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by Carol Strasser
ASUN suspended its rules
Wednesday to allow the
Legislative Liaison Committee
to begin lobbying with state
senators for a set of student
priorities in the University's
1972-73 budget request.
The number one priority of
students, according to the
Committee's report, is to
alleviate "the unbearable
conditions of the library
system." Other priorities
include reduction of class size
and new buildings for the law
college, home economics and
life sciences.
Because the Unicameral will
begin discussing the University
budget request soon, ASUN
Pres. Steve Fowler asked the
Senate to approve the Liaison
Committee report this week so
that student lobbyists can
begin to seek backers for the
student priorities.
The committee report,
submitted by chairman Meg
Hall, states that the major
emphasis in the budget request
"should be on improving the
quality of undergraduate
education" at the University.
In the plans for the library
system, the report calls for
completion of the planned
addition to Love Library,
stating that by September
there will be no book space
remaining in the library. It also
calls for consolidation of the
card catalogs in the near future
and grouping of all staff
functions on one floor.
The hiring of more faculty
and staff personnel would
allow class sizes to be reduced
and would increase
student-faculty discussion, the
report said. Using figures from
Computer center urges
increased student use
Computer facilities in Nebraska Hall are available to all
students and departments, but people are not using them enough,
according to Jim Selzer, a programmer for the University
Computing Center.
Students in engineering and graphics classes, courses oriented
for use of the computer, have taken advantage of the center,
Selzer said. Students from non-technical disciplines can also learn
to use the facilities.
Information, advice and limited consultation with a
programmer are available. "Legisform, a booklet prepared for the
Nebraska Legislature, shows students how to write a basic
program. Bill drafting for the Unicameral is now done by the
University center, Selzer said.
Agriculture students have used the computer to figure time
and cost of equipment and seed for a Nebraska farm. The
operator of the farm was able to increase his income $6,000 to
$ 15,000 by planting the crops the students recommended.
Use of the computer is available to all state agencies, Selzer
said. A contract with the State Game Commission is being
negotiated to study the impact of building highways through park
areas. The center has plotted physicians-per-county density maps
for the comprehensive health planning district.
.Students preparing a thesis or dissertation can transfer their
material to key punch cards and the computer will print the
paper with footnotes in the appropriate places and justified
margins.
The computing center is part of a network that includes
hookups with UNO and the University Medical Center, Selzer
said. Computer time is available to individuals at $400 per hour,
he said. But job time for a single program is relatively
inexpensive, he noted.
mum
U
18, 1971 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL. 95, NO. 43
suspends rules,
Legislative Liaison
1970, the report said one-third
of a student's time is spent in
classes of 1 00 or more.
The present Law College
Building houses a law library
which the report states is "42
per cent below minimum
accreditation requirements in
terms of seating capacity."
Although there is a shortage
of practicing lawyers in
Nebraska, the lack of space in
the law college limits the
number of students and, over
the past year, forced the
college to deny admission to
500 qualified applicants, the
report said.
The site of the proposed
new law building is on East
Campus along with other
professional schools.
The report calls the present
Home Economics Building
"generally unsafe," and points
out that it lacks classroom
space and its design restricts
departmental interaction.
Bessey Hall, the Life
Sciences Building, was built in
1917 and can't keep pace with
the "changes occuring in
science education and the
expanding student demand,"
according to the report.
The 22-member Liaison
Committee attempts to reflect
the student point of view on
bills that come before the
Legislature, Hall said. The
committee researches bills that
may concern students, and
ASUN decides where the
committee will concentrate its
lobbying efforts.
Since ASUN is a
corporation, it can't lobby,
Fowler said. However, the
committee will register about
four students as lobbyists with
the Legislature, Hall said.
At its next meeting on Dec.
1, ASUN will consider a bill
which would set aside $1,000
in non-student fee money to
supply loans to women who
want an abortion but can't
afford the transportation or
medical costs.
