Diversity Players’ future unclear
Lack of funds, volunteers plague NU organization
By Veronica Daehn
Staff writer !
Some students who thrive on the
natural high of performing may have
played their last show.
The future of Diversity Players, a
self-initiated student group that per
forms educational skits on diversity, is
up in the air.
“We were wildly successful last
year,” Deanna Zaffke, Diversity
Players coordinator, said. “Our biggest
problem now is that we don’t have
enough students.”
The group is not “giving up,” she
said, but must find a way to restructure,
adding more volunteers who perform.
Last semester, the same group of
students performed every show and did
not have time to continue.
“It isn’t fair to rely on the same peo
ple over and over again,” she said “It’s
a good program, but the demand
exceeded our supply.”
Zaffke will not know until the end
of this month if the group will continue
to operate this semester. She hasn’t yet
been able to gather enough student
input
Diversity Players began a year and
a half ago with a core group of eight
students who belonged to the Diversity
Council.
They were impressed with skits
they saw at the October 1997 annual
diversity retreat, and decided to start a
group of their own.
The goal of the Diversity Players is
to build a wider understanding of dif
ferent cultures and backgrounds,
Zaffke said.
“Most people think they’re
addressing diversity,” she said. “Really,
they don’t have a clue what diversity
is.”
Tom Scott, a junior education
major and original member of
Diversity Players, said the lack of new
members concerned him.
“We didn’t get the best recruitment,
and we probably had a few too many
bookings,” he said. “That’s why we ran
into hard times.”
Another obstacle this semester is
the lack of time Zaffke has to serve as
coordinator.
“It would be great if the university
would fund a coordinator position,” she
said “This is an extremely cost-effec
tive program”
Zaffke has approached James
Griesen, vice chancellor for student
affairs, twice to request money for a
permanent coordinator.
Griesen, who has provided some
minor funding for the group, said
money for a coordinator was not avail
able.
“I think the group has made a real
contribution, and I hope they contin
ue,” Griesen said, “but there just isn’t
any money in the budget to fund a coor
dinator.”
Zaffke said the university is ignor
ing the group’s commitment to minori
ty issues by refusing to provide more
money for a relatively inexpensive and
beneficial student group.
“We certainly hope we can contin
ue and figure out how to make it work,”
she said
“The program evolved out of a stu
dent desire to help our community
become inclusive, and that’s the best
motive of all.”
Class draws hundreds of override seekers
CLASS from page 1
Management information sys
tems courses teach students how to
ipake an organization, like
Microsoft, more effective and
responsive through information
technology, said Assistant Professor
of Management Keng Siau.
“Management information sys
tems classes are being highly
demanded nationwide right now.
Many students are seeing the oppor
tunity of having an MIS back
ground,” Siau said.
UNL students are interested in
management courses because the
college has been known to help place
students in promising careers after
graduation, Lee said.
Students who finish the manage
ment program usually receive five to
seven job offers and have a beginning
salary of $60,000 or more per year
after graduating, he said.
“You can imagine that every kid
from engineering to computer sci
ence wants to take these classes,” Lee
said. “We just can’t accommodate
them all.”
Because a majority of the courses
are computer-based assisted learn
ing, Lee said CBA classrooms usual
ly can accommodate only 35 stu
dents pef ipom. Additional students
can slow down the amount of
instruction a professor can provide,
he said.
Fiona Nah, an assistant professor
of management, agreed.
‘We do a lot of hands-on and
individual, computer-base^pro
jects,” she said. “The more students
you have, the less time you can
devote to their learning experience.”
Siau said about 50 students were
allowed to override into his informa
tion systems analysis and design
class. That is about 20 more students
per class than originally intended by
the department.
“It’s not going to be easy, but it is
something I am willing to do,” Siau
said.Cathy Watson, departmental
secretary and specialist, said stu
dents were allowed into classes on a
first-come, first-served basis.
Graduating seniors had top priority;
but final decisions were based on
prerequisites, the student's major and
grade point average.
Erin Went, a sophomore account
ing major, said she arrived at CBA
around 7:30 a.m. and saw the long
line of students waiting. She decided
to go to her classes and then returned
around 10:30 a.m.
~ “I think I am one of the lucky
ones,” Went said. “I stood in line for
20 minutes, explained my situation
and got in.”
Lee said there had been ho dis
cussion about adding additional
courses or course sections in the
department, which would require
more professors and funding, he
said.
Siau said he would like to see the
department try to accommodate
more students in the future.
“Information technology is the
future,” he said. “Students want this
knowledge, and we need to provide it
to them.”
Minister to help officiate lesbian marriage
■ The Rev. David Holmes
plans to perform ceremony
for women in California.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) -
A Council Bluffs minister called his
decision to help officiate a marriage
between two California women
Saturday “an act of ecclesiastical civil
disobedience.”
The Rev. David Holmes, who has
served several churches in Iowa and is
on disability leave from an Omaha
church because of problems with
asthma, plans to join about 80 other
United Methodist clergy who have
defied church law by leading such
r- ■
ceremonies.
“We are trying to challenge our
General Conference and other leader
ship to see the pain that continues
when persons’ pastors are asked to
deny valuable, important and needed
ministry to them as members of our
churches,” Holmes said.
Holmes also participated in a
1997 same-sex union ceremony in
Omaha that resulted in a church trial
for another minister, the Rev. Jimmy
Creech.
