Friday
January 12,2001
Volume 100
Issue 82
dailyneb.com
Since 1901
Daily Nebraskan
Simon Ringsmuth
looks for the J
Playstation 2 that '*
Santa didn’t haul
down the chimney
In OpWon/4
■'v ;
A
Huskers grapple with
Gophers, but can’t hold
on to undefeated record
In Sports Weekend/10
Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery touts
collection of quilts
from Alabama
In Arts/8
Legislature
NU budget
to spike
under plan
BY GWEN TlETGEN
Under Gov. Mike Johanns’
budget proposal state funding for
the university system would
increase by a greater percent dur
ing die next fiscal year than it has
in the past decade.
Usually, the university’s state
funding jumps 3 or 4 percent each
fiscal year.
But Thursday, Johanns pro
posed an increase of 6.2 percent,
or $24.2 million, in the first fiscal
year and 6.4 percent, or $26.6 mil
lion, in die second yean
The proposed funding will
allow the university to pay faculty
and staff rates competitive with
other universities, Chris Peterson,
the governor’s spokesman, said.
This historic increase in fund
ing for the university represents
the importance the governor
places on higher education,
Peterson said.
“Universities are not just edu
cating young people, but they are
an important link to the business
community and economy.”
Peterson said.
The money would increase
faculty salaries an average of 5.22
percent and staff salaries an aver
age of 4.75 percent
This is die exact amount being
asked by the university for salary
increases.
However, tne university aid
not receive all the money it
requested for operational costs.
By trimming overall requests,
Johanns’ proposal balances the
budget without raising taxes, and
increases state spending by an
average of 7.4 percent over the
next two years.
Johanns pinpointed several
reasons for such a substantial
increase in state spending.
Among them were opera
tional costs for the new prison
near Tecumseh, increased fund
ing for aid in public schools, the
rising costs of Medicaid and the
governor’s $60 million property
tax relief measure.
And with state revenue on the
rocks due to a fingering recession,
the task for lawmakers could be
even more difficult
Sen. Roger Wehrbein of
Plattsmouth, the chairman of the
Appropriations Committee, said
the governor's proposal covered
all the bases.
"It was a very good, far-reach
ing and visionary budget propos
al,” Wehrbein said.
Important areas the governor
outlined, Wehrbein said, included
mental-health, the juvenile justice
system, property tax relief,
Medicaid and education in both
Please see BUDGET on 3
Derek Lippincott/DN
Kelly Daniels, an employee of the Big Red Shop for 16 years, locks the door after one of the stored final days of business. The Big Red Shop, which has
been open for 21 years, will dose its doors for good Tuesday.
r
Merchandise gone, memories remain
BY SHARON KOLBET
“Cream them."
The words were emblazoned on the side of the small
dairy creamer that stood near the entrance of the store.
The specially designed “Cornhusker creamers” were
made for the devoted sports fan and could be purchased
along with the scarlet baseball caps sold at the Big Red Shop.
On The&day, the store that has been west of Memorial
Stadium for 21 years, will be closing its doors and making
way for the new Nebraska Alumni Center’s Champion’s Club
to be built on the site.
For Lincoln resident Loraine Livingston, it’s the end of
an era.
“I have met so many nice people in this store.”
Livingston said.
Livingston, now 74, established the store at 701 N. 10th
St. on a lot that used to house an old gas station. What start
ed as a small T-shirt shop gradually expanded to become
one of the premier locations for NU souvenirs.
“I am both happy and sad to see it go,” she said.
Livingston said she has many fond memories of the
shop. The store was a popular destination for fans in
Nebraska, as well as for rival teams.
“The opposing team’s players were always stopping by
on Friday before the game,” she said.
Livingston said one of her most memorable moments as
a shopkeeper was when Brian Bosworth, who played foot
ball for the University of Oklahoma in the 1980s, came
through the store boasting to everyone how his team was
going to win the big game.
"Unfortunately he was right,” she said. “I will never for
get that."
Livingston said she also has fond memories of visiting
with the Nebraska coaching staff. Former NU Coach Tom
Osborne used to regularly bring his recruiting classes
through the Big Red Shop. Livingston recalls a cold winter
day when she made a special trip to the store just to open it
for Osborne and his tour.
Please see SHOP on 3
Student
vote may
count
BY GEORGE GREEN
If a resolution scheduled to be proposed today
passes, a University of Nebraska student could
soon have voting power on the Board of Regents.
Sen. Adrian Smith of Gering told the Daily
Nebraskan oh Tuesday he plans to introduce a res
olution today that would restructure the makeup
of the board.
The Board of Regents includes eight elected
regents vested with voting power and four student
regents elected
from the univer
sity’s four cam
puses. Student
regents vote
only to express their opinions; their votes aren’t
counted in final tallies.
Smith said it is important to have a student
representative with equal voting rights on the
board because its decisions are linked to the wel
Legislature
iare oi universiiy siuaents.
