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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1995)
• F^ ~ p ' ' ; • r " -:— ■ ■ 1 ‘ -:- ' ' ■ - - - - - I TUESDAY • 4 j WEATHER: Today - Mostly sunny and hot. South wind. Tonight - Slight chance of a thunderstorm. Low near 70. >«<><}><> <«><>*<><»><><:><><«><>« I COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 95 NO. 8 _-_ - —-- . . ' ' --- -— August 29, 1995 stand -- -1 Placement policy stirs contention By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter UNL doesn’t think high school foreign lan guage programs are doing their jobs, and some freshmen feel they are being punished for it. Students who have taken two or more years of high school foreign language must start, in a second level course at UNL — regardless of whether they’re ready. Amy Delsing, a freshman advertising major, said the material in her first Spanish 102 class was “over my head.” “It was really frustrating being the first week and all,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do or where to go.” Delsing was enrolled in a 102 class after taking a placement test, a requirement that started last fall. Her two years of high school Spanish helped her pass the exam—by one point —and placed her in 102. But even if she had failed, she would have been put in 102. All students who have taken two or more years of foreign language cannot take a 101 class for credit. Harriet Turner, chairwoman of the depart ment of modem languages and literature, said there were three reasons for the placement tests. First, the requirements reserve the 101 classes for the true beginners, Turner said. A student with two years of a foreign lan guage who took the 10J class for “five hours of an easy ‘A’” might intimidate those students who were new to the language, she said. Next she said, placement tests shrunk the size of beginning-level classes. Many 101 classes had more than 30 people, she said, when they should have had 18 or fewer. Third, placement in a 102 class gives the student an advantage, she said, because they immediately have five credit hours. The new requirement also sends a message to high schools that they need to improve their foreign language programs, she said. “It’s up to teachers to do something more than make empanadas,” Turner said, “and teach you the language and communication skills you need.” When Delsing went to her university teach ers and advisers, she said, they told her to send a message back to her high school. “They said the main reason they were doing this is to put pressure back on the high school teachers,” she said, “but if s not theliigh school teachers that are having to pay for it. It’s the students.” Turner said if the university let anyone start over in a language, it told high schools that the education a student received there was useless. See LANGUAGE on 3 Travis Heying/DN Kenneth Kramer, president of the Save Herbie Foundation and owner of an outdoor sunglasses stand in Omaha, is leading the charge to save Herbie Husker. Fans can buy Herbie flags and sign petitions at the stand fo save the former mascot. Fan starts petition drive for Herbie By John Fulwider Staff Reporter ' OMAHA — It was another hot, humid weexena in me city. People should have been hunkering down next to their air-conditioning vents, sipping cold bev erages. Instead, they were con verging on an outdoor sunglasses stand at the corner of 48th and L L__^ J streets with one purpose in mind: to save Herbie Husker, the belea guered former mascot of the Nebraska Comhuskers. The humble sunglasses stand, built of a few tables and an umbrella, is the national headquarters of the Save Herbie Founda tion. It is one of many sites where loyal Herbie fans can sign petitions to save their favorite Nebraska icon. The hot and sweaty Nebraska fans signed, hoping their signatures on the Save Herbie petitions could convince the University of Nebraska Athletic Department to reconsider its decision to find a new mascot. Kenneth Kramer, president of the Save Herbie Foundation and owner of the sun glasses stand, has taken it upon himself to 1 lead the charge to save Herbie. He started Wednesday with a petition people could sign when they visited his stand. Now, he has a toll-free hotline and a fax number. He’s had buttohs printed that say “Save Herbie” in, of course, big red letters. He sends daily fax updates to state and national media. Kramer said it quickly became clear to him that he couldn’t handle all the work. So he told people to circulate their own peti tions and send them to him when finished. A motel just up the street from his stand has this message on its billboard: “Save See HERBIE on 7 McMenamin case still priority despite fading public image By Jeff Zeleny Senior Reporter As the days since July 23 go by, the public image of Martina McMenamiir fades. The face of the 18-year-old Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln student who graduated in 1994 from Omaha Gross High School is no longer in the news. Forgotten is her long hair and her honor-student status. But as the public’s memory de creases, her homicide file grows at the Lincoln Police Department. “We’ve generated a case file sev eral feet thick of reports,” Chief Tom Casady said Monday. “We continue to work on it very, very vigorously. “It’s our most important priority.” ' McMenamin’s partially clad body was found July 23 in a pool of blood in her south Lincoln apartment complex. A wooden-handled knife was lying near her body. Police have released few details about the slaying. Casady said inves tigators had developed no firm sus pects. “This case is far from being at any kind of a dead end,” Casady said. Eight investigators from the Lin coln Police Department, Lancaster County Sheriffs Office and Univer sity Police, continue to work on the case full time. About 20 officers re main partially involved in the case.. The CrimeStoppers reward in the case was raised to $12,550 after a donation last week from a local res taurant and its employees, who said they were afraid the investigation was See MCMENAMIN on 6 Leitzel makes smooth transition Editor's note: This is the first story in a four-day series on UNL’s chang ing university and college adminis tration. By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter In almost any system of gover nance, there has to be a second*in command — someone who can fill a. r- ■ -| leader’s shoes and pick up where the dWiaiiBBiiiHi footprints leave off. At the Univer sity of Nebraska Lincoln, that per son is Joan Leitzel. Leitzel became interim chancellor July 24, after then Chancellor Gra ham Spanierended three years at UNL to assume the presidency at Pennsyl vania State University. Spanier appointed Leitzel vice chancellor for academic affairs in 1992, when she left a director position at the National Science Foundation. During the interim, Leitzel has the full authority of the chancellor’s of fice, she said, and she has the confi dence to use that authority. But instead of using her term as interim chancellor to make new plans for the university, Leitzel said, she will follow the plans begun under Spanier’s leadership. A new chancel lor can move toward change, she said. For Leitzel, her charge is simple. “My job is to manage the univer sity effectively during the interim,” she said. “I won’t change directions.”. But within that simplicity lies the complex fabric of the chancellorship. As senior vice chancellbr for aca demic affairs, she managed the aea ’§■ H demic threads of the university — research, teaching and outreach edu- V cation. As interim chancellor, she must weave academics with student affairs and business and finance. The transi tion was challenging but smooth, she said. The three years she spent working closely with Spanier prepared her for the change. “Nothing is a surprise,” she said, but “every day is a challenge.” She will follow the goals already set forth by the university, including: • Improving quality education. • Building an even stronger fac ulty. • Enhancing research funding. •Addressingthe needs ofNebraska through distance learning. While interim chancellor, two of See LEITZEL on 8