NeHmSkan
COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901
VOL. 95 NO. 117
FRIDAY
WEATHER:
Today - Mostly cloudy &
breezy. Northwest wind 15
to 25 mph.
Tonight - Partly cloudy &
blustery. Low around 10.
March 1, 1996
Staci McKee/DN
Regent Drew Miller off Papillion stands on a tier of a castle overlooking Heidelberg, Germany. Below the castle is
Ruprecht-Karls University, the oldest university in Germany. Miller is a major in the Air National Guard and has been
stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, since Dec. 26,1995.
Overseas
Military keeps regent away from home
By Matthew waite
Senior Editor
HEIDELBERG, Germany—Drew Miller
is a long way from home.
He isn’t living in his NU Board of Re
gents district right now. Or in the state. Or
even in the country, for that matter.
His wife, Annabeth, is at home, caring for
their year-and-a-half-old daughter,
Annaclarice.
Since the day after Christmas, Miller has
taken up a temporary home in Stuttgart,
Germany, working as a public affairs officer
in the U.S. European Command office. He is
a major in the Air National Guard.
And being away hasn’t been easy.
“She (Annabeth) wasn’t overly thrilled,”
he said. “I was in the military before I mar
ried her, so she understood.
“What made this hard is having a 19
month-old. You can stay in touch with your
wife with e-mail and phone calls, but it’s a
little harder with a 19-month-old.
During a recent stop in Ramstein, Ger
many, Miller reflected about his daughter.
His daughter often asks where he is, he said,
and she brightens up when he calls.
But Miller has adapted to life in Ger
many. On a tour of Ruprecht-Karls Univer
sity, the oldest university in Germany, he
seemed more comfortable speaking German
than English.
And he has been able to make it home for
a short visit.
Miller was home for a few days for the
February regents meeting. He said
Annaclarice was apprehensive of him at first
but soon realized her daddy was home.
“I just hope my wife is not having trouble
now — the 'where’s daddy now?”’ Miller
said. “In that respect, it is easier for me
because I don’t have to hear the complaints.”
And things are not going to be easier for
the Miller family before he comes home in
May.
Miller volunteered for a month in Bosnia
with Operation Joint Endeavour starting in
late March or early April.
“If it was a year, I wouldn’t be too thrilled,
but it is a short tour,” he said. “I get to see
Bosnia, and it’s closer to the scene of the
action.”
Miller has spent much of his life in the
military. He attended the U.S. Air Force
Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., spent
two years at Harvard and five years in the Air
Force as an intelligence officer.
A member of the Air National Guard
since 1987, Miller switched from intelli
gence to public affairs around the same time
he was elected to another public service
arena, the NU Board of Regents.
But, Miller said, there were few places
the two areas cross paths.
“Most of the time, they are separate issues
— different issues, different modes of act
ing,” he said. “The military lifestyle is about
as different as you can get from academia.”
Game seats
won’t move
for 1996
By Julie Sobczyk and Kasey Kerber
Senior Reporter and Staff Reporter
Students should no longer fear seating
changes at Memorial Stadium for the 1996
Nebraska football season, an Athletic De
partment official said Thursday.
Cindy Bell, manager of UNL’s athletic
ticket office, said student seating would not
change, and the proposal was only brought
up for discussion—not implementation.
“We’re not changing anything,” Bell said.
“It was never a policy. It was brought up as
an awareness factor.”
But, she said, moving the student section
at Memorial Stadium could be a possibility
in the future.
The Athletic Department has received
many complaints from non-student fans sit
ting behind the student section. Non-student
fans said students standing on seating made
seeing the field difficult.
“If things don’t get corrected, we may
have to change seating in the future,” she
said.
Earlier this month, the Athletic Depart
ment discussed changing the student seating
from Section 15 to seats behind Sections 12
and 13, in the southeast comer of the sta
dium.
See SEATING on 6
Legislators’ pay
may be put on
Nebraska ballot
By Erin Schulte
Staff Reporter
The salaries ofNebraska legislators could
be put in voters’ hands if a proposed consti
tutional amendment makes it to the ballot.
LR276CA was presented Thursday by
Sen. Doug Kristensen, of Minden, to the
Executive Board ofthe Legislative Council.
Nebraska is one of few states that deter
mines salaries by public vote, Kristensen
said. The proposal would increase the yearly
tax each Nebraskan pays to support state
legislators from 40 cents to 45 cents —
raising salaries to $ 16,000 a year, Kristensen
said.
The national average is $29,000, and Ne
braska is ranked 37th among states in salary
See RAISE on 3
UNL officials protest km) doctoral rankings
By Chad Lorenz
Senior Reporter
A National Science Foundation
study that gave low rankings to UNL
doctoral programs has led to an outcry
from doctorate program leaders at
UNL.
Priscilla Grew, vice chancellor for
research, said the study, which was
published in many Nebraska newspa
pers, didn’t represent all doctoral pro
grams at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln.
Quality, well-known faculty, a
broad range of programs, productive
research and preparing students for
successful positions were some of the
merits that have earned national rec
ognition for some doctoral programs
at UNL.
Grew said at least four doctorate
programs had received high ratings or
acknowledgment: school psychology,
vocational education, educational ad
ministration and business management.
The school psychology program in
the Department of Education Psychol
ogy was ranked third nationally by
U.S. News and World Report in 1995,
said Terry Gutkin, professor of educa
tional psychology.
The ranking was based on the
program’s reputation, he said.
“We’ve been active nationally,”
Gutkin said.
Four faculty members in UNL’s
school psychology program — three
full-time and one half-time — have
published research and acted as lead
ers in the American Psychological As
sociation, he said.
School psychology faculty have
served in the past as president and
vice-president in the school psychol
ogy division of the association, he
said.
The school psychology has been
recognized for its research with a No.
1 ranking in a study by Indiana Univer
sity (Penn.) that rated 43 programs in
the country. It was published in 1994
in Psychology in the Schools, an aca
demic journal, Gutkin said.
“So we are out-producing those
other schools with only half the fac
ulty,” he said.
Faculty members publish quality
research because they commonly work
in teams with students, Gutkin said.
The practice and knowledge stu
dents learn through these collabora
tions prepare them for high positions
in school districts and universities.
“Our graduates are in very high
demand across the nation,” Gutkin said.
Doctoral graduates from UNL’s
school psychology program have
“Our graduates are in very high demand across
the nation. ”
TERRY GUTKIN
professor of educational psychology
earned jobs at Lincoln and Omaha
Public Schools, Penn State Univer
sity, Kansas University and Syracuse
University, he said.
The doctoral program in vocational
education in the Teachers College was
rated eighth in the nation by a study
conducted through the University of
Illinois in 1992, said Birdie Holder,
chairwoman of vocational and adult
education.
More than 25 programs, primarily
at land grant universities, were ranked
based on quality of faculty, quality of
students, amount of research published
and courses offered, Holder said.
Students working toward a doc
toral degree in vocational education
are well-prepared for their careers be
cause professors tailor the program for
the students' interests and goals, she
said.
“We pride ourselves in being stu
dent-centered.”
See DOCTORATE on 3