dibriol
o e
Post-Mortem
It isn't easy to write an obituary for a
sj f ient : .y-itnt project. ''So many have
failed, so many have been forgotten that it
almost seems trite to waste news space on
them when they flop. But the ASUN Record
Store's folding seen:': i a different story.
For its closing Sably will have continuing
importance to students and particularly
ASUN.
The store was begun as an attempt to offer
students ust-r'ui goods at prices lower than
those of other Lincoln merchants. According
to Daily Nebraskan records, the store took
almost two yrs fo organize. When opened in
n ' ""' ' 'w 'as in debt to
ASUN, its .,,v..Mjf. Bui it seemed the store
would soon , ., .pS and be on its
own feet. This, however, wns not the case.
The manj.'ji'.'! o . t, , : U c: ;- -TUN
with tfr? ' ,e more : :oney so
we can increase our inventory. Loans and gifts
authorized by the ASUN Senate to the store
totaled more than $5,000 when it was closed
ASUM RECORD
" 1 President Ann Henry.
1 i u wisely in closing the store
when she did. An examination of the store's
hooks hv Student Activities showed th.it as of
"is on'atinrj at a monthly
o, ol,uOU. nome of the ASUN
loans had ! :: :' ' mt -My about $1,600.
There was about S4,000 left to be paid. The
store hd nti---, ' . 10,000.
' .j rr, to ! due to
inefficient incompetent business
practices. The Record Store's books were a
bookkpnnnr's nightmare. They were a
' ''., were kept on small pieces of
paper, iiu.u was no accurate accounting of
how much money was borrowed from ASUN
or how much was repaid.
It -Jf "r 1 ' 'is tl'" confusion in the
books tl ! d former ASUN President Bruce
Beecher (1972 73) to announce incorrectly
that the ASUN loans had been repaid. While
such errors are not excusable, they are
understandable. Even Beecher, a former
Record Store manager who apparently did a
fairly good job in keeping the store in the
black, admits it was difficult to follow the
accounting system. Beecher now also admits
that the store needed a more businesslike
accounting system. He says that he ordered
former store manager Terry Braye to institute
such a system following a Student Activities
examination of the books in January. For
reasons unknown such a system never was
begun.
It is possible that the store might not have
closed if the accounting system had been
changed. Even if the store flopped eventually,
instituting such a system might have kept the
debt from growing to its final proportion.
But though the Record Store is dead, its
ghost will haunt future ASUN
administrations. Henry has announced that
the remaining deficit, following sale of all
store assests and inventory, will be about
$7,000. It will be paid in yearly installments
of $2,000. But more than the debt might be a
problem to the ASUN Senate and executives:
the failure of the Record Store might be
criticized at the Board of Regents meeting
Friday.
It is known that a few members of the
board look on trusting students with the
management of money as being similar to
trusting the fox in the hen house. The board
must remember that the failure of the store is
not due necessarily to student government's
ineptness, but more to the incompetence of a
few individuals.
But more than words will be necessary to
convince the Regents that students can be
trusted with money management. To regain
some of the board's confidence and assure the
success of future student business ventures
the ASUN Senate should appoint a committee
to investigate the causes of the failure of the
store. Three mistakes can be spotted easily:
-None of the Record Store managers had
adequate business experience. All were close
friends of the ASUN presidents who
appointed them. It appears that in appointing
record store managers, the presidents must
have been more concerned with their friends'
welfare than the welfare of the store.
-The ASUN executives who made up the
board of directors for the store "just didn't
ride herd enough on the managers," according
to former ASUN President Steve Tiwald
(1970-71). If they would have shown more
interest in the store it probably would not
have gone so deeply into dept.
-The accounting procedure was shameful.
But the committee must not study just the
causes of the failure. It also should draw up
guidelines for the operation of other student
business ventures. Of particular importance
should be a sound accounting system with
built-in safeguards to protect such ventures
from incompetents. A method for selecting
managers also ought to be established, as
should corporate by-laws.
As Henry acted quickly and wisely in
closing the store, so should the senate act
quickly to discourage future failures.
Michael (O.J.) Nelson
eith hndoren
desperate
fefnedies
" " "S
Nixon side steps questions
Kfilth I arwlnran .;...' .
1 . c
91 VS
i-'y yx ym-r w
COL; v-w' .1 ''
Keith Landaren is a inninr mainri ;
English.
The President's press conference at San
Clemente August 22, significant for its
omissions as for its contributions, was a step in
the right direction. At least it was a step away
from the wrong direction.
Before the conference Nixon offered only
monologues. His televised speech on August 15
and its accompanying written statement both
failed because of their format. Insulated
by television cameras and a printed
explanation, Nixon answered only the
questions for which he had ready answers, his
replies were inadequate, particularly on the
subject of Watergate.
It is true that the country is tired of
Watergate. America is tired of learning it has
been misled, tired of hearing of its mistakes
tired of seeing a great nation in the hands of
misfits. But America never will tire of seeing
criminals brought to justice.
John Dean must not be made the only villain
in the Watergate case. No one outside the White
House 'is prepared to believe Dean planned
financed, directed, and covered up the
Watergate burglary by himself. Nixon must
know that.
The President must stop pretending John
Ehrlichman and H. R. Haldeman are "two of
the finest public servants" he has known. They
did not serve the public: indeed, before the
Ervin committee hearinas thev snldnm coun
the public.
The speech ignored too many pressing issues
to be of great value. Nothing was said of the
cost of San Clemente or Key Biscayne. No light
?nn!led 00 the connection between the
$400,000 campaign contribution to the
Republican party by International Telephone
and Telegraph and an antitrust settlement in
ITT s favor.
Two days later in New Orleans he
compounded his errors by trying to defend his
Cambodian policy. Worse, he packed the speech
with emotional jabber and presented it to the
only audience in America who could be
expected to cheer such news. The defense
failed, but the Veterans of Foreign Wan
applauded anyway.
Finally, on August 22, Richard Nixon faced
the press. Weakened and aged as only his
mistakes could make him, Nixon began
correcting those mistakes.
Hopefully the President sees, by now, the
folly of seclusion. The news media doesn't
speak for the nation but they do ask questions
for it and those questions must be answered.
lL r $Peak fr Amtrica' the men and
women of Congress, must be heard. Most
important, the President must cease speaking to
us and begin speaking with us. The road to
dialogue and reconciliation, begun at San
Clemente, must be followed.
daily nebraskan
thursday, august 30, 1973
