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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2000)
Survey cites problems with supervisors w • ■Faculty members who left said they didn't have a negative perception of UNI as a whole. BYJH1ZEMAN More departing faculty members who have a negative perception of UNL say it is because of problems with an immediate supervisor, not the university itself, according to a survey given to employees leav ing in 1999. Interim Chancellor Harvey Perlman mentioned the results at Tuesday's Academic Senate meeting and said the university needed to be as concerned with retention as it is with hiring. Perlman said the net gain in diverse faculty and staff mem bers is not as high as it could have been because die university lost several valued employees. “There are diverse candi dates in the pool,” he said. “Whether we have the ability to sustain our investment is a con cern.” Questionnaires were sent to the 517 exiting employees through last October. Of the 239 employees who returned the survey, 101 were male, 123 were female, and 15 did not indicate their sex. More than 75 percent were white, almost 6 percent were Asian and Pacific Islander, two were Hispanic, about 2 percent were American Indian, and about 1 percent were black. More than 14 percent did not list their ethnicity. Overall, 70 percent of the respondents said they viewed their work experience at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as positive, while 13 percent said they thought it was negative. This is consistent with the previous year’s numbers, said Evelyn Jacobson, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. The number of people who left the university because of negative influences dropped from 19 percent two years ago to 18 percent last year. The most popular complaint was unfair treatment from an employee's supervisor, rather than larger university issues, Jacobson said. Problems with supervisors are fairly common in a large uni versity, she said. Jacobson said she was pleased the majority of the results were positive, but she thought everybody at the univer sity could do a better job af man aging their employees. A difference in the survey from 1998 is that there was little variance in responses from women and minorities, Jacobson said. Just under half of all employ ees who decided to leave UNL did so because of perks at their new job. About 21 percent said they left because of negative fac tors associated with UNL. Jacobson said she was pleased with the results of the survey. “Even though the majority of the results are positive, we still need to work on things,” she said. Student's father vies to be'Millionaire' BY BRIAN CARLSON When Kim Buske returns from fall break next week, her father just may be a million dol lars richer. On Sunday at 8 p.m., the sophomore biochemistry major will watch her father, Eric Buske, compete on ABC’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” "I’m really excited,” said Kim Buske, an Omaha native. “I just think it’s going to be cool. There haven’t been that many people from Nebraska on the show.” ABC taped the show on Oct 5 in New York. Kim Buske was one of her father’s possible lifelines, so she sat in her room in Neihardt Residence Center awaiting a call during the taping. Although she knows the results, she has to be tight lipped. All she can say is that her father made it to the round of 10 contestants vying for a spot on the "hot seat.” Viewers will have to tune in to find out any more. But Buske revealed one piece of loot her father brought her: a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire” T shirt. BY VERONICA DAEHN A commission charged with reviewing budget requests and advising the Legislature on what action to take in the spring sup ported University of Nebraska requests at its Thursday meet ing. Ronald Withem, director of governmental relations for the university, said he was pleased with the commission’s recom mendations. “\ye think this recommen dation will help us in making our case to the Legislature,” Withem said. “It will help us convince them of the budget needs the university has.” The commission spent most of the day discussing the budget requests made by state colleges and universities across the state. The final result was support for the university's requests in general but not for a specific dollar amount, said Patsy Martin, spokeswoman for the commission. Martin said the commission did not have enough informa tion to recommend a specific increase in salary and benefits for faculty members, one of the university's proposed requests. But the report approved by the commission lists an increase in faculty salaries and benefits as strongly recommended. Other requests the commis sion decided to recommend to the Legislature included new funds for student recruitment and retention, diversity of facul ty and staff members and an assessment of building mainte nance. Withem said there was some concern by university officials that the conftnission was not w recommending money for the ongoing operation and mainte nance of buildings. The two buildings’ being renovated on the UNL campus, Love library and Hamilton Hall, will need additional money to stay open when the work is done, Withem said. “I see no rationale as to why it’s not being recommended,” he said. He suggested the commis sion form a task force to look further into the matter. Commission Chairman Eric Seacrest said that was a good 7 see no rationale as to why it’s not being recommended Ronald Withem university director of governmental relations idea. Besides supporting universi ty and state college requests for money, the commission