daily nebraskan
mohday, february 13, 1978
page 4
Anything is 'feesible' in student
fee b
Anything is "feesible."
That is the way it stands with the
mandatory student fees question at
NU.
The NlJ Board of Regents has the
final say Saturday in what will
happen to student fees.
thfff could vote to keep fees,
flush them or maintain some.
But, in their usual manner, the re
gents are being their aloof, mystical
selves. They refuse to take a stand
until the meeting.
Meanwhile, back at the campus,
students are rounding up support
and opposition on the issue.
The regents will decide the issue.
At issue are funds for such things
as Model United Nations, Art Lend
ing Library, symphony productions,
ASUN and the Daily Nebraskan.
Yes, even we are at stake. About
10 percent of our $300,000 budget
comes from the fees in question.
But, that is only $3.42 of the
$66.50 paid each semester.
Students are paying for the bond
indebtedness on such buildings as
residence halls and student unions.
Where this money goes is much a
mystery.
The Nebraska University Public
Interest Research Group is urging
a study of the Fund B money.
This also is recommended in the
University wide Task Force on Stu
dent Fees' report. Thirls a good
suggestion.
Some sort of accountability has to
be installed into the Fund B system.
It definitely is lacking now.
What lurks in the depths of this
part of student fees is unknown.
NUPIRG says jt has investigated
this issue for more than a year, and
nothing has come of it.
A thorough study of Fund B is
required. We hope the regents take
this matter seriously and allow the
students to know where their money
is going.
As for letting the student retain
control of the mere $3.42 they now
can allocate, there should be no
Question.
The Fees Allocation Board has Good job
done a fine job in the past, and we
are confident that ASUN's pro
posed allocation committee can' do
the same, if not better, job.
The regents should look at the
issue of student fees carefully,
giving it more than usual consideration.
If the visibility of the petitions in
dicate the number of signatures they
Milium Kbi. n aiiutuu tsw ui uuuibaaivn
presentation. ;: "
More students, if they care about
the issue, should be present at the
Saturday regents' meeting.
They need to show they care-one
way or the other.
Petitions supporting the student
fees have been circulating like
vultures.
ASUN, Nebraska Public Interest
Research Group, the Residence Hall
Association and the Council pn
Student Life should be commended
for doing all the work on the student
fee issue. v .
Their time is valuable, as any stu
dents, but they are doing it for a
cause they believe is worthwhile
the future of valuable university
programs.
Fees elimination hooks free enterprise and prostitution
I encountered my old friend Harthouse
ascending the union south steps. He was
reading a pamphlet titled, "Re-elect Jimmy
in November."
"Harthouse!" I cried, shaking him from
his trance.
He showed little surprise. "Thought
you were off newspapering."
"I am," I confirmed. "But I came to
town on my day off to see what's become
of the campus. Say, haven't you graduated
yet?" ,
He shook his head. "Next May."
"That's what you said five years ago.
Why the delay?"
"Politics. I'm ASUN second vice presi
dent, you know."
I stifled a yawn. "What has been hap
pening around here the last couple of
years?"
"Watch," he said, as we reached the
outer door. I noticed a tired-looking
woman inside a ticket counter. Harthouse
gave her two quarters, and she stamped our
hands with flourescent ink.
woJden
"""What gives!"iriaskeS!
"Free enterprise." We pushed through a
smelly crowd to a booth in the South Crib.
My companion gestured to a biue-jeaned
waitress. "Two beers."
He anticipated my question. "The union
put this bar in after the regents cut off stu
dent fees. That's why they charge admis
sion, "All fees?"
"Just the ones for programs. They still
collect for bond indebtedness, But other
wise, the only student fees are what stu
dents want to contribute."
'That's disastrous!" I exclaimed. "That
wipes out all the organizations, speakers,
films, concerts . . . everything."
"You'd be surprised, actually. There
still is seed money for new organizations,
but that is cut after the first year. A lot
of groups died out quick. But some are
making a go of it by raising their own
money."
"How did all this happen?"
Well, you still were here in '78 when
they set up the seed money idea and start
ed to switch to yohintary fees. That was
because of the speakers that year . . . Jane
Fonda, I think."
Yeah, but they had a right-winger to
balance it politically."
Didn't matter. The next year the
speaker committee loaded the program
with conservatives to appease the regents: a
Klan grand wizard, a Bircher. a Nazi editor
on parole, two Elks and a Republican. As it
turned out, it was a moderate Republican,
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so the regents cut off fees altogether. The
upshot of this . .
Harthouse was shushed at this point by
a curvaceous, tlurtyisKVoman in a low-cut
black evening gown who slinked into the
seat beside him. She rapidly blinked her
makeup-caked eyelids. "How about it,
Iovct."
"Not now," he told her casually.
"What ..." I began as she walked away.
"Fund raising," he explained.
"Obviously, but..."
"For the Women's Resource Center.
When their fee money was cut, they set up
a partnership with COYOTE, the hookers'
liberation movement."
"Feminists and prostitutes? I can't buy
that."
"Strictly business."
"How are the ihei groups coping?"
"Lotteries are the big thing. There's one
going all the time. They raffle cars,
cameras, TV sets. Stuff like that. Then
there are the weird ones. RHA raffled a
free weekend in an apartment. The men's
crew raffled a road trip with the women's
crew, and vice versa. Now ASUN is raffling
its president."
"Huh?"
"Just the job, not the person. The win
ner becomes ASUN president and student
regent for the semester. It beats elections."
"What about speakers?"
"Bigger than ever. Of course, Hie pro
grams are a bit different because you have
to pay admission. Most groups bring in
their own speakers for propaganda, usually
extremists from one end or the other.
Other than that, the union books them for
their value as a drawing card."
"Who, for example?"
"Well, last week there was Prof. Bubbles
LaRue who lectured on astrophysics."
"What kind of audience did that have?"
"Packed full. She did a strip tease and a
lewd dance with a telescope."
"I don't want to hear about it.w
"Had 'em rolling in the aisles when she
j "r . -1
"Never mind! Is there no sanity left
here?" ..f--
"Not that you would notice." '
"Well," I sighed as we slid out of the
booth, "at least a few worthwhile groups
have money to operate. ... ? ; 1 ' ' , '
"Wrong again," he said. "They're all so
busy making money that no one has time
to do any work." , .
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