Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1974)
, -ar'-W'NiW , v w w w - Cut in LAP operating funds; administration change likely Ho downtown office suite houses the Lincoln Action Program (LAP). It operates from a building that previously held an advertising company and from a house, both in the Malone area, within the low income neighbor hoods the agency was established to serve. But LAP may have no home after Sept. 30, according to Jesse Payne. Now operating on funds from the Office of Economic Opportunity OEO scheduled to run our Sept. 30, LAP and other community action agencies throughout the country are up for a change in administration. Pending Senate approval, a House of Representatives bill would Iplace the agencies under the Department of Health, Education and Welfare author ity. Previously, the agencies were under OEO administration, as provided for in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The bill would abolish OEO, already dismatled under former President richard Nixon's administration. Indications don't favor the possibility of any action being taken on the bill by Sept. 30, according to Payne, but other existing factors have and will affect LAP operations, he said. One factor has been the Ipresent amount of agency funding, Payne said. Since Nixon's actions regarding OEO, LAP'S budget has been cut from $1.4 million in ,1968-69 to $600,000 in 1973-74, he said. Consequentlysome LAP programs have been cut from the agency, according to Payne. He said the manpower and Neighborhood Youth Corp employment programs were from the agency, and an alcoholism counseMQgp;pgram,(has .funding ,urtti!n Sept. 30.0tV" " ' " ' The remaining five LAP programs include: a senior opportunity and service program that advises low-income elderly persons of their rights; a Youth Development Program to begin Oct. 1 aimed at preventing deliquency; an Economic Development Department that assists minorities or low-income persons in establishing small busi nesses; and a program in which LAP serves as a grantee agency for Lincoln's Headstari Program, Through these programs, the LAP staff of 30 works with more than 15,000 low-income persons in Lincoln and Lancaster County, Payne said, by meeting with the people to determine what their needs are, the staff then provides services for these needs or referrals to other prcsrams desicned to meet these needs, Payne said. Problems that the LAP staff has discovered in its low-income community are the lack of direct money available to families to meet rising costs and a feeling of helplessness among the people to improve their situation, Payne . said. Additional local agencies have been created to perform the same function LAP does, Payne said. S.ome, like the State Departns.nt of Health, have the equipment and finances to provide services, he said. Other agencies, however, have adop ted eligibility-by-income standards that exclude most low-income persons, Payne said. According to OEO stan dards, the poverty income level is a $4,750 yearly income for a family of four. Many of the agencies are considered more leaitimate than LAP because they don't employ the low-income people they're serving, Payne said. Low income persons are involved in LAP'S programs, Payne said. "If they had had any consciousness (of the problems of the low-income people), the problems wouldn't be there in the first place," he said. Speculating on the administration of community angency programs under HEW, Payne said he thought that some HEW officials with backgrounds as Nixon supporters would be conservative in releasing funds to the agencies. The conflict lies in that "community action -agencies are dynamic, they're .changing things, Payne said. - --But few people want tor become involved in changing the conditions of low-income families, Payne said. The feeling of powerlessness on their part is shared by others concerned with increasing living costs, he said. "People feel the cake is shrinking. They want to get their piece of it while they can," hesaid., Lack of university student participa tion in programs for low-Income families best demonstrate the unwillingness of people to become involved in LAPs programs, Payne said. "Students now are estranged from issues. They're back into the Ivory tower kind of thing" that existed on campus before student involvment in political and social issues during the 1960s, Payne said. ii njtii'iiJ ir'i ihihmuIm ir i ' i r i " ' m . . -" & - -ifc - .- - i itftd 'i'ttM fci If it i i . iuaMti LmCW - m L ft I ft at ft . I ?3 I I I the Apartment Lounge 13th & M presents . AMATEUR ; NIGHT 'n "?nnio nnirt,-1 iiiaiciaris-ESP-daiicers- strippers Nightly winner receives $10.00 and chance for finalist night. Finalist winner receives paid engagement. for -details call the Dutchman 432-4471 ALSO" Daily free popcorn Monday 6 to 8 pm - Free Hors'duerves Tuesday 7 to 9 pm - 2'fers Old Time Movies Buster Keaton - Charlie Chaplin -Keystone Cops oxaooooooccocogMBOgK3ceo . in otir sausage 3 ' . 1 The secret that makes Valentino's sausage pizzas taste so different is not in the sausage it's the crust underneath. Not too crisp. Not too chewy. Tastes great with any topping. You can choose from more than sixteen different combinations at Valentino's. Why not share the secret with your friends? Share a Valentino's pizza! . People keep coming back 35TII & HOLDRECE Wednesday, September 11, 1974 . daily nebraskan 4645947. I .'A t page 11 ' ! 'I If . 1 1 . s 1 ; f il ,-1