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PAGE 2: U.N. likely to name Haiti peacekeeper
I. .rl.
Students
take more
Spanish
By Chad Lorenz
Staff Reporter
Enrollment in Spanish classes at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
is growing as the language becomes
more widely spoken in the United
States, the head of the modern lan
guages department said.
The total number of credits taken
in Spanish courses increased 4 per
cent in the past five academic years,
Harriet Turner said.
Increased enrollment in advanced
Spanish classes accounts for most of
the growth, she said.
Enrollment has gone up 58 per
cent in the 300-level courses since the
1989 fall semester. Turner said. In
the 400- to 800-lcvc! classes, enroll
ment has grown 186 percent.
Enrollment in lower level courses
has dropped 6 percent. Turner said,
but that drop shows that more people
are taking Spanish classes in high
school.
Those students may sometimes
skip 100- and 200-levc! Spanish
courses.
The number of bachelor's degrees
awarded in Spanish at UNL has grown
from five degrees in 1989 to 14 in
1994.
Spanish also is the most popular
language in the modem languages
department. Turner said. Enrollment
in Spanish courses makes up more
than half of the total enrollment in
modem languages.
About 70 students major in Span
ish at UNL. French and German each
have about 60 majors, followed by
about 20 Italian majors.
More students are taking Spanish
because of its social and economic
uses in the world today, Turner said.
Adelaida Martinez, head of the
Spanish division at UNL, said Ameri
cans were seeking closer ties to His
panic people. Most of the Spanish
speaking world lies just south of the
United States.
“We are joined at the hip,” she
said.
Turner said employers were seek
ing Spanish-speaking professionals
because of the growing Spanish
speaking population in the United
States.
Students are preparing to meet
that demand by integrating Spanish
courses into tneir primary studies,
she said. Students from the colleges
of business administration, journal
ism and mass communications, and
human resources and family sciences
commonly take Spanish.
Downtown rebounds from decline
Gerik Parmele/DN
Shawn Russall plays Ns guitar on tha comar of 14th and O straats Tuaaday aftamoan.
Tha downtown araa has boon ravltallzad racantly by tha addKIon of small buslnasaas
and parking garagas.___
By Joah Wlmiwr
Staff Reporter
Five years ago, downtown Lin
coln was in a state of decline.
Today, the area is bouncing
back, the president and chief ex
ecutive officer of the Downtown
Lincoln Association said.
Lou Shields said the most re
cent signs of life were the new
mini-mall at 16th and Q streets,
the new parking garages and the
changes in the Centrum.
The mini-mall, which opened
last spring, contains five busi
nesses, including a Boston Chicken
restaurant and a MaggieMoo's ice •
cream store. Shields said the mall
was convenient for downtown resi
dents — including students—and
residents of nearby suburbs.
The mini-mall’s Blockbuster
Video is a “tremendous asset” to
university students and downtown
dwellers, who didn’t have a conve
nient video rental store until the
mail’s installation. Shields said.
She said new parking garages
were another sign of life down
town and were badly needed.
The garage at Que Place, 11th
and Q streets, has about 700 park
ing stalls. Those spaces will de
crease the demand for parking by
downtown residents, employees
and consumers, she said.
The renovation of the Centrum
provides more evidence of change.
Shields said the Centrum’s long
time vacancy gave some the wrong
impression that space was un
needed downtown.
A city engineering company,
Municipal Energy, is renovating
the building. The company plans
to move its offices there in January.
Lincoln Southeast Community
College also has begun teaching
classes in the Centrum.
Shields said downtown im
provements are drawing new busi
ness to the rejuvenated area.
“It’s a ripple effect,” she said.
Complete overhaul
These changes are a complete
turnaround from the direction
downtown was heading recently.
Shields said.
Only five years ago, downtown
Lincoln was following other down
town areas nationwide into decline.
Major retailers were moving out
of downtown areas in favor of more
convenient and popular malls and
shopping centers uptown, she said.
FirsTier Bank president Orlin
See DOWNTOWN on 3
Senator expects much feedback on engineering decision
ly lrln Sharp
Senior Reporter
Twenty-five days, and counting.
That's how long state senators must wait
before they learn whether the engineering de
bate will continue at the State
Capitol.
The University of Ne
braska Board of Regents will
decide on Dec. 10 whether to •
create a separate engineer
ing college in Omaha. The
University of Nebraska-Un
co In administers the current
DEBATE college, and some programs
are offered at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha campus.
From there, the issue will go to the Nebraska
Legislature, where state senators will join the
debate.
Phyllis Larsen, director of public relations
at UNL, said university administrators have
held ofTtaking the debate to the Legislature. So
far, state senators have not been involved in the
issue, she said.
“People are not looking that far ahead yet,"
Larsen said. “They’re not saying, ‘Gee, I won
der if the Legislature is going to give us money
to do this.’They’re just trying to figure out
what to do."
Sen. Jerome Warner, chairman of the rev
enue committee, said senators wanted to let the
process play out before getting involved.
“In essence, this is not for the Legislature
yet,” Warner said.
But Sen. Ardyce Bohlke, chairwoman of the
education committee, said senators were pre
paring for a storm of phone calls to the Capitol
following the regents' decision.
No matter what the outcome, she said, con
stitucnts and those involved in the issue will
start calling state senators that Monday
If the regents decide to go ahead with the
separate colleges, the plan must make several
stops in the State Capitol before being ap
proved.
The proposal first would go to the Nebraska
Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary
Education. The commission prevents duplica
tion in the state’s educational programs.
Then, the Legislature’s education commit
tee would have to approve a separate college by
statute. The appropriations committee also
would have to approve funding for the college.
At that point, Bohlke said, state senators
would give a “yes" or “no” to the proposal, but
they would not provide compromises, such as
strengthening programs.
Bohlke of Hastings said that like any legis
lative bill, senators would consider cost ami
need for a separate college. Students’ interests
also would play a part, she said.
Most senators haven’t made up their minds
on the proposal yet, she said, and they arc
waiting to see how NU President Dennis Smith
handles “the first real hot topic that has been
put on his plate.”
Warner said senators would have to face
several factors in deciding the issues. The most
important factor, he said, is money.
The Legislature will face an estimated $40
million shortfall in the state budget this ses
sion, Warner said. Any budget requests, such
as for a new engineering college, will have to
be conservative, he said.
“Money is going to be quite tight,” Warner
said. “Any amount real significant... is not
likely to be there. I would anticipate some
funding that would strengthen the engineering
programs in Omaha.”