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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 2000)
ir Daily Nebraskan You are not your pants: New director wants to Columnist YaeminMcEwan show off the secrets of plans her great escape UNLfc ‘jewel’: the Sheldon In Opinion/4 biArta/7 Wannabe Nebraska golfers tee off in search of elusive Husker golf spot In SportsMonday/12 “We ought to still be pursuing the truth. We ought to be trying to uncover important realities about how people live." Jeremy Vetter, who completed seven majors at UNL Former UNL student holds onto passion for learnina BY BRIAN CARLSON VALLEY FORGE, Pa. -Three years after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Rhodes Scholar Jeremy Vetter’s passion for learning - and changing the world - still burns brightly. After completing two years of study at the University of Oxford in England, Vetter is one year into his pursuit of a doctorate in the history of science at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. For Vetter, a 1997 graduate who became the universi ty’s first Rhodes Scholar in more than 20 years, the Vottol neldisaper feet way to combine his interests in the natural sciences and the social sciences. He wants to use his Ph.D. to fulfill his longtime ambition of becoming a professor and study ing the development of field sci ences in the United States. “It’s a really interesting field,” he said. “I think science and technology have been very cen tral to the development of socie ty, especially in the last couple of centuries.” Vetter’s broad range of inter ests dates back to his days at UNL. As an undergraduate, Vetter earned accolades for completing seven majors - anthropology, economics, histo ry, philosophy, physics, political science and psychology - all while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA During his last semester, he completed 36 credit hours. After graduating from UNL, Vetter began two years of study at Oxford. He earned a master's of philosophy degree in eco nomics and history and a mas ter’s of science degree in human biology, then began his study at Penn during the 1999-2000 aca demic year. Earlier this month, Vetter had a chance to meet up with two friends from his days at UNL who were in Philadelphia for the Republican National Convention. Brian Buescher and Chad Pekron enrolled at UNL in fall 1993, the same year Vetter, a North Platte High school gradu ate, began. They were part of the first class of UNL honor stu dents. Although Buescher and Pekron soon discovered that their political views were com pletely at odds with those of Vetter, the three became fast Mends. Buescher and Pekron attend ed this year's Republican National Convention as guests, staying in Vetter’s dorm room. On the afternoon of the day GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush was to give his acceptance speech, the three visited Valley Forge, about a half-hour's drive from Philadelphia. While touring the grounds where Gen. George Washington’s troops spent the brutal winter of 1777-78 during the American Revolution, Pekron saw a chance to tease Vetter. Noticing several tourists wearing "Bush-Cheney* but tons, Pekron said: "Hey, Jeremy, look at all these Republicans.” Please see VETTU on 5 Scott McGurg/DN Thanks Mr. Alexander Nebraska 1-Back Dan Alexander adds his signature to the collection of ErkSeerets,11, of Norfolk during Photo Day at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Fans endured long lines in the sun to get autographs from the Huskers. Domenici stumps for fellow Republican Stenbera ■ Alongside the attorney general, the New Mexico GOP senator blasts Democrat Ben Nelson. BY BRIAN CARLSON_ If Nebraskans want George W. Bush in the White House and Republicans in control of Congress, they cannot afford to send Democrat Ben Nelson to the Senate, New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenid said Friday. Domenici appeared in Omaha with Nebraska Attorney General Don Stenberg, Nelson's Republican opponent in the Senate race. Nelson and Stenberg are vying for die seat of Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, who is retiring. Domenici accused Nelson, who served as gover nor from 1991-99, of trying to act like a Republican to improve his chances in a state with more registered Republican voters than Democrats. But in the Senate, Domenici said, senators must work with their party if they want to be successful. “You can't be a maybe Republican or a maybe Democrat in the Senate,” he said. “\bu are one or the other. “If you send your attorney general, Mr. Stenberg, to the Senate, let's make sure everyone knows he will go there as a Republican through and through." Although Stenberg would work closely with the Republican Party, that would not prevent him from being an independent voice in the Senate, Domenici said. He noted that Sen. Chuck Hagel, who appeared with Domenici and Stenberg on Friday, has often bro ken with his party on Senate votes. But with the Republicans holding a narrow 54-46 majority in die Senate, electing Stenberg would help ensure the party retains a majority, Domenici said. Unlike Nelson, he said, Stenberg would help elect Republicans to committee chairmanships and other leadership positions. “It doesn't mean he has his hands tied," Domenici said. “It does mean he’s with us in organizing the Senate." Domenici said Stenberg would help Bush elimi nate the inheritance tax and the so-called marriage penalty, which forces some married couples to pay more income taxes than if they were single. A Republican Congress would use die budget sur plus to provide a sizable income tax cut while leaving enough to decrease the national debt, increase defense spending, reform Medicare and provide pre scription drug coverage for seniors, Domenid said. Nebraska has given its electoral votes to the Republican president candidate in every election since 1964. With Bush expected to cany the state this