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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1997)
TERESA from page 1 who needed her help She gave every penny she had to the poor, slept on floors, owned only two habits, ate rice and millet and was “completely undiscriminating” to the people she helped, Bruskewitz said. “She was a wonderful Catholic Christian who put her faith into action, but she helped anyone she could, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian,” he said. “She always said that the poor gave back to her more than she gave to them.” Father Paul Witt of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, 14th and K streets, said he obviously was saddened by the death of Mother Teresa, but the religious communities that she pio neered will feel the greatest loss. “The sisters who worked with her and those she cared for will feel the most pain today,” Witt said. “The world has lost a wonderful and hum ble person, and I wish her eternal rest.” The frail, 4-foot-l 1-inch nun, who appeared physically weak in her later years, was a strong role model for people:across the world. A1 Schaben, a UNL graduate and a photographer for the Los Angeles Times, had the rare opportunity to travel to India as a college senior and photograph Mother Teresa. She gave Schaben special permis sion to spend a week photographing I « The world has lost a wonderful and humble person, and I wish her eternal rest.” Paul Witt priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church her work. He said Mother Teresa was humble and wanted his attention to focus on the cause, not her, he said. Schaben took pictures of Mother Teresa caring for children and com forting the sick and dying. They attended church and even prayed the rosary together. “It was the most incredible expe rience of my life to see such a beauti ful person and all the people she touched,” he said. “I have never been so moved by a person before, and the world is a better place because of her existence.” Schaben said he was comforted by the fact that her message of chari ty will continue and others will fol low in her example* “It is very sad that we lost such a respected person, but her work will be carried on,” he said. “She is a con stant reminder of how one person can make such a difference in the world if they have strong enough convic tions.” Karen Benes, a senior secondary education major who is active at the Newman Center, agreed that Mother Teresa was a “truly holy woman and a wonderful example,” and that other people should follow in her footsteps. “She gave her entire life to God, and died working for God,” she said. “What better example can there be for other Catholics?” Sophomore elementary and spe cial education major Lisa Carlson said Mother Teresa was a wonderful symbol of love and determination. She hopes her spirit will live in the hearts of many. “She was a person who taught us so much about humility and good ness,” she said. “Itis sad that she died, but God needs her, and her work here is done.” Funeral services for Mother Teresa will be Saturday, but the site has not yet been decided. She will be buried at the headquarters of her Missionaries of Charity in central Calcutta. The Associated Press and the Omaha World-Herald contributed to this report. -1 -DPErBAR ours, 7 [ • Fitness classes included in membership from campus • OPEN 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK Student Special For Lincoln's leader in health and fitness. O COTTONWOOD 475-3386 CLUB __1 *. £_ ■ Regents approve software proposal surrWAKE from page 1 tivity and freeing staff to spend time on more important activities than repetitive paperwork. For instance, the purchasing process now begins with a paper form, requires several signatures of approval and copies of the approvals, a paper purchase order and invoice, and finally mailing a paper check, he said. New software will allow all purchasing transactions to be con ducted electronically, he said, i Van Horn said, because of the software’s convenience, he would ask the State Department of Administration, which audits all university purchases of more than $500, to make some time-and money-saving changes to its audit ing process. Now the agency reviews paper invoices of all high-dollar pur chases before the university can pay the invoices, he said. The software will allow agency officials instant electronic access to university invoices, so they could audit purchases elec tronically after invoices are paid, “which is the way most auditing is done,” Van Horn said. Staff productivity would rise at both institutions without staff exchanging paper copies of invoices via mail or fax, he said. tie said. Fayroll software will keep in extensive, searchable database af employee records, including - employees’ health and retirement plans, areas of job expertise and salaries. The department employs about 6,000, and the university employs more than 20,000. The software’s other attractive features include its year-2000 compliance and easy accessibility to administration on all four NU campuses, Van Horn said. The university’s three current computing systems are difficult to use, aren’t compatible with one another arid wouldn’t work after the year 2,000 without program ming changes costing from $500,000 to $1 million, Van Horn said. Walter Weir, NU assistant vice president for business and finance and director of information ser vices, said a modern computer system should handle 90 percent of the staff’s routine tasks but the current systems cannot. When the new software is implemented, university adminis trators’ and staff members’ will spend more time problem-solving and working on exceptions to everyday rasKs, weir said. That will greatly increase the administrations’ productivity, Van Horn said. The new software is part of the university’s four-year plan to improve its efficiency with a bet ter information technology infra structure. A task force appointed by Smith in 1995 found NU adminis tration needed to improve its effi ciency and suggested the universi ty adopt 6rie common and'modern administrative computing system. The university’s “Strategic} Framework 1996-2001” plan also states the university should maxi mize its financial resources and adopt the best business practices, including modern management information systems. “Everything we do is so paper intensive,” Van Horn said. “We just have to streamline these things, and that will save us money in the long run.” rNeurasKa s ueparimeni or Health and Human Services has the option to share the new soft ware and computing system with the university under the contract with SAB, although the depart ment has yet to announce whether it would pursue this option, Van -4s . - ^-Although the university would not profit directly from the part nership, sharing maintenance and implementation costs with the department could result in future savings to both institutions, he said. “My primary concern is to do this for the university,” Van Horn said. “But the state also needs new computer systems. Why dupli cate?” In a partnership, Health and Human Services likely would use the payroll portion of the software, jd American Heart Association*,^^ Fighting Heart Disease and Stroke _ sfB Another way to find us. www/unl .edu/DailyNeb/