Wednesday, august 20 lincoln, neb. vol. 99 no. 1
n rolls across state
rca
By Dick Fiersol ' '"?.
Former Oklahoma Sen. Fred Harris's
camper campaign rolled through Nebraska
last week, continuing a two month trip
across the nation that Harris hopefrdly calls
"On the road to the White House."
Harris, in his second try for the
Democratic presidential nomination, said
he is bringing his campaign "on the road
and to the people" so people recognize him
from among the host of Democratic
candidates. His "new-populism" approach
and stump-thumping style is an appeal to
"average family folks" who he said have
been ignored too long.
Harris spoke to audiences in Lincoln,
Grand Island, North Platte, Scottsbluff and
Chadron at coffees and brown bag lunches.
This campaign swing, which began in
Lafayette Park across the street from the
White House, is an effort to solidify
Harris's local organizations and attract a
core of supporters for an intensified fund
raising drive this fall, and to help raise
needed financing to obtain matching
federal funds for the early 1976
presidential primaries, y;.-.
Contributions
Under Use new federal campaign
financing laws, to receive matching funds, a
candidate must 'ise $5,000 In at least 20
states with a $250 limit on individual
contributions. The nominees of the two
major parties will be eligible for $20
million each for the general election
campaign.
It is this campaign financing operation,
called a ' "revolution in presidential
politics" by Harris, which he said will allow
candidates with smaller political treasure
chests to compete.
In his abortive 1972 presidential
campaign, Harris said he "went broke". He
has turned that failure and the new
financing laws into what he regards as the
backbone of his campaign "the issue is
privilege."
In his homey Oklahoma twang, Harris
made his 1972 campaign sound more like a
root crop failure than unfortunate political
winds.
He said his appeal is strictly to those he
called disenfranchised by a government
that serves the "ITTs, Gulf Oils, the large
agribusiness corporations" and others with
big money.
Campaign idea
Harris told the gatherings his campaign
is based on the idea that "people are smart
enough to govern themselves and that the
diffusion of power and influence among
the people of America ought to be the
government's primary goal."
Conjuring up Thomas Jefferson's image
of the ideal America and the sanctity of
the "average family," Harris said the time
is ripe for what he called the victimized,
over-taxed common American to take back
his rightful power.
Harris's short 'speeches were
complemented by question sessions with
the audience, or local Democratic officials,
depending upon the enthusiasm he inspired
on issues.
To farmers, he said that five major grain
"monopolies" in collusion with the
government have sold out American
agriculture. He advocated a grain price
floor beyond which prices could not fall
. and other measures designed to stabilize a
"boom and bust" agricultural economy. He
said the Soviet Union should be required to
make its grain buying intentions more open
and to build up reserves to flatten demand.
Domestic demand level
He said the U.S. should establish a
domestic demand level to protect
consumers from inflated food prices.
Harris characterized Secretary of -Agriculture
Earl Butz as the enemy of the
family farm. He said Butz has admitted the
family farm is the most efficient food
producing unit, but added that USDA
policies encourage corporate farming.
He drew enthusiastic response from
audiences when he said agribusiness and
food industry middlemen are reaping huge
profits at the expense of farmers and
consumers.
Continued on p. 32
Book outlook 'positive' despite difficulties
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Despite Initial difficulties in ordering
procedures, students should have' little
difficulty finding books for their classes,
thanks""' to" what Nebraska Bookstore
Manager" John Wehr calls "the most
positive thing that happened this summer."
Ordering difficulties arose when
mistakes were discovered in computer
forms used by professors to request texts,
Wehr said. The mistakes included
inaccurate class enrollment figures, wrong
class section numbers and misplaced lists.
"lists were sent out last spring, and
some instructors didn't realise they were
ordering fall books instead of books for
next spring," he said, adding that Nebraska
Bookstore bases its orders on these lists.
The computer forms are distributed and
compiled by the University Bookstore's
Office of Textbook Information, and then
parsed on to all city bookstores as a basis
for ordering books.
flt-lstriiion iiifromation
Wehr said the "positive event" was the
Academic Services office's decision to
supply registraion information as it
became available through the summer.
According to Gerald Bowker, director of
Academic Services, this kept bookstores
abreast of fall preregistration information.
"If things work out, those
preregistration figures will be directly
responsible for the success," Wehr said.
