By Kim Hachiya, News & Information
Faculty senators have a month to mull the thorny issue of changing the Student Code of Conduct dealing with violent behavior. Four proposals were introduced at the Academic Senate meeting Nov. 7, and as per senate rules, won't be voted upon until its December meeting.
Mary McGarvey, economics, chair of the Faculty Women's Caucus and senate member, presented four motions. All asked the senators to endorse principles, with exact language to be written later as part of "ordinary processes" to change the Student Code of Conduct.
The principles attempt to extend jurisdiction over students to both on-campus and off-campus activities; would require immediate suspension from participation in any "UNL-sponsored" intercollegiate event should a student be charged with any federal, state or municipal crime classed as a violent felony or misdemeanor; would require the campus judicial officer to automatically expedite a disciplinary proceeding before the full Judicial Board; and would immediately suspend a student from intercollegiate activity upon conviction of charges.
Similar but more specific proposals were defeated by the student senate last week and have been criticized by some campus sectors as punitive in nature.
McGarvey said the motions were not punitive and that participation in intercollegiate activities is a privilege, not a right. The guiding principle, she said, should be that "the university should not be seen as condoning or promoting violent behavior by allowing students to represent the university in any way." She said the principle should be applied uniformly and the process should be "beyond reproach."
"We don't feel people should be making decisions about students when the decisionmakers have a vested interest in the outcome," she said. "Those with even the appearance of a conflict of interest should not be making those decisions."
McGarvey acknowledged the motions have generated controversy and that the task force on behavior and conduct recently appointed by Interim Chancellor Joan Leitzel probably will address the issues.
Several senators questioned the motions' lack of specificity, said they did not define "violence," suggested they could not be uniformly applied and charged they would create an enforcement nightmare for the university.
Oyekan Owomoyela, English, said he agreed that upon conviction a student should not be allowed to represent UNL, but said he had qualms about extending that to students who have been charged but not fully adjudicated.
Sally Wise, director of the Law Library, recited a litany of concerns, including determining what constitutes violent behavior. For instance, she asked, would motor vehicle homicide be included? How would UNL monitor all federal, state and municipal jurisidictions, she asked, adding that probably it would be the media who brought cases to the attention of the university and then probably only by the media's interest in high profile students.
McGarvey agreed there could be problems but said she and others want it on the record that the university does not condone violence.
John Bender, journalism, said he could not support the motions unless and until more specific language is brought foward. "The devil is in the details," he said. "And the devils need to be brought into the open."
Jim Ford, English, said he felt the proposals were "quite modest."
"Are we saying that as a body we cannot say that people who beat up other people ought to be prohibited from representing the university?" Ford said.
Tom Zorn, finance, said that as an undergraduate he participated in anti-Vietnam War protests. Many students were arrested during that era, he said, and they fought to get rid of automatic expulsion rules. He said he feared this could be extended to student protestors. And he said a colleague of his voiced fears that this language was a reaction to the acquittal of O.J. Simpson, and that it would disproportionately affect African Americans.
"I hope we are not acting out of emotion or targeting a specific group," Zorn said.
Jay Corzine, sociology, said UNL could use standard definitions of violent crime used by law enforcement agencies.
Don Jensen, psychology, said he would prefer the language extend to all felonies, not just violent felonies. His remarks sparked some applause.
The debate, which lasted about an hour, was among the first in recent
memory to hold the body at quorum long past 4 p.m.
In her monthly appearance before the UNL Academic Senate, Interim Chancellor Joan Leitzel detailed for the group the duties of a new task force named to look at issues related to values and violence on campus.
Leitzel named the task force last week and asked the 12-member panel to identify and communicate campus standards regarding student conduct and to review the judicial process for review of misconduct.
"Our philosophy and tradition here has been that for a student who is not suspended or dismissed, we build a program of education and rehabilitation to influence conduct and to build a productive citizen," she said. "Do we feel this is appropriate for our institution?"
Leitzel said the task force should complete its duties by the end of spring semester. She added it is important to engage students and faculty in the discussion. "To what extent should the university take authority over persons who are legal adults," she said. "I would like to provide a forum for serious debate. When well-respected people with common goals sit down and talk, a level of concensus emerges. This is not the first time the academy has discussed values. We have talked about academic freedom, academic honesty. The questions are hard. The more you wrestle with them, the more you see the distinctions. But we shouldn't be timid. This is an essential element in what we mean by 'educating' students."
