Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1984)
SUMMER EDITION T1 Tuesday, Juy 17, 1904 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 63 No. 172 ... v , i n V J CO ill l ! J v -7 S W'V J W l ! , Bemoc rats push party unity theme From the Eeuter News Eeport SAN FRANCISCO - Walter Mondale and GVral dine Ferraro swept into San Francisco Monday as the Democratic Party opened its four-day convention. There, Mondale is expected to be nominated to do battle with President Reagan in the November 6 election. As thousands of nominating delegates and jour nalists gathered amid tight security, Mondale and New York Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman named as a vice presidential candidate by a major political party, arrived from the resort town of Lake Tahoe, Calif. They had been sequestered there for several days mapping campaign strategy. tegy. Mondale's first appearance in San Francisco was before 3,000 women where he introduced Ferraro to thunderous applause. If he observes tradition, Mondale will not appear before the convention until Thursday, the day after the nomination roll call His first order of business was to try to unite the opposition Democrats for their uphill fight to unseat the popular Reagan, who leads Mondale in opinion polls. Party unity was a theme stressed by speaker after speaker during the convention's opening ceremonies. "We are here not to beat up on each other but to beat up on Ronald Reagan." Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley told cheering delegates. The party's solidarity has been severely tested during the campaign season leading up to the con vention. -Mondale now has more than the 1,967 delegates needed for nomination Wednesday. But he will have to find a way to mend relations with rivals Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson, who he defeated only after an extremely divisive state primary and caucus selec tion process. . Aides said Mondale would try to meet Hart and Jackson, possibly Monday night in separate sessons, before his formal convention appearance to forge a united front. The former vice president will also have to smooth over controversy that arose when he tried to fire the party's national chairman Charles Manatt Friday and changed his mind Sunday, deciding to reinstate him. The decision to replace Manatt with former Pre siden Carter's controversial budget director, Bert Lance, seemed to dampen the euphoria that electri- Ag economist says interest rates crippling By Gene Gentrup High interest rates and a heavy debt load have crippled the abil ity of farmers to repay loans, according to a UNL assistant pro fessor. Bruce Johnson of the agricul tural economics department said the low interest rates of the 1970s, if aojusted for inflation, were actually at a negative rate. The 1970s was a time when farm ers were encouraged to take on more debt and expand their farm sector, Johnson said. But the sit uation for farmers has taken "a very pronounced turn in the 80s," he said. The U.S. Department of Agri culture reported a 12 to 13 per cent decline in Nebraska land values between April 1, 1983, and April 1, 1084, Johnson said. Neb raska carries more debt than any other state in the agricultural sector, and the ratio of debt to asset is the highest of any state, second only to South Dakota, he said. Income levels are only two thirds of what they were in the 1970s and the reduction in in come has resulted in a very de pressed agricultural economy, he said. The decline in land values has not increased the n umber of farm foreclosures, Johnson said. In stead, farmers are liquidating their assets partially to get out of debt. Although farmland values have fallen as much as 30 percent in some places, Johnson said, rental rates have remained relatively stable, indicating land values also may be stabilizing. As the market reaches a point of stabilization, Johnson said, people will begin to see returns for their land and generate in come. For agriculture graduates who want to return to the farm, John son said, that potential exists. But the potential to bring it up to a two-family operation may not be there right now. Continued cn 3 UNL faces hous 1 fied Democrats when Mondale announced that he wanted Ferraro as his running mate. Sunday on the eve of the convention, Mondale attempted to calm the situation by agreeing to let Manatt stay on as party chairman with reduced pow ers. Instead of replacing Manatt, Lance was named Mondale's general campaign manager and will work with Manatt in the months ahead. "I do not think any substantial damage has been done to the Mondale campaign." Mondale campaign director Jim Johnson said. The major events at Monday's opening sesson were a speech by Carter and an address by Mario Cuomo, governor of the politically important state of New York. Mondale has found himself in a difficult position as far as Carter is concerned. He has paid only enough homage to the former president to be respectful but has carefully distanced himself from Carter, who lost to Reagan in a landslide in 1980. Critical to Mondale is winning the strong backing of Sen. Gary Hart, an underdog candidate who came -from virtually nowhere to give him a good run for the nomination, and black civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, whp has criticized the ex-vice president for not taking a strong stand on minority issues. mprovements By Marc Simon Smoke detectors, improved outside lighting, and a graduate student kit chen will soon beinsialled into UNL's residence halls. . , , . Douglas Zatechka, director of uni versity housing, said that updated fire codes created the need for new smoke ' detectors. Current fire codes require smoke detectors in all residence hall corridors, Zatechka said. However, he said, housing officials "were worried that vandals 'would ruin the smoke detectors installed in the corridors. Therefore, the officials decided to put smoke detectors in every residential room, a plan that met with approval from the firemarshai, Zatechka said. To accomodate new fire codes, smoke dampers, which prevent dangerous fume-filled smoke from traveling and laundry-room enclosures, will be added to the halls, Zatechka said. Dry chemical fire extinguishers also will be installed in the halls to be used if an electrical fire starts, he said. These win replace existing extinguishers which use water and are dangerous to use on electrical fires. Glen Schumann, assistant director of housing for maintenance, said high pressure sodium lights, which "offer better security and are cheaper than ordinary light bulbs" will replace exist ing lights by Harper-Schramm-Smith halls and Selieck Quadrangle. Outdoor lighting costs for the Harper-Schramm-Smith complex would decrease from $1,300 per year to $200 per year, Schu mann said. Because of a new generator, lighting inside should be mere stable. The Cather-Pound-Neihardt complex will soon ac quire an auxiliary power generator to act as a backup to existing power facil ities, Schumann said. He said backup power systems already exist in the other residence hall complexes on City Campus, and are now required in high rise residential buildings as part of the fire code. Students in the graduate section of Selieck will soon have a multi-purpose kitchen facility and lounge, Schumann said. Three existing rooms alounge, a modified kitchen and an eating area will be consolidated into one large .lounge, he said. It will contain a kitchen with linoleum floors, a refrig erator, microwave, dinette area and a lounge with a television, he said. Closets in the existing rooms will be removed ; , L' I ! i . N , I ' t s. ..... ..j ' '. ' -J 4.1 5 I '. .. . iu- . : " -a J -1 i :- f i . .. ' ' s J f JT , ( f ? : y !' . ft-' I - :;:J f- ',, " sp1' 1 ' : o r '" ' ujn 1 : v ,--U v ivy w 1 4 1 1 f - 1 , . 9" - 1 s r ' j j I Ui - s ; AJ' : . i. i. J ' - S I H ! s i ' -' - ' ') .-. ! J ' fi & Members of the Selieck Quadrangle maintenance crew patet the trlra oa Selleck's nvin-dows llonday alterr.eon. to create more space, and ceiling fans will be installed to cool the area on hot days, he said. Selieck soon will have carpeted cor ridors and its dining hall will have booths similiar to those in UNL's other residential dinng halls, Schumann said. A men's restroom in the Selieck 80G0 wing will be modified to accommodate handicapped residents, according to Schumann. Similiar changes probably will be made to women's and graduate students' restrooms in Selieck when funds are available, he said. The men's restroom was given higher priority over other restroom changes because more male undergraduate handicapped students will be attending the univer sity, Schumann said. f"Tf,-f rfvi.l rj O