Universities contend
Official says need-based financial aid
to student athletes could hurt UNL
By Erik Unger
Staff Reporter_
A proposal to change the NCAA’s policy
of granting.scholarships based on ath
letic ability would hurt the University
of Ncbraska-Lincoln, officials said. -
i he proposal, which would offer assistance
to athletes based on their financial need, was
designed to save money and distribute financial
aid more evenly to men and women and athletes
from low-income families.
A1 Papik, assistant athletic director inchargc
of compliance and administration at UNL, said
the NCAA had discussed the proposal before. It
is an issue again because of the financial diffi
I-—
cullies many universities arc facing, he said.
Although Papik said UNL had not officially
decided whether it would support the proposal,
he said he fell revenue-producing sports iri
particular wished to keep the existing system of
distributing financial aid.
“I think student athletes put in extensive
time, energy and effort,” he said. “They should
be compensated more than just need-based
assistance.”
Papik said cuts in travel expenses and the
cost of equipment,,athletic facilities and re
cruiting visits would save money and do less
damage to Nebraska’s athletic department by
See SCHOLARSHIP on 3
with NCAA proposal
Disputes over need-based scholarships
plague Big Eight athletic administrators
Erik Unger
Staff Reporter _
An NCAA proposal to give athletes necd
based aid instead of scholarships based
on athletic ability has drawn mixed
reviews from Big Eight athletic directors.
The proposal was designed to save money
for universities that were struggling financially,
said Bob Frederick, athletic director at the
University of Kansas at Lawrence.
Frederick said he supported changing the
NCAA’s policy as a way to cut costs.
Kansas, which has an 8 percent in-state
tuition increase, 12 percent out-of-slate tuition
increase and a 15 percent increase in housing
costs, no longer can afford an expanding ath
letic budget, he said.
“We need to find a way to cut costs or we
won’t stay in business,” Frederick said.
Donnie Duncan, athletic director at the Uni
versity of Oklahoma, said the university prob
ably would support the new proposal because
he believed need-based aid should transcend
athletics.
“I think if a person needs aid on a financial
basis, it should be given to them,” he said. “It
shouldn't be based on their athletic ability.”
But Duncan said he disagreed with the ath
letic financial aid system because it was dis
See BIG EIGHT on 2
rVn.ll I Staci McKoe/DN
Double your pleasure
Tatiana Gutsu, right, concentrates on blowing her first bubble gum bubble as teammate Svetlana Boginskaya watches. The
two Olympic gymnasts spent Monday night relaxing before their performance at Pershing Auditorium Tuesday in Lincoln.
Assault
sends man
to hospital
From Staff Reports _
Three men were assaulted early
Tuesday morning on the Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln
campus, and one was admitted to
Lincoln General Hospital for treat
ment.
Lincoln Police Sgt. Ann Hccrmann
said the assault occurred shortly after
1 a.m. Tuesday at 16th and Vine
streets, and apparently stemmed from
a verbal exchange among passengers
in two cars.
According to police reports, two
cars—one with three passengers, the
otherwithtwo—were northbound on
17th Street when a verbal exchange
began.
Two men in the second car who
have not yet been identified slopped
behind the first car, pulled the three
men from the other vehicle and as
saulted them.
Daniel Hoesing, 23, of Elkhorn,
was listed in fair condition Tuesday
afternoon with facial bruises and cuts..
Stephen Rease, 23, of Omaha and
David Willman, 24, of Fresno, Calif.,
were treated for facial bruises.
Opinions clash on proposed amendment issue
Government corrupted by seniority,
needs major change, advocate says
By Jeff Zeleny
Staff Reporter_
Seniority hascorrupted politics, and term
limits arc the first step to changing the
political system, a term limit advocate
said.
“People know government isn’t working,’’
said Shari Williams, executive director of
Americans Back In Charge.
“The system makes it so (politicians) can’t
get anything done. They arc focusing on re
flection, not good ideas,” she
said.
Initiative 407, the pro
posed term limit amendment,
would limit U.S. senators to
two six-year terms and repre
sentatives to four two-year
terms.
If the measure passed,
state legislators would be limited to eight years
in office. However, it wouldn’t take effect until
the incumbent’s current term expired.
Fourteen stales are proposing similar legis
lation this year, Williams said. Colorado is the
only slate to have passed federal term limits.
That bill became law in 1990.
Williams said term limit legislation would
be introduced in every state next year, and
Eredicted that a term limit amendment would
c added to the Constitution in four years.
Former U.S. Rep. Hal Daub said Americans
were tired of seeing congressional gridlocks
that produced special sessions.
Daub said Nebraskans should pass term
limit legislation because politicians lacked dis
cipline and needed new motivation.
People want to serve without being hovered
over by special interest groups, he said.
Daub also said seniority was unnecessary in
politics.
Seniority once was good, he said, but now it
x See DAUB on 3
Term limits unnecessary, would hurt
Nebraska, state treasurer says
By Jeff Zeleny
Staff Reporter
Limiting politicians’ terms would be
harmful to Nebraskans and would not
solve political problems, State Trea
surer Dawn Rockey said.
“Term limits mean less say for Nebraska at
the federal level,”she said. “Limiting the terms
of our congressional representatives will pul
Nebraska at a distinct disadvantage."
The proposcdconstitutional amendment will
-— .appcarontheNov.3ballotas
Initiative 407. If passed, U.S.
senators would be limited to
two six-year terms and repre
sentatives to four two-year
terms.
State legislators would be
___llimitcd to eight years in of
fice if the proposal passed.
Rockey said problems existed in politics,
but limiting terms wouldn’t solve them.
“Campaign spending is out of control, perks
arc at an all-time high, and accountability is at
an all-time low,” she said. “But terms limits arc
not the answer.”
If the term limit measure is passed, Rockey
said, Nebraskans would lose valuable congres
sional representation.
“Without the ability to acquire seniority, our
representatives in Congress will not have any
influence the House and Senate.”
She said the last lime a Nebraskan chaired a
major Senate committee was 1953. Seniority is
the key to earning those positions, she said.
A recent Omaha World-Herald poll showed
that 71 percent of Nebraskans supported term
limitation.
Rockey said the poll was accurate, but voters
didn’t understand what the proposal meant.
“Term limit is a buzz word,” she said.
Voters think the Nebraska term limit legis
See ROCKEY on 3
