NetSraskan
Main points in Spanier's speech
■ Wants to guide UNL toward greater
cultural diversity and make affirmitive
action a priority
■ Has plans to establish a "board of
visitors for multicultural affairs* to
assess and advise UNL on its
multicultural progress
■ Plans on being more in touch with
students' needs by attending student
government meetings and meeting
with student leaders
■ Plans on creating new positions
within die administration and delegate
more to the vice chancellors, who
should be given more budgetary
responsibilities
■ Said he is "strongly committed* to
installing modern student systems to
improve student services
Brian Shellito/DN
New chancellor outlines priorities
By Kara Morrison
Staff Reporter
Graham Spanier said near-bliz
zard conditions Friday may
have indicated how tough his
new job as University of Nebraska
Lincoln chancellor could be.
But bad weather didn’t stop him
from forecasting his plans for a better
UNL.
On his first day in office, Spanier
told a public audience of about 200
people at the Lied Center for Per
forming Arts that he intends to imple
ment administrative reforms, to make
affirmative action a priority and to be
responsive to student needs and serv
ices.
“Under my watch, this university
will work toward greater cultural di
versity, sensitivity and understand
ing,” said Spanier, who was previ
ously provost at Oregon State Uni
versity.
Affirmative action includes action
oriented programs that lead to hiring
individuals in under-represented
groups — specifically minorities and
women, Spanier said.
--L_ I
Affirmative action progress “must
permeate all of our planning and
programming,” because it leads to an
environment of cultural and ethnic
diversity that is beneficial to UNL,
Spanier said.
“Our approach should be to have a
■ system in place that provides an over
all context for equal opportunity,” he
said, “and then within that context
provides for an aggressive affirma
tive action program.”
Spanier said he is planning an
administrative fellow internship pro
gram for “interested individuals from
groups historically underrepresented
in the university leadership.”
The program will allow these indi
viduals to “sample administration
without making an irreversible career
shift,” Spanier said.
He also said he has plans to estab
lish a “board of visitors for multicul
tural affairs.”
This board of “one dozen of the
state’s most eminent citizens” will
assess and advise the university on its
multicultural progress, he said.
Spanier said UNL, so far, has made
only “modest progress” in the ad
vancement of minorities and women.
“I am especially surprised by the
relatively small proportion of women
on the faculty at UNL,” he said. “I
-a
I did not want to be
here even one day
without saying that I
have been disturbed by
the divisive, adversar
ial nature of the budget
discussions of the last
few weeks.
Spanier
UNL chancellor
-ft -
will wish to learn more about the
climate for women on campus and to
review policies relating to day care,
family leave and employee benefits.”
But for any program implementa
tion to happen, Spanier said, changes
in the administrative structure of the
university need to be made.
The need for these changes was
evident in the recent budget-cut dis
cussions, he said.
“I did not want to be here even one
day without saying that I have been
disturbed by the divisive, adversarial
nature of the budget discussions of
the last few weeks,” he said. “This is
no way to govern a university.
“We must never let financial set
backs deter us from taking the long
term view.”
Spanier said he would be address
ing the university community spe
cifically about the budget issue in a
few weeks.
The budget cuts are in response to
a legislative mandate to cut 3 percent
of the university’s budget in the next
two years.
Specific changes in the admini
stration planned by Spanier include
the creation of a senior vice chancel
lor for academic affairs to be the chief
academic officer and to fill in for the
chancellor in his absence, and reti
See SPANIER on 2
--
Peace medal
to be returned
to Pawnees
By Jean Lass
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska Slate Historical Society
agreed Friday to return a peace medal
lion to the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma,
an attorney for the tribe said.
Robert Peregoy, attorney for the Native
American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colo., said
the historical controversy started when archae
ologist A.T. Hill found the Ki^ George III
peace medallion while digging up Indian graves
during the 1920s.
Peregoy said the medallion was given to a
Pawnee chief by the British government in the
18th century to win the Pawnees’ allegiance
during conflicts with the French and the Ameri
can colonies.
