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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1993)
4 A&E I I f:lfl§| Jlgpij True | romance' Patricia | mursoay i Arquette and 70/cn Christian Slater 79/50 » star in "wierd" * romance. stovers. Friday, Page 9 more of the same. Ex-Husker found guilty in fatal car crash By Jeremy Fitzpatrick Editor and Jeff Zeieny Senior Editor As Kenny Wilhite played his final season of Nebraska foot ball last year, his involvement in a car accident that killed an 11 year-old girl was being investigated in Platte County, Mo. Wilhite, a former Nebraska comerback, was found guilty of care less and imprudent driving for the accident that claimed the life of Ann Quick of Mexico, Mo. He was sen tenced to one year in jail after a May 17 trial in the Platte County Circuit Court, the Platte County prosecutor’s office said Wednesday.Wilhite ap pealed the cg$e and was released after posting 10 percent of a $3,500 bond. The accident took place on July 6, 1992. Wilhite and Lorenzo Brinkley, now a senior linebacker, were driving north on Interstate 29 near St. Joseph, Mo. when they collided with a mini van carrying five passengers. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne told the Daily Nebraskan Wednesday that he was aware of the accident when it took place, but he did not announce it. “I was aware of it,” Osborne said. “I was not aware of any sentencing. I thought that was all settled in court. “Why would I announce it?” he said.“Itwaspublic record. Ifthenews people would have picked it up, they would have printed it at the time.” According to the accident report filed by the Missouri Highway Patrol, Wilhite was driving 80 mph in a 65 mph zone when he struck the second car, driven by Kenneth Quick of St. Joseph, Mo. When the two vehicles collided, the van dnven by Quick skidded into the median, struck a guardrail and overturned on the driver’s side, the report said. The impact of the crash threw Ann Quick from the 1990 Dodge Caravan. She was Wllnlto trapped under neath the van and pronounced dead at the scene. Wilhite could not be reached for comment. His agent, Jim Fender, said Wednesday night that Wilhite was in Toronto, preparing to sign a contract with the Sacramento Gold Diggers of the Canadian Football League today. Brinkley said he was sitting in the passenger seat at the time of the acci dent. He recalled Wednesday what had happened. “It was a little bit after midnight,” he said. “I was in the passenger seat See CRASH on 3 System works to diversify administration University now hiring more women, minorities By Dionne Searcey Senior Reporter Last year, a white male was the most powerful administrator on each of the university’s four campuses. This year, two of the chancellors are women. They are part of a new diverse generation of administrators who are taking charge of the University of Nebraska. UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier has pledged to diversify the campus’ administra tion and encouraged other members of the university system to do the same. “It’s something that’s a high priority of mine and something the university hasn’t been as responsive to in the past as it might have been,” Spanier said. So far, numbers show that Spanier is keeping his word. Twenty-two percent of University of Ne braska-Lincoln faculty members hired in 1992 93 were minorities. Women constituted 32 percent of faculty members hired during the same time period. A number of vacancies over the past two years in upper-level administrative positions See SYSTEM on 6' Minister says church doesn’t fit cult mold By Chris Hain Staff Raportar The lead minister of the Lincoln Christian Church said although a recent cult aware ness forum may be targeting his church, he doesn’t think his church fits their character istics. The three-day cult awareness forum that concluded last night cited the local Lincoln Christian Church as fitting the description of a cult. Ron Gholston of Denver, who conducted the seminar, said a church that is abusive or as sumes authority over its members’ lives is a cult. Gholston was a sector leader of single adults in the Boston Church of Christ from 1985 to 1988, and was forced to leave when he wrote a 12-page letter citing abuses within the church. Gholston said the Lincoln Christian Church is a member of what he called the “Boston Movement.*' The movement has been identi fied by the Chicago-based Cult Awareness Network as one of the five most active cults on college campuses. \ Ken Hicks of the Lincoln Christian Church said his church was affiliated with the Boston Church of Christ, but he said there have been many changes in the church since Gholston left it five years ago. Hicks said his group is a normal, loving _____ See CULT on 6 Damon Loo/dm NU Vice President J.B. Milliken recalls his experiences with the University of Nebraska Tuesday. Mllliken, who received his bachelor’s of English degree from UNL in 1979, returned to work in the NU system in 1988. The other side NU administrative role suits a former student leader By Jeff Zeleny Senior Editor In 1978, J.B. Milliken led a student protest against the NU Board of Re gents’ decision to cut funding for guest speakers at UNL. The demonstration on the steps of Varner Hall was Milliken’s first experience with the central administration at •prvyfilp the University of Nebras 1 Fifteen years later. Miliiken, 36, sits in an office in the southeast cor ner of Varner Hall as one of five NU vice presidents and the regents' corpora tion secretary. I suppose there s some irony there, he says. “Fm not sure I could have predicted I would end up here." Milliken graduated in 1979 with a bach elor’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1983. After earning a juris doctorate, he prac ticed law at a Wall Street firm in New York Citv. But he says he knew that wasn't the right career choice for him. “I went to law school with the idea I would not practice law as a career," he says. “The whole time 1 was there I was thinking how I could get back to the public sector.” In 1988, then NU president Ronald Roskens hired Milliken as his executive assistant. The iob fulfilled an important career goal, Milliken says, which was work ing for an institution with a mission he believed in. | “The University of Nebraska certainly fit that bill," he says. “One of the reasons I wanted to come back and work at the Uni versity of Nebraska (was) the issues are ones I consider to be more important than issues I was dealing with as a Wall Street lawyer.” Although he was only 31 years old when he started dealing with important issues to shape higher education in the state, Milliken says he didn't feel too young for the job. Five years and two NU presidents later, Milliken says he is aging, but not because of university work. “I have to deal withscoresof complicated issues," he says. “I haven’t really thought of it as aging. My child has aged me more in seven weeks than this job has in five years. “I haven’t had a midlife crisis yet.” The last five years of work have been a challenge, Milliken says. Roskens resigned, and former UNL Chan cellor Martin Massengale was named a final ist to succeed him, which prompted other finalists to step down. Now, another presidential search is under -M I suppose there's some Irony there. I'm not sure I could have predicted I would end up here. —Milliken Nil corporation secretary -tf - way to replace Massengale, who announced last January he wouldn’t have his contract renewed. “I think this has been an exciting place to work for the past five years,” Milliken says. “You play the hand you’ve been dealt." Last January Milliken was named an NU vice president. The bigger job load requires a difficult balance, he says. “I’d be the first to admit I don’t always have things at equilibrium,” he says. Milliken now is responsible for university relations, federal affairs, public affairs and communications, in addition serving as cor poration secretary. In this position, Milliken says, he feels like he’s making a difference. “The issues we deal with here are critical to 50,000 students in any given day and certainly the state of Nebraska.”