ASUN to tackle minority bill
before swearing in executives
By Andrea Kaser
Staff Reporter
Before the swearing in of new ex
ecutive officers tonight, ASUN will
consider adopting a policy of spon
soring racial minority students to at
tend educational
conferences.
If the bill is ap
proved, the Asso
ciation of Students
of the University
of Nebraska would
make a bylaw to
set aside $1,000 each year for minor
ity students from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln’s four recognized
racial minority student organizations
to go to educational conferences, said
Andrew Sigerson, outgoing ASUN
president.
Those organizations include the
Afrikan People’s Union, the Malay
sian Student Association, the Mexi
can American Student Association
and the Vietnamese Student Associa
tion.
On returning from conferences,
students would give reports about what
they teamed to ASUN, Sigerson said.
Sigerson said he and Vice Chan
cellor for Student Affairs James
Griesen worked on the policy together.
He also has spoken with the groups
about the travel fund, he said.
“I think that’s a going to be a major
step at least to bridging some of the
gap” between ASUN and minorities,
Sigerson said.
Another bylaw change to be con
sidered tonight would combine the
Student Life and Scholastic comm is-,
sions, serving as both a liaison be
tween the Academic Senate and an
appointment-making body.
Sigerson said the senate had trouble
keeping the head positions of those
commissions filled.
Members of student government
also will vote on a bill calling for more
undergraduate student involvement
in the International Teaching Assis
tants Institute, and present an honor
ary plaque to former University of
Nebraska Athletic Director Bob
Devaney.
After the regular meeting is ad
journed, the swearing-inccremonies
will begin.
President-elect Keith Benes and
Second Vice President-elect Jill
Anderson will give speeches at
tonight’s ceremony.
Sigerson and Second Vice Presi
dent Elizabeth Healey will give fare
well speeches, but First Vice Presi
dent Trent Steele will say both
goodbye and hello again, having been
re-elected to the same position.
Sigerson said he had confidence in
Benes and that the transition would go
smoothly.
“I think Keith will be ready to go
when he steps in. I’m .. . trying to
leave him where we are on certain
topics ... so he doesn’t have to
reinvent the wheel,” he said.
Legislature
Continued from Page 1
“The essence of the bill is to create
a continuing support system for the
child for postsecondary education,”
Beutlcr said.
Betty Peterson, commissioner for
the Nebraska Com mission on the Sta
tus of Women, supported the bill.
In a letter to the committee,
Peterson wrote that all too often the
absent parent’s financial assistance
ended and the custodial parent was
unable to provide adequate support.
* “The potential scholar is unable to
continue her or his education,” she
wrote. “The bill is a possible remedy
for such students.
“(The bill) at least provides an
opportunity and a way for parents to
contribute to that education and the
best possible start for their children as
they set out on their own,” Peterson
wrote
LB568 is similar to LB 1265, which
was introduced by Beutler last year.
The bill was heard and indefinitely
postponed by the judiciary commit
tee. ■
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Andrew Sigerson, outgoing president of ASUN, said he stuck to his guns while in office,
and hopes the new leaders can do the same.
Sigerson
Continued from Page 1
state senators and had been the
chairman of the Committee for
Fees Allocation. He also ran be
cause he thought he could help
ASUN could accomplish more.
“I just thought I could do the
- job. I guess you have to have some
ego to do something like this,” he
said.
Sigerson said his drive comes
from his parents. His mother runs
her own hair salon, and his father is
a State Farm Insurance agent and
was the most recent chairman of
the Douglas County Republican
Party. Through their examples, he
says, they showed him that leader
ship was valuable. Childhood
memories of working along with
his father have given him an opti
mistic outlook on politics.
“It’s fun for a kid to walk in a
parade and hold balloons,” he said.
But today, Sigerson admits he’s
much more serious.
One thing he said he would do
differently was his press confer
ence at the Stale Capitol, when he
protested proposed university bud
get cuts.
He made some state senators
angry, which he said was his point.
But he also said he carried it too
far, nearly burning some of his
bridges.
Despite such sober lessons,
Sigerson is quick to say ASUN has
accomplished a lot during his term,
both with issues student govern
ment faces every year with issues
ASUN hadn’t ever faced before.
ASUN’s influence brought
great improvements in campus
safety, he said.
“Those blue phones are there ■
because ASUN came up with that
safety surcharge,” he said, adding
that ASUN helped research where
the phones were needed and came
up with the plan to pay for them.
Sigerson also said ASUN had
helped reduce the limit on over
selling parking permits.
