Wednesday, September 10,1975 volume 89 number 10 iincoln, nebraska
ehts' suif attempts to def ine authority
By Marian Lucas
The NU Board of Regents will find out
September 15th whether the Nebraska ,
Supreme Court will grant their declaratory
judgment request concerning university
control, according to Bud Johnson, NU
legal counselor.. .
Johnson said the request asks the court: :
If the regents have the authority to
govern the university or if legislators do. v
-If the Legislature can delegate author
ity over the university to other state of
ficers. -What control the Legislature has over
university trust funds, state taxes and other .
monies not raised by university taxation.
"The besic question is. who has what
authority," Johnson said.
Original jurisdiction
The Supreme Court, in delivering the
judgment, will rule whether or not the
court has original jurisdiction in the case.
If it decides it does, proceedings will begin.
However, if the court rules it lias no juris
diction and denies the request, the case will
be filed in a lower state court which has
jurisdiction to state proceedings.
"We feel there has been a violation ofJ
the regents' constitutional rights," Johnson
said. -
Regent Robert Koefoot of Grand Island
said legislators have been raising some
questions that the regents should ask.
Koefoot, who has opposed legislative
control, said the regents have been elected
to govern the university, He said he doubt
ed if the regents truly have the power that
have been delegated to them. .
"I'm not mad," Koefoot said, "but I
think this matter should be settled."
Governor J. James Exon has consistent
ly advocated giving a lump-sum budget to
the regents, then letting them distribute
the monies to campuses. '
"A lump sum budget is needed in order
for us to do a good job at the university,"
agreed Koefoot.
But State Sen. Richard Marvel of Hast
ings said it's unconstitutional to appropri
ate a lump sum. "It's a simple question of '
constitutional authority that they (the
legislators) can't give," said Marvel.
' Omaha Regent James Moylan, the sole
dissenter in the regent's initial judicial
determination motion, said that according
to the state constitution, the regents were a
"governing body under the direction of the.
Legislature."
More to lose
"I feet that after the interpretation of
the constitution we won't have a chance,"
said Moylan. "We have a lot more to lose
than gain." '
Moylan said that according to the
constitution, the regents were "a governing .
body under the direction of the Legisla
ture." "That will be the' constitutional law the
court will be looking at," said Moylan.
Robert Raun, a regent of Minden, said
the regents have stated all they want to do
is clear the air.
"What we want is a ruling where our
authority will be given and understood,"
he said.
NU President D.B. Varner said he would
like to revive the system 10 years ago
whereby the Legislature appropriated one
lump sum for the regents to administer
to the campuses.
Schuyler Regent Kermit Hansen sug
gested the formation of a committee which
would examine the operations on the
Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Colorado and
Iowa campuses. He said they could explore
these campuses to find the strengths and
weaknesses of their relationship between
administrations.
Zumberge: issues to cause difficulty
Outgoing UNL Chancellor James Zum
berge told the first meeting of the UNL
Faculty Senate Tuesday that the university
will face difficult times until two major
issues are decided.
The two issues, Zumberge told the ap
proximately 120 persons attending, are the
question of how much authority the Ne
braska Legislature has in university
business and how authority should be dis
tributed between the university president
and the system's three chancellors.
Zumberge said the crux of the question
concerning legislative authority is con
tained in the Nebraska constitution where
it says, "The University of Nebraska shall
be governed by a board of regents under
the direction of the Legislature."
'Eryoyablejob
Acker at Kansas State
dreetQ
By Randy Blauveli
Better pay, more responsibility, and a
"very enjoyable job greeted a former UNL
administrator Duane Acker when he moved
to Kansas State University (KSU) early
this summer.
Acker, KSU president and former vice
chancellor for the UNL Institute of Agri
culture and Natural Resources, resigned
last spring to become KSU president July
1.
"I just couldn't pass up the opportunity
to lead a major land-grant university," the
44-year-old Acker said.
$10,003 increase
Acker, who was associate dean of agri
culture at KSU before coming to Nebraska,
said he now earns $46,000 yearly. He was
paid about $36,000 for his UNL position.
Although he has been at KSU since July
1, Acker said he does not miss Nebraska
yet. '
"I've been so busy that I haven't had
time to miss anything," he said. "But there
is such a similarity among people of the
Plains States that I don't know if 111 miss
Nebraska."
When he becama president, Acker also
acquired KSUY athletic department's'
inside tedm1
? 3
New Police Chief: approved by
Lincoln City Council. ....... p.3
New Ideas: in physical education
covered in Third Dimension . . p.5
Also Find:
Editorials. p.4
Entertainment. ............ p.8
Sports . ............... . . p.tO
Crossword p.! I
Weather
Wednesday: Partly sunny with temper
atures in the low to mid-80s.
