Robak boasts citizens
ROBAK from page 1
nesses and government are scram
bling to fill hundreds of highly
paid information technology posi
tions.
As technology races ahead,
Robak said, Nebraska can be a
leader if it works to coordinate its
technology. A statewide organiza
tion designed to monitor the state’s
technological advancements is in
the works, she said.
Robak also spoke about
Nebraska’s one-of-a-kind
Legislature. As lieutenant gover
nor, she presides over the
Unicameral.
During the last 60 years, the
state’s one-house, non-partisan
Legislature has served its citizens
well, she said.
By avoiding the messy work
ings of conference committees
that in other states are needed to
make two houses’ legislation con
form, Robak said, the Legislature
operates much as its “father,” long
time U.S. Sen. George Norris of
Nebraska, envisioned.
And, for the most part, partisan
squabbles are avoided, Robak said.
Robak, considered a front-run
ner in the 1998 governor’s race
before her decision in June not to
run, said her responsibilities as
lieutenant governor and mother of
two had been stressful enough for
the time being.
“1 have no social life. I have no
friends,” she laughed.
Jennifer Griffin, a senior bio
chemistry major and event orga
nizer, said Robak’s speech was the
first Honors Forum lecture. The
Honors Program plans to sponsor
a speech each semester by a presti
gious person, she said.
Robak's speech got the series
off to a good start, Griffin said.
“She is a very good speaker
and someone who’s obviously
going to attract a lot of people,”
she said.
Woman arrested for
alleged embezzlement
From Staff and Wire Reports
A former employee of the
University of Nebraska extension
center in North Platte was arrested
late Monday for allegedly embezzling
about $60,000 from the university.
Sandra Thompson, 44, of Keokuk,
Iowa, was arrested by the Lee County
Sheriff’s Office in Iowa on three
counts of felony theft by deception, a
sheriff’s department official said.
Thompson, also known as Sandra
Louck, was being held Tuesday night
at the sheriff’s office. Thompson has
n’t been employed by the extension
center since mid-October.
Gary Hergert, interim director of
the West Central Extension Center in
North Platte, said Monday that center
employees discovered the alleged
embezzlement a few days after
Thompson quit her job as an account
ing clerk at the center.
Another employee of the center
noticed a deficit in the employee
sundry account, which held a pool of
employee donations used to buy cof
fee, candy, flowers and other office
perks, Hergert said.
Further investigation into the
account’s activity showed university
checks wrongly had been deposited
into the non-university sundry
account after being marked with the
sundry fund stamp, he said.
The signature of an authorized
sundry fund supervisor then was
forged onto checks and cash was
withdrawn from the account.
Hergert said the embezzlement
occurred over a six- to 12-month peri
od. Thompson had worked at the cen
ter for three years before leaving her
job, he said.
Some of the center’s loss would be
covered by the university’s insurance
policy, which carries a $10,000
deductible, he said.
Since discovering the alleged
embezzlement, center officials have
instated new procedures to increase
the security of internal accounts,
Hergert said.
Group
to stroll
for safety
By Sarah Baker
Assignment Reporter
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln Parking Advisory
Committee plans to see some differ
ences on campus during its annual
Spring Safety Walk.
Linda Swoboda, PAC president,
said after last month’s blizzard, the
committee is looking for change.
“After this tree fiasco, it looks like
it’s going to be a lot different,” Swoboda
said.
Tad McDowell, manager of
University Parking and Transit Services,
commended the storm cleanup teams on
the work they have done.
Landscape services nas done a
tremendous joS with the cleanup of
the tree branches,” McDowell said.
Some members of the PAC
voiced concern about lights that were
out after the storm and said they won
dered if it was because of the storm.
McDowell said he would check
with maintenance to see what is
being done.
PAC tentatively scheduled its
walk for April 11 or April 18. The
walk will take place at 4 a.m.
McDowell said the revenue of the
new parking garage is steadily
increasing.
“Right now we are at 43 percent
occupancy in the structure and we are
at 5 1 percent of our expected rev
enue,” McDowell said. “One reason
why we are down on our revenue is
because we are also down on student
permits.”
McDowell also said the snack
shop in the southeast corner of the
garage is still scheduled to be com
pleted in the first part of January.
He said that the bus waiting room
on the south side of the structure will
soon be open for use.
“We can start using the bus stop
as soon as the construction workers
are finished in that area,” he said.
