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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1991)
—. m t i uaiiy -g 53/38 I I 4j| B^ "1* O ^ “1^ »ntuoaK» ^Bl ■ B B B^, i^^B B B 20 percent chance b B Space capsule trade decision postponed By Adeana Leftin Senior Reporter and Dionne Searcey Senior Editor The University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted Fri day to table a decision to exchange the Apollo 009 capsule until its December meeting. The university * had announced Wednesday that u>c craft, which Regents was used in a sub- ^ orbital test flight Feb. 26, 1966, would be traded to the Kansas Cos mosphcrc and Space Center in Hutch inson, Kan., in exchange for space artifacts valued at $1.5 million. Max Ary, director of the cos mosphcrc, said he is confused by the regents’ decision because he has a signed copy of a trade agreement. “I’d think a signed contract would determine that a trade would be made,” he said. But J.B. Milliken, University of Nebraska corporation secretary, said the contract is not valid until it re ceives the regents’ approval. Univer-' sily policy states that the regents must approve all contracts exceeding $100,000 in property, he said. Milliken said he did not know if Ary could take legal action if the regents decided against the trade. Bill Splinter, interim vice chan cellor for research and dean of gradu ate studies, said the university wants to keep the capsule but can not afford the $200,000 to $400,000 cost to renovate it or to build proper storage for it. Since NASA donated the craft to UNL in 1972, the craft slowly has deteriorated from exposure to the elements, Splinter said. -yy “It was as if we left one of our elephant skeletons on the mall,” he said. Ary said that if university officials continue delaying plans to restore the Apollo 009, the space capsule could become damaged beyond repair. Another Nebraska winter could destroy the space capsule, Ary said. “Whoever ends up with the re sponsibility to restore the craft must do it within weeks,” he said. Millikcn said campus officials are concerned about the condition of the craft and won’t attempt to keep the capsule unless it can be repaired. At the board meeting, Regent Margaret Robinson of Norfolk said the artifacts offered by the cosmospherc could not take the place of the cap sule. “This is a piece of history that we should keep on our campus,” she said. Robinson said the university should attempt to raise money to restore and properly house the Apollo before giving it up. Ary said the cosmospherc is the only facility that has ever success fully restored a spacecraft similar to the Apollo 009. Because of the university’s delay in making the trade, he said, the cos mosphere has already lost two grants that would finance the restoration. — 44 Whoever ends up with the responsibility to restore the craft must do it within weeks. Ary director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center Speaker says racist beliefs on rise Denial of racism sustains racism, professor says By Wendy Mott Staff Reporter he resurgence of the belief in white supremacy is not the delusion of a — crazy black woman but a reality, an author said Saturday in the Nebraska Union. Bell hooks, a professor of English and women’s studies at Obcrlin College in Obcrlin, Ohio, and the author of several feminist books, addressed an audience of about 250 people in her speech “Gender, Race, and Representation” sponsored by the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln’s Women’s Studies department. Claims by both white and black people that racism and racist assaults no longer exist only serve to perpetuate a racist soci ety, hooks said. Hooks said she studies the representa tion of whiteness in the black imagination. Although no official body of black academics or anthropologists has been formed to study the black idea of white ness, she said, black people have shared See HOOKS on 3 Regents delay plans to buy new computer for records By Wendy Navratil Senior Reporter_* fTTlhe University of Ncbraska-Lincoln must ■ shelve until next month plans to sc’ck bids for a new student information computer system. The NU Board of Regents, after sitting through an 8-hour meeting, decided Friday to postpone discussion on the UNL proposal for a new # j student information system until December. ffipriPfltft But progress was made r»vyvl 119 toward revamping the uni- ; V versity’s computer system with approval for the pur chase of a new mainframe computer for the entire university system. The S2.5 million mainframe system will replace the current mainframe used by all University of Nebraska campuses. “The (current) mainframe is running at about 95 to 100 percent capacity,” said James Van Horn, associate vice president for administra tion. “Red-line on a computer is 90 percent.” Van Horn said the integration of the Univer sity of Nebraska at Kcamcy into the NU systcrti pul a strain on the mainframe, which contains the university-wide accounting system; the human resource system, including payroll and See COMPUTER on 3 Robin Tnmarchi/DN Bell hooks, a professor at Oberlin College, talks about her study of whiteness in the black imagination at the Nebraska Union Saturday night.. Senator says loan plan needs support By Jeremy Fitzpatrick Senior Reporter University and student support is needed for a proposed di rect federal loan program that could allow “lens of thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of more people to go to college,” said Sen. Paul Simon, D-III. Simon said in a phone interview last week that his proposed Income Dependant Education Assistance program, which has stalled in the Senate, needs collegiate support. “If we can get the higher education community and students behind it, there is a good chance (of passage),” he said. The IDEA program, which Simon engineered with Sen. David Durcn berger, R-Minn., would change the student loan system to eliminate banks Funding, centralization of program might be problems, UNL official says as ihc link between the government and students. In the IDEA system, students would be granted loans di rectly from the government instead of from banks, and would make their payments to the Internal Revenue Service following graduation. Any student would be eligible for an IDEA loan, regardless of income. Beginning in the 1994-95 academic year, students could receive up to $6,500 a year for their first two years of school, and $8,(X)0 a year for their last two years. Graduate students could receive up to $ 11,000 a year. John Beacon, director of admis sions and director of scholarships and financial aid at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, said he philosophi cally supports direct loan programs but has reservations about Simon’s proposal. “If il’s going lo pul more money in the hands of students, I would be in favor of it,” he said. But Beacon said he is concerned about several administrative aspects of implementing a direct loan pro gram. Losing the ability to deal with the loans locally is one problem, he said, because it would be more difficult for students to work with the federal government than with lending insti tutions. “It’s just not as localized,” he said. Funding is another issue, Beacon said, because about 9,300 lending institutions nationwide provide money for student loans. If the government steps in and takes on that responsibility, he said, “where will (it) gel the money?” The IDEA plan, if passed, would be pari of ihc rcaulhorization of the Higher Education Acl. The Senate Labor and Human Resources Com mittee has approved the Higher Edu cation Act but not the IDEA plan. Simon said he now plans to intro duce the bill as an amendment to the Higher Education Acl when it comes up before the full Senate. That proba bly will happen in early January, he said. The primary opposition to the bill has come from the banks that would be eliminated from the student loan system, Simon said. Opposition has also come from Secretary of Educa tion Lamar Alexander. “Interestingly, (Bush administra tion officials) originally talked about it,” Simon said, “and obviously they got scared off by the banks.” The president’s support is still possible, though, Simon said. “If we pass a good strong bill, 1 don’t think the president will want to veto it a year before an election.” China mission produces progress. Page 2 NU speeds to victory. Page 3 Buzzcocks resurge with life. 2 4 I - - r
