Neil Adkin, an associate professor of classics, says he gains inspiration from important figures of the past, such
as the man immortalized by a bust in the English department lounge. “I don’t know who he is, but he must be
important, ” Adkin said. ^
Classics scholar
British professorfled‘poverty and deprivation’ for work
By Mark Harms
Staff Reporter\
After studying at universities in Ox
ford, Munich, Glasgow and
Liverpool, Neil Adkin had enough
of European academia.
‘‘I fled the poverty and deprivation of the
old country to gel away from the snoot, sloth
and stupidity of my fellow countrymen,” said
Adkin, an associate professor of classics at the
University of Nebraska-Lin
coln. __ _
Adkin, 38,grew up in York"
shire County, England, and
was living in Liverpool be
fore he moved to Lincoln
three years ago.
—He said cutbacks in aca
demics by England’s conservative govern
ment forced him to look for work in the United
States.
“I came to the United States because of
Mrs. Thatcher,” Adkin said, referring to NJm
garct Thatcher’s term as British prime minis
ter.
He was pleased, he said, when he got a job
atUNL.
“I arrived alChicago’sO’ Hare Airport full
of gratitude, tugging my forelock and clutch
ing my green card,” he said.
He has found a home in Lincoln and would
like to spend the rest of his days here, he said.
“I like the dynamics of this country, the
work ethic, the wallpaper suits me,” he said,
“Lincoln is clean and safe—just the place for
a run around the park on a Saturday after
noon.”
Europe’s loss is UNL’s gain. Adkin is an
accomplished scholar of classical rhetoric.
Over the past year, he has submitted 20
articles for publication in Spanish, French,
German, Italian, British and American jour
nals. He also has translated, or helped to
translate, many Latin texts into English.
But his main area of study is patristics, the
study of the fathers of Christianity. Adkin
specializes in the study of St. Jerome, who
lived in the fifth century and was a contempo
rary of St. Augustine.
"I’m exposing him as a pompous, anal,
vulgar exhibitionist; in short, a charlatan, a
buffoon, a clown,” Adkin said. “We have
much in common.”
Although Adkin said he preferred research
and publication over teaching, he recently
won the College of Aits and Sciences Award
for Outstanding Teaching.
He said classics was relevant in today’s
world.
“Classics is the basis of modem civiliza
tion, also the basis of the entertainment indus
try,” he said. “All the TV soaps go back to
Euripides and past him to Homer.”
Many people think the classics are lofty
and high-minded, he said, which is not the
case.
“Classics is vefy down-to-earth, dirty and
everyday,” he said. “Classicscovers the whole
range of human experience with special em
phasis on effective self-expression.”
Last year, UNL’s administration consid
ered cutting the classics department to reduce
the budget. Adkin said he started looking for
jobs elsewhere and was relieved when the
administration decided to keep the depart
ment.
He has little interest in academic politics
and would rather concentrate on research and
teaching, he said.
“I’m the least in the department anyway—
a mere child,” he said.
Boosters say
wrong pick
made during
director hunt
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Almost three months after UNL’s new
athletic director was appointed, the deci
sion still has some Comhuskcr athletic
boosters seeing red. .T_:_
Dan Hcrgcrl, president of UNL’s Touch
down Club, said he would give his full support
to Bill Byrne, the former athletic director at the
University of Oregon ajid Nebraska’s new ath
letic director.
But he said he thought the choice was the
wrong one.
“Generally, based on my association with
athletics here, you don’t hire from the outside
unless something is going to pot,” Hcrgcrl said.
“Thai’s not the case here. I think there should
have been a promotion from within.”
Byrne was named in June by Chancellor
Graham Spanicr to head UNL’s athletic depart
ment after he was chosen by a majority vote of
a 10-mcmbcr selection committee that included
UNL professors, administrators and coaches.
Hcrgcrt said he thought Al Papik, assistant
athletic director for administrative servicesand
com pi iancc coord inator, was the obv ious choice
for the position, “because he’s been here for so
long, he’s not an outsider and he’s done a fine
inh ”
Papik, who has been at UNL since 1987, was
not among the three finalists voted on by the
selection committee.
Hergert said the committee that voted on
Byme consisted of “a lot of people . . . who
didn’t know what they were doing.”
“They didn’t have (outgoing Athletic Direc
tor) Bob Dcvancy, who we owe the success of
our entire athletic department to,” Hergert said.
“But wedid have the women’s basketball coach
(Angela Beck).”
Hergert said he didn’t know who else should >
have been included on the committee, “but it
shouldn’t have been the women’s basketball
coach.”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t have had a women’s
basketball coach who loses the athletic depart
ment 5700,000 or 5800,000 a year.”
Gary Fou raker, assistant athletic director for
business affairs, said the women’s basketball
program cost about 5450,000 a year, and docs
not make money for the athletic department.
But, he said, that is typical of any other univer
sity athletic department, where football and
men’s basketball arc the moneymakers.
Hergert said he was unconvinced that Byrne
could handle an athletic program the size of
UNL’s.
“Oregon is a very small operation, and
Nebraska’s is about four times larger,” he said.
“He has never done anything like this before.”
See BOOSTERon 3
Parking grace period is over, official warns
_ „ * i
no more Breaks
for staff members,
faculty or students
By Susie Arth
Senior Reporter
All good things must end, and
the grace period for UNL park
ing just did.
Michael Cacak, manager of Trans
portation Services, said UNL police
had been giving students, faculty and
staff a break during the First few days
of classes and issuing warnings, rather
than citations, for most violations.
But the grace period is over, he
said, and now UNL police will punish
violators with citations.
“Students shouldn't count on get
ting warnings any more,” Cacak said.
The warning period was an effort
to educate drivers of the parking rules,
he said, and to provide a service to
new students.
Cacak said this
semester was the
first time he could
remember UNL
police giving vio
lators a warning
before issuing a
citation.
“I hope the students, faculty and
staff appreciated it,” he said.
Cacak said UNL police issued sev
eral hundred warnings during the first
few days of classes, and he said he
hoped the grace period would reduce
the number of future citations.
Most warnings were given to driv
ers who parked their cars in reserved
parking areas, he said. Violations also
were made by drivers parking in the
wrong lots altogether. 4
But Cacak said he believed most of
the drivers just made honest mistakes.
“The first week of school, as far as
parking goes, is really confusing,” he
said, “especially for new students."
Many students, he said, were un
aware that they had parked illegally
and would immediately move their
cars.
Cacak said he did hear of a few
students who tried to take advantage
of the program.
He said because word of the pro
gram got out through newspapers and
radio, some students intentionally
parked illegally, knowing they would
not receive a citation.
UNL police issued some citations
for obvious violations, he said.
Cars parked in reserved spots for
the disabled or in fire lanes received
citations rather than warnings. '
See TICKETS on 3
I*