1T7 .-.1T OF
1.
Don't Walk
Yourself
To Death
Eyes Qgfa asei
No Surprise
Vol. 75, Np. J& - . "
The Nebraskan
Tuesday, December -1 9, 1 961
Where Are We Going . . .
The Budget Cut
... With What They Gave Us?
What It
earns
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Editor s Note: This is the
second in a seriei of depth
articles by Daily Nebraskan
Staff Writer Mike MacLean
dealing with the University
of Nebraska budget pro
cesses. By Mike MacLean
The University of Nebraska
budget is the subject of much
comment. This is especially
true this year because the
University received only half
of their requested increase for
the 1961-63 biennium due to
Legislative action. Following
are comments from an ad
ministration official, and sev
eral faculty members on this
subject.
Breckenridge
Dr. Adam Breckenridge,
dean of Faculty, was inter
viewed and made the follow
ong statements:
The fact that the Univer
sity did not receive the re
quested budget caused many
members of the faculty to
wonder whether the Univer
sity of Nebraska can main
tain its position and be
strengthened," he said.
"The effect of this year's
budget may take two or three
years to be felt. We will not
see the early effect on the fa
culty until late winter or
early spring."
Salary Adjustment
"Although it is hard to pre
dict, the fact that we will have
no funds for salary adjustment
is bound to have adversities.
Other nniversities will be
aware of thte fact and so, will
the faculty member s," he
added.
"We are always trying to
improve the situation," said
Breckenridge, "but it is dif
ficult to convince prospective
staff members to come to the
University without evidence
that it Is being strengthened.
We must tell the truth of
course, and you just can't
stretch these dollars. These
prospective faculty members
are bound to ask.
"Some of the vacancies that
State Historical Society Microfilms
Nebraska History as Press Prints It
By Nancy Whltford
Preserving Nebraska's
history is a never-ending
job for employees at the
State Historical Society.
Much of this history is re
corded on microfilm from
the newspapers of the state,
is made of the newspaper
before the filming process
begins, said Mrs. Mildred
Kohler, film technician.
A list of the missing is
sueai. sent to the pres
ent publisher, aad he is
asked to completed the file
if possible.
"In general we have
good cooperation with the
back issues, but many
times we get no reply,"
Mrs. Kohler said.
Newspapers
"People often don't real
ize that their newspapers
will be returned when we
are through with them,"
she explained.
Often the newspapers are
even returned in better
shape than when they ar
rived. Mrs. Opal Jacobsen
uses an iron and tape to
smooth out and repair dam
ages copies.
During the filming proc
ess, each page is placed on .
a table-like desk beneath
a camera with a 100 foot,
35 .millimeter reel. Two
pages can be done at once
if a tabloid is being filmed.
Otherwise, the process pro
ceeds one page at a time.
As the pages are filmed,
a record is kept of the
dates of the newspapers
which are photographed.
Mention is also made of
any mutilations on the
pages.
Chicago
Then the film is sent to
Chicago to be developed,
and returned as a negative.
Mrs. Kohler said the His
torical Society would pre
fer to buy "positives" in
case of damage to the neg
ative, but lacks the money.
As soon as the negatives
are returned, they are
made, available to the pub-
we have only been able to fill
on a temporary basis may
be partially a result of the
budget, but It is hard to meas
ure," he stated. ,
We have difficulty filling
them with quality people be
cause prospective faculty
members may not feel that
Nebraska is going to give the
University the support that is
essential, (from speech made
at Grand Island.)
Budget
On the subject of the budg
et, Breckenridge said, "we
based our presentation and
our material on the assump
tion that the state was grow
ing, its population was grow
ing and would continue to
grow, that its economy would
grow and had to grow, that
the interest, indeed the de
mand by the people for more
and extensive education would
put heavy pressures upon the
insitution for the immediate
years ahead.
"As new requirements hit
us, we revise our programs
wherever possible, including
new and needed activities with
in our existing authorization
we do this continuously, not
each two years.
"The competition for staff
for the colleges and univer
sities of this nation is nation
wide and knows no state or
local boundaries.
