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TUESDAY
March 10, 1998
March Madness
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 119
Snow causes transportation woes
Jay Calderon/DN
ROY KUNZ of the UNL custodial department clears steps behind Oldfather Hall. Kunz said the steps were supposed to
be cleared by UNL maintenance but might have been missed because workers were too busy clearing off other areas.
■ A university official
says highway conditions
are not considered in
cancellation decisions.
By Lindsay Young
Assignment Reporter
University administrators
stood behind their decision to
hold classes Monday, while stu
dents and faculty braved the
snow to get to campus.
Some highways remained
closed, while tall snowdrifts and
bitter-cold temperatures stalled
cars and discouraged pedestri
ans. Those factors weren't
severe enough to close the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Monday, officials said.
Dave Fitzgibbon, manager
of news and video services in
public relations, said health and
safety concerns are the criteria
for canceling classes.
Fitzgibbon spoke for Vice
Chancellor of Business and
Finance Melvin Jones, who rec
ommends school cancellations
to Chancellor James Moeser.
Jones failed to return several
calls Monday.
In October, Fitzgibbon said,
roughly the same amount of
snow fell, but because of fallen
tree limbs on campus, the deci
sion was made to cancel classes
for two days.
Highway and interstate con
ditions, he said, are not consid
ered in decision-making.
“That’s not really an issue as
far as the campus climate,” he
said.
Weather factors such as the
wind chill index and a chance
for more snow also are looked
at, he said.
The decision to cancel is
usually made in the evening but
could be made at any time until
5 a.m., he said.
Fitzgibbon said Jones also
looks at what the city is doing to
clean up after the storm,
whether UNL Landscape
Services has the ability to clean
in time for classes and if there
are any other safety concerns
such as fallen tree limbs or
power lines.
Campus sidewalks were
Please see SNOW on 6
i
Two regents
say they’ll run
for re-election
From Staff Reports
Two longtime members of the NU Board of
Regents have announced plans to run for re-election.
John Payne, president of a Kearney furniture
store and a regent since 1980, said he wanted anoth
er six-year term on the University of Nebraska's gov
erning board because he had the same commitment
to higher education as he did when he was elected 18
years ago.
But Kent Schroeder, a Kearney attorney who is
challenging Payne for the District 6 seat, said it's time
for fresh ideas and a new perspective on the board.
Schroeder is an NU law school graduate and said
his expenence on numerous boards would help him
add “invaluable insight.”
Payne also is challenged by Richard Huber, a
Grand Island attorney.
Don Blank, a McCook dentist, is being chal
lenged for his District 7 regent seat he's had since
1986.
Blank, also a former McCook mayor and city
councilman, is running for his third term.
He is challenged by David Baugher of
Stockville. No information was available on
Baugher, who did not disclose his phone number to
the Secretary of State or the city directory.
Candidates ask questions
By Jessica Fargen
Assignment Reporter
In the last debate before Wednesday’s
election, ASUN candidates Monday had
the chance to look directly at their oppo
nents and ask where they wanted to take
UNL.
For the first time, candidates from
COMMIT and VISION asked each other
questions relating to commitment to low
student fees, the current election party sys
tem and the role of the second vice presi
dent.
The debate attracted a late lunch crowd
of about 50 people in the Nebraska Union
Crib.
VISION presidential candidate John
Wiechmann said keeping student fees low
was a goal of VISION as well as an implied
COMMIT goal.
He asked Sara Russell, COMMIT's
presidential candidate, why she voted for
an additional $9,000 increase in the stu
dent fee budget at last week’s Association
of Students of the University of Nebraska
meeting.
Russell said it was understood that Vice
Chancellor of Student Affairs James
Griesen had capped student fees at $240
for the semester, so if ASUN voted for the
increase for student involvement services,
the money would be taken within the exist
ing budget.
Student involvement, she said, was
important to the university and would
allow for more East Campus opportunities.
“East Campus students pay exactly the
same fees, and a lot of their money goes to
City Campus ... it makes them feel even
more separated,” Russell said.
Chris Linder, COMMIT second vice
presidential candidate, asked Eddie
Brown, VISION second vice presidential
candidate, what his role in ASUN would
be.
Brown said his main goal would be to
open the communication lines between the
Residence Hall Association and ASUN
through things such as more hours for the
campus escort service and more ASUN
RHA co-sponsorships.
Linder said being the RHA liaison had
traditionally been the role of the second
vice president. Linder, who is a student
assistant in Schramm Hall, said she wanted
to broaden the office by increasing contact
with college advisory boards, working
more with the Parents Association and
assisting town hall meetings in the resi
dence halls.
Brown questioned COMMIT's support
of changing the current party system for
ASUN elections to a system where sena
tors and advisory board members would
run independently.
Brown said it was hypocritical for
COMMIT to advocate this, yet run under
the current party system.
COMMIT did not have a choice this
year, Linder said, because it had to abide
by the current system.
“It’s a process that may take awhile, but
it’s got to start somewhere,” Linder said.
If students ran independently they
would work harder to get their ideas
across, she said, because their issues, not
their party name, would attract votes.
Brown said such independence would
not be effective.
For example, Brown said, the seven
senator positions for the College of Arts
and Sciences were more effective when
they ran under the same set of goals
instead of each person acting independent
ly
Saad Alavi, who moderated the debate
sponsored by the Union Board and
Pakistani Students Association, asked can
didates how they would recruit and retain
international students at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Brown said involving international stu
dents in the president's cabinet, holding
monthly open forums and getting more
students of color to be New Student
Enrollment leaders would make interna
tional students feel more welcome.
Please see DEBATE on 3
_J
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