SUMMER EDITION
T1
Tuesday, Juy 17, 1904
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 63 No. 172
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Bemoc
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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
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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.
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