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March 29, 1996
Leitzel accepts job as UNH president
By Julie Sobczyk
Senior Reporter
Joan Leitzel officially announced
Thursday that she will leave UNL in
June to become president of the Uni
versity of New Hampshire in Durham.
“I’ve told them that I will come,”
said Leitzel, senior vice chancellor for
academic affairs. “The opportunity to
lead a university like UNH is very
attractive.”
She said she had been asked to
accept the position Wednesday morn
ing.
Although she was not looking to
leave the University ofNebraska-Lin
coln, Leitzel said, UNH presented good
challenges for her.
One challenge, she said, is working
with the low level of funding the uni
Keeping stu
dents at UNH de- f
spite high tuition
will present another
challenge, Leitzcl
said.
The similarities
between UNL and
UNH attracted her
to the university as
well, she said.
UNH is a land- Leuzei
grant institution and the flagship cam
pus ofthe four-campus university sys
tem, as is UNL.
UNH’s commitment to undergradu
ate education also reminds her of UNL,
she said.
Lcitzel said for the past year and a
half, she had visited other universities
when officials asked her to. But this
‘This one just seems right’
time, the visit turned into a position.
“this one just seems right,” Leitzel
said.
Although she is excited about her
new job, she said, she will miss UNL.
“I care a lot about this university,”
Leitzel said. “I will miss my colleagues,
the vice chancellors and the deans. I
think we have the best group of deans
in the country, and I’d like to take them
with me.”
University officials Thursday ex
pressed excitement for Leitzel,but said
UNL was losing a strong leader.
Chancellor James Moeser said
Leitzel had helped him make the tran
sition to UNL over the last two months,
“I’m going to miss her,” Moeser
said. “She’s a close associate on whom
I rely a great deal. She’s extremely
valuable.”
Because of her leadership quali
ties, Moeser said, UNH had chosen the
right person for the job.
“She deserves it,” he said. “I’m
delighted for her. She’ll do a greal
job.”
Leitzel said her acceptance of the
job had nothing to do with not being
among the chancellor finalists last se
mester.
David Sellmyer, chairman of the
chancellor search committee, would
not say why Leitzel wasn’t among the
finalists.
“It was a confidential search, and I
cannot discuss that,” Sellmyer said
Thursday.
But, he said, she would serve UNH
well.
“I’m sorry to see her go,” Sellmyer
said. “I think she’ll do a wonderful
job.”
Herb Howe, associate to the chan
cellor, said he had mixed feelings about
Leitzel leaving.
“I’m very happy for her,” Howe
said. “It’s what she wanted. But it’s
sad for me and for the university. I’m
going to miss her.”
Regent Nancy O’Brien of Water
See LEITZEL on 3
Travis Heying/DN
Franky Ramont signs to students Thursday during an afternoon class.
Ramont, who is deaf, teaches American Sign Language at UNL.
Not speechless
Teacher signs on to aid Deaf
py Emuy may_
Staff Reporter
Franky Ramont’s classroom may be si
lent, but communication still takes place.
Ramont, a master’s degree candidate,
teaches American Sign Language full-time
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
And when she signs ASL to classroomsof
mostly hearing students, she is teaching them
her first language.
English is my second language,” she
said through her interpreter, Frances
Beaurivage. “I’ll help you with your ASL.
You help me with my English.”
Ramont teaches three language courses
and one ASL literature course. She requires
students to sign at all times during class.
This helps them practice—and it ensures
that she is included in all classroom conver
See RAMONT on 7
‘School is Cool’ stresses
that education can be fun
By Julie Sobczyk
Senior Reporter
For the past three years, UNL senior Billie
Winsett has tried to make a difference for grade
school students.
This year, Winsett will use the motto of her
national championship volleyball team to not
only help elementary students succeed in athlet
ics, but academics as well.
Winsett will take the motto “One focus, one
goal, one champion” to more than 14,000 stu
dents in the Bob Devaney Sports Center at the
fifth-annual Best of America “School is Cool”
Jam on Monday at 10 a.m.
“I, and the other seniors on the volleyball
team, will speak about how that motto has
focused us to reach the championship, and how
there are other goals in life that require the same
focus,” Winsett said.
The event will show students that they need
focus to succeed in academics, she said.
“There are a lot of student athletes that put a
lot of hard work and dedication into sports, but
also education,” Winsett said. “I want students
to see that athletics is great, but education is
even greater.”
And that’s exactly what “School is Cool” is
trying to do, said Keith Zimmer, associate di
rector of athletics/academics programs and co
ordinator of the event.
“We’re not just preaching about staying in
school,” Zimmer said. “We’re teaching good
messages about life in a fun, upbeat sort of
way.”
To show fourth- through sixth-graders that
academics can be fun, he said, some student
athletes—such as Winsett—and members of
Golden Key National Honor Society will give
motivational speeches about life and education.
“It’s important for elementary students to
hear from top role models,” he said. “These
speakers are some of the best role models in the
country.”
After the speeches, the athletes and Golden
Key members will have a slam dunk contest.
The contest will have members helping each
other make baskets to demonstrate teamwork,
See JAM on 7
Spirit plates win first round
Chambers says bill
uses athletes, feeds
off football success
By Ted Taylor
Senior Reporter
Nebraskans who want Comhusker spirit
plates scored a 30-3 win Thursday in the first
round of debate at the Nebraska Legislature.
- But one of the three sena
Legislature t°rs opposed to the w 11 put up
■Q£ k quite a fight.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of
Omaha used most of the 30
minutes of debate allotted to
LR1264 to admonish Omaha
Sen. Kermit Brashear’s pro
posal and the exploitation of
student athletes in general.
“The only reason they
- want to do this is because tne
football team wins,” Chambers said. “I cannot
let a bill like this pass without remindingyou of
the damnable conditions under which these
players function.”
Brashear introduced the spirit plate bill again
this session after receiving many letters from
constituents who asked why Nebraska couldn’t
join the 21 other states — such as Iowa and
Florida—that have similar plates.
“This really causes us to focus on how uni
fied the Comhuskers are for the University of
Nebraska,” Brashear said. “The phenomenon
we call ‘ Husker spirit ’ prevails around the state.”
The plates also would make money for NU
and the Department of Motor Vehicles.
If 30,000 people purchased the $70 plates,
Brashear said, more than $ 1.2 million would be
generated in the first year alone.
Brashear said the revenue generated also
would increase each year because it would cost
the same amount to renew the plates.
The Department of Motor Vehicles would
receive $30 of the plate costs, and the Univer
sity of Nebraska would receive $40 of the plate
costs.
That money would be put into the spirit plate
proceeds fund, which would be distributed in
three wavs.
• The first $3 million would be available to
former University of Nebraska athletes who
wished to pursue postgraduate studies at any of
the university campuses.
• The second $2 million would be given to
the university to help fund academic services
for student athletes.
• All proceeds exceeding $5 million will be
distributed equally among the three NU cam
puses and three state colleges with athletic
facilities for general repair and upkeep of those
facilities.
Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly opposed the
bill, saying license plates were meant for iden
ti fication purposes only and became more diffi
cult to read when cluttered with emblems.
The license plates in Brashear’s proposal
would feature a design with a scarlet
“Cornhuskers” or “Huskers” on a cream back
ground.
Brashear said he was optimistic the bi 11 would
advance through the next two stages of legisla
tion this session.
