The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 19, 1994, Image 1
-— Sports ■ Frazier receives banner of support, Page 7 , Arts and Entertainment ■ Lincoln sculptor uses chain saw as tool, Page 9 ■■■■I" ■ I ■! I . ..—■ **! PAGE 2: Simpson jury selection suspended ■ Policy to raise retention By T»d Taylor Staff Reporter A new admissions policy should lower the number of students leaving school after their freshman year, the UNL vice chancellor for student af fairs said. James Griescn said that during the last 10 years, an average of 75 percent of freshmen at the University of Ne braska-Lincoln returned to school for their sophomore year. But he expected that number to increase in 1997. “After the new admission^ policy is implemented in 1997, these rates should rise a little." Gricsen said. Griescn said the current level of freshman retention wasn't bad UNL freshman retention rates have fluctu ated between 73 percent in 1988 1990 and 77 percent in 1991-92. “Having 25 percent not enrolled does not mean failure." he said. “Some transfer to other schools, move to another state or have other positive reasons for not coming back." The new admissions policy will require incoming freshmen to com plete a core of 16 specialized courses In high sehooLteore a 20orhfgher<w * the ACT or be in thotop half of their class. GnesensaidUNL s rates were typi cal for a school (hat did not have a selective admissions policy. Around the Big Eight. Iowa State .University had an 81 percent reten tion rate last year and has averaged 81 percent to 83 percent during the past 10 years. The most recent figures at the University of Colorado at Boulder indicate 80 percent of students re turned for their sophomore year. The University of Missouri had 82 per cent of freshmen return this fall, with numbers steadily climbing from 76 percent 10 years ago. Gricscn said UNL had many pro grams aimed at keeping freshmen and other students in school. Some of those programs include: • S.O.S. (Specialized Opportuni ties and Services), a program that provides tutoring and specialized counseling for eligible first-genera tion. low-income students. • University Foundations, a three credit-hour course ofTered to fresh men. Gricsen said the class “makes available to students a small class room environment with caring pro fessors and a curriculum aimed at helping students succeed in college.'' Gricscn also said a study was un der way that looked at the effectivc See RETENTION on 6 Gerik Parmele/DN Doug Boroutor, Republican Incumbent In the 1st Congressional District speaks as Democratic challenger Pat Combs (foreground) listens Tuesday afternoon at the Villager Motor Inn Conference Center at 52nd and 0 streets. Bereuter, Combs face off Debate subjects include crime, term limit laws By WUrtthaw Wait* Senior Reporter In the first public foruni in the Ul race for the 1st ? 9ll|[§]v|l Congressional District da>. a political I newcomer and a CLfl watchdog in ^ 1^11- c 11111 bc "1 c x I changed mcws not barbs, on term limits and crime. Patrick Combs, a Democrat seeking his first elected office, and Rep. Doug Bereuter, a Republican seeking his ninth term in Con gress, spoke before more than 70 members of the Lincoln Indepen dent Business Association. On term limits. Combs said 80 percent of Americans were frus trated with Congress, and more than 75 percent supported term limits However, he.said, voters re elected incumbents more than 80 percent of the time Combs said he did not support term limits. “Simply changing the players in a game that's broken won' t solve all the problems,” he said. Combs said major reforms were needed in campaign finance. Bereuter. who introduced a con stitutional amendment that would require all SO states to have term limits, said that if only a few states had term limits, it would politi cally disarm those states. He said he would support nationwide term limits. If Nebraska institutes term lim its. an item on the Nov. 8 ballot. Combs said he would limit his terms in office to four. Bcrcuter said he would limit himself to three further terms in office, which the item on the ballot calls for. But Bereuter said he wouldn't be running for Congress by the time the initiative went into effect. Combs said after the forum that Federal Election Commission spending reports dated up to Sept. 30 showed that his campaign had $920. He said he did not have the fund-raising advantages of his in cumbent opponent, a reason why See FORUM on 6 Capsule remains in shed By P»Pra Jan—n _ Senior Reporter The Apollo 009 