Thursday
September 7,2000
Volume 100
Issue 14
dailyneb.com
Since 1901
Daily Nebraskan
petaluma, part throe:
women don’t get the looks
they think they do as there's
plenty of shame in the up
and down
in Opinion/4
'Hamlet' director puts
modem spin on
Shakespeare classic
In Arts/8
NU students without elusive
Notre Dame tickets still
have viewing options for
Saturdays bam burner
lnSports/12
Low pay, poor benefits spur administrator flight
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.
BY VERONICA DAEHN
When it came time for
Richard Durst to decide whether
to stay at the University of
Nebraska-Liricoln or to take a job
at Penn State University, the for
mer dean of the College of Fine
and Performing Arts chose the
latter.
But Durst said he might have
stayed in Nebraska had UNL
offered him a couple of things.
Penn State in State College,
Penn., offered Durst’s wife a job -
something UNL did not consid
er.
Penn State is also paying
Durst more and giving him a bet
ter retirement package than
U1NL
As dean of the College of Arts
and Architecture at Penn State,
Durst will also receive a 75 per
cent tuition remission for his son
when he goes to college in a cou
ple of years.
“Nebraska doesn’t fare well
with other universities,” Durst
said. "They need to take a look at
some things."
While UNL is not as competi
tive as it should be, Durst said he
was not unhappy working there.
“We had a great time in
Nebraska,” Durst said. "We were
made to feel welcome there, and
I had a great time with the people
I worked with.”
When it comes to competing
with other colleges in the aca
demic recruitment game, UNL’s
former administrators said the
university can’t do much to com
pete with bigger opportunities,
geographic preferences or prox
imity to families.
Many of the deans who have
left in the last year said that even
though they enjoyed living in
Nebraska, other priorities took
precedence when weighing job
offers from other universities.
But, Durst said, top-ranked
programs and better perks can
lure administrators away from
the university.
Brian Foster, former dean of
arts and sciences, left the univer
sity in March to take a position as
vice president and provost of
academic affairs at the University
of New Mexico at Albuquerque.
Foster said it was difficult to
pinpoint his exact reasons for
leaving UNL and said he ulti
mately left because of a combi
nation of several factors.
“I wasn’t trying to escape
from Nebraska,” Foster said.
"There’s no simple answer as to
why I left, but it was a natural
step for me to take.”
By accepting the provost
position in New Mexico, Foster
received a promotion from his
job as dean of arts and sciences at
UNL. With the promotion came
more money and higher status.
He said it was an opportunity
he couldn’t pass.
“But it wasn’t just the money,
and it wasn’t just the power,” he
said. “I think I can make a differ
ence and do something worth
while here ”
Foster said the position was a
good one - and UNL couldn’t top
it
The University of New
Mexico also has one of the top 10
anthropology departments in
the country, said Foster, who
“Nebraska doesn't fare well with other
universities. They need to take a look at some
things.”
Richard Durst
former dean of UNL College of Fine and Performing Arts
earned his bachelor’s, master’s
and doctoral degrees in anthro
pology.
The region of the university
was appealing as well, he said.
Foster lived in Arizona for 14
years before he came to
Nebraska and said he had always
liked the Southwest.
Former Law Dean Nancy
Rapoport agreed that the appeal
of a different area of the country
influenced her decision to leave
UNL
Rapoport left last spring to
become dean of the University of
Houston’s law school.
Rapoport said she wanted to
be closer to her family, and that
was the main reason she left
Nebraska.
The University of Houston
also offered her different career
opportunities that Nebraska
hadn’t, she said.
The Law College at Houston
offers post-law degree graduate
education and a larger law pro
gram in general.
The university also has for
eign study programs that
Rapoport said were intriguing.
Please see FACULTY on 6
ASUN
More time
needed to
survey goals
B1J1LLZEMAN
An hour-long debate about a bill in support of a
plan that maps UNL’s next 20 years resulted in
ASUN senators tabling the bill because not all sen
ators knew enough about the plan.
The passage of the bill would contradict the
views of several faculty members who aired their
grievances on the report in Tuesday’s Academic
Senate meeting.
Both groups analyzed the report, entitled A
20/20Vision: 1116 Future of Research and Graduate
Education at UNL, compiled by the Future
Nebraska Task Force.
The report sets goals for UNL to achieve in the
next 20 years, such as obtaining increased funding
of research from sources outside the university and
strengthening and improving the faculty.
Association of Students of the University of
Nebraska President Joel Schafer proposed the bill
Wednesday to support the vision statement
because he said the document clearly outlined a
strong plan for the university to move forward.
But in the end, the group voted to table the bill
until next week’s meeting to give the senators time
to further examine the document.
Schafer said he thought giving the senators
more time to review the report would lead to better
discussion, as well as a stronger decision in the
end.
u s Deuer ior us 10 iaxe mis wee* ana nave sen
ators more informed than to have based our deci
sion on the opinions of a few senators,” he said.
The group voiced opposition to the U.S. News
and World Report national university rankings,
announced Friday, which bumped UNL from die
second to third tier in its rankings.
Fueled by what Schafer said was an unjustified
slip in the rankings, the senate passed a bill oppos
ing the methodology the magazine uses in select
ing its top schools.
Schafer, who introduced the bill, said student
governments at schools such as Stanford and
Harvard have passed similar legislation.
