page 8
daily nebraskan
monday, february 13, 1978
M
any twists, turns wait for $66.50 fee
The $66 50 a .full-time UN L student
pays in student fees each semester travels a
freeway complicated by various turnstiles
and many tollgates.
As the Bursar's Office receives tuition
payments, each $66.50 is pooled into a stu
dent fees account -totaling $2,901,930 for
the 1977-1978 school year. This money is
divided into Fund A and Fund B.
Fund A
Some $158,950 or 5 percent of the
total student fees made up this fund which
supports organizations generally considered
to serve a majority of students (See Fund
A Chart)
The Fees Allocation Board determined
last spring how the 1977-78 Fund A
money would be split between the various
organizations.
The Cultural Affairs Committee is an
exception to this rule. This committee is
budgeted for two years in advance so per
formers may be contracted a year or
more before a campus performance.
February 10 was the deadline for
organizations to submit their 1978-79 bud
get requests to FAB. The board makes pre
liminary recommendations and then allows
a period for budget appeals, according to
Nate Eckloff, FAB chairman.
FAB's final recommendations should be
forwarded to Richard Armstrong, vice
chancellor of student affairs, by the first of
April, Eckloff said. From there, the recom
mendations are sent to UNL Chancellor to work out budget details. Extensions for
Roy Ybung and then to the NU Board of 1978-79 requests have included the Union
Regents. Program Council, the Daily Nebraskan,
Eckloff added that an extension period ASUN, the University Child Care Project
is granted to organizations that need time and Block and Bridle.
1977-70 Fund A $3.42
Union Program Council
$55,000
ASUN
$32,160
Dailv Nebraskan
$30,000
2fc3
Cultural Affairs Committee
$25,000
L- II LAW m
Total Fund A $158,950
Child CarPct
$7,500
Multi-Cultural Affairs
L I
Contingency Fund
$2,290
D
0
Women's Resource Center
$1,000
InnocentsMortar Board
Student Alumni Board $500 each
The $3.24 allocated for Fund A is broken down as follows:
Union Program Council $1J26
Daily Nebraskan 86 cents
ASUN -74 cents
Cultural Affairs - 58 cents
Other 39 cents
The Cultural Affairs Committee is budgeted two years
in advance to permit it to contract with performing artists
12 to 18 months before the performance date.
Con sequently, this amount was allocated by the 1 976-77
Allocation Board for use this year.
Figures taken from the Universitywide Task Force
on Student Fees' report. '
Currently, FAB's allocations are onjy
recommendations to the regents. FAB is an
advisory body and has no decision-making
power. The regents have final authority
over all fees money. ' v
The regents can accept, reject or modify
any proposal presented to them by FAB.
After the regents make their decision on
the Fund A allocations, Jack Guthrie, of
the Office of Student Activities, sends an
invoice to the Bursar's Office. The bursar
then deposits the allocated amounts into
the organizations' accounts with the
Student Activities Financial Services,
A UNL fiscal year runs from July 1
through June 30. In June 1974 Fund A
included 7.38 percent of all student fee
money collected for that year, said James
Wickless, bursar.
This proportion climbed to 13.7 percent
for the year ending June 1975 and remain
ed constant until June 1977 when 15.1
percent of all student fees for that year
accounted for Fund A.
Fund B
Every student pays $63 each semester
which travels into Fund B. Besides
supporting the University Health Center and
Unions; Fund B covers bond debts. (See
Fund B chart and bond story)
Each student paid $18 in student fees
for bond indebtedness. FAB has nothing to
do with this money which must follow pre-
Continued on Page 1 1
A closer look at those who get Fund A allocations
ASUN 74 Union Program Council 1.26
ASUN, one of the three major Fund A
users, receives its entire budget from
mandatory student fees. For 1977-78, that
budget amounted to $32,160.
Slightly over two-thirds of that total
goes to salaries totaling $22,774. Salaried
employees include the Student Legal
Services lawyer ($13,000) a part-time
secretary, a part-time legal services student
worker and ASUN officers.
Office expenses of $3,046 make up the
next largest ASUN expenditure this school
year.
The next largest expense is for the
Electoral Commission to finance the spring
general election. A budgeted $2,146 covers
the cost of printing, ballots, poll workers
and advertising.
Student Legal Services received $1,814
to cover office and malpractice insurance,
workman's compensation and the new law
books purchased this year.
Communications, which has exceeded
the $500 originally budgeted, should
amount to $1,200 by the end of the 1977
78 fiscal year. Advertising in the Daily
Nebraskan is the major communications
expense.
ASUN's contingency fund contains
$500, reduced from an original sum of
$980.
ASUN's Government Liaison Com
mittee received $330 to attend a confer
ence in Missouri last summer.
The ASUN Book Exchange and Free
University were allocated $150 and $200
respectively. These are the only areas
generating additional funds. The Book
Exchange netted a $322 profit and Free
University $32.78. Neither is intended as a
fund-raising project.
An additional $1,048.18 for miscel
laneous student services recently was added
to the ASUN budget from a dormant sav
ings account in the oijanization's name
from 1972-73.
Previous Fund A allocations consistent
ly have been in the $35,000 range, accord
ing to Charlie Fellingham, first vice presi
dent, "Given inflation, that means we had an
effective cut," said President Greg John
son. Johnson said he requested $66,000
from FAB last year for ASUN's share of
Fund A. To honor the request without
cutting other programs, FAB asked for a
hike in Fund A, which was rejected by the
NU Board of Regents. FAB was instructed
to revise its budget and ASUN received less
than half its requested amount.
Johnson said he used a "zero-based"
budget approach to formulate his budget
request. The administration advised against
asking for the entire $66,000.
The ASUN budget originally is drafted
by the ASUN president, revised by the
executive board and approved, rejected or
amended by the full senate before going to
FAB.