Credit union would offer
low interest student loans
by Linda Larson
A student credit union on
the UNL campus may become
a reality by second semester,
ASUN Sen. Phil Lamb said in
an interview Tuesday.
Lamb is one of several
students working on plans for
the credit union.
Explaining how the union
would work, Lamb said people
would buy shares in it for
about $5. All members could
then borrow money at 1 per
cent interest, he said.
The terms of the loans
would be decided by the board
of directors but the maximum
amount that can be borrowed
would probably be no more
than $300, Lamb said.
Organization
continues for
PIRG force
An estimated 80 college
students representing nearly
every college in the state met
here Saturday to organize the
Nebraska division of PIRG
(Public Interest Research
Group).
The organization, modeled
after consumer protectionist
Ralph Nader's program, will
work for changes in
environmental quality,
consumer protection, racial
and sexual discrimination,
occupational safety and
housing problems.
Schools represented at the
state wide meeting were Wayne
State College; Creighton
University; Concorcia College,
Seward; Midland College,
Fremont; Nebraska Wesleyan
University, Lincoln; Kearney
State College; Dana College,
Blair; University of
Nebraska-Lincoln; College of
St. Mary, Omaha; and
University of Nebraska-Omaha.
There will be another
statewide meeting next
Saturday, November 20, in the
Student Union at 1:00 p.m.
The temporary office of the
Nebraska division of PIRG, or
NEB-PIRG, is located at 3701
N. 24 in Omaha. The telephone
number is 457-7729 if you
have any questions.
Wolff outlines
regional jail concept
The regional jail concept -possibly
the route Nebraska
will take in prison reform -was
oulined by State Penal
Complex. Warden Charles
Wolff at Wednesday night's
University chapter meeting of
Sigma Delta Chi, a professional
journalism society.
This plan, as Wolff
explained it, would center
around several correctional
institutions around the state
designed to treat the majority
of offenders, those in for bad
checks or third offense drunk
driving, for example.
Regional jails would be large
enough to make it
economically feasible to offer
programs in educational
development, vocational
training, counseling and
on-the-job training, he said.
This concept, according to
Wolff, would allow inmates to
circulate back into the
community as quickly as
possible in work-lease type
programs.
'This
is the best possible
Share owners would get a
dividend on their money as in a
savings account, he said.
'This would be a really
valuable service" because a
need for short term credit
exists, he said. "It is hard for a
student to get credit anywhere
in Lincoln," and a limited
amount of loan money is
available through its Financial
Aids office.
'The main thing holding us
back is the need for an
indication of student interest,"
he said. "We need a part-time
student manager and a board
of directors."
Favorable response came
from a small phone survey
taken last year, he said. A
larger cross-section of students
will be surveyed this year,
Lamb added.
"We may ask the
administration to make a
Delta Sigma Pi "pledge'
master Jim Kerley.
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plan we can develop," the
warden said.
The transitional period
when inmates are being cycled
back into the community is a
difficult one, he asserted. They
lack self confidence, he said,
adding a work release program
where inmates assume their
own financial and personal
responsibility has "a great deal
of meaning."
Wolff said building regional
jails would be expensive
(costing possibly as much as
$50 million), but development
would be gradual, taking as
long as 10 years.
The legislature's judiciary
committee is currently working
on formulating a
comprehensive penal reform
plan, tentatively to be set in
motion by 1975.
Wolff said this date is
deceptive, in that it may
appear the legislature will just
sit around for a couple of
years. But money should be
appropriated during the next
session to finance development
of a penal reform plan, he said.
committment and provide the
salary for the part-time
manager for three years." Then
the union would be on its own,
he said.
The student credit union
may go in with the faculty
credit union, which has
expressed an interest in being
its parent organization, Lamb
said.
'There are many things to
be worked out," he said. The
union would have to operate
under either a federal or a state
charter and meet their
requirements on reserves, he
said.
A certain percentage of
money must be kept in reserve,
according to Lamb. This
money could be invested in
stocks or savings accounts, he
said.
A nyone interested should
contact Lamb in Schramn Hall.
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