Thursday
October 5,2000
Volume 1CK)
Issue JXf Zi
dailyneb.com
Since 1901
petatuma&Se 34 dive on 2,
sunshine breaking and the
geyser of food shooting up,
up, up
In Opinton/4
Whafs it like to be the star
of a video game? Husker
players know firsthand
In SportsThursday/10
Folk legend Joan Baez
brings her old-school music
to the Lied tonight
In Arts/8
t
Tuition hikes on the horizon
BY ANNA JO BRATTON
Increases in tuition may be key
to UNL’s survival as a nationally
competitive university, NU adminis
trators said Wednesday.
The administrators came togeth
er with Gov. Mike Johanns, senators
and business and agricultural lead
ers at the Higher Education Forum
to discuss the University of
Nebraska's role in the state.
The event kicked off a series of
six forums that will be held across
the state over the next two days to
gauge Nebraskans’ expectations of
the university system. f
Much of Wednesday’s discussion
focused on the need for more fund
ing to keep the state universities
competitive.
“The state has done a very good
job of funding the university sys
tem,” NU President Dennis Smith
said. But Smith said funding had to
be supplemented with other
income, including tuition, to contin
ue to carry out the university’s func
tions.
“We can no longer do all these
things with the resource-base avail
able,” he said.
If the NU Board of Regents does
n’t raise tuition, services will have to
be cut, Smith said.
“Something has to give,” he said.
If tuition does not give, quality
will, said Frank Newman, the
forum’s keynote speaker. Newman is
the director of a national program
funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
The program focuses on public poli
cy for higher education.
The competition to attract stu
dents is steeper than ever, Newman
said. The emergence of online
degree-programs, as well as for
profit institutions, such as private
colleges, are giving students more
choices in education.
“We’re in a time where students
are going to multiple institutions,
often at the same time,” Newman
said.
This raises the issue of special
ization, he said.
If a student can take engineering
classes online through a university
specializing in that area, it is futile to
try to compete, Newman said.
“Every university is going to have
to ask itself what do we do well, and
who do we serve?” he said.
If NU focuses on what it does
well, it can stay competitive.
But to retain these areas of excel
lence, the university system must
retain good faculty, which requires
more funding, Smith said.
Please see TUITION on 3
Sharon Koibet/DN
UNL Chemistry Professor Mark Griep has developed a chemistry dass focused on the color red. The semesterlong honors course takes a multidisciplinary approach and allows students to investigate
the importance of red in art, psychology, sociology and chemistry.
Class outs students on red alert
BY CRYSTAL K.W1EBE
In a new UNL chemistry class,
you won’t find just Bunson burners
and test tubes.
Poetry readings, examining soci
ological issues and thinking about
the deeper meaning behind a color
might all be topics of study.
In a chemistry class, you say?
Some UNL honors students are
seeing red in a whole different light
this semester in “The Color Red,” a
chemistry class taught by associate
professor Mark Griep.
While the class doesn’t skip over
the fact red is perhaps most com
monly associated with the Big Red
on the football field, Griep said the
issues it examines surrounding the
color red go much deeper.
Miller described the idea for the
course as coming to him in a “Eureka
moment.”
“Once the title came to me, the
whole course outline came to me
immediately. I thought about
Communists (called “Reds” for
slang), paintings, pigments, pixels,
physics of light, Little Red Riding
Hood and, of course, Big Red,” he
said.
Griep said many science majors’
exposure to subjects like art and lit
erature was limited because of their
extensive hard-science require
ments.
The course, he said, was a good
way for students to explore other
areas of academia.
"There's a lot of discussion,” he
said. “You don’t (discuss) much in
science courses. It’s all dry.”
Griep got the idea for the course
from a colleague at the University of
Minnesota, where Griep earned his
degrees.
Larry Miller, an organic chemist,
designed “The Color Red” as a fresh
man seminar course at the
University of Minnesota.
“I knew that I wanted to present a
course that cut across many fields
instead of the usual course that digs
deeply into one,” Miller said.
UNL’s version of the class meets
Wednesdays in Hamilton Hall.
Griep said the second lecture of
the class involved a lexicological
study - a study of words - done by
two Berkley students in 1969.
The scientists found the first two
color terms to develop in most cul
tures relate to light and dark. Red is
the next term, followed by yellow or
green, then yellow and green, then
blue, Griep said.
Griep said the findings were
interesting because they implied
humans of all cultures are “hard
wired to recognize colors in the same
order.”
‘The real goal is to
interest them in as many
different academic
disciplines as possible
Mark Griep
associate professor
Griep’s students studied the sci
entists’ research and concluded it
had far-ranging implications as the
universality of basic color terms has
become a hot research topic since
1969.
