By David Ochsner, Scarlet Editor
Members of the Chancellor's Task Force on Conduct Standards and Behavioral Expectations are no doubt hoping that it was the weather and not apathy that kept folks from attending the first of four public forums scheduled to gather input on the issue of violence both on and off campus.
Despite the low turnout, the seven persons who attended Tuesday night's forum, mostly media, engaged the six members present from the task force in an hour-long discussion about the rights of students and initial findings of the group.
George Tuck, news editorial professor and co-chair of the task force, said statistics indicate that UNL is "an extremely safe campus."
"Society as a whole is becoming more violent," said Tuck. "We are not immune to that." According to Tuck, in 1995 UNL police recorded three third-degree sexual assaults and 35 aggravated assaults. He said alcohol was present or was a factor in about 90 percent of the incidents reported to police.
But even with the low numbers, Tuck said the perception of safety often outweighs the evidence presented by the statistics.
"The perception of safety is important," said Tuck. "Even if (the campus) is safe, and people don't believe it, then it isn't safe."
Judith Kriss, a member of the task force and director of the UNL Women's Center, said the group is looking for trends that may indicate that the perception of safety is eroding. She added that "crimes of violence against women are among the most unreported."
Madeline Popa, a representative of the International Student Organization, asked the group if their mandate extended beyond the athletic department, and if their recommendations would have any force in administrative circles.
"I don't see us targeting the athletic department specifically -- it is a constituent group. We are looking at conduct as it affects the university as a whole," said Tuck. "I believe our recommendations will be taken very seriously."
Peg Blake, director of the University Health Center, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and co-chair of the task force, said if the group finds problems in one area, that area could be targeted for special attention.
"But we are looking at the entire university community, faculty and staff as well," said Blake.
The task force also discussed questions dealing with the university's jurisdiction over a student's behavior, particularly off campus.
"A lot of students, especially those off campus, think they will have their rights stepped on," said Eric Marintzer, a member of ASUN. "It's hard to see where the line is and where the university's jurisdiction is."
Members of the task force will continue to gather information and input from various student organizations and groups during the next few weeks. Members of the task force also hope to gather more information from faculty, staff, students and members of the public during more public forums scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Nebraska East Union; and 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Nebraska Union.
The task force was created in October by Interim Chancellor Joan Leitzel, who charged it with "gathering and analyzing the data on the incidence of violence and other negative behaviors at UNL, so that we have a good understanding of the nature and depth of the problem; consulting with campus groups and individuals concerning their experiences, expectations and recommendations; surveying other institutions with regard to their responses to this societal issue; articulating what our values and expectations are to members of the university community; and making recommendations regarding how UNL can most effectively respond to these concerns, including suggestions as to how we should communicate our values and expectations to our constituencies."
Tuck said he expects the task force to present its formal report to incoming Chancellor James Moeser in April.
Other members of the task force present at Tuesday's meeting included
Luis Diaz-Perdomo of the UNL Health Center; Larry Doerr, United
Ministries in Higher Education; and student representatives Amie Hagger
and Brent Goertzen.
Pending approval by university regents, Joan Gieseke will become dean of libraries at UNL on March 1.
Giesecke, who has been with UNL since 1987, is associate dean of libraries and professor of library science. She replaces Kent Hendrickson, who has resigned as libraries dean to concentrate his time as associate vice chancellor for information services.
Giesecke became acting dean Feb. 1 and will become permanent dean next month following action by the regents at their February meeting.
Giesecke's appointment comes as part of the restructuring of computing and library services under a single associate vice chancellor and Hendrickson's move to the associate vice chancellor position. Her current position as associate dean of libraries will not be filled.
As dean of libraries, Giesecke will report to the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs through the associate vice chancellor for information services.
The library faculty approved Giesecke's appointment without conducting a national search as part of the restructuring, said Joan Leitzel, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.
"We are fortunate to have such a highly qualified person who also has a strong level of internal support to make this reassignment work," Leitzel said.
Giesecke earned her M.L.S. degree from the University of Maryland, an
M.A. from Central Michigan University and a D.P.A. from George Mason
University.
As the federal budget battle continues, a board of administrators from the country's colleges and universities is working toward softening the effects of proposed welfare changes, said Karen Craig, dean of UNL's College of Human Resources and Family Sciences.
Craig and other members of the Board on Human Sciences of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges have added their assessments to those voices urging caution in making sweeping changes in welfare programs.
