dailu
thursday, September 18, 1975
volume 99 number 14 lincoln, nebraska
By Dick Pieisol
When Clifford Hardin resigned as Uni-
versity of Nebraska chancellor in 1968 to
become President Richard Nixon's
Secretary of Agriculture, it was not
without regrets. -
"I had no real ambition to be in govern
ment," he said. "I was happy in Lincoln,
but when one gets what seems to be an
urgent invitation, it's hard to turn down."
Hardin was chancellor for 14 years and
Secretary of Agriculture for nearly three,
until the Ralston-Purina Co. offered him
his current position as vice-chairman of its
board.
In a telephone interview, Hardin talked
about his career in the upper echelons of
education, government and business, and
issues pertinent to his extensive experience
as an agricultural economist.
Salaries low
The university was in what Hardin
called tough shape when he assumed the
chancellorship in 1954. He said salaries
were low and a discouraged attitude per
vaded the faculty and administration.
NU was entering a period of growth
' when enrollment nearly tripled in Hardin's
years as chancellor.
Campus construction, educational tele
vision and curricula were among the pro
grams expanded to meet the higher -educational
needs of Nebraskans during Hardin's
tenure as chancellor. .
He said a major accomplishment was the
establishment, of the Nebraska Center for
Continuing Education at 33rd and
Holdrege streets Hardin said 5,000 Ne
braska organizations donated $1.25 million
for the conference and convention head
quarters, j
Nebraskans isolated
When Hardin became chancellor, he said
Nebraskans were isolated and distrusted,
other nations' economies and cultures.
' "The programs we started in coopera
tive aid to higher education with Turkey
and agricultural assistance with Colombia
may seem old hat now," he said. "But at
the time they were really fresh new ideas
and accomplished a lot for all concerned."
Hardin said he took pride in helping
improve the "quality" of university faculty
members while the quantity also grew.
"We had many of the same problems
you have now. Some of our best people
were leaving, but at least we knew we were
improving the quality of the university.
Otherwise, other institutions wouldn't have -been
trying to hire our people," he said.
Conflicting authority
The relationship between the Legisla
ture and Board of Regents in governing the
university was not a major problem, he said,
but the "gray area" of conflicting authori
ty often was discussed.
inside
Before "Jaws": Thorson and
sharks , p.5
After vote: ASUN supports .voting
student regent p.12
Also Find:
Editorials. p.4
, Arts and Entertainment p.8
Sports p.10
' Crossword " . . p.l 1
Weafeer " ' ,
Thursday: Partly cloudy, northwesterly
winds 10 to 20 mph. Highs ia the mid-70s.
Chance of thundersliowcrs.
Thursday tvt: Mostly cloudy, 40 per
cent chance of rain, lows to the mld-SOs.
Friday: Clear and cooler, temperatures
In the high 60s.
Hardin said he was "in love with Ne
braska and its people" when the irresistable
call from the Nixon White House came.
'The three years I spent there were the
good years of that administration," he said.
"But I was thinking about future retire
ment and I knew I couldn't afford to stay
in government for long. I wouldn't have
left at all, but Ralston-Purina made me the
offer and I didn't know if another like it
would ever come along."
At Ralston-Purina, Hardin has wide re
sponsibilities and is concerned chiefly with
research and development of new products.
Impact of growth
His position also gave him the opportun
ity and time to serve as chairman of the
National Commission for World Population
Year-1974. He said its purpose was to "do
anything we could to make America realize
the extent of world population growth and
its impact on this country, especially
concerning food supply." '
Hardin said this is the world's greatest
challenge,.
"The pi ?blem can be divided into two
parts," he said. "First, consider what I call
the commeical world, consisting of the
U.S. and its food markets-Europe, Japan,
the Soviet Union and others. That's a lot of
foreign exchange, and those countries
represent a large commercial demand. Then
there are the developing.countries, chiefly
in Asia, Africa and Latin America, short on
foreign exchange, but with an enormous
nutntionai need.
"In this century American agriculture
probably can meet all the commercial
demand, but the nutritional needs of the
world are so great there is no way the U.S.
can meet it alone," he added.
- Increased production needed - -
It is an inescapable biological fact that
developing countries must increase food
production to stop not only malnutrition
but mass starvation, he said. Broad U.S.
technical assistance to those developing
nations is essential.
"The political leaders in many poor
countries are giving in to pressure for cheap
food in urban areas," he said. "But they
cannot depend on primitive agricultural
methods used by a small number of rural
producers to solve the problem. Most of
. these countries have totally inadequate
marketing arid storage methods. Much of
their produce is susceptible to spoilage and
insect infestation."
Hardin said he sees some heartening
signs. ' .
Residence halls
"About half the developing nations have
increased food production more than pop
ulation growth and some have started to
export small amounts," he said. "If the
countries which haven't made internal
adjustments did and coupled it with Ameri
can technical assistance, the food shortage
will start to fade."
