The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 29, 1998, Image 1

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    SPORTS
Bobby’s world
Bobby Newcombe will be NU’s starting quarter
back heading into the fall. The Husker post
il spring depth chart was released Tuesday.PAGE 7
K & E
On-site satire
Clay Naff, news director at local radio station
KZUM-FM, is bringing his brand of political
1 satire to the world on his Web site. PAGE 9
April 29, 1998
Rain!
Rain likely, high 53. low 42.
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 150
Racial threats
target students
■ Two graduate students
and a professor were
harassed over the Internet.
By Lindsay Young
Assignment Reporter
At least two UNL graduate stu
dents and a sociology professor have
been targeted with racially motivated
threats and harassment in the last two
weeks.
The threats came in the form of
racially motivated hate mail over the
Internet and a death threat in an e
mail message sent to one student,
who is Latina.
Keith Parker, sociology professor
and director of African-American
and African studies, also received
what he considers a racially motivat
ed note, which was slid under his
Oldfather Hall office door last week.
One of the students targeted also
is in the sociology department, but
the department of the other student
could not be confirmed.
“There were definitely protective
measures taken,” Sociology
Department Chairman Allen
Williams said.
After the incidents were reported
to Williams, it was reported to UNL
Police, Williams said.
“I just make sure the police know
about it, and they take it from there,”
he said.
Williams said UNL Police are
still investigating the cases. It is
unknown who sent the messages or if
the incidents are connected.
UNL Police did not return calls to
Please see THREATS on 3
Lard promotion
misleads parents
By Brad Davis
Senior Reporter
Administrators say incoming
students should beware of an adver
tisement that may trick students into
purchasing a debit card.
The National College
Registration Board, a New Jersey
firm that sent letters to incoming
freshman all over the country, has no
association with the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said James
Griesen, vice chancellor for student
affairs.
The firm’s letters encourage par
ents to register their college-bound
teens for the $25 “individual student
ID cards.”
Called the “Campus Card,” the
company said it serves as a student
identification that is “issued to all
college students.”
“It is required for many services
and purchasing privileges at
whichever college or university your
student should attend,” the letter
states.
The letter states that students
also should expect to receive a sec
ond card when they arrive on cam
pus in the fall, but that “both cards
are an essential part of a student’s
everyday life.”
Griesen said the letter could
imply the card is a university
requirement, which he said was not
true.
Matt Levenson, founder of the
New Jersey firm, said he could
understand that some people were
confused by the letter and said his
company had stopped sending it.
“It was just a cover letter with our
marketing packet,” Levnson said.
Despite possible confusion,
Levenson said, more than 3,000 par
ents have called the company asking
how to purchase a card for their chil
dren.
To anyone who may have been
misled into purchasing a card,
Levenson said the firm will offer a
full refund with no questions asked.
Levenson said the card will offer
students a 32 percent discount on
textbooks purchased through an
online World Wide Web site, along
with discounts from national mer
chants, such as Papa John’s Pizza
and Greyhound Bus Lines.
Even with opportunities for dis
counts, Griesen said the promotional
material could be misleading.
“Parents should not be fooled
into thinking this card is needed for
any campus activities,” he said.
The card is not linked to the uni
versity in any way, a press release
said.
UNL issues identification cards
to all incoming freshmen that serve
as a library card, a dining hall pass
and a student charge card, among
other uses.
Peg Blake, UNL’s director of
Admissions, said she tried to contact
the New Jersey firm last week.
As of last week, Blake said she
had received four phone calls from
parents who weren’t sure whether
the card was required.
Though she was unsure if the let
ter was illegal, Blake said it was at
best misleading.
“They’re treading on very thin
• _ «
ice.
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http:// www.unl.edu/DailyNeb
Finals solution
Scott McClurg/DN
DAN DIXON, a junior English major, spends Tuesday afternoon at Love Library studying for finals. With only 10
days remaining until summer break, unseasonably cold temperatures, wind and rain forced bookworms inside.
■ ' -' ’’ \ • ■ . ‘
Moeser urges new grading policy
ByIevaAugstums
Assignment Reporter
Students may need to decide on tak
ing a class pass/no pass sooner if the
Academic Senate adopts a new policy.
Chancellor James Moeser asked
senate members Tuesday to look at the
pass/no pass option and withdrawal
policies and consider changing them.
“I want to challenge this university
to become more rigorous,” Moeser said.
“There are actions you, as faculty mem
bers, can take.”
He said the University ofNebraska
Lincoln’s present grading policies
regarding pass/no pass and course with
drawal options allow students to have
more “free-will academics” than they
should
‘1 don’t want to undergo surgery by
a physician who took chemistry pass/no
pass,” he said
As stated in UNUs 1997-98 under
graduate bulletin, the pass/no pass poli
cy was designed to enable students to
take couraes in areas of interest where
they may feel they have had minimal
preparation without adversely affecting
their GPA.' y - ^
Grades ofP (pass) are interpreted as
a grade of C or better. Neither grade,
pass or no pass, contributes to a stu
dent^ semester or cumulative GPA.
Students also have the option to
withdraw from individual or all classes,
regardless of circumstances, until the
12th week of the term. A W grade will
Please see GRADES on 2