dn the
dailynebraskan.com
monday, december 9, 2013 volume 113, issue 069
Inside Coverage
Paws for thought
Fostering relationships
The Black Cat House pushes political talk
ASUN improves communication with students
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Taking out the brooms
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The No. 8 Nebraska volleyball team swept Fairfield and Oregon during the weekend to advance to the third round of the NCAA Championships. The Huskers will next play No. 9 San Diego in Lincoln on Friday. photo by morgan spiehs
reserves and race
Students in UNl’s rotc programs say anti-racism policies are effective sto ry b y Mara K le ck e r | p hoto by Allison hess Abby Diazdeleon, a junior political science major, stands outside the Military and Naval Sciences building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus on Saturday afternoon. Diazdeleon is currently in the Army ROTC and intends to join the Army after college.
If you want to make a career out of the Air Force, you can’t have racist views.” Justin Wheeler air force rotc student
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ustin Wheeler often has to clarify that his scholarship is for his academic record, not his athletic one. People assume the exploratory freshman is an athlete because of the color of his skin. “Shouldn’t you be on the field?” asked one football fan while Wheeler was in the stands. People expect him to talk a certain way. They think that as an African American man from North Omaha, Wheeler is a gangbanger. And as a security worker at University of Nebraska-Lincoln football games, Wheeler recalled one older white woman who was obviously uncomfortable with him checking her bag. “Maybe I was making assumptions, but it felt
like she thought I was going to rob her,” Wheeler said. But despite racism he’s experienced on campus, he said he’s never experienced any as a minority student in Air Force ROTC – and other students in UNL’s ROTC programs expressed a similar message. Wheeler is one of nine minority students out of 57 cadets in Air Force ROTC, said Lt. Col. Christopher Bohn. Abby Diazdeleon, a Latina junior political science major and member of Lambda Theta Nu, said she is one of five minority students of 63 cadets in the Army ROTC. The number of minority students in the Naval ROTC was not available. After Chancellor Harvey Perlman an-
nounced the “Not Here, Not Now, Not Ever!” campaign, Bohn sent out an additional email to each Air Force cadet. “I took the opportunity to remind my cadets something that they are told every year – the Air Force has a policy strictly prohibiting racism, harassment, intimidation or threats on the basis of race, color, religion or sexual orientation,” he said. The Army ROTC program has not discussed the campaign with its cadets, but Diazdeleon said she doesn’t see a need to within the program. “The university in general lacks diversity, so of course ROTC does, but I’ve never had a rac-
rotc: see page 3
UHC works to restore confidence amid misinformation 6 months after privatization vote, center struggles to balance future plans with restoration jacy marmaduke dn Some days last year, Dr. James Guest didn’t want to come to work. The director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s University Health Center had loved his job of 12 years. But UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman’s September 2012 announcement that he would move to privatize UHC, shifting control of the center to local nonprofit Bryan Health, set the center on a course of
uncertainty. More than 18 of the center’s 80some employees resigned or retired. News broke that the university hadn’t researched the effects of privatization on university health centers, raising concerns among staff and students alike. And the University of Nebraska Board of Regents vote to decide the health center’s fate kept getting pushed back. “The whole process just seemed to drag on,” Guest said. It’s been six months since the regents voted down Perlman’s move to privatize UHC. And while Guest wouldn’t wish this particular method of soul-searching on anyone, he and the rest of the staff say the health center emerged rejuvenated from last year’s wake-up call. “As soon as we got told we’re not (essential to the university), we began to think about why we are,” nurse practitioner LeAnn Holmes
said. “Our success is contingent upon student success.” But misinformation about privatization continues to affect the center’s recovery and the health center remains without a marketing coordinator – a position that has been vacant for 11 months. The health center has to remind students that it’s here, Guest said. That was the goal of the Jacht Club-organized advertising campaign in August, when the health center passed out buttons, popcorn and pamphlets in a colorful reminder of its presence. The campaign was the first step of the center’s larger plan to reinforce itself as an integral part of campus, something students think of even when they’re not sick. The privatization process, although now over, has made that goal more difficult to achieve. It’s difficult because, six months after regents voted 5-3 against the
As soon as we got told we’re not (essential to the university), we began to think about why we are.” LeAnn Holmes nurse practitioner
Bryan proposal, misinformed students, staff and job applicants think the center was privatized anyway – or that it will be in the near future. That’s not true. “I never say never, but there are currently no plans to pursue privatization,” Perlman said in an email Friday. Regardless, the misinformation has taken its toll on UHC. “I’m not sure the public really got what the vote meant,” said Chris Rindone, the center’s electronic medical records manager. “I
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probably wouldn’t have (known) a year ago.” Earlier this year, Guest was in the process of hiring someone to fill one of the center’s vacant physician positions when the candidate backed out because their boss warned of UHC’s instability. Staff said they’ve talked to other potential applicants who were unsure about applying because they thought UHC would soon become privatized. Overall, Guest said applications for open positions have contracted by about a third.
And student visits to the center have decreased, although staff can’t say that’s necessarily an effect of the privatization rumors. For the first quarter, July through September, visits were down by about 300, Guest said. That decrease could be because of changes in organization and the addition of a triage nurse or simply because fewer students were sick. But Guest said he believes the privatization rumors played a key role. “Because of the confusion, a lot of people didn’t try us,” he said. In the midst of the misinformation, UHC could sure use a marketing coordinator. Guest has been trying to fill that position since the beginning of the year, after the former coordinator left the job for a similar spot at the College of Business Administration. The first round of applications
uhc: see page 2