friday, October 31, 1975 volume 99 number 39 lincoin, nebraska
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Photo courtesy of St. loul Symphony.
Leonard Slatkin (above) will conduct the Saint Louis Symphony
in three concerts this weekend 8t Kimball Recital Hall on Fri.
and Sat. at 8 pjn. and Sunday at 3 pjrrt. The Symphony , making
their fourth Lincoln appearance, is sponsored by the Cultural
Affairs Committee. v
By Dick Piersol
NU President D.B. Vainer, ASUN Presi
dent Jim Say and UNL and University
of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) students
asked the Legislature's Appropriations
Committee Thursday not to approve the
three per cent NU budget cut suggested
by Gov. J. James Exon in LB6. '
Exon has asked the Legislature, in
special session, to approve budget reduc
tions for all state agencies to avoid a state
general fund deficit in January.
Appropriations Committee Chairman
Sen. Richard Marvel said Atty. Gen. Paul
Douglas issued an opinion that section 66
of LE6, which would have allowed some
'agency flexibility in determining what
programs might be reduced, was an un
constitutional delegation of authority.
Five per cent
Varner said a three per cent budget cut
now would actually amount to a five per
cent cut in available general funds for the
rest of the fiscal year and achieving that
reduction would be "an extraordinarily
difficult task."
Several other conditions would com
pound that difficulty, according to
Varner.
He said utility costs have increased more
than projected, the university is having "to
absorb a monumental increase in the
cost of malpractice insurance," and there
has been an unanticipated record enroll
ment on the Omaha and Lincoln campuses.
Although it is increasingly difficult, those
Reaents to askf or court clarification
By Randy Elaavelt V1 : ' '
. . to know who is to' do what and to
establish authority and responsibility with
in an institution are the first basic princi
ples of a good administration. . ." -Clarence
B. Randall, late president of
Inland Steel Co. in The Folklore of
Management.
Within two weeks, the NU Board of Re
gents will file a request in Lancaster Coun
ty District Court to have their powers clari
fied, according to NU attorney Flivel "
Wright. ...
The action is a result of the Nebraska
Supreme Court's refusal Oct. 24 to accept
jurisdiction on the question.
Gasify wording
Wright, on behalf of the regents, had
asked the court for a judgement to clarify
wording of the Nebraska Constitution con
cerning the Legislature's responsibility over
NU, whether the regents are controlled by
the Legislature and if the Legislature can -delegate
their authority over the university
to other state agencies. ,
- The section of the constitution that the
regents want clarified states, "The general .
government of the University of Nebraska
shall, under the direction of the' Legislature, "
be vested in the Board of Regents."
The regents want to know if the uni
versity needs approval of the State Division
of Adminstrative Services, Wright said, be
fore initiating certain building projects and
architectural plans.
- . Defendants in case
The defendants in the case are the
heads of state administrative agencies
which are charged with enforcing laws that
the regents think are unconstitutional, he
said. . V .
The court did not give reasons for the
refusal to accept jurisdiction, Wright said,
but may have declined because they either
thought the case should go through lower
courts or doubted their jurisdiction on the
matter.
The constitution allows for original ac
tions to be filed with the Supreme Court,
Wright explained, although they can reject
it.
NU Regent Robert Koefoot of Grand
Island said he was sorry the court did not
accept the case and added, "Well just go
ahead and give it to the district court.
"I feel the regents have been elected to
govern the university, but that's not the
caseVhe said. "It's up to the regents to
run the university after the funds have
been delegated."
Save time, money
Regent Ed Schwarzkopf of Lincoln
said he was disappointed that the court did
not decide the question because it "would
have saved time and money."
Although the Legislature should be
responsible for the budget, Schwartzkopf
said, the regents know best how to use
budget money.
Schwartzkopf said he was angered at a
legislative restriction that prohibits the uni
versity to use extra tuition income from -increased
enrollment.
"We had a respectable increase in enroll
ment, but we can't use the extra money
generated to hire staff to accommodate
this increase," he said.-
Regent Robert Raun of Minden said he
wants to see the case decided as soon as
possible and agreed that "it will eventually
get to them (Supreme Court) anyway.