Following Miller’s example, Griep
invites a different UNL professor to
give a guest lecture every other week,
relating red to their academic spe
cialty.
Please see RED on 3
UNL fills IANR vice chancellor slot
“He brings real talent
and experience. We’re
very lucky.”
Harvey Perlman
UNL interim chancellor
BY VERONICA DAEHN
UNL moved a step closer
to filling its administrative
holes Wednesday when top
officials hired a new vice
chancellor and vice presi
dent for the Institute of
Agriculture and Natural
Resources.
John Owens, executive
vice president and chief
executive
officer at
New
Mexico
State
University
in Las
uwens
Lruces, will -
begin work at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln on Jan.
1, pending approval from
the NU Board of Regents.
The position opened up
in June when Irv Omtvedt
retired.
Owens’ hiring comes at
a time when UNL is plagued
with administrative open
ings and interim replace
ments.
Edna McBreen, interim
vice chancellor for the insti
tute, said she was excited
about Owens’ coming to
UNL.
"He’s a good man,” said
McBreen, who also was a
candidate for the position.
“He cares about agriculture.
He’ll do a very good job.”
Owens interviewed at
UNL in early September and
said he liked what he saw.
Please see IANR on 3
ASUN
Explorer
holiday
canned
■ The senators passed a bill recognizing
Columbus Day as"American-lndian Day,"which
drew fire from a university professor.
BY MARGARET BEHM
Student government unanimously passed a bill
Wednesday that dubs Oct 9 “American-Indian Day”
instead of Columbus Day
But, a university professor said Christopher
Columbus was an important man and shouldn’t be
singled out as an oppressor.
Edward Homze, emeritus history professor, said
the day is an acceptable traditional holiday that
shouldn’t be used to tout politically correct values.
“It's another case of trying to pick a particular
important historical holiday and saying it’s a sign of
oppression,” Homze said. "I think they’re searching
around for someone to point a figure at, and
Columbus was it”
Vernon Miller, who spoke during open forum,
said passing the resolution meant senators support
ed a culturally sensitive atmosphere. Miller, an
American Indian, said he is offended by Columbus
Day and said the holiday gives honor to an undeserv
ing person.
“It's just supporting someone who openly sup
ported hatred.” said Miller, a senior business admin
istration and secondary education major. “To me, cel
ebrating Columbus Day is like celebrating the person
who assassinated Martin Luther King.”
Despite any controversy surrounding the holiday,
Homze said from a historical perspective, Columbus
is an important person. He said his behavior wasn’t
good, but it was typical of explorers of that time.
“We’re making a judgment from the year 2000 on
Columbus,” he said. “It’s seeing him in retrospect of
2000 instead of the 16th Century.”
ASUN President Joel Schafer said the resolution
was a way for ASUN to show support for minorities.
“I think that often ASUN has had a reputation of
only caring about students of color when it comes
election time,” he said.
In other news:
■ Schafer said Gov. Mike Johanns warned at a
higher education forum Wednesday that students
should expect an increase in tuition.
Because the university shouldn’t expect to receive
more money from the state, Schafer said, tuition rates
could go up 10 percent
“Ibis is a wake-up call to all of us and all students
that we’re going to see the administration move for
ward on increasing tuition,” Schafer said.
Please see HOLIDAY on 3
Two stories,
one murder
BY JOSH FUNK
Two different versions ofVu Houng La’s February
murder were outlined in Lancaster County District
Court on Wednesday.
The defense said Linh Bao was scared for the
lives of his family and himself after being beaten up
twice by La and two other men in the hours leading
up to La’s shooting.
Prosecutor Andy Jacobsen said Bao intended to
kill the 37-year-old La, shooting at the red Dodge
Colt that La was sitting in at least five times.
Bao's trial for first-degree murder and the use of
a gun to commit a felony began Wednesday after
two days of jury selection, and it is expected to run
through the middle of next week.
If convicted, Bao could face the death penalty for
murder and one to 20 years for the gun charge.
The state began its case with eye-witness testi
mony from a neighbor in the 3700 Comhusker Hwy.
trailer park who saw part of the fight that preceded
the Feb. 5 shooting.
In his opening argument, Jacobsen promised
ballistic evidence linking shell casings found at the
murder scene to Bao’s gun, early confessions to
police and other eyewitness testimony to show Bao
carried out the killing deliberately.
“Linh Bao ran into his trailer and grabbed his
.380 (caliber) Smith and Wesson. Then he ran back
outside and shot Mr. La as he was trying to leave,”
said Jacobsen, a deputy Lancaster County attorney.
Please see TRIAL on 3
