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Today, partly sunny, north winds
at 10 to 20 mph in the after
noon. Tonight, cloudy with a
few flurries. Tuesday, cloudy
and colder with flurries and a _
high around 30.
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Al Schaben/DN
Jlmml Smith, director of the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, has guided minority programs since taking the position
in 1974.
Equal opportunity architect
Director says education important ingredient for change
By Michelle McGowan
Staff Reporter
Ever since Jimmi Smith set foot on the
UNL campus, he has dedicated
himself to furthering the opportune
tics of racial minority students.
Smith, the director of the Office of M ulti
Cultural Affairs, came
to the University of
Ncbraska-Lincoln from
Pennsylvania in 1967 on
a football scholarship.
A product of the wel
fare system and the
oldest of 10 children,
Smith said he knew he
could do better—and he knew that the only
way he could better himself was through
education.
Smith had to deal with more than classes
and football after he arrived at UNL.
Marlin Luther King Jr.’s death, one year
i
after Smith came to UNL, encouraged black
students to stand up to how the university
was treating them.
“In 1969, UNL claimed there was no
such thing as racism, and in order to quiet
the students down, the university claimed
they would send us ail back home,” Smith
said. “We knew it was a bluff because
mostly these were students here for base
ball, football and track.”
Smith said many black athletes stood up
to racist administrators and faculty. The
athletes went on strike, burning coffins on
the lawn of the Administration Building and
locking administrators in a meeting room,
he said.
“Students insisted on change, and there
were results,” he said. “The multi-cultural
affairs office was bom, and other organiza
tions sprang up as well, such as the Afrikan
People’s Union.”
The Culture Center, the Academic Suc
cess Center, ethnic studies and Minority
Special Events al the Nebraska Union also
were bom.
Smith said many changes had occurred
since he was a student al UNL, although “a
lot of our white students don’t feel that
racial minorities have a place here at UNL.”
“Today’s while students’ behavior re
stricts minorities,” he said. “They won’t
support minority causes. They don't attend
events with minority themes. And they think
that’s all right.
“We’re in a troubled state because the
learner is misunderstanding what’s neces
sary to enable every student to reach their
potential. Minorities need support since they
are a strong part of America’s future.”
While many people believe they can be
successful if they try hard enough, Smith
said, this is not true for racial minorities.
“Prejudice and bias arc real,” he said.
“Discrimination is real. The men in charge,
See SMITH on 3
Senator hopes
firearm bill
mends flaws
By Andy Raun
Staff Reporter ^
A legislative bill meant to clarify Ne
braska’s two-day waiting period for
handgun permits was not criticized Friday
during a public nearing at the State Capitol.
However, a bill that would ban firearms in
and around schools was met with stiff opposi
tion at the judiciary com- -^
mittee hearing.
Both bills were intro
duced by Sen. Brad Ashlord ■I||T1|H
of Omaha.
The first measure,
LB 1034, would correct [WfJTPrPrffW]
flaws in LB355, an Ashford
bill passed in 1991 that required Nebraskans to
apply for a handgun purchase permit with their
local police chief or county sheriff, said Gene
Collins, an Ashford aide.
Under LB355, police and sheriff’s offices
had two days from the time they received a
handgun application to investigate the appli
cant’s background.
LB 1034 more clearly defines what the back
ground investigation should entail, Collins said.
The bill also allows law enforcement agencies
to deny or delay issuing a permit when they
know an application contains incorrect infor
mation.
Collins said the measure would help clarify
See LEGISLATURE on 2
Student court
hears lawsuit
By Kara Morrison
Staff Reporter
The ASUN Student Court on Friday heard
Speaker Steve Thomlison’s lawsuit to
recall a resolution that made ASUN the
co-sponsor of a gay, lesbian and bisexual human
rights day.
Association of Students pf the University of
Nebraska Law' Sen. Gene
Collins, who, along with
ASUN President Andy
Massey, defended the sen- ^ ^
ate, called Ihc lawsuit “a
black eye to the senate." / , <
“If this resolution wasn’t . . r . I ,
in support of homosexuals, *'! X..\ *
we probably wouldn’t be here,” Collins said.
“That it had to come this far and be put in the
spotlight, I apologize,” Collins told the court.
“There arc things that could have been worked
out.”
See ASUN on 2
UNL alumnus uncovering ancient city
Archeologist leads
hunt for remains
By Dionne Searcey
Senior Editor
University of Nebraska alum
nus Juris Zarins wanted to be
an archeologist even when he
was a young boy, his mother, Maria,
said.
“When he said he wanted to be an
archeologist, we didn’t say anything,”
she said. “We just let him go.”
Zarins has more than fulfilled his
childhood dream.
Today Zarins is in Oman, digging
up the remains of the ancient city of
Ubar.
The Associated Press reportod
Wednesday that archeologists, with
the help of pictures taken from the
space shuttle Challenger in 1984, had
located Ubar buried beneath Arabian
sands.
Mrs. Zarins said her son was the
chief archeologist of the dig, which
already had uncovered Ubar’s octa
gon-shaped stone walls, lowers and
pieces of pottery.
Archeologists found the city by
examining Challenger photos that
revealed ancient desert roads, The
AP reported.
Five thousand years ago, Ubar was
a trade center for frankincense, a fra
grance as precious as gold. The AP
reported that the city might have been
inhabited from about 2800 B.C. until
A.D. 100. If this is true, urban devel
opment in this region began nearly
1,000 years earlier than believed.
According to Islamic legend, the
city became so corrupt that God caused
the desert sands to swallow it. Re
searchers have discovered that the
city fell into a sinkhole created when
an underground limestone cavern
collapsed, according to The AP.
' r - ♦ -- *
Mrs. Zarins said her son’s interest
in Near Eastern archeology began at
the University of Chicago, where he
studied with other Saudi Arabian
students. Zarins has written several
articles on the subject, she said.
Zarins was a 1967 graduate of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where
he studied anthropology, she said. He
completed his doctorate at the Uni
versity of Chicago in 1976. The 47
year-old is a professor of archeology
and anthropology at Southwest Mis
souri State University in Springfield.
While he attended UNL, Zarins
accompanied Smithsonian archeolo
gists on several digs.
Zarins’ work as an archeologist
has earned worldwide fame. He once
met the former king of Sweden, also
an archeologist, and accompanied him
on a dig.
“We’re very proud of him,” Mrs.
Zarins said. “Everyone is.”
Support for President Boris
Yeltsin continues to dwindle.
Page 2
The Huskers let one get away
on Saturday as Kansas State
won 70-66. Page 7 .
New job guide for the dis
abled yields little help. Page 9
i
2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A & E 9
Classifieds 12
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