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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1998)
Jfc. FUNDING from page 1 With these numbers in mind, UNL has looked to other means to increase funding. UNLs reallocation has shifted funds to strengthen certain programs to make up for lost funding. John Jordison, Nebraska Tax Research Council president, said his organization will be analyzing higher education funding trends.' “Too often in Nebraska we fail to look in the rearview mirror,” Jordison said. Researching those trends will help state lawmakers decide future spending priorities. Lawmakers will need to be open to changes in higher education. That particularly includes connecting more students to Nebraska’s educa tion system. Nebraskans sometimes have a hard time understanding why most higher education money goes toward faculty salaries, speakers said Thursday. Public institutions are competing with private colleges for outstanding teachers, who will only come if the state offers them equal or better salaries than competing institutions, they said. Attracting high-quality faculty will in turn improve the quality of state institutions, said Lee Jones, NU executive vice president and provost. Bringing salaries up to speed with peer institutions has been a priority of the NU Board of Regents in the past decade. The meeting consisted of a speech from Terry Hartle of the American Council on Education and three information sessions, where lawmakers and education officials presented budget-related informa tion. The day concluded with a panel discussion on current issues, which included NU President Dennis Smith, Sens. Bohlke and Wehrbein and other state education officials. ‘College is Possible? dispels myths on costs of universities By Lindsay Young Senior staff writer Nearly 40 percent of Nebraskans in an NU survey said they thought a four-year college education in Nebraska was not affordable. University of Nebraska officials hope the “College is Possible” cam paign will change their minds. According to the NU survey con ducted this summer, about 57 percent agree or somewhat agree that a four year Nebraska college education is affordable. About 38 percent said they some what disagree or strongly disagree that Nebraska colleges are afford able. ---__ Earlier this year, NU joined the “College is Possible” campaign, which was designed to dispel myths that surround issues of affordability and financing in higher education. NU spokeswoman Dara Troutman said she wasn’t surprised about the results of the NU survey. She said the media and financial planners often impress upon the pub lic costs of institutions that charge more than $20,000 a year. ' The university is trying to prove to Nebraskans that college is afford able by putting the facts on paper, Troutman said. The average annual cost to attend one of NU’s four-year campuses is $7,000, including tuition, books, room and board. Group criticizes NU athletic teams RUTGERS from page 1 suade Rutgers University to withdraw from NCAA Division I athletics. “We would like Rutgers to be a Division I-AA athletic program that provides no athletic scholarships,” he said. “Universities shouldn’t pay people to be on teams.” While teaching at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, Dowling researched the relationship between major athletics and academics. As the basketball program gained prominence, New Mexico’s top students were going to other universities, he said. Through interviews with the stu dents and their parents, Dowling found a link to athletics. “UNM didn’t value the students’ where,” he said “Everyone was con cerned with 10 low SAT slam-dunkers.” A similar situation exists at UNL, he said. “I have nothing against UNL,” Dowling said. “Every university makes a deal for their own soul. I don’t want Rutgers to be that way. It can still be saved.” However, Rutgers Assistant Athletic Director for Student Affairs Mike Mahan said the university has no intention of dissolving the athletic department. “The president of the university has been very clear that Rutgers is not even considering the idea of dropping, athlet ics,’’Mahan said.: V , Mahan said Rutgers University has the only Division I athletic program in Estate of New Jersey. : “Every state has a flagship universi ty with* prominent athletic depart ment,” he said. “I don’t think £Jew Jersey should be any different.” ; Mahan downplayed the efforts of Rutgers 1000. “Rutgers 1000 consists of only 26 members,” he said. “They represent die minority of people who are opposed to our athletic program. “Professor Dowling does not speak with the authority of the university. He does not speak the views of anyone at Rutgers or the state of New Jersey. “No one takes him seriously.” Mocking Herbie Each month, Rutgers 1000 spon sors an award, which is presented to the group or person “who has contributed most to helping Rutgers University resemble the University of Nebraska,” the Web site reads. The award was