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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1975)
n OQIIU O monday, november3, 1975 volume 99 number 40 lincoln, nebraska xon s eas s move - I h bill to floor ofleaislature By Dick Piersol Gov. J. James Exon's three-bill package, designed to avert a state cash flow shortage in January, without raising tax rates, goes to the floor of the Legislature today. Only one of the bills will be reported in its original form. Cash flow refers to the necessity to have enough cash in the general fund to pay the state's bills as they come due. LB4, as introduced by Exon and passed by the Revenue Committee Thursday, would avoid tax rate increases by allowing the State Board of Equalization to discontinue the current five percent overlevy requirement. The other two bills, LB 3 and LB6, have been overhauled and amended by the Legislature's Appropriations Committee. LB6 would have cut state general fund expenditures three per ccnt but it was rejected by a 5 to 4 vote by the committee Thursday and replaced by a proposal intro duced by Utica Sen. Douglas Bereuter and approved 7 to 2. Amendment avoids shortage Bereuter's amendment would free $5.7 million destined for capital construction and add it to the general fund to help avoid a cash flow shortage. Bereuter said after reviewing more than 30 authorized capital construction pro jects and conferring with architects, engineers and contractors for those projects, he found that some of the money appropriated would not be spent as soon as had been expected. He said the executive cash flow model had anticipated this, but he and legislative fiscal analysts found far more potentially idle funds than the cash flow model had predicted. " - Capital construction is paid for by three funds, according to Bereuter, including the general fund, the Nebraska Captial Construction Fund (NCCF), which is basically cigarette tax money, and revenue sharing funds. "There is money which won't be spent in all three accounts, he said. "Money not spent from NCCF and revenue sharing, by the amendment, will be transferred to the general fund. I'd like to stress that this will not actually delay any construc tion, it just transfers money." Budget cuts Bereuter said he believed some budget cuts still could be made in the special session. "I will try to introduce cuts from the Revenue Dept., Department of Administra tive Services, the State Fire Marshal and the Department of Health," Bereuter said. "Some of these would be larger than three per cent, but an across the board three per cent cut would have been like using a meat cleaver for brain surgery." Bereuter said there could have been no acceptable budget cuts from NU or from the state colleges. , After hearing testimony Friday from county, city and school board officials from across the state, the Appropriations Committee also killed Exon's LB3, 8 to 1. :. , wmrarmnttftfi iik ii. m m Silw i ----- '-- - r wm v-n.itofcjl " Pfcoto by Tad Kirfc State Senator Robert Clark of Sidney, sponsor of an amendment to LB3. That bill wuld'havc waived specific date requirements of disbursement of funds to governmental subdivisions, allowed issuance of state warrants to delay those payments if the general fund falls short and establish priorities of state drafts from the general fund. , One argument presented by state officials against LB3 was that issuing warrants to counties, cities and school boards was simply transferring the state's cash flow problem to them. Several also objected to the lowest priority assignment for general fund drafts given to govern mental subdivision payments. They siad that those payments arc not grants or gifts, but are funds owed those subdivisions because of properly tax and homestead exemptions passed by the Legislature. The committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. today to complete an amendment replacing LB3. That amendment was being prepared oyer the weekend by the committee's fiscal analists according to a plan offered by Sen. Robert Clark of Sidney. G ade: officer dfesfdence could lead to unionization By Randy Dlauvelt UNL Campus 'Police Chief Gail Cade said Thursday although there currently are no strong indications of a police unionization attempt, what he called evident dissidence and unhappiness among some officers could be the first step toward eventual unionization. ' ' Gade said many of the complaints made recently by officers td the Lincoln livening Journal and in a letter to NU Regent Robert Prokop were "unjustified." "We've got a real fine bunch of people," Gade said, "but a few want to make issues of anything." The pfficers reportedly have complained about what they call defective patrol cars, a bad radio communication system, training programs, salaries, reassignment policies and a lack of communcation within the department. Gade said the blame for defective cars should not be leveled at the auto pool because "the officers don't take care of them (cars)." - He said that recently there have been a few accidents that were the officers' fault and the auto pool is "doing everything they can" to keep the vehicles in running condition. "If they (officers) would take better, care of the cars, they would operate better," he said. "But, the ideal solution would be to have new cars." Gade said officers were rightfully dis appointed with radio communications because of frequent interference. 