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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1996)
Moeser begins plan to strengthen UNL By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter Students, hang on to your desks — some of your classes are about to get harder. When UNL Chancellor James Moeser took his position earlier this year, he vowed that he would make a degree from UNL “mean something.” He said he wanted employers, graduate schools and professional schools to see a degree from the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln as a badge of success. To ensure that, Moeser said, UNL needed to do three things: raise admis sion standards, make sure courses are rigorous and demanding and reinvent the honors program. Starting in the fall of 1996, UNL changed its admissions standards to include more college preparatory courses. Before this fall, students ac cepted to UNL had to have an ACT score of 20 or better, rank in the top half of their class or have 10 core col lege preparatory courses under their belts. Now, students must take 16 spe cific college preparatory courses as well as meet the ACT or class rank re quirements. Because UNL is a land-grant, pub lic institution, it has been said that the standards are unfair to Nebraska high school students who may not meet the criteria. But Moeser said the main pur pose of the standards was to force high schools to better prepare students. “I don’t think it’s a good use of tax payers’ money to let students in who are not prepared to do collegiate work,” he said. “We can almost pre dict failure.” The admission standards were not made to keep any students out of UNL, said Lisa Schmidt, director of admis sions. “No one will be denied,” she said. “We may just defer their admission until they gain additional academic preparation through correspondence courses or a community college.” Schmidt said some students who did not meet requirements would be admitted on a case-by-case basis. For example, a student from a very small school who graduated fifth in a class of six with a 3.5 GPA would be admit ted, despite not meeting the class rank criterion. Only about 2 percent of new fresh men and transfer applicants did not meet those standards this fall. But com pared to some other Big 12 universi ties, UNL’s standards are pretty lenient. At Texas Tech University, students in the top 10 percent of their graduat ing class need to score a 22 on their ACT, and the top 25 percent of high school graduates need to get a 25 ACT score. At the University of Missouri in Columbia, the average ACT score of freshmen applicants accepted is a « I don't think it's a good use of taxpayers' money to let students in who are not prepared to do college work. We can almost predict failure." James Moeser UNL chancellor 24. At the University of Colorado, the median GPA of new freshmen is be tween 3.2 and 3.7. On the other hand, Kansas state universities admit anyone who gradu ated from an accredited Kansas high school. Moeser said he didn’t have plans to toughen admission standards again. But, he said, admission standards prob ably are not what need to change to make UNL graduates more esteemed. “I’m more concerned about change of the internal character of the univer sity itself,” Moeser said. “It’s not just a matter of raising the admission bar, it’s making sure the curriculum of the university is rigorous.” Please see MOESER on 6 Kicked out ' MattMiller/DN JUNIOR UNL SOCCER PLAYER Tanya Franck fights for the ball with an Oral Roberts University player Friday night. The Huskers won 5-0 , ; Weekend fraternity party results in MIPs By Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter Three busloads of UNL students were cited as minors in possession of alcohol near Blair Saturday night. Blair police, with help from the Washington County Sheriff and State Patrol, ticketed at least 36 minors after stopping buses traveling to a fraternity party. Minors in the buses were drink ing liquor and beer, police said. Members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and their dates, totaling about 100 people, were riding in chartered buses to Tekamah for a bam party, president Scott Moller said. Blair Police Chief Marvin Doeden said po lice stopped two of the buses near an Amoco gas statical at 19th and South streets in Blair. Police had received complaints from resi dents living near the gas station that the stu dents were urinating in their yards, Doeden said. When the officers entered the bus, they saw open bottles of liquor, and can* and bottles of beer, he said. Everyone on the buses was given a Breathalyzer test, Doeden said, and Blair po lice issued 25 tickets for minor in possession. One person was cited for providing false information after giving police a false age, he said. The third bus was stopped by State Patrol and Washington County officers north of Blair, Doeden said. Trooper Eric Grossoehme said the State Pa trol issued 11 tickets for minor in possession. All minors with a trace of alcohol on their breath were ticketed, Grossoehme said. Washington County Sheriff Loren Jones said he did not know how many MIPs his of fice issued. Jones said he thought the total number of tickets issued by all agencies was about 50. Motter said the incident was unfortunate fca the members and their dates. The trip was an alternative to drinking or campus, Moller said, and safer than risking lives with intoxicated drivers. « They kind of did selective enforcement of their own policy.” Scott Moller Lambda Chi Alpha president % • , ; . ' .. -. a'\ ii Some Lambda Chi Alpha members talked to attorneys and thought some charges may be dropped because of the way officers handled the incident, MoUer said. On one Inis, officers issued MIPs only to minors who registered above a .02 blood-alco hol level, Moller said, while on another bus, minors with any trace of alcohol on their breath were ticketed. “They kind of did selective enforcement of their own policy.” Ex-NU coach files lawsuit against Lacey Former Linebackers Coach Kevin Steele seeks $1 million for comments made in a Sports Illustrated article. By Chad Lorenz Senior Reporter Former Nebraska Linebackers Coach Kevin Steele is suing Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey for alleged defamatory comments made in a Sports Illustrated article. Steele, who now coaches for the Carolina Panthers in the National Football League, is seeking $1 million because Lacey’s statements caused “substantial damage.” In addition to the federal lawsuit, Steele’s attorney has filed a $1 million tort claim in Lancaster County Court that makes the same allegations. The complaint did not specify the nature of the damage. Lacey’s comments in the September 1995 issue of Sports Illustrated dealt, with a .22-cali ber handgun used by Tyrone Williams to shoot at an occupied car in January 1994. Williams, who now plays for the Green Bay Packers, pleaded no contest to a felony weap ons charge and misdemeanor assault last week. His sentencing is set for Nov. 19. The article reported that Steele kept the weapon while police were still investigating the incident. The article did not identify a source for that information. Lacey told a Sports Illustrated reporter that the handgun should have been given to authori ties immediately, but Lacey never mentioned Steele’s name in the article. Steele said that he demanded a retraction from Lacey in a letter dated Sept. 26,1995, but Lacey declined. Neither Steele nor Lacey’s attorneys were available to comment Monday. Robert Grimmit, Lacey’s attorney, said last week that Steele’s complaint was groundless. ‘We view this complaint as lacking in merit and will vigorously defend Gary Lacey,” Grimmit said. The Associated Press contributed to this re port.
