B NCAA rules advances
By Adearta Leftin
Staff Reporter
Legislative committee members supported
a bill Thursday to break
NCAA rules after the bill’s
sponsor told them it pe
nalizes students for par
ticipation in athletics.
The Judiciary Commit
tee of the Nebraska Leg
islature advanced Sen.
Ernie Chambers’ bill
challenging NCAA rules pertaining to finan
cial aid for student athletes.
The bill now faces first-round consideration
in the Legislature. It must advance three more
limes to pass.
The bill states that students’ eligibility to
receive federal and state financial aid is based
on demonstrated financial need. No student
should be deprived of the aid on the basis of his
or her participation in an intercollegiate ath
letic program or sport, according to the bill.
“(Student athletes) must not be discrimi
nated against because they choose to partici
pate in sports,” Chambers of Omaha said at a
public hearing Thursday in front of the Legis
lature’s Judiciary Committee.
According to Chambers, current NCAA rules
state that student athletes who walk on and
participate in varsity athletics after the univer
sity has run out of its allotted athletic scholar
ships cannot receive an academic scholarship
or any other financial aid.
Because the NCAA won’t amend these rules,
Chambers said, “it is necessary for the Legisla
ture to step in and fill this breech.”
James O’Hanlon, the University of Ncbraska
Lincoln’s representative to the NCAA, said he
was fearful of NCAA sanctions against Ne
braska schools.
“At least give (the NCAA) a chance,” he
Many NU personnel
serving in gulf war
An estimated 140 University of Nebraska
students, faculty and staff members have
taken military leave or interrupted their
studies to participate in Operation Desert
Storm.
Six staff members and 76 students.
A faculty member, four staff members
and 31 students.
Five faculty members, eight staff
members and 10 students.
Source: University of Nebraska Office of
Public Affairs
Amle DeFraln/Daily Nebraskan
said. “If (the bill) becomes effective by the
beginning of next year, I can assure you a
crisis.”
James Cavanaugh, the registered lobbyist
for Creighton University, agreed, saying the
NCAA should be given a chance to change its
own rules.
Chambers said he thinks the NCAA has
been given enough time to amend its rules, and
if it doesn’t change them soon “it is necessary
for the Legislature to step in.”
Chambers said he received confirmation
from the attorney general that “the Legislature
has power to conflict whatever law it chooses.”
UNL won’t adopt rule
requiring loan tests,
financial official says
By Bill Stratbucker
Staff Reporter
A new interpretation of legislation passed
by Congress in November requires all students
who lack a high school degree or its equivalent
to take a government-approved test to receive
financial aid.
But standardized testing of college loan
applicants is unlikely at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said John Beacon, director
of scholarships and financial aid.
The section of the Omnibus Reconciliation
Act of 1990 requires students to prove their
ability to benefit from the financial aid pro
vided. The requirement was meant to decrease
the national loan-default rate. It went into
effect Jan. 1.
But Beacon said the requirement won’t af
fect UNL students.
“We simply don’t allow anyone to enroll
who doesn’t have a high school degree or its
equivalent,” he said.
Beacon said trade schools that do not have
high school graduation standards will be hard
est hit by the new rule. ~
He said the default rate, nationally about 30
percent of all loans issued, is a widespread
problem.
But the default rate at UNL is less than 3
percent, he said.
Official: Number of reservists
should make draft unnecessary
By Kathy Wiemers
Staff Reporter
Although male college students are eligible
for a military draft, it probably won’t be insti
tuted, according to a Selective Service official.
Roma Amundson, assistant state director of
the Selective Service, said President Bush and
the national director of the Selective Service
have stated publicly that the draft is not neces
sary. Instead, she said, there are about 1 million
reservists who could be called to serve in the
Persian Gulf war.
If the draft was instituted, the university
would work with those students as it has with
reservists who have been called up, said Linda
Schwartzkopf, administrative assistant to the
vice chancellor for student affairs. Reservists
have been allowed to withdraw from classes
without penalties.
After calling up men ages 20 to 25,19-year
olds would be selected, Amundson said, and
men age 18 1/2 would be called last.
Deferments arc allowed, but only for spe
cial circumstances, she said. Drafted students
could get a temporary deferment to finish the
semester or to graduate. Seniors could get
deferments until they graduated.
Students with an extreme hardship, Amund
son said, such as a student taking care of an ill
parent, would be allowed to defer service for up
to one year. Deferments based on hardship are
looked at individually, she said.
Students who are conscientious objectors
may be exempted from the draft, she said.
Conscientious objectors might be willing to
serve in the military, but not in combatant
roles. They would be assigned to non-combat
ant positions.
Those who refuse to serve in the military
would be given other assignments, such as
work in state nursing homes or state hospitals,
she said.
If the draft wcr^alled, the university would
work with those students like it has with reserv
ists who have been called up, said Linda Sch
“wartzkopf, administrative assistant to the vice
chancellor for student affairs.
Schwartzkopf said reservists have been al
lowed to withdraw from classes without penal
ties.
She said the timing of a draft would affect
what the university could do. If students were
called up in April, Schwartzkopf said, faculty
members could work with them by giving
incompietes or grades based on the finished
class work.
Schwartzkopf said the university also must
consider students receiving federal grants, so
they would not have to return the grant money.
