CORRECTION
A story in Wednesday's Daily
Nebraskap misquoted Eric Jolly,
director of the Affirmative Action
and Diversity Office. A quotation
about minorities making the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
responsive to their needs should
have read: "You (students) don't
need to solve problems. You
should hold the administration
, responsible for solving the
problems, and you should tell us
what they are." The Daily
Nebraskan regrets the error.
Committee votes down prayer resolution
Representatives plan
petition to reinstate
prayers at ceremony
By Angie Brunkow
, Staff Reporter___^_
Student government representatives said
Thursday that they planned to start a
petition to reinstate prayers in the gradu-.
ation ceremony.
The UNL Commencement Committee
banned prayers at gradua
tion in a meeting Thursday
morning.
In a 9-2 vote, the commit
tee decided to remove the
prayers because it thought
they would not represent
the diverse student body
presentN^ljJic ceremony.
AS UN Speaker of the Senate Andrew
Loudon said during Thursday afternoon’s press
conference that the committee’s decision ig
norcd student opinion.
Loudon said 90 percent of the members of
the Association of Students of the University of
Nebraska supported keeping the prayers in the
ceremony.
He said the prayers could be presented in a
non-offensive way that would be a learning
experience for students who attended the cer
emony.
“It’s an educational experience lor any stu
dent whether they believe in a God or not,” he
said.
General Studies Sen. Narroyl Parker, who
co-sponsored the AS UN bill to reinstate the
prayers, said the committee did what it thought
was right, rather than listening to what students
wanted.
“This decision is going to spoil commence
ment for a lot of students,” he said.
The Rev. Norman Leach, executive director
ol the Interfaith Council, said the decision was
part of a “dangerous trend” of excluding reli
gion in the name of pluralism.
“Separation of church and slate does not
mean the elimination of religion,” he said.
ASUN officials argue
invocation traditional
part of commencement
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
An ASUN resolution calling for the re
turn of prayers to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln’sgraduation ceremo
nies was voted down Thursday by the UNL
Commencement Committee.
The committee voted 9-2 against an appeal
to include the traditional invocation and bene
diction in UNL’s graduation ceremonies.
The prayers had been removed from gradu
ation ceremonies by the committee last month
amid concerns of insensitivity for students’
diverse religious backgrounds.
A resolution, submitted by Andrew Loudon,
speaker of the senate for the Association of
Students of the University of Nebraska, and
general studiesand architecture senators Narroyl
Parker and Ryan Swanson, urged the Com
mencement Committee to reconsider its deci
sion and include prayers in the graduation
ceremony.
The resolution pointed out that invocations
and benedictions at commencement ceremo
nies had been a long-standing tradition, and that
the prayers “offer a cultural and educational
experience by displaying different religions
traditions.”
The resolution also addressed a recent Su
preme Court decision — Lee vs. Weisman —
that banned prayer in kindergarten through the
12th grade, noting that the ruling did not apply
to poslsecondary institutions.
At the Commencement Committee meeting
last month, Herb Howe, associate to the chan
cellor and a member of the committee, had
raised questions about the graduation invoca
tion and benediction, and cited the Supreme
Court ruling.
The committee found that the decision was
not binding to college graduation ceremonies.
But James McShanc, an associate professor
of English and a committee member, said that
although the Supreme Court’s ruling did not
include college graduations, UNL had a re
sponsibility to be sensitive to students with
diverse religious backgrounds.
In a written statement, McShanc called for
prayers to be left out of the ceremonies for that
See COMMENCEMENTon 6
Left hand red
Gary Doyle, president of University Program Council, calls out the moves as Stephanie Meyer, a freshman
accounting major, and Andy Free, a junior business management major, await their next twist at the Twister-Rama
Thursday in the Nebraska Union Ballroom.
Firm donates
billboard space
to Harms hunt
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
A local outdoor advertising company has
dohaied billboard space to help in tnc
search for a missing University of Ne
braska-Lmcoln student.
Imperial Outdoor Advertising of Lincoln
has donated eight billboards to help promote
awareness of U NL fresh -
man Candice “Candi”
Harms, who has been
missing since Sept. 22.
The billboards are
yellow and black, with
Harms’ photo and a
Crime Stoppers tele
phone number. Along
with the photo is the
word “Missing.”
Martha LccChurch,
director of Imperial, said
she decided to donate the space when Todd
Sears, Harms’ boyfriend, called and asked for
the company’s rates. Church said some of the
company’s employees had suggested donating
space before Scars had called.
The first billboard was placed last week at
27th and Holdrcge streets. Church said other
billboards would be put up in Lincoln, Omaha
and smaller southeastern Nebraska cities, such
as Cercsco.
Sears said he was surprised Imperial do
nated so much space for the advertising.
f K+
See HARMS on 7
Graduates face tough market
Economic growth
doesn’t guarantee
job opportunities
By Kristine Long
Staff Reporter
Recent figures showing growth
in the U.S. economy have not
boosted the job market sig
nificantly, a UNL official said.
The job outlook for December
graduates is not much better than it
was for students who graduated last
spring, said Larry Routh, director of
Career Planning and Placement.
Although the job market usually
improves with economic growth,
people tend to think that employment
opportunities rely only on recession
and recovery, Routh said.
The job market is related to the
economy, Routh said, but many com
panies also have gone through struc
tural changes that will affect employ
ment.
For example, he said, companies
arc keeping their payrolls to a mini
mum, and arc hiring fewer white
collar workers and middle managers.
Cuts in the defense industry also
have contributed to the poor job mar
ket, Routh said.
Workers who used to be employed
in the defense industry now arc back
in the job force and competing with
college graduates, Routh said. This
makes it especially difficult to find
jobs in areas such as Southern Cali for
nia, where the defense industry was
once a dominant employer.
The best place for December gradu- ^
ales to find jobs is in the Midwest, m
where there arc fewer defense compa- M
nics and more agribusiness compa- ■
nies, Routh said. ■
“Agribusiness has weathered the V
recession quite well,” he said. “People I
will always need to cal.” j
Graduates need to be aware of the ■
industries that are growing or con
tracting, Routh said. And they should
focus on jobs related to health, human
services and agriculture, he said.
However, Routh said, students
shouldn ’ t pick careers based solely on
“supply and demand.” Instead, he said,
they must be aware of available op
See OUTLOOK on 6
The beet place for December graduates to find jobs is in the
Midwest The job outlook is not much better than it was for
students who graduated last spring. Graduates should focus
on jobs related to health, human services and agriculture.
Scott Maurar/DN
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