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Bookin to finish
Boon Hong Um, an actuarial science major, restacks books Tuesday night in Love
Library.
Professor: U.S. ignorance hurts
By Becki Roberts
Staff Reporter
U.S. government officials, mili
tary experts and citizens are
generally ignorant about the
Middle East, two professors said
Tuesday in a discussion about the
Persian Gulf war.
Citizens’ lack of understanding will
affect the U.S. military decisions in
the war, said Rober, Oberst, a Ne
braska Wesleyan University profes
sor specializing in Middle Eastern
politics.
At a forum in the Nebraska Union,
Oberst said the conflict bears little
resemblance to the Vietnam War, but
there is one significant similarity: “The
United States finds itself with a very
large commitment of troops in a country
we are very ignorant of.”
Stereotypes Americans hold about
Arabs and Muslims are an example of
that ignorance, Oberst said.
For example, he said, many Ameri
cans see all Arabs as terrorists. A
University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dent recently was assaulted, he said,
apparently because of such anti-Iraq
sentiment, even though the student
was Iranian, not Iraqi.
Such misunderstandings, he said,
extend to the federal government.
Referring to President Bush’s pol
icy of “psychological warfare” against
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Oberst
said he wonders how Bush knows
what Arabs think, since he has net
hired Arab specialists to gain insight
on the Iraqi president.
Bush also refers to Saddam by his
first name, which Oberst said is proba
bly an intentional show of disrespect.
The Iraqi sense of honor is one
concept Bush seems to understand,
since he has shifted his position to
personal attacks on the Iraqi leader,
Oberst said.
See FORUM on 3
Join higher education
Midwest compact now,
Nebraska senator says
By Lisa Donovan
Senior Reporter
If Nebraska joins a handful of
Midwestern states, passing leg
islation to enter a higher educa
tion compact, the state would create
another form of financial aid, said
one of the legis
lation’s propo
nents.
Bruce Stahl,
executive direc
tor of the Ne
braska Coordi
natingCommis
sion for
Postsecondary Education, told the
Nebraska Legislature’s Education
Committee on Tuesday that the Mid
western compact provides financial
assistance to students by easing non
resident tuition rates.
Stahl said later that compact
member states would set up systems
to cut tuition fees. One way, he said,
would be for compact states to waive
non-resident tuition costs for students
who live in a member state.
LB209, which the committee ad
vanced to general file, calls for Ne
braska to join the 12-state Midwest
ern Higher Education Compact.
Education Committee Chairman Ron
Withem of Papillion summarized the
compact as an agreement among states
to cooperate on matters involving
higher education.
“The compact does basically any
thing the member states want it to
do,” Withem said.
To accomplish that, Withem said,
member states would work on, among
other things, minimizing program
duplication within the compact. In
turn, the compact would try to make
tuition costs comparable, he said.
Withem said that although the
compact would require a collective
effort, Nebraska’s higher education
institutions wouldn’t have to give up
their autonomy.
Withem said that if Nebraska en
ters the compact, its postsecondary
institutions will be cutting costs,
something that could benefit the en
tire state.
“As we all know, it’s (education)
one of the most expensive portions of
our state budgets. It costs a great deal
to create new programs, it costs a
great deal to continue programs.
To join the compact, the state would
pay an annual fee currently set at
$58,000 to covet administrative costs.
Sen. Gerald Conway of Wayne,
chairman of the Midwestern Legisla
tive Conference of the Council of
State Governments and one of the
bill’s co-sponsors, said he thought,
now, more than ever, is the time to
join the compact.
Conway said Nebraska should enter
now because Ohio entered into the
compact in early January, making it
the fifth state tp join — enough to
activate the. compact.
He said it is important that Ne
braska be involved in the develop
ment of the compact so the state can
interject its needs and wants during
the early stages.
Phillip Sirotkin, a consultant from
the Western Interstate Commission
for Higher Education in Colorado,
concurred with Conway, saying
Nebraska should be as involved as
possible in the early stages.
“In terms of reflecting the interest
and the needs of the states which it
serves ... I think it’s very important
to be involved in the takeoff so that
the shape of the early programs, at
least, can be determined by as many
states as possible.”
Director search narrows to four
By Pat Dinslage
Staff Reporter
The search for a new UNL di
rector of university relations
has been narrowed to four
candidates, said Herb Howe, associ
ate to the chancellor.
