Ldwsc
olory increase
8
n
UNL faculty members haw no need to panic about
smaller salary increases next year, according to John
Oberg, state budget analyst. '
Mies Tommeraasen, UNL vice chancellor for business
and finance, last week said faculty members would
average only a 5.5 per cent increase instead of Gov. J.
James Exon's proposed seven per cent incres for all
state employees.
Tommeraasen had said this was because faculty
members' dates of hiring are not distributed evenly
throughout the year,
Oberg said Tommeraasen's reasoning was "premature
and misleading" because he overlooked two points.
First, the governor has proposed a 6.5 per cent
general fund increase for the entire university system,
Oberg said.
The university requested a general fund increase of
18 per cent.
Obera said Exon's 6.5 per cent increase "more than
covers" Tommeraasen's projected 5.5 per cent increase for
faculty members.
Oberg said Tommeraasen also overlooked the $1.9
million NU Board of Regents discretionary fund. The
piTGOIOOSOSI CC
governor has placed no restrictions on how that money
should be spent, he said,
"The regents should decide where their priorities are,"
he said, .
Tommeraasen said, however, he has not overlooked
these factors in calculating the average 5.5 per cent
increase for faculty members.
All of the discretionary money cannot be used for
salaries, he siid. The university has made many commit
ments about where the money will go, Tommeraasen said.
"We can't convert everything into salaries and then
turn off all the heating and air-conditioning,"
(remavu
f v J
Tommeraasen said. "Salaries are important, but if you
strip everything out of the university, why do it (raise
salaries)?"
Tommeraasen said the university has a long list of
priorities that must be considered first.
He added that the regents actually were not given $ 1.9
million, but only about Sl.l or $1.2 million. The
remainder must be obtained by cutting the NU central
administration budget, he said.
"They didn't give us the $1 3 million. They showed us
how to find it," Tommeraasen said.
v
!IU fn)Qf(98
thursdsy, march 3, 1977 vol. 100 no. 85 lincoln, nebraska
ciBniisi pro
diets ic
ye&rs
By Barb Newcomer
The drought that has affected areas in
the United States and other parts of the
world could lead to another ice age,
according to C. Bertrand Schultz, executive
director of the Nebraska Academy of
Science.
Schultz, who has been studying the
climate for the past forty years, said that
Russia has suffered from drought and its
crops could be seriously damaged for the
next six or seven years. The CIA has spent
large amounts of money investigating the
drought because they fear it could be the
basis for a world war, he said.
Droughts often are followed by ice
ages, in which the climate turns cold and
dry, Schultz said.
"People say, Oh, we're never going to
have another ice age,' but its happened
numerous times in the past and we should
be prepared."
"I'm not a doomsday person " he
added, "I'm an optimistic person. But if
we "are headedidwardf si ice age; it will
happen within 10 to 15 years, not 150 to
250 years, like some people think."
The past 50 years have been the best
weather the earth has ever known, Schultz
said, and some people seem to think that
is normal.
Past climatic changes can be determined
by studying the migration and extinction
of animals. Man is not solely responsible
for the extinction of animals of the past,
it was caused by a deteriorating climate,
Schultz said.
Experts now are studying sunspots,
he said, because they are believed to have
an effect on the climate.
"People don't realize how complicated
this is," he said, "there are lots of details
to this crazy thing. To understand what is
going on in Nebraska, we have to under
stand what is happening worldwide."
Schultz said there is a lot more research
to be done, and it will take the combined
efforts of meteorologists, geologists, and
other scientists. -
Man is responsible for 20 per cent of
changes in the climate, he said, and
nature is responsible for the other 80 per
cent. . ' . '. ' -
The increasing amounts of pollution in
recent years have not had much effect on
the climate, according to a meteorological
laboratory in Hawaii, Schultz said.- The
only problem caused by pollution is in
micro-climates, in areas of heavy industry,
- where the pollution causes more rainfall.
Some experts think the world could
survive an ice age, he said, but it would
take much preparation and conservation of
water. The, problem is that not enough
people are concerned, Schultz said.
With the data being assembled, experts
should know within a year or two whether
or not the world is headed into an ice age,
he said.
The eastern United States probably
would not be affected by an ice age, he
said. But western states such as California,
Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,
Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakots, and
Missouri would be a cold, dry desert.
Schultz has been involved with the
Institute for Tertiary-Quaternary Studies,
which is affiliated with the Nebraska
Academy of Sciences, and - does interdis-
ciplinary research relating to the chang
ing environments of the great plains.
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- Daity f3s&rAsn photo
.fieitraisd Scfetz, xeae4scctT .
- cf the Ik&mk Acsdesn y of Sdeaee,
has studied . dlnaate for 43 yeans.
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Lower than average rain
does not indicate drought?
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P. 6.
By Mike Patten
Not all weather experts agree that Neb
raska as a whole, is experiencing a drought.
One UNL professor, Dick Wiese of the
Agronomy Dept., said that although
drought conditions have been present for
three years, the time to panic has not yet
come.
"The prevailing weather patterns for our
area usually give us good rains in spring,"
he said.
Spring historically has been the wettest
time of the year in Nebraska, with nine to
15 inches of precipitation falling between
March and June, he said.
Wiese, a professor of soils, said nine
inches of "effective water" are needed by
July if the soil is to be healthy.
If we were to lake dry, fine textured
eastern Nebraska soil and revitalize it with
nine inches of effective water, then I would
say we would be all riht."
Wiese said effective water is about 75
per cent of the actual accumulation of pre
cipitation. Thus for Nebraska to receive
cine inches of effective water, 12 inches of
, rain must fall.
Earlier in the year,-James ZoUer cf the
Wesley seeScs post
Donald Weey has 'qualified as an
A5UN second vice presidential candidate,
according to Jackie Learned, ASUN ,
election commission mesier.
Ucslcy, an independent candidate, filed
before the deadline Friday, but was not
included h the list published in
VisdsssdsyY DsSy Nebresksn because a
caivertity lirt did not show him registered,
Learned ssid.
Ibweter, Wesley had registered late and
his frustration was being processed, she
sdd.
Ken Christcfferson, D. Marcus
Arrsstrong and Harlan Miller also are
nanbg for second vice president.
National Weather Service said water short
ages in Nebraska reached 12 inches in
places.
Wiese said a wet spring would change
the shortages. He said he mainly is worried
about building a large enough groundwater
pool by July to carry the crops through
their thirstiest month.
According to Wiese, an average corn
crop in the month of August will "drink"
at least a quarter of an inch of water a day
or more than seven inches of water in one
month. August usually has little rain,
Wiese said.
But the pattern for the past 30 years in
Nebraska has been one of heavy spring
rains followed by dry summers.
He said if the rains do not come again
this year (the precipitation totals for the
last three years are below average), he
would recommend that farmers plant what
he called more competitive crops.
One of the crops which he said would
be more competitive is grain sorghum. He
said grain sorghum grows better in dry
"conditions than corn or alfalfa. However,
the time for farmers to make that decision
is not yet here, he said, because planting
time is not until July.
Wiese said some fanners might choose
to gamble on the rains coming and go
ahead and plant their normal corn crops.
These fmncrs would Thave the year of
their lives'" if the rains come, he said.
1
liews: A Law Day rpcslsr said ecology is
not just the product of "sdlierness nuts
and birdwatchers" p. 5
Ectsttsinsicst: Canadian contralto Mau
reen Forrester returns for an opera re
cital p. 8
Sports: The state racquetbaH tournament
is in Lincoln this weekend p. 11