When the chief died, the Pawnees buried the
medallion with him as a spiritual rite, Peregoy
said.
Hill claimed ownership of the medallion
and loaned it to the society, Peregoy said.
When Hill died, he passed ownership to his
only surviving daughter, Alethea Hill Peterson
of California.
Peterson has relinquished ownership and
told the society to return the medal to its
rightful owners so ilcould be reburied, Peregoy
said.
“The Hill family claimed ownership of the
medallion, but common law says no one can
own a burial good,” Peregoy said. “It belongs
to the Pawnee tribe — the collective descen
dants of the deceased Pawnees.”
Gail DeBusc-Potter, the director of collec
tions at the historical society, said the medal
lion’s estimated worth is between $2,000 and
See MUSEUM on 2
Sheldon gets donation for new theater.
Page 2
Nebraska v. Colorado: Close but no
cigar. Page 6
Women’s cross country team and Fran
ten Bensel take Big 8 titles. Page 8
“Curly Sue" child actress captures au
diences^ hearts. Page 9
INDEX 9
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports ®
A&E 1?
Classifieds _ JJJ
- - -—Miehelle'^fea^PN
Bill Shepard, a maintenance worker for the Athletic Department, plows snow off the Memorial Stadium field on
Saturday.
Weather ices campus, travel plans
By Adeana Leftin
Senior Reporter
vicious cycle of snow, snow plow
ing and snow entrapment caused
several problems on campus over
the weekend, the director of UNL land
scape services said.
Wilbur Dasenbrock said wind on Fri
day trapped several parked cars in high
drifts of snow on campus, which pre
vented effective snow removal.*
Ice also prevented removal because
the snow stuck to the ice, Dasenbrock
said. Crews worked from 2 a.m. until
noon on Friday and from 10 a.m. until
late afternoon on Sunday to clear parking
lots, sidewalks and streets, he said. What
the crews couldn’t remove was sanded.
John Marker, operational manager of
the custodial division, agreed.
He said steps and entrances on the
north sides of buildings were covered
with two to three inches of ice. As many
as 600 man-hours have been spent since
Thursday to make buildings accessible,
Marker said.
“I think the campus should be quite
passable in the morning if people exer
cise caution,” he said.
While the snow kept many at work, it
kept others from play.
Many Comhusker fans were prevented
from making the trek to Boulder, Colo.,
for the Nebraska-Colorado football game
because of snow - and ice-covered roads.
Amy Kamphaus, a sophomore gen
eral studies major whose road trip was
cancelled at the last minute, said she
tried to make the best of the situation.
Kamphaus opened her room to her resi
dence hall floormatcs for viewing the
game on television.
‘‘We screamed and yelled as if we
were at the game,” she said. “I enjoyed
watching in the comfort of my own room
... away from the cold and blowing wind
and not in the company of obnoxious
Colorado fans.”
Her plans to attend the game were
cancelled because of the closing of Inter
state 80. Kamphaus said she couldn’t get
to Grand Island to meet her ride.
“I’ve never listened to the Weather
Channel so much as I did in the last
couple of days,” she said.
Devon Liston, a senior agronomy
major, spent most of Friday morning
listening to weather reports before set
ting out for Colorado with a friend that
afternoon.
At the Crete exit of Interstate 80,
Liston said, he was directed by a state
patrolman onto Highway 34. Farther down
the road when he tried to pass a semi
trailer, Liston’s car became high-cen
tered on a snowdrift.
A friend following him drove Liston
to a nearby farmhouse before taking a
wrong tum and ending up in a ditch.
After helping the farmer dig out his trac
tor, they rode with him to pull the car out
of the ditch. But when they tried to re
move Liston’s car, the tractor pulled off
the bumper and the farmer abandoned
them.
A passing snowplow finally pulled
the car out but slid into a ditch.
They turned around and made their
way back to Henderson to visit some
friends.
Liston said he is a little envious of
those who made it through to Boulder,
“but I wouldn’t want to be where they
are, trying to get back.”
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