also put out a list of priority recommen dations. The No. 1 priority listed is Peru State College’s request for money to renovate its library and gymnasium. The University of Nebraska at Omaha is listed No. 5 for its request to improve the College of Public Affairs and Community Service facility. A UNL request is not listed in the commission’s priority rec ommendations. ' Authorities arrest four overshooting FROM STAFF AhP WIRE REPORTS Four people were arrested in Lincoln after fleeing alGrand Island shooting Wednesday morning. Leslie Brokaw, 21, remained in critical condition Thursday evening at BryanLGH Medical Center West in Lincoln. He was shot around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Brokaw answered the door to find a man holding a handgun and wearing a ski mask. The man, who was with a woman, fired one shot before fleeing in a 1984 brown Oldsmobile Cutlass, police said. Grand Island police issued a statewide alert for the car, and a Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputy spotted it heading east on Interstate 80, SherifTIterry Wagner said. Police then followed the car into Lincoln until they found a good place to stop it Sheriff’s deputies, State Patrol troopers and Iincoln Police offi cers were all present when the car was stopped near 340 N.W. 18th St In the car, police found a .38 caliber revolver, 622grams of sus- > pected methamphetamine and a black ski mask. All four people in the car were arrested in connection with the shooting, and two men in the car were arrested for outstanding Lancaster County warrants. Curtis Williams, 26, of Omaha and Larry Duchene, 21, ofLincoln had the outstanding warrants. Melissa Salak, ofLincoln, and ThnaWalahoski, of Grand Island, both 20, also were arrested. .Williams is suspected of attempted first-degree murder and the other three were arrested as accomplices. Brokaw was shot in the mouth, but he was able to speak with investigators, Grand Island Police Capt Pete Kortum said. /^///j'Nebraskan Editor. Sarah Baker ■ Managing Editor Bradley Davis Associate News Editor Kimberly Sweet Opinion Editor Samuel McKewon Sports Editor Matthew Hansen Arts Editor Dane Stickney Copy Desk Co-Chief: Lindsay Young Copy Desk Co-Chief: Danell McCoy Photo Chief: Heather Glenboski Art Director: Melanie Falk Design Chief: Andrew Broer Web Editor Gregg Stearns Assistant Web Editor Tanner Graham Questions? Comments? Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402)472-2588 ore-mail: dn@unl.edu General Manager: Dan Shauii Publications Board Russell Willbanki. Chairman: (402) 436-7226 Professional Adviser Don Walton, (402) 473-7248 Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, (402) 472-2589 Assistant Ad Manager Nicole Woita Classified Ad Manager Nikki Bruner Circulation Manager Imtiyaz Khan Fax Number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St„ Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year weekly during the summer sessions. The public has access to the Publicat! ; Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Ne'. (402) 472-2588. Subscriptions are $60 for one year. Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2000 DAILY NEBRASKAN_ TODAY Rain high 71, low 53 TOMORROW Mostly cloudy high 69, low 42 SUNDAY Partly sunny high 64, low 40 MONDAY Partly cloudy 1 >. -,i i o2, low 40 TUESDAY Partly sunny high 65, low 40 RFK Jr.: Take back resources Attorney urges communities to fight polluting corporations Grant to benefit E. coli research ■The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers'work has been recognized internationally. BY JILL ZEMAN Nearly $1 million has been awarded to the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources for E. coli research. The $952,000 grant was given to the institute last July by the United States Department of Agriculture to study the pres ence of the bacteria in feedlot cattle. Faculty members from the Animal Science and Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences department are testing groups of cattle for the E. coli and sal monella viruses, said David Smith, extension dairy and beef veterinarian. About a year and a half ago, a group of researchers started with the idea that they could obtain E. coli from a cow’s mouth. When cattle chew on objects, they regurgitate, which can be tested for E. coli. At first, the researchers had cattle chew on a number of rough surfaces, including artifi cial turf, until they discovered that ordinary rope worked the best, he said. Fresh ropes are placed in feedlots at night, when cattle are most likely to chew on them, and are collected in the morn ing. The ropes are then analyzed for E. coli and salmonella. The group will be working on about 60 pens for the next three years, he said. The first two years will con sist mainly of gathering samples and the third year will focus on data analysis, Smith said. Smith said the grant allows the researchers to do observa tional tests they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. “It gives us an edge,” Smith said. The ultimate goal is to iden tify management practices within a feedlot that can reduce the risk of E. coli in the animals. Researchers have already received national and interna tional recognition for their work, said Rodney Moxley, pro fessor of veterinary and bio medical sciences. Part of the group will be pre senting results of their test at an international meeting in Japan later this month, he said. Without the grant, researchers would run out of money if they tried to conduct the research at this magnitude, Moxley said. Terry Klopfenstein, animal science professor, has been working in cattle feedlots for the past 35 years at the