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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2000)
• *1 Movie Ma<iness The 2000 spring Ross scneaule is composed mostly of foreign films. Wh---- ' A&E, fl “ mi The first lunar eclipse since 1996 can be seen tonight. Thursday, January 20,2000 dailyneb.com Vol 99, Issue 84 news, page 8 • ' V'* • *“ v-’,r ' * . • . ^ < . * * , .,. ... - ----— Osborne might run for Senate ByJiUZeman Staff writer Former University of Nebraska football Coach Tom Osborne is consid ering returning to the limelight. Osborne, a Republican, has expressed an interest in running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He said he would make a decision within the next few weeks. The decision would be influenced by his family, he said. His wife, Nancy, is not interested in moving to Washington, so if Osborne were elect ed, he would most likely commute, he said. Osborne stressed that he would not be running for office to prove a point. “I’ve got a few good years ahead of me, but running for office isn’t some thing I need to do to feel fulfilled,” he said. Osborne said he is dedicated to issues concerning youths, and this focus would be apparent if he were to run for a seat in the House. “I will make young people and mentoring programs a priority issue whether I serve them through the political process or as a private citi zen,” he said. By supporting youth issues, Osborne is playing it safe, said John Hibbing, a UNL political science pro ” He has a celebrity status in this state. If he wants to run, I’m sure he would win. Jason Wiggins College Republicans chairman fessor. By sticking to non-controversial issues, Osborne would be likely to gain more support from voters, Hibbing said. Eventually challengers would need to confront Osborne on contro versial issues, such as abortion, Hibbing said. “The people have the right to know how he would vote,” Hibbing said. Osborne said he hopes his familiar face woudn’t influence the way people vote. “It doesn’t make someone a better politician just because they’re a coach,” Osborne said. UNL Political Science Professor Kevin Smith agreed. Please see OSBORNE on 3 — ASUN — Four parties now in ASUN election Two groups join student government race By Sara Salkeld Staff writer Not since 1995 has ASUN seen more than two student groups run in an election. Wednesday, ASUN approved two student election groups in addition to two that were approved last semester. ASUN approved the A-Team and the Fishpond parties. These parties will run against the previously estab lished Impact and Empower parties. The presidential candidate for A Team is junior Joel Schafer, and his candidate for first vice president is junior Riley Peterson. Schafer said the party is still recruiting a candidate for second vice president. “We are still in the process of forming a party and a complete plat form,” Schafer said. One of A-Team’s goals is to target students who traditionally do not have a voice in student government, such as off-campus students. Members of.Fishpond’s election group include senior Joshua Hesse and freshman Ryan Wiegert. The group has not decided who will run for what office yet. According to Fishpond’s state ment given to ASUN, the group’s only objective is “to lobby for fish to be placed in the Broyhill Fountain.” Other party members will be encouraged to support their own causes, Hesse said. A-Team and Fishpond were approved in an informal vote. Candidates have already been selected for both the Empower and Impact parties. Heath Mello, presidential candi date for Empower, recently announced Cecily Rometo as Empower’s first vice presidential candidate and Mike Butterfield as the second vice presidential candidate. Impact party candidates are John D. Conley for president, Brad Bangs for first vice president and Laticia Martinez for second vice president. In other senate business, a bill was passed for the Government Liaison Committee to go to the Legislature to aid the passing of a request made by the university. The university requested an addi tional $5.45 million to the 1999-2001 budget to cover health-care costs. The purpose of sending a group from ASUN is to ensure the school receives die funds needed. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James Griesen spoke about the effect this has on students. “If we don’t get what we need from the Legislature, whatever we have to do to cover the deficit will have a negative impact on the stu dents,” Griesen said. The bill was passed in an infor mal vote. w High honors -------: Josh Wolfe/DN FORMER NU DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Charlie McBride waves to the Devaney Center crowd during halftime of the men’s basketball game. McBride was honored along with Al Papik, former senior associate athletic director and football compliance officer, and Terry Pettit, former NU head volleyball coach, with a career achievement award from Bill Byrne and the Athletic Department. All three announced their retirements this year. —LEGISLATURE— New tracking system suggested ■ A bill would imple ment a tracking system would monitor higher education. ByJfflZeman Staff writer If you think high schools would like to forget about students after they grad uate, you could be wrong. A new bill has been introduced in the Legislature that would track the progress of Nebraska’s post-secondary students. An electronic tracking system would require higher educational insti tutions and community colleges to develop a system that would enable the state to follow students, said Sen. Bob Wickersham of Harrison. Wickersham introduced LB 1245 on Jan. 13. The bill will be debated in an Education Committee hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. The system would track data on all students who attend community col leges, state colleges and universities in Nebraska, Wickersham said. The tracking system would collect information, including student transfer rates, student retention and degree completion. People should realize the system is not designed to identify individual stu dents, Wickersham said. “This is not an attempt to single out students. We’re very sensitive to priva cy issues,” he said. Instead, it will provide broader information about the performance of students in general, Wickersham said. The information collected can help educators and administrators identify potential problems in the educational system, he said. “Hopefully the information will tell Please see TRACKING on 3