CO U to
monday, march 12, 1973
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 86
Candidates split on dorm rate, student lawyer
The candidates for ASUN executive nn?t; folt a
hot wind from the grass roots Sunday night at a
debate in Women's Residence Hall.
The dormitory students wanted to know why their
room and board rates were being raised $80 next
year, what they would get out it, and what ASUN
was doing about it.
Most of the heat was felt by Get Off Your Apathy
(GOYA) presidential candidate Ann Henry, who
agrees with the UNL Housing Office that the rate
increases are justified.
"Food prices (and other prices such as salaries) are
up so high that price rises are inevitable," Henry told
the 100 students present. "We ought to concentrate
on better visitation and alcohol privileges to go along
with the increased cost.
Unity and Progress (UP) party presidential
candidate Bill Freudenburg did not feel the price
increases were necessarily justified simply because the
housing office said they were.
"The housing office has a lot of figures and
statistics to show they're right," Freudenburg said.
"But ASUN has the responsibility to students not to
belive everything the housing office says."
Faculty Senate
may restrict
police agents
By Nancy Stohs
A proposal to prohibit undercover surveillance of
constitutionally-protected activities at UNL will go
before the Faculty Senate Tuesday.
The policy, drawn up by the Faculty Human
Rights Committee, would allow police surveillance on
campus only at the "outbreak of suspected criminal
activity". It also would prohibit infiltration by
undercover agents and informers, and retention of
secret files on individuals.
According to the proposal, it is "intended to
protect all members of the UNL community,
including administrators, faculty and students, in the
exercise of their constitutional rights of free speech
and association and to govern their responses to such
activities."
Observation at possibly disruptive "activities of a
protest of political nature" would be done by
identifiable neutral observation teams appointed by
the Faculty Senate and ASUN executives.
The recommendation would give the UNL
chancellor the responsibility to supervise surveillance
by campus police and to invite outside police agencies
onto campus.
The only other person that responsibility could be
delegated to would be the UNL director of business
and finance.
However, in unexpected emergencies, (to be
defined later), police could act on their own.
Concerning demonstrations and meetings in
general, the policy states:
" , he role of the police in preserving order at
assemblies, meetings and demonstrations should be
separate from the investigatory role of the police.
"When police maintain order at large public
gatherings or smaller meetings where disruptive
actions are expected, they should not, prior to the
outbreak of suspected criminal activities, engage in
surveillance ..."
The recommendation recognizes that "it is
peculiarly within the university community that the
free expression of novel or unpopular ideas must be
protected and encouraged.
The proposed regulations would not "govern the
investigation of acts of a possible criminal nature
unprotected by constitutional rights of speech or
association, including crimes against persons or
property and the investigation of drug-related
offenses."
The proposal results from a study by a human
rights subcommittee formed in May 1971. It followed
reports of plain-clothed undercover agents at UNL
and secret dossiers on students kept by the Lincoln
Police.
Chairman of the human rights subcommittee is
Gordon B. Fields, UNL law professor.
"Prices are going up all over the country," Henry
said, "not just in the dormitories. It's a fact of life."
"What we're after is the best quality for the least
money," she said.
Surrealist Light People's Party (SLPP) candidate
Jack Mason had his opinion, too. "On the issue of
visitation," he said, incense smoke swirling about his
head, "I will go to the Board of Regents and I will
speak to the board for you."
Turning to face a black board in the room, he said
"Okay you guys, I got mine behind me and they're
more than you. So what we say goes."
SLPP put on another of its well rehearsed shows
during the debate, with Mason and some of his
friends leading the audience in a chant of "Out,
Demons, Out."
"It's hard to follow Jack Mason," Freudenburg
said. "It really says something that ridicule is a good
way to describe ASUN this year."
At a Burr Hall gathering later in the evening the
continuing debate over the feasibility of sponsoring a
student lawyer resumed before a more subdued
audience of about 30 students.
"We thought it was a really good idea ourselves at
first," Freudenburg said. His UP party is against the
concept of hiring one lawyer to advise ASUN and
UNL students in general. "But as we did a little bit of
preliminary research before we put it into our
platform we ran into problems."
The main problem is that the Nebraska Supreme
Court accepted an American Bar Association code of
ethical responsibility in its entirety except for the
passage approving of group law practice under certain
conditions. But the court hasn't rejected the
passage, either, GOYA party members claim. Henry
and GOYA are willing to hire a lawyer and weather a
test case in the state high court.
Freudenburg and UP recommend a possible
alternative: paying a panel of lawyers a lump sum to
give reduced rates to students.
That alternative would circumvent the ethical
problem Freudenburg said was raised by one lawyer
serving many clients, leaving both the lawyer and the
clients without a choice in the matter.
GOYA cites other universities' success with hiring
one lawyer and claims one lawyer hired exclusively
by ASUN would provide more personal service.
naif
NHRKV.
UNL enrollment may decrease
by Mary Voboril
Informed sources predict that next fall's
enrollment may drop by as many as 900
students and is causing headaches for campus
administrators. The drop also could
shortchange students who begin classes next
August, sources said.
A triple deterrent faces students wanting to
attend UNL next year: an increase in tuition,
an increase in University housing rates and
uncertainty about federal funds available for
loans or scholarships. Some students will not
find out if they are eligible for financial aid
until late next summer.
University brass is concerned with the
possibility of a significant decrease in
enrollment for financial reasons. The University
overshot its enrollment prediction for last fall
and ended up operating in the red. Indications
are that administrators want to be prepared for
whatever comes next year.
UNL Chancellor James Zumberge has
expressed concern about the future of the
housing program in the face of an enrollment
drop. He said dormitory occupancy has fallen
sharply on many campuses, and UNL is
unlikely to escape the trend.
He also said he has scrapped plans to build
40 new apartments for married students until
he decides whether it would be better to
remodel unused space in existing residence
halls.
The University also is cutting down custodial
service in the residence halls, raising prices in
snack bars and serving lower quality canned
goods in dormitory cafeterias.
Gov. J.J. Exon also has proposed a $1.2
million cut in the regents' requested budget for
UNL, which is causing University personnel to
search for still other means of economizing.
Students also will feel effects of a drop. If
enrollment next fall is down, for example, by
1,000 students, the University will lose $51,500
in student fees alone. This loss would affect
both students and the administration. Money
directly allocated from student fees to student
organizations such as ASUN also would
decrease significantly. ASUN would have less
money to distribute to student concerns.
The University would lose out in retiring its
bonded indebtedness. Hal Smith, director of
student development-programs, also said the
pinch would be felt in the Nebraska Union if
the reports prove true. He said that if the Union
is forced into a financial squeeze, one area that
could be affected is the speakers piocjiam,
which brings nationally known figures to
campus.
A major factor in the possibility of a drop is
federal money. This year about 6,900 students
had loans or grants under federal programs. But
by next fall, the total may drop to 2,100
according to Ken Bader, vice chancellor of
student affairs.
Bader added that UNL may see a 15 per cent
cut in federal money used to support some
part-time jobs for students.
NU President D.B. Varner has indicated it's
too early to panic. He said universities across
the country oppose many proposed cuts in aid
to higher education and that there is a chance
the reductions can be delayed.
Varner siad he mostly is concerned about
the uncertainty of the federal program.
"Students and schools cannot plan for next
year until the federal program is definite," he
said.
