Expansion proposal tabled pending further review
By Mary Jo Pitzl
Memorial Stadium expansion is up in
the air-but not in the concrete form of
8,000 extra seats expansion supporters had
hoped to see after Friday's NU Board of
Regents meeting. .
A regent sub-committee report recom
mending that the 8,000 additional seats
be built was scheduled for regent vote at
their monthly meeting. However, the issue
was tabled at the suggestion ot Omaha re
gent Robert Koefoot. Koefoot said the
.regent's business affairs sub-committee
should review the proposal before reintro
ducing it to the board.
Koefoot's proposal passed 7-2, with
Omaha regent James Moylan and Wilbur
regent Robert Prokop dissenting.
Student protest to the proposed expan
sion may have provided the defensive line
that blocked regent vote on the 8,000
seat addition.
Don'Wesely, a member of the ASUN-.
appointed student stadium expansion
committee, -presented the regents with
petitions signed by more than 2,100
students objecting stadium expansion.
Students oppose stadium expansion for
seven reasons, according to Wesely. Among
the complaints he listed were the aesthe"
tic detriment an addition would cause to
the campus, unpredictable future atten
dance at games, the increased ticket price
an expansion may entail, and the possi
bility of an Athletic Dept. debt if the ex
panded stadium would not sell out.
The ASUN committee advocated "re
versible alternatives" to expansion, Wesely
said. This could include televising the
games through closed-circuit television
at the Sports Complex or broadcasting the
game on Nebraska television stations.
Regent Prokop presented a study he
made which he said illustrates the need for
expansion. Prokop surveyed 11 college
football stadiums, including Nebraska's,
for his study. The report compares sta
dium capacity, attendance, ticket prices,
parking conditions and stadium additions,
as well as gross gate income for Big 8
schools.
Besides reviewing Prokop's report, the
regents also questioned Jules Burbach,
chairman of the regent sub-committee
to study expansion. ,
Burbach, a former state senator, told
the board he objected to stadium expan
sion because the regents should consider
other, less drastic alternatives, including
televising the games in the Sports Complex,
he said.
Omaha regent Kermit Hansen, chairman
of the regent business affairs sub-committee,
said the expansion issue will be
brought up at his committee's meeting
next month.
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monday, September 12, 1977 vol. 101 no. 7 .lincoln, nebraska
Photo by Ted Kirk
Omaha Regent Robert Prokop presents his stadium study report to the Board of
Regents. Prokop said his study indicates the need for stadium expansion.
Railroad crossing -
mnairs Aill hpnin
I I I W V V I I I
The railroad crossing at 19tli and Vine streets is finally
going to be repaired beginning today, according to J.B.
Kidder, roadmaster of the .Rock Island railroad lines.
"We have been attempting to repair it for over a year,
but we have had too many problems. We anticipate that
it will be finished in less than a month," he said.
Although Vine St. will be closed during the week for '
the repair, the crossing will be open weekends for football
games, he said.
The project is a joint venture shared by the city and
the railroad, said Darrell Derby, maintenance coordinator
for the city streets dept. - - -
The railroad agreed to fix the crossing after the city
filed a complaint, alleging rough crossings, with the
NebrasV" public Service Commission about a month ago,
said Charles Humble, city attorney. - .
It is one of 15 crossings the mayor has designated in
the city requiring repair. About a year ago, each railroad
company was sent a letter, asking them to repair specified
crossings, but when they did not meef the request, com
plaints were filed. '
Brown bag workshop
to stimulate awareness
A brown bag workshop to help freshman integrate into
UNL's system will start today at 1 1 :30 a.m. .
The lunches will be part of the freshmen week
observance on campus. They are designed to give the
freshmen a chance to learn about the workings of UNL"
Sponsored by the Office of Students Affairs, the
program is an "attempt to help freshman become aware of
facilities available to them on the UNL campus," Mary
Krammer, program coordinator said.
There will be daily workshops throughout the week in
either the Nebraska Union South Conference Room or
the Neihardt Hall Sun Room.
Today's workshop will be given by Deb Knight of the
office of financial affairs, dealing with "Financial Manage
ment and Financial Aid," and meets in the Union South
Conference Room.
Tony Warner of the Fast Campus Board also will
present "Time Management" in the Neihardt Sun Room.
Each workshop will be repeated at 12:30 p.m.
Other speakers during the week will be Suzanne
Brown, Janet Krause, Carmin Grant, Don Sutton, Loise
Perdomc, John Painter and Jack Guthrie.
inside monday
Pine trees make fine food: Open Harvest celebrates
expansion and their natural foods p. 5
Let Joe do it: CityCounty Common won't decide merger
issue, for now, p. 9
Huskers were not the only Red in town: Clown, not
comic, Skelton visited Lincoln and the fair p. 8
Construct ion budget given okay
The University of Nebraska (NU) will be asking tax
payers for about $23.3 million during the next two years
to finance building improvements and maintenance on the
three NU campuses.
The NU Board of Regents approved a $23.3 million
1978-80 capital construction budget request at their
monthly meeting Friday in Regents Hall.
The two-hour meeting was attended by about , 60
university administrators, students, faculty and citizens.
Red-robed members- of Innocents Society "circulated
slowly throughout the conference room, silently surveying
the board's budget discussion from behind their improvis
ed disguises. ' -
The 1978-80 budget includes requests for one new
construction project, with the bulk of the budget itemized
- for renovations, building planning and utilities.
Parking structure
The only new project is a proposed parking structure
at the IJniversity of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).
There is $3.7 million budgeted for the project.
Renovation and planning projects included in the two
year request are: v
-$2,430,000 for renovation of the Agricultural
Engineering building at UNL,
-$2,054,000 to convert the former Eugene C. Epplcy
library at- the University of Nebraska-Omaha to a
conference center, v
-$2,538,000 to remodel the former College of Nurs
ing at UNMC, -
-$2,080,000 to remodel UNL's Bessey Hall for use by
the Anthropology Dept.
-$190,000 for a NU physical planning data center,
-$244,000 for planning - a corridor to Children's
Hospital at UNMC, and
-$2,032,000 for land acquisition for the NU system,
including $472,000 for UNMC acquisition of the Hattie
B. Munroe Pavilion.
Omaha regent Kermit Hansen proposed about
$360,000 in amendments to the , budget request. The
added money would be used for Architecture Hall renova
tion and expansion, planning and design for Temple
drama theatre and funding planning "designs for the three
campuses and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Hansen told the board.
In other action, NU business affairs policy was
clarified, a proposal to merge NU and state employee
insurance policies was suggested, and the regents approved
NU's Role and Mission statement.
Clarified policy
NU President Ronald Roskens clarified university
business affairs policy, recommending that business affairs
be conducted as normal.
Although a state Supreme Court ruling last July may
alter some statues and directives of NU's business policy,
Roskens advised that NU follow normal procedures until
policy recommendations could be reviewed by himself
and the regents.
"Until such time," he told the board in a prepared
report, "it is extremely important to the orderly opera
tions of the university that there be policy continuity."
NU could save as much as $756,000 by merging their
employee insurance policy with that of state employees
according to Roger Schulz of the Nebraska Association of
Public Employees. He said most of the savings could come
in the area of c-line or clerical, employees.
' The Role and Missions statement, with revisions added
by the regent's Academic Affairs sub-committee, was
approved by the regents. The statement now will be
forwarded to the Nebraska Legislature.
TP . j 3 1-..'- -W M I
Oh, no!
Photo by Ted Kirk
Judging from head coach Tom Osborne's reaction; the Huskers have just fumbled again. For more on the
game, see page 10.