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Senofors talk about
rural development
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To Ihe praise of U.S. Sen.
Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.),
NU Pres. D. B. Varner Friday
proposed a system of Institutes
for Rural Development as a
vehicle land-grant universities
could use to help invigorate
rural America.
Varner told members of the
Senate subcommittee
Humphrey chairs that the
University has asked a "major
foundation" to fund a pilot
institute at NU.
THE NU PRESIDENT said
he envisioned the proposed
institute first as a coordinator,
"drawing together the full
capabilities of the entire
University in directing these
(the University's) resources to
developing rural Nebraska and
rural America."
He recommended that
Congress fund such a system of
institutes across the country,
each one able secondly to
"create a variety of
independent and coordinated
research projects dealing with
all the problems involved in
rural development.
Thirdly, he said the
institutes could establish "a
highly selected and highly
qualified corps of area business
and industrial specialists" to
analyze rural communities
strengths and weaknesses.
The ex perts would
emphasize ways the
communities could improve
economically.
AS MEMBERS of the
University staff "these
specialists would not be
engaged in the traditional
promotion work as undertaken
by chambers of commerce,"
Varner said.
The specialists would
draw on the resources of Ihe
University, the State
Department of Economic
Development, the federal
government, and local
communities, Varner added.
Humphrey said Varner gave
"the finest testimony I've
heard yet on the subject of
rural development."
lie said the institute idea
has "great merit," and asked
Varner for an expanded
proposal that could be used in
drafting legislation.
HUMPHREY and two other
members of the Rural
Development Subcommittee of
the Senate ( ommittec on
Agriculture and Forestry held
hearings on rural development
at the Nebraska Center for
Continuing Education Fast
Campus.
Humphrey left to fly to
California half-way through the
afternoon, leaving Sen. Carl
Curtis (R-Nebr.) and Sen.
Henry Bellmon (R.-Okla.) to
finish the session.
The subcommittee has been
touring rural areas throughout
the country since its formation
in April, Humphrey said, to
"encourage and promote
development of rural areas of
the country."
THE FORMER
Vice-President said economists
and sociologists talk about the
city, but most poor people and
most poor housing in the
country are in rural areas.
Gov. J. J. Exon said in his
testimony that to relieve rural
America's plight modern
agriculture must receive
"parity of income with other
sections of the country."
Exon proposed a PAL
(Professional Agri-business
Labor force) program. The
government-supported program
would both provide a labor
pool to entice industry into the
state and also help workers
"retain the dignity of work."
Exon said his proposed
labor pool could serve farms
Turn to page 8.
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21UUUL
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1971 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL 95, NO 7
Varner asks approval
of University budget
NU President D. B. Varner
is presenting for Board of
Regents' approval this morning
a budget request of $86.8
million for the 1972-73 fiscal
year $8.7 million dollars
higher than 1971-72's $78.1
million budget.
If approved by the Regents
today, the request will be
forwarded to the office of Gov.
J. J. Exon for approval and
inclusion in the Governor's
legislative budget proposal.
The Governor and the
University are reportedly much
more in agreement over this
budget request than last year's,
when the Regents requested
$101 million, a sum Varner
said was needed to move the
University to the top of the Big
Eight conference scholastically.
The 1971-72 budget, called
by one University official
- ' .T,,-. TTl
Members of the Senate Subcommittee on Rural
Development listen...to testimony at Friday's hearing.
"uncommonly restrictive," was
the largest annual spending
authorization in N. U. history,
8.6 per cent higher than the
previous year's budget.
The 1972-73 proposal under
Regents' consideration asks for
an 11.1 per cent increase in all
funds.
A 3.5 per cent inflation
factor is included in the
request. Varner said the
University estimated this figure
to be higher, but the 3.5 figure
represents what NU's "best
intelligence" says the
Governor is using.
The request takes into
account an estimated 250
additional students at UNL and
essentially no change in
student numbers at UNO.
"An institution can get too
large," Varner explained,
referring to the low UNL
growth projection. He :said the
University "ought to try to
limit its growth to this
number."
He emphasized that only a
"minor adjustment" would
have to be made to
accommodate a "controlled
growth" of 250 students per
year.
Varner said one way UNL
could limit its growth would be
by becoming more selective in
readmitting students who drop
out.
"We'll make every effort to
help a student succeed here,"
Varner said, but if the student
chooses to drop out there's
merit in saying "let's let
another student have a shot at
it."
Varner said he was surprised
both at the increase in UNL
students this semester and at
the decrease in UNO students.
The Omaha campus registered
over 1 ,000 fewer students then
expected, he said.
So the budget request
predicting no growth at UNO is
reasonable, Varner said.
The request also includes a
five per cent salary and wage
increase for faculty and
professional staff, as well as a
$300 increase for
nonprofessional staff working
full time.
Other points in the
proposed 1972-73 budget
request include:
--$250,000 to continue
computer centralization of the
NU system.
-Approximately $200,000
at UNL and $100,000 at UNO
for strengthening graduate
programs, and approximately
$100,000 at UNL and
$100,000 at UNO for
strengthening undergraduate
programs.
-Approximately $100,000
it UNL, $50,000 at UNMC and
$150,000 at UNO for
strengthening the libraries.
-$250,000 for an increase
in the Regents' Discretionary
Account. (This year the
account amounts to
$313,000.)
No new programs or
tuition increases are requested.
The 1972-73 $15.6 million
capital construction request as
presented to the Board of
Regents includes:
--$3,320,000 to complete
library.
-$1,410,000 to complete
the home economics building.
-$2,950,000 for the law
building.
-$190,000 to remodel
Ferguson Hall.
