The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, November 01, 1990, Image 1

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    WEATHER INDEX
Today, mostly sunny and warm with a high of 75 Editorial.4
and southwest winds 10-20 mph. Tonight in- News D'0est.6
creasing cloudiness with a low of 45-50. Friday, Diversions.7
mostly cloudy and cooler, high near 65 Sports.15
Classifieds.19
November 1,1990___University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 90 No. 47
Enlightened reading Al Schab*n'°*"> Nab'aaka"
on’wednesdayatternoon Ta“n N0OC relaxes whi,e readin0ln Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Sculpture Garden
. . . . - ■
Official: Minority voice must be heard
By James P. Webb
Staff Reporter
Throwing money at recruitment of mi
norities is not the way to increase diver
sity at the University of Ncbraska-Lin
coin, an official said Wednesday during a cul
tural diversity workshop for administrators.
Robert Terry, director of the Reflective
Leadership Center of the Hubert H. Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs at the University of
Minnesota, explained the shortcomings of tra
ditional policy formation to about 60 adminis
trators attending the day-long workshop at the
East Union.
In his workshop, Terry said, he tries to
expand public leaders’ thinking so that they
develop a rationale that supports their deci
sions and that they understand the decisions’
consequences.
Terry said he hopes this development will
force administrators to reevaluate their deci
sions constantly.
Currently, university officials arc mishan
dling the cultural diversity issue by simply
recruiting minorities instead of deciding how
minorities should fit in with the overall mission
of the university, he said.
Administrators need to include minorities
in the decision-making process, decide what
role, if any, cultural diversity should play in the
university’s mission in quality higher educa
tion, and then cling to their decision, he said.
“As long as we try to rearrange the structure
and the resource problem, the problem is going
to V.ccp coming up again and again, because
we’re not dealing with the core stuff of who we
arc and what we want this place to be,” Terry
said.
Just thinking about the more difficult ques
tion of the role of cultural diversity in higher
education will help define the university’s
mission, he said.
A clearer mission w ill clarify political goals,
the standards of the system, and how resources
arc allocated, he said.
Police arrest
two students
for UNL arsons
By Cindy Wostrel
Staff Reporter
Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dents have been charged in connection
wrth recent residence hall fires, an offi
cial said.
James A. White, 21, and David L. Sutton,
18, have been charged with third-degree arson
in what Sgt. Mylo Bushing of the University
Police Department said he thinks arc unrelated
cases.
The UNL Police Department and the Slate
Fire Marshal’s office had been investigating
the arson fires.
White, a junior history major, of Ncihardt
Residence Hall was charged with the Oct. 11
and Oct. 16 fires in Ncihardt, Bushing said.
Sutton, a freshman computer science major,
of Abel Residence Hall was charged in connec
tion with a trash-chute fire that occurred Oct.
12 in Abel, Bushing said.
The penalty for fires causing less than SICK)
damage carries a maximum prison sentence of
one year, a $1,000 fine or both, Bushing said.
Doug Zatechka, university housing direc
tor, said police and staff reports will be sent to
Kathy Austin, director of student judicial af
fairs, for review.
After consulting with the students, anything
from no action to suspension of the students
from the university could result, Zatechka said.
He said he was pleased that suspects arc
known, but he wasn’t pleased that the Fires had
endangered residents.
“It could have been a lot worse than it was,”
Bushing said.
At least seven fires have been set in resi
dence halls within the last three weeks, prompt
ing housing officials and the Residence Hall
Association to offer a $ 1,250 reward for infor
mation about those responsible for the fires.
Bushing said he thinks the reward went
unclaimed.
Commission will revise rules
ASUN senate votes down proposed election regulations
By Jennifer O’Ciika
Senior Reporter
Rules governing the Association
of Students of the University
of Nebraska elections will be
reconsidered by the Electoral Com
mission because of action by student
leaders Wednesday night.
Meeting at the East Union, ASUN
senators voted 2-21 against the gov
ernment bill concerning election rules,
which included changes made by the
Electoral Commission. The election
rules arc brought before the senate
each semester for approval.
Because the election rules could
not be amended by senators in the
government bill, the commission will
have to look at the rule changes again
and re-submit them to the senate.
