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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1999)
ISPORTS Quest for New York The NIT begins today, and the Nebraska men's basketball team begins its battle toward New 0 York City against UNLV PAGE 7 1 . kit I Catchin’ waves |j KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station, m broadcasts programming for people who are ignored by Top 40 stations. PAGE 9 WEDN !S: »AY March 10, 1999 Another Try Light snow possible, high 35. Cloudy tonight, low 21. VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 118 NU fights to maintain faculty quality By Jessica Fargen Senior staff writer The University of Nebraska lost two faculty members Tuesday to universities that were willing to offer them better salaries than the NU pays them now, said NU President Dennis Smith. A S20 million budget increase for faculty salaries to curb the flow of pro fessors out of the state was a small part of the S783 million NU budget request presented to the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. “A high-quality education can come only from a high-quality faculty,” Smith said. The university's push for higher salaries stems from state law that requires NU salaries to be at the mid point of its peer institutions. It is esti mated that faculty salaries will need to be increased by 4.6 percent over the next four years to meet the midpoint. “We are a service organization. We rely on people," Smith said. “To get those people and retain them we have to be competitive in the market." The university asked for about S32 million more than the $751 million Gov. Mike Johanns proposed in his two-year budget. The Appropnations Committee will release its final budget in late April for full debate. Excluding construction projects, NU requested a 6.85 percent increase the first year and 5.97 the second. Johanns’ budget called for increases of hovering around 3.5 percent each year. Despite the S22 million saved in thrifty NU budget reallocations over the last four years, UNL Chancellor James Moeser said he saw more budget reallo cations in the future. Of that $22 million, the $7 million at UNL had a “very serious impact,” resulting in cuts in most departments, and loss of faculty positions. Since 1994, the NU system overall has had a 2.4 percent decline in full-time faculty, with a 5 percent decline at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Moeser said academic quality has been maintained. “I don't believe we are sacrificing quality,” Moeser said. “I think we've enhanced quality with reallocation.” The remaining chunks of NU’s two year budget request included S20.4 mil lion for construction projects - nearly half of that for an education building at the Kearney campus, and money for increased technology. Nearly $19 million of the NU bud get request would go toward salary increases, including administrative and managerial positions. Please see BUDGET on 2 Students disagree on elitist spirit of program Editor s note: This is the second in a three-part series that will take an in-depth look at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Honors Program. ByIevaAugstums Senior staff writer For UNL honors students, being a part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Honors Program can mean receiving an opportunity to excel and succeed. But for other students it can mean not receiving extra classroom attention and not being able to live among the elite. Honors Program Director Patrice Berger said the elitist stereotype that has existed about the honors program in the past needed to be clarified. “We're not creating a curriculum exclusively for honors students and their achievements," Berger said. “The honors program is open to all high-ability stu dents.” UNL Chancellor James Moeser said the honors program helps create an overall academic climate on campus. “The more successful we can be now with these students, the more successful we will be in the future," he said. Professorial perks Many UNL honors students agreed that the hon ors program does provide its members with addition al benefits and support. “I personally like the small classes and one-on one professor instruction,” said Scott Schreiter, a Please see HONORS on 3 Just a reminder.. Don’t forget to vote today in the ASUN elections. Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at dailyneb.com Rick Townley/DN FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER ANTHONY LAKE lectures at the Lied Center on Tuesday afternoon. Lake, who served as President Clinton’s national security adviser from 1993 to 1996, spoke as a part of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. Lake: U.S. must use success ■ President Clinton’s former security adviser suggested a policy of caution in U.S. foreign relations. By Brian Carlson Staff writer Although the United States stands as the world’s lone superpower and is enjoying a strong economy, the country must use these good times to prepare for future challenges, Anthony Lake said Tuesday. “The United States is in a position of truly unparalleled strength,” said Lake, who served as President Clinton’s national security adviser from 1993 to 1996. “But we are squandering the good times. We are not using this period to adequately address threats we will see in the coming decade and century.” Delivering an E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues lecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lake listed several political, economic and military threats the United States could face in the post-Cold War era. Lake said the United States faces a variety of threats from weapons of mass destruction, especially from countries such as Russia and North Korea that are suffering from political and military instability. Although the Soviet Union dissolved seven years ago, Russia still has about 12,000 nuclear warheads. More importantly. Lake added, it has enough plutonium to build 70,000 more. If Russia’s economic crisis continues, and scientists or political leaders grow desperate for money, that nuclear capacity could find its way into the hands of rogue states such as Iran or Iraq, Lake said. But North Korea, suffering from severe economic turmoil and famine, could pose an even more serious threat, Lake said. A recent missile test has renewed U.S. fears of a North Korean nuclear threat. Lake said the North Korean system is bound to collapse, so the United States should pursue wise diplomatic policies to ensure the country has a “soft landing.’’ Other weapons of mass destruction, such as biological and chemical weapons, also may pose threats to U.S. national security, Lake said. He said globalization, more permeable bor ders and rapidly advancing technology have N allowed terrorists to expand their operations. Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi billion- ( aire allegedly responsible for the bombing of ' two African embassies last summer, is an exam ple. But, Lake said, so are homegrown terrorists such as “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted and sen tenced to death for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The public should not panic about the threat of terrorism, Lake said, but the U.S. government must continue to do all it can to prevent such attacks, short of curtailing civil liberties. Although nuclear weapons pose a contin ued threat to U.S. national security, Americans may be most affected by the economic crisis that began in Asia, spread to Russia and threat ens the Western hemisphere. “The threat that could have the greatest impact on the lives of Americans is the Brazilian economy, not missiles,” he said. Lake said he was optimistic about the future of U.S. foreign relations, but he said excessive partisanship in Washington threatens the craft ing of sound foreign policy. “It adds up to the ugliest party scene since the toga party in ‘Animal House,’” he said.