"I think the way the constitution was
drawn-up. . .the governing of the univer
sity is given to the regents and the Legis
lature can control only the broad outlines,"
he said.
costs could be absorbed through manage
ment devices, he said.
Federal grants
One unexpected financial burden which
could not be absorbed, he said, was dis
continuation of almost $1 million of fed
eral augmentation grants for the Univer
sity of Nebraska Medical Center.
- Vamer said he saw no alternative to
asking the 1976 Legislature to replace that
loss with general fund money.
In view of these added costs, he said, he
could see no way for the university to
Continued on p. 5
Keyes cites
low tax rate
By Theresa Forsman
Nebraska taxpayers have had extra
money to spend for the last three years,
Sen. Orval Keyes of Springfield told his
fellow members of the Legislature's Rev
enue Committee at its public hearing
Thursday. He was referring to the state's
lowered tax rates in the past three years.
In 1973, state income tax rates were
lowered from 15 per cent to 13 per cent.
In 1974, the income tax rate was 11 per
cent, and this year Nebraskans are taxed
12 per cent on their incomes.
According to testimony presented to
the committee at its hearing on LB4, one
of four bills introduced in the Legislature's
special session by Gov. J. James Exon, it
appears Nebraskans may not have the
extra money much longer.
Exon called the special session to pre
vent a deficit in the state's general fund
early next year because of cash flow
problems. These occur when the state does
not have a sufficient fund balance to pay
its debts as they come due.
LB4 calls for the elimination of the cur
rent requirement that five per cent of the
total appropriations must be added to pro
jected expenses when determining tax rates.
Under the present law, when the State
Board of Equalization meets each Novem
ber to set the state income and sales tax
rates, it must consider as expenditures not
only the state budget appropriations, but an
additional five per cent of the total appro
priations to provide an emergency, reserve
fund for the state treasury. "
If LB4 is passed, the requirement for a
reserve fund would be lifted and the Board
of Equalization would not have to raise the
.income tax rate next month.
Several witnesses appeared before the
committee to suggest that the five per cent
' cushion not be eliminated.
State Auditor Ray Johnson told the
committee the reserve should not be elim
inated but that is should bo a pre
determined figure rather than te tied to
the amount of fiscal appropriati ons.
inside I
Possiilb end: After 11 years - .
Dave's Snack Bar may be
forced to doss. . . . . p.6
Also Find: . ' . . '
Editorials. ........,..,. . . p.4
' Arts and Eafertaiament . v. , p,7
Sports ". ................ p.!0-
. .. Crossword ...... . . ...... . p.12 -
' Short Stuff .
. 1'r.lhy: Mcz&y cloudy attd ; coder.
'Southwest winds i mgm$ (tan 10-20 mM.,
Temperatures in the inid-7Gs. -
Friday rijit: Mostly cloudy and cooler.
Lows In the midOs, . - ,
tztzT'..y. Parity sunny with highs in the
nJ--60s.
- Larry Young entertains one f 70 cenirawtity dill-
drci ihs Ksppa Alpha P$i nsssal IMImtm party '
niujsday filglit See tn other spooky feature on page 6. -
Police relations 'bad'
Lincoln Police Chief George Hansen told a group of 40
citizens at the M alone Neighborhood Council Thursday
night that community relations with police "can be
summed up in one word: Bad.
"We've got nowhere to go but up," he said.
What Hansen called a total reorganization of the Police
Department will be completed within the next 60 days.
"Teams of officers will be assigned to work in the same
ncfghborhoods on a continuing basis,' he said, "Police
officers need to get to know the individual members of
their assigned community."
' Hansen also said jolnrclatsd testing will start bck
given to officers during training, lie said police w2I fee
required to take a screening interview with a psychiatrist
after attending a workshop with a psychologist
1 won't accept an officer who is working for his
personal needs and ego instead of the community's,
he said.
, Hansen said ha has desired a task force to dsvelop a
neighborhood resource officer program. He asked for
ccmmitosty help in - establishing the officer prograa.
"We (the Police Department) have created goals mi
objectives without taking fee community into considera
tion, Hansen said. . "We need the community fopy.
He said the primary function of police is to woik with '
the communities to provide a "safe and orderly society.
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