Wednesday, november 19, 1975
dally nebraskan
staff opinion
editorial opiribn . ' -
Editor's note: The Nebraska Legislature ended its special
session Nov. 11, sending Gov. J. James Exon a package of
three bills dealing with the state's financial bind.
Daily Nebraskan reporter Dick Piersol, who covered the
special session, gives his analysis of the action.
Political decisions have a way of coming back to haunt
those who make them. The Nebraska Legislature's decision
last May not to pass Gov. J. James Exon's proposal for a 13
per cent state income tax rate was the poltergeist during the
recently completed special session.
Had the Legislature passed that rate-indeed, if that
body would assume tax rate-setting duties as readily as
they appropriate and spend tax dollars-Sen. Loran
Schmit's charge that "the governor plays us like an organ,
with the press operating the bellows" might not hold true.
Exon had them coming and going.
He charged the Unicameral with cutting state agencies
general fund budgets three per cent, allowing warrants to be
issued to delay state payments to political subdivisions and
establish priorities for those disbursals and authorizing the
Board of Equalization to consider only actual estimated
expenditures when setting 1976 tax rates.
Exon warned the senators that an increase in the state
income tax rate from 12 to 16 per cent and an $1 1 million
general fund shortage in January was inevitable if the Legis-
l
i
Dear editor,
As the representative body for graduate students at
UNL, the Graduate Student Association (GSA) is extremely
concerned about the recent statement made by Prof.
Franklin Eldridge, president of the Faculty Senate, regard
ing graduate assistant absenteeism in class (Daily
Nebraskan, Nov. 12).
Accordingly, on Nov. 12, the GSA unanimously passed
a resolution protesting the statement. .
' Our organization believes the vast majority of graduate
students take their teaching assignments and obligations
seriously, and that Professor Eldridges' allegation that it
is "graduate assistants who haven't learned what the world
of work is like who don't meet with their classes" is an
irresponsible misrepresentation of the graduate student
body.
Cassie Hergenrader
GSA President
Unfounded and insulting
Dear editor,
As professorial and graduate student members of the
English Dept., we find Franklin Eldridge's comment
unfounded and insulting.
The English Dept. has S3 professorial and 62 graduate
student staff members, and there has never been any
evidence that, as Prof. Eldridge claims, "tenured faculty
meet their classes" while graduate students do not.
too worried and insecure about doing a good job to skip his
or her classes.
It is much more likely that any graduate assistant, who
lacks the job security of a tenured professor, would lose his
or her job for missing classes.
We believe Prof. Eldridge owes an apology to the over
worked and underpaid graduate assistants who not only
have to worry about their own academic progress, but also
have to worry about meeting their students' needs.
The letter was signed by 82 graduate and professional
faculty member" from the UNL English Dept.
Imbecile acts
Dear editor,
Everywhere I look I see evidence that children are
running rampant on this campus, little (or big) children
who like to write and draw on walls, desks, chairs and
sidewalks, instead of paper.
I remember getting spanked for similar activity when
I was 3 years old.
Yet from the things drawn and written it is obvious that
these children aire attending college. They must think they
are drawing attention to their particular causes.
Oh, and they are! Whenever I sea names, class years oi
Greek signs splashed across beautiful library chain, bulletir
boards, etc., along with profane pictures or words, I try tc
fcnane what kind of person would do such an Imbecile
act. J wonder what his peers are like and if they approve of
lature failed to heed his words.
On the other hand, senators bombarded with testimony
from city, county and school board representatives saying
delayed payments to them would be passing the cash flow
buck.
Many county officials testified they were already at mill
levy maxima set by the Legislature, that if state payments
were delayed, they, too, would have to issue warrants and
be pushed into a fiscal wasteland.
Most state agencies, especially the university, made it
clear that cutting their budgets nearly halfway through the
fiscal year would be a stiff price to pay for others' mistakes.
The governor's code agencies, those directly under his
control, bit the collective BB, smiled, and said, "Yeah, we
can take it."
So the Legislature settled in and did what they do best.
They worked out a reasonable compromise.
They mercifully exempted the university, state colleges,
mental retardation programs (about the-only unanimous
albeit very political-decision) and a few other lucky service
agencies from the budget cuts.
That was not easy to do. Privately, senators said their
constituents would rather see the university budget cut be
fore any other agency. One young red-haired Omaha
senator (who happens to be on the charts with a bullet for
the 2nd District congressional seat) said the university
budget should have been cut six per cent.
