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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1994)
Inside Thursday Sports ■ Wyoming game will reunite two friends, Page 7 Arts & Entertainment ■ UNL senior directs Theatrlx play, Page 9 PAGE 2: Mexico politician assassinated September 29, 1994 Fraternity struggles to survive By Brian Sharp Senior Reporter Beta Sigma Psi Fraternity has found itself on new ground this year. And it’s unfamiliar ground with battles at every turn. Their house is gone. Their membership is down. And a closeness they had taken for granted has been scattered throughout Lincoln. But they’re not beaten. Chris Potter, Beta Sigma Psi’s president, said the fraternity is working on a deal to sell their house to the university. Meanwhile, mem bers were working hard to maintain the frater nity and defeat a stereotype that a fraternity cannot exist without a house, he said. “The challenge is to change the mindset,’’ Potter said. “That’s just a whole different way of thinking.’’ There are currently five fraternities and so rorities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln without a house. The Lincoln chapter of Beta Sigma Psi is the only chapter of that fraternity without a house. The NU Board of Regents will decide Fri day whether to approve a $430,000 bid to pur chase the fraternity house at 2224 U St. The Alumni Chapter of Beta Sigma Psi Inc. ac cepted the bid Sept. 16. Plans are to convert the house into family housing units for stu dents. The mindset of house and fraternity being permanently linked has run its course within the fraternity as well, Potter said. Membership stood at 30 before the Alumni Board began accepting bids on the house this summer, he said. Membership is now at 16. “Eveiybody that has left has just left with frustration and a lack of hope for the frater nity to survive without a house,” Potter said. Alumni decided to sell the house because it was no longer economical to operate a build ing meant to hold 100 people, he said. Larry Meyer, pastoral advisor for the Lutheran fraternity, said a membership of 57 men was required just to pay the mortgage on the house. Membership hasn’t been that high for the past 10 years. Meyer is also pastor at the Lutheran Student Center, 333 N. 16th St. Jayne Wade Anderson, director of greek affairs, said membership at fraternities in gen eral had not been declining at UNL. Meyer said nationally, that had not held true. And because the fraternity is selective in its membership, as a Lutheran fraternity, the national trend had hit home with more force. Doug Zatechka, associate vice chancellor and former housing director, said if and when UNL receives the property, it would bring the See HOUSE on 6 Jay CakJeron/DN Bryan Manorial Hospital eayloyco wish NU quarterback Tommie Frazier wall as ha loaves the hospital Wednesday. Nina Bostwick. a critical care nurse, walks with Frazier to the hospital’s entrance. Future play status unclear for Husker By Brian Sharp Senior Reporters Tommie Frazier walked out of Bryan Memorial Hospital Wednesday afternoon saying his leg felt stiff, but that he wasn’t in too much pain. Frazier was admitted to the hospital Sun day after a blood clot was discovered be hind his right knee. Walking slowly alongside friend Alycia Tiemann, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore, Nebraska’s quarterback care fully climbed into Tiemann’s white Trans Am at about 3:30 p.m. Chris Anderson, Nebraska sports infor mation director, said Frazier had been rest ing comfortably, but he was anxious to get home. Although Frazier will not play Sat urday against Wyoming, his future playing status has not been determined, she said. Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne said Frazier, who has started 23 consecu tive games as quarterback for Nebraska, had progressed well. “It still doesn’t mean that he is neces sarily out of the woods,” Osborne said. “I think certainly his life is in good shape. But how quickly he will play football is specu lation.” Frazier will not be allowed to engage in any contact until he gets doctors’ clearance, but the junior from Bradenton, Fla., will be allowed to exercise. “I suspect that he will be doing some football-related activity before too long,” Osborne said, “some throwing, running, conditioning. Maybe some team work. “As far as playing, we’ll just have to wait until the doctors say he can play.” In a written statement, Frazier said, “I want to express my sincere thanks to all of the great Nebraska fans who have been con cerned about me. The doctors and hospital staff have been great and I appreciate all their efforts. I feel good and I am anxious to see my teammates.** Paul Hadley, a member of Bryan Hospi tal public relations* staff, said many fans had attempted to see Frazier, some going to elaborate lengths of disguise. Security was so tight, however, that even some coaches had trouble getting in, he said. Frazier was receiving fan mail up to min utes before his release. Frazier’s release was delayed by one and a half hours because “the needles had to be removed and we had to make sure he wasn’t leaking," Hadley said. Frazier was being treated with a blood thinner intravenously See TOMMIE on 11 Candidates want one university image tor NU Berkshire ready for higher challenge By IWMMw Walt* Senior Reporter Richard Berkshire says he’s ready for a new challenge. The Omaha attorney, who has served eight years on the board of di rectors for Metro Com munity College, is look ing to unseat incumbent Rosemary Skrupa for the regent’s 8th District seat. Berkshire said he wanted to take his expe rience at the community college to a higher level. The community college system kept tuition hikes to a minimum, only four in eight years; kept property tax levels the same, even drop ping them in some years; and still experienced a 15 percent increase in students, he said. “The Board of Regents is the real chal lenge,” he said. “We can do it on a large scale.” One University Berkshire said the only way to run the NU system was as if it were one university. In the past, campuses have fought at the Nebraska Legislature for funds for their own campus. “If we had people at each of those campuses to fight with each other... not only would it be a monumental waste of time but it would not serve ... the people,” he said. The needs of the individual campuses should be considered and allocated based on necessity, Berkshire said. He said he supported See BERKSHIRE on 8 Skrupa wants future as regents focus By Matthew Waite Senior Reporter Rosemary Skrupa has some unanswered questions for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Skrupa, a former municipal court judge and the first woman president of the Omaha Pub jic Power District board of directors, is com ing off her first six-year term as a regent. She is being challenged by Richard Berkshire of Omaha for the 8th District regents seat. Skrupa said the engineering college issue, although highly visible, was not the only ques tion facing the regents. “There is life after engineering," she said. Some of the more pressing questions. Skrupa said, were money issues, such as find ing funding for inter-collegiate sports at the Universities of Nebraska at Omaha and Kearney. Unlike at the University ofNebraska Lincoln, football does not fund other sports at those campuses. She also raised questions about rising tu ition costs. She said the cost of tuition must be kept low for NU schools to stay competitive with others. Students also are facing other costs, she said. A proposed policy from the UNL Col lege of Architecture that the regents will dis cuss at their meeting Friday would require stu dents to buy a computer. The policy is supposed to keep students competitive in the job market, Skrupa said. But she had questions about the costs for the stu dents, and whether the university was going See SKRUPA on 8