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Wednesday, Apnl 5,2000 dailyneb.com Vol 99, Issue 133 back, opinion, page 5
Moeser a finalist for Florida position
By Kimberly Sweet
Staffwriter
Chancellor James Moeser will
make a trip to Florida this month to
interview for the presidency at the
University of Florida in Gainesville.
Officials at the Florida school
announced Tuesday that Moeser was
one of six finalists for the presidency of
the school, which is a land-grant school
and the sixth-largest university in the
United States.
Moeser said he was approached by
officials involved in the search to apply
for the position.
While not citing a specific desire to
leave Nebraska, Moeser said the
University of Florida seemed like a
good opportunity.
“I’m not seeking to leave this uni
versity,” Moeser said. “Florida does
represent a unique set of opportunities.
It merits a look.”
Officials have been searching for
candidates to fill the presidency posi
tion since former president John
Lombardi resigned last August.
Lombardi had been at the center of
controversy in the state after making
racist remarks about the university sys
tem’s current chancellor, according to
the Gainesville Sun jfswspaper.
As president of the university,
Moeser would hold the top position at
the flagship campus of the University
of Florida system.
The university is home to 40,000
students, 4,000 faculty members and a
large medical center.
Moeser said the school’s research
programs are more developed than
those at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln. The school is among the
nation’s 88 leading research institu
tions.
The Florida Legislature’s relation
ship with the school is also an attrac
tion, Moeser said. The school’s endow
ments are matched by state funds.
Moeser will interview at the univer
sity April 23-25.
Other candidates include the presi
dents or chancellors of these universi
ties: Florida Atlantic University,
Virginia Tech, Western Michigan
University, Auburn University and
George Mason University.
A search committee will interview
^Florida does represent a unique set of
opportunities. It merits a look.”
the candidates during April. The com
mittee will make a report on each can
didate and present it to a Florida Board
of Regents committee on May 2.
Chancellor Adam Herbert will
interview recommended candidates.
The regents will appoint a president
May 17.
Moeser was hired as UNL’s chan
cellor in December 1995. Before that
he was the provost and vice president of
academic affairs at the University of
South Carolina.
Chancellor James Moeser
Gail Latta, Academic Senate presi
dent, said Moeser has provided leader
ship at UNL. But the university still
could move forward if he were to leave,
she said.
“It would be a loss in leadership,”
she said. “It wouldn’t be a complete
loss because much of the leadership
comes from the faculty itself. Many
ideas have been articulated by the fac
ulty.”
Senior editor Diane Broderick
contributed to this report
-ASUN -
Schafer: ASUN
office should
be safe space
■ The bill would make the office an
Allies organization.
BySaraSalkdd
Staffwriter
In the first meeting of his term, ASUN President
Joel Schafer will introduce a bill that would re-desig
nate the ASUN office as an Allies Organization and a
GLBT safe space.
Last term’s senate also passed a bill designating the
office as a safe space, but that bill’s influence ended
when Schafer’s term began.
According to Schafer’s bill, the Allies Against
Heterosexism and Homophobia is an organization that
works for the benefit of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans
gendered people. A “safe space” is defined in the bill as
an atmosphere where gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans
gendered people are respected and accepted.
‘It is necessary to re-affirm this to keep our office
designated as a safe space,” Schafer said. “I wanted to
do this as soon as possible, so there would be no over
lap where ASUN was not a safe space.”
Schafer also said this bill directly affects the cam
pus’s welcoming of diversity.
“It is important to make GLBT students feel as if
they’re welcome in order to broaden diversity and make
it more comfortable for diversity on campus,” Schafer
said
The meeting will be held in the Nebraska Union at
6:30 p.m. The room will be posted.
J Josh Wolfe/DN
KORBY GILBERSON, a lobbyist of the Legislature, walks through the northwest hallway of the Nebraska State Capitol on Tbesday
afternoon. The legislative session is nearing a close, with |ust six days left.
UNL senate OKs benefits
More approval still neededfor same-sex partner measure
ByCaraPesek
Staffwriter
With some reservations, mem
bers of the UNL Academic Senate
approved a resolution supporting
health benefits to same-sex domes
tic partners at its Tuesday meeting.
Gail Latta, Academic Senate
president, said the resolution would
grant same-sex domestic partners
of faculty members toe same health
and insurance benefits that spouses
of heterosexual faculty members
receive.
In order for the resolution to
take effect, it would have to be
passed first by the universitywide
benefits committee and then by the
NU Board of Regents.
Latta said two similar resolu
tions were approved by the Senate
in 1996 and 1998. However, those
resolutions were tabled by the uni
versitywide benefits committee.
The earlier resolutions were
written to include both same-sex
and heterosexual domestic part
ners.
The resolution approved
Tuesday addressed only domestic
partner benefits for same-sex part
ners.
John Gaber, assistant professor
of community and regional plan
ning and a member of the human
rights committee, urged the senate
to pass the resolution.
“Our current policy is discrimi
natory” Gaber said.
But some members of the sen
ate were unsure whether the resolu
tion was sufficiently clear.
Gargi Roysircar-Sodowsky, an
associate professor of educational
psychology, said the resolution’s
definition of domestic partner easi
ly could be misinterpreted.
For example, die said, a woman
who lived with her faculty member
daughter could qualify for domestic
partner benefits if the two shared a
home and bank account.
“‘Domestic partners’ implies a
sexual relationship, and I think we
Please see BENEFITS on 3
Johanns’ son hospitalized
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
The governor asked for support Tuesday
night after his son was admitted to the hos
pital.
Justin Johanns, 21, was conscious at
BryanLGH Medical Center West after
drinking a pint of alcohol and taking more
than his prescribed amount of Ritalin before
clirabingpnto a balcony at the governor’s
mansion, Gov. Mike Johanns said.
The governor said he did not think the
incident was life-threatening.
Between 6:30 and 7 p.m., Justin
Johanns dropped off his 8-month-old son,
Burkett, with his wife, Ann, before meeting
his mother for dinner.
On the way to dinner, Justin Johanns
bought alcohol and drank it with the Ritalin,
Gov. Johanns said. The governor’s first wife
and Justin Johanns’mother, Connie, noticed
her son was acting irrational and took him to
the mansion, Gov. Johanns said.
Chris Peterson, the governor’s
spokesman, said Justin Johanns had been at
the mansion because of marital problems.
The governor said when his son
returned, he climbed onto the balcony. A
State Patrol officer stationed at the mansion
saw him and called 911. It is unknown if his
son threatened to jump, Gov. Johanns said.
Justin Johanns was taken to the hospital,
where his stomach was pumped. He spent
the night in the hospital, Gov. Johanns said.
The governor said his son was over
whelmed, and“the burden was too great”
Gov. Johanns and his wife, Stephanie,
arrived in Lincoln from an Omaha event
after learning of the incident
The governor asked for payers, as well
as privacy for his son and daughter-in-law.
‘1 think where we go from here is to love
Justin and Ann,” Gov. Johanns said. “We’re
going to stand with diem through thick and
thin.”