Exon:
by GARY SEACREST
Staff Writer
A baseball bat, engraved
with the trademark "Big
Stick," lies near the fireplace in
the ornate State Capitol office
of Gov. J. J. Exon. The
Governor proudly shows off
the bat which, a gift from an
outstate woman who wanted
to compliment Exon for
clamping down on state
spending for the University and
other state agencies.
But not everyone in the
state has been as enthusiastic
about Exon's austere budget
recommendations. University
officials contend that the
school will have to cut back its
educational operations if
Exon's budget recommen
dations are adopted by the
Legislature.
"I'm not trying to lower the
educational quality," Exon
said in a recent personal
interview. "I'm trying to raise
it.
Exon maintains that his
main interest in the University
is to cut its "administrative
fat" and make the school more
efficient. The governor said that
contrary to what people
believe he was forcing the
University to "sharpen their
tools" in an effort to reduce
costs.
"UNLESS WE USE better
business practices we won't
stop the rising costs of higher
education," he remarked.
"Chancellor Varner has even
told me that I've helped the
University in many ways by
challenging their budget
requests."
One of the things wrong
with the University is that "too
many administrators are
getting paid too much money,"
Exon said. However, he also
noted that the University's
"inefficiency" partly stems
from the fact that the
University is getting so big and
complex that it is hard to
administer.
The Board of Regents last
Saturday agreed to hire a firm
to conduct a management
study of the University's
administrative structure.
In order to curb the cost of
higher education, Exon said it
was necessary to coordinate all
higher education in Nebraska
to avoid wasteful duplication.
There's no reason why a
teacher in Lincoln can't drive
to Omaha to teach a course at
UNO or why a student at
Kearney can't take advantage
of some of the educational
opportunities at the Lincoln
campus," he said.
ALTHOUGH HE CUT state
aid to the University, Exon
stressed that his budget
Five faculty members named
to Presidential search group
Names of faculty and
administration members of a
committee to find a new
President for the NU Lincoln
campus have been announced
by Chancellor D. B. Varner.
The five faculty members
include Dudley Bailey,
chairman of the English
Department, Thomas Helms,
associate ptofessor of
entomology; Edwin
Lowenberg, professor of
electrical engineering; William
Toirence, professor of
management; and Wallace
Rudolph, professor of law
Other committee members
are Dean Melvin George of the
College of Arts and Sciences;
Jack McBride, director of
TUESDAY. APRIL 6, 1971
'Fm not trying to Immer
recommendations provide for
an 8 per cent increase in total
funds for NU. The Governor
predicted that the Legislature's
Appropriations Committee
"won't go too far above my
recommendations."
While many NU officials
claim the University is lagging
behind other schools, Exon
wouldn't say definitely how
good he thought the University
was.
"Most educators agree it is
difficult to determine how
good an educational program
is," he said. "Students are in a
better position to tell me and
the Chancellor where we are
good and where we are
lacking." However, he did say
the University could do a
better job in its graduate
programs, which a recent
evaluation showed to be last in
the Big Eight.
HOWEVER. EXON's
solution to any academic
problems at the University do
not include providing increased
state aid. He said he would not
expect higher education in
Nebraska to receive an
ever-greater share of tax dollars
for three reasons.
First, other services (such as
welfare, primary and secondary
education, police, and mental
health) are making greater
demands on the state's tax
resources.
Second, the economic
benefits from higher education
may flow not to the state
paying for such education but
to other areas of th" country
since many graduates leave the
state where they received their
education.
Finally, the tax resources
used for higher education come
substantially from persons who
do not benefit from the
existence of schools of higher
education.
Because of these factors the
Governor has called for a
rearrangement of income in
order to support higher
education.
A GREATER
proportion' of such costs
must flow from its
beneficiaries through the
mechanism of long-term loans,
gifts from alumni and industry
and from tax resources of the
federal government either
through aid to students or to
sponsoring of particular
graduate and professional
programs."
The Governor has also
challenged higher education to
develop new methods of
teaching in an effort to stop
the spiraling costs of higher
education.
"We still teach by oral
tradition in which the teacher
imparts information for
University television; Kcrmit
McMurray of the Office of
Student Activities and Adna
Dobson, president of the NU
Lincoln alumni association.
One representative from
each of the other two NU
campuses will sit on the
committee as non-voting
members. They are Darrell
Kellams of UNO and Henry W.
McFadden, Jr. of the NU
Medical Center.
The committee is to
recommend a successor to
Joseph Soshnik who resigned
recently from the NU post to
take a position with an
Omaha-based investment
banking firm.
ti lls
--KnTklf in -,-,-,. i. i...-.iii
'Chancellor
University
requests,"
students to absorb, even
though we know such methods
ill-fit many students and are
very expensive. Higher
education has taught others,
but in the process it has
learned little itself about
realistic cost controls."
The Governor said he is
examining all state agencies in
an effort to make state
government more efficient and
economical.
However Exon has been
hard pressed by many groups
to go over his budget,
Everything
you want
to know. .
A sex fair, sponsored by the
Association for Birth Control,
Family Planning, National
Planned Parenthood, the
Student-Y, and University
Women's Action Group, will be
held on campus Tuesday and
Wednesday.
From 3-7 p.m. Tuesday
discussions groups on all
aspects of human sexuality will
be at the United Ministries in
Higher Education, 333 N.
14th.
In the Nebraska Union
Wednesday there will be
continuous films and displays
by various interested groups. Rap
sessions will also be held. The
public is invited to attend.
Queen finalists
vie for crown
Five girls have been named
finalists for the title of 1971
University of Nebraska Rodeo
Queen. The Queen will be
revealed during the evening
performance of the NU Rodeo
at State Fairgrounds Coliseum
at 7:30 April 23.
The five finalists are: Betty
Gergen, sophomore in Physical
Education representing Delta
Delta Delta; Crystal Cooksley,
freshman in Home Ec
representing Love Memorial
Hall; Christine Ferguson, junior
in English representing Kappa
Alpha Theta; Janice Lee,
freshman in Animal Science;
and Faye Barber, freshman
majoring in recreational
leadership representing Pound
Hall.
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Varner has even told me that
in many ways by challenging their budget
Exon told the Daily Nebraskan.
recommendations.
Nevertheless, Exon said he
believes he can still hold the
line of taxes, but added that it
is "becoming more difficult all
the time."
And it looks like the
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quality
I've helped the
Governor is preparing for more
budget battles by studying the
works of fellow Democrat
Harry S Truman. The only
books on Exon's desk recently
were two of Truman's books
Years of Trial and Hope and
Year of Decision, ,
I
i
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