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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1992)
43/20 Today, mostly sunny and cooler, east winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight, increasing clouds. Tuesday, partly sunny with a high in the upper 40s.___ NU committee to tackle minority problems Member says commitment is to real progress By Sean Green Senior Reporter __ Minority concerns at the Uni versity of Nebraska will not be solved overnight, but the administration is committed to deal ing with the issue, a member of the NU Board of Regents said. Regent Charles Wilson of Lincoln, a member of a 15 - ■4,,w,ftl member commit tee established by the regents to address minority 1®$H| issues at the uni- E' , vcrsily, said the committee’s work would not be a one-time effort. “We aren’t going to write a report on this issue and call it good enough,” he said. “This is an ongoing process and each year, we will evaluate our progress and adapt to any changes.” The committee met for the first time Friday. The committee heard testimony from UNL officials on minority is sues and established preliminary goals for dealing with the problem, Wilson said in an interview Sunday. Wilson said the committee would serve a function similar to the one served last year by the gender equity committee. The gender equity committee heard testimony, developed strategies and recommended them to the regents, he said. The Minority Affairs Committee Friday gathered written reports from all NU campuses and from organiza tions within the university, Wilson said. It also heard testimony Friday from individuals, including Wilma Crumley, former associate dean of the College of Journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he said. The committee’s function is to digest input from the reports and come up w ith basic themes or problems that needed to be addressed, Wilson said. The regents then will translate these themes into specific goals and de velop strategies to achieve these goals, he said. Wilson stressed that the commit tee’s purpose was to make recom mendations to the board, possibly at its May or June meetings. After hearing the testimony and written reports, as well as the chan cellor’s commission report presented to the regents last October, Wilson said he thought there was a need to address minority problems. “There are problems, and I would say that there is certainly a perception of problems from minority groups that has to be addressed,” he said. Philosopher’s books donated to university Owner cites preservation of 200-year-old collection as his motivation for gift By Rainbow Rowell Staff Reporter Several first-edition books by and about philosopher Emanuel Kant (1724-1804) have found a home in Love Library through the gift of a UNL professor. The 29 volumes in the collection were donated by Thomas I wand, an economics professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He inher ited the books in the mid-1960s from his father. The books once belonged to Iwand’s grand father, Dr. Oscar Ehrhardt, a surgeon and book collector in Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad), Russia, where he was president of the local Kant society. Iwand said he gave the collection to UNL so the books could be belter preserved. “These books have become relatively valu- . able,” he said. “They don’t really belong in a private house.” Nelson Potter, a Kant scholar in UNL’s philosophy department, said the collection is important because of its age, scarcity and range. “They’re old books, most of them arc over 200 years old, by one of the greatest philoso phers of modem years,” he said. “They are important books.” The collection includes first editions of early works by Kant that were published before he became, well-known. Potter said the distribution of these editions rarely extended beyond KOnigsbcrg and were difficult to find. “One of the things that makes this collection special is that it contains a remarkably broad range of original works by Kant,” he said. “I doubt if many libraries in the United States have a Kant collection comparable to this one.” Potter said the books are in excellent condi tion. “I have held them all, opened them and looked at the pages,” he said. “The pages are not brittle.” The collection also contains secondary works written about Kant and published during his lifetime. Included in the donation was “Opus See BOOKS on 3 I ..-_ ^— Stacie McKeeDN Participants in the annual Walk for Life gather at the State Capitol on Saturday morning. Anti-abortionists rally at Capitol By Jennifer Stevens Staff Reporter Anti-abortion protesters gathered at the State Capitol Saturday morning and held signs that proclaimed “Real women don’t kill their babies,” and “God is the Supreme Court.” The protesters attended the Nebraska Walk for Life at the Capitol, marching to the Federal Building and the Nebraska Union. Wednesday was the 19th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. More than 5,300 people took part in the annual event, organizers said. Children in attendance with their parents held signs, one of which said “If you’re pro life, you’re too legit to quit.” Keynote speaker Rep. Chris Smith, R N.J., said that recent national polls showed that “61 percent of people aged 18-24 are as pro-life as George Bush.” Smith is the the co-chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. Bob Kratky, president of UNL Students for Life, blamed the weather for the poor turnout of college students at the protest. But Kratky said he believed many col lege students supported the anti-abortion movement. “College students are a little afraid to come out and say what they feel,” he said. Although there were not many college students in attendance, many grade-school children attended the rally. “Our priest wanted us to go,” said 11 - year-old Nicole Neff of Hastings. “I also wanted to go because I didn’t think abortion was right either.” After the 30-minute rally at the Capitol, the protesters marched in a silent walk to the Federal Building, 301 Centennial Mall South, and then on to the Nebraska Union. Smith addressed the crowd again at the Nebraska Union. “The ugliness and the hatred of the pro _See RALLY on 2 Spanier opposes language bill i Language skills not state task, he says By Andy Raun Staff Reporter___ UNL Chancellor Graham Spanicr said Friday that he opposed efforts by state legis lators to impose new English profi ciency requirements on foreign fac ulty and staff. \ • Spanicr lold a group of about 50 minority faculty and staff members that he thought that LB 1044, a bill introduced to the Nebraska Legisla ture this month, was inappropriate and wrong. Spanicr spoke to the faculty as part of an effort to meet with various groups on campus and assess the climate at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln in the area of diversity. The issue of language proficiency should be handled by university administration and faculty, and not by the Legislature, he said. Spanier said that, although he dis agreed with the bill, he understood that it reflected the views of many Nebraskans. Many Nebraskans worry that for eign faculty members and teaching . assistants have trouble communicat ing with students in English, he said. Being exposed to people of differ See SPANIER on 2 Nebraska men, women both fall to Kansas Page 5 Mueller Tower adds music to students’ journeys. Page 6 INDEX Opinion 4 Sports 5 A&E - 6 Classifieds 12 McFerrin combines classical music with an impromptu style in weekend concert at Lied. Page —. 6