Howe declined to release the names
of the candidates, saying the search
process normally is confidential. Only
the name of the person selected for
the position will be released, he said.
Last year’s University of Nebraska
presidential search, in which the names
of the candidates were released prior
to the interviews, was an exception,
Howe said.
Interviews with two of the four
candidates have been scheduled for
later this week, Howe said. The other
two candidates have yet to schedule
interviews.
Howe said the candidates will come
-44 --
I think this time he
(Copple) really wants
to retire_I hope
somebody comes on
quick. Howe
associate to the chancellor
to
coin for talks with Interim Chancellor
Jack Goebel, the search committee,
the UNL vice chancellors, the Aca
demic Senate president and the direc
tor of public relations.
The list had been narrowed from
approximately 100 applicants to about
20. Howe said the search committee
then selected eight candidates and
forwarded their names to Goebel, who
chose four finalisfi.
Although Howe would not name
the candidates, he said the final four
includes women, but no ethnic mi
norities.
“The minority response was not
strong," Howe said. “In fact, I don’t
remember any minorities in the origi
nal (candidate) pool."
He said some of the candidates are
from Nebraska, but none work for
NU. All of the candidates have expe
rience working with legislators and
constituent groups, Howe said, and
some previously nave been employed
in higher education institutions.
Howe said he thinks the new direc
tor could begin working March 1 if
the selection process goes well.
Neale Copple, former UNL jour
nalism college dean, is serving as
interim director.
“I think this time he (Copple) re
ally wants to retire,” Howe said. “It’s
been a matter of what’s critical —
getting those appointments set up. I
hope somebody comes on quick.”
Controversy interrupts
fine arts college plans
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Staff Reporter
UNL intends togoahead with
plans for a College of Fine
and Performing Arts despite
recent controversy over its crea
tion, university officials said Tues
day.
The Nebraska Legislature with
drew a “housekeeping” bill Friday
after Sen. Ron Withem of Papil
lion expressed anger over a section
of the bill that would have organ
ized existing arts programs at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln into
a College of Fine and Performing
Arts. Tne programs currently are
in the College of Arts and Sci
ences.
Withem said he felt the fine arts „
college proposal, which appeared
on page 23, was too vital to be
included in the 30-page bill.
Regents Chairman Don Blank
of McCook said he thought the
controversy resulted from a break
down in communication and thought
the fine arts college definitely had
a future at UNL.
“This was mainly a misunder
standing,’* Blank said. “There was
a perception we were putting to
gether a whole new college, in
stead of simply reorganizing exist
ing ones.”
See FINE ARTS on 6
__— President Bush
^... < says the Allies will win
f the war and the U S.
r recession will end.
r,v V Page 2.
' Letters protest
. conscientious objec
L___I tor. Page 5.
INSIDE 0
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports I
A&E ®
Classifieds 11
Gulf war worsens; POWs killed, wounded
DHAHR AN, Saudi Arabia - One of Iraq’s
“human shields” — captured allied pi
lots — was killed in a Baghdad air raid,
the Iraqis said Tuesday. Other Operation Des
ert Storm fliers struck anew across Iraq, and
reported stopping an Iraqi
armored convoy dead in
its desert tracks.
On land and sea, the
tempo of the Persian Gulf
war quickened.
Both sides reported
clashes and claimed small
victoriesalong the remote
northern frontier. On the Kuwaiti coast, allied
helicopters attacked and chased a flotilla of
Iraqi machine-gun boats.
Refugees fleeing to Jordan told of non-stop
bombardment, “fire everywhere” and civilian
casualties in Iraq. “It is really hell,” one woman
said.
The U.S. command still seemed puzzled by
the getaway flights of Iraqi warplanes to Iran.
Bulan American general warned the Iraqis that
if they tried to return to their home bases,
“we’ll get them.”
The Iraqis, who claim to hold more than 20
downed pilots, said Jan. 21 they were dispers
ing the prisoners to potential target sites in an
effort to ward off allied air attacks.
On Monday, Iraqi broadcasts said an un
specified number of POWs had been wounded
in air raids. On T uesday, the offic ial Iraqi News
Agency said one was dead.
“One of the raids hit one of the departments
of the Ministry of Industry, killing one of the
captured foreign pilots, who had been evacu
ated to that department,” the agency report
said.
Iran’s news agency quoted Baghdad Radio
as saying the victim was an American. But no
Iraqi broadcasts monitored by The Associated
Press mentioned the nationalities or identities
See GULF on 3
