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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1993)
> Tk "T" USliV ^ Shoot-out No^BSkdll ] jUbSt Massengale to stay on for extended term Regents set timetable, committee for NU presidential search The NU Board of Regents ap proved last week a plan to keep Martin Massengale as Nebraska president un over and then plan was approved last Sat urday by a 6-1 vote, with only Regent Robert Allen of Hastings opposing it. Andy Stock, the newly appointed student regent from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, raised ques tions about the plan, which would make Massengale UNL’s top-paid agronomy professor. Stock questioned whether an agronomy professor should be receiv ing such a high salary during a time of budget problems. “Who is this going to benefit?” he asked. “What kind of message is this going to send out to the constituents? “Are we doing what’s best for Dr. Massengale or are we doing what’s best for the students?” Regents Chairman John Payne of Kearney dismissed Stock ’ s objections and cited several of Massengale’s contributions to the NU system. Massengale’scontractendson Dec. 31, but he has agreed to continue to serve as NU’s president until June 31, 1994. Payne submitted a tentative time table for the presidential search. The timetable aims to establish a 17-mem ber presidential search committee by April 10. UNL student regent Andrew Sigerson urged the board to appoint two students, rather than one, to the search committee. Sigerson argued that one student could not accurately represent the feelings of 52,000 stu dents. Only regents Allen and Nancy Hoch of Nebraska City agreed with Sigerson, and the motion failed. According to the timetable, the search committee will begin work in * May and report back to the board in November with a list of candidates. The board will then conduct its final interviews and selecta new president. J.B. Milliken, secretary to the board, asked the board to consider a . search firm to help compile a list of candidates. Allen said the board should use all the help it could get. “We don’t want to have to do this again in another two years,” he said. "(We) should bring in a professional firm and have them help us in this extremely important activity.” The board decided to use a firm in a limited role, with the board of re gents doing the majority of the back ground checks themselves. The board also appointed Regent Nancy O’Brien of Waterloo as co chairman of the search committee. Under the rainbow Marti Cash, left, 5244 Prescott Ave., gets scarf-tying tips from Angie Barrett, executive director of Beauti Control Cosmetics, at the Lincoln Women’s Snow in the Bob Devaney Sports Center Sunday. The show’s exhibits included makeup, Jewelry, fashion and photography. Caution needed when mail-ordering, lawyer says By Michelle Leary Senior Reporter Last September, Eilleen and her fiance ordered a computer printer from a maga zine advertisement The ad, which ran in a reputable computer magazine, stated that H would take two weeks for delivery. That was seven months ago. Eilleen, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln transfer student does not want to disclose her last name because of a legal matter she is pursuing against the computer company. When she and her fiance did not receive their printer after the delivery period expired, they called the company and asked to speak to their original salesperson. “As it turned out, that person no longer worked for the company” Eilleen said, “and we were told that the printer was out of stock and to call back next week.” When they called back the next week, Eilleen said she and her fiance were told once again that the printer was out of stock. “We were getting tired of the runaround,” she said. So they contacted the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC protects consumers who shop by mail with regulations concerning delivery de lays and refunds. These regulations include requiring com pa nies to fill mail orders within 30 days if noother time is stated. The company is required to notify the customer if this deadline cannot be met. The customer is also given the option to accept the delay or cancel the order and receive a full refund. Eilleen said they decided to cancel the order after four weeks had passed and to demand a full refund. The printer cost about $750. “We had to continue calling the company back, though, because they were suppose to mail the refund out 14 days after we canceled, but wc hadn *t heard or seen anything,” she said. See MAIL on 6 Car accident injures former football player By Jeff Zeleny Senior Reporter _ _ Former NU football player Tyrone Byrd was listed in satisfactory condition Sun day, less than a week after being in volved in a one-car accident in New Mexico that left another UNL student dead. Alston Stone, a junior education major, was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at Cibola General Hospital in Grants, N.M., last Monday, said Capt. Bill Kuehl, New Mexico State Patrol assistant information officer. 8m related story on page 7. Stone, 22, ofTexarkana, Texas, was driving westbound on Interstate 40 near Grants at 6:45 a.m. MST when he lost control of his 1986 Toyota two-door car. It reportedly skidded across the highway and roiled three times, Kuehl said Sunday. Stone was not wearing a seat belt, and was thrown from the car, according to the state patrol accident report. Byrd, 23, a senior sociology major, was a passenger in the car and sustained numerous injuries. He was airlifted from Cibola General Hospital to University Hospital in Albuquer que, N .M., said Annie Olson, director of hospi tal public relations. Byrd entered the hospital with multiple trauma injuries, Olson said, which means there were too many injuries to detail. The upgraded satisfactory condition means there is virtually no threat to his life, she said. “He is conscious, alert, awake and able to communicate," Olson said from Albuquerque, N.M., Sunday. “His vital signs are stable.’1 Byrd remains in the trauma unit of the hospital, but is expected to move to a regular nursing unit of the hospital today. Byrd, of Chandler, Ariz., was a free safety and four-year tettcrman for the Cornhusker football team. He was reportedly on his way home for spring break when the accident oc curred. Olson said his mother, Sabrina Byrd, had been with him all week, and didn’t want spe cific details on her son’s back injuries released. It was unknown Sunday if he was paralyzed. Kuehl said alcohol was not involved in the accident, and the road and weather conditions were clear at the time of the accident Officials say entry into computer age benefits students By Marti Harms Staff Reporter ■ During the last 10 years, com puters have become the stan dard medium for students writing class papers, but some worry the change from typewriter to per sonal computer has decreased the quality of student writing. A recent New York Times article said many educators were concerned that students using computers might put less care and thought into their writing than if they used a pen or type writer. Students also may be writing wordier compositions, aocording to the article. Professors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say spelling, at least, has improved because of com puter spell-checking programs. Most body text has become cleaner with fewer typos, and, to some extent, gram mar has improved. Les Whipp, professor of English, said computers helped with superfi ralriilatrir in that " il MlKtaldlUlldlUl 1IIUI41M.I1M;, sonal computers. “The computer helps students ex plore ideas and discover things be cause it's so much easier to get it down,” he said. “Once students start musing and thinking on the keyboard, I think the quality of ideas tends to improve." Dane Kennedy, associate profes sor of history, said he did npt think the quality of student writing had changed much or that students were writing wordier papers. Kennedy said the writing quality still depended on the students ability. “People who ramble still do and who don’t, don’t,” he said, fessor Gerry Brookes, vice chairman of the English department, said computers initially had the effect of making the papers longer, but the trend had tapered off. He said computers made papers cleaner and easier to grade, but also gave students a new set of excuses for late assignments: •“The dog ate my disk.” • “My machine crashed.” •“I can't get this thing U> print."