Tight, Strong
"Our planning resulted in a
budget which was tight and
strong. We presented informa
tion to the Legislature on the
entire" operation, in more ways
than at any time previously,
and the figures always totaled
the same, there were no hid
den factors." he said.
"We prepared information
and presented it by college,
by agency, by individual de
partment, and by categories
of personnel. We had details
on the individual assignments
and duties and responsibilities
of every faculty member.
"We cannot remain static,
we must go forward or back
ward, there is no standing
still.
"I cannot speak for the mem
bers of the Budget Commit
, A"
'
FACTS ON FILM
A flip of the dials and another page of Nebraska's history
is recorded by Mrs. Mildred Kohler, microfilm technician.
An employee of the State Historical Society, she is respon
sible for filming copies of the state's newspapers to be
preserved in the Nebraska archives.
lie, but the checking proc
ess continues.
Mrs.', Kohler and Mrs.
Grace Ton Velle read all
of the negatives on the
microfilm reader in order
to determine if any have -been
blurred or skipped.
The newspapers hie re -filmed
and spliced where
necessary, and are ready
for anyone who wishes to
examine them.
There are some 250 cur
rent newspapers which are
received and are in the
process of being micro-,
filmed, and numerous
other newspapers which no
longer exist, said Mrs. Koh
ler. Filed
All of these newspapers t
are given a call number
after they are microfilmed,
and are filed in boxes ac
cording towns. This rec
ord is typed for a perma
nent file and reported to
the Library of Congress in
Washington.
tee or. the members of the
Legislature, but I can con -
elude but one thing: They sim -
ply did not agree with us.
Their . considered judgment
was that the University could
do the things they considered
essential with less money than
had been requested. This was
wholly within their province
to do," he added.
"We are all dedicated to do
just that: Do the maximum
best effort within the funds
made available to the Univer
sity. Staff Salaries
"The University did, as it
stated it would do and as the
Board of Regents directed itl
to, put all possible support in-
BRECKENRIDGE . . .
"no funds for salary
adjustment."
to staff salaries. The heart of
the institution is in a strong
and effectively supported
staff. We had presented data
to the Budget Committee,
most of it prepared by others
than ourselves-and not disput
able, that staff salaries in the
great plains and north cen
tral states were well above
those at Nebraska
"This data showed that
the states of the great plains
and north central region had
given and were going to give
"We don't ever expect to
be finished. We began film
ing in 1951 and with a few
exceptions are only in the
D's now," said Mrs. Koh
ler. Mrs. Kohler said the old
est newspaper on file is a
' July, 1854 issue of the
"Bellvue Palladium." Oth
er early copies are of the
"Brownville Advertiser",
and the "Nebraska City
News"
Many, special editions
such as the news of Pearl
Harbor and centennial cel
ebrations are also found.
The newspaper room, at
" the west end of which is
located the second floor of
the Historical Society, con
tains three microfilm read
ing machines (plus a fourth
machine in another room)
and several shelves of cur
rent newspapers from
throughout tlie state.
Students are welcome to
use the newspaper files,
Mrs. Kohler said.
greater support to institutions!
. of our type than Nebraska
1 was providing. These were
.facts, not our opinion, not our
judgments," Breckenridge ex-
plained.
"We have not yet obtained
the tabulations of other insti
tutions in the great plains and
north central states. We do
not know precisely how we
stack up in the scheme of
things, but we do know some
of them. ' 1 '
"I know that Missouri, the
only really comparable insti
tution adjacent to us has stair
salaries in the senior stalls
which are 10 and more
above ours for this year.
"Less Well Off"
"I hazard the statement that
we are just a little less well
off than we were a year ago
by comparison. And since we
shall have no additional funds
for next year we were di
rected to split the state tax
appropriation even for each
of the. two years we can only
speculate what other states
will do which have annual leg
islative sessions." '
"We are confident of the fu
ture," Brickenridge com
mented, notwithstanding the
disappointments I have men
tioned." "We strive for a higher and
higher quality of instruction
and performance. We hope for
a stronger research program
than heretofore known, for
without it we stagnate to bleed
the work , of others. We want
to give the people the kind
of public services they expect
us to provide them
Beggs
Walter K. Beggs, dean" of
Teachers College, said tpat
there are two main projAts
and one expansion area whjch
will be set back due to tne
cut in the University budget
Teaching Media
The College was developing
a "Materials Development
Laboratory" which would help
the faculty in the College and
students know what was go
ing on in the teaching media,
Expansion was planned, but
now it has to stay in its "semi
embrvo stage," said Dean
Beggs.
