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
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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
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