"We've offered Congress the experiences and expertise of the land-grant university system regarding children, youth and family issues," Craig said.
If recent rhetoric from Washington provides any insight, she said, it would appear that changes proposed in the Republican's Contract with America are no longer inevitable, and that continued discussion still may help guide the outcomes.
The Washington-based Center for Law and Social Policy predicts that President Clinton's welfare bill veto and contentious negotiations over the budget have set a new stage for welfare reform, she said. That group believes that block grants may not pass in the current environment.
Before Congress sent its welfare reform bill to the White House, a committee of the NASULGC Board on Home Economics, working with the lobbying group, AESOP Enterprises, wrote to members of the Welfare Reform Conference Committee, expressing "grave concerns" about proposed welfare reforms. Craig said that the board has received positive comment from committee members and that the bill sent to Clinton on Jan. 2 had edged toward their stance. While Craig and other committee members expressed sympathy with the need to balance the federal budget, they pointed out that welfare programs must be "designed to efficiently and effectively deliver the services they exist to provide. In the debates regarding the managerial efficiency of federal and state programs, critical issues went unaddressed," the letter went on.
About proposals that would limit welfare benefits to a specified period of time, the committee wrote, "this is defensible as long as work that pays a reasonable wage is obtainable."
But the administrators pointed out, neither the House nor the Senate version of the welfare reform package provides for necessary training and education to ensure that recipients can find work.
As the budget battle continues, the Association of Administrators of Home Economics will advocate for the nation's most vulnerable citizens, Craig said.
"If the struggle remains in Washington," Craig said, "we'll continue
to work with Congress to devise programs that work. If block grants do,
in fact, get passed, we'll work with the state to keep our concerns
before the decision makers who must create programs within whatever
budgets they receive."
The tidy office at 205 L.W. Chase Hall doesn't necessarily denote a near-milestone achievement for its occupant.
The "near" milestone is because Kenneth Von Bargen doesn't care to beat the 43-year record of service in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Instead, Von Bargen is satisfied with a career of 40 years here at UNL.
The Hemingford, Neb., native joined the faculty in 1956 and, except to work on his doctorate, just "never left."
Von Bargen retired Jan. 31, which may give him time to reflect on his 40 years at UNL, beginning as a farm youth from northwest Nebraska.
Von Bargen came from a long line of farmers interested in better mechanical ways of raising corn, wheat, barley and certified seed potatoes. His family had one of the first combines in Box Butte County; and his uncles made their own four-wheel drive tractors.
Perhaps it was no surprise, then, that Von Bargen took up agricultural engineering, graduating from the university in 1952. After Von Bargen served a two-year stint in the Army, Chauncey Smith, chair of the Tractor Test board, asked him to help out at the tractor testing laboratory on the UNL East Campus. After a year and a half as an engineer at Lockwood Graders in Gering, Neb., he returned to the university in 1956 to begin his teaching and research career. In 1981, Von Bargen became chair of the Tractor Test Board, and in 1987 helped integrate the Nebraska testing program into the world-wide tractor testing scheme, which based its testing procedures on those developed at UNL.
Von Bargen earned his master's degree from the university in 1962 and his doctorate on a National Science Faculty fellowship at Purdue University in 1970. He then continued teaching agricultural engineering and mechanized systems management at UNL, the highlight of his career.
"My greatest accomplishment is through the accomplishments of my students...that's the greatest joy I've had," Von Bargen said. On his office shelves are 24 black-bound volumes with gold lettering contain dissertations and theses of his former students, who now hold such positions as dean of agriculture at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, department head at Louisiana State University, and several engineering managers in industry.
One of Von Bargen's special projects involved a team of students to develop equipment for harvesting milkweed. One Western Nebraska company raises milkweed for its floss, which is used like down in comforters, pillows and similar products. The challenge, Von Bargen noted, was to modify an ear corn picker to harvest milkweed pods at varying heights on the stems, and to minimize the amount of stems and leaves going into the hopper. Another machine was developed to crush and open the pods to speed up the drying process. The company still uses the harvester and pod conditioner.
Von Bargen has seen many changes within the university and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the last 40 years. One is the amount of paperwork. More important changes are the increased emphasis upon improved learning in courses, more emphasis upon research, and more clearly defined goals and accountability for faculty. He believes agricultural engineering has reached its plateau in developing information for agricultural machinery design. Further advances will be in the sophistication of these machines by using electronics for control.
"The biggest challenge in the next few years is precision farming,"
Von Bargen predicted.
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