Sen. Robert Clark and the Appropriations Committee
worked out an acceptable monthly payment plan for
political subdivisions, which mollified hand-wringing
county commissioners and will reduce the possibilities of a
general fund shortfall.
m Sen. Douglas Bereuter, also on the Appropriations Com
mittee, was responsible for a plan transferring idle capital
construction money from revenue sharing and cigarette tax
accounts to the general fund, further reducing the projected
state cash flow shortage.
But it is hard to compete with a governor who has a
much public approval as "Uncle Jim" (as he is fondly called
in the statehouse).
He has the headlines again with the statement that the
Legislature "mandated" the state income tax rate increase,
from 12 to 15 per cent, approved Saturday by the Board
of Equalization.
It all starts again in January with the opening of the
Legislature's regular session. Do yourself a favor and sit in
or watch Legislative Review on ETV, broadcast every night
the Unicameral is in session.
Dick Piersol
this "advertising."
Don't these jerks have the common horse sense to realize
that they, along with me and every other student, are the
ones who foot the bill for this destruction?
After seeing the front page of Friday's Daily Nebraskan,
I begin to see truth in the saying: "Fools' names and
fools' faces always appear in public places."
Steve Israel
World hunger
Dear editor,
It is regretable that some issues require a major event to
attract people's attention . to the problem. Last year a oDOrtS COVeraQO
growing concern tor tne world s Hungry developed trom tne
buildup to the World Food Conference in Rome.
The United Nations lists more nations in the "most
seriously affected" category now than there were at the
time of the World Food Conference.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger challenged the Food
Conference to adopt plans that would help end hunger by
198S. Since the conference, our government has been slow
in taking action to aid our country's hungry-let alone the
world's.
The Concerned Pro Life Students are presenting a panel
discussion Thursday on world hunger. We hope to fill the
void that has existed this year on the issue of world hunger.
Dennis Hunt, President
Concerned Pro Life Students
Dear editor,
Your coverage of club sports news during this semester
has been excellent. In past years it has been next to
nothing. Our club commends you.
University of Nebraska Rugby Football Club
now try mi mo
TO HOU) ir TNtS TIME,
J
V
Sidewalks are serious talk
By Michael liilligoss
"You look little tight, Yomrian," I observed, noting
that he was on at least his sixth beer. ,
"I suppose so," he said, i wrote my comps this week."
"Well then," 1 said, "I imagine that you're in no mood
to discuss the academic aspects of graduate student life."
"Oh, so true! I'd much rather forget about all that
business for a little while. How about something more
serious?" he proposed.
"More serious?" I asked.
"Why yes," he said. "Let's talk about the recent incident
of sidewalk defacement reported in the Daily Nebraskan
last week. Did you read the Campus Police captain's harsh
condemnation of those misclilcvous students?"
"You can't condone the wanton destruction of univer
sity property, can you?" 1 replied.
"It depends," he said. "Writing In wet cement is a rather
special case. Actually, I think the creative energies of the
students ought to be lauded rather than discouraged by
Campus Police.
"You know," he said, "some social scientists
hypothesize that man builds his basic societal values right
into his environment. What wo witnessed in those students
who decorated the sidewalk is a threat to the values of
rigidity and order that are symbolized in smooth, clean
sidewalks."
"That's quite a thesis," I said, counting Yossarian's
seventh beer.
r,0h u doesn,t stP there," he continued. "Consider
Oldfather Hall. The dean's office is at the top and the
students' lounge is at the bottom. What does that tell you
about the order of things?
"And look how most of the academic departments are
partitioned off in their own little physical preserves. That
teas you that we value ease of administration above ease
of interdisciplinary communication."
"Try the Big Red stadium," I prompted, realizing that
.r.Was 0 tPPln8 Mm now.
Sure he said, taking up the challenge. "How reveal
ing ot Nebraska values that the largest physical structure on
campus is dedicated to footbaU instead of academic
education. But that's enough for now. Let's go on over to
Casey s. I want you to meet some friends of mine."
.Vhe Town Tavern, I couldn't help thinking
Yossarian must have been disappointed that someone didn't
ask him to discus the social symbolism of architecture on
oU fiamJSd. hnP WXt h"d be bBCk ta Ui