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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1993)
miS University of Nel August 24, 1 993 i SPORTS Osborne speaks up about the resignation of University of Washington coach Don James. Tuesday 80/35 Today, mostly sunny and hot Wednesday, partly cloudy and cooler. -Lincoln Vol. 93 No. 3 Former chancellor’s new job upsets some regents By Alan Phelps Swbr Reporter Former UNK Chancellor Will iam Nester says his new uni versity job is valuable, but news of the arrangement has rankled some NU regents. Nester, who moved to Cincinnati after recently retiring from the head post at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, last week began six months of full-time work as the special assis tant to NU President Martin Massengale. He isbeingpaidareported $56,900 for the work, equal to half a year of his old salary. Regent Don Blank ofMcCook said members of the NU Board of Regents were surprised Nester had been given the position. “The regents had no idea this was happening, he said. Blank said sev eral regents wondered whether Nest ed s new duties might not be per formed by central staff already on the payroll. “Dr. Nester lives in Cincinnati, and we’re paying a full salary for six months,” Blank said. “Is that going to be a workable situation?” Blank said he had not spoken with Massengale about the appointment, but other regents had. “There are some regents who have some real concerns,” he said. Nester, speaking from Cincinnati, said he would spend most of his pro fessional time in a Lincoln office, and would pay commuting costs himself. He said he also would be visitingwhh potential donors to the NU Founda tion around the country in the months ahead. r. I have an appointment to see one this week,” he said. Nester said except for what he had read in newspapers, he was unaware of concerns about his new post. “All I know is that there are a number of important tasks to be done for the University of Nebraska gener ally and for the University of Nebras ka at Kearney,” he said, “and each of these entities will receive far more value from the arrangement than what ever the salary may be.” Nester said Ik did not plan to con tact any of the regents about their concerns. “That’s the role of the oresident and his communication with the re gents,” he said. Joe Rowson, NU spokesman, said Nester’s new job did not fit the de scription of a normal assistant’s posi tion. Rather than organizing workloads or acting as a chief of staff, Nester’s duties will be more wide-ranging, he said. Along with assisting new UNK Chancellor Gladys Styles Johnston in See NESTERon 3 'oundation gives UNL millions Grant could thrust state into spotlight By Steve Smith Senior Report* The university’s top brass gathered with Sen. Bob Kerrey, Gov. Ben Nelson and educators from around the state Tuesday to unveil a multi-million dollar research and development program. The S2.6 mill ion-a-year grant from the National Science Foundation will allow sci ence research and development at the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln and other state institutions to move into the national lime light. EPSCoR, the Experimental Program to - Stimulate CompetiUve Research, is a 15 yearHola agenda established by the National Science Foundation. The program was cre ated in response to congressional concern about the distribution of federal research and development funding, EPSCoR State Director Royce Ballinger said. Before the inception of EPSCoR, about 60 percent of the federal research and devel opment funds were going to five states, he said. Nearly SO percent of the states with the lowest federal support received less than 10 percent of the total research and develop ment budget, Ballinger said. Because of this inconsistency, the Na tional Science Foundation decided to set aside a special pool of its research funds for states, such as Nebraska, that had low feder al research and development support. These funds were to be awarded on a competitive basis. For a state to receive this type of grant, it must be designated by Congress as E PSCoR eligible, and must use the funds to help build research infrastructures and increase levels of competitiveness. Currently 18 states and Puerto Rico com pete for NSF-EPSCoR funding, Ballinger said. Nebraska was designated as eligible for EPSCoR in 1991.Kerrey, who played a piv otal role in assuring Nebraska’s eligibility for the aid, praised the grant. He expressed optimism about EPSCoR, but sidestepped the notion that he alone was responsible for bringing the program to Nebraska. “I find this program to be extremely exciting,” he said. “But this was not an announcement of me bringing home the bacon.” The Nebraska senator said a group effort was made to bring the program to