year, Stenberg urged Bush supporters to vote a straight party ticket “We need a member of the Senate who will help George W. Bush carry out his vision for the future of America,” Stenberg said. Nelson’s campaign criticized Domenici’s appear ance, dting several of his Senate votes. In a statement, the Nelson campaign criticized Domenid for voting against ethanol subsidies, for the bee-market reforms contained in the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act, for a cut in student loan funding and for slowing the growth of Medicare. “Every time team Stenberg-Domenici gets up to bat, they strike out for Nebraska,” the statement said. Friday Arts Festival serves mix of music, dancing, crafts THHeS BY GEORGE GREEN listening Eddie Dominguez, a profes sor of art, threw clay. W me yj. Red did the Iimbo different And Daryn Warner, a senior milSiC theater major, relieved the thirsty. It Together, they and about 500 broadens Others enjoyed the Friday Festival at the Arts Quad near your Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. mind." The festival, organized by the Freshman Year Experience . .. Task Force and the University Pr~~*ei“ Program Council, featured live freshman music, dancing, arts, crafts, food, raffles and ceramic demonstrations. “We wanted to have stu dents and faculty participate in academic activities outside of class,” said Deb Johnson, an academic adviser in general studies and coordinator of the festival. Several festival participants relished the variety of live music. “I liked listening to the dif ferent music that is around because it broadens your mind,” said Kari Michaelis, a freshman advertising major. Kusi Taki, a seven-member band from Lincoln, introduced listeners to South American folk music. The music features a combi nation of strings and a special flute called a quena, said Erica Biry Rios, Kusi Tiki ’s manager. Rusty White, associate jazz professor in the School of Music, and Little Slim, a blues per former, also entertained. While listening to the music, festival participants ate food from Crane River, Flatwater Grill, the NU Dairy Store and Vien Dong. Participants also built kites, ornaments and box towers. Dominguez noticed, “a lot of creativity going on” around his ceramics station. Matt Wilhelm, a graduate student in architecture, com peted with his professor, Mark Hoistad, associate dean of the college of architecture, to see who could build the tallest card board box tower. ”1 thinks it’s safe to say it is over,” Wilhelm said as he watched Hoistad’s tower buckle and sway. Budget woes force audit of NU classes BY VERONICA DAEHN_ Because of an expected budget shortfall, the Board of Regents voted on Saturday to evaluate the 7,000 classes the university offers. The prioritization of classes, which is the first time each dass will be examined on all four NU cam puses, could mean the combination or elimination of certain classes or departments. University President Dennis Smith said the regents' vote more formally recognizes a process that has been sporadic in the past “This provides an opportunity, over time, to take an internal audit of what exists at the university and identify by consensus the top programs,” Smith said. A Smith-appointed task force put together nine criteria that will be used to evaluate . t each academic program at the ■Plwntniopist University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the bestows record University of Nebraska Medical dwthw on the Center, the University of Nebraska at UiiIwj Jtu uf Omaha and the University of ... . Nebraska at Kearney. The criteria include how well a MedkalCenter program relates to the strategic plan See page! of the university; the need and demand for the program; the impact die program has on the campus, the university, Nebraska and society; and the amount and quality of research and creative activities each program has. The 26-member task force included members of the Board of Regents, administrators, faculty, com munity members and a student. Lincoln Regent Charles Wilson, a member of Smith’s commission, said the board was taking a big step in adopting the criteria. “They have the potential to make a positive impact on the University of Nebraska,” Wilson said. “It will involve some patience, but this will be a better institution.” The academic prioritization was necessary part ly because of budget concerns. The university has calculated a $50 million budget shortfall. The Regents discussed a possible tuition increase this summer as one way to make up for the short age. Joel Schafer, student regent and Association of Students of the University of Nebraska president, said he had mixed feelings about the prioritization. “It will be interesting,” Schafer said. “With a fund ing gap, you have to do things with prioritization. But at the same time, doing a wholesale audit of aD pro grams is so daunting and difficult, it’s almost unat tainable.” narvey penman, uinl interim cnanceiior, said the criteria would enable administrators to make better decisions. But he said evaluating academic programs is not new to UNL “I’m enthusiastic about the process,” he said. “But we have reallocated considerable dollars over the last several years.” Perlman said adopting the criteria only served to make sure everyone involved with the evaluations was using the same guidelines. Even though die university has been evaluating programs, Schafer said it now becomes a problem. It will be difficult to compare different programs with each other and list them in order of priority, he said.Smith said he already had talked to the four chancellors and asked them to identify the top 30 percent of programs at their campuses. The academic prioritization should be done within nine months, he said. It is imperative that the university sticks to die criteria, Wilson said. “These are good guidelines, and they will make us better,” he said. “But we have to believe in it, and we have to mean it”