A second project the Col
lege was planning was an ex
perimental classroom which
would contain every conceiv
able device used in the teach
ing media. A program experi
menting with the closed cir
cuit TV in reference to obser
vation in University high
school was also planned with
in this program. This whole
project is also remaining in
the planning stage.
In the area of faculty ex
pansion for broadening serv
ices, Teachers College re
quested three additional peo
ple which it didn't receive.
Dean Beggs explained that
"because of budgetary limita
tions, we are training virtual
ly no public school librarians
at this institution."
"Teachers College was able
to absorb an increase of 100
students this year with the
current staff, but we can't do
it indefinitely," he comment
ed. Tight Area
"One area in the faculty
expansion which will be tight
is the supervision at Univer
sity high school. With the in
creased enrollment, more sup
ervision will be required and
we received only 2-3rds of
what we asked for by in
crease. Dean Beggs said that the
budget cut was a critical
thing because "we are trying
to build a strong, virogous,
and young faculty. We get the
strongest we can get at the
assistant professor level and
some full professors.
"We are in excellent shape,
but the shortage of college
teachers presents a vigorous
competition.
"The average full professor
ial salary is between $10,000
and $11,000 which is just on
the lower safety level of our
competitive institutions, added
Dean Beggs.
"College teaching is one of
the most competitive of the
professions," he said. "I think
the students and people of the
state should realize that the
situation is critical.
Excellent Faculty
"We have an excellent fa
culty in the College, but it is
the responsibility of the Ad
ministration to keep and add
to it. He cited losing two de
partment chairmen and an
important faculty person to
Pennsylvania State Univer
sity and one department chair
man to private industry, with
in the last two years.
One professor, teaching in
a lab science department,
wishing to remain annonym
ous, stated that his depart
ment "has alloted to it funds
for teaching and conducting
research on the same operat
ing budget that it had in 1947.
Meanwhile, the cost of the ma
terials and apparatus that we
use has risen 150."
"The science departments
have to look to Federal agen
cies for aid for research funds
and facilities, since these
things generally cannot be pro
BEGGS ... trying to
build a strong, vigorous and
young . faculty."
vided for in the operating budg
et," he said. "In si e of the
research that we are conduct
ing, one piece of equipment
would absorb the entire op
eratftiginMigetrof this depart
ment." :
"I am very -much in sym
pathy with the Adminis
tration, for it has been put
in the position of using most
of the appropriation for sal
aries, which are and have
been so critical, rather then
for increasing operating budg
ets. Better Teaching
"For a better job of teach
ing in lab sciences, he added,
it is necessary to add to and
replace antiquated teaching
equipment. We frequently
have to use research equip'
ment obtained from Federal
grants for teaching at the
graduate level."
"The type, kind and magni
tude of research would be
limited if we had to depend
on the operating budget; thus
we turn to outside help tor
this aid," he said.
"As far as salaries are con
cerned, the science depart
ments are extremely compet
itive for staff members. The
only way we can hope to re
tain the younger and eager
faculty members, and the old
er established ones is with
stipends commensurate with
their abilities and at a level
competitive with other well
known universities," he con
cluded. Meierhenry
Dr. Wesley C. Meierhenry,
head of the placement depart
ment in Teachers College, said
that the implications involved
MEIERHENRY . . .
"others move $1,000 beyond
us."
for students is that the office
will be able to give less serv
ice. .
Increased Vacancies
"The number of vacancies
if I
n
p ""
i 'v
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:: "l .. .
are increasing, the process
ing cost is allotted the same
number of dollars and the in-
creasd work load are caus
ing the office to decrease the
number of personel letters and
phone calls they make for the
students," he said.
Dr. Meierhenry said that
for the past thirty years, his
office has had about 100,000
teachers to place. In 1951 they
processed 3,000 vacancies and
in 1961, they processed 25,000
vacancies.