originally known as the Herbie Husker Award, but because of a UNL legal challenge, it is now known as the “Hubie Cornpone Award.” Rutgers 1000 had originally posted the Herbie Husker logo on its Web page. Chris Bahl, who is the director of the NU Athletic Department’s licensing and sales office, said an anonymous person at Rutgers University told him about the Web page. The person wanted Bahl to know that Rutgers was using Herbie Husker in “poor taste.” Bahl turned the problem over to the College Licensing Company, which is contracted to handle the Athletic Department’s copyright issues. The College Licensing Company sent the Rutgers group a letter asking it to remove Herbie. “The university retains the right to use our logos,” Bahl said. “Well over 90 percent of the time people comply, but (Rutgers 1000) did not cooperate at all. “We feel that Rutgers should not be using our mascot to tear down their own athletic program. They can attack their university as long as they leave UNL out of it.” the Web page is a parody of Herbie Husker, with the addition of crossed eyes and a missing tooth. Dowling said Rutgers picked UNL as its focus for the page because it is one of the most glaring examples of “pro fessionalized” college athletics. He said UNL is “prostituting” itself to big endorsement companies such as the College Licensing Company and making itself resemble Disneyland more than an academic institution. But Bahl said Dowling’s comments were irrational. “As a whole, everybody in Nebraska puts athletics inperspective,” Bahl said. “I believethat Dowling creat ed a monster in his own head without a g Revaluation of UNL,” . i nougn some are quick to dismiss Dowlingand his group’seriticisms, his long-distance debate has flared even in Nebraska. . rj. Tn September 1998, the Herbie Husker Award found its way into a local newspaper and was eventually followed by responses from former Football Coach Tom Osborne. In die Sept. 6 edition of the Lincoln Journal Star, a Nebraska Wesleyan University professor wrote a guest col umn, which expressed his admiration of Rutgers 1000. Ken Keith, chairman of the psy chology department at Wesleyan and a UNL graduate, wrote in his column that he was upset that the stale of Nebraska cared more about Husker football than the academic accomplishments of the university. Keith told the Daily Nebraskan he was disturbed because almost every person in the state can name the head coach of the football team, but almost no one knows the name of the head of any academic department at UNL. “For an academic institution, the money spent on athletics is ridiculously out of proportion,” he said. Keith said the addition of the new skyboxes to Memorial Stadium deep ens UNUs ties to football. MattHaney/DN AN ARTIST’S RENDITION of Hubie Cornpone, the Rutgers 1000 group mascot shown here, is based on Nil’s Herbie Husker. “The skyboxes are something that I could see the Kansas City Chiefs doing, but not a college team,” he said. Keith defended Rutgers’ use of Herbie Husker on its Web site. “UNL has no sense of humor,” he said. “The fact that lawyers pounced on the situation is absurd. (Rutgers 1000) is just poking fun at the seriousness of UNEs approach to athletics.” Osborne’s response to Keith’s edito rial appeared in the Sept. 20 edition of the Journal Star. In the column, Osborne defended the university’s athletic program by cit ing that the football program alone brought in roughly $20 million to the university in 1997. Because of this, he wrote, “major college athletics can enhance the academic mission of a uni versity.” “The pursuit of excellence is a great teacher,” he wrote. Bahl stands beside Osborne in defending NU athletics. “The Athletic Department at UNL receives no state taxes and no student fees,” he said. “It is completely self supporting, but the athletic program has donated money to die university each year.” UNL academic administrators also reject Rutgers 1000’s claims. David Brinkeihoff, UNL associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said the university’s main focus is on academics. “The academic program is first and foremost at UNL. That’s what we’re all about,” Brinkeihoff said. Brinkeihoff said UNL is often criti cized for its emphasis on athletics because of its high visibility. “Athletics are part of all universi ties. Ours is successful, so it gets the recognition. Consequently, people make assumptions about our academic program that are untrue.” Attention December 1998 Graduates The DEADLINE for the return of your Yellow Commencement Attendance form is December 4,1998 Return it to the Records Office, ^^^^^^^^^^lO^Canfiel^Administratio^Buildin^^^^^^^^^^^ The Salvation Army Thrift Stores 474-4747 • 737 P Street 1128 U. 270 Street* 142S SoaO Street NEW PRODUCT DAILY! Clothing — Furniture — Household Appliances - Antiques ft Collectibles Wt Need Your DonaBonrt Shopping with us buys a whole lot more! Your purchase provides a drug/alcohol rehabilitation program. - ■' •« ' Sj ■ v *