McDowell also gave the PAC his
agenda for the rest of the semester.
“I would like to discuss the new
Visitor’s Center, the Antelope Valley
project, and the Holdrege expan
sion,” McDowell said.
Week maps out geography
~ z- u
r>Y TANYA WORTMAN
Staff Reporter
One of the nation’s finest geogra
phers, a former UNL professor, will
be honored tonight as part of UNL’s
Geography Awareness Week.
The geography department at the
! University of Nebraska-Lincoln and
the Geography Student Organization
will have an open house from 6 to 9
tonight on the third floor of Avery
; Hall.
It will begin by honoring
Professor Emeritus Leslie Hewes,
; who retired from UNL in 1974 and
; was chairman of his department for
; 22 years.
He was a student of Carl Sauer,
• who was a professor at the University
; of California, Berkeley, and has been
called “the great American geograph
; er.” Hewes caries on Sauer’s belief in
; holistic geography, which includes all
| aspects of the science.
Michael Shambaugh-Miller, a
geography graduate student, consid
ers Hewes one of the five most
renowned geographers in the U.S.
during the prime of his work.
Shambaugh-Miller said Hewes was
one of the first in his field to study the
culture of the Great Plains.
Hewes also is an accomplished
author. Shambaugh-Miller said
Hewes has published about 10 books
m
Kiv; a*
Geography is more than just memorizing
state capitals. It deals with environmental,
social, political, ... (and) economic topics
Michael Shambaugh-Miller
geography graduate student
and about 35 to 40 articles. Hewes
also received the Outstanding
Educator Award from the Association
of American Geographers while
teaching.
At 91, Hewes continues to trav
el and work in his field, But has
never been formally recognized by
the university. Tonight a plaque
will be erected in Avery Hall,
Room 309.
At 7 p.m., following Hewes’ cere
mony, William Marlatt, professor
emeritus and former chairman of the
Earth Resources Department at
Colorado State University, will speak
on the environmental trauma in the
former Soviet Union.
The evening’s last activity will be
the Second Annual UNL Geography
Bee, which will begin at 8. Teams of
two will compete against each other
in answering questions from geogra
phy’s various fields.
Rick Clark, a geography graduate
student and member of the
Geography Student Organization,
said the event helps get undergradu
ates and graduate students in the
group involved. Because the univer
sity has so few geography students,
this event is usually the biggest of the
year, he said.
Geography education is included
as part of the U.S. Department of
Education’s Goals 2000, a legislative
act signed in 1994 to reform educa
tion.
The legislation ranked geography
with math and science as necessary
parts of a well-balanced education,
Shambaugh-Miller said. He said he
encourages everyone to come to the
events and look at the wide range of
geographic topics.
“Geography is more than just
memorizing state capitals. It
deals with environmental, social,
political, as well as economic
topics.”
Nelson spells out visions
NELSON from page 1
scholarship they would have to work
in Nebraska for a year after gradua
tion,” Nelson said.
However, the scholarship would
provide some flexibility for students
who chose not to work here.
“If they still left the state, the
scholarship would become a loan
with a moderate interest rate that
must be repaid,” Nelson said.
College students can help
advance Nelson’s ideas by talking to
their legislator, he said.
During his political career
Nelson has always sought to serve
the interests of the people of
Nebraska, not his political career, he
said.
“I ran for office because I wanted
to do the best for Nebraska, and I have
always believed that good govern
ment is the best politics,” Nelson said.
Lt. Gov. Kim Robak agreed with
Nelson’s decisions.
“He always listens to everyone,”
Robak said. “Then he makes the
tough choices for the good of
Nebraska, not politics.”
Government has an important
but limited role in society, Nelson
said.
“It’s just like learning to ride a
bike: everyone needs training wheels
sometimes, and government must be
there to provide those,” Nelson said.
However, government must be
careful not to do too much, he said.
“Government can’t be every
thing for everybody,” Nelson said.
One of the points of Nelson s
Success 2000 plan is to ensure excel
lence in Nebraska’s schools.
Students asked how this plan
would work in light of Nelson’s con
servative budgeting.
“I have found that squeezing the
budget a little forces efficiency,”
Nelson said.
The future holds uncertainty for
Nelson as he prepares to leave the
governor’s mansion at the end of
next year.
“I have set the standard for the
future, and it will be up to the next
governor to follow it.”
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