The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, August 27, 1992, Image 1

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    Partly sunny today,
clearing by tonight.
. Tomorow, a little . *4.
warmer.
Hunt for athletic director ruffles NU fans
Spanier calls fervor, not interest, surprising
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Staff Reporter
This summer, Graham Spanier
got his first taste of Nebraska
football supporters and their
zeal.
Spanier, who took over in Novem
ber as UNL chancellor, came under
the fire of some Comhuskcr boosters
during UNL’s search for a new ath
letic director. r
The committee searching for can
didates to replace retiring athletic di
rector Bob Dcvancy failed to include
At Papik, assistant athletic director of
compliance at UNL, in its lislof finab
ists to Spanier, who made the final
decision.
Spanier said some football txxist
ers were upset by the committee s
decision and pressured him to choose
Papik despite a pledge he had made to
choose from among the committee’s
recommendations.
Nebraska head football coach Tom
Osbomcand 6evancy supported Papik
in the initial stages of the search pro
cess.
When Spanicr selected Bill Byrne;
athletic director at the University of
Oregon, more criticism was raised.
Spanicr was at Oregon Slate Univer
sity before he came to UNL.
A reporter With the Omaha World
Herald requested a copy of his phone
records to make sure he had not se
cretly been in touch with Byrne,
Spanicr said.
“They were wanting to check out a
theory that I really knew this guy well
and somehow, because of pripr con
nections, he was my choice,” he said.
He said the request later was
dropped. N
Of the three finalists who were
recommended to him by the search
committee, Spanier said, Byrne was
the highest rated by UNL coaches’
and boosters’ evaluations.
Coaches and boosters from almost
every sport participated in the evalu
ation interviews, he said. Football
boosters declined to participate.
“We wanted very much for (football
boosters) to be involved in the inter
views, to help us identify the final
choice, but they did not,” he said.
Spanier said he received about 100
responses to his selection of Byrne.
Most were positive, he said, but some
football boosters made it clear they
did not approve of his choice.
“Some of the mail I got talked of
athletics being the only thing they
cared about — and that’s a little dis
appointing,” he said. “Butagain, that’s
just a few people.
“A majority of people were supr
portive.”
Spanicr said that he was not sur
prised by the amount of attention the
search for a new athletic director gen
erated, but he was surprised by the
emotion in some of the responses. *
“It did not surprise me that there
was that much interest in the search,
but some of the letters_Some of the
mail I got, I was surprised by the
intensity of it,” he said.
Byrne has been president of the
National Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics, chairman of
the Pac-10 Executive Committee and
in 1985 was named national
Fundraiser of the Year by the Na
tional Athletic Fundraisers Associa
tion. V »
Spanicr slM^he considered Byrne
the most qualified candidate for the
job in the country willing-to come to
UNL. He predicted Byme would do
an excellent job.
"This guy is going to do great
things for us in athletics,” he said.
“There arc some challenges, some
very significant challenges ahead in
intcr-collcgialc athletics, not just in
Nebraska, but nationally.
“And here’s a guy who is very
forward looking and knows how to
gel on top of it.”
a
AS UN directs
GLC to lobby
against cuts
By Angie Brunkow
Stafi Reporter
A SUN directed its Government Liaison
Committee Wednesday to gear up for
the threat of budget cuts.
Andy Sigerson, president of the Association
>1 Students ot the University ol Nebraska, Said
the Legislature and governor have asked I NI
and other stale agencies to prepare plans to cut
their budgets by 10 percent to make up for a
S212 million shortfall.
Sigerson said GLC will
have to work hard to con
vince the Legislature not to
cut UNL’s funding.
Andrew- Loudon, speaker
of the senate, also questioned
UNL Chancellor Graham
Spanicr’s plan to hire a full
time recycling coordinator, especially since
budget cuts might be on the horizon. The
recycling coordinator would be paid S44,(XX) a
year.
