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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1993)
Husker mei first towns Today, partly sunny and warmer. Tonight, dear with lows in tne mid-20s. [Weekend outlook, partly 8unn|M)vlth highs in the I___ ^ All welcome at mini-conference about diversity By Matt Woody Staff Reporter Those looking for an opportunity to learn about racial and ethnic diversity need look no further than the UNL First Annual Diversity Mini-Conference. Everyone is welcome at the conference, said John Harris, special assistant to the vice chan cellor for student affairs. The conference will take place April 3 in the Nebraska Union from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It is being co-sponsored by the Racial Pluralism Action Team and the Office of the Vice Chan cellor for Student Affairs. UNL student Charles McClendon said the conference was essentially a sequel to the di versity retreat that was held last fall. McClendon attended the retreat and is already registered for the mini-conference. “We want to pick up where we left off,” he said. But organizers hope the mini-conference will be more accessible to students. Because the mini-conference is located on campus, more people will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, Harris said. The conference will deal mostly with racial and ethnic issues, he said, including media, social and multicultural education aspects. These topics are similar to those dealt with at the retreat last fall, McClendon said. The 80 to 100 people who attended the retreat last fall identified racial barriers and race problems on campus and discussed pos sible solutions, he said. One suggestion from the last retreat was to require diversity classes at UNL, McClendon ' said. University Foundations touches on diver sity but doesn’t really delve into it much, he said. The mini-conference will include four dis cussion sessions and a video festival, Harris said. Some of the video titles are “Diversity in the Classroom’’ and “Racism 101.” Harris said one of the highlights of the conference would be a “Dear Abby”-type seg ment. Participants can write questions on a form, without signing it, and other participants will answer them. As of Wednesday, Harris said about 130 people had signed up for the free conference. He expected about 150 to 200 participants by the sign-up deadline today. Walk-in registration also will be allowed, Harris said. The deadline was set to help pre pare adequate space and materials. “Anybody will be able to come,” he said. _ Jeff Haller/DN By the letter Tom Anderson, a crew leader for Lincoln Electric System, works on * rerouting electric lines near Memorial Stadium Thursday. /:••?_ ' ' ' Completed dike eases threat on city’s water Rechanneling flood waters is only temporary solution, caution needed, mayor says By Jeff Zeleny Senior Reporter Lincoln Mayor Mike Johanns gave a cautious but optimistic all-clear signal Thursday to the city’s potential water problem after a dike was made in the Thomas Lakes near Ashland. The dike, completed Wednesday at 10 p.m., rechanneled about 90 percent of the flood wa ters back into the Platte River. This eased the stress placed on the 36-inch water pipe that was the last link to Lincoln’s water supply. The pipe is now virtually out of danger, Johanns said, if the weather cooperates. “If we get a rainfall, this could change overnight,” he said at a press conference. Crews worked at the site until 4 a.m. Thurs day building a temporary road by Thomas Lakes, which helped force the water back into its original channel in the Platte River. Johanns praised everyone involved for their nara wore. “There was a tremendous amount of work accomplished in a very short period of lime, but it’s very temporary,” he said. “This is not a situation where we can declare victory and move on to a new issue.” The 36-inch main located near the National Guard camp by Ashland could be seen above the water during an aerial inspection Thursday afternoon, Johanns said, which made the situa tion severe until the dike was finished. “That’s about as close as this mayor wants to get to catastrophe while working in this office,” he said. Work will continue on the Lincoln Water Treatment Plant by Ashland, Johanns said. A new valve will be installed within two days to make sure the pipe is working properly. Repair work on the damaged 48-inch water pipe will begin immediately, Johanns said. The city has supplies on hand, which will cut the cost of the project. The damage estimate is now about $4 mil lion, Johanns said after his Wednesday inspec tion. That figure is about $ 1 million higher than Johanns’ Tuesday estimate. National disaster officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency wereexpected to be in Lincoln Thursday night and all day Friday to inspect the damage. FEMA officials also will determine if Lincoln is eligible for federal financial aid. Sarpy County officialscontinued to blast the See WATER on 3 N.U regents to vote on presidential proposal By Kristine Long Staff naoonar_ The NU Board of Regents will vote on a proposal Saturday that would allow NU President Martin Massengale to stay in office until the day a new president could begin work. The main purpose of this proposal is to make the presidential transition easier byavoiding the hassle of hiring an interim chancellor, said James B. Milliken, executive assistant to the president and corporation secretary. Massengale announced earlier this semester that he would not seek ex tension of his contract, which ends Dec. 31,1993. Also under the proposal: • Massengale would receive his current salary until at least July 1,1994, or until the new president takes of fice. • After July 1, Massengale would receive transition development leave, which would pro vide him with a salary while prepar ing for his new job. • Once the new president takes over, Massengalc would be named president emeritus and would be ap pointed as continuous professor of agronomy. Regent Charles Wilson of Lincoln said he thought the regents would pass the proposal “I think the board has pretty much agreed to try and not have an interim president for just a few months," Wilson said. Milliken said the regents also would discuss the timetable for the presiden tial search. In 1990, Milliken said the presi dential search began in March or April and was completed in November. Wilson, chairman of the regents' governance committee, said the first step in the search was to write a formal job description. “This time we are expanding this routine activity by allowing an open meeting," he said. The governance committee will hold the meeting at 4 p.m. Wednes day at Varner Hall, Wilson said. input trom cnanceiiors, iacuity ana expert consultants will be considered at this meeting, he said. After this “input meeting,” WiIson said the governance committee would formulate a job description, which will be presented to the whole board at its April meeting. Also at the April meeting, the board will select a presidential search com mittee, which complies with the by laws. Wilson said the search committee See REGENTS on 3 Chicago Housing Authority chairman speaks at bheldon By Steve Smith Senior Editor___ Vince Lane, the housing au thority chairman who whipped a troubled inner-city Chicago housing project into shape, whippikl a Sheldon Gallery Audito rium audience into a standing ovation following his speech Thursday. About 60 University of Nebraska Lincoln students, instructors and ad ministrators followed Lane as he remi nisced on his five-year reign as chair man of the Chicago Housing Author ity and discussed his future plans for public housing in the city: * His lecture was part of the Hyde Lecture Series and was partially spon sored by the Student Planning Asso ciation of Nebraska. Lane was appointed chairman of CHA in 1988 after a distinguished career developing housing opportuni ties in the private sector for people with low and moderate incomes. After becoming chairman, Lane quickly implemented changes to im prove not only CHA’s buildings and living units but also the quality of life for the more than 150,000 CHA resi dents. When he inherited the worst city public housing authority in the United States, the U.S. government’s De partment of Housing and Urban De velopment was on the verge of com ing into the city to take CHA away unless change came quickly, Lane said. , “The thought of HUD coming in and running city housing was un thinkable,” he said. Lane said that when he looked at the high-rise public housing com plexes, he found they were in dire need of renovation. “The problem was, we found out that we owned these buildings but See LANE on 3