Food diplomacy
Hardin said "he doubts the morality and
workability of the United States using its
food production as foreign policy leverage
much as the Middle East oil producing
countries have done. -
"We don't control the world food sup
ply like the Organization of Petroleum Ex
porting Countries (OPEC) control their
markets," he said. "We are a party to the
General Agreement on Treaties and Tariffs
negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland, and we
have commitments to meet. It's not our
style to scrap commitments and use food
production like a gun."
Hardin said he supports the recent grain
sales with the Soviet Union. He said a
proper perspective of grain trade is needed.
"In the 1972 deal, we sold less than $1
. billion in grain to the Soviet Union and a
" lot of people were saying that it was unfair
to American consumers," he said. "That
same .year we increased existing' sales to'
Japan by $2.5 billion. In that first deal
with Russia, the government and the grain
companies got taken for a bit of a ride, but
. it was a sudden unexpected kind of deal. It
would be desirable to diversify the sale of
all grains. We sold the Russians only wheat
and they produce more wheat than we
do." - ;
Hardin does not know the details of
current negotiations with the Soviet Union
he said, but AFL-CIO President George
Meany's tactics of holding up grain ship-'
ments are a bad influence on foreign
policy.
Hardin also said he favors firm treat
ment of the grain company officials recent
ly accused of short weighting and other
frauds. He credited stricter federal enforce
ment and investigation for discovery of the
misconduct.
Frightening connotations, that the term
"corporate farming" has for many is
largely a problem of semantics, he said.
Large corporations, like Ralston-Purina,
are ill-suited and do not intend to manage
farm operations, he said.
There may be advantages in terms of
property valuation, credit, salaries paid to
family members, and taxes in the incor-
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Daily Htbrtakmi photo
Clifford Hardinr former UNL
chancellor
poration of a family farm, he said.
"The family farm will be the bulwark of
American agriculture for the rest of the
century," Hardin said. "When I was Secre
tary of Agriculture we confirmed that the
most efficient farming unit was that owned
and operated by one person with one or
two helpers. As long as that's true, the
family farm will continue to be the mode."
Students can appeal policy violations
By M&rgy Meister
Any UNL residence hall resident ac
cused of a policy violation now may be
brought before a body called the Housing
Hearing Board, according to Glen
Schumann, coordinator for residence hall
administration.
The Housing Hearing Board is the main
part of a new residence hall discipline poli
cy offering students a way to appeal de
cisions which formerly were left in the
hands of the residence hall staff.
Schumann said the purpose for the new
discipline policy is to deal more effectively
with policy violation problems in residence
hallsr Other major policy concerns are
ensuring due process, responding quickly
to violations and accounting not only for
the rights of the individual, but for the wel
fare of the entire residence hall community,
he said.
Basfd on code
Schumann said the new policy was con
ceived this rammer during Complex Pro
grain Director (CPD) workshops. Kenneth
Swerdlow, assistant director of housing, his
staff, the complex directors and Marie
Hansen, coordinator for residence hafl pro
grama, feisxd the policy on the Student
Code of jCtaduct in the UNL Student
Handbook. :
Under the new policy, a student accused
of a violation will meet with the hill's
residence director (RD). The RD can give a
warning, impose probation or move the
student to a different ' room wiiiun the
complex.
The student will have three school days
to accept or reject the RD's decision. Fail
ure to accept the disposition will be con-
sidered a rejection. All rejections will be
referred to the Housing Hearing Board.
Any vVslation that will warrant cancel
ing the student's housing contract also will
be taken to the board. In past years, this
decision could only be made by the
director of housing. , .
. -Writ ten statement -
At least three school days before the
hearing, the student will be notified of
the time and place of the hearing, will re
ceive a written statement of the charges
and will be told of his or her right to
inspect exhibits used as evidence. -
Schumann said the board will "make a
concerted effort to be sure due process is
used."
Another new policy provision is the stu
dent's right to have an adviser or counsel at
the hearing.
Residence hall rules previously were
based on the NU Board of Regents' policies
and those of each individual residence haO.
All viotoloiM were handled by the indi
vidual residence Lafi staffs.
Schumann said the housing office never
encouraged residence halls to form judici-
... - SI.. 1 w IaImAMO
university, not residence hall, policies.
Severe violations
For more severe violations, cases were
referred to the Office on Conduct and
, Referrals or the University Judiciary,
which caused problems because action
, often was delayed and the university could
only put students on probation or suspen
sion, Schumann said. He added the Univer
sity Judiciary often was too removed from
the concerns of those in living units.
The board will be composed of 29
members; seven must be present for a hear
ing. Two student members will be chosen
from 11 students nominated by the
individual hall governments and appointed
by the Residence Hall Association (RJIA).
One student assistant (SA) will be
selected from 1 1 SAs nominated by the
RDs hi the large complexes and the com
plex program directors ia small halls and
appointed by the director of housing.
Three professional staff members wi3 be
selected from six staff members' from the
, complex program directors and the coordi-
- nator of residence holt programs. The
assistant director of housing for programs
end administration will be chsiipersoa.
Members will be appointed for renew&ule
one-year terms, .
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