SPOUTS A S E
Finale Roots rocker December 15,1997
Nebraska All-American Lisa Reitsma’s career Perhaps best known as the lead singer of
came to an end Saturday as NU lost in the Pacific Lincoln’s Shithook, Phil Shoemaker has a storied
Regional. PAGE 8 history running much deeper than that. PAGE 7
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 76
It’s a
! Capitol
Christmas
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Ryan Soderlin/DN
GOV. BEN NELSON, with the help of a group of Lincoln children, lights the Christmas tree at the State Capitol
Sunday afternoon. Sunday’s ceremony, which was presented by Lincoln’S Pinewood Bowl, KFOR-AM (1240)
and the Lincoln Jaycees, was tho 50th Nebraska State Christmas free Lighting Ceremony. Please see story on
the back page.
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: / h
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NU may encounter
revenue cutbacks
■ Regents prepare for the
potential loss of $50 to
$150 million. State and
federal funding for NU has
been declining steadily.
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
In the era of downsizing anc
cost-cutting, the University oi
Nebraska could be faced with a loss
of $50 million to $150 million in its
operating budget by 2015, NL
President Dennis Smith said
Saturday.
Streamlining operations and
reducing costs to prepare for this
possible revenue loss were the topics
of the NU Board of Regents retreai
Friday and Saturday.
Roger Benjamin, president of the
Council for Aid to Education, pre
sented the results of a two-year stud}
to the regents Friday in the Wici
Alumni Center.
The study was compiled by the
Committee on National Investmem
in Higher Education and document
ed the group’s findings that costs foi
higher education were rising “much
faster than funding.”
NU Provost Lee Jones agreed
citing the state’s declining contribu
tion to NU.
Jones said NU received 21.7 per
cent of the state’s general fund in
1989, compared with an expected
16.3 percent in 1999, which the state
Legislature already has approved.
NU’s state and federal funding is
expected to continue its decline with
more government-supported groups
vying for their piece of the tax pay
ers’ pie, Lt. Gov. Kim Robak said
Friday.
Smith said a $150 million rev
enue loss would make it difficult just
to maintain the status quo. Because
of that potential loss, Regent Nancy
O’Brien of Waterloo said, NU would
not talk about flourishing in future
meetings, but instead would discuss
“whether or not we can survive.”
O’Brien said regents and univer
sity administrators needed to exam
ine their budgets with an open mind,
holding “no sacred cows.”
Several of the regents said there
was a need for systemwide change,
although NU chancellors presented
cost-saving plans implemented for
only their respective campuses.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Senior Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs Richard Edwards
presented UNL’s programs for
Please see BUDGET on 2
Kwanzaa recognizes
traditional principles
By Kelly Scott
Staff Reporter
While the end of December marks
the Christmas season for many, the
end of December marks more than
just Christmastime for Venita Kelley.
Kelley, an associate professor of
communications and African and
African-American studies at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
thinks about the coming of Kwanzaa
week as much as she does Christmas.
Kelley is one of the many African
Americans in Lincoln who celebrate
Kwanzaa Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
Kwanzaa week, Kelley said, is a
celebration of values - who people
and their families are and who they
want to be.
“Kwanzaa has to do with honor
ing and reclaiming traditions that
were taken away from African
Americans, often taken by law,”
Kelley said.
Kelley said she had practiced
Kwanzaa for five to seven years in
earnest, but since moving to Nebraska
and away from her family, she had
)ww.unl.edu /DailyNeb
not.
While celebrating Kwanzaa week
is important, she said, Kwanzaa is
about more than just a week.
“You practice Kwanzaa every day.
Every day is about living the princi
ples of Kwanzaa,” Kelley said.
The seven-day celebration of
Kwanzaa, a Kiswahili word meaning
fruits of the harvest, is mainly about
the family, Kelley said.
“It means the first fruits of the
harvest, which was a time of family
gathering. Kwanzaa is a celebration
of a family’s future and present,” she
said.
On each evening of Kwanzaa
week, a family celebrating the holiday
gathers and lights one of seven can
dles placed in a candle holder. Three
candles are red, three are green and
one is black. The candles alternate in
color in the holder with the black can
dle in the center to symbolize balance,
Please see KWANZAA on 6