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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1990)
WEATHER INDEX Today, becoming cloudy with a 20 percent News Digest.2 chance of precipitation, south winds 10-25 miles Editorial.4 per hour, high 50-55. Tonight, cloudy and colder Sports.7 with a 30 percent chance of snow, low 20-25. Arts & Entertainment.10 Tuesday, still colder, 30 percent chance of snow, classifieds .15 high in the mid to upper 30s November 26,1990 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 90 No. 61 Presidential negotiations near close By Pat Dinsiage Staff Reporter ontract negotiations between University of Nebraska President-elect Martin Mas sengale and NU Regents Chairman Don Blank should be finished by the middle of this week. Blank said. Blank of McCook was authorized by the board at a special meeting Tuesday to negotiate contract terms with NU Interim President and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Massengale. “I don’t foresee any problems with the contract,” Blank said Sunday, although Mas sengale has not indicated whether he will ac cept the presidency. Massengale said that “talks are progressing along normal lines of expectations.” Massen gale said he prefers to keep the details of the negotiations private until he and Blank have decided on the contract. He said he will decide whether to accept the position when a contract is final. Many factors See CONTRACT on 6 Senators say search affected NU public image By Pat Dinsiage Staff Reporter Littering the battlefield of the University of Nebraska’s search for a president are the university’s public image and the trust of the Nebraska Legislature, some mem bers of the Education and Appropriations committees said. Sen. Roger Wchrbein of Plattsmouth said I the “furor” surrounding the search is unfortu | nate. The regents handled the search badly, he said. “It’s unfortunate that (Interim NU President Martin) Massengale has been made a whipping boy,” he said. “I don’t know why they didn’t submit Massengale (as a candidate) in the first place.” Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly said he believes that the board’s selection of Massen gale “completed a plot begun two years ago.. . to put Martin in” as NU president from the See SENATORS on 6 David Fahleson/Daily Nebraskan Jack Dunn, coordinator of Ralph Mueller Planetarium, with a swirling galaxy of stars and gases projected onto the dome of the planetarium. Laser shows wed showbiz, science Planetarium coordinator wants to educate, entertain audience By David Dalton Staff Reporter He seemed almost to apologize for the way he was dressed. “OK, I’m wearing a suit today,” said the coordinator of Ralph Mueller Plane tarium. “That’s because I was meeting with a class.” On other occasions, Jack Dunn leaves his dress clothes tucked away in the closet When he’s running one of the planetarium’s laser shows, he tends to be more relaxed. “I want to fit in with the atmosphere,” Purr. said. “I feel it’s im portant that you really understand the audi ences.” It’s important, he said, because a little showbiz helps to make science accessible. “We’re not trying to be elitists or separa tists or anything like that,” he said. And most of all, they’re not trying to be dull. He said he hopes audiences will leave the planetarium knowing more than when they came, but he also wants them to enjoy what they watch. “You have to have a good story to tell them, good information and a good sound track,” he said. The process can be complicated, he said, and can add up to long hours at the planetar ium. His office is a tiny space partitioned off from the planetarium theater. The desk it contains is barely large enough to hold a telephone and a few sheets of paper. But most of his work uoes not go on in there. Most of it goes on in the planetarium control room among equipment that might have been torn off the bridge of the 1960s starship Enterprise of Star Trek fame. Here he produces four planetarium shows a year and, at times, one laser light show a week. But, despite the workload, Dunn is not reclusive. “People tell me I was vaccinated with a See DUNN on 7 Regents’ reactions differ over education coordination Main points of the Widmayer report: The new coordinating] An advisory panel of rvXnTN commission should 13 to 15 members \ have statewide reach. should be established. —|f®T \ Its duties should This panel would L_^_—-_A jpciujjg reviewing consist of students, Coordinating budgats ancj ro|a an<j faculty members Commission mjssjon statements legislators and other I _citizens._ P "Teaching must again begome the business of the education business.... Teaching ability must be the essentia! criterion in hiring, promotion and tenure." The report suggests that UNL in particular has let research dilute its commitment to quality teaching. Should reduce the Should not expect major Should be allowed number of programs it funding changes. But, to offer limited offers and increase its some new master's degree doctoral programs admission standards, programs should be and build campus allowed. housing. Source: Widmayer and Associates_ Ami# DeFraln/The Dally Nebraskar By Michael Ho Staff Reporter C recent call for stronger state wide coordination of higher education has provoked mixed reactions from University of Nebraska regents. Don Blank, chairman of the NU Board of Regents, said the role of the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education, as sug gested by a Chicago consulting firm, appears to go “well beyond” a true coordinating commission’s powers. But Rosemary Skrupa, an NU regent from Omaha, said her initial impres sion of the report was “basically fa vorable.” “I have no concerns about it at this time,” she said, calling the report balanced and fair. However, both cautioned that their knowledge of the report came mainly from newspaper accounts and not from a first-hand reading of the report. The final report, presented to a legislative study team Tuesday, sug gests that the coordinating commis sion should have the power to implc 1 ment a statewide plan, partly to re ducc internal competition among campuses. The report also recommends that the commission have the power to review budgets. “My understanding,” Blank said, “was that they would be concerned only in the area of role and mission.” When he met with state senators during the drafting of legislation which led to Amendment 4, Blank said, that was the intent. An interim report issued in No vember 1989 led to Amendment 4, which was approved by voters Nov. 6. It strengthened the existing Coor dinating Commission for Postsccon dary Education to give it the power of budget submission and program re view. The consulting firm Widmaycr and Associates was hired by the Nebraska Legislature to perform a study of higher education. The study was ordered by LB247, the bill which also will bring Keamcy State College into the NU system next July. Carl Trcndlcr, one of three W idmayer consultants who presented the report, said Tuesday that a strong commission would help bring Nc braska’s higher education system together. The current collection of colleges, he said, is “a non-system.” Blank countered that the propos als aren’t in the spirit of Amendment 4. Nebraska voters approved a coor dinating commission, he said, not a “superboard.” Skrupa said fears of an omnipotent board arc premature. “That remains to be seen,” she said. “That hasn 't been defined by the Legislature.” State senators have done a good job in the past of considering regents’ concerns, she said. Phil Gosch, University of Ncbraska Lincoln student regent, predicted legislative success for the report. “Widmayer takes a stronger view of coordination” than regents and legislators, he said. “With the climate of higher education in the state right now, my initial feeling is that there will be considerable support for this.” Proposals for the commission were foremost on the regents’ minds, but the report also contained recommended role and mission statements for each See WIDMAYER on 6