The ASUN Budget and Fees Committee
is responsible for drafting all fund-allocation
bills. The bills are signed by the com
mittee chairman and the ASUN president.
Then they are filed in the student affairs
office.
About 1 .89 percent of $133 you paid in
student fees this year supported nearly 200
UNL programs. The Nebraska Union Pro
gram Council received $39,340 in student
fees and the East Union Program Council
got $15,660, for a total budget of $55,000.
The Nebraska UPC includes the follow
ing student fee-using programs:
-Talks and Topics Committee got
$13,685, the largest share of UPC student
fees allocations.
-Art Lending Library received $340 fee
money. .
-Entertainment Council received
$12,188 which paid for the concerts, work
shops and lectures.
-Black Activities Committee received
$100 during the fall semester.
-Visual Arts Committee sponsored art
displays and yearly print sales. It received
$2,742 in student fees.
-Model United Nations Committee got
$1,500 to support its February Nebraska
Model United Nations Conference.
-Human -Potentials Committee, which
has sponsored workshops on dancers and
the martial arts, received $3,050.
Union Film Committee was granted
$1,000 to assist in the payment for 14
films. More than $3,300 in ticket sales was
collected from these films. " ''
Winter Walpurgisnacht received
$3,700 of student fees. ! (1
-The Record Lending Library was
granted $520. ?
The East UPC includes these fee-uising
programs:
-Visual Arts Committee received
$1,150 for an art lending "library and art
display. ' .. ;
-Dances and Concerts Committee,
famous for Cornstalk concert and Sadie
Hawkins Dance, was granted $8,307.
-Academic Relations Committee,
similar to Talks and Topics, got $3,025.
-Films Committee received $1,160 to
pay for a popular film series.
-Recreation Committee got $460
which it used for game room tournaments.
-Special Events Committee received
$600 for miscellaneous programs.
-Professional, Farhily and Minority
Affairs Committee got $150 to coordinate
programs geared toward law and dental
students.
Nebraska UPC got $2,615 of student
fees for operating expenses and East UPC
received $860 for this purpose.
Daily Nebraskan 86(
Cultural Affairs 58
The UNL School of Music would find
itself left holding the tab if some $25,000
in student fees did not support the Cultural
Affairs Committee, according to C.A.C.
performing arts coordinator Ron Bowlin.
Cultural affairs recorded a $49,733
deficit for the 1977-78 school year. Stu
dent fee money, $4,000 from the College
of Arts and Sciences and $20,733 from the
. School of Music covered this deficit.
Students receive a reasonable return for
the 58 cents paid to Cultural Affairs each
semester, Bowlin said.
This committee is budgeted two years in
advance so it may contract with artists a
.year or. more before an artist's campus performance.-
For instance, the amount allocated by
the ?-1976-77 FAB was used this year.
Once 7 the total budget is determined,
Cultural Affairs decides how many and
which performers to invite to campus.
Eleven' uthU .were selected for this year's
program.
Total program cost is $113,475 while
income from ticket sales and grants
amounts to $63,742.
The most expensive production this
year was the Minnesota Orchestra costing
$103,475. This program also generated the
most ticket income of any of the programs.
The St. Louis Orchestra, slated to per
form at UNL on March 7 and 8, costs
$20,000.
The least expensive program was mimist
Keith Burger, who cost $2,600.
All performances are planned for
Kimball .Recital Hall, where limited seating
would prevent funding the programs by
ticket sales alone, Bowlin said.
"It doesn't make sense to spend all this
money to bring quality to campus and then
bring them to a barn," he said.
The task force on student fees recom
mends that funding for Cultural Affairs be
shifted to state appropriations.
The Daily Nebraskan's Fund A money
all goes to the same place: helping defray
publishing costs. This year's $30,000
allocation covers slightly less than one-third
of an anticipated $95,124 printing budget.
That means every UNL student pays 86
cents a semester for the Daily Nebraskan:
1.25 cents per issue.
According to business rhanager Jerri
Haussler, roughly 10 percent of the total
Daily Nebraskan budget comes from
student fees. The majority, about 88 per
cent is generated through advertising; two
percent is provided through subscriptions
and investment interest.
The percentages reflect a trend since
1972 of increasing the paper's self
sufficiency, Haussler said. The move result
ed from suggestions in the 1972 Copple
Commission report, she said.
In 1971-72 the Daily Nebraskan receiv
ed 43 percent of its entire budget from
student fees.
With present fee support, Haussler pro
jects that the Daily Nebraskan will "about
break even.
We figure we need a month's surplus to
carry over each year to have that cushion
that we need. . . to pay salaries. . . while
we're waiting for payment of accounts re
ceivable." In 1976-77, Haussler said she requested
FAB recommend funding half the project
ed publishing cost, which was forwarded
and approved by the regents.
The same request was made to FAB for
this year (1977-78)Tshe said; $43,500 was
requested as half the projected publishing
cost. FAB refused to forward that amount,
but instead asked to duplicate the previous
year's amount, $37,500. Hie regents in
" turn, allocated $30,000.
Haussler said fees support is important
in case the paper has a poor advertising
year.
In 1975-76, for instance, the Daily
Nebraskan was more than $11 JD00 1n the
red," she said. The year before we had a
really exceptional year (to cover it).
Should we have several years like
that," Haussler said, "we would have to
make drastic cuts in staff size and probably
be a much smaller paper. A
"There's always going to be some oppo
sition to us getting fees," Haussler said,
adding Omaha Regent James Moylan has
suggested the Daily Nebraskan become
totally independent of the university.
"There's no alternative (to receiving
fees) in the long run," she said.
Although the ideal situation next year
would be to get half the publication cost
in fees, Haussler said she hopes to get at
least $30,000.
' !