SPORTS
Top of the order
Junior college transfer Adam Shabala adjusts
well to his role on the NU baseball team as a run
scorer and an all-around workhorse. PAGE 7
A & E
House away from home
Classic rock and punk finally found a place together
in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with the trio of House of Large
Sizes. They play Duffy’s tonight. PAGE 9
February 17, 1999
The Usual Prospects
Partly sunny, high 41. Cloudy tonight, low 30.
VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 103
CFA approves $14 student fee increase
■ If approved by the
Board of Regents, the 5.8
percent fee increase will
take effect in the 1999
2000 school year.
By Kim Sweet
Staff writer
After months of budget delibera
tions, the Committee for Fees
Allocations voted Tuesday night to
raise student fees 5.8 percent, resulting
in a $ 14 increase for students next year.
If approved by the student senate,
the chancellor and the Board of
Regents, the budget will raise the fees
from $240 to $254 each semester.
CFA member Jason Boykin said, if
passed, he felt the increased fee will be
accepted by students because of the
quality of the services that go along
with it.
“I think students understand there is
going to be a fee increase,” Boykin said.
“If we can keep that increase to a mini
mum and provide students greater ser
vices, I don’t think students will have a
problem.”
CFA member JefFWoodford said he
was disappointed with the budget the
committee accepted - especially since
they pledged to keep increases at a min
imum at the beginning of the semester.
“I think we could have cut fees
more,” Woodford said. “I think we
could have saved students more money,
but this committee decided not to do
that.”
James Gnesen, vice chancellor for
student affairs and CFA adviser, pre
sented an overall budget based on the
preliminary budgets the committee
approved throughout the last two
months.
Added on to that figure was a pro
jected salary increase pending approval
in the Nebraska Legislature. Griesen
used 4 percent as an estimate of what
the fee increase would be. The fee came
out to be $255 per student per semester.
Included in the figure was a budget
shortfall due to decreased enrollment
numbers of undergraduates and gradu
ates this school year.
After reaching a consensus that
Please see CFA on 3
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
NHi NGUYEN of Lincoln raises her hand while being sworn in as a U.S. citizen Tuesday at Lincoln High School.
Nguyen, who has lived in Lincoln for seven years, was among 72 Vietnamese granted citizenship at a special
ceremony.
Refugees become U.S. citizens
By Josh Nichols
Staff writer
Seventy-two Vietnamese ref
ugees completed an American
dream Tuesday as they raised their
hands and swore a U.S. oath of alle
giance.
The dream culminated with a 2
p.m. ceremony in the Lincoln High
School auditorium.
Judge John C. Minahan, who
spoke at the ceremony, said whatev
er their reasons for coming to the
United States, the Vietnamese citi
zens had earned the right to call
themselves Americans.
The U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service, which held
the ceremony, required that each of
the aspiring citizens could read,
write and speak English. They had
to pass a test of history and govern
ment in the United States, and also a
background check.
The ceremony was significant
because the citizens being inducted
were all from the same country and
because it was held on the first day
of Tet, Minahan said.
Tet, the lunar new year, begins
with a major holiday throughout
Asia.
“When you celebrate Tet in
future years, it will now have more
significance,” Minahan told the
group. “You should each be proud
of your accomplishment.”
During the ceremony, people
stood when their names were called
and were asked to raise their right
hands to take an oath of allegiance.
Please see CITIZENS on 2
Deeper pockets v
The Committee for Fees Allocation approved a preliminary
student fee increase Tuesday of 5.8 percent for next year. J
Figures are approximate and subject to ASUN approval. ««w^ggj^pp*’
Projected Projected Per student
annual revenue annual revenue estimate
Student fee users 1998-1999 1999-2000 1999-2000
ASUN $204,230 $214,325 p* $4.76
Daily Nebraskan $47,984 $50,863 $1.19
University ProgramCouncii $219,515 n- $211,776 i|ggs* $4.70
Nebraska Unions $2,067,000 $2,160,945 $47.99
Health Center $3,479,124 $3,604,855 $97.46
Campus Recreation $2,540,090 $2,687,241 $59.66
Debt Service $1,435,682 $1,406,253 $38.00
$9,993,625 $10,336,258 $254*
'Amount accounts for a 4 percent state salary increase pending in the Legislature.
Jon Frank/DN
Bill aims to end
teacher shortage
By Jessica Fargen
Senior staff writer
Education administrators urged
senators Tuesday to advance a bill that
would provide 150 scholarships for
Nebraska teachers college students and
tuition aid for teachers who want to go
back to school.
But there’s one catch: To receive the
money, students and teachers would
have to earn their certification in one of
Nebraska’s designated teacher-shortage
fields, Papillion Sen. Nancy Thompson
told the Education Committee.
Thompson is sponsoring LB726,
which would provide a maximum of
150 $3,000 scholarships as incentive to
teach in fields such as science, math,
special education and foreign language.
An additional $ 1,500 would be pro
vided while a student practice-teaches.
The bill’s cost is about $4 million a year.
A recent State Board of Education
report predicted that the state would be
short 1,200 to 2,000 teachers by 2003,
and 1,400 to 2,400 teachers by 2008.
Nebraska ranks 40th in the nation in
average teacher salaries, and one-third
of Nebraska teachers college graduates
leave the state for more lucrative teach
ing jobs, supporters of the bill said.
Adding fuel to the fire, fewer stu
dents are graduating from UNL’s
Teachers College, said associate dean of
the college Ellen Weissenger.
In 1987-88, UNL had 486 Teachers
College graduates. In 1997-98, that
number had shrunk to 329.
This is a problem, she said, but testi
fiers were not sure why it happens.
“Young people are not attracted to
this position anymore,” Thompson
offered.
Lincoln Sen. Ron Raikes said little
incentive existed for teachers to go back
66
These measures are
a start at solving
problems before
those problems
become a crisis
Dijane Obermier
president of the Nebraska State
Education Association
to school and get certified in a shortage
area. The bill would provide funds for
teachers to do that.
Milford Smith, Odell schools sup
erintendent, has spent nearly a year in
search of a vocal and instrumental
music teacher for the 220 students in his
district.
He has gone through substitutes,
borrowed teachers from other districts,
and advertised extensively to no avail.
Duane Obermier, president of the
Nebraska State Education Association,
said LB726’s strength lies in correcting
the looming teacher shortage.
“These measures are a start at solv
ing problems before those problems
become a crisis,” he said.
John Bonaiuto, executive director
of the Nebraska Association of School
Boards, supported the bill, but suggest
ed considering LB727, also heard by
the committee, which would set up a
task force to study teacher shortages.
“Maybe you need to look at LB727
before you get too far along the road
with LB726,” he said.
He suggested a program to forgive
part of students’ loans depending on
time spent teaching in a shortage area.
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