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Cult activity
suspected
in Lincoln
By Wendy Navratil
| Staff Reporter
j
With the distinction between
cults and legitimate religious
groups becoming more
murky, UNL administrators, parents
and students are growing fearful about
the recent establishment of a funda
mentalist group on campus.
The group has been identified by
various names, including the Lincoln
First Church of Christ or simply the
I Lincoln Church of Christ.
Though little admittedly is known
about the group, whose presence on
campus was first discovered about 3
; 1/2 weeks ago according to campus
police, it appears that it may be asso
ciated with the Boston Church of Christ,
an organization that has been identi
fied as a cult by the Chicago Cult
Awareness Network.
This group is not to be confused
with the traditional Church of Christ
or the United Church of Christ, both
of which have membership in Lin
coln.
In recent years, the Boston Church
of Christ has sent missionary teams to
various universities throughout the
country, including Harvard, Cornell,
Marquette and Washington Univer
1 sity in St. Louis.
I The Boston Church of Christ has
been investigated by various cull
awareness groups nationwide, and its
See CULT on 6
————jS ■ ft ■ hB^S «| j ^ gg
Catching some rays 9**u*mimiv*******
Nate Peachey, a graduate student in physical chemistry, aligns optics for a laser experiment (Monday afternoon in
Hamilton Hall.
I_________
Worst-case scenario
Official: Nelson’s budget could devastate IANR
By Lisa Donovan
Senior Reporter
Gov. Ben Nelson’s proposed
budget increases for the Uni
versity of Nebraska were so
shockingly low that one UNL official
said he is planning for the “worst
case scenario.”
“We’re taking recommendations
very seriously, and we’re looking at
how we would cope with that . . .
proposal as he (Nelson) has laid it out
at this time,” said Irv Omtvedt, vice
chancellor for the Institute of Agri
culture and Natural Resources.
Nelson proposed giving NU a 7
percent increase for the 1991-93 bi
ennium, 19 percent short of the 26
percent increase NU had requested.
NU falls under the proposed 2
percent across-the-board cuts proposed
for all state agencies and the pro
posed faculty salary increase for
postsecondary education institutions
of 3.75 percent this year and 4.5 per
cent for 1992-93.
If the Nebraska Legislature passes
the executive budget, Omtvcdt said,
itcould be “devastating” to the IANR.
The institute implemented its stra
tegic plan three years ago to improve
curriculum, instruction and research,
and Omtvedt said he was concerned
that the IANR might lose its momen
tum.
“We’ve been pleased with the
quality of the faculty we’ve hired in
the last three years,” he said. “In most
cases we’ve been able to hire our top
- 44-——
We’ve been pleased
with the quality of the
faculty we’ve hired in
the last three years_
We don’t want to lose
our momentum.
Omtvedt
vice chancellor for IANR
--
choices, and we don ’ t want to lose our
momentum.”
' The proposed budget “downsizes”
what the institute has been given to
finance itself from year to year.
Omtvedl said he was worried the
institute would not be able U) build on
“target areas” such as programs, leach
ing and research.
Omlvcdt said the institute is look
ing very realistically at the executive
budget proposal and is not hopeful
that the university will receive its
funding requests.
“We’re not real optimistic, (espe
cially) the way the state economy
looks as far as what the governor is
saying,” he said.
However, Sian Liberty, interim vice
chancellor for academic affairs, said
the governor’s proposals were unex
pected and that he didn’t think the
state’s economic situation warranted
such a small increase.
“I was surprised. I jusi think it’s an
ultraconservalivc position — with
regard to the budget pt >posal,” he
said.
Liberty said it’s too early to tell if
the economy is going to be as bad as
predicted, but adjustments may be
made in the second half of the bien
nium if the stale’s economic slump is
milder than forecasted.
“If the economy isn’t as bad as had
been predicted, some corrections will
have to be made,” he said.
As the lime draws near for the
Appropriations Committee to con
sider the university budget, which is
scheduled for Match 4, both Liberty
and Omtvcdl said they will be meet
ing with their co-workers to make
some contingency plans.
Experts: Gulf economy,
history warned of war
By Adeana Leftin
Staff Reporter___
War in the Persian Gulf should
have been anticipated because
of the economy and history
of the area, Middle East experts at the
University of
Nebraska-Lin
coln said.
Lloyd Am
broses, acting
chair and profes
sor in the Dcpart
mentofHistory,
said the war took
many people off guard but should not
have come as a total surprise.
Dane Kennedy, an associate pro
fessor of history, said Iraq long has
had a claim to Kuwait.
The whole area of the Middle East
was under the rule of the Ottoman
Empire until the end of World War I,
he said.
The Ottomans had joined Germany
in the war and with its defeat, the
territory was divided primarily be
tween the French and British.
Iraq came under the jurisdiction of
Britain, Kennedy said.
Ambrosius said that in 1921, Brit
ain drew a line separalfhg Iraq from
Kuwait to make Iraqi access to the
Persian Gulf more difficult.
Kennedy called this division “a
product of European boardroom de
cisions.”
He said Iraq remained under Brit
ish rule until the early 1930s. At that
lime, King Faisal was installed by the
British, who continued to exert a major
See WARNINGS on 6
.--=q U.S
Navy ships
- are dam
aged by
floating
mines. Page
2.
Love
Library receives a bomb threat.
Page 3.
Husker men's basketball team
survives scare. Page 7.
Environmentally conscious art
is displayed at UNL. Page 9.
INSIDE
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A&E 9
Classified 10
Comic’s humor protested
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Staff Reporter__
Chanting “Racist, sexist, anti
gay; Sam Kinison go away,”
protesters representing Queer
Nation Nebraska demonstrated in front
of the Lied Center for Performing
Arts Monday prior to the comedian’s
performance.
The protesters carried signs with
phrases such as “Kinison — AIDS
miseducator” and “Sam = death.”
Cheri Loofe, spokesperson for
Queer Nation, described the group's
goal as quelling people’s fears about
homosexuals. She said the group has
about 200 members, at least 20 of
whom are University of Nebraska
Lincoln students.
Loofe said Queer Nation objected
to the AIDS misinformation they said
was in Kinison’s act and his “gay and
lesbian bashing.”
“We’re protesting Kinison’s hu
mar, not him personally,” she said.
“We have enough bigots in Nebraska
already, we don’t need to bring any
more in.”
Protester Danny Smith, a Lincoln
resident, said he didn’t hate Kinison.
“I just wish people would think
about the nature of his humor and
why they think it is funny.”
Smith, who wore a dress to the r
protest, said he thought Kinison’s
humor was hostile to women as well
as minorities.
“His act makes women out to
somehow be the cause of men’s prob
lems.
“ He screams a lot about the. women
who have hurt him — I wonder if this
is some kind of catharsis for him,”
Smith said.
Elizabeth Kimberly, a UNL jun
ior, said Queer Nation had brought
visibility to the homosexual move
See PROTEST on 3