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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1977)
Mandatory student fees oooosed bv meof students fill) fivvk D CD By John Ortmann NU Medical Center students say they would prefer to heal themselves, rather than pay mandatory student fees for maintenance' of a student health center. Med center students said they opposed the concept of student fees at the NU Board of Regents task force public hearing at the med center Tuesday. Ronald Beer, member of the NU Task Force on Student Fees, said several students addressing the task force thought enough health care options are available at the med center to allow student fees to be optional. Beer said the only use for student fees at the medical center is for support of health services, r" There was a student fee hearing Monday on, the UNO campus. The UNL hearing is today from 3 to 5 pjn. and from 6:30 to 8:30 pjn. in the Nebraska Union small auditorium. However, UNO students are in near unanimous agree ment with the concept of student fees, according to task force member and UNL vice chancellor for student affairs Richard Armstrong. - . 1 Fees continuation questioned At a public hearing at UNO Monday, about 25 speakers agreed with continuation of student fees. . : Armstrorijfsaid one student raised "a serious question'' about the practice of using student fees to finance varsity athletic scholarships. dailuin) Wednesday, October 5, 1977 7 Ol r vol. 101 no. 20 lincoln, nebraska He added that there was some discussion about the amount of student fees paid by part-time students. Cur rently at UNO, part time students pay one half the amount paid by full-time students and are entitled to the same services, Armstrong said. Armstrong said the public hearings are the first step in the task force study about the question jf eliminating stu dent fees, other than those needed to meet contractual obligations. He said the public hearings are viewed as the best way to receive student and faculty input on the question. Task force chairman Hans Brisch said the . original question of eliminating student fees rose to a number of related questions. They include the possibility of finan cing some NU programs with voluntary payments and programs should be financed through tuition. Mandatory or volunteer Other issues discussed were: which programs should, continue to be financed by a mandatory payment collected from students and the degree to which NU should act as a collection agency of voluntary payments for support of programs.- Student and faculty input at the last public hearing at UNL today is, invited, Brisch said. The task force will hear comments in the Nebraska Union small auditorium from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The meeting will be chaired by UNL Student Representative Dennis Martin, While comment from anyone connected with UNL is welcome, Brisch said certain guidelines will be followed during the hearing. Speakers will be expected to give their names, status and the group they represent, if any, Speakers are expected to be brief and to the point and should be prepared to answer questions) from the task force, Brisch said. He added that speakers also will be allowed to question task force members while they have the floor. Union loss not as bad as it sounds By Anne Carothers The Nebraska Union's loss of approximately $98,000 is only half as bad as it sounds, according to the Union' Advisory Board's finance chairman. Burke Hinds said the Union actually only incurred a cash loss of $46,711. The other $51,749 reflects capital: expenditures such as depreciation costs. These costs were taken out of the bond surplus found rather than the Operating budget. . . A previous board recommended that the deprecia tion costs be excluded from last year's operating budget, said Union Director Al Bennett. The Union's cash loss was a result of a combination of factors, Bennett said. But he attributed most of the loss to a sales decrease and factors involved with starting' the new East Union. The Nebraska Union has incurred cash losses only two years since Bennett has been with the Union; both years the Union built an addition or a new building, he said, The initial start-up costs of the East Union, such as stocking the East Union with food, totalled $21,332. These costs cannot be immediately recovered, Bennett said. In addition to this, losses in various departments at the City Campus Union may have been a result of manage ment inefficiencies that Bennett and his staff are res ponsible for, he said. Bennett explained that much of the work, such as decision making on the decoration of the East Union, were made by him and his staff to cut the cost of hiring professionals. Since they were spending nearly half their time at the East Union there occurred some mismanage ment of the City Campus Union, he said. He estimated his staff could have saved from $20,000 to $25,000 if they would not have split their time between the two Unions. In addition to losses from inefficiencies, Union sales were down. The Union tried to lower its food prices to increase sales and therefore suffered a loss from lower ; prices, and lower sales, Bennett said. The food service department at the Nebraska Union suffered a $36,148 cash loss. , . , . The Union also , paid $45 ,000 more for an extensive advertising plan last year in an effort to get more stu dents into the Union. Hinds added that since the Union did not get all of. the money they requested from student fees to cover last year's extra costs at the East Union, both Unions suffered. , However, the Union did receive the amount of student fees they requested for this year,' and Hinds said he is optimistic about this year's budget. Hinds said a comparison of figures from the first month of school this year to the first month of school of last year shows that Union sales are up. : Crib sales are. up 20 percent, Harvest Room sales are up 47 percent and the overall Union sales are $109,000 as compared with $76,000 for last year, Hinds said. He added that an extra football Saturday in the first month of this year may be part of the reason for increased sales, but he said he thought sales weje still generally up. The advertising program may have brought more people into the Union, he said. li Photo by Bob Psarson Burke Hinds, finance chairman of the Nebraska Union Advisory Board. ' Moped putters its way into popular trend of travel L 3 By Mary Jo Howe The speed of a motorcycle, the economy of a bicycle, and the noise of a lawnmower-that's the moped. It is predicted to be the next popular trend in transportation ry local motorcycle dealers. The moped is a cross between a bicycle and motor cycle, about the size of a mini-bike with wheels like a sting-ray bicycle. Its distinctive feature is the ability to use the motor or pedals for locomotion. "Economy all around, that's what makes them popu lar," said Jim Parks, manager of Hurlbut Cycle Shop, Inc. Depending on the model, mopeds get from 100 to 160 miles to the gallon, he said. They also are cheaper than a motorcycle, ranging from $125 to $495 depending on extra features. Mopeds have been a popular commodity in Europe since World War II, but have just begun to be manu factured in the U.S. in the last few years, Parks said. Ray Walden, a UNL student, said he has found out how true that is. Walden said he originally bought the moped to con serve energy, and since found that it has paid for itself in gas saved from not driving his car. Walden said his moped has a top speed of 28 miles per hour, and gets about 160 miles to the gallon. He said it requires minimal maintenance and is easy to park. The only bad tiling is that the moped is licensed like z motorcycle, so a helmet is required, Walden said. Moped dealers in Lincoln agree the Nebraska State Laws probably will have to be changed as the mopeds become more popular. According to Bill Edwards, deputy director of motor vehicles, machines under a certain height and horse power are considered mini-bikes and do not require motorcycle .operator's licenses.. They also may not be operated on streets and highways in Nebraska, he said. But the mopeds are just barely over the requirements, and must be licensed, Edwards said. A moped is classified as a motor vehicle provided is haj following: -a tire and wheel diameter of 14 inches or more -a seat height of 25 inches or more from the ground -an engine of at least 45 c.c. displacement. A bill was introduced to the Nebraska Legislature during the 1977 session by Senator Keith Bond of Nor folk. The bill, changing the classification of the moped to mini-bike, was placed in the general file. inside vGcJncoc'aij Egghead, Univacs and Gunners: A UNL student and faculty group is studying enrichment of the academic world p. 7 Watch your f stops and ASAs: Nationally known photographers will be clicking at UNL this weekend p. 9 Trade a hip-pointer for a Hipp; hip-Hipp hooray: Walkon I-back becomes back of the week .p. 10