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Spanier’s ‘Lone Ranger’ image prevalent
Leader reins in
year’s problems
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Senior Reporter
Chancellor Graham Spanier told
the Academic Senate in Janu
ary that he could not be the
“Lone Ranger” of UNL’s budget
reduction process, riding in to single
handedly save the day.
Spanier then look control of the
process and, in one month, cut $4
million from the University of Nc
braska-Lincoln’s budget. In one month,
^ i——
he quietly ended the six-month con
troversy surrounding the budget cuts
that had been bogged down in com
mittee hearings and letter-writing
campaigns.
That is the role Spanicr, 43, has
played since he started his job Nov. 1,
Whether the issue is stricter ad
missions standards, the budget, race
relations, administrative reorganiza
tion, restructuring UNL’s Affirma
tive Aclion/Equal Opportunity/Com
pliance office or parking, Spanicr has
been involved, and visibly so.
He will be installed officially as
UNL Chancellor today.
Spanicr dislikes the “Lone Ranger’
description, and says he has only “a
little more influence and resources”
than the average person as chancel
lor.
But he doesn’t deny that for some
one who describes himself as hands
off, he can be very hands-on.
“It’s an interesting dilemma, be
cause the truth is, I’m very hands
on,” he said. “I came from a job
where I was the hands-on person —
that was my job to do everything.
“But my philosophy isto be hands
off.”
However, when Spanicr did have
to be hands-on during his first few
months at UNL, he said he was confi
dent his decisions would be well
received at the university because he
had done his homework before he
arrived.
Spanier said books people sent him
after he was selected to be chancellor
were particularly helpful in learning
about UNL. He read all of the books
and anything else he could gel his
hands on about the university.
“I tried to use my experience in
higher education to diagnose the situ
ation here,” he said. “I worked very
hard in the few weeks between I was
appointed and the lime I arrived to
learn as much as 1 could about the
campus.”
Spanier said his research convinced
See SPANIER on 3
Kerrey touts
technology
in education
Senator expresses
doubt about Perot
By Cindy Kimbrough
Senior Reporter
Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Ncb., said Friday
that he did not kno w if he could support
H. Ross Perot if the Texas billionaire
entered the Democratic primaries.
“Who is the guy?” he asked during a press
conference at the NETV building.
Perot said he would hold town-hall meet
ings to decide everything, if elected president,
Kerrey said.
“I don’t know if this guy is Thomas Jeffer
son or (Benito) Mussolini,” he said.
“Perot, what are you going to do about the
deficit?” Kerrey asked. “You don’t need a
town-hall meeting to tell me you’re unde
cided.”
Perot must tell Americans what he wants to
do and where he stands, Kerrey said, instead of
holding town-hall meetings.
Kerrey said he believed a lot of the support
for Perot was bom of an enthusiasm for change
that was building in America.
rcopic arc noi sure anymore u ucorgc ousn
or Bill Clinton will initiate change, he said.
But Kerrey said he thought Clinton would
promote change if he was elected.
In Lincoln to promote the use of technology
in education, Kerrey also told reporters that he
thought the future of education in the United
Slates was in telecommunications.
Kerrey said at a forum he attended Friday
that representatives of various Nebraska tech
nology projects told him there were tremen
dous educational opportunities in telecommu
nications.
For example, MIDnct, part of a national
computer network, now gives schools the ca
pacity to do things they may otherwise not have
the resources for, he said.
Computers at McMillan Junior High school
in Omaha arc hooked up to MIDnct, he said.
See KERREY on 3
Ladies and gentleman please rise
as we present graduation memories.
See supplement
Quakes continue to rock California.
Page 2
A small crowd witnesses Corn
stock '92. Page 9
INDEX
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A & E 9
Classifieds 12
Michelle Paulman/DN
James Van Etten, professor of plant pathology, looks over a DNA sequencing gel, a representation of a cell’s
genetic material, in his lab in the Plant Science Building.
Weird science
Professor’s newfound virus may affect genetic therapy
By Jennifer McClure
Staff Reporter
Discovering a virus usually creates
feelings of worry.
But when Jim Van Ellen, a pro
fessor of plant pathology at UNL, discov
ered a virus, he was ecstatic.
In 1981, Van Etten and Russ Mcintz,
the former chairman of the biology de
partment at the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lin
coln, discovered a new
family of viruses —
one of only 72 families
worldwide.
The viruses were
scientifically recog
nized as a family a year and a half ago,
Van Ellen said, and its scientific name is
phycodnaviridac.
Van Etten said he did not set out to
discover a virus family.
“This all started with drinking beer one
night,” he said.
Van Etten said a fellow scientist was
looking at some photographs of algae, and
said he thought he saw a viral particle.
The particle was on a single-celled
eukaryotic alga, Van Etten said. He
explained that between the two types of
algae — prokaryotic and eukaryotic —
nothing was known previously about
viruses on cukaryoiic algae.
In addition, Van Etten said, they
discovered the viral particle on cukaryoiic
algae in fresh water instead of salt water.
“We found them in every freshwater
sample we’ve looked at,” he said. ‘‘We’ve
looked all over the world, including the
United Slates, Japan and China. We
haven’t looked in Australia yet.”
Van Ellen said they did not realize the
viral family was common in nature until
1986 when they tested fresh water from
North Carolina.
“The concentration (of viral particles)
was very high,” he said. “It contained
40,000 viral particles per milliliter.”
Oceanographers arc starting to look for
cukaryoiic algae in the ocean, he said.
The virus also has some special
qualities. Van Ellen said.
For instance, the viruses encode for a
certain group of enzymes that can splice
genes, he said, and the virus-produced
enzymes can be used as diagnostic tools
for genetic diseases.
“Hopefully, if you can diagnose these
diseases, gene therapy may be possible,”
he said.
Van Etten said several important
differences existed between the viral
family and others.
Phycodnaviridac is one of the largest
viruses known, he said, and it has one of
the largest known amounts of genetic
information.
The virus has about 20 limes the
amount of genetic information the AIDS
virus has, he said.
Van Etten said the virus’ DNA struc
ture is different from most viruses.
“The DNA has cross-linked ends,” he
said. “Most viral families don’t.”
Although the virus is different from
others in some ways, Van Etten said, it
has no known danger.
“We do have to acknowledge, though,
that it could affect another host (other
than eukaryotic algae)," he said.
Van Etten said four laboratories in
Australia, Germany, Russia and Japan
were working on his discovery. Russ
Mcintz, now a professor at Oregon Stale
University, also is looking at the viral
family.
“This isn’t a one-person operation,”
Van Etten said.
Eight to 11 people at a lime are
working at UNL, he said, including
undergraduate and graduate students and
visiting scientists.
Van Ellen said he hoped the diagnostic
enzymes in the virus could be developed
commercially.
“When you do scientific research, you
don’t know where it’s going to go,” he
said. “We didn’t predict the practical
value.”