space capsule still sits weathered and worn in a storage shed on UNL’s East Campus, a uni versity oflicial said Tuesday. But not for long. ^ Herb Howe, associate to the chan cellor at the University of Ncbraska Lincoln, said the capsule had been in storage for several months. “The capsule essentially is un changed from where it was last spring.” Howe said. However, he said, a change is in sight. We re anticipating by the end ot the semester we’ II be able to say some th! ng pretty positive about it." Howe said the university still was exploring options for displaying the space artifact, which was a forerun ner to the manned Apollo space flights. One option would be to display the capsule on one of the concourses in the Bob Dcvaney Sports Center, Howe said. However, he said, that plan is on hold until the UNL Athletic Depart- * ment completes a study of all its fa cilities. The study, which began last year and should be completed soon, will help determine how the department s facilities can best be used to meet their needs. Howe said. The university also is exploring other options for displaying the cap sule. Howe said. He would not com ment on what those options were. Meanwhile, mi nor . damage to the capsule’s exterior — caused by envi ronmental exposure and students carv ing their initials on the spacecraft — has yet to be repaired, Howe said. Damage to the interior will not be repaired, Howe said, because the cap sule was gutted before the university acquired it. The key is it s a histone piece of equipment, and we do want to use it in appropriate ways," he said. However, he said, restoring the capsule was not a top priority for UNL, compared to such things as NRoll. For years, the capsule was dis played outside Morrill Hall on UNL's City Campus. It was moved to the ^ storage shed after some local fans of the U S. space program complained that the university was neglecting the capsule by allowing it to deteriorate from exposure to Nebraska’s climate. More recently. Stonic Cooper, a UNL meteorology senior, challenged UNL to either preserve the spacecraft or give it to someone who would. Mudslinging becoming common in Nebraska campaigns •y Jull* Sobczyk._ WgjKmGr^ ! ——— The use of negative advertising in Nebraska political campaigns is becoming more com ‘ mon, especially this elec tion year, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln political 94 science professor said. "Campaigns in Nebraska have a negative tone more so than in the recent past,” Robert Sittig said. "This is because candidates' cam paign-strategies people arc I advising them to do it, and they are.” Negative campaigns concentrate on criti cizing the opponent rather than discussing the issues, Sittig said. But negative campaigns arc becoming scntial, he said. “Hard-hitting campaigns arc somewhere in between required and essential anymore,” Sittig said. “The candidates try to stay out in front of each other and then it escalates ” When a race is more competitive, negative campaigning is less likely, he said. In those cases, candidates stick more to the issues, he said. But negative campaigning increases when one candidate is way behind the other, such as in the race between Jan Stoney and Bob Kerrey for the U S. Senate, Sittig said. Kerrey is ahead and Stoney is behind, he said. “Stoney is using a standard approach. Every candidate must be prepared to do so.” Sittig said he thought negative campaign ing was an i important part of candidates' strat egics. " v,.. “I think that their Strategy is don't let any critical comment by the opponent go unchal lenged. Just beat them to the punch.” Both Kerrey and Stoney have used negative advertising in their TV ads. Sittig said. Steve Jarding, campaign press secretary for Kerrey, said negative campaigning was on the rise in the Senate race as the Nov. 8 election approached. “The primary reason we have used this type of campaigning is because Mrs. Stoney has refused to talk about her record, and she has one,” Jarding said. “The people have a right to «. know.” Jarding said he didn't think of the cam paigning as negative. “We look at how Mrs. Stoney has treated Kerrey in the past 12 months,” he said. “If she's going to ask questions about Kerrey's record, we'll ask about hers. We don’t call this negative.” Melissa Dollaghan, Jan Stoney’s press sec rctary, said the Stoney campaign began using negative advertising once Kerrey started to use it. “Kerrey went negative first," she said. “On ^ the radio, he was attacking statements on agri culture Stoney had madeY'