I Wednesday
September 6,2000
| j Volume 100
Issue12
\ i dailyneb.com
Since 1901
Daily Nebraskan
Are we reafly a free nation? Not
with our record of theft, says
Columnist Jake Glazeski
In Opinion/4
Alexander and ruming
back corps reading new,
record-breaking heights
In SportsWednesday/12
Cartoon fanatics
share common bond
in Japanese Anime
Club
In Arts/8
Committees on quest for 'magical' matches
j {Editor’s Note: With UNL in a
state of flux because of vacant
posts in its senior administration,
the Daily Nebraskan this week
examines those vacancies and
their effects.
BYVEROMCADAEHN
Along with teaching,
researching or performing lead
ership roles, many university
faculty and staff now have a new
task to devote time to: being
part of a search committee.
As the 10 search committees
meet to look for permanent
administrators, faculty-mem
bers at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln voiced quali
ties they would like to see in the
university’s future leaders.
| ‘ A chancellor search commit
tee, headed by Jim Van Etten, a
plant pathology professor, was
formed last week to scour the
nation for qualified candidates.
Van Etten said his commit
<XJ
tee was waiting for instructions
from University of Nebraska
President Dennis Smith’s office
before it could officially begin
the search, but he thought work
would be underway within the
next two weeks.
Interim Chancellor Harvey
Perlman said he had not yet
decided if he wanted to be con
sidered as a candidate for per
manent chancellor.
But Smith said if he was
interested, Perlman would be
considered.
Besides the chancellor posi
tion, UNL is plagued by interim
replacements filling several vice
chancellor and dean spots.
Search committees are
working on finding qualified
candidates for each position,
said Evelyn Jacobson, search
committee liaison from the sen
ior vice chancellor for academic
affairs office. Most are still
reviewing applications, she said.
Search committees have
scheduled interviews with can
didates for the positions of vice
chancellor for the Institute of
Agriculture and Natural
Resources and the dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Kevin Smith, political sci
ence professor, said the faculty
was affected by the absences in
permanent leadership.
Brian Foster, former dean of
arts and sciences, left UNL last1
spring, and since then Kevin
Smith said nothing new has
been done.
“Top administrators insti
tute new policies and new direc
tions,” Kevin Smith said. "When
they leave, those new policies
drift”
‘Top administrators institute new policies and
new directions. When they leave, those new
policies drift."
Kevin Smith
political science professor
Foster (frftphasized focusing
on key areas of strength within
the college, Kevin Smith said.
Since Foster’s departure, enthu
siasm for such work has dimin
ished, he said.
Now that there is no perma
nent leadership in the college,
Kevin Smith said he is reluctant
to get involved in things outside
of his department.
The College of Arts and
Sciences needs a dean who is, in
Kevin Smith’s words, a “magi
cian” — someone who can
accomplish a lot without much
money.
He admitted that was a diffi
cult thing to ask, but Kevin
Smith said satisfying many dif
ferent demands was part of
being an administrator.
Personally, Kevin Smith said
he would like a dean who was
more committed to research.
“I am a better teacher
because of my research," Kevin
Smith said. “Researchers bring
things into the classroom that
won’t be in textbooks for anoth
er five or six years.”
Support for research is
important, but Kevin Smith said
a permanent leader is necessary
soon, regardless of his or her pri
orities.
New administrators bring
new ideas and new agendas to
■V
ME AND MY SHADOW: Ryan Haith, an Nl^ junior and Husker tennis player, practices tennis on Tuesday. Haith said Tuesday was the first day of regular season practice for the NU team.
Steven Bender/DN
Construction forces
burial of power lines
BY GEORGE GR^j
Construction to bury over
head power lines that conflict
with two planned buildings on
the University of Nebraska
Lincoln campus is underway.
Lincoln Electric System is
building a new underground
electrical circuit that begins at a
manhole near the Lied Center
for Performing Arts and travels
north along 12th Street to R
Street, said Steve Schappaugh, a
LES senior design engineer. *
At R Street, the line turns '
west and travels to 14th Street, v
where it turns south and travels
for half of a block and then con
nects to an overhead line near
the Nebraska Bookstore,
Schappaugh said.
The overhead power lines
conflict with plans to build the
new Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater and the Van Brunt
Visitors’ Center on the west side
of 13th Street between Q and R
streets, said Tracy Aksamit;
assistant manager of architec
tural and engineering services
atUNL.
The power lines project will
remove nine telephone poles on
the UNL campus and also
involves some telephone con
ductors, Schappaugh said.
LES contracted with
v
Directional Boring Services
Incorporated of Greenwood to
install the underground lines,
but LES will attach the under
ground lines to each other and
to the overhead lines, he said.
Construction on the new
film theater and visitor's center,
which will share one building, is
expected to begin next spring,
Aksamit said.
The visitor’s center will
occupy 2,500 square feet and
the theater will occupy 8,600
square feet, Aksamit said.
The area for the building is
currently used as a red-tag park
king lot.
The visitors’ center will be
used to play host to functions
for the Office of Admissions and
will have an atrium for dining,
Aksamit said.
