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Michelle Paulman/DN
Down the tube
Seth Sapp, 5, of 904 D St., goes head first down the twister slide at Hooper Park. Kelly
Sapp, Seth’s mother, said she took Seth and his brother Jordan, 2, to the park to take a
little energy out of the boys.
Departments eye budget cuts
Home economics,
speech officials
remain optimistic
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
After brushes with elimination
last year, the directors of two
University of Nebraska-Lin
coln departments are keeping a close
watch on this semester’s university
budget planning meetings.
William Seiler, chairman of the
speech communications department,
and Karen Craig, dean of the College
of Home Economics, said they both
had been following with great interest
the current discussions concerning
possible budget cuts at UNL.
Stale Sen. Scott Moore of Seward
said last week the university faced
massive spending reductions during
the next biennium, which begins July
1, 1993, and ends June 30. 1995. He
said UNL could face a 10 percent
across-the-board cut.
The cuts arc being discussed by the
Nebraska Legislature because of the
stale’s strapped budget.
“It’s something that I’ve definitely
been keeping up with,” Craig said. “I
think everybody’s pretty concerned
right now.”
UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier
began a series of budget planning
meetings Monday with his cabinet
and representatives from UNL col
leges and departments to discuss pos
sible cuts, as well as to find ways to
combat UNL’s shrinking budget.
Spanier said there would be 20
such meetings between now and the
end of the semester. He met Monday
with the deans from the colleges of
journalism and business administra
tion.
Craig and Seiler arc anxiously
awaiting their meetings with Spanier,
especially since their programs came
close to extinction last year.
During the fall 1991 semester^ the
College of Home Economics and the
speech communication and classics
departments were threatened with
elimination by massive budget cuts.
The programs were spared when
university officials decided to reduce
spending in all UNL budgets, rather
than eliminate particular programs.
Craig said she didn’t feel the same
concern for her college as she did a
year ago.
“This year, it’s a different situa
tion,” she said. “These budget hear
ings were planned before the possibil
ity of the cuts were announced, and
these hearings arc an opportunity to
brag about the colleges and look for
alternatives to the cuts.
“I’m looking at these hearings in a
very positive way.”
Seiler agreed.
“Last year, we demonstrated that
we arc a quality department, both in a
leaching role and research function,”
he said. “I don’t feel like our depart
ment is under any further consider
ation for elimination, but you never
can be sure.
“I’m certainly not going tobcoverly
optimistic, tooting our horn and say
ing that we’re completely out of the
woods. No one ever is.”
Seiler said he shared concern for
the possibility of further budget cuts
with other faculty and administrators
See BUDGET on 3
Court battle angers
liver donor’s family
By Jeff Zeleny
Staff Reporter
A court battle over a liver trans
plant that never happened has
forced the family of a former
Nebraska football player to relive a
tragedy it has tried to overcome.
The family of Brian Hiemer, who
was a 21-year-old tight end for the
Comhuskcrs, was shocked and an
gered after hearing that Brian’s name
was mentioned in a lawsuit against a
Pittsburgh hospital that denied an
uninsured patient Hiemer’s liver.
Hiemer died of a self-inflicted gun
shot wound to the head in 1985 at his
parents’ farm north of Shelby, Neb.
His organs were made available for
donation.
Carol El worth of Lincoln, Hiemer’s
sister, said she didn’t blame organ
donor officials, and added that the
issue was re-opened to create public
ity.
“Our parents arc devastated and
emotionally sick,” she said. “It’s like
reliving this all over again.”
“It’s hard to describe the emotions
we experienced when we first learned
of the lawsuit,” said Jim Elworth,
Hiemer’s brother-in-law.
Jim Elworth said the family didn’t
know about the case until an article
mentioning Hiemer and the lawsuit
appeared in Thursday’s Lincoln Jour
nal. The family is outraged by the
publicity the case has generated, he
said.
Carol Elworth said the news
media’s coverage of the case had
distorted her brother’s image. The
mediahave acted like Hiemer wasn’t
a real person, she said.
Reporters “talked about Brian as
an object,” she said. “That just kills
our family seven years later.”
Hiemcr’s name and the memories
See TRANSPLANT on 6
Survey to give UNL
idea of its perception
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
A recently formed task force
soon will be helping the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln
take a long, hard look in the mirror.
A survey designed to gain a belter
understanding of how UNL is per
ceived by students, administrators,
faculty and staff will be sent today to
determine what problems exist at the
university and look at possible solu
tions.
The researc h com m i ttce of U NL ’ s
Institutional Advancement Council,
along with the Bureau of Sociological
Research, is conducting the study.
Jim Ballard, director of the re
search committee, said the survey
included 110 multiple-choice ques
tions and would be sent to 1,500 people
— students, administrators, and fac
ulty and staff members.
Completed surveys are to be re
turned by Nov. 25.
Ballard said the survey’s questions
covered a wide range of topics, from
the mission of the university to the
relationship between City and East
‘ campuses.
For example, a question might give
one of the missions of the university,
then ask the participant to rate the
importance of the mission given.
Results will be used as the first step
in developing a communications plan
that will help in public relations, re
cruitment and retention of students
and improved campus life at UNL,
Ballard said.
He said the committee expected a
70- to 75-percent response rate to the
surveys.
Ballard said the internal examina
tion was only the first part of the
study.-The next step would be an
external survey next year. The sur
vey, which would follow the same
time frame, would be sent to Nebras
kans to determ inc their perceptions of -
UNL.
In 1994, Ballard said, a third sur
vey would be sent toother institutions
nationwide.
“It’s a long process,” he said, “but
it will do a lot of good for the univer
sity.”
Woman’s death
not homicide,
official says
From Staff Reports
The woman whose body was
found Monday in west Lin
coln has been identified as 29
year-old Mcshcll Franzen, an official
s>aid Tuesday.
Lancaster County Attorney Gary
Lacey said Franzen of 502 S. 12th St.
died from drowning in a shallow pool
of water south of Neiden Iron and
Metal Co. Inc., 525 N St.
Lacey said investigators had ruled
out homicide as the cause of death but
had not yet determined if the drown
ing was accidental.
He said the autopsy performed on
Franzen’s body late Monday after
noon indicated the body had been in
the water for at least two days.
A railroad employee on his way to
work spotted Franzen’s body early
Monday morning.