College-prep program gets students Upward Bound
By Jean Lass
Staff Reporter
A program started last year to
encourage high school students from
low-income families to further their
educations has been successful, the
director of multi-cultural affairs said.
Jimmi Smith said none of the high
school students who started the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln's Upward
Bound program last year have dropped
out.
“That becomes important when you
arc talking about the success of the
program,” Smith said. “Success is
really their (the students) moving
toward (high school) graduation.”
To help students graduate, Up
ward Bound, which currently serves
50 ninth, 10th and 11th graders, pro
vides support services and college
preparation programs to encourage
participants to think about career goals.
“What we do is assist beyond the
classroom,” Smith said. “The public
school has done its job.”
Smith said Ihc program was needed
because there were no other system
atic efforts to help low-income, under
represented, disadvantaged youth in
Lincoln prepare for poslsecondary
education.
The program represents four groups
of students: Hispanic, Vietnamese,
American Indian and black. Blacks
make up 40 percent of Upward Bound
students, the largest group represented
in the program.
The only requirements for partici
palion are that the students come from
low-income families or have parents
who did not graduate from four-year
colleges.
Smith said Upward Bound teaches
enrichment skills, assertiveness, human
relations, time management and
remedial instruction so students can
gain the skills necessary to succeed in
higher education.
These skills arc taught primarily
during the summer. For six weeks,
Upward Bound participants live in
UNLresidcnce halls five daysa week.
“They learn what it’s like to be an
adult,” Smith said. “They can ask
themselves, ‘What stressors do I feel?
Can I learn to live in a group? Can I
cooperate?’ And they can find out
what it’s like to be a college student.
“Because of economic reasons,
most low-income youth are often
denied these experiences,” he said.
Smith said the program helps stu
dents gain admission to poslsccon
dary institutions and assists them in
obtaining financial aid, which is of
ten a roadblock.
Now, “financial aid is not thecrip
pler as it has tended to be in the past,”
he said.
Not all Upward Bound participants
attend UNL, Smith said. Instead, they
arc encouraged to go xvhere their skills
lake them, he said.
Smith said the design of the pro
gram also contributes to its success.
“The staff really cares, and they
communicate that,” he said.
The Upward Bound staff is made
up of three UNL students during the
academic year. They meet with par
ticipants to help them keep up with
their studies.
The staff’s interaction with stu
dents is what makes the program work,
Smith said.
“When they (the participants) share
with the staff and work through a
project, they have a level of motiva
tion and they gain greater insight.”
The success of the Upward Bound
program also stems from the mem
bers of the U.S. Congress who “put
their mouths and money into the proj
ect,” Smith said.
The program receives SI40,000
dollars from the federal government,
with S128,(XX) going to the Upward
Bound program and the rest to UN!...
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\ Nebraskan
Basement of the Nebraska Union
Higher UPC costs reason for increase
By Heather Heinisch
Staff Reporter
Several University Program Coun
cil committee chairpersons Thursday
justified their request for an overall
12 percent
budget increase
by saying they
needed the
money for pro
gram improve
ment.
UPC com
mittee officials
told the Committee for Fees Alloca
lion lhat their main reason for asking
for more student fee dollars is the
need to attract more nationally known
speakers or performing acts.
UPC adviser Tim Moore said
speaker fees and concert bookings
are costing more every year and UPC
must pay more money for programs
that will draw the biggest crowds.
The UPC Major Concerts Com
mittee is requesting a $3,300 increase
in its budget to bring better bands to
Lincoln, committee chairwoman Kale
Gustafson said.
“They’ll come if we have the money
to pay them,” she said.
CFA member Doug Oxley said he
was concerned with the Talks and
Topics Committee request because
the cost per student attending is around
$ 13 in student fees compared to most
of the committee programs, which
run an average of S5 per student in
student fees.
“I understand this is an important
program,” he said, “but to me it is a
flag going up. Something’s not going
right.”
CFA member Elizabeth Hansen
said CFA needs to consider that Talks
and Topics programs arc free to stu
dents .
Research
Continued from Page 1
ihcir budgets.
in his inaugural address, Nelson
said higher education in particular
must use funds more efficiently.
Nelson plans to announce his budget
proposal Feb. 1.
Orr’s Nebraska Research Initia
tive is a five-year plan, now in its
third year, to infuse $4 million each
year into NU research.
Henry Baumgartcn, interim asso
ciate vice chancellor for research at
UNL, said that under Orr’s program
the university made significant prog
ress.
“Wc need coniinucd support from
the state to continue the progress,” he
said.
Nelson said that although NU might
not receive all the funding it hoped
for, the amount of money received
from grants and contracts continues
to rise.
If the $4 million increases are not
in the governor’s budget proposal, he
said, current research at the univer
sity will not suffer.
“I’m confident the research pro
grams will continue to be strong,” he
said.
New programs might be financed,
Nelson said, but “not at the same
level as we want them to be.”
POLICE REPORT
Beginning midnight Wednes
day, Jan. 23
4:21 p.m. — Outside police
assistance, bag and contents
stolen from auto, 15th and S
streets, $180.
9:27 p.m. — Two-car, non-in
jury accident, Harpcr/Schramm/
Smith complex parking lot $575.
10:39 p.m. — Purse stolen,
Hcn/.lik Hall, $15.
11:25 p.m. — Check and mis
cellaneous items stolen, Ne
braska Union, $40.