, "However, I believe we've taken care of
it (the problem)," Wehr continued. "We've
ordered more of the brand new significant
books for classes of SO to 100 students.
There must have been several large courses
where we ordered 100 per cent of the
books."
Usual order
Wehr said the bookstore usually orders
70 per cent of the class estimate.
If a shortage of texts does arise, Wehr
taid it will be evident mostly in books for
senior and graduate level courses.
Wehr said the Nebraska Bookstore bases
the percentage of books it orders on past
records. This includes the past history of
the title of the book, the course, the
preenrollment figures and the reliability of
the particular departments, in their
estimates.
Some departments, Wehr said, will order
as many books as a classroom will fill
instead of for the number of students
expected. In other departments, where a
majority cf students have purchased their
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books at the store in the past, Wehr said he
, may order as many as 95 per cent of the
texts, and go as low as SO per cent of the
class estimate if students seem not to be
buying books there.
Wehr said overstocking books can "be
rnore inefficient" for the store than
underordering because of return freight
and employe costs. He said the store
should have "a good idea within a week or
ten days" if it ordered correctly.
He said the Nebraska Bookstore also
will oeprate a temporary book supply for
the first two weeks of school on East
Campus form 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
"If the volume (of business) holds us
there, well keep it open as long as we can
justify," Wehr said.
Close estimates
Jerry Williams, assistant manager of
University Bookstore, said he usually finds
that professor estimates of the number of
books needed for their classes "will be real
close" to the actual number "nine out of
ten times.
"But it's the one time out of ten we're
concerned with," when oversotkeing or
understocking occurs, he said.
He said he also uses class estimates in
! 1IUI
By Theresa Forsman
Several new and a couple of not-so-new
construction projects have kept UNL in the
building business this summer.
. M.W. Anderson Construction Co.
workers have so far managed to keep
- progress on the new Life Sciences Building
on schedule, Tom Nycum, physical plant
assistant director, said.
The demolition of Stout Hall during
the summer of 1974 marked the beginning
of work on the $6.2 million structure, due
for completion in September 1976,
Nycum said.
The replacement for 60-year-old Bessey
Hall is sorely needed, according to Dr.
Gary Hergenrader, Life Sciences
Department interim dean.
Scattered
Though Bessey. houses most of the
Apartment, Hcrgenrader said life sciences
faculty members and labs are scattered
throughout seven City Campus buildings.
In addition to bringing the department
under a single roof, the new structure will
provide modern equipment and specialized
- labs, the dean said.
Itergenrader said the department is
eager to move into its new quarters, but
added that he is not optimistic about next
fall's target date for completion.
Inclement winter weather and
Democratic presidential candidate Fred
Harris.
conjunction with actual enrollment figures
and previous years' sales records to
determine the number of books to order.
The procedure is a "true science," Williams
said.
Generally, he said his shelves contain 50
per cent of the number of books that
preenrollment figures show.
More used books
Williams said he is not sure, but that
Erobably 30 per cent of the books in
Fniversity Bookstore are used. That
number is probably 10 per cent to 15 per
cent more than the number of used books
the store had last year.
The ASUN Book Exchange will open
Aug.' 25 from 12 to 5 pan., and will
operate the first week of school, according
to Jim Say, ASUN president.
Continued on p. 15
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UWfl I I USUI SOI iog
spring's budget battles in the Legislature
have pushed the tentative completion date
for the field house basketball arena to early
1976, according to Nycum. Me estimated a
spring 1976 completion date for the track
and pool.
Four summer strikes by local engineers,
and the plumbcis and steamfitters unions
, threatened to further delay completion of
the $13.8 million sports complex.
I The most recent strike ended last week,
and both union and nonunion employees
are back at work on the field house.
Getting the , field house completed
depends "on what the unions do to us,"
Nycum said. Work on the complex began
in November 1972.
Nycum. explained that the university
usually lets four contracts ' on building
construction-general, electrical,
mechanical and elevator contracts. To save
time, Nycum explained, UNL further
subcontracted field house work to 13
different companies.
Protested " V,
The presence of the cement contractor,
non-union T & M Construction Co., caused
higher-paid union workers to picket Union
officials have protested the lower wages
received by T k M employes for the same
work done by union members.
. . (Contiassed oa pg. 32)