Wednesday night: Cooler temperatures
and thundershowers expected. .
Thursday: Decreasing cloudiness, highs
hi the mid70s.
financial problem. A problem which he
said caused withdrawal of financial support
for wrestling, tennis and golf.
"We've withdrawn support just for this
fiscal year," Acker said. "When next year
comes around, well just have to see if we
have enough money."
As of June 30, Acker said the KSU
athletic dept. was $365,000 in debt, after
using $200,000 from 1975 football ticket
sales to pay bills. .
"I don't like the idea of borrowing from
the future to pay bills," he said. "We've
spent the money and we still have to
deliver the entertainment"
Cash and pledge
Acker said KSU had to cut back fund
ing of minor sports, reduce the number ol
scholarships, and start a cash and pledge
fund-raising drive in order to "break even."
So far; he said there have been more than
$100,000 in pledges. The drive is aimsd at
gathering alumni and other Individual's
contributions, he added.
According to Acker, the agricultural
program at KSU is strong.
"We have what UNL has, plus programs
in bakery management, feed milling and
flour milling," he said. "We have about 500
students in horticulture programs, many
more than UNL"
KSU now offers a course in horti
cultural" therapy. The course involves using
-plants to aid emotionally or physically
distressed persons.
"I dent think that type of course is
Offered anywhere else," Acker said.
UNL's agricultural courses include plant
pathology, animal science, agronomy, agri
cultural engineering, horticulture and
forestry.
, ' Veterinary hb ad&ilon
Another improvement in KSU's agri
culture program is construction of a $15
million addition to its veterinary medicine
laboratory, Acker said.
Acker said enrollment in agricultural
programs at KSU is 1 5 per cent higher than
last year. Total KSU enrollment is more
than six per cent higher, he said. .
He attributed tho increased agricultural
enrollment to an increased interest in agri
business, more exposure of agriculture in
This is a haunting and annoying-pipb-lem,"
Zumberge said. "It has needed reso
lution for many, many years."
Zumberge said the second question was
raised because the governor and Legislature
usually want one person to represent the
university, whereas each campus has a
chancellor that is responsible fof that
particular campus. ..
"Until they (problems) are resolved, the
instability of governance will perturb the
smooth activity of the campuses," he said.
Steven Sample, executive vice president
for academic affairs, reported on a tenure
density study ordered by the NU Board of
Regents lat April. Tenure density is the
number of tenured faculty members in
proportion to the total number of faculty
members. -
He gave university tenure percentages as
75 per cent at UNL, 66 per cent at UNO
and 42 per cent at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).
According to Sample, the study isn't
completed but he said the study committee
has looked at alternatives for consideration
in keeping a lower tenure density. These
are:
, -Not granting tenure until the full
seven-year probation has been completed.
-Raising the academic standards for
awarding tenure.
-Setting up university-wide tenure
standards.
-Reviewing and evaluating a tenure
candidate's teaching record. i
-Depending more on outside rccorn
mendatio.is for granting tenure.
r ,.
1 i
rAr
Dushe Acker, new Kansas State University President.
the news media (such as Russian grain
deals), and a general trend by many to
avoid metropolitan life. .
He said the overall enrollment increase
probably was caused by the increased
number of transfer students, 300 more
freshmen than expected and a higher re
turn rate of students who dropped out for
at least one semester. , , '
SCO re-enro!Ices
"We usually have 300 to 350 re-enrol-lees
every year," Acker said. "But this fall,
we were amazed when 800 former students
re-enrolled." ... " -
As president, Acker will have to deal
with the Kansas Legislature concerning
KSU's budget. He said he expects no
problems. .
"The Kansas legislators IVe met have a
good attitude," Acker said. "They're
interested in a good educational program,
but are cautious in ' spending public
money."
According to Acker, the Kansas Legis
lature has approved a 10 per cent faculty
pay increase each year for the past two
consecutive years. He said he is optimistic
that they would do the same again in
January.
; . 'Pleasing consistency
Acker also said he likes the KSU campus
better than UNL's.
"UNL's campus has a lot of variety in
architecture," he said, "but KSU has a
pleasing consistency that Nebraska doesn't
have." '
Acker said KSU's one-campus system
has a distinct advantage over UNL's two
campus set-up because of easier com
munication. The two-campus system,, he
said, will be a "permanent handicap" to
UNL
Although he may never miss Nebraska,
Acker said he is thankful to those who
worked with him to make the agricultural
and natural resources institute a success