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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1973)
daily friday, february 9, 1 973 lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 69 Varner endorses planned acquisition of Hiram Scott by Steve Arvanette NU President D.B. Varner Thursday told members of the Legislature's Miscellaneous Subjects Committee that the University is interested in acquiring the former Hiram Scott College campus in Scottsbluff. His statements came at a public hearing on LB 179 introduced by Scottsbluff Sen. Terry Carpenter. In its original form, the bill called for the acquisition of the former John J. Pershing College at Beatrice. Sen. Fred Carstens of Beatrice persuaded Carpenter to accept an amendment tying Pershing with Peru State College under the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees. "People of western Nebraska have the attitude that the University has not reached out to them," Varner siad. By establishing a program in Scottsbluff it would be clear that the University is involved throughout the state, he said. If enacted into law, the University would receive 225 acres of land and existing buildings at no cost to taxpayers. The land and buildings originally cost $7.5 million. "We have no state institution in western Nebraska to speak of," Carpenter told the committee. Terming Hiram Scott College a "product of the (Vietnam) war," he said most of the students came from families that "had money" and the male students wanted to avoid military service. "We've got facilities we want to use," Carpenter said. Varner told the committee the University has no plans to establish a traditional four-year undergraduate program at Scottsbluff. Nor would there be expansion of vocational-technical and community or junior college programs at the site, he said. Academic programs on the campus also would not be designed to compete with existing programs at Nebraska Western College in Scottsbluff or Chadron State College, Varner said. Should the University be permitted to acquire the former college, he said, four basic programs would be instituted. Dr. Robert Sparks, chancellor of the University Medical Center, has recommended establishment of a rural health education center, Varner said. The center would provide training in the areas of radiology, medical and dental technology and nursing and medical administration. Residency programs in family practice, internal medicine and psychiatry also would be provided. Varner said the rural health center would help solve the problem of getting "an adequate supply of rural health personnel. We train them in the cities and find it difficult returning them to rural areas," he said. Varner said he has spoken with Nebraska and Wyoming governors about developing a continuing education program in rural health care. The second program the NU president outlined for the Scottsbluff campus would be a western Nebraska continuing education center, similar to the center located in Lincoln. Varner said the experimental station at Mitchell is in "desperate need of additional space" for office and laboratory work. The acquisition of Hiram Scott could provide such space, he said, and possibly the development of graduate programs in agriculture and home economics. The fourth use of the campus would be as a learning resource center under the experimental State University of Nebraska (SUN) program. Varner explained the program will provide college credit programs to persons in their homes through state educational television. Not included in the bill are provisions to purchase dormitories on the campus. The dormitories have outstanding revenue bonds of nearly $4.4 million. Varner expressed hope the dorms could be purchased later "for but a fraction of their value." "We'll get them for what they're worth almost nothing," Carpenter said. If the bill is enacted into law, the University would receive all land and buildings, except the dormitories, at no cost through citizen-raised donations to purchase the land and the dropping of debts owed to Scottsbluff and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Varner said basic maintenance for the campus would cost $190,000 annually. Campus' theft losses soar above $15,000 by Suzanne Schafer Students call it "rip off." Campus Security labels it larcency, burglary or theft. Whatever the name, within the last eight months, 396 thefts have been reported on the UNL campus. University property losses totaled $3,874 during six of those eight months. Personal property losses amounted to $11,471, according to figures released by Campus Security. Within the last seven months; fourteen people, students and non students, have been arrested on campus in connection with thievery. Campus Security has begun to compile theft loses of the University and students within the last six months. "Previously we only recorded the number of incidents and there was no way of interpreting the monetary loss," according , to Robert Edmunds of Campus Security. But now Campus Security officials chart the figures so they can guage the "variance and decline of reported thefts in a given month," he said. "I can recall in May 1971 that $3,000 worth of bicycles alone was reported missing," he said. The largest number of incidents, 145, was reported in University buildings and classrooms. Larceny in the dormitories figured second with 1 1 5 reported incidents. Peak personal property losses during one month ($3,406) were reported last October. The University reported its biggest losses ($839) in December. Common items stolen from dormitories include stereos, jewelry, money, clothing and books. Also, furniture and carpets have been taken from open lounges. Typewriters, calculators, tape recorders, dictating machines and televisions are the most popular University items thieves take, Edmunds said. Richard Strait, university housing operations co-ordinator, reported that more than $13,000 of dormitory food service china and silverware was pilfered from the cafeterias last year. Strait said he has no loss figure for other University property stolen in dormitories. "We have never had an accurate inventory of the equipment or furniture in the buildings." he said. "We are in the process of developing one. We want to know what we have got, where it should be, what we have lost and what should be replaced." "We operate just losing things. This must be tightened up. This is not an effective system," he said. Housing officials are hesitant to report equipment as stolen, he said, losses are not reported to the Housing Office by dormitories, according to Barbara Sanderson, Housing Office fiscal officer. If an item is missing and no individual is charged for its loss, then the Housing Office provides money to replace it in its capitol improvements budget. Dormitory staffs are able to keep close track of articles in the rooms because the items there are inventoried every semester. When an article in a dormitory room has to be replaced, it is charged to an individual and considered a loss, not a theft, she said. Sanderson said the fiscal office will be able to provide figures for specific lh UP because many students move furniture into their rooms. It is difficult to know if a student has taken furniture into his room or our of the building. Only two of the original floor lounge rugs remain in Abel Hall, and some rooms have no furniture, he said. "The cheapest, most sterile furniture was put in (when the dormitories were built). The kids didn't protect it or use it and now it's gone," he said. Wills for unclaimed damages and losses of dormitory property due to vandalism and theft next year. Maintenance managers in the residence halls now are required to report amounts of property losses. Dormitory losses are reflected in the rising residence hall rates, she said. An itemized study two years ago estimated that $7 to $11 of each student's dormitory bill goes for unclaimed damages and theft, Strait said. "Major thefts in the dorms are due to people outside the halls," he said. "You can't hide a color television or a lounge rug in your dorm room." He said dormitory students might steal sheets and pillow cases or china, but not larger items. Many residence hall directors do not consider thievery a problem in their halls. Opinions varied on whether student and Campus Security officers who now patrol dormitories deter theft. Edmunds said he knows of nonstudents who roam dormitory halls to steal. He said he thought students steal because of money shortages, on impulse or to support a drug habit. "Some students think that it's their right to steal," Strait said. "They need plates and silverware to eat or furniture for their apartment, so they get it from the dormitories." Recovering stolen objects is not difficult if the victim notifies Campus Security within hours of the theft, Edmunds said. Articles may be found in routine checks of pawn shops or with the cooperation of community store owners. Bookstores should be notified immediately when books are discovered missing. Book thieves try to sell books shortly after stealing them, Edmunds said. Campus personnel are sometimes lax in reporting thefts because they may not notice the item missing for a few weeks. After that much time, it is impossible to find witnesses or fingerprints, Edmunds said. "More thefts occur now than four or five years ago, but we also have a larger student body and more equipment on campus," he said. Campus Security has been lucky in clearing offenses on campus, he said, because of good contact with students, and residence hall directors. "The victims can do more to prevent thefts than we could do, even with a larger force," Edmunds said. "If everyone-students, faculty, and office personnel-were a little more security conscious, we would have fewer thefts on campus," he said. . I" f& r 0, 0 4 A . . 0 ... ,.(,. , .(. 44 . 44 44 A , A A