SPORTS
Hogtied!
The Nebraska men’s basketball team blew a 10
point lead to fall to Arkansas 74-65 in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament PAGE 7
flpimoi
Marry making
As the Rev. Jimmy Creech’s trial for marrying a
lesbian couple continues, Barb Churchill wonders
if the church has considered its dilemma. PAGE 5
Jason Wu
Partly cloudy, high 30. Cl
Students rally behind UNL instructor
Ryan Soderlin/DN
CENTER: UNL CHEMISTRY INSTRUCTOR Rill McLaughlin helps elementary education majors Lisa Kopf, left, and Kim Frantzen, right, make mod
els of esters. The class, Chemistry 195, also know as “hands-on chemistry,” was making an ester commonly known as oil of Wlntergreen.
■ Administrators say there is not
enough money to keep chemistry
intructor Bill McLaughlin on staff
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
Some UNL students say administrators should
put their money where their mouth is when it
comes to hiring an adjunct chemistry instructor.
With much-touted plans for increased academ
ic rigor and a renewed commitment to undergrad
uate education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
administrators are “not keeping up their end of the
bargain” if they do not hire Bill McLaughlin, said
sophomore Stephanie Schardt.
About 50 students attended Wednesday’s stu
dent government meeting, urging senators to draft
a bill in support of McLaughlin, a temporary
instructor who teaches two beginning chemistry
classes and two classes for chemistry teachers.
McLaughlin said he was hired originally as a
one-semester instructor for fall 1997 but was
allowed to stay for the spring semester.
Now the administration says there is no money
to hire McLaughlin beyond this semester. And
even if funding were available, a national search
first would have to be conducted to fill an instruct
ing position, it says.
Many students said a comprehensive, national
search couldn’t locate a better instructor than
McLaughlin, who polished his teaching skills at a
St. Joseph, Mo., high school for 27 years.
“He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had,” said
Renee Ritchie, a junior biochemistry major. “He’s
Please see INSTRUCTOR on 2
Playwright visits
English classroom
By Ieva Augstums
Assignment Reporter
Students in a small, intimate
English class learned on Thursday
the essence and obligation needed
to write and perform a less-tradi
tional topic: gay and lesbian litera
ture.
Twenty-nine students enrolled
in “Sex Roles in Literature,” a
course focusing on gay and les
bian literature, discussed the roles
of gays and lesbians in society
with famed playwright Mart
Crowley, the author of “The Boys
in the Band,” the landmark play
that transformed gay theater.
Traveling more than 1,500
miles from sunny Los Angeles,
Crowley’s trip to snow-covered
Lincoln had a twofold mission.
World-renowned for opening
theater doors to honest depictions
of openly gay characters, Crowley
attended a production of his own
play, “For Reasons that Remain
Unclear” at the Wagon Train
Project Thursday night. It is only
the third time his play has been pro
duced since its first production in
1993. Crowley also is visiting the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln to
discuss his works with students,
staff and faculty members.
His book, “3 Plays by Mart
Crowley,” is a collection that
brings together his most powerful
works: “The Boys in the Band”
(1968); “A Breeze from the Gulf”
(1973); and the previously unpub
lished, “For Reasons that Remain
Unclear” (1993).
Associate English Professor
George Wolf said all the students
in the class were required to read
“The Boys in the Band” and “For
Reasons that Remain Unclear”
before Crowley arrived.
“It is important to get a sense
that works come out of human
beings and experiences,” Wolf
said.
“Writers are the rest of the
story and it is important for stu
dents to see, realize and experi
ence beyond the pages in a book.”
Please see PLAY on 3
Diverse history aids
new recruiting official
By Lindsay Young
Assignment Reporter
The new assistant director of minor
ity recruitment won’t have to travel far
to get to her new jobt
Cynthia Gooch, educational spe
cialist in Multicultural Affairs, will
move only a couple of blocks from
Canfield Administration to the
Admissions office.
Peg Blake, director of Admissions,
said Gooch will improve recruitment at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“I don’t think we’ve done as good as
job as we need to (with recruitment),
and I am very hopeful that with the hir
ing of Cynthia we will step up and do
better,” Blake said.
More than 50 people applied for the
job, and four were interviewed, said Pat
McBride, associate director of
Admissions. Current director, Barbara
Carrasco-Fechner, is leaving the posi
tion to finish graduate school.
The qualities Admissions wer look
ing for included experience at working
with minority students, experience in
higher education and working with stu
dents in admissions or orientation, and
connections to the communities where
UNL recruits, McBride said.
“(Gooch) has had significant expe
rience in working with students in a
variety of roles,” said Blake.
Blake said Gooch was ideal for the
position thanks to her connections with
the Omaha minority community and
her dedication to the success of minori
ties in higher education. Gooch lived
and worked in Omaha for several years
before coming to Lincoln.
McBride said Gooch will develop a
cohesive plan for recruiting minorities
to UNL.
Gooch and Admissions must con
nect with community leaders in groups
such as the Omaha Urban League, the
Girls Chib and Boys Club and centers
such as the Hispanic Community
Center in Lincoln.
“We have to get out and have good
relations with them,” Blake said.
Different populations have different
needs from a university, she said.
American Indians who live on
reservations face difficult cultural
changes coming to a university, Blake
said. It is important to connect them
with the resources they need
It also is important to distinguish
between minorities from rural and
urban areas, because they have different
needs and wants, she said
“In life, I think it is easier to lump
people together than look at them as
individuals,” Blake said
If recruiting students from Chicago,
for example, Gooch must help them
feelLincoln is a welcoming place for
minority students from large cities.
But for students from Nebraska’s
smaller towns and reservations, recruit
ing efforts are different. Students worry
about being lost in the crowd or about
fitting in at a larger institution.
Admissions has to look at each
individual’s needs or wants, Blake said
In many ways recruiting minorities
is not different from recruiting white
students, she said. But because UNL
and Nebraska are predominantly white,
some minorities from larger cities out
side of Nebraska or in Omaha find it
intimidating, Blake said -
Blake believes Gooch will face
these challenges successfully.
“I really believe that she will make a
difference.”
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