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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2001)
College could be free for seniors BY JILL ZEMAN It could soon be common to see residents over the age of 70 alongside college-age students in class if the NU Board of Regents approves a resolution in April. The resolution, introduced by Regent Randy Ferlic of Omaha, would allow Nebraskans over 70 to take classes without credit for free. Ferlic said he brought up the resolution for a number of rea sons: First, it would allow interac tion between the elderly and youth. Older Nebraskans could also provide feedback on professors and other faculty members, he said. If the senior citizens have a good experience with the univer sity, they may choose to donate money to departments, faculty members or NU as a whole. Older Nebraskans wouldn’t pay tor tuition, but would be responsible for books, lab sup plies and park ing fees. The partici pation of the elderly is also dependent on class size. For example, an older Nebraskan wouldn’t get into a class before a paying student, Ferlic said. Ferlic said if someone was disruptive in class, he or she would be pro hibited from taking the class for free. Ferlic’s resolution is one of the few that starts from the NU Board of Regents, he said. Usually, Ferlic said, resolu tions that come before the board are generated by administrators from within the universities themselves. “I truly wanted to see whether something could start in the board and work its way back wards," he said. If the program was successful, the age limits could be lowered to 65. Don Swoboda, dean of con tinuing studies, said while the plan seems like a good idea, details need to be sorted out before it’s implemented. The university already has a program for adults 50 years of age and older. The program, Sharing Across Generations for Enrichment, offers more than 40 learning pro grams to members with an annu al membership fee. Swoboda said he didn’t know if there was a strong demand for the program. “There’s a continuing, increased demand for the mature learning to continue learning,” he said. The Board of Regents will dis cuss the issue at its April meeting, Ferlic said. 7 truly wanted to see whether something could start in the board and work its way back wards. ” Randy Ferlic regent CLEARING THE WAY: Nebraska Crosscountry Coach Jay Dirksen clears snow off the Ed Weir Track for the track team's practice Wednesday afternoon. Nathan Meschke/DN Journalists rally in support of Daily Nebraskan stood. The newspaper’s funding still lies in the hands of student senators, who voted Wednesday after more than three hours of discussion, to table a decision on the Daily Nebraskan budget. More than 20 people attend ed Wednesday’s meeting in sup port of the newspaper, and Daily Nebraskan editors submitted 14 letters from journalists around the country speaking against the cuts. Tom Kelly, publisher of the West Point News and a member of the Daily Nebraskan Publications Board, said the fig ures on which ASUN senators were basing their allocation rec ommendations were not in line with those at professional news papers. Forcing the newspaper to operate at 6- or 10 percent profit margins could destroy it finan cially, and perhaps cause the Daily Nebraskan to cease to exist, he said. The newspaper made about $100,000 profit on a nearly $1 million budget in 1999-2000, Kelly said. though it might seem like a lot of money, those kind of prof it margins don’t make for rolling-in-the-dough business es, he said. "That is not a very good prof it. Most newspapers expect to do twice that,” he said. Cutting student fees, which for the Daily Nebraskan are $1.19 per student, per semester, would only eat into the newspa per's profit and cause drastic cuts in services the newspaper provides, he said. Some student senators con tended the Daily Nebraskan’s savings, totaling around $300,000, were sufficient to make up for any loss in profit or student fees. But Assistant Professor Charlyne Berens said cutting student fees would simply penalize the Daily Nebraskan for saving and investing its money wisely. “Cutting off the funding is punishing the Daily Nebraskan for being prudent with its money and resources,” Berens said. Daily Nebraskan General Manager Dan Shattil said if advertising revenues, which the newspaper relies on to fund the majority of its operations, dropped, the newspaper would have to make cuts in the num ber of pages it prints daily, staff salaries and technological advancements. Also. Berens said, the stu dent newspaper doesn’t have traditional subscription rev enues to make up for any possi ble losses in advertising. Berens, chairwoman of the news-editorial department, said the entire College of Journalism and Mass Communications supported the full Daily Nebraskan funding, not just because it provides a valuable service for students in general, FREE Nokia 252 Phone! ^ FREE Nokia 252 FREE Case and Car Charger FREE Evening & Wekend Calling For Life! ftPEISfAlL * FOUR State Local Calling Area * RATE Plans Starting as low as $29.99 f! * TREj J Hot Co.ors Tfc Choose l oin IT IflllwCvt * some re'me turn apply Specials at these locations ONLY Nebraska Bookstore 13" and 0 Street Russ’s Market 70'' and Van Dorn Russ’s Market 33° and Hwy 2 Super Saver 56" and Hwy 2 Super Saver 27" and Pine Lake Rd Super Saver 27" and Cornhusker Hwy Super K-Mart 27 ^ and Cornhusker Hwy Big K-Mart Beatrice. NE SPECIAL NEW RATE PLAN *2,000 minutes for just $39.99. Includes no long distance charges to anywhere in the United States! ENDS SUNDAY! Bring in this ad and we will pay your first month of service! Nokia 5120 Nokia 282 We Will Beat Any Competitors Prices! CELLULARONE' HARDT COMMUNICATIONS Premiere Authorized Dealer just $29.99! with new activation! Jenni 890-5366 Doug 890-0215 Barbara.560-5155 Jerod 580-5920 Tom 560-0062 Gary 310-8767 Tanner 890-6095 Heather 890-0990 Rob 580-0062 Cassie 310-1920 Alan 580-4705 Traci 580-2044 but because it serves as a valu able training ground for student journalists. The newspaper has consis tently ranked among the nation’s best, Daily Nebraskan Editor Sarah Baker said. Baker said cutting the news paper's funding could jeopard ize students’ voices being heard in the future. “If you care about the stu dents and the university, you'll give us this money,” Baker said. Daily Nebraskan Managing Editor Bradley Davis cautioned senators that cutting student fees could, in the long run, turn into a free press issue. If funds are dramaticallv cut. r Davis said, and the newspaper starts to lose money and then has to ask ASUN for more money, the student senate might put editorial constraints on the Daily Nebraskan. "If you don't think this is a freedom of speech issue." Davis said, “you’re wrong. And when vou start talking about limiting freedom of the press, a lot of people get really mad. really quickly.” Plus. Davis said, the newspa per covers a lot of issues other local papers don't. Case-in-point, he said: The controversy surrounding allegedly racially insensitive remarks made by NU Regent Drew Miller. The Daily Nebraskan print ed the comments and editorial ized against them. Davis said, before any other local media gave the issue any serious atten tion. ‘‘The Daily Nebraskan has been consistently unafraid to publish stories that might raise some eyebrows or be controver sial.” Davis said. "In fact. I ques tion whether you would have even known about this whole Drew Miller business had it not been for the Daily Nebraskan.” Said Sen. Angela Clements, who sponsored a bill to ask Miller to apologize: “Point well taken.” IF THEY KNEW HOW THE MAJORITY OF US SPEND OUR SPRING BREAK. I..... ' ..I Think€\'«5^De,sdnrfaig hesvify daring spnng break? Ihhk again. NUs ‘Lea^sfcap*1 Program attracted over 60 siu^nfe br fee weak of Spring Brsak 2C00. There'ss> macr/ better 1hm^ to brag stout than hgh- risk drinkcg. Tell us what ycu think of this ad. WWW.NUDIRECT10NS.ORG