| SPORTS
Gym-tastic
1 Freshman Jason Hardabura finished in the top
n four in all six events as the Nebraska gymnastics
J team downed Oklahoma Sunday. PAGE 10
AiE
NebraSKA
Tonight, Omaha’s Ranch Bowl will play host to a
three-pronged ska show with Hepcat, The
Gadjits and The Slackers. PAGE 12
TUESDAY
March 3, 1998
Hazy Shade Of Wuter
Partly cloudy, high 39. Cloudy tonight, low 23.
UNL’s distance education aids Kwan
By Chad Ellsworth
Staff Reporter
Having just won an Olympic silver medal in
ice skating for the United States, Michelle Kwan
can return her attention to something that will
benefit her for the rest of her life - her education.
And she has received part of her education
through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Kwan is one of 15,000 students each year
who take classes through UNL’s distance educa
tion program, said Kathleen Zumpfe, director of
marketing for the Division of Continuing
Studies.
By enrolling in the distance education pro
, gram last year, Kwan was able to take a high
I
school biology course and supplement the edu
cation she received while attending a traditional
high school, said Wendy O’Connor, academic
adviser for the division’s high school indepen
dent studies.
The program is offered by the Division of
Continuing Studies in order to cater to the special
needs of some high school students. Students
who are either too busy or too far away to attend
a traditional high school or who choose to learn
in an alternative environment typically benefit
most from the distance education program,
Zumpfe said.
Such students include athletes, actors, chil
dren of missionaries and diplomats, students of
the School of American Ballet, home-schooled
students and students who learn at an accelerated
pace, she said.
Students from every county in the state of
Nebraska, all 50 U.S. states, and 136 countries
are now enrolled in the distance education pro
gram.
“The program has experienced tremendous
growth over the last few years,” Zumpfe said.
“Our enrollment has doubled in the ’90s.”
About 150 students earned their high school
diplomas through the program last year, and
more than 2,750 have earned their diplomas
since 1967. Students are given one year to com
plete each course, but they can take as long as
necessary to earn their diplomas, O’Connor said.
The distance education program offers a full
high school curriculum, so its students, like
Olympic luge competitor Adam Heidt, can get
their high school diplomas without ever setting
foot inside a classroom.
Other students, like Kwan, can choose to
supplement their traditional studies at a high
school with UNL distance education courses,
Zumpfe said.
Despite having such famous athletes on its
class roll, the program’s goal isn’t to recruit those
in the international spotlight, O’Connor said.
“They hear about the program through word
of mouth,” she said.
The distance education program has been
accredited by the state of Nebraska since 1967
and by the North Central Association of Schools
since 1978, making it the only fully accredited
Please see KWAN on 3
____ Michael Warren/DN
SEN. RAY JANSSEN of Nickerson talks politics during lunch with ASUN president Curt Ruwe. About 20 Nebraska
lawmakers gathered Monday in the Nebraska Union’s Georgian Suite for their annual student luncheon.
Students, senators do lunch
By Kim Sweet
Staff Reporter
State senators took a break from
discussing taxes and new state pro
grams Monday to discuss every
thing from low basketball game
attendance to communication bar
riers between students and foreign
professors.
University-related topics like
these were on the menu for the
Senator-Student Luncheon, spon
sored by the Association of
Students of the University of
Nebraska.
The luncheon allowed students
and senators to talk in an informal
atmosphere, discussing concerns
on the students' minds, as well as
those on the senators'.
At one table, Sen. Pat Engel of
South Sioux City asked to hear
about students' experiences at the
university.
As a senior in high school.
Megan Patent was less than enthu
siastic about attending the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
she said.
“UNL was probably last on my
list of schools I wanted to attend,”
Patent, a sophomore agricultural
education major, said.
Now she is glad she chose
UNL. She enjoys interaction with
the faculty, feels like she has a close
relationship with her advisers and
is enjoying her experiences.
This was good news to Engel,
who asked students about all
aspects of their education, from the
new admission standards to
improving building conditions
around campus.
Jessica Shelburn, a sophomore
agriculture education major, said
the new admission standards were
beneficial to the university and did
not exclude many students.
Shelburn did know a few students
who could not fulfill the new stan
dards and consequently were not
admitted. This was due to poor
planning on the students’ part that
could have been prevented,
Shelbum said.
“By the time you are a sopho
more or a junior, you sit down with
your high school guidance coun
selor, you know what requirements
you need to fulfill,” Shelbum said.
Engel was pleased to hear peo
ple say the new standards were not
too difficult to fulfill.
“It seems that all the kids are
forewarned,” he said.
Discussing building improve
ment on campus was high on
Engel’s priority list. Engel is a sup
porter of a bond issue aimed at rais
ing funds for campus building
improvement.
“Many of the buildings haven't
been renovated since I was here -
that was about 40 years ago,” he
said. “It is time to bite the bullet
Please see LUNCH on 6
Christensen starts
TV ad campaign
By Josh Funk ^
Senior Reporter
The images playing across a 13
inch TV screen in a downtown Lincoln
office Monday morning could give one
man the keys to the governor's mansion
come November.
That’s what Republican gubernato
rial candidate John Christensen hopes.
At his Lincoln campaign headquar
ters, the 2nd district Republican repre
sentative unveiled the first of many TV
advertisements designed to help him
secure the Republican nomination in
the May primary and then the gover
nor’s office.
In his first TV campaign
Christensen introduces himself to the
Nebraska public while emphasizing his
rural roots.
“I want to let people know that even
though I represent eastern Nebraska I
understand rural issues,” Christensen
said. “I am a lifelong farm kid.”
The advertisement was filmed on
the Christensen family farm in St. Paul,
and it features shots of Christensen
with local residents and his family.
This introductory advertisement
will be followed by other commercials
_£_
/
where Christensen will outline his posi
tion on the issues.
While his opponents, John Breslow
and Mike Johanns, began their TV
campaigns in October, Christensen
said he wanted to wait until the cam
paign was more focused.
“I know how to run a campaign,
and I'll rely on my own schedule, not
my opponents',” Christensen said.
After the preview of the TV adver
tisement, talk quickly turned to one of
the campaign’s hottest issues: property
tax relief.
Citmg his legislative track record,
Christensen promised tax relief elect
ed.
Now Christensen's campaign will
shift into high gear to prepare for the
primaries on May 12.
But campaign events will be limit
ed by Christensen’s obligations in
Washington.
During his campaign Christensen
said he would refuse to write checks
that his bank couldn’t cash.
“I won't make promises I can't
deliver.”
Bridging campus gap
part of party’s platform
By Jessica Fargen
Assignment Reporter
East Campus is just 20 blocks east
on Holdrege Street, but it may seem
like a world away to many City
Campus students.
And members of the VISION
party would like to see those two
worlds a little bit closer.
A platform that includes bridging
that gap, increasing unification
among student groups and recom
mending methods classes for profes
sors is one of the reasons VISION
sees a bright future for itself come
March 11.
Jill Maaske, first vice presidential
candidate, said she took Biology 101
and English 151 on East Campus her
freshman year. It was a great learning
Please see VISION on 3
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: / / www.unl.edu /DailyNeb