university. Klopfenstein said the overall goal was to make beef com pletely safe, but that’s probably not achievable. “We’d like to move more in that direction," he said. The research is a “win-win” situation, he said, because it improves the cattle industry and food safety for consumers. Klopfenstein said the research will benefit the univer sity by gaining recognition. “If we use the money and resources wisely we can be pro ductive and further enhance the reputation of the university,” he said. Russia newscast seeks 'naked truth' - literally THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW - Russia’s success ful television producers fall into two categories: the brainy or the zany. The brainy ones court Russia’s large educated class with full length, commercial-free operas and such programs as “Apocrypha/ a biweekly dis course on the lives of classical authors. The zany ones aim elsewhere. As in “Naked Thith,” a newscast in all ways normal - except the anchorwoman sometimes strips while she reports the day's events. The reporters go topless when v covering parliament. And the weather forecaster strokes her bare breasts as she predicts light rain. Producers say they had to choose between these two paths, the highbrow and the out-there, to stay afloat amid the flood of for mulaic imported soap operas and cop serials that clogged Russia's airwaves in the 1990s. The strategy appears to be working; Many Russian shows are squeezing out foreign rivals in the ratings. While financial and political troubles linger, critics say post Soviet Russian television is com ing into its own. • * BY GEORGE GREEN College students, professors and members of the business community were urged Thursday to take back control of their natural resources. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son former Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and chief pros ecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, an environmental protection group, said corpora tions intentionally weaken communities when they steal their natural resources. Communities must be con cerned with the environment for their own sake and for the sake of nature, he said. “An environmental advo cate is a community advocate,” Kennedy said. Kennedy, who spoke at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Omaha, said communities should stand up against large, polluting corporations. If they don’t, he said, corpo rations will use up all of the area’s resources and leave the community holding onto expensive clean-up and restoration bills. "Communities can not let the big companies bum rush them,” Kennedy said. But if local communities take control of their resources, they will benefit from nature’s ' ✓ aesthetic beauty and from the financial opportunities it offers. When locals control their environment, they prosper from fishing and recreation businesses that are managed so they won’t hurt the environ ment, he said. Kennedy cited the history of environmental activists, includ ing his employer, that worked to save the Hudson River as an example that communities can become widely successful by forcing out polluting compa nies. The group started in the 1960s when blue-collar fisher man were angered by pollution in the Hudson River, he said. The fisherman sued the pol luting corporations and won back control of the river, he said. “They restored the Hudson as the richest body of water in the area,” he said. Kennedy said the communi ties that defeat polluting com panies make money too. Economic prosperity does n’t have to be in conflict with sound environmental policy, he said. If resources are managed properly, they will be valuable assets for many generations, Kennedy said. But polluting companies want to immediately use up all of the resources available, he said. In contrast, he said local communities use resources on a sustainable basis. “Investing in the environ ment is like investing in the infrastructure of a business,” he said. Kennedy’s 45 minute speech, which was followed by a question-and-answer session, was part of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s ABC breakfast speaker series. Kennedy said UNO students should join environmental groups if they want to save the planet. Tom Bragg, an ecologist at UNO, said Kennedy was right about getting involved. Kennedy expressed clearly all of the environmental con cerns people need to know about, so they can start saving, not killing, the environment, Bragg said. Saving the environment will help future generations survive and will help communities prosper right now, Kennedy said. If people ignore the environ ment, though, the conse quences will be bad for nature and the economy, he said. "Environmental injury matures into economic catas trophe,” he said. Porn images hidden in directory THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford University’s student directory is called “Faces,” but the new issue has generated a buzz because of other body parts - the cover features a mosaic of hundreds of tiny images featuring nude women and sex acts. The Baptist-affiliated school distributed thousands of the 100-page directory last week. Sharp-eyed students quickly informed school officials that the cover mosaic over an image of model Christy Hurlington con tained pornography. The cover’s artist, senior graphic design major David Carrigan, said he took the uncopyrighted mosaic from a Web site and blurred the images with a computer. “I surely would not have used the image had I known the content of the small photo graphs,” Carrigan wrote in an e mail apology distributed to the student body. “I am personally opposed to pornography and its* effect on society.”