The Nebraska state colleges presented their case
before the Legislature's Appropriations Committee
Tuecday, asking for reconsideration of proposed
budget allocation.
In requests which mirrored those made by UNL
earlier in the week, the four state colleges gave top
priority to increasing faculty salaries and upgrading
departments.
Keith Kemper, speaking for the Board cf Trustees
of the Nebraska State Colleges, said additional
funds are necessary to preserve institutional vital
ity. Kemper outlined the five goals of the board:
"We want to provide students with the opportun
ity to get an education of the highest quality,"
Kemper said. "We want to recruit faculty and staff
by reaching the average salary levels of comparable
institutions, and increase staff benefits to the aver
age levels enjoyed at comparable institutions.
"In addition, we want to increase the purchasing
power of our colleges, especially in the library
departments, and secure funds to replace worn-out
equipment," Kemper said
Jerry Gallentine, president of Peru State College,
said salary increases for faculty and staff are a criti
cal issue.
"The devotion of our staff has been tested," Gal
lentine said. He mentioned a report which places
Nebraska state colleges 41, 43, 44, and 45 out of 48
regional colleges with respect to average faculty
salaries.
"Kearney State is suffering , from 'brain drain.'
We're losing our top professors," Kearney State Pres
ident Bill Nester said. Allan Cramer, a state college
board member, pointed out that higher-paying uni
versities were not the only institutions enticing pro
fessors away from present jobs.
"With Gov. Kerrey's proposed $25 million enhance
ment for secondary school teachers' salaries, we
may be in the unique position of losing teachers to
high schools," Cramer said. The teachers that teach
the teachers will earn less money. The way I heard it,
the horse pulls the cart, not the other way around."
Capsule budget requests from each state college:
Peru State $40,000 to renovate Education
building, $27,827 for one full-time teacher.
Chadron State $27,285 for a Center of Innova
tive Programs, $29,523 for a Center for Education in
the Scottsbluff-Gering region, $20,000 to convert
200,000 library records presently stored in card
catalogues to computers.
Kearney State $156,000 for 4.5 full-time teach
ers in the computer science and business depart
ments, $35,000 for 11 additional graduate assist
ants, allocations to add on to Cushing coliseum and
repave parking lots.
Wayne State General allocations for addition to
the Fine Arts Center, improvements to the audito
rium and street paving.
iViA,
Fair or foul, forecasters try to
make 'best ' weather prediction
By Jay Mulligan
It's student against student, faculty against fac
ulty and man against nature in the UNL geography
department.
This semester, more than 50 geography students
and professors are pitted against each other as they
try to predict Lincoln's weather.
Geography assistant professor Jay Hobgood, who
started the contest four years ago, said the idea of
the program is to get students familiar with the
maps used in forecasting.
"Students forecast every Monday, Wednesday and
Friday for the next day in Lincoln," said Hobgood.
Hobgood said a running total is kept for both
temperature and precipitation. The results are
posted in the map room so students know where
they stand, Hobgood said.
"The competition is friendly and usually faculty
against faculty or student against student," Hob
good said, "but mostly you're competing against
yourself."
The rules are minimal. Competitors turn in their
forecasts by 5 p.m. and do their own work. Beyond
that they can use anything they want, Hobgood said.
The only prizes are bragging rights and a spot in
the Forecasters Hall Of Fame," which goes to the
top five forecasters.
This semester's contest is the largest ever, with
more than 50 people participating, Hobgood said.
Randy Cerveny, a UNL graduate student and most
successful competitor, was last semester's winner.
UNL undergraduate Rick Chermok also did well last
semester, Hobgood said.
"Faculty members don't do as well usually, be
cause they don't have the time to look at the maps as
much," Hobgood said.
Julie Winkler, UNL assistant geography professor,
has been the most accurate of the faculty, Hobgood
said, possibly because she teaches both forecasting
classes that are applied most in the contest.
"The local weather service has been very accu
rate " Hobgood said. "Every person in the contest is
also doing quite welL"
"Persistance, which refers to the fact that weather
may be the same for two consecutive days, is consi
dered "no skill" forecasting," Hobgood said.
"It doesn't take any skill to say that the weather is
going to be the same tomarrow," Hobgood said. "We
..figure persistance in to make sure everyone is doing
fairly well.
Steve Welch, a junior meterology major, said he
participated in the contest to gain experience.
"The reason I do it is because I like it and that is
why everyone else does it too," Welch said. "It is good
camaraderie between fellow geography majors. It
helps having the faculty in the contest because you
can ask them more questions."
Board, approves renovation
Chris Mei ssyDsiiy Nsbrsskan By J onathan Taylor
Inside
UNL international relations experts predict
Soviet course of action following Konstantin
Chernenko's appointment as president of the
USSR Pc-3 2
The Husker men's basketball team will dis
play its new zone defense tonight for the
home fans against Kansas Pa3 8
Tell her about it! Tell him about it! Billy Joel
is coming to Lincoln Pass 10
llld
Arts and Entertainment 10
Classified 11
Crossword 12
Editorial.. 4
Off The Wire 2
Sports 8
The Nebraska Union Board passed a motion
Tuesday to advise union Director Daryl Swanson to
proceed converting the women's first floor lounge
into a computer terminal area The board also
passed an amendment to this motion requiring the
room be accessible outside regular union hours.
Matt Wallace, ASUN president, presented the
board with a resolution passed 15-8 by the ASUN
Senate in support of placing computers in the
union. He said the senate supported 24-hour acces
sibility, since the union is "the hub of the campus."
Stacy Scott, vice president of the Panhellenic
Association said approximately 1,330 association
members were also in favor of the lounge renova
tion. She said in addition to the vote conducted in
each of the 14 sororities, she and association Presi
dent Laura Williams monitored the use of the first
and second floor lounges. She said at the random
times they checked the lounges between 1 1 a.m. and
2 p.m., the number of occupants in the first floor
lounge never exceeded 12 people and averaged
about seven people. The upstairs lounge occupation
averaged about one person each time it was moni
tored, Scott said.
Almost an hour and a half was spent discussing
the amendment proposed by board member Robert
Stowers to use the women's lounge space only if it
was to be used 24 hours.
Swanson said if the computer room was not to be
used 24 hours, several other spaces in the union
such as the television room, student lawyer space,
or third floor study lounge could be considered for
computer terminal placement. No matter where the
terminals were placed, Swanson said, students will
be displaced. "No places (in the union) are standing
open," he said. ,
Patrick Meister, union board vice president, op
posed Stowers' amendment and said the lounge
should be converted into a computer terminal area
irregardless of what hours the terminals would be
used. Meister said since there is a lounge on second
floor, people would not really be displaced by, elimi
nating the first floor lounge.
It is now up to Swanson to make sure the renova
tion proposal is "a viable plan." He said he will con
sult an architect to determine the most inexpensive
method of creating a hallway from the south entrance
entryway into the lounge.
Finance Chairman John Leif reported the union's
budget request was approved by the Committee on
Fees Allocation. This was attributed to the clarity
with which the managing staff presented the request,
Leif said.
Programs and Activities Committee Chairman
Todd Knobel requested all student organizations to
return adviser surveys to the Campus Activities and
Programs office as soon as possible.
New board members will officially preside at their
first meeting, Feb. 28. Board President Sid Finney
will retain his position until new chairmen and
executive members are elected following a retreat
this weekend.