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
