page 6
daily nebraskan
thursday, march 9, 1978
t
Administrators, students divided on Fund B question
By Joe Starita
NU administrators and student organiza
tion members are divided on the question
of which policy is most effective in
accounting for Fund B student fee money.
At issue is whether current policies and
guidelines used to direct Fund B spending
adequately account for student fees and
do not need to be expanded.
An expansion would make all Fund B
monies subject to an annual study design
ed to pinpoint how much student fee
money is spent, and where and why it is
spent.
Currently, 95 percent ($63.08 per full
time student) of all mandatory student fees
collected is channeled into Fund B.
The bulk of the fee money stockpiled
in Fund B supports the University Health
Center and pays for bonds used to con
struct and maintain the student unions and
residence halls.
Regent Edward Schwartzkopf of
Lincoln said he sees no need for an annual
Delicatessen, student lockers
among Union Board projects
The Union Board has divided its pie into
four parts to allow for better planning for
this year's Nebraska Union Board activities.
Four committees that were established
as a result of the Union Board's new by
laws have taken effect this year. The four
committees include food service, opera
tions, business finance and recreation.
Mark Knobel, Union Board president, said
the committee chairmen are looking for
more student involvement in the Union
Board.
High on the agenda for the food service
committee is an experimental delicatessen
in the union.
According to Bob Richeson, assistant
director of food services, he will examine
the costs for the project and will present
his findings to the Union Board at a future
meeting.
"I'm trying to find out from people
what type of foods they would like to
see," he said, for example whether stu
dents would buy salads in serving portions
or pints. Richeson said that sandwiches,
such as poor boys probably would be
served too.
According to Richeson, the deli proba
bly would be located around the area of
the front desk of the union.
"We would hope to have something
open by the beginning of the next school
year," Richeson said.
The operations committee will be as
signing union space to student organiza
tions within the next month, according to
Knobel. The committee will continue plans
for a $5,000 commuter locker project for
the union. The plan, which has already
been accepted by the board, will be for
lockers in the vending area in the lower
level of the Union. The lockers may be
provided as a service or at a minimal charge
for students. Knobel said several pinball
machines may be taken from the area to
make room for the lockers.
The operations committee also will be
looking at the possibility of a copy center
for the Union.
The business and finance committee
will review proposed budgets for all areas
of the union's plans and activities other
than programming. The program councils
members submit their own budget to the
board.
The finance and business committee will
consider plans for a computer system to
speed calculations of monthly union ac
counting statements.
The East Union checking service will
come under review by the finance commit
tee. Knobel said the committee will look at
the past problem of the East Union not
having enough money to cover check
cashing. The recreation committee will
work with the program councils.
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audit of Fund B, but if students want an
audit, they should conduct a study on their
own.
Supporters of an annual comparative
study argue that such a report would be a
useful tool to help run Fund B more
efficiently.
They add that an expanded study would
increase student input and allow students
more say in how best to use 95 percent of
the money they pay in student fees.
"Why shouldn't there be a comparative
study done for Fund B monies?" asked
Don Macke, director of NUPIRG (Nebra
ska University Public Interest Research
Group).
"Such a report," Macke said, "would
allow students to see exactly how their
money is now being spent and would
provide possibilities on how that spending
could be improved.
"Maybe we are spending the money as
efficiently as possible now, but a report
would at least allow us the opportunity to
prove that."
Macke said the universitywide task
force on student fees recommended to NU
President Ronald Roskens that an annual
audit of Fund B monies be conducted.
"Roskens kept the shell of the report,
but gutted the important issues," he said.
"Eventually, the regents said Ves' to
eliminating fees for speakers and 'no' to a
Fund B audit."
Macke added that ASUN is asking UNL
Chancellor Roy Young to set up a task
force to study Fund B audit possibilities.
An annual analysis of Fund B monies
was recommended to Roskens by the task
force, said Hans Brisch, task force chair
man. Brisch said the task force report suggest
ed Fund B dollars be used only for services
that benefit a majority of students and that
those dollars be subject to the same
scrutiny as Fund A money.
"We (the task force) could not justify
what would kill a Fund B program or what
would make it viable," Brisch said. "That's
why we recomrriended an annual study be
made of Fund B."
Brisch said the task force felt it should
establish broad guidelines to be used to
account for Fund B money, rather than
saying, "Yes, we propose a specific audit
be done."