Leitzel also said that UNL applauds last week's signing of agreements easing transfer between community colleges and the university. The community colleges, she said, have designed a common transfer curriculum that parallels UNL's new Comprehensive Education Program. "As a result, we feel pretty good about transfer compatibility between the community colleges and our own curriculum," she said.
Leitzel also said that Monday's Distinguished Scholars Day program
attracted almost twice the number of high-ability students as have
attended in previous years.
By David Ochsner, Scarlet Editor
You can bet that when Cecil Steward goes to Washington to help redesign the "front lawn" of the White House, it will amount to a bit more than a few shrubs and a bag of lava rock.
In fact, this trip will be an opportunity for Steward and other creative minds from around the country to propose one of the biggest changes to the White House landscape this century.
The United States Department of Interior recently invited UNL's dean of the College of Architecture to participate in a "design ideas charette" for the long-term redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. That section of the famous thoroughfare was closed in May due to several breaches of security and the growing threat of terrorism.
In a letter to Steward, Roger Kennedy, director of the National Park Service, said the project "is an exciting opportunity to look at the space in front of the White House, to reassess its place within the city and within the rich layers of design history that have evolved since Washington and L'Enfant."
Steward will join a dozen other participants from a variety of fields on Dec. 11 for a week of brainstorming, culminating with a presentation of ideas to the media.
"It's a special opportunity to be involved in the design considerations of one of America 's most special landmarks," said Steward. "But more importantly, the team will be asked to deal with issues of potential terrorism and how design can mitigate terrorist acts and create the kind of environment this landmark deserves."
The National Park Service conducted a series of open houses last month to solicit ideas for the project from the general public as well as from professionals and university students in related fields. These ideas will be considered during the planning session.
Pennsylvania Avenue was developed as a major thoroughfare beginning in
1797, the desired effect being to bring the public closer to the
presidency. As early as the 1840s the avenue had developed into a broad
street often used for ceremonial purposes. Prior to its closure, the
stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was a heavily
traveled, seven-lane expanse more than 80 feet wide.
By Tom Simons, News & Information
James R. Estes, professor of botany and curator of the Robert Bebb Herbarium at the University of Oklahoma, has been named director of the University of Nebraska State Museum.
Estes will replace John Janovy, who has been the interim director since October 1994. Pending approval by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, Estes will begin his new duties Feb. 1. He also will be a professor in UNL's School of Biological Sciences.
"I am delighted that Jim Estes will be coming to Nebraska to lead the State Museum," said Priscilla Grew, who oversees the State Museum as vice chancellor for research at UNL. "He is an internationally recognized botanist who has specialized in grasses, and thus his research ties in beautifully with our Great Plains emphasis." Estes said one of his main goals is to bring the State Museum fully into the computer age.
"Museums are repositories of plant and animal specimens, and also of the information that was recorded when the specimens were collected," he said. "That information is of vital importance to resource managers, but it is difficult to access. I am interested in computerizing the data holdings of the museum and make that data and derived information available electronically to the citizens of Nebraska. Because of its exceptional scientific holdings and its highly professional staff, UNL is in a position to assume national leadership in computerization of museum collections."
Estes, who has been on the Oklahoma faculty since 1967, earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1959, then earned his doctorate in botany from Oregon State University in 1967.
Following his graduation from Midwestern State, Estes served two years as an executive officer in the U.S. Army field artillery, then taught biology in the Burkburnett, Texas, school system for one year before beginning his graduate studies at Oregon State in 1963.
He joined the Oklahoma faculty as assistant professor of botany, became associate professor in 1970 and professor in 1982. He was named curator of the Robert Bebb Herbarium in 1979. He also served as visiting research scientist in entomology at the University of California in 1974, as director of the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Program in 1982-83.
The winner of four teaching awards at Oklahoma, Estes has focused his research on plant and insect biology, the biology of chromosomes and the grasses of North America. He has worked in Mexico, Canada, Indonesia, Jordan and Israel, but most of his work has been on plants and insects in the American West.
He worked at the National Science Foundation as associate program director for the Systematic Biology Program from 1990-92, and was NSF program director for the Research Collections in Systematics and Ecology Program and the Biotic Surveys and Inventories Program in 1994.
Estes served as president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists in 1989, and as president of the Oklahoma Academy of Sciences in 1992-93. He's been listed in Who's Who in America since 1989 and received an Outstanding Performance Award from NSF in 1993.