“The impact of the regents' decisions on the
student body is large,” he said.
In addition, he said, student regents with real
voting power would present the board with fresh
and creative ideas.
Under Smith’s plan, the Board of Regents
would be revamped to include 12 representatives.
Eight of the 12 would be elected from state dis
tricts, while the remaining four would be appoint
ed by the governor, he said.
One of the four regents the governor appoints
would have to be a student representative elected
from one of the four university campuses, he said.
NU campuses include the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, the Universities of Nebraska at
Omaha and Kearney and the University of
Nebraska Medical Center.
In addition, the board would include three uni
versity students who would serve as nonvoting
members.
Most likely, Smith said, the governor would
rotate through the campuses when picking the
Please see REGENT on 3
Johanns'speech highlights investment in education
BY GEORGE GREEN
Gov. Mike Johanns on Thursday
assured Nebraskans their state was
strong.
But, Johanns warned Nebraskans to
enter the 21st Century with cautious opti
mism during his State of the State address
sat the Capitol.
In his speech, which lasted about 20
minutes, Johanns focused on property
tax relief and education, while addressing
several other issues including crime,
mental health and tobacco settlement
money.
On the property tax front, Johanns
proposed allocating $60 million to state
community colleges over the next two
years to ease tax burdens on land owners.
Property taxes fuel educational budg
ets, so by funneling dollars to colleges,
the government reduces the amount of
money landowners must fork over to
schools.
The Legislature has voted in the past
to enact similar policies, which Johanns
said have been "successful.”
Johanns also highlighted the impor
tance of education in his vision for
Nebraska as he presented several plans to
bolster the quality of Nebraska’s educa
tional systems from early childhood
through post-secondary learning.
"My budget also proposes a historic
investment in education,” he said.
Johanns endorsed the Department of
Education's Early Childhood Projects,
which work to assure that pre-kinder
garten children are prepared to enter ele
mentary school.
Chris Peterson, a spokesman for the
governor, said the projects serve students
in 10 Nebraska communities.
Johann’s budget suggestions put $3
million toward early childhood projects
and other programs, which would allow
the Early Childhood Projects to swell to
30 communities, Peterson said.
Johanns pledged support for three
proposals from a legislative Teacher
Salary Task Force.
Controversy concerning teacher pay
has dogged legislators during the past
year.
The Legislature formed the Teacher
Salary Task Force in 2000 to study lagging
teacher salaries.
The task force proposed supplement
ing teacher pay with bonuses.
But the governor warned the task
force’s salary stipend proposal would not
be feasible.
“The one-size fits all across-the
board bonus plan ... is not a workable
suggestion,” he said.
The stipend does not effectively
address the disparities between each
school district’s teacher salaries and the
right of local districts to govern them
PleaseseeSTATEon3
'Fulfilling the Dream': King Day honors civil rights
BY LINDSEY BAKER
Organizers for events cele
brating the life of one of the
most famous civil rights leader
in history hope students will use
their break from classes
Monday for more than a time to
relax.
Instead, organizers hope
students will use the event
filled day to explore themselves
and what King’s legacy means to
their lives.
Scheduled events should
keep unoccupied students busy
all day long.
The two-part series of
events, "Continuing the Civil
Rights Movement for All,” was
put together by the University's
"v Martin Luther King Committee
and is supported by the
Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska.
ASUN President Joel Schafer
will give a short speech, and
other ASUN senators will volun
teer at various activities during
the day, he said.
Events kick off at 9 a.m. in
the Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery auditorium with an
hour-long program for the pres
entation of the chancellor’s
"Fulfilling the Dream” Awards.
UNL’s partnership with
Grambling State University in
Louisiana will also be renewed.
The partnership, estab
lished in 1996, links faculty
members and students from
UNL with those from the histor
ically black Grambling.
"Partnerships, I think, can
benefit both institutions,” Vice
Chancellor for Student Affairs
James Griesen said. “We believe
that for our students it offers an
opportunity to experience a
very different culture in their
ow^ country.”
This year's recipients of the
“Fulfilling the Dream” Awards
are Lincoln resident Paulette
Jones and UNL Political Science
Professor Michael Combs for
their work toward King’s goals of
social equality.
After the ceremony at the
Sheldon, attendees can partici
pate in the 10:30 a.m. National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
Youth Rally and march from the
Culture Center, 333 N. 14th St.,
to the State Capitol.
The Sheldon will also be
Delan Lonowski/DN
open for gallery perusing, where
visitors can see the Sheldon’s
exhibit, "African-American
Quilts from the Robert and
Helen Cargo Collection.”
Wills said the award cere
mony was scheduled at the
Please see KING on 3
A DAY OFF:
Missionaries
from the Church
of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day
Saints plan their
next play in a
flag football
game at
Memorial
Stadium
Thursday.The
missionaries use
Thursday morn
ings for recre
ation and often
play flag foot
ball when the
weather is nice.
