! SUITS
What a racket
Though she originally planned to stay in the U.S.
for only a year, German-native Jennifer Thoste is
now a senior leader on the tennis team. PAGE 7
All
Puccini! Puccini!
UNIis School of Music is bringing a double dose
of operatic works fay Puccini to Kimball Recital
Hall starting Thursday. PAGE 9
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February 25,1998
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Chance of thunderstorms, Windy, low 33.
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 110
UNL speed limits to drop I
By Jessica Fargen
Assignment Reporter
By the end of next week, drivers
may have to ease up on the accelerator
and make more stops as they cruise to
campus on North 14th Street
Or, they can settle for a traffic ticket.
Currently, die speed limit is 35 mph
on North 14th Street up to W Street,
where it falls to 25 mph in front of the
Campus Recreation Center. Soon, the
35 mph speed limit will be lowered to
30 mph south ofNew Hampshire Street.
And that’s not the only change stu
dents can expect to see in the area.
Right turns on red lights will be pro
hibited for southbound and westbound
traffic at die 14th and Vine streets inter
section and for eastbound and south
bound traffic at 16th and Vine streets.
Several other safety measures
already have been implemented.
“(A reduced speed limit) will slow
people down earlier,” said John
I
Si Current Speed Limit 35 mph
S New Speed Limit 30 mph
Si Current Speed Limit 25 mph
Si Old Bus Stop
Si New Bus Stop
Hey
there,
slow
New traffic regulations
designed to help keep
pedestrians safe
include a new speed
limit between New
Hampshire and W
streets to slow drivers
before they reach Vine
Street. Prohibited right
turns on red lights will
keep drivers alert for
pedestrians crossing
the streets.
JonFrank/DN
Wiechmann, chairman of ASUN’s
Government Liaison Committee. ‘This
way we are slowing down traffic before
they get to students.”
Eliminating right turns on red lights
may reduce accidents because drivers
will have to slow down and look for
pedestrians, he said. Usually drivers are
usually looking for traffic, not students,
when they turn right on red.
The Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska also had said it
wanted yellow flashing lights near
pedestrian crossings at 14th and Vine
streets.
Rick Haden, public works depart
ment operations and maintenance man
ager, said public works decided against
the yellow lights because drivers need to
focus on people crossing the street all
over, not just at cross walks.
Lincoln Police Sgt. Dave Haraly
said pedestrians who don’t obey traffic
laws often are not held responsible. The
law prohibits crossing the street outside
of crosswalks, especially during heavy
traffic.
“I can tell you that pedestrian high
schoolandoellege students tend to
think theynttv invincible and ctes Wifi
stop for them when they are crossing the
street illegally,” Hamly said
Unless an accident occurs involving
a pedestrian who is at fault, pedestrians
are rarely ticketed, he said The same is
true in downtown Lincoln, Hamly said
“The age-old, Took both ways’ that
you tell your fust- and second-graders
needs to be re-enforced,” Hamly said
Within a week after die speed limit
and no right turn signs are put in, the
Lincoln Police Department will be
enforcing the changes, he said, such as
handing out $15 tickets for turning on a
red light.
Speeding ticket fines are:
■ $25 for 6-10 mph the limit
Please see TRAFFIC on 2
Ryan Soderlin/DN r,..
SARAH WILHELM, who majors in biology and woman’s studios,
takes an afternoon nap In the Sheldon Memorial Sculpture Rankin
Tuesday. The weather won’t stay spring-like for long as tempera
tures are expected to fall Into the 30s later this week. 2
Alliance to give voice
to Asian-Americans
By Lindsay Young
Assignment Reporter
As a Filipino-American, Tani
Evans was glad when he heard about
the new Asian Student Alliance last
spring.
Evans, now secretary of the
Alliance, said because he commutes
from Omaha, he had not met a lot of
Asian-American students.
Many of the Asian groups, such
as the Malaysian Student Association
and the Chinese Students and
Scholars Association are comprised
mainly of international students.
There is no UNL Filipino group.
The Asian Student Alliance will
give more Asian students, especially
Asian-Americans, a sense of belong
ing, Evans said.
The group started during the 1997
spring semester. About 10 students
recruited members, and this year they
are working at establishing them
selves, said President Linda Tran.
The group will serve four purpos
es:
■ To foster unity and Asian pride.
■ To provide a sense of commu
nity and belonging among Asian stu
dents from diverse Asian ethnic back
grounds.
■ To provide a safe and support
ive environment for Asian students at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
■ To provide Asian students with
a unified voice.
Please see ASIA on 6
ACADEMIC RIQOR:
Ascension of academia
Faculty say UNL must raise standards
Editor's note: This week the Daily
Nebraskan will take an in-depth look at
one of the hottest issues in UNL cur
riculum: academic rigor.
Because it could change the face of
the university's education, the DN will
examine how it affects incoming stu
dents, current students and faculty.
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
If faculty and administrators
achieve their goal of increasing acade
mic rigor, students can expect to see
changes in the classroom.
Essay tests, closely and critically
graded writing assignments, and
“hands on” research may be common
place in UNL classes.
But the extra work, administrators
say, will be worth it when students find
how much more they learn and discov
er the added value of a degree from fee
University ofNebraska-Lincoln.
For UNL to remain competitive
with its peer institutions and fulfill its
mission to educate its students, fee uni
versity community must unite to create
an academically rigorous environment,
administrators and faculty members
said
An environment where students
and professors are committed to learn
ing, class is fee most important topic of
conversation and an academic energy
and excitement can be felt around cam
pus is not impossible to achieve,
Chancellor James Moeser said
This rigorous environment, he said,
includes faculty who say, “we will
challenge you to the utmost, but if you
will do your part and work hard, we
will work just as hard to help you suc
ceed.”
Moeser, who dismissed recent
attacks on UNL for its grade inflation,
said the central indicator of an academ
ically sound university is not its grades,
but instead the challenges it issues its
students.
Richard Edwards, senior vice
chancellor for academic affairs, said
some people thought a measure of aca
demic rigor was how many students
get failing grades.
“We’re interested in retaining our
students,” Edwards said. ‘We refuse to
measure our academic rigor by how
many students we flunk out”
Edwards’ definition of academic;
Please see RIGOR on 2
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: / / www.unl.edu IDailyNeb
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