The university iscohsidering paying for the
See ASUN on 3
Back-to-school blues . _' ^
Jim Nelson, a third-year sophomore from Aurora, stands in line Wednesday during drop/add. Nelson, who hasn t
declared a major, said he spent 1 1/2 hours trying to fill his class schedule.
UNL gears up for campuswide recycling plan
Funds allocated
for first year
of enterprise
By Kathryn Borman
Staff Reporter
Alter nearly three years in for
mation, the rccyd^Rg-movc
incnt has become a priority of
UNL’s administration.
Mike Mulnix, executive director
of University Relations, said the plan
still was in the initial stages, and it
would be a month before a proposal
would be submitted to UNL Chancel
lor Graham Spanicr.
“We do know that the university
generates thousands of pounds of pa
per and cans,” he said. “The adminis
tration must work harder to make it
easier for people to recycle.”
When Spanicr presented the recy
cling plan Aug. 20 during his State of
the University address, he said he
would like to make the Univtrsily of
Ncbraska-Lincoln a state header in
recycling waste. , ' ? J
He also said he expected UNL’s
program to be self-supporting after
the first year.
Funds have been allocated to pay
lor the program’s first year, including
a full-time coordinator position,
Mulnix said, but he does not know the
amount of funding.
Jack'Goebel, vice chancellor for
business and finance, has been ap
pointed by Spanier to formulate the
campuswide recycling plan.
Mulnix said a lot of groundwork
already had been laid by the UNL
Recycling Task Force. The commit
tee initially met in 1990 and then
reconvened in 1992 to review its rec
ommendations at Goebel’s request.
Bud Dascnbrock,director of UNL’s
Landscape Services, served as leader
of the task force. He said the commit
tee supported the chancellor’s plan to
appoint a coordinator for recycling.
“It’s pleasing to the people most
involved in the effort,” Dascnbrock
said. He predicted that different cam
pus entities, such as the Office of
University Housing and the City and
East Campus unions, would value the
direction and support of the recycling
coordinator.
Dascnbrock said some difficulties
might arise in implementing the pro
gram in academic departments. Fac
ulty and staff, as well as those who do
the sorting, must know how to prop
0
crly separate the recyclable materi
als.
Most universities with recycling
programs advertise for interested buy
ers of the waste and then take the
highest biddbr, as with other govern
ment contracts, Dascnbrock said. He
expected that UNL would apply a
similar policy, although the specifics
may vary, such as whether the univer
sity or the recycling company would
sort, bale and package the materials,
he said.
Dasenbrock also said.aspects such
as the purchase of recycling contain
ers and docks and campuswidc train
ing and supervision would factor into
the program’s cost.
“It may cost a good amount,”
Dascnbrock said. He estimated the
start-up cost could qmgc from $50,(XX)
to $I5(),(XX).
“If there is a simple search for the
best way to recycle,” he added, “it
may be relatively inexpensive.”
Dasenbrock said Landscape Ser
vices recycles its gardening waste fey
fertilizer, which requires some cost
butcliminalcs the need to buy outside
fertilizer. This practice is similar to
Spanicr’s proposal to finance
campuswide recycling.
PffBWI
Isoufoa: Kecwfrno Wasta Manaflamfm.QmJSgLjgO . QVgZ.—ttl
Jeff Riggert, recycling coordina
tor for Ecology Now, served on the
Recycling Task Force with
Dascnbrock. He described the com
mittee as a group of faculty, staff and
students working together to accom
plish a lot with little funding.
Riggert said most of the pilot
projects that existed for campus recy
cling were good but not well-coordi
nated.
“ A central pervous system, central
,coordination, would do wonders for
recycling on campus,” he said.
Ideally, Riggcrt said, he would like
lo see comprehensive recycling avail
able, with receptacles for cans, bottles
and newspaper and office paper w her
ever trash cans are located on campus.
He also would like to sec fewer
trash localionjpcrosscampus,he said,
with some oflhc current trash cans
converted lo recyclingcontaincrs. This
would allow the university to buy
fewer receptacles for waste.
Ecology Now was formed in April
See RECYCLE on 3
- - —- »