Nebraska, and he praised Nelson s efforts and those of the rational peer reviewers, who ultimately had the last word in making Nebraska eligi -Jute Mfcoiafdk/DN Sen. Bob Kerrey announces a multi-million dollar research and development grant In Behlen Laboratory Monday. , ble for the grant. Nelson said he was eager to begin an important partnership between Nebraska and EPSCoR, adding that the receipt of the funds would put UNL in new fields where it could gain national attention. “Nebraska's academic institutions have an outstanding history of excellence in re search,” the governor said. “State govern ment has always been a strong supporter of those efforts." EPSCoR is not only forging new ground in research ami development, but the pro gram also could benefit business, Kerrey See KERREYon 3 Regents approve tuition increase, prayer By Steve Smith ScoteJKfcfe The summertime labors of the NU Board of Regents might translate into more work for some UNL students, but not on their studies. In June, the regents approved a 5 percent tuition increase at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The new rate for undergraduate residents is $64.30 per credit hour, a 4.9 percent increase from last semester’s $61.30 per credit hour coat, university officials said. Nonresident undergraduate students also will experience a 3.1 percent increase, raising tu ition from $167.50 per credit hour to $176. Graduate students’ tuition rates also were hiked this year. Resident rates will jump from $81.50 to $85.50 per credit hour, and nonresi dent rates will go from $20125 to $21125 per credit hour. The tuition hike went along with the Nebras ka Legislature’s budget recommendation for UNL for the next biennium. The University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Nebras ka at Kearney and the University of Nebraska Medical Center also approved tuition increas See REGENTS on 3 Bjorklund tapes played at hearing By Jeff Zeleny Senior Editor The day Scott Barney and Roger Bjorklund were arrested, the Lincoln Police De partment conducted an extensive stake out at the Goodyear Credit Union, waiting for what they thought to be a second burglary in three months. The burglary was never committed because the two suspects knew the police were on their trail, Lincoln Detective Sgt. Greg Sorensen said Monday in Lancaster County District Court. It was the second day of suppression hearings in Bjorklund’s first-'* was going to be robbed by Mr. Barney and Mr. Bjorklund,” Sorensen said during his second day of testimony. Barney, 24, and Bjorklund, 31, were both arrested on Dec. 2,1992 for possess ion of stolen property ami suspicion of being involved in a string of Lincoln robberies last fall. They were later charged in the murder of University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Candice Harms. Sorensen said police were conducting sur veillance on Barney and Bjorklund for several days. That surveillance eventually led investi gators to numerous tips, including a storage unit at 52nd Street and Comhusker Highway that Bjorklund rented to store a stolen car. Sorensen said Bjorklund told him the car was to be used in the credit union robbery. Police gained additional evidence about Barney and Bjorklund’s alleged robbery at tempt from a wiretap placed on Barney’s tele phone. barney maae iour cans 10 aporisincn s Guide, a hunting and military supply center, to order pepper gas and smoke grenades, which police suspected was intended for use in the robbery. In a Nov. 30,1992 telephone call played in court, Barney told the Sportsmen's Guide oper ator he needed the items immediately, and requested they be shipped with same-day air service. Barney called the supply center three more times to check on the progress of the order. Bjorklund called Barney early in the morn ing of the suspected robbery and told him they needed to hurry. "We’ve got to go man," Bjorklund said in the phone recording. "We’ve got to go right now." After no robbery occurred at the Goodyear Credit Union, Sorensen said, police decided to arrest the pair anyway. “The danger they were giving to the commu nity outweighed letting our surveillance activ i further,” he said. fore Bjorklund was arrested, he made a call to Barney from his cellular telephone. "Scott they’re on me right now," Bjorklund said in the recording. ’They’re following me all over hell. Now a car’s got me, they've got me trapped. Scott Helvie, chief deputy Lancaster County public defender, made a motion to close the hearings to the press, but was again denied by District Judge Donald Endacott. Helvie has entered 18 motions tolkeep evi dence out of the Oct. 18 trial, including wiretap evidence and statements Bjorklund made to police after his arrest. Helvie will begin his cross examination of Sorensen today.