'There are certain parts of the campuses where we can't receive or transmit," Gade said. "The officers justifiably feel they should be able, to get help when they need it." . The problem is being studied, he said. Gade said a clearly-written policy on "gun pulling" refutes criticism that the officers' training program broadens the number of situations where guns should be readied. The policy says officers should not pull their guns unless their life, or the life of another person, is in danger. y According to Gade, a "high" tuinovcr of officers is caused by better pay offered by other local law enforcement agencies. Officer complaints that reassignment of police without regard for seniority is not valid, Gade said. "Rcassignmcnts arc not to be based on seniority," he said. "We put the officers where we think they will do the best job." About complaints of u lack of communication between officers and himself, Gade said lie was available for discussion at "any and all times." "We're constantly having meetings," he said. "We're not separating ourselves from the officers." Gade said the complaint probably comes from "a handful", of officers who fail to follow proper grievance procedure. 'They should quit creating a poor image for the rest of us," he said. inside lcfistj General degree proposed Women and Politics: Officeholders give pointers at weekend conference. , p.5 Proposed Solar Energy Research Institute: "Hundreds of ideas" contributed p.3 Also Find:. Editorials. ........... ." '; . . . p.4 ' Aits and Entertainment. ..... p.6 Sports p.7 Crossword p. 8 Short Stuff . , .. ..p.3 '. " Weather ' Monday: Decreasing cloudiness and warmer. High temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. Southeast winds ranging from 5-15 m.pJi. Monday night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s. Tuesday: Temperatures ranging from mid to upper 60s. y t WON'T ff i ech mowed for treatment David Zcch, who fell from his tenth floor Abel Hall window Aug. 26, was re leased from Lincoln General Hospital Friday morning to receive; rehabilitation treatment at Omaha's inimanuel Medical Center, according to llobbin Wolfe, a Lincoln Genera! public relations spokeswoman. She said Zcch is "coining along well" in his treatment following the fall. Zcch, 18, of Douglas, was registered as a freshsrian at UNL at" the time of his fall on the second day of classes, lie suffered several broken bones and head injuries, and remained in a coma and in critical condi tion for several weeks. By Sandy Mohr Faculty members of the College of Arts and Sciences will be -voting soon on a proposal for a new degree program called a Bachelor of General Studies (BGS). Friday, the 140 faculty members present at u faculty meeting voted to put the BGS a degree program th,at has no group requirements, to a mad vote. A simple majority of the approximately 500 faculty members could approve the proposal. If passed, the proposal needs the approval of the NU Board of Regents before becoming an official degree program at UNL. Although the BGS frees the student from group requirements in the B.A. and B.S. degrees, other 'requirements remain. The student must have 125 hours for graduation, 60 taken in courses numbered above 199 and 30 above 299. Tho proposal further states that a student may or may not choose a major. In addition, the student must apply to the dean's office of the College of Arts and Sciences to be accepted into tlw program. A quota' of 200 full-time students per year in the program would be filled on a first-come, first -served basis. The BGS currently is being offered in several colleges and universities thoughout the nation. The Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Board Curriculum Committee first drafted the BGS proposal in 1973. "The BGS represents an option for students with interdisciplinary or alternate interests who wish to pursue these interests in a program of individual design," the committee's proposal states, "or for mature persons who wish to return to the university for further studies." Associate Dean Raymond Haggh cited cases of housewives who. he said, wanted to return to school to get a degree, but the math or language requirements hindered them. Objections raised at the faculty meeting questioned whether students would receive a quality education under the program. The .program would be cheating u student, English Professor Robert Knoll said, because "yu lead-him to think he's getting an education when he's not." llaggh said studies at other colleges have shown students enrolled in the BGS program "tend to be very goal oriented and creative in their programs." He added that careful advising should prevent a student from acquiring a degree that is cither too highly concentrated or too general.