the
clinic. He suffered a spinal cord in
jury during a diving accident five
years ago.
Boyd said he wished the clinic was
open more often than once a month
and had more equipment for the dis
abled.
Dr. Gene Montgomery, an associ
ate medical director of out-patient
services at the Madonna Rehabilita
tion Hospital, 5401 S. St., started the
clinic at the request of Dr. Gerald
Flcischli, the health center’s medical
director.
See CLINIC on 7
I Osborne fearful of cuts
Jaksha: Osborne predictions about lid are ridiculous
By Chris Hopfensperger
Senior Reporter
Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne’s dire predictions
about how the 2 percent lid would hurl the UNL Athletic
Department arc “silly and ridiculous,” the lid’s propo
nent said.
I Osborne, speaking at his weekly press conference, said, “The
people that evidently have authored the proposition say, ‘We
don’t know. We don’t intend it to be the athletic department
because it basi ally doesn’t operate with stale revenue.’
; “But we asked our university lawyers and they think it
would.”
His information was wrong, said Ed Jaksha, the 2 percent
t petition sponsor.
“It is incorrect and he has been ill-advised,” Jaksha said.
The spending lid would limit state budget increases to 2
percent each year. The proposed amendment to the Nebraska
Constitution goes before voters Nov. 6.
Any decision to include the athletic department under the
proposed legislation would be made by Osborne and Gary
Fourakcr, assistant athletic director for business affairs, and
would “not be the result of the proposed amendment,” Jaksha
said.
Fourakcr, however, said the athletic department is still
unsure of where it stands.
“No one really seems to be sure how this piece of legislation
would affect us even though Jaksha’s said it’s not going to affect
athletics,” Fouraker said. “Based on what our attorneys have
concluded, we feel that we would be covered under it since all
of our funds and everything else arc deposited into the univer
sity system and go through the state treasurer.”
Jaksha said the route the money takes to the athletic depart
ment doesn’t matter. Its origins would decide whether or not it
would be limited.
“Our measure — measure 405 — deals solely, only and
totally with the stale of Nebraska,” Jaksha said, “and has
absolutely nothing to do with how much money the university
will get from the state Legislature.
“The determination of how much tax money these or any
other programs will get is a matter of negotiation and agree
ment” between the program and the Legislature, he said.
See 2 PERCENT on 6