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Spanier to host
radio talk show
on local station
Listeners will get chance
to express their opinions
on university, other issues
By Michelle Leary
Senior Reporter
Starling Wednesday, University of Ne
braska-Lincoln Chancellor Graham
Spanier will address the public, not as a
guest speaker, but as a radio talk show host on
KFOR.
Spanier said he thought it was important for
the university to be more accessible to the
public.
“There are so many people who care about
the university and would like to know what is
happening,” he said. “The radio is a good way
to open the door and reach them.”
Spanicr’s one-hour program, which is titled
“To The Best Of My Knowledge," will feature
discussions on current issues with guests and
listeners.
“Because I’m hosting,” Spanier said, “the
show is likely to focus on the university, but I’m
not limiting the show to university issues.”
Spanier said his first show would deal with
gender equity venturing into sports avenues, as
well as hiring practices.
brad Hartman, ki-uk station manager, saia
he did not think any program like this had been
done before.
“We’ve had the chancellor here for inter
views before, just like the mayor and others,”
Hartman said. “But 1 think it’ll be really inter
esting to have him on the air as a host.
“The chancellor is a real open administra
tor,” he said. “And with this show, (Spanier)
wants to help make his office as approachable
as possible to the public.”
The show will air every other Wednesday.
Air lime is set for 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
“To have someone of Chancellor Spanicr’s
caliber should be great,” Hartman said. “He is
such a well-rounded guy, with a wonderful
background in so many subjects including broad
casting.”
Spanier said he worked as a radio announcer
in Chicago while in high school and in Ames,
Iowa, while gcuing a degree at Iowa State
University. He also worked as a newspaper
reporter as a teen-ager in Chicago and had a
television show while on Penn Stale University’s
faculty that dealt with social issues.
* Hartman said he could not wail for students,
as well as the public, to call in and complain or
share their thoughts.
“Listener participation will be encouraged
during the radio program,” he said.
Spanier said he wanted the callers to be the
driving force of the show.
“I hope they lake the opportunity to voice
their concerns about the university and the
myriad of other subjects we plan to cover,” he
said.
Spanier said a portion of the show’s revenue
would go toward a scholarship fund.
“It’ll be fun to sec this whole thing unfold,”
Hartman said.
Robin Trimarchi/DN
Kam China-Leung is a UNL astronomy professor whose worldly adventures have earned him the nickname
“Indiana Kam.”
Adventures of Indiana Kam
Professor's worldwide expeditions make him Jones-like
uy Jeffrey kodd
Staff Reporter
His career is lhal of a common
college professor, bul his around
ihc-world expeditions are what
truly set him apart.
He’s discovered the Ark of the Cov
enant and the Holy Grail and conquered
the Temple of Doom.
Oops, that’s Indiana JONES.
mBut at UNL, there’s
Indiana KAM, better
known as Kam-Ching
Leung, University of
Ncbraska-Lincoln
astronomy professor.
One of Leung’s
— graduate students first
coined the nickname. The banner the
student made to christen the nickname
still lines the lop of Leung’s ofTice
doorway.
Students and staff in the astronomy
department, Leung said, called him
Indiana Kam because “they feel that I’m
one of those crazy professors” like the
fictional Indiana Jones.
In some respects, the two arc similar.
Leung, 57, lakes breaks from the rigors of
teaching to trek to far-off places such as
New Guinea, Ecuador, China and many of
the Indonesian islands — too many, he
said, to recall all of them.
His goal is to collect tribal artifacts
from wherever he goes. He may wear a
floppy, Indiana Jones-type hat on such
trips, but the similarities with the bold,
brash movie character end there.
Leung carries no bull whip and cer
tainly no pistol. The three cameras he
hauls arc his only side arms. Guides
replace gorgeous sidekicks.
He has a soft-spoken personality.
Leung’s thin build seems odd for an
explorer of such rugged lands.
Leung was bom in Hong Kong and
later moved to Canada to attend college.
In 1970, he came to UNL from New York
City, where he worked for a branch of
NASA. He said UNL hired him to develop
an undergraduate program and an obser
vatory. The university had neither at the
time.
Leung says he doesn’t want people to
think he drops his astronomy work at a
minute’s notice to take off on an adven
ture.
His exploring is only possible because
of astronomy and research projects he
works on in other countries, he said. But
about 10 years ago, he started taking
advantage of those trips to explore
uncharted lands near die countries he
visited, he said.
Leung said he wanted to collect art
from tribal civilizations. Before long, he
said, he went “gung-ho” on art collecting.
Tribal works appealed to him, Leung said,
— 44
But when you’re in a certain
area, you’re aware that
you’re very mortal.
— Leung
astronomy professor
-ft -
because they were one of the most
original an forms. Modem abstract art has
borrowed many tribal ideas, he said.
The professor has been approached by
Sothebys, an auction house in New York,
to have some of his pieces auctioned for
him. But he said he wasn’t ready part with
any of them. r
But Leung has an ulterior motive as
well.
“The reason why I travel is that I’m
quite aware of the fact that around the
world there arc many vanishing cultures,
vanishing customs and habits,’’ he said.
“For those areas, if you don’t see it now,
maybe in two to three years these cultures,
habits and customs won’t exist.’’
The different cultures of the world
should try to co-exist, he said. Advances
in technology will continue to wipe out
many of these original civilizations, and
Leung says he wants to sec them before
they disappear.
See PROFILE on 3
Health aide positions difficult to fill, coordinator says
By Jo«l Strauch
Stan Reporter
Health aide coordinators say
they arc having a liulc trouble
filling aide positions in UNL
residence halls and Grock houses.
“There has been a general decline
(in health aides) because people are
working more at outside jobs," said
Carissa S imonsen, a health aide coor
dinator and a senior speech language
pathology and audiology major.
Getting information to students is key to boosting manpower
we ran a nuic behind last year,
said Karen Weed, health aide pro
gram coordinator.
Another problem is that students
think that you have to be in the medi
cal field to be a health aide, Simonscn
said. |
But Weed said that students could
be any major and live in any Greek
house or residence hall and still be a
health aide.
“Students don * t understand what a
* ~ (*4 •' - "
health aide does. We need to loot our
horn a little bit and make it known
what they do,” said Weed.
Weed said health aides were certi
fied in both first aid and CPR. Train
ing is provided by the University
Health Center before the semester
starts, she said.
They arc also required to take a
two-semester public health course
while they are aides, said Weed.
“It’s like on-the-job training ”
Health aides perform various rotes
from wrapping sprained ankles to re
ferring more serious problems to the
health center, Weed said.
“They are the communication link
between the health center and stu
dents.
“They hang up informative papers
on bathroom doors every week, called
‘John Johns.’ They also stand up at
floor moeiings and Greek meetings
and share a health topic,” she said.
*•«
Health aides can also provide over
the-counter medication to students.
A recent guideline by the Occupa
tional Safely Health Association re
quires health aides to receive Hepati
tis-B shots, Weed said.
The health center pay s for the three
shot scries, which is quite expensive,
Si monsen said.
“Health aides arc paid a stipend at
the end of the semester,” Weed said.
“They aren’t paid much, but it’s an
opportunity for students who care to
help other students.” .