When the Ross Film Theater
moves from Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery to the new building,
the old theater will remain in the
gallery for academic use,
Aksamit said.
No street closing and little
congestion will occur because
of the construction to bury the
power lines, Schappaugh said.
The construction crews
have to dig holes only when they
turn a corner, Schappaugh said.
“There will only be a piece of
machinery here and there and a
couple of trucks,” he said.
Increase in production costs
forces rise in Pepsi prices
■ Pepsico Inc. raised the cost of a 20-ounce
bottle from 85 cents to $ 1 on campus after a
price-freeze contract with UNL expired.
BY GEORGE GREEN
You can’t buy much for less than a buck these
days.
Pepsi products included.
Students returned from summer vacation to find
prices for Pepsi products at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln had risen from 85 cents to $1 for a
20-ounce bottle.
Three years ago, UNL entered into a 12-year con
tract with Pepsi-Cola that froze prices for three years
at 85 cents for a 20-ounce bottle and 50 cents for a 12
ounce can, said Carl Hutchinson, special projects
manager at UNL
Steve Ford, general manager for Pepsi-Cola
Bottling Co. of Lincoln, said the company evaluated
product prices after the freeze period expired and
raised the prices because of market changes.
The prices of syrup concentrate and sugar for the
soda, resin for plastic bottles and aluminum for cans
rose during the last three years, Ford said.
Operating costs, such as the cost of distributing
the sodas and paying for the company’s staff, also
“We will do what we can to keep
these prices steady for the next few
years."
Steve Ford
general manager, Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co.
went up during the freeze period, Ford said.
Hutchinson said the university administrators
expected the price increase when they negotiated the
contract.
Even with the price increases, Pepsi products on
campus are still competitive with other Lincoln ven
dors, he said.
Hilary Matzner, an employee at the Q4Quick gas
station at 17th and Vine streets, said a 20-ounce bottle
of Pepsi costs $ 1.09 at the store.
Students should not expect to see another price
increase anytime soon, Ford said.
Pepsi wants to maintain the current product
prices for the next few years, and prices definitely will
not rise again this year, he said.
Prices, though, could go up next year if dramatic
market changes occur, but such changes occur rarely,
he said.
“We will do what we can to keep these prices
steady for the next few years,” he said.
We’re Sorry
Because of a production error, the Daily Nebraskan was late hitting the newsstands Tuesday moming.The error
also resulted in two pages'which included coverage from Saturday's Nebraska football game, being eliminated from
the paper. For the full stories and extensive photo coverage of the game, log on to the Daily Nebraskan's Web site at
dailyneb.com.The Daily Nebraskan regrets this error.
X
their colleges, Kevin Smith said.
Turnover leads to a lack of con
sistency and leadership.
It is a problem that UNL has
at least 10 administrators gone
at one time, he said.
“We have good administra
tors come through this universi
ty,” he said. "It's just hard to hold
onto them.”
The Hixson-Lied College of
Fine and Performing Arts was
forced to appoint an interim
dean when Richard Durst left for
Penn State last February.
Robert Fought, director of
the music department, said he
thought the new dean of fine
and performing arts should be
knowledgeable about all art
forms.
It's important to be able to
recognize good theater or good
sculptures as opposed to bad, he
said.
Please see SERIES on 5
Academic Senate
Faculty
criticize
UNL report
BYJLLZEMAN
A blueprint for University of
Nebraska-Lincoln’s next 20 years
drew criticism Tuesday from
Academic Senate members who
said the plan’s goals were too lofty
and didn't focus enough on the
university’s strong points.
The report, entitled “A 20/20
Vision,” was compiled by a task
force and headed by former
Chancellor James Moeser.
The report was released last
March and focuses on the future
of research and graduate educa
tion at UNL
Senate President Sheila
Scheideler said she thought the
report should have focused more
on UNUs available resources and
the state’s population base.
The senate also concluded
the report focused too narrowly
on scientific research, rather than
creative exploration through the
arts, she said.
lom rowers, professor ot
plant pathology, said he thought
the goals the report set were
unreasonable for UNL
The report calls for UNL to
become one of the top land-grant
research institutions in the nation
by2020.
But Powers said he thought
UNL was already one of the top
research schools, so striving to
achieve that in the next 20 years
should not be a top goal.
"The real question is whether
the faculty buys into the vision*
statement,” he said. "This is all
motherhood and apple pie kind
of stuff.”
Tice Miller, professor of the
ater arts and dance, said he had a
hard time relating the vision
statement to his field of study.
The report focuses on obtain
ing federal dollars for research
projects, which can be difficult to
do within the arts and humani
ties, he said.
Miller stressed the impor
tance of creating and maintaining
a campus culture rather than set
ting up task forces and arguing
over appropriations.
“A lot of informal activity cre
ates a climate that retains stu
dents and promotes excellency,”
he said.
Tom Zorn, professor of
finance, said he thought the
report compared UNL with
schools that had greater financial
resources, such as the University
of California in Los Angeles and
the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor.
The biggest weakness of the
report is that it isn’t realistic, he
said. ' •
“I have the aspiration to play
golf like Tiger Woods, but it ain’t
going to happen,” he said.