DROPOUT from page 1
Poor academic performances can lead
students to decide that college simply
isn’t worth the money.
Griesen referred to the freshmen re
tention figures from 1993-94. Of the
919 students who didn't return to UNL
after their freshman year, 603 had
grade point averages below 2.0. Of
that group, 285 were not allowed to
return on the basis of grades.
“There’s a very clear trend toward
students with lower grades figuring
that college isn’t within their price
range,” Griesen said.
About 25 percent of freshmen fail
to return to the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln in a typical year. Jam&.
Moeser, UNL’s new chancellor, said
he intended to improve that situation.
“We have a serious problem,”
Moeser said. “I think we can cut it in
half;”
The trend toward stronger support
for freshmen is evident on many cam
puses in Nebraska and takes various
forms, including the freshman semi
nar. Students learn study skills and are
shown campus resources for studying,
personal matters, entertainment and
the arts, and discuss such issues as
diversity.
Some schools try to keep the new
students together in classes and resi
dence halls. UNL is in the second year
of placing about 100 freshmen with
undeclared majors into the same resi
dence ball. They are broken into
groups of 25 and take three courses
together.
Moeser said if students held up
their end and studied with dedication,
UNL would provide strong support to
help them achieve success.
New admission standards in the
NU system should help UNL improve
its retention rate, Moeser said, because
fewer unprepared students will be ac
cepted. The standards, which will af
fect NU’s campuses in Lincoln,
Kearney and Omaha, take effect in the
fall of 1997.
Senior news editor Jeff Randall
contributed to this report.
■ *
Burnett to be gutted
during renovations
From Staff Reports
After a long battle for attention,
Burnett Hall is finally showing
signs of renovation. Monday, the
project began to creep onto side
wanes surrounding the building.
Burnett Hall was closed after the
end of the spring semester for as
bestos removal, which should be
completed in mid-September,
Woody Haecker, University of Ne
braska-Lincoln architect and gen
eral manager, said.
The interior renovation is on
schedule and should be finished in
August 1997, Haecker said. Mean
while, Lyman Hall will house most
of the classes normally held in
Burnett Hall’s 15 classrooms, with
Andrews Hall and other city cam
pus buildings providing additional
space.
The inside of the building will
be virtually demolished, Haecker
said, but no work will be done to
the exterior. A permanent construc
tion fence will be put up around the
building, and will extend onto the
sidewalks on the south and east
sides.
The asbestos removal, renova
tion and remodeling plan was ap
proved by the NU Board of Regents
last September, after being heavily
pushed by Regent Robert Allen of
Hastings.
The building,- along with other
aging UNL buildings, was await
ing approval on the board’s capital
construction list for seven years.
T... - t,-—-—-J
Arrest of UNL freshman
solves wallet-theft mystery
CARDS from page 1
Lincoln police used the cleric’s in
formation to find Weyer and arrest him
for credit fraud, which carries a felony
charge.
Bushing was called when Lincoln
X)lice found out the card was stolen
from the Rec Center.
Bushing checked Weyer’s name in
the Rec Center’s entry log and found
out the Weyer had been to the center
96 times since Jan. 1, and used a dif
ferent entrance 17 times.
All the wallet thefts were reported
luring times when Weyer was in the
recreation center.
When Bushing confronted Weyer
rith the information, he confessed to
dl the thefts.
“He said, ‘I want to be honest with
you. I want to tell you everything,’ So
. he did,” Bushing said.
i Weyer explained how he frequently
enteral the locker room and found
wallets left in unlocked lockers, wide
open lockers and in pants left on
batches, Bushing said.
“Every time he committed a theft,
it just got easier and easier,” Bushing
said.
At first, he just took the cash. Then
he found wallets with cash and credit
cards and PIN numbers written down.
Within a month, Weyer was charging
gas, food and merchandise on stolen
credit cards, Bushing said.
Weyer turned over all the merchan
dise to Bushing, which included a bi
cycle, stereo equipment, clothipg,
video games, computer software and
almost 70 compact discs.