The California ceremony for
“holy union for two women” is the
next major confrontation over an issue
that is threatening to split the United
Methodist Church, the nation’s sec
ond-largest Protestant denomination
with 8.5 million members.
Creech is a former pastor of First
United Methodist Church in Omaha.
He was acquitted last year of violating
the church’s Book of Discipline,
which forbids United Methodist cler
gy from officiating at same-sex
unions. Creech contended that the
Book of Discipline did not carry the
weight of church law, but the denomi
nation’s Judicial Council ruled last
August that it was indeed church law.
The Omaha union ceremony was
conducted quietly, but Saturday’s
union of a lesbian couple, both leaders
of the church’s California-Nevada
Annual Conference, openly defies
Questions? Comments?
Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402) 472*2588
ore-mail dn@unl.edu.
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Prosecutors call
acts ‘egregious’
WASHINGTON (AP) - Opening
their case in the first presidential
impeachment trial since 1868, House
prosecutors told senators Thursday that
President Clinton had committed
“egregious and criminal” acts in con
cealing his affair with Monica
Lewinsky and that he should be
removed from office.
“We are here today because
President William Jefferson Clinton
decided to put himself above the law -
not once, not twice but repeatedly,”
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.,
said in making die opening argument
for the prosecutors who seek to oust the
president for perjury and obstruction of
justice.
Making a case before a silent jury
of 100 senators, Sensenbrenner said a
conviction of Clinton — requiring two
thirds of the senators - would send a
message to all future presidents and
public servants that lying under oath
will not be tolerated.
Arguing in front of Chief Justice
William Rehnquist, Sensenbrenner
said of Clinton: “He has not owned up
to die false testimony, the stonewalling
and legal hairsplitting and obstructing
the courts from finding the truth. In
doing so, he has turned his affair into a
public wrong.
“The president engaged in a con
spiracy of crimes to prevent justice
from being served. These are impeach
able offenses for which the president
should be convicted,” Sensenbrenner
said in an hour-long presentation void
of dramatic expression.
The president was away from the
trial, traveling across the Potomac to
Alexandria, Va., for a crime prevention
event before departing for a trip to New
York to encourage Wall Street to invest
more in minority interests. On
Wednesday, he had said he trusted sen
ators to do “the right thing.”
White House officials said
Thursday the House case is based on
political revenge, not law, and that
Clinton would not testify as some
House prosecutors have suggested he
should.
“I don’t think the founders intended
a party that is in the majority in the
Congress could remove a president at
their whim based on partisan political
differences,” Press Secretary Joe
Lockhart said.
Regents offer lunch,
discussion for students
ByIevaAugstums
Senior staff reporter
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
students have die opportunity today
to meet with the NU Board of
Regents over lunch and discuss what
ever they want That is, anything uni
versity-related.
The regents are touring the UNL
campus, its buildings and facilities in
conjunction with their January meet
ing Saturday.
The day provides an excellent
opportunity for die regents to interact
with UNL students and faculty mem
bers, Regents spokeswoman Dara
Troutman said. ■
“It’s very rare that you can get all
of the regents together, other than for
their meetings,” Troutman said. “This
day is an informal way for board
members to see and learn how stu
dents interact with die university.”
Every year the board visits the
four university campuses, Troutman
said. The UNL campus is the first
campus the regents will visit.
The Association of Students of
the University of Nebraska and the
chancellor’s office have arranged
tours of the Nebraska Union and the
University Health Center, in addition
to a question-and-answer session and
the student luncheon.
‘Touring gives them an opportu
nity to see their programs, policies
and construction decisions in action,”
Troutman said. “They will also be
able to discuss issues important to
students and the faculty.”
All students are welcome to
attend the free noon lunch in the
Nebraska Union, said Marlene
Beyke, ASUN director of develop
ment
“A lot of students have no idea
who their regents are. We hope that
they can attend and have lunch with
us,” she said.
Regent Chuck Hassebrook of
Walthill said he was looking forward
to talking to students and listening to
the things they had to say.
“We want to learn what we are
doing right, what we can do better
and how we can provide for this uni
versity,” Hassebrook said. “This day
will give us a great opportunity to
talk and see what is on each other’s
minds.”
NU Regents will preview
designs for Love Library
MEETING from page 1
NU spokeswoman Dara
Troutman said the regents will main
ly listen to annual reports and be
asked to approve funding proposals
for the university at the 8:3fTa.m.
meeting at the Nebraska center for
Continuing Education, 33rd and
Holdrege streets.
However, Troutman said NU
President Smith may have an
announcement of the formation of “a
significant committee that could
affect the university directly.”
At the meeting, the regents will:
■ Vote whether to approve
design firms for the Love Library
and Seaton Hall renovation projects.
Allen said he will be fighting for
architectural designs that are stylisti
cally compatible with the rest of
UNL’s campus.
“We need to focus on architecture
continuity,Allen said. “We’ve had
some god-awful things designed for
the campus in the past, and I want to
keep campus aesthetics pleasing to
the eye.”
■ Vote whether to approve in
depth reviews of the theater pro
grams at UNL, the University of
Nebraska at Kearney and the
University of Nebraska at Omaha.
■ Discuss the idea of using $12
million of the Othmer Endowment to
provide matching funds for new
endowed distinguished chairs and
professorships.
In August the regents approved
the $125 million donation from
Mildred Topp Othmer, an Omaha
native and graduate of UNL who
died at age 90 in April.