Estes' wife Nancy is an elementary school teacher who has worked extensively with school readiness testing and placement. He has two daughters who live in Arlington, Va. "Because of his work as a funding officer at NSF, he is well known in the national museum community and will strengthen our ability to compete for federal funds to support the museum and its research programs," Grew said.
"Dr. Estes has been active in Oklahoma in outreach activities and appreciates the importance of our museum to science education in Nebraska. His credentials as a research scientist will enhance our efforts to integrate scholarship in the museum with our science departments in fields such as zoology, botany, anthropology, geology and entomology."
"The public exhibits and educational programs of the museum are
treasured by the citizens of Nebraska, and they are heavily visited by
those same citizens," Estes said. "Informal education is undergoing a
resurgence at the present time, and especially so in the natural
sciences. Museums are centerpieces of this movement, but the form of
exhibits is changing. Consequently, the public programs of the museum
need to keep pace and the public elements need to continue to evolve and
grow."
By Kim Hachiya, News & Information
UNL is gearing up for an intensive self-study in preparation for its North Central Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation review.
Academic Senate members were told that the self-study is on the fast track, with the review team expected to be at UNL April 14-16, 1997.
Al Kilgore, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Rusty White, associate professor of music and president-elect of the senate, said faculty input into this year's review will be necessary to complete the timetable.
Kilgore said the self-study demonstrates UNL's ability to do its stated missions and goals. He said the NCA team will look at five main criteria, including evidence of publicly stated purposes consistent with mission and goals; evidence of human and financial resources to meet objectives; accountability or assessment of student achievement; evidence that UNL can continue its mission in the future; evidence of institutional integrity.
White said the assessment issue is new and will require the most work. UNL must demonstrate it measures student academic achievement and that students do achieve, he said.
The timeline for the review is:
November, 1995, appoint writing teams and steering committee; November 1995 to May 1996, writing teams collect data and write reports; May-September 1996, steering committee reviews reports and drafts summary and recommendations. Draft report distributed for review; October-November 1996, steering committee reviews reactions to draft report and finalizes self-study; December 1996, steering committee reviews and comments on members of visiting evaluation team; January 1997, self-study completed and copied; February-April 1997, units prepare for visitation team; April 14-16, 1996, NCA team visits campus.
The NCA reviews institutions on a 10-year cycle.
Just because there's plenty of work to go around on the family farm doesn't mean there's enough economic profit to go around as well.
That was a finding for Kenneth and Elaine Frasier of Max, who have farmed for 35 year between Benkelman and Imperial in southwest Nebraska. Last year, the Frasiers considered inviting their daughter and son-in-law to farm with them. Then both couples attended the "Returning to the Farm" workshop conducted by UNL.
There, through a computer analysis, the Frasiers found that their farm alone couldn't support another family. That was an eye-opener for their daughter and son-in-law. Finding out ahead of time was to everyone's advantage.
"It was a lot cheaper to do it on the (computer) program," Frasier said.
The seventh annual "Returning to the Farm" workshop is slated for two weekends at two locations" Dec. 1-2 and Jan. 19-20 at the University of Nebraska college of Technical Agriculture at Curtis; and Dec. 8-9 and Jan. 26-27 at UNL.
The workshop timeline lets participants think over what they've heard and allow time for discussion, said Deb Rood, UNL agricultural economics program coordinator. However, the workshop is more than just finances.
"The thing people like most is the personal side," Rood said. Part of that entails the Myers-Briggs personality test and why people think differently.
"Just because you're (thinking) different doesn't mean you aren't compatible," Frasier said. The workshop points out how "very, very important" communication is..."even if you've been working together for awhile."
If a potential participant doesn't want to go to a workshop like this, a problem already exists, Frasier added.
The program was very worthwhile for the Frasiers, who got better acquainted with their son-in-law, met new people, and evaluated their family's goals.
Rood noted that the transition phase when a son or daughter returns to the farm can be 15 to 30 years long. During this time, all parties must build a working relationship. A child can't work for 20 years and never have any responsibility; just as the child can't expect to just have the farm handed over at a young age, said the Institute of Agricultural Resources staff member.
Each workshop weekend begins at 1 p.m on the first day and concludes at 4 p.m. on the next.
The pre-registration deadline is Nov. 17 an is limited to 15 families.
The fee of $150 per family unit, plus $10 for each person, covers
materials, refreshments and one meal.
For more information contact Rood at 800-535-3456.
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