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Massengale eyes educational excellence
By Dionne Searcey
Staff Reporter
NU President Martin Massen
gale presented a vision Satur
day for the future of the Uni
versity of Nebraska, calling for it to
become a na
tional leader in
providing qual
ity education and
a top research
institution.
Massengale,
outlining the
goals at the NU
Board of Regents meeting, said the
university should become recognized
as an innovative leader in education.
New initiatives, such as rewards
for excellent teaching, are required to
meet this goal, he said.
Massengale said research and teach
ing must work together to strengthen
education. He called for the univer
sity to participate in more faculty
exchanges, to strengthen student in
volvement in research and to utilize
satellite technology and visitor pres
entations.
Improving the quality of educa
i-—
lion, he said, must include strength
ening the foundation of arts and sci
ences and implementing changes in
curriculum important to developing
critical thinking and judgment skills.
Achieving improvement may re
quire the university to tighten admis
sions requirements and create a more
convenient registration process,
Massengale said.
“I think there is room for a fresh
look at how we accommodate and
assist our students,” he said.
Massengale also said the univer
sity needs to become a leading re
search institution. NU is currently
ranked “in the 50s” nationally for
research.
“I’d like to sec us in the top 35,” he
said.
This goal, Massengale said, is based
on assessing the sciences critical to
Nebraska: biotechnology, materials
science, health sciences, water sci
ence and telecommunications man
agement.
Funding is needed to pursue this
goal, Massengale said, but cannot
accomplish it alone.
“We need to pursue, department
by department and individual by indi- I
vidual, a commitment to future ex- I
cellence through careful considera
tion of every tenured appointment,
every leadership selection, every
choice we make.”
He said universities are closely
related to economic strength in to
day’s society.
“In earlier times, industry located
near its base of supply — the river or
the port or the coal field — because it
needed to be near its resource base.
“Today, industry is locating near
its resource base, too,... but it isn’t
the port or the river anymore. We are
in a new age. Knowledge and infor
mation are the new resources, and the
university is where you find them.”
Massengale said that with the cur
rent economic situation these goals
may be difficult to attain.
“It may take a little longer to reach
our goals, it may take extra individual
effort, and I’m sure it will. But a lot is
at stake in the future well-being of the
university. .. . And that is certainly
well worth the time and energy re
quired to insure its success.”
"The University of Nebraska should become
recognized as an Innovative national leader In
quality education for undergraduate, graduates
and professionals."
Sub point 1: "We want to find new ways to reward excellent
teaching."
Sub point 2: "We can bring the strengths of world-class
research to many more students by means of faculty
exchanges, visiting presentations, satellite technology and
direct involvement of undergraduates in ongoing research."
Sub point 3: "... (to enhance the students' educational
experience, there are needs) from improved and more
convenient registration processes to interaction with faculty, and
living and working environments. In addition, it is time we take a
new look at admissions..."
" That the University of Nebraska become one
of the leading research Institutions in the
nation. We currently rank somewhere In the 50s ?
depending on which measures one chooses. I’d j
like to see us In the top 35. "
< - - ■ ■ " • " ’ ‘
Amie DeFrain/Daily Nebraskan
roreign students receive
threats after gulf remarks
i By T abltha Minor
Senior Reporter
Zafer Abrass usually got one or
two messages a day before
Thursday.
Since he participated in a forum
about the Persian Gulf war, however,
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
architecture graduate student from
Syria has heard the songs of M.C.
Hammer and Vanilla Ice on his an
swering machine and obscene threats
when he does answer the phone.
Abrass said he thought the calls
were being made by two white male
university students who read a Thurs
day article in which the Daily Ne
braskan quoted Abrass.
The article made it sound as though
the speakers were criticizing U.S.
foreign policy in the Persian Gulf
region, Abrass said.
After the article was printed, Abrass
said, a person started calling and
hanging up when Abrass’ wife an
swered the phone. Abrass said he
thought the caller hung up because
his wife is American and docs not
have an accent.
When the caller realized he had
the right number, Abrass said, lie started
leaving messages on Abrass’ answer
ing machine.
He said he didn’t understand why
he was getting the phone calls unti 1 he
answered the phone Saturday night.
During that conversation, the caller
asked Abrass how he could have dared
to write the newspaper article, Abrass
said. After he denied writing the ar
ticle, the caller asked him why he was
lying, Abrass said.
The conversation continued for 20
minutes until the caller threatened to
kill Abrass, he said.
Nadeem Yousef, a student from
Iraq who also was quoted in the ar
ticle, has received three messages on
his answering machine since the story
was printed.
The UNL doctoral candidate in
English said he thought the calls were
“immature” and “inhumane.”
“It’s a free country,” he said.
“Everybody has the right to express
his views.”
Abrass and Yousef said they were
not criticizing the United States at the
forum, but rather giving a historical
account of what had happened in the
Persian Gulf since World War I.
“We were just trying to have a
mutual understanding of the Arab
perspective,” Abrass said. “We’ re not
trying to hurt anybody’s feelings.”
Experts: Smart
weapons reduce
war casualties
By Dionne Searcey
Staff Reporter
High technology weapons have
had a dramatic effect in the
war with Iraq, allowing the
military to pinpoint its targets and to
save lives, UNL military experts said.
Lt. Col.
Robert M. Jacob
son, a military
science professor
at the University
of Ncbraska
Lincoln.said the
war in the Per
sian Gulf has
proved the American military can use
high technology to reduce the loss of
lives.
See WEAPONS on 6
The Husker
men’s basket
ball team
romps over
Oklahoma.
Page 7.
The NU regents approve an in
crease in UNL residence hall
rates. Page 3.
Columnist looks at the three little
pigs’ story from the wolf’s point
of view, page 4.
Comedian Sam Kinison's per
formance at the Lied Center is
rescheduled Page 12.
INDEX
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A&E 12
Classifieds 14
Oversized racquet?
Shawn Miller, a sophomore at Southeast Community College, plays tennis behind
Gather-Pound residence halls as temperatures reached into the lo*Mo-mid-50s Sunday,
afternoon. _
