The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, November 05, 1999, Image 1
inns Texas Showdown TheNU football team prepares for a key match-up against Texas A&M after going winless against Texas teams for almost two years. PAGE 11 t,-r A&E Boston Buds Four singer/songwriters with connections to a | Boston folk club unite tonight for a concert at the ! Lied Center. PAGE 8 iromAV JP JH4uuKI1lM November 5j, 1999 Sunny, high 65. Clear low 33. ,4 4 VOL. 99 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 53 UNL employment office reopened v By Kimberly Sweet Senior staff writer A victim of UNL’s $4.6 million budget reallocation was brought back * to life last week. Officials tried to take some pain out of cuts initiated last summer because of the reallocation by reopening the employment office - * one of the four areas that faced elimi ^ nation or reduction. “We heard from a variety of places that we needed to rethink the v decision of closing the employment ^ office,” said Bruce Currin, assistant 3 vice chancellor for human resources. 4 “We made the decision to keep the , office open.” Bvery University of Nebraska j Lincoln office and department that I hires office personnel, service r. employees and managerial staff is served by die office, Currin said. The office employs a staff of four. Other cuts and reductions in the original reallocation plan included decreasing mail service from two times a day to one, cleaning laborato ries fewer times a week and eliminat ing 77 positions. The four campuses of the University of Nebraska faced budget reallocations this year after the appropriation given by the Nebraska Legislature failed to cover university wide needs. Now that the university has decid ed to keep the employment office, university officials will be looking for places to make up die difference. ' Officials are still determining what the exact cuts will be, but Currin said his department would ultimately fall prey. “The new cuts have not been finalized, but the money that’s being restored will come out of the business and finance area,” Currin said. The maintenance budget of facil ities management and the operating budget of other university services are most likely to be cut. While he said he hoped university^ departments won’t feel as much of a crunch, Scott Lewis, interim vice chancellor for business and finance, said new cuts would affect at least a few departments adversely. #“It will probably have a less visi ble effect,” Lewis said. “But every thing we do is a service to someone.” The employment office will be revamped to streamline-tasks and make it more efficient, Currin said. A spot left vacant in the office will be filled. Web-based technology for applicant tracking and online application processing will also improve the effectiveness of the office, Currin said. None of the improvements will require additional fimds. “We can do all these changes with the same resources,” Currin said. “We are committed to making changes without having to put in Please see OFFICE on 7 Program will let UNL participate in review By Sarah Fox Staff writer Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Psychology Professor Daniel Bernstein asked and was given $750,000. UNL received a $750,000 grant in September to share with four other universities. The grant will fund a peer review program in which profes sors will evaluate each other’s teach ing. The money was given by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia philanthropy that has about $4.7 bil lion in assets. “It puts us in a leadership position nationally,” UNL Chancellor James Moeser said. "There are many exter nally funded grants for research. It’s harder to find giants for excellence in teaching.” UNL has done peer reviews since 1994, but now professors will be able to share class material with profes sors from Kansas State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Michigan and Indiana University. UNL will start working with the other campuses in the spring. The Pew Charitable Trusts also financially supported the first year of the 1994 peer review program. Bernstein, who is UNL’s project leader, said the program is important because most professors choose their own syllabi, books and course topics. A curriculum committee must approve the topics and goals of a class, but professors interpret the goals however they want, except for some math, laboratory science and foreign language classes. “It is not the custom that faculty examine in much detail each other’s teaching,” Bernstein said. “Some may be doing a richer or more com Please see PEER on 7 ' MkeWarren/DN JIMMI SMITH, the director of HU’sMeltlciiltnra l Affairs, was one of the early members ef the Afrikaa Onion. Smith was recruited by Bob Devaney to play football and was a freshman when the APB bopn HesaM the Mm behind APB waste lobby formers respect and resoerces for Meek people. ByDaneStickney Staff writer For 30 years, the Afrikan People’s Union has been bringing UNLSs black population together. But over the years, the objectives have changed Jimmi Smith, one of the original members of APU, said the organiza tion was originally formed in the height of the civil rights movement to lobby for more respect and resources for black people. Eddie Brown, the current presi dent of APU, said the organization now exists as a social outlet for black students, and it focuses on academic excellence. Smith, director of Multicultural Affairs at UNL and an ex-NU football player, said in 1969 the majority of black students on campus were ath letes, and they used their prestige to help improve their status at the univer sity. “The athletes had a certain celebrity status on campus, and they could say and do things that most blacks would never dream of doing,” he said Smith said die athletes bonded to express their desire for a more diverse and inclusive campus environment. The APU quickly began to realize their goal, Smith said “We thought what we were doing would change the world,” Smith said. “Our requests and desires were hon ored for tiie most part because of our pseudo-celebrity status of being ath letes.” Bob Devaney, Nebraska’s football 44 We want to strengthen the ties between the university and the African-American population on campus!’ Eddie Brown president of Afrikan People’s Union coach at the time, realized that the black players were important to the football program, so he helped fight for the APU’s requests, Smith said. “He knew what he had,” Smith said. “And he was right. We won a national title in 1970 and ’71.” At the APU’s request, the univer sity opened a multicultural center and devoted more of its focus to help meet the black community’s needs, Smith said. “We marched on campus, we met with the chancellor, and we took over administration buildings,” he said. “People listened, and the university went with it, the legislation went with it, and other students went with it. We thought we could change the world.” Smith said the early days of the APU were not all positive. “We had absolute fear,” he said. “Although die black community was making strides, we were still not total ly accepted. There was a lot of vio lence across die country, and we real ized it could happen to us, but we were willing to die for our cause.” Brown said the courage of the early APU members still has an influ ence on the group today. “We draw from their support,” he said. “We don t want to separate ties with diem because they are important for the input and experience they give to us.” Brown said civil rights were not the main focus for the group any more. “We want to strengthen the ties between the university and the African-American population on campus,” he said. “We need to pre pare young African-American stu dents for leadership roles that they may hold down the road.” Brown said the group placed a particular emphasis on improving academic excellence among black students. “We have a study session after our meetings, where a group of students can get together and study,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to get things done when there’s no distractions.” Brown said the APU also brings in a number of presentations during die year to encourage academic suc cess. “The APU has always been about success,” Smith said. “Whether they’ve been striving for civil rights or academic success, they’ve been a group that people can be proud or’ Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at dailyneb.com