Union board to try trimming renovation package
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' Daily Nebraskan Photo
Nebraska Union Director Al Bennett
By Anne Carothers
The Nebraska Union Advisory Board tonight will
attempt to trim some excess off an approximate $202,820
package of renovations and repairs for the Union, said
Union Advisory Board President Dave Roehr.
The Advisory Board will review each item in the
package' and make its recommendation to Al Bennett,
Union director. This step in a process ending with a de
. cision by the NU Board of Regents is the students' chance
for input on the package, according to Roehr.
After the board's recommendation, the package will
go to Bennett and the vice chancellor for student af
fairs before the regents look at it.
Roehr said the Board will be looking at such items as
the addition of a delicatessen to the Union food service,
remodeling the Harvest Room entrance, new signs for the
Union, renovation of the small auditorium in the base
ment, additions to the west entrance to meet the codes
for handicapped people and the purchase of plants for
decoration. . . "
Roehr said he thought the "board was sure to cut back
on some items. He cited a $10,000 figure for plants for
decoration and a $23,000 donut cutter as examples.
One of the most expensive items in the package are
the approximately $90,000 additions to the west en
trance. Roehr said the board is trying to find ways to
postpone complying with the code for awhile.
The controversy over signs to direct people to various
places is not completely resolved yet, Roehr said. The
sign project was an issue last year when students learned
the proposed cost was $30,000.
Roehr said, the Advisory Board went over the signage
project and cut out many of the signs. This reduced the
cost from $30,000 to $10,000, based on comparable
figures from the company that make the signs for the
Nebraska East Union.
However, when the Union asked for bids on the sign
project, the company that made the signs at the East
Union did not bid on the project. All the bids came back
too high, so the Union did not accept any of them, Roehr
said. . '
He added that Union plans to take bids again this
fall. .
Other renovation figures include $30,000 for changes
in the Harvest Room entrance, $25,000 for the delica
tessen and $25,000 for renovations for the small audi
torium. " The money to pay for those renovations comes from
the university's bond reserve fund, Roehr said.
The bond reserve fund is excess from student fees
which pays for the original principal and interest on the
bonds for the Union, University Health Center and the
residence halls, Roehr said. Legally, the university has to
take each student's fees to go toward debt service which
buys back the bonds sold to build the Union. But since
UNL enrollment has gone up the extra money goes into
the bond reserve fund, Roehr said.
Hie bond reserve fund can only , pay for capital
improvement for the building such as the Union or the
Health Center. Therefore, the renovations package can be
paid for out of the bond reserve fund with the regent's
approval, Roehr said.
. , daily fiibfl&l!s&fii
thursday, September 15, 1977 vol.101 no. 9 lincoln, nebraska
Studentparents benefit battle victors
By Diane Carroll
Lew-income college students who are parents have won
a two-year battle to regain federal aid for day care bene-
..fitS. ' ;- " - "" " " -.v
The aid, which is administered through -Nebraska V
Title XX plan, makes the services of the University Child
Care Project free or less expensive for eligible students,
flppordinp in Marv Jn Rvan nrrtiert tWrcrtcir ,
Title XX is a federal and state plan for distributing aid
to elderly, disabled and low-income persons. The $24.3
million program was passed July 1, 1977, and is effective
until June 30, 1978, ' :!
"Four-year college students were cut from the federal
aid program two years ago, Ryan said. Because of limited
funds, welfare officials felt priority should be given only
to students enrolled in vocational training programs, Ryan :
said. . ,
"Getting the aid back was not easy," she said.
Interested students and faculty members spent the last
two years persuading officials of the State Dept. of Public
Welfare (who recommend to the Governor how the
money should be spent) and Gov. J. James Exon that
eligible university students should be treated as
low-income persons, Ryan said.
Self-sufficiency
"The main; goal of Title XX is to help low-income
, ..people . attain,. self-sufficiency ",. she said'Universjty stu,-,
dent fit in with this goal," . ,
Since the program was passed during the summer many
students do not know that the aid is available, Ryan said.
So far about 20 families from UNL's day care center re
ceive assistance, she said. -
Students determined eligible by the Lancaster County
Dept. of Public Welfare are required to pay a share of
their, child care costs based on gross monthly income and
family size, Ryan said.
, A family of three (two parents and one child) with a
monthly income under $460 may have the center's full
monthly fee of $1 10 paid by federal aid. The same family
of three having an income between $460 and $668 are
eligible to have a portion of their child care fees paid,
Ryan said.
1 Personal assistance
Students are eligible to receive aid for up to 27 months
while they are in school, she said.
Susan Bauer, a social service worker at the Lancaster
County Dept. of Public Welfare, said "each person's case
is handled personally."
Students who receive financial assistance or have
money in a savings account still can be eligible for aid,
Bauer said..
Ryan said Title XX does not provide more money for
the day care center, but it is important because 'it helps
the people we serve."
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... ,
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Panamanian: canal war possible
Photo by Bob Pearson
Panamanian UNL student Jaane Figueroa
By Rex Henderson
Panamanians traditionally have been friends with the
United States, and they would like to continue that re-
lationship, says Jaime Figueroa.
But Figueroa, a Panamanian who has Jived half of his
24 years in the United States, warned that there is a large,
strongly nationalistic element in Panama that is willing
to fight for Panamanian sovereignty over the canal.
Figueroa, a senior business major, will be graduated in
December and plans to return to his native country to
work in the government.
Figueroa attributed the nationalism to the Panamanian
head of state.
Whatever reservations Americans may have about the
military regime of Gen. Omar Torrijos, he has done some
important things for Panama, Figueroa said.
One of them is rallying Panamanian solidarity on the
canal issue.
Two treaties were signed last week by President Jimmy
Carter and Gen. Torrijos. One turns the Canal Zone over
to Panama in the year 2000. The other guarantees Pana
manian neutrality.
Figueroa warned that if the U.S. Senate does not ratify
the treaties, war could break out between the two
countries.
Vietnam showed that a small nation can stand up to
the U.S., he said. The Panamanians would be willing to
fight a protracted guerrilla war over the canal, he said.
"We have unanimous support of Latin America in this
issue," Figueroa said. "It's not the American people, it's
the colonial enclave."
"How would you feel if in going from Lincoln to
Omaha there were foreign soldiers asking for your identi
fication?" he asked.
The original Panama Canal treaty was signed in 1903
by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and French business
man Philippe Bunau-Varilla. Panamanians were not con
sulted on the treaty.
The original gave the U.S. sovereignty over the canal
"to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic
of Panama of any such rights."
In the 64 years intervening between the signing of the
two canal treaties, resentment of U.S. presence has slowly
built in Panama, Figueroa said,
"To the Panamanians, it is not a political or economic
issue," he said. "It is an affront to our national dignity."
But the economic benefits also are important, he said.
"Our most important natural resource is our geographi
cal position," he said.
Continued on p. 6
inside tSiurcdaij
Crowd has mac attack at Sports Complex:
Fleetwood Mac plays for aa enthusiastic
crowd Wednesday night .pp. 8-9
Hail and rain hurt crops: Storm damage to
Nebraska crops puts the damper on hope
ful seasons for many farmers . . .p.13
Love American-style: It is easy for UNL students
to get married, but finding housing after
ward is another story p. 14