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dailynebraskan.com
Wednesday, April 2, 2014 volume 113, issue 124
Inside Coverage
University unplugged
American roots
Competition aims at reducing energy use
Music shop celebrates jazz, blues, bluegrass
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‘Help my people’
Women’s basketball season in review
Nebraska players begin to celebrate toward the end of its 72-65 victory against Iowa in the final of the Big Ten Tournament on March 9 in Indianapolis. file photo by andrew barry
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Bakhita Gum, a South Sudanese student at Lincoln High School, speaks about her past in South Sudan and informs students about how they can help the Save South Sudanese Orphans and Widows student organization during the group’s first donation benefit in the Heritage Room of the Nebraska Union.
Save South Sudanese Orphans and Widows student organization seeks donations for South Sudan story by Diego De Los Reyes photos by Shelby Wolfe
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he Save South Sudanese Or- Mason, a professor in the agronomy dephans and Widows student partment. While he never has been in South organization is searching for people to help it give aid to Sudan, Mason mentioned his experience working in projects in West Africa, South Sudan. The organization works to including water management in Burkina raise money to work with Doctors and Faso. He also talked about the importance Dentists Without Borders to provide of helping communities become self sufmedical support to South Sudan, as well ficient, instead of just relying on aid and as helping provide access to basic education and free, fresh water are also im- relief. Some of the problems in South Suportant issues. On Tuesday, the organization held its first donation benefit in the dan are the lack of clean water and the prevalence of diseases like Nebraska Union Heritage malaria and dengue fever. Room at the University of Mason questioned the auAs a kid, Nebraska-Lincoln. dience on how productive Jacob Manyang, a seit was they would be if they had nior agronomy major, to work and survive unSouth Sudanese student really hard. We der those conditions. and president of the orgasometimes went 2 Rut Lem, a freshman nization, spoke on the civil war conflict in Sudan. to 3 days without civil engineer at the University of Nebraska at Sudan has been emOmaha from South Sudan, broiled in civil war for foods.” grew up in a UN refugee most of the last 50 years. Rut Lem freshman civil camp. A region of Sudan gained engineering major “As a kid, it was really its independence in 2011 hard,” he said. “We someand named itself South times we went 2 to 3 days Sudan. However, it is still at conflict. According to a United Nations without food.” Lem remarked the importance of doreport last Thursday, more than 800,000 nations to organizations, such as the UN people have been displaced within the and the Red Cross, that help refugees. country, and more than 250,000 people “One day we were in a refugee camp, had fled to neighboring countries. The event’s first speaker was Stephen with my mom and my sister,” Lem said.
Jacob Manyang, president of the Save South Sudanese Orphans and Widows student organization, tells students stories about his family in South Sudan. “We ran out of food and we had nothing to eat. It was hard, we didn’t know what to do. We went to the refugee base and got food from them, and so I think it’s a good idea to give back because we experienced how hard it was.”
When asked by an audience member if he thought the food situation had changed, for better or for worse, he replied that it had deteriorated. “I think it’s getting worse right now,” he said. “There’s a big war, so more
sudan: see page 3
UNL male to NU hopes to hire president by 2015 female ratio defies national data madison wurtele dn
Diego de los Reyes DN Women outnumber men in college nationwide, but that’s not the case at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and it hasn’t been for at least 16 years. According to UNL’s Institutional Research and Planning, total student enrollment during the fall of 2013 consisted of 52.7 percent men and 47.3 percent women. The greatest percentage of women since at least 1997 was 48.48 percent in 2002. This puts UNL on par with other Big Ten schools, which fluctuate between the University of Minnesota, with a nearly 50/50 split, and Purdue University, which is 57 percent male undergraduates and 43 percent female undergraduates. Information from the National
Center for Education Statistics paint a different picture of American universities as a whole. In fall 2009, the most recent semester for which statistics are available, women made up 56.8 percent of students at all four-year Title IV eligible institutions. The Daily Nebraskan reached out to UNL administrators and the Women’s and Gender Studies program, but no one was willing to speculate as to the reason for UNL’s discrepancy. In Nebraska, women and girls make up 48.8 percent of the 15 to 24 age group, according to 2010 census data. That’s a bit less than the 2012 national value of 49.4 percent. Data from Nebraska’s Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education, which conducts research
gender: see page 2
reach and Advisory Committee is responsible for seeking input from stakeholders and the private secThe University of Nebraska Board tor on what qualities a university of Regents hopes to hire a new president should possess. Isaacson, Miller — the executive search university president in six months firm appointed by the regents — to a year. will work with this committee to “We would like to find somefind candidates who one in the next six to possess these qualities nine to 12 months, but and meet the regents’ it has to be the right criteria. person,” said Regent The candidates Tim Clare, co-chair will then be presented of the Presidential to the Presidential Search Outreach and Search Screening and Advisory Committee Selection Committee, — one of two comwhich is in charge of mittees the regents reviewing applicant appointed members information and conto on March 21 to asducting interviews. sist in the search for a This committee will clare new president. “This select at least four is an extremely imporcandidates to present tant decision, and it’s a decision that we are not going to to the regents as public finalists, make by a certain deadline just to who will then make the final defill a seat. The priority is finding cision on whom to hire after pubthe right person who is going to lic forums and university visits. The Presidential Search Outtake the university system to the reach and Advisory Committee next level.” The Presidential Search Out- will meet in the near future and
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the Screening and Selection Com- Screening and Selection Committee. mittee will likely begin meeting this summer, Clare said. Shaffer said she is interested in Unlike regents meetings, the seeing what her fellow committee committee meetings will not be members think about undergraduopen to the public because the ate education and campus life. She search is a personnel matter. also thinks it’s important to have However the committees will enrepresentation from all University gage in an extremely of Nebraska campuses transparent process, because each campus Clare said. has different needs. Committee mem“I hope to be a facbers were nominated ulty voice on the comby faculty, adminismittee,” Schaffer said. tration, students and ASUN presidentregents, and consist elect Kevin Knudson, a of faculty, adminisjunior political science tration, students and major, will also serve members of the prion the Presidential vate sector. Search Outreach and The regents Advisory Committee. looked for a diverse “I think it is imporKnudson group that covered a tant for University of wide geographic area Nebraska-Lincoln stuin order to get a variety of viewdents to be represented because points, Clare said. its campus is the flagship of the “I think it is a very important university system, and it reprecommittee,” said Julie Shaffer, a sents the largest percentage of the biology professor at the Universtudent body,” Clare said. news@ sity of Nebraska at Kearney and dailynebraskan.com member of the Presidential Search