He added that a 1973 regents' proposal
and the Fees Allocation Board (FAB) re
commendations serje as the guidelines
UNL uses to account for Fund B money.
"The 73 proposals and FAB already
provide a mechanism to do an annual audit
of UNL's Fund B money," Brisch said.
"I think you should explore the current
policy first to decide whether or not it
works."
Asked how students could be certain
that their student fee money is getting
maximum mileage, Brisch said, "The only
way to determine if the money is being
used most efficiently is through a study on
an annual basis."
Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor for
student affairs, said most members of the
task force felt an intense study of Fund B
should be made because "that's where the
vast majority of student fees go."
Armstrong said the regents' concern
rested with Fund A, not Fund B, so the
task force concentrated on Fund A.
"I intend to make Fund B more open to
student, input," Armstrong said, "and am
giving serious consideration to doing an in
tensive study of Fund B money on our
own."
Armstrong added that his office is
recommending that Fund B dollars be stud
ied sometime within the coming year, not
annually.
"The objective of doing a Fund B
study," he explained, is to update interest
of the UNL community by evaluating the
programs and services provided by Fund B
money."
Meanwhile, the presidents' office is
open to an annual study Qf Fund B, but
'that, study "is not the function of this
office," said President Roskens.
"We function based on guidelines
established by the regents in '73 which
dictates university policy for, Fund B
money," Roskens said.
"From our vantage point here," he said,
"we see no evidence that the current
system has any problems with Fund B
money."
Roskens said the task force recommend
ed an annual study of Fund B but his staff
did not feel it was important enough to in
clude in the president's report to the
regents.
He added that although he sees no need
for it at the moment, there would be no
objection from the president if a more
detailed Fund B study became necessary.
"But that would have to start with the
chancellor's office," Roskens said. "Does
the chancellor see a perceived need? Do the
students have a need? The need doesn't
start here."
Currently, there is no need for an
annual study of Fund B money, Schwartz
kopf said.
"Fund B money is pretty cut and
dried," Schwartzkopf said. "It is encumb
ered in bonded indebtedness and is audited
every year with the results available to
everyone."
Schwartzkopf said the best thing to do
is let current policy go for several years and
keep an eye out for warning flags.
"If after three or four years problems
come up, then you can say, 'Hey, we better
do an annual study to clear this up,'" he
said.
Schwartzkopf said options are avail
able now to students concerned with Fund
B accountability He said ASUN could
form a committee and work with FAB to
find out how to better use student fee
money.
By comparing other programs and
policies, he said, students can determine
how efficiently their fee money is being
used here.
'Then they can take the results to Arm
strong and he can determine the validity. If
the alternatives look better, they can be
put into practice.
"But, personally, I don't feel an annual
study of Fund B is necessary right now."
Out-of-date bylaws target
of ASUN recommendation
ASUN approved a resolution Wednesday
night recommending next year's senate call
a constitutional convention next fall to up
date senate bylaws.
Calling the current constitution "inade
quate, out-of-date and stifling for a progres
sive student government," the resolution
recommended investigation into several
areas, including amending procedures,
representation and executive functions.
Jim Vitek, a sophomore business major
from Lincoln and member of the task force
on student government, announced his in
tention of filing a petition requiring the
new senate to call the constitutional con
vention by April 5, instead of leaving the
convention tentatively scheduled for next
fall.
The senate also approved six ot the
seven members of next year's student
court, who will take office next fall. Bill
Cassel, a junior law student from Ains
worth, was appointed chief justice. Other
appointees include Arts and Sciences
juniors Mike Gibson, Cristy McCarty,
Lincoln; junior law student Gay Statmore,
Lincoln; freshman law student Annette
Kovar, Fremont; and Greg Johnson, Baltic,
SB. Statmore was also appointed to fill
a vacancy on the current student court.
ASUN also appropriated $150 for
stickers and flyers to encourage students to
vote in the upcoming election. The senate
ad hoc campaign committee, in conjunc
tion with a student group called Commit
tee for Student Involvement, will distribute
the stickers and conduct a telephone cam
paign to reach between 6,000 and 10.000
off-campus students.
The Government Liaison Committee
will also hold a voter registration drive
March 29 and 30 in the Nebraska Union
and March 31 on hast Campus. Students
may register from Lancaster County or
from their home district.