__•__Wednesday, October 27,1999 ■ Daily Nebraskan ■ Page 3
Affirmative action examined I
■ Speaker says all parts
of society benefit from
affirmative action.
ByGwenTdetgen
Staffwriter
Affirmative action doesn’t just ben
efit minorities, it can also benefit the
entire society, a speaker said Tuesday.
Frank Wu, a law professor at
Howard University Law School, spoke
with students and faculty members
Tuesday at the Wick Alumni Center
about the positive effects of affirmative
action.
Wu came to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln as a part of the
Scholarship in Society series sponsored
by the Office of Graduate Studies.
In Wu’s presentation, Civil Rights
and Racial Justice: Why we need
Affirmative Action, he discussed prob
lems, universal principles and pragmat
ic remedies for affirmative action in the
United States.
People often ask Wu, who is Asian
American, why he teaches at the pre
dominately black Howard University
Law School.
This frequent question, Wu said,
alluded to a larger problem in society.
The United States needs affirmative
action, Wu said, because race affects
everyone’s lives. White people also ben
efit from affirmative action because
more culture creates more viewpoints,
~ he said.
Wu said that when affirmative
action is implemented, it’s good for
everyone and creates less prejudice.
‘Tm not here to give you the
answers but give you the questions,” Wu
said. “The question with which we must
focus ourselves is what will we do to
strive for and achieve racial justice.”
During his speech, an audience
member asked Wu how UNL can devel
op its affirmative action policies.
In order to achieve this, Wu said the
students and community members in
favor of affirmative action should make
sure administrators know about any
grass-roots support.
UNL’s student body is 9 percent
minority students, according to U.S.
News and World Report
Some people at the event said they
attended because they were interested in
learning about affirmative actioa
“I’m interested in what (Frank Wu)
has to say about minorities and affirma
tive action,” said Eugenia Hsu, a gradu
ate student.
“It’s an important issue that needs to
be considered, especially in a predomi
nately white university.”
Andy Knudsen, an undeclared
sophomore at UNL, said he liked how
Wu addressed affirmative action as a
good thing for society rather than just its
effect on a group of individuals.
“I enjoyed his arguments. They
were very logical and coherent. It was
especially impressive given the sensitiv
ity of this issue,” Knudsen said.
Anna Shavers, an NU professor of
law, also attended the lecture.
“I liked how he said that affirmative
action can benefit everyone, not just one
select group of people but our country
as a whole.”
Wu said he was optimistic the
United States would strive to learn more
about affirmative action.
“I have faith in the American public
and democratic processes,” Wu said.
“People want to do what’s right.
Affirmative action is all about figuring
out how we can include everybody and
achieve meaningful equality.”
State prepares for funds
from tobacco settlement
TOBACCO from page 1
then be distributed by grants to
health-related projects.
In addition to anti-tobacco educa
tion and outreach for prevention of
tobacco-related disease, the statute
specifies that the grants may be used
for school nurses, immunization,
health education, pregnancy testing,
screening for diseases, laboratory
equipment and public health environ
mental services.
Dave Palm, a Nebraska
Department of Health and Human
Services Financial Services repre
sentative, said the grants would be
given by'a five-person panel appoint
ed by the governor.
He said the panel had already
been appointed and was establishing^
a process of application for-fhe
grants.
Palm said his department had
already begun to receive questions
about the funds.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people
interested in the grants,” he said.
Palm said those requesting infor
mation about the money had plans to
use it for nearly all of the purposes
.specified in the state statute.
Grasz said the companies
involved in the settlement represent
ed those that produced 90 percent of
the tobacco industry’s profits. He
said additional companies had the
option of joining the settlement.
Jeff Santema, legal council for the
Legislature’s Health and Human
Services Committee, said the actual
amount of money the state receives
each year could change because the
annual payments are tied to cigarette
sales.
He said a state statute requiring
tobacco companies not involved in
the settlement to set aside profits in
an escrow fund for future health care
expenses left no competitive advan
tage for companies refusing to join
the settlement.
Palm said his department hoped
to have applications for grants avail
able in January, with or without the
tobacco money in the fund.
“This is a great opportunity to
improve our health care system,” he
said. “(The money) will eventually
help us reach underserved popula
tions in the state that don’t have
access to health care.”
Interim UNL post filled
while search is conducted
POSITION from page 1
directors, Lewis said.
“I don’t want the ripple effect you
get when you start moving people up
along the line,” he said.
One of the projects Lewis was
heavily involved in before Jones’
death was the construction of a base
ball stadium to house UNLs baseball
and softball teams.
Lewis served as the university’s
representative on the project, which
also involves the city of Lincoln and
NebCo, Inc.
While he hopes to have some
involvement in the project, Lewis said
lie will be looking for others to take
over the main responsibilities.
Lewis will fill the position of
(interim vice chancellor until an
appointed committee completes its
search.
1 Moeser said a search committee
was recently appointed and will begin
the process of a nationwide search in
a couple of weeks.
Until then, Lewis said he will
draw on what was done during Jones’
tenure and build on it to fulfill some
goals that are uniquely his own.
“UNL is too big of an operation to
sit back and simply try to keep things
under control,” Lewis said. “We still
need to do things to move forward.”
Lewis said the pulling together of
the department since Jones’ death has
helped things go as smoothly as they
can between the transition.
The transition is directly attribut
able to Jones’ style of leadership,
Lewis said.
“All of us are accustomed to the
type of decision-making that has to be
made and are ready to move forward,”
Lewis said.
“That’s a tip of the hat to Dr. Jones
- he had us in a position to continue.”
The time it will take to hire a per
manent vice chancellor is unknown,.
Lewis said. If the best-case scenario
occurs, one could be appointed in
time to begin July 1 next year.
Until then, Lewis said, he is pre
pared to take on the challenges the
next months bring.
“I never expect things to go
smoothly,” Lewis said. “But if some
thing goes wrong, we will deal with it
when it comes up.”
Bank's idea
for move
rejected
BANK from page 1
was tabled after a discussion dur
ing the Sept. 28 meeting.
The purpose would be to offer a
recognizable name for the area,
which could be a possible program
site for student activities, said
Daryl Swanson, Nebraska Unions
director. ;
The name Union Square comes
from an American/Mexican restau
rant operated by the union from
1981 to 1987 in the space now
occupied by Burger King.
Three bronze plaques saying
Union Square had been in storage
since the restaurant closed.
These plaques will now be
placed on three columns in the des
ignated area.
Swanson said the name would
make it easier for people to meet in
the union over the noon hour.
“If you do programming and
put in the DN that it’s ‘across from
The Bakery,’ that just doesn’t read.”
Vance Gilbert, Jams Ian
and Livingston Taylor
Tom Rush
brings folk
nusic legends
2nd tomorrow’s
itars together
for a special
performance.
Friday,
Nov. 5, 8pm
Phixu Rim Powell
® Club 47 is a registered trademark and servicemark of MapleHill Productions. Int
Lied Center for Performing Arts
Lincoln, NE
Tickets: 472-4747 or
1-800-432-3231
Box Office: 11:00am-5:30pm M-F
TEN YEARS Website: www.unl.edu/lied/
\L\Uiinnlrn Lied Center proganimng is supported by the Friends of Lied and grants from the National Endowment ter the Arts,
INBDTRSKfl MkMmericaAifcAianceandtaNebraskaArtsCounci. All events are made possible by the Lied Performance
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An Evening at
Club 47'
with Tom Rush
and his guests