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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 "
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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."