“There’s a fear among some people in the aca
demic community that the university will try to
reallocate money and resources to try to play the
numbers game with U.S. News,” Schafer said.
With the passage of the bill, members of the
Government Liaison Committee will urge other
universities to research and oppose the magazine’s
current ranking system, said Hal Hansen, commit
tee chairman.
The group will also contact the magazine with
its views about the rankings, Hansen said.
The senate also passed a bill directing mem
bers of the academic committee to discuss a possi
ble academic recognition program for students.
The bill does not set up any definite guidelines;
rather it asks the committee to look into honoring
students who help improve the academic climate
on campus, Schafer said.
Arts and Sciences Sen. Aja Bowling said
although she thought the bill had merit, it could
take away too much of the committee’s time.
Bowling said because there are already several
similar awards on campus, ASUN's efforts could
possibly be redundant.
A more in-depth discussion of the plan would
be beneficial for the senate before members com
mit to anything too time-consuming, she said.
“We don’t want to waste the committee’s time
reviewing applications,” she said.
Steven Bender/DN
Mimiciit
mil!:
Kate Jensen, a
sophomore art
major from
Ogallala,adds
texture to a ball
of day
Wednesday in
Richards Hall.
Jensen said she
liked working
with day and
would like to
continue doing
so even after
finishing col
lege.
¥
Only lucky few make trek to Notre Dame
■ Out of 1,500 requests, only 461
students will be making the jour
ney to South Bend and the famous
Notre Dame Stadium.
BYJILLZEMAN
A chunk of red may not look the
best in the blue- and gold- dominat
ed Notre Dame Stadium.
But the color scheme in the sta
dium shouldn’t bother the sea of
Husker fans making the trek to
South Bend, Ind., for the Nebraska
Notre Dame football game.
More than 1,500 students
applied for migration tickets in
April, and, of those, 461 received
tickets in a lottery process, said John
Anderson, director of ticket opera
tions.
One of those lucky recipients was
Tom Scott, a senior education major
and member of Phi Gamma Delta
fraternity.
Scott and his fraternity brothers,
applied and were selected for a block
of about 40 tickets, he said
Applying for that many tickets
was risky, because it was subject to
the lottery like any other student
request, but luck was on Scott’s side
he said.
The group is chartering a bus to
make the trip to South Bend and
plans to stay in 16 reserved hotel
rooms outside of Chicago, he said.
Scott said he’s making the pil
grimage to South Bend because he
wanted to have a legendary college
football experience, not unlike the
games at Memorial Stadium
“When fans from opposing
teams come here, they can feel the
tradition,” he said. “That’s how it is
in Notre Dame.”
The 461 student tickets came
from a pool of4,000 seats the univer
sity received from Notre Dame,
Anderson said.
About 28,000 people applied for
the tickets available to the general
public, he said.
To obtain a pair of tickets, indi
viduals must earn 346 “priority
points,” he said.
A donor earns three points for
each $100 gift given in the current
year and one point for each $100 gift
ever given, he said.
The magic number of 346 is
equal to about a $13,000 gift from a
new donor, he said.
Senior secondary education and
social sciences major John Gloe did
n’t pay $13,000 for his ticket, but he
will make the trip as one of the lucky
students selected from the lottery.
Gloe said he’s looking forward to
the road trip itself as well as the
experience inside the stadium.
“It’s something to do,” he said.
“Road trips.are the best.”
But Gloe said the game should
serve as the pinnacle of the trip.
“It's Notre Dame,” he said. “Even
though they haven’t been as good in
the past, it’ll be an experience just to
go there.”
Students will need to present
their student ID cards to receive
their tickets Saturday, Anderson
said.
Tickets can be picked up in
South Bend starting at 11:30 a.m.
Saturday at the Joyce Center, he said.
Unpaid paupers? ASUN senators unlike Big 12 peers
BY GWEN T1ETGEN
When looking for a few extra
dollars to help pay for college, stu
dents should grab applications
from Amigos before campaigning
to be members of ASUN.
The Association of Students of
the University of Nebraska presi
dent receives a tuition waiver
through the Alumni Association
and enjoys all the perks of being a
member of the Board of Regents.
But the only thing most stu
dents who donate time to student
government positions will get is a
few lines on their resumes and a
student planner packed with meet
ings to attend.
Before 1982, this wasn’t the case
for ASUN officers. They received a
small cash stipend, funded by stu
dent fees.
But because of a student fee
controversy in 1978, the university’s
program and facility fees were re
evaluated and referendums were
added to the ASUN ballot
The referendums let students
decide whether to allocate student
fee money for the Daily Nebraskan,
salaries for student government
officers and the speaker’s program
sponsored by the University
Program Council.
The referendums first appeared
on the ballot in 1981.
In 1983, students voted not to
allocate student fees for the salaries
of student government officers.
Aftfer being voted down for four
consecutive years, the referendum
was taken off the ballot in 1987.
As for other universitie»in the
Big 1? Texas A&M is the onlv other
school that doesn’t compensate its
student leaders in some way.
Katie Boesdorfer, a student
worker for the Student Government
Association at Texas A&M, said stu
dent government positions at Texas
A&M are so desired that financial
compensation isn’t needed.
“Everyone wants to do it just to
serve their school,” Boesdorfer
said. “Student government elec
tions are a very big event at Texas
A&M.”
Please see PAID on 6
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