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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1994)
February 10, 1994 University of Nebraska-Lincoln ■*4 SPORTS Last-minute Breakaway Nebraska rallies in the final minute of play to beat Kansas State, 76-68, in Manhattan. Page 9 Thursday 24/12 Today,partly sunny and warmer. Vol. 93 No. 101 Jolly says his office will investigate complaints By Rainbow Rowell Senior Editor The Multicultural Affairs Office proba bly did nothing illegal during its recent hiring, said Eric Jolly, director of the UNL Affirmative Action and Diversity Office. Jolly’s office supervised the hiring search that MASA has protested, and now is investi gating whether Multicultural Affairs followed Equal Opportunity laws. He said he expected to uncover no violations from the investigation, which he said should be finished in about a week. But, Jolly said, whether the office broke the law was not the critical issue at hand. “We should be asking—why do people feel the hire was wrong?” Jolly said. “They feel their needs have not been met.” Friday, the Mexican American Student As -sociation announced a boycott of the Multicultural Affairs office, alleging unfair hir ing practices. Its complaint, Jolly said, was really about the environment of the office. “They don’t feel there is a voice for Hispanic concerns,” Jolly said. He said if the problem was not a legal one, it . did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Affir mative Action and Diversity Office. UNL math major to be on game show Why will students watch ‘Jeopardy’? By Julie Sobczyk Staff Reporter What would you do if you won $25,000? UNL student John Sweeney will have the chance to answer this question when he appears on the “Jeopardy!” College Championship Tournament. STUDENT profile Sweeney, a senior math major, will rep resent the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on the “Jeopardy! ” college tournament airing the week of May 2-9. “I feel good about representing UNL on national television,” Sweeney said. “I have some confidence, and I’ve done well up to this point. For instance, Sweeney knows how many letters are missing from the telephone — two, Q and Z. And he can tell you that before SOS was an international signal for distress, CQD — Come Quick, Danger — was the code. Sweeney learned of auditions for the tour nament while watching the show, and he was randomly chosen to participate in auditions. Sweeney was one of about 60 prospective college contestants from the Midwest who auditioned in November at Omaha’s Red Lion Inn. At the audition, students were given an exam with 50 questions from 50 different categories. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek was shown on video reading the questions to the contestants. -44 I would have liked to remain cool and collected about being accepted, but I couldn’t help being excited. —Sweeney, UNL Student -99 ~ Sweeney and another student passed the test, proceeded to another interview and played a mock “Jeopardy!” game to com plete the audition. “I felt the mock game went OK, and I had a good feeling about the audition,” Sweeney said. Although Sweeney made it through all phases of the tryout, he was not guaranteed a spot in the tournament. On Jan. 21, Sweeney received a Federal Express letter telling him he had won a place in the tournament. “1 would have liked to remain cool and collected about being accepted, but I couldn ’ t help being excited, Sweeney said. Sweeney said he was not reeling nervous about the tournament. “I hope my experience on ‘Jeopardy! ’ is better than the ‘Cheers’ episode when Cliff bets all his money in the final round and loses everything.” Taping for the College Championship Tournament will be Feb. 26 and 27, but Sweeney can’t reveal the outcome of the tournament until after it airs in May. “Being silent about my performance will just be something I have to put up with,” he said. He has been reading sports and literature Sandy Summers/DN John Sweeney, a senior math major, will represent the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the “Jeopardy!* college tournament. “I'm just going there to have fun,” Sweeney says. “Winning will just 6e the icing on the cake.” books to prepare for the show. He said he would be most successful in television, math and geography categories. Sweeney also said he watched “Jeopardy!” religiously to pre pare. “I’m trying not to stress out. I’m just going about my life as normally as 1 can.” Living a normal life might not be easy when he is viewed as a minor celebrity. “People come up to me and ask me about ‘Jeopardy!’ My friends point me out to peo ple I don’t know and tell them I’m going to be on the show,” Sweeney said. Sweeney is guaranteed at least $1,000, but he could win the grand prize of $25,000. “I’m not going to focus on winning,” he said.“I’mjust going to enjoy the success I do have.” When students feel uncomfortable, Jolly said, the entire university must work to change the situation. “Students need to go to every chancellor or dean or department head and make them feel the heat of their discomfort,” he said. Involving many departments and adminis trators in the discussion makes more people See JOLLY on 8 Other groups decline to join MAS A boycott By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter The Afrikan People’s Union and the Vietnamese Student Association have decided not to join the Mexican Amer ican Student Association’s Boycott of the Multicultural Affairs Office, MASA President Cathy Maestas said Wednesday. Lonnie Truong, president of VSA, said as a group it could not join the boycott, but supported MASA’s efforts. She said it was up to individ uals in VSA to join or not. However, Truong said, she thought the boy cott was affecting the wrong people. “They are hurting themselves,” she said. “I think there is other ways of (protest).” Not joining the boycott did not mean VSA would not take part in other forms of protest, Truong said, but a boycott was not what VSA thought would change things. “By doing this, no one is doing anything.” MASA is boycotting the Multicultural af fairs office for what it calls unfair hiring prac tices. The group claims the office considers minority students to mean African-American, but said the issue is not a Latino vs. African American one. Linda Morgan, president of APU could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. Thomas Parker, president of the University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange declined to comment Wednesday whether UNITE would join the boycott. Maestas said the other groups had their own reasons for not joining the boycott. “The best things for their organization is not the same as MASA,” she said. “They feel it would be best for them not to boycott.” MASA understands the groups not joining the boycott, Maestas said. In a closed meeting Wednesday night, MASA began to turn ideas into proposals for change to give to University of Nebraska-Lincoln admin istrators, Maestas said. See MASA on 6 Student shot accidentally by roommate From Staff Reports_ Ryan Tomaschtik, a University of Ne braska-Lincoln student, was acciden tally shot Tuesday night in his apart ment at 619 S. 20th St., police said. Tomaschtik, 21, was hit in the upper-right part of his chest when his roommate Ryan Crumly, also 21, was cleaning his .22-caliber Ruger semi-automatic pistol. The Lincoln Police reported there was no indication of foul play or alcohol involved in the incident. Tomaschtik, a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity, was listed in serious condition Wednesday at Lincoln General Hospital. He is currently in intensive care, a hospital spokes woman said. Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casadv said Crumly took Tomaschtik to the hospital, stop ping at a gas station to ask for directions to the nearest hospital. “We were able to interview both men,” Casady said. “It appears to be nothing more than an accidental snooting.”