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Wednesday, february 28, 1973
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 79
Carpenter
attacts
tuition
increases
by Tim Anderson
Although he was not scheduled to speak, Sen. Terry
Carpenter Tuesday blasted proposed tuition increases for NU
students in Gov. J. J. Exon's University budget.
Testifying before the Appropriations Committee in the
legislature, Carpenter said tuition had been repeatedly
increased and that "the time has come for it to stop."
Exon's budget calls for students to pay $18 per credit hour
for resident tuition, and $48.25 for non-resident tuition. The
regents had recommended the figures be $17 and $46. Both
plans eliminate the present free zone; tuition for 13 to 16
hours is the same as tuition for 12 hours.
Carpenter said that by constantly raising tuition, "We are
creating a caste system. The people who already have the
education are not interested in letting everyone have it.
"Raising these students' tuition is just a way of sidestepping
your responsibility," Carpenter told the committee, "This has
been going on as long as I've been here and it must stop."
Calling on the committee to do "a great thing for the
people of the state," Carpenter suggested proposing a
Constitutional amendment so that the issue of tuition
increases could go to the voters.
"We've been heading in the wrong direction," Carpenter
said. "Instead of raising tuition, we should be lowering it."
The Scottsbluff senator told the committee that if it was
necessary to raise taxes in order to lower tuition, "let's have
the guts to do it.
"We send our kids to grade school and to high school and
then we just drop it," Carpenter said.
Adding that there was "something more important than
dollars involved in the decision," the senator said young
people who were denied four years of higher education "were
not going anywhere."
Although the committee took no action on Exon's
proposal, it heard testimony from NU President D.B. Varner,
Vice President Howard Neville, the three chancellors, and
interested instructors, civic leaders and students, supporting
the regents' recommendations rather than Exon's.
Exon's $91.4 million proposed NU budget is $2.7 million
less than "the regents' request. By campus, the governor's
recommendations are: $50.6 million for UNL, $1.2 million
less than requested; $13.7 million for UNO, $375,000 less
than requested; and $22.9 million for the NU Medical Center,
$1.1 million less than requested.
Of special concern, according to Varner, was the 3.5 per
cent salary increase for NU instructors. The regents had
budgeted a 5.5 per cent increase.
Varner also voiced concern over the $190,000 requested to
equalize fringe benefits for NU's faculty. Gov. Exon reduced
the figure to $129,358, and the one per cent increase
requested in the state's contribution to the instructor's
retirement fund, was cut completely.
Discrimination board resurrected after 3 years
by Jane Owens
A proposed, two-step process has been resurrected
for investigating discrimination complaints, according
to a Council on Student Life (CSL) recommendation.
If established, as recommended last month by
CSL, a Committee on Equality and Judicial Board on
Equality would investigate charges of "limitation of
access to participation in education, social,, cultural, or
other activities of the University (UNL)."..
Discrimination also would be prohibited in
housing "supplied or regulated by the University for
students and staff, including fraternities and
sororities," unless based on distinctions between the
sexes.
UNL Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Ken
Bader said that although he has studied the proposal,
he has not had time to submit his recommendations.
The discrimination proposal and Bader's
recommendations probably will be sent to UNL
Chancellor James Zumberge this week, according to
the vice chancellor.
Zumberge probably could implement
recommendations made in the discrimination
proposal without taking the matter to the Board of
Regents, Bader added.
The establishment of a Committee on Equality
and Judicial Board on Equality initially was
recommended in a 1970 Report on Racial
Discrimination, prepared by John Robinson, former
CSL chairman.
Robinson was asked to prepare the report during
the 1969-70 school year by Chancellor D.B. Varner.
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Three years ago . . . John Robinson, former
CSL chairman, submitted the UNL Report on
Racial Discrimination.
According to the 1970 report, "racial prejudice is
common among students at the University."
Robinson, in the report, said that "on the basis of a
combination of objective and subjective evidence, six
(Greek) organizations which currently discriminate
racially, and fifteen which may do so."
One of Robinson's recommendations called for the
establishment of a Committee on Equality and
Judicial Board on Equality "for the continuous
survey of the racial situation at the University, and
for the speedy rectification of instances of racial
discrimination wherever they occur."
Does discrimination continue to exist among UNL
social organizations?
"I really have no means of knowing." Robinson
said. Since the report was published, Robinson has
become chairman of the UNL English department
and no longer serves as CSL chairman.
"After the report was released, I got the
impression that social organizations did want to do
something (to eliminate discrimination)," he said.
"There are a lot of well-intentioned people in those
organizations, but I don't know what the current
(discrimination) situation is."
In the 1970 report, Robinson identified five
fraternities and one sorority as not accepting black
members. He suggested that the Board of Regents
request Greek houses to "actively seek out members
of minority groups" and "severely reprimand" the six
Greek houses.
The houses were Alpha Gamma Rho, Kappa
Sigma, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, and Sigma
Nu fraternities and Kappa Delta sorority.
In addition, the Robinson Report suggested
suspending the Kappa Delta charter, unless the
chapter secured a statement from national officers
allowing freedom to the local chapter in member
selection.
"I don't think Kappa Delta has changed (it's
membership selection policies)," Robinson said. "Nor
do I think the situation has changed from the other
side. There's not any greater number of blacks trying
to get into sororities and fraternities."
Jan Piccolo, president of UNL's Kappa Delta
chapter, refused to comment when asked if a
non-discrimination pledge was secured from national
officers or if the organization's constitution had been
changed since the Robinson Report.
Piccolo also refused to comment on how many
minority members the sorority has or how many
votes are necessary to exclude potential members.
In his 1970 report, Robinson said that one
negative vote was sufficient to keep a potential
member from joining Kappa Delta.
Will the proposed Committee on Equality and
Judicial Board on Equality reduce discrimination
among campus social organizations?
"It depends a lot on who uses the process. Some
minority members are so disenchanted they don't
even bother with social organizations," Robinson
said.
"If people with such complaints would go to the
(proposed) committee, hopefully the problem would
be investigated. If the complaint was a legitimate one,
the chancellor would be asked to do something about
it," he added.
No discrimination exists in Greek organizations,
according to Jayne Anderson, coordinator of Greek
and cooperative organizations.
"To the best of my knowledge, there are no black
members in fraternities or sororities, except Kappa
Alpha Psi," she added, "but I understand that there
may be Mexican-Americans and American Indians
(belonging to Greek houses)."
"It appears that (UNL) sororities and fraternities
would welcome minority members," Anderson said.
"If they have a concern, it is to provide for that
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Kappa Delta ... no comment on racial
policies, according to Jan Piccolo, KD
president.
student as a person, in the best way possible."
CSL Chairman Don Shaneyfelt said he is uncertain
how much discrimination exists within campus social
organizations.
According to the CSL chairman, implementation
of the Robinson Report recommendations was
delayed when former UNL president Joseph Soshnik
resigned in 1971 and administrative offices were
reorganized.
"It's taken a while to get the proposal (for a
Committee on Equality and Judicial Board on
Equality) started, but I think it's on the road now,"
Shaneyfelt said. "If used properly, this process could
be very effective in any area where students are
involved with discrimination."
"But there must be someone who raises the
problem before an agency can take much action," he
said. "If you don't receive an complaints, you can
never deal with the problem."