Monday
February 22, 1993
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 92 No. 108
20/5
Today, partly sunny.
Tonight, partly cloudy.
Tuesday, partly sunny
with highs in the mid 20s.
Spanier wants
E-m^iiJor all
ccording to University of Nebraska
Lincoln Chancellor Graham Spanier,
electronic mail, or sending messages
between computers, is the communication of
the future.
“I’d like to see UNL, in a couple of years, be
at the point where every faculty, staff member
and student has E-mail,” Spanier said.
Faculty, staff and graduate students at UNL
can use electronic mail to communicate with
people as close at hand as their own depart
ments and as far away as overseas.
Right now, undergraduate students need
class authorization to get an E-mail account,
but the university is looking at ways to make E
mail available to all students, said Donna Liss,
coordinator of information management at
UNL.
Spanier said he would like to see all of
UNL’s residence halls wired for E-mail in the
near future. The growth curve in E-mail use, he
said, is “phenomenal.”
Spanier said he received between 10 and 30
messages a day through E-mail, about four of
which come from out-of-state.
Before Spanier came to the university, Liss
said, he checked to make sure he would have
electronic mail.
Recently, Liss said, Spanier told her that he
checks his E-mail messages before his phone
By Matthew Grant
Staff Reporter
See E-MAIL on 6
Jeff Halter/ON
ONE, two, three ...
Ron Albertson of the Lincoln band Mercy Rule sets the music in motion Saturday night at the Big Red Rock-O-Rama
in the East Union. See story on page 9.
Financial aid changes to benefit dependents
Existing, proposed items
should be fused to curb
costs, UNL official says
By Angie Brunkow
Staff Reporter
President Clinton’s best bet for refining
the way students get money to pay for
college is to combine elements from
both the existing and proposed financial aid
systems, a UNL official said.
John Beacon, director of financial aid at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said national
leaders should consider the proposals of the
National Commission on the Responsibilities
for Financing Postsecondary Education while
retaining aspects of the current system.
The commission, which was comprised of
educators and civic leaders, was created by
Congress two years ago to respond to concerns
about the rising costs of college education.
The full impact of the Congressional plan
passed last year to deal with the problem will
not be felt by students until next year, Beacon
said.
Beacon said many of the commission’s rec
ommendations, such as offering students a mix
of grants and loans based on need, were similar
to the existing program.
“I hope they don't throw out the baby with
the bath water,” he said. “With a combination
of the two, taking advantage of what’s good in
both, we could have abetter program in the long
run.”
Beacon said the commission’s proposals
regarding Pell Grants, direct loaning and na
tional service should be considered and possi
bly added to the current system.
The amount available for students through
Pell Grants has been decreasing, he said.
Every year Congress authorizes a setamount
of funding for the grams. However, it has not
met the amount appropriated since the program
began in 1972, Beacon said.
As a result, the program has recorded a
shortfall of about$ 1.4 billion. Money appropri
ated for grants each year then has to be used to
make up the difference.
The commission’s proposal to absorb smaller
grants into the Pell Grant and eliminate the gap
between the authorized funds and those actu
ally received would solve the problem, Beacon
said.
"I hate to see the Pell Grant program dwin
dling,” he said.
The commission also proposed taking the
job of primary lender away from private banks
and giving it to the government.
Direct loaning to students from the govern
ment would save taxpayers the fee the govern
ment pays to banks for administering the loans,
and the fee students pay to banks for doing
business. Together these savings could amount
See BUDGET on 6
Adjusted formula to mean
fewer grants, more loans
effective next school year
By Kathryn Borman
Staff Reporter
More students will be eligible for fi
nancial aid in 1993-94, but the assis
tance will be in the form of loans
rather than grants, a UNL official said.
John Beacon, director of scholarships and
financial aid at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, said dependent students would find
themselves eligible for more assistance, while
independent, married students would be less
eligible.
The Office of Scholarships and Financial
Aid prepared a report on the expected impact of
recent changes in student financial aid regula
tions. Beacon said he subm itted the report to the
NU Board of Regents last Saturday. >
Congress passed a package of higher educa
tion amendments, referred to as the
reauthorization of student financial aid, which
was signed into law by former President Bush
in July.
A change in the standard maintenance al
lowance, which is the base-level of income
from which need is calculated, will alter eligi
bility for financial aid, Beacon said.
The new calculation is based on a combina
lion of the former Congressional and Pell Grant
formulas.
The new standard maintenance allowance
for a dependent student is $1,750. The former
Congressional standard was based upon zero
income and the Pell Grant formula used the
figure of $4,200.
The higher standard maintenance allowance
means that dependent students would be eli
gible for more aid, but the increase will gener
ally be in loans rather than grants. Beacon said.
Beacon said Pell Grants would meet the
needs of fewer students than last year because
of the lower base calculation, and because
fewer dollars were allocated per student.
“Fewer students will qualify,” Beacon said.
“Those who do qualify will get less.”
Students who qualify for Pell Grants for the
coming school year would receive awards of
$2,300, compared to grants of $2,400 in 1992
93.
The reduction in Pell Grants is the result of
an attempt by Congress to offset the program's
$1.4 billion shortfall.
Beacon said dependent students of middle
income families would benefit most from the
changes. Most families with less than a $50,000
income would be allowed to exclude assets
from their calculation of contribution. No fam
ily would be required to include home and farm
equity.
See AID on 6
Three-year degree program not tor UNL, officials say
to earn a degree
For freshman ^
entering UNL
By Mailt Harms
Staff Report*
In an era when college students
are taking more time to gradu
ate — atUNL only 17 percent
of entering freshmen graduate in four
years—some colleges and universi
ties are bucking the trend by pushing
for three-year bachelor's degree pro
grams.
r
College are among the institutions
considering three-year programs that
based loosely on those used
England and Germany,
to the Chronicle of Higher
^klbefc
rding'i
■Ration.
^ProDonc
Proponents of the three-year plan
say it would save students money and
add focus to their educational experi
cnce.
According to a s
American Council
percent of college administrators say
students are taking longer to graduate
because of finances. A three-year de
gree program would cut the cost of
education for students and speed up
their entry into the iob market.
However, the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln is not considering a
three-degree program, officials said.
“For Oberlin and Stanford, it may
be more of an economic imperative/’
said John Peters, dean of the college
of arts and sciences.
Peters said tuition at Stanford was
close to $24,000 yearly, and such
institutions must look at ways urease
the financial burden on students.
Joan Leitzel, senior vice chancel
lor for academic affairs, said she was
not surprised that expensive private
colleges are looking at three-year pro
grams in order to cut costs.
‘‘A three-year program has ben
efits if the goal is efficiency and
streamlining, Leitzel said, “but that’s
not the goal I think this university
should have. I never thought of educa
tion as an efficient process.’’
She said the U.S. public education
system is not generally designed to
prepare students for an accelerated
undergraduate career.
She said the European model does
not compare well with that of the
United States because European stu
dents receive more preparation be
See 3-YEARS on 6