ASUN was more active in im
proving minority affairs, Sigerson
said, by involving senators in di
versity conferences and inviting
minority groups to take part in
protesting the university Dudgct
cuts.
Sigerson says he is most proud
that members of ASUN took a
stand on issues and stuck to their
principles.
“I see a lot of people who get
~ involved that change their stripes
pretty often,” he said. “I really felt
that we didn't do that.”
Sigerson, a business econom
ics major, will graduate in August
and hopes to attend the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln College of
Law. -t '
Theater
Continued from Page 1
About 15 people attended the
association's first meeting in March,
where they formed committees, such
as finance and scenery, to start plan
ning for productions.
They plan to meet again in April,
and King hopes to see more African
American students interested in the
ater at the second meeting.
In addition, King hopes to gain
some new members as a result of the
group’s booth at Freshman Friday.
Dingle said the group is pursuing
several financing options.
“It’s still kind of up in the air where
we’re gonna get the money from,’
Dingle said.
The theater group would like to get
backing from the Theater Department,
Dingle said, for example, by being
allowed to use the department’s set
and stage facilities for performance
and production.
Dingle said she did not,want to
require members to pay dues in order
to finance the group, because this
might discourage interested students
from joining. She pointed out that
students involved in other theater pro
ductions did not have to pay dues.
“I think there’s a lack of diversity
in the Theater Department,” Dingk
said. “Itcould benefit from more At
rican-American students as actors.”
Other avenues for financing which
the group might pursue include ap
plying for state grants to support mi
nority groups in the arts and general
fund-raisers conducted by the group’s
members.
King felt the organization woulc
be beneficial to all members of the
university community.
“I’m very glad that UNL is able tc
have a black theater association, be
cause it will help not only Africar
Americans but just broaden cultural
diversity for UNL in general,” Kins
said.
UNL class offered by satellite
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln will use satellite technology to
offer a computer design course to
participants nationwide.
Beginning Thursday, the basic
design course will help non-artists
incorporate graphics in newsletters,
flyers, brochures and other multime
dia work, said Melanie Eirich, who
will conduct the sessions. Eirich is a
UNL computer graphic artist in the
Institute of Agriculture of Natural
Resources.
Each session will feature profes
sional design principles that can be
implemented through a variety of
computer systems. Programs will ex
amine logo design, the use of basic
shapes, 3-D elements of shading, lay
out skills, color usage, scanned im
ages and other graphic effects.
Participants in tnc course will send
samples of their work and any ques
tions they have to Eirich by fax or
mail. Eirich will respond through cor
respondence or will demonstrate the
answer to specific questions during
the next televised program.
Non-profit craft store moves
Helping Hante jpaylnarkci will
open Thursday in\lfte tower level of
the Apothecary, 8th and P streets.
The store is intended to provide a
sales outlet for handcrafted items made
by needy people in more than 40
countries, including the United States.
Helping Hands has been in Lin
coln for more than 10 years, with the
original shop located in Piedmont.
The store is unique because it is a
non-profit shop where volunteers as
sist customers with their gift selec
tions.
The Haymarkct store is scheduled
to be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday.
Peer
Continued from Page 1
quartilc when U.S. News and World
Report rated the country’s colleges
and universities last fall.
UNL was in the third quartilc.
Both Oklahoma State and Kansas
State failed to make the National Sci
ence Foundation’s list of the top SO
public research universities in the
country.
UNL made the list at No. 48.
But, Stahl said, many factor were
considered when the commission
picked the peer group.
“We have a 38-page document that
helped us decide,” he said. “We look
I at an institution’s role, administra
tion, progress, size, wealth... things
like that. We tried to pick institutions
i that would combine all of those and
mirror UNL as much as possible.”
Stahl said he already had received
a letter from UNL Chancellor Gra
ham Spanier stating disagreement with
the commission’s choices. And he
said that while NU President Martin
Massengalc had not yet taken a stand,
he thought Massengale “probably
(would) disagree with it, too.”
However, Stahl said he didn’t per
ceive the different lists as a clash
between the university and the com
mission —just a “difference of opin
ion.”
“I think in our jobs — all of our
jobs—there’sroom for differences of
opinions,” he said. “I can certainly
live with that, and I hope others can,
too.”
The commission ’ s peer group, Stah I
said, was not intended to be the back
bone of every decision made by its
members concerning UNL.
“In the overall scheme of things,
this list is only one of many tools that
help us in making decisions,” he said.
“1 think there’s been a lot of confusion
on that. We really don’t attribute as
much importance on the list as some
people interpret.
“Anything of this sort must be used
in context and with good judgment, as
with anything else.
