dailu nebraskan
Wednesday, august 23, 1978 lincoln, nebraska vol. 102 no. 1
Auditors to analyze union;
answer critics' questions
By Amy Lenzen
An audit of Nebraska Union operations
will be conducted by a private firm this fall
in accordance with recommendations made
to the NU Board of Regents in July.
Richard Armstrong, UNL vice chancel
lor for student affairs, suggested the audit
in response to criticisms of union manage
ment presented to the regents in May and
June.
UNL graduate students Bob Simonson
and Carol Petersen had criticized plans for
union expansions and renovations which
union director Allen Bennett said were
necessary to recoup financial losses of last
year.
Regent Robert Prokop of Omaha had
questioned why the Nebraska Union last
year had the highest administrative operat
ing costs of all Big Eight universities unions,
the second highest income from funds like
student fees and was the only union to
lose money.
Analyze management
Last week Armstrong said the audit will
answer some of the questions raised by
Registration today
Today is the first day of general
registration for fall 1978. Registra
tion will be in the Nebraska Union
from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, and
from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday
and Friday.
Students should first report to
Administration 103 to obtain a regi
stration permit and a time appoint
ment card before going to the Union.
A $25 deposit is required at the
time of registration.
critics, establish a base for long-range union
planning, and should introduce fresh ideas
to the union management.
The auditors, Touche, Ross and Co.,
will analyze how the union is managed as
well as its financial records, Armstrong
said.
The audit will focus on areas that have
had problems in the past, such as the food
service department, which Armstrong said
has had problems breaking even. No area,
however, is immune to the investigation,
he added.
The audit is scheduled to begin in late
August and should be completed by mid
October, Armstrong said.
The firm will include recommendations
for change in its final report which will be
review by Armstrong, Vice Chancellor of
Business and Finance Miles Tommeraasen,
Chancellor Roy Young and the union
management.
Investigate finances
The audit was requested by Simonson
and Petersen in presentations to the Board
of Regents in May and June. They asked
the regents to investi
gate the financial status of the union
before approving expansionary projects
suggested by Bennett.
They specifically criticized proposals to
use $120,000 in a bond replacement fund
for union renovations and expansions. The
proposals called for redesigning the Harvest
Room entry, adding a delicatessen,
converting the main desk into a store, ex
panding the bakery and renovating the
south women's lounge, record lending
library and first floor television room into
a retail site for lease.
They also criticized Bennett's proposal
to the Union Board in May to construct a
600 stall parking garage in the lot directly
north of Broyhill Fountain. The parking
structure, as proposed, would contain two
levels of retail space including a Univer
Continued on page 14
Freshmen sure sign of fall
By Pat Gentzler
Autumn is a time when the air turn
turns crisp, leaves turn bright colors,
birds fly south, and a strange species of
mammal begins to appear on college
campuses all across America: the fresh
man. Ever since the beanie went out of
style, freshmen have been more difficult
to recognize. At first glance, they can
sometimes pass as real people. But a
keen eye will notice a few tell-tale
characteristics that set aside freshmen
from other students.
The one most obvious item that gives
the freshman away is the campus map.
Even the more college-oriented fresh
man, who has tossed the saddle shoes
and letter jackets, can be found with a
campus map. Scotch taping to Spiral
notebook covers and tacking to bulletin
boards are two of the most popular
methods of displaying the maps.
Freshmen, as a rule, also can be
identified by their possessions. Every
thing is new. Anyone moving into the
dorm with new towels, new luggage, and
a new bed spread can immediately be"
labeled "freshman". So can those wear
ing new wool sweaters and ski boots in
August.
Now, no one is saying that freshmen
are dumb. They just haven't had the
advantage of experience and education
that the upperclassmen have had. The
freshman who thinks that the tall build
ing on campus is Godfather Hall isn't
dumb, just misinformed. Freshmen
can't be expected to know that Phi Delt
is a fraternity and not a social disease.
It doesn't take long, however, for
freshmen to get the hang of college life.
By mid-September they stop running to
class and stop leaving half an hour early.
By October, they're all complaining
about dorm food and have written their
final letter home. By November, they've
all stopped reading the back of the all-tempa-Cheer
box while doing laundry.
Some have quit doing laundry alto
gether. At the end of the first semester,
freshmen have become so much like
upperclassmen that it's hard to tell them
apart. Fraternity pledges have all grown
moustaches. Seven thirty classes are all
but empty. For an entire semester,
except for a few straggling mid -year
starters, the freshman is an extinct being
. . . until fall, when a whole new flock
invade campus.
Students dig deeper into pockets as college costs rise
By Brenda Moskovits
UNL students may be wishing they
had saved more money from their summer
jobs because tuition, university housing,
and textbook prices all are higher this fall.
Resident tuition will increase for the
second year in a row, from $21 to $22.50
a credit hour, up $21 dollars a semester
for a full-time student carrying 14 hours.
Out-of-state students will pay $61 a credit
hour compared with $57 last year.
"If we didn't have the tuition increase,
we wouldn't have had the increase in
faculty salaries," according to Miles Tom
meraasen, UNL vice-chancellor for business
and finance.
Tommeraasen said the university has
an informal agreement with the Nebraska
Legislature that tuition "ought to go up
with inflation." The tuition increase was
' O O Cb :
Photo by Tim Ford
Lincoln's answer to Forest Lawn-for pets-the Rolling Acres Pet Cemetery,
provides a much-needed service for pet owners, according to owner Patricia
Strnot. For story and more pictures see page 22.
built into the university's budget request
for 1978-79.
Students should share
The Legislature takes the view that "if
they (the taxpayers) are going to increase
their share why shouldn't we increase the
students' share," he said.
The NU Board of Regents approved
this summer a budget request for 1979-80
which includes a resident tuition hike from
$21 to $24 a credit hour. Outstