ROTC at UNL escapes national cuts
by ueura Janssen
Senior Reporter __
At a time when some universities’
ROTC programs are falling by the
wayside to budget cuts, Nebraska’s
programs are going strong, UNL mil i
tary officials said.
Because of military downsizing,
several smaller schools have had to
drastically cut their programs; some
have had to shut down.
But not the programs at the Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln.
Army Capt. Gene Hciland said
UNL’s Army ROTC program was not
going anywhere, and although the
program had become smaller in the
last five to 10 years, it had become
better.
“The university has quite a reputa
tion nationally,” Heiland said.
Seventy-five cadets strong, Army
ROTC competes nationally and inter
nationally, he said. In last year’s na
tional summer camp competition, a
UNL student placed first in his pla
toon.
Some of UNL’s Army ROTC stu
dents go on to medical school, dental
school, law school and graduate
school, Heiland said. Others are sta
tioned in Bosnia, Germany, Korea,
Alaska, Hawaii and many other U.S.
states.
And when other ROTC programs
fall on hard times, they look to UNL
for leadership.
Heiland said he received calls from
ROTC teachers from Colorado State
University, Seattle University and
Texas Tech asking what UNLdid that
made its program so strong.
“1 told them we got quality stu
dents,” Heiland said.
Hciland said quality ROTC stu
dents came to UNL to be a part of its
strong academic programs in such
areas as engineering, business, pre
medicine and journalism.
“When our students leave here,
they are well-rounded in their fields,”
Hciland said.
Hciland said UNL attracted stu
dents from Iowa, Missouri, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Minncsotaand
Colorado.
Another reason UNL drew in qual
ity students was because it offered
scholarships that paid 100 percent of
recipients’ tuition, he said. Many
schools offer scholarships that pay for
only 80 percent of recipients’ tuition,
he said.
Members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Army
ROTC unit march past UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier
and officers during the annual review last Friday.
“We’re just a better buy,” he said.
Last year. Army ROTC offered 42
scholarships, and 20 were accepted,
Hciland said.
A large, supportive alumni organi
zation also gives additional scholar
ships, he said.
But the Army ROTC program is
not the only military branch that re
mains strong at UNL.
Air Force Maj. Nicholas Moore
said Nebraska started a trend in
strengthening Air Force ROTC pro
grams.
“Things arc looking good, and
they’re only gelling belter,” Moore
said.
Moore said the strength of the pro
gram laid with its high-caliber stu
dents.
“The strength lies with the people
— faculty and students,” Moore said.
“The vital and critical strength lies
with the students.”
About 60 students arc enrolled in
Air Force ROTC, he said, and more
than 85 arc expected to be enrolled in
the fall.
Moore said he expected a large
freshman class with an increased num
ber of out-of-stale students who were
coming for the meteorology program.
UNL is one of the few schools in the
nation with a meteorology program
recognized by the Air Force.
Naval Capt. David Stopp said al
though UNL’s Naval ROTC program
had decreased from more than 100
midshipmen to 75 in the last five to 10
years, its retention rate, the number of
students who stay with the program,
made up for the decline. Diversity and
high-quality students keep the pro
gram strong, he said.
He said downsizing of U.S. armed
forces was responsible for the decrease.
Downsizing also was responsible
for the Secretary of the Navv’s 1991
decision to close five Navy ROTC
programs in 1995.
The universities of Missouri, New
Mexico, Minnesota, Utah and Texas
Tech were scheduled to close their
Navy ROTC programs in 1995. Last
summer, the Secretary of the Navy
reversed that decision for four of those
schools. Texas Tech still will close in
1995.
Roger Hawkes, executive navy of
ficer at the University of Missouri,
said the school would have to rebuild
its Navy ROTC program from scratch.
Because the program has not taken
a freshmen class since 1991, it is
down to only 13 students. Faculty has
been cut to two members, and teach
ing materials have been sold.
_Hawkes said recruiting was
Missouri’s biggest problem, because
students thought the program still was
closing.
Army Capt. Richard Addison at
the University of Missouri also said
downsizing had caused some difficul
ties in recruiting and personnel.
Addison also said it wasdifficult to
recruit students who believed that be
cause the Army was getting smaller, it
didn’t need them.
“It’s hard toconvince them that the
Army is still a viable career option,”
Addison said.
But just because ROTC programs
are reducing their numbers doesn’t
mean they will reduce their quality,
Addison said.
Army Capt. Mary Moon at Colo
rado State University agreed.
“We will do more with less,” she
said.
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Home economics
master’s program
to be available
soon via satellite
From Staff Reports_
The first home economics master’s
degree program to be delivered via
satellite will beoffered by UNLbegin
ning next fall.
The program will be offered
throughout tnc state during the 1994
95 school year, and then it will be
come national,said KarenCraig,dcan
of the College of Human Resources
and Family Sciences at the University
of Nebrasica-Lincoln.
“From the time the program was
proposed three or four years ago, we’ vc
been toying with it, and we finally
decided that this is the right time to
offer it,” she said.
Twelve courses for the Interde
partmental Home Economics degree
will be available as a single master’s
degree package, to fulfill other pro
gram requirements, to renew a teach
ing certificate or to cam continuing
education credits.
Students who wish to register for
the courses must first be admitted to a
graduate course of study, Craig said.
Students will register by mail and
will pay graduate level tuition plus a
$40 distance learning fee for the sat
ellite courses.
Included will be 800- and 900
levcl courses on contemporary nutri
tion, families, consumer and family
economics and textiles.
Students who would like more in
formation about the program should
contact the College of Human Re
sources and Family Sciences.
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