"There has been no change
in the fee charge to students
for this service, but the ae-
partment did not receive any
additional funds for this year
or next.
"The University services
are gradually lessened," he
added.
He cited the California State
colleges as aa example in the
rise in faculty salary increas
es. "Kignt now college teacn
ers in California receive a
$500 increase in salary for ev
ery year they are there, and
this spring, their legislature
will probably increase this
amount another $500 bringing
the total to $1,000.
"Nebraska is standing still
while others move $1,000 be
yond us.
"This is characteristic of
colleges and universities
around the country. The sal
ary scales are up five per
cent a year. Part of this in
crease is due to the cost of
living, but part is also due to
having the salaries equal the
cost of training and responsi
bility which will hold the kind
of people necessary.
Competition
"One of the reasons for the
competition in getting teach
ers is the fact the supply of
new teachers with doctor's de
grees has decreased from
40.5 per cent in 1953-54 to 25.8
per cent in 1960-61," said Dr.
Meierhenry.
He added that there was
no increase in the summer
pay.
Holtzclaw
Henry Holtzclaw, a chemis
try professor, commented,
"most of us are quite con
cerned with this matter. In
order to hold a staff you must
have salary increases, and the
legislature blocked this off for
the second year of the pres
ent biennium."
"This is definitely going to
be quite a problem," Holtz
claw added, "Some of the staff
members who have opportun
ities to go elsewhere are go-
4
HOLTZCLAW
It is un
fortunate for the University
to be held back this way."
ing to go. It is unfortunate
for the University to be held
back this way."
"The University, from a
maintenance point of view, is
at a standstill, but the faculty
understands that there is only
if
A joint effort by the members of the Daily Nebraskan
and the Scrip literary magazine to bring student literary
works into print appears on Pages 2 and 3.
Editors Toni Tucker, Nonn Beatty
Managing Editor Gretchen Shellberg
Artist Jim Forrest
Advisor . Dr. Robert Hough .
Contributors Fred Gaines, David Mignery, Bill Hol
land, James II. Studnicka, Linda Launer, Roy Scheele,
Stephen Abbott, Michael Stek and John Riekes.
Holtzclaw
Outside Sources
"We are working quite hard
on obtaining a nuclear mag
netic resonance machine from
outside sources. We desperate
ly need this machine; most
schools our size already have
at least one of them," he said,
Ottoson
Professor Howard W. Otto
son, chairman of the Agricul
tural Economics department,
cited the retirement program
as a boost to the faculty,
"Funding of the retirement
program it a real sten for
ward; there is a good feeling
on the staff about this," he
said.
"My department did not get
any increases for graduate re
search assistants or operat
ing expenses in the teaching
program. We did get a small
increase in the operating ex
penses on research," he said.
Small Increase
Ottoson added that they al
so got a small increase in sal
aries, but most of these in
creases go into faculty con
tributions to the retirement
program.
The net effect is that it is
an increase in salary but not
in take home pay, he said.
"In one of the resignations
we had last year, it will take
OTTOSON . . . "must uo
forward of backwards."
a 20 per cent increase in
funds to replace the man.
This will have , to come out
of the part-time budget," Ot
toson said.
"In this biennium's budget,
we have had to throw the
weight toward salaries, the re
tirement fund and the filling
of vacancies; this means a
contraction in the operating
program, with the obvious ef
fects," he said.
Ottoson stated that they
were trying to develop a PhD
program, which was approved
4 years ago. "Obviously a con
traction in the operating funds
will slow down the growth of
the program," he said.
When asked about the fu
ture, Ottoson replied, "the
number of students going to
college in Nebraska and all
over the country is going to
increase dramatically in the
next 10 years. Competition for
competent college instructors
is going to become much keen
er. The University is going to
have to meet this competition
if it is to maintain the good
staff that it has."
Still speaking of the future,
he concluded, "Nebraska is
a great University and it has
a good staff. The University
cannot stand still, it must eith
er go forward or backward.
If the citizens of Nebraska
wish to keep their University
great, it will mean budget in
creases in these coming
years."
so much money,
said.
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