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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1995)
MONDAY >XCX3XX6XX<X>X<X!XX0X>«{X>X<X}X>XeXXtX>X<X9X>««X>X<X WEATHER: Today - Sunny. Hot and humid. Light south wind. Tonight - Mostly clear. Low 70 to 75. <ix}«ix}xx:xx«x><cxjx<x:j COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 95 NO. 7 - . __August 28, 1995_ Regents give tuition system cold shoulder By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter It is time for tuition alternatives, but Ne braska may not be ready to adopt a system of “differential tuition,” the NU Board of Regents said Saturday. The regents broke from their regular agenda to examine the financing of higher education, including differential tuition, a theory of guest speaker Charles Karelis. Karelis, director of the national Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, said current methods of paying tuition were like evenly splitting a dinner bill. If engineering study is a steak and modern languages study is a salad, then modem lan guage students are paying extra for the engi neering students’ hearty appetite. Differential tuition would give each student a separate check, he said, and make the system more equitable. It would charge students by their field of study, year in school, class size, and/or use of services, and would eliminate the “smorgas bord” offerings universities have now. Differential tuition works because students pay for the return on their investment, he said, and the system balances out. Engineering students would pay more for their education than students in teaching in the short term. But in the long run, an engineering job pays more than a teaching job. “Is it fair to teachers to subsidize engineers’ education when engineers go to higher-paying jobs and teachers go to lower-paying jobs?” Karelis asked. Students would pay for what they use and get what they pay for, he said, comparing differen tial tuition to buying an airline ticket. “(Differential tuition) turns college into a v no-frills flight,” he said. “You can pay for the lunch or not.” It would not be a strict, mechanical system, he said. And there would be safeguards for some classes that would lose interest ifdesig- . nated as high-cost. Differential tuition also would open postsecondary education to people who are currently shut out, he said, even if they would have to enroll in a low-cost field of study. Some members of the board saw this system of equality as being unequal. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Regent Shawntell Hurtgen said the system would send a mixed message to low-income students. If the system “prices out” high-cost courses, she said, then low-income students would en roll in a field of study that guaranteed them low paying jobs. Instead of letting students move up in society during college, she said, it encourages a divi sion of classes and makes some studies, such as engineering, an elitist profession. But Karelis said it was more important for See REGENTS on 9 Is nothing sacred? Travis Heying/DN Sister Grace Irene of the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd holds a picture of Herbie Husker in her Omaha Convent. Sister Grace Irene and the other nuns are upset by Herbie’s demise. The sisters sew windsocks printed with the Nebraska mascot. Herbie’s demise is nun-sense to convent By John Fulwider Staff Reporter OMAHA — The gates of Memorial Sta dium have closed to Herbie Husker. But Sister Grace Irene Marshall and the sweet sound of a holy order have joined in the chorus rallying to save him. It is the hope of Sister Marshall and other nuns-of the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd that Herbie be reinstated as the mascot of the Nebraska Comhuskers. The nuns have been sewing Herbie windsocks for the past six years as one of many money-making activities to support the order. Sister Marshall said Herbie was the only “civilized” college mascot. “He’s the only one we don’t have to go behind and pick up after,” she said. Most of the ire for banishing the 21 -year old mascot has been hurled at NU Athletic Director Bill Byrne. Sister Marshall said it was inappropriate for anon-Nebraskanative to decide the fate of a Nebraska tradition. “I don’t think he’s qualified to make that decision,” she said. • Sister Marshall and five other nuns at the north Omaha convent sew the Herbie windsocks for Sewing Concepts, an Omaha company. Demand has increased dramatically since the decision to choose a new mascot was made public, she said. The convent usually receives orders to sew at most three dozen windsocks, she said. The last order was for 144. “One hundred forty-four is the biggest order we’ve had for quite a while,” she said. The six sisters who work in the sewing room—Marshall, Adele Dunlap, Angeline Iannazzo, Cecilia Porter, Dorothy Agnes Haschke and Rose Carmel Rajokovic — spend almost five hours a day Monday through Friday sewing windsocks. Sister Marshall hems the windsock itself, while others hem and sew the tails on. The sisters also sew windsocks for the other Big Eight teams, except Oklahoma. As a dedicated Husker fan in charge of the sewing room, Sister Marshall gave the other sisters specific instructions about their alli ances. “I told the sisters in the sewing room, ‘You can pray that they (the other Big Eight teams) win all of their games except the one against Nebraska,’” she said. “Nebraska has to win that one.” Sister Marshall said the other nuns were big Husker fans, too. The convent itself is See SISTERS on 8 By Matt Woody Senior Reporter Oklahoma 245, Nebraska 43. That’s not a football score; it’s the tally of National Merit Scholars in the 1995 freshman class at the two univer sities. For the second year in a row, the University of Oklahoma is No. 1 is the nation among public schools in Na tional Merit Scholars per capita, said Lisa Vaughn, director of OU’s Schol ars Program. Vaughn’s office, which is devoted entirely to the 724 National Merit Scholars whoattend Oklahoma, ispart of the reason. ; “Everyone will give them a schol arship,” she said. Oklahoma goes beyond that and offers more to National Merit Schol ars, she said, including early enroll ment privileges and advising and reg istration through the Scholars office. ‘ Vaughn said her office gave per sonal attention to the scholars. She said she often ate lunch in the cafeteria with her students, and helped one move in last week. “We try to set ourselves apart by giving them a small private environ ment in a public school setting,” Vaughn said. But there is some good news for Nebraska. The number of National Merit Scholars has increased to 43 from 26 last year. That is a direct result of increased efforts by the UNL Admissions’ hon ors recruitment team, said admissions director Lisa Schmidt. This year, UNL offered scholar ships to students earlier than in previ ous years and increased the personal touch in recruiting, she said. National Merit Scholars are se lected based on PS AT and S ATscores. Although Nebraska and Oklahoma are both Rig Eight schools, Schmidt said, it is not fair to compare them in this category. Oklahoma has a state supported scholarship program that benefits National Merit Scholars, t while Nebraska does not. See SCHOLARS on 8 Merit numbers misleading, Griesen says From Staff Reports UNL doesn’t have many Na tional Merit Scholars compared with the University of Oklahoma, the vice chancellor for student af fairs said, but things aren’t so bleak. As is often the c.ase, statistics can be misleading, said James Griesen, vice chancellor for stu dent affairs. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has recognized 43 in coming UNL freshmen as National Scholars. But that number likely is not correct, Griesen said, rhe corpora tion bases its numbers on what stu dents tell them in the spring of their senior year of high school, he said. At that time, a student may be lieve he or she will attend Duke University or Washington Univer sity. By the time the beginning of classes rolls around, a few more National Merit Scholars will have committed to UNL. In past years, Griesen said, this has ranged from two or three more of these students on up-to one-fourth of the earlier estimate.
