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Staci McKee/DN
Watchful eyes
A UNL student passes by one of many snowmen
found on campus Tuesday.
POLICE REPOf77
Beginning midnight Monday
11:45 a.m. — Hit-and-run acci
dent, City of Lincoln, S400.
12:09 p.m. — Male arrested for
trespassing, Smith Residence Hall.
2:38 p.m.—Bike stolen, Nebraska
Union, S290.
8:34 p.m. — Person with dislo
cated hip, Lee and Helene Sapp
Recreation Center.
9:06 p.m. — Arson, Calhcr Resi
dence Hall, $50.
University gamers donation
Family planning
to bestow money
from estate sale
By Susie Arth
Staff Reporter_
The 52-room D.J. Witherspoon
property, valued at more than $1
million, will be placed on the market
within a month, and all proceeds will
go into an endowment for university
projects, an official said.
Terry Fairfield, president of the
University of Nebraska Foundation,
said the Witherspoons donated their
estate to the foundation in 1981, but
were not ready to put the house up for
sale at that time.
Fairfield said he found out in Janu
ary that the Witherspoons planned to
move.
“It recently became a convenient
time for them to move out,” he said.
He said the property would be listed
for sale by N.P. Dodge Co. of Omaha,
but he was unsure what its market
price would be. He said his staff would
meet with realtors to determine an
asking price.
The property, located at 9909
Fieldcrest Drive in Omaha, was val
ued at $ 1,275,300 for tax purposes in
1985, according to the Douglas County
Assessor’s Office.
The 18,741-square-foot estate sits
on 4.7 acres of land and has indoor
and outdoor swimming pools, a two
lane bowling alley, a tennis court,
eight bedrooms, nine full bathrooms
and seven half-bathrooms.
Fairfield said the proceeds from
the sale of the estate would go into an
endowment fund in the name of D.J.
Witherspoon and would be used for
“unrestricted” university projects.
Witherspoon is the retired founder
of Pamida Inc., a chain of discount
stores.
Fairfield said Witherspoon was not
a University of Nebraska-Lincoln
graduate, and that he had worked
little with him before the donation.
“This gift is just a great help,” he
said. “It is wonderful of the Wither
spoons to do this.”
Collective
Continued from Page 1
Most collectives have operated
either in a hostile environment or in a
situation where the group must deal
with a hierarchical structure, he said.
That situation could apply to the
recent controversy surrounding the
Women’s Resource Center Collec
tive, Benford said, which was formed
by a group of UNL students in the
1970s.
University administrators recently
dissolved the WRC Advisory Board
and said a collective could not be the
center’s governing body.
In the case of the WRC Collective,
Benford said, the members of a de
centralized organization were attempt
ing to operate within a centralized
environment whera decisions were
traditionally made from the lop down.
Another problem is the lack of
knowledge most Americans, includ
ing some collective members, have
of this consensus-rules form of or
ganization.
“Many collectives find that they
have members who do not understand
consensus decision-making,” he said.
“They arc not necessarily well-in
formed or committed to the principles
of decentralization.”
These problems can lead to abuse
of the consensus process, Bcnford
said, and sometimes members will
block decision-making.
Abuse of the process can cause
problems because in a collective sys
tem, no decision can be made until all
members agree, he said.
“We do not learn about this form
of organization because all of our
institutions are based on a hierarchi
cal structure,” he said. “Our families,
churches, schools and workplaces arc
ruled by majority, from the top down.”
Given the lack of experience most
people have with collective decision
making, Bcnford said, the continued
existence of the WRC Collective is a
credit to the group’s members.
“The women’s collective has been
in an environment that is hostile to
their form of organization,” he said.
“I think that says something positive
about these women and their commit
ment to alternative forms of decision
making.”
Helen Moore, a professor of soci
ology and women’s studies at UNL,
said there were several advantages to
the collective system of organization.
“The power is shared by all mem
bers, not just the majority or the elite
few,” she said. “Decisions arc made
by a consensus and the process is
based on trust, so members can’t in
timidate someone into agreeing.”
However, Moore said, the collec
tive process also has its disadvan
tages.
For one, she said, the system is
time-consuming, and decisions can
not be made quickly because mem
bers must agree.
And if the process docs not work
well, Moore said, poorly executed
activities or decisions can lead to a
lack of action by the group.
“The collective can become vul
nerable to outside forces,” she said.
“It docs not fit well into a bureau
cratic system because outsiders, such
as the media or members of the bu
reaucracy, always want to know who’s
in charge.”
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