Bart Vitek, Electoral Commission
director, said the commission had
proposed several changes in last year’s
rules, including limiting the number
of debates from eight to six; eliminat
ing campaign spending limits and
capping contributions; and adding a
written policy about the removal of
commission members for misconduct.
The proposed changes also included
the provision that the Electoral Com
mission would sponsor all debates
and get student organizations to ask
the questions.
College of Arts and Sciences Sen.
Chris Poller said he was concerned
about how the commission would
decide which student groups would
"44
This is going to ex
clude a lot of people
from student govern
ment who don’t have
the funds to put on a
$10,000 campaign.
Potter
ASUN senator
-tt -
ask debate questions.
Vitek said the commission would
consider which organizations were
the first to file and which ones would
ask a broader range of questions of
the candidates. Last year’s rules al
lowed the first student organizations
that filed to sponsor debates.
Potter said he thinks the first-comc
firsl-scrvc rule is more fair.
Gosch said he saw a “real flaw” in
last year’s approach to debate spon
sorship. This is because “whoever’s
on the ball can get organizations to
which they arc very friendly” to spon
sor debates, he said.
“I think without a doubt some of
those debates had the appearance of
being less than objective,” Gosch said.
Patter also said that he thinks an
end lo spending limits would hurt
some groups who want lo run for
ASUN.
“This is going to exclude a lot of
people from student government who
don’t have the funds to put on a $10,000
campaign,” Potter said.
College of Journalism Sen. Alisa
Miller agreed, saying that “this is a
time of year we arc trying to get all
different kinds of people in ASUN”
and the end to spending limits may
exclude some of those groups.
ASUN Second Vice President Stacy
Mohling urged all senators who voted
against the government bill to come
lo the next Electoral Commission
meeting to voice their concerns.
UNL’s ScanNet ID system to go nationwide
By Dionne Searcey
Staff Reporter
ScanNet, the University of Nebraska’s photo
identification card system, soon will be
recognizable nationwide, an official said.
Ray Coffey, UNL business manager, said
that earlier this month the university licensed
the ScanNet package to Telecommunications
Data System Co. of Richardson, Texas, for
marketing.
Eli Wang, president of TDS, said the com
pany expects to make money by selling the
program to other universities.
The UNL-TDS deal will be good for both
sides, Wang said.
“Whatever we sell, UNL will get some,’’ he
said.
Warren Embree, system coordinator for UNI.
Support Services and developer of ScanNet,
said UNL will receive a percentage of the price
each university pays to TDS to acquire Scan
Net.
The university already has received $5,000
from TDS, Embree said, which shows that the
company is serious about the deal.
UNL will receive about $4,000 every time
TDS sells the system to a university, Embree
said.
The ScanNet system cost about $350,000 to
create, he said. UNL officials hope to recoup
that much within five years, Embree said.
Coffey said the deal “could fall flat on its
face or wind up being adopted by other schools
and we could make several thousands of dol
lars ..
“It’s a real good system. It's just a matter of
how good the company is at getting the system
standardized or marketed toother institutions,"
he said.
Embrec said about IS universities have
expressed interest in getting a ScanNet system.
The cost for each university to install the
program ranges from $7,000 to $70,000, Wang
said, depending on if the entire system is in
stalled or if it is installed in modules. For
example, a university could use ScanNet ex
clusively in the cafeteria or only in its book
store. he said
ScanNet allows only those with the correct
code on their ID card to gain access to pro
grams such as residence hall food service, the
library, recreation facilities or the bookstore.
Embrec said the system is designed to be
hassle-free and not cause students a lot of
problems.
“It should be versatile for departments, yet
transparent to students,” he said.
TDS is planning to modify the system for
each university, Embree said, but its basic
design will be die same.
“No two universities are exacdy alike. The
system will be modified to fit other universi
ties’ particular and peculiar needs,” he said.
Wang said TDS eventually hopes to incor
porate ScanNet into two other systems. The
Telephone Facility Management System would
allow students to use ID cards to make long
distance phone calls. The system would be
similar to an phone calling card, he said.
The other system, the Campus Facility
Management System, would enable students to
use ID cards in parking gates, for entrance to
residence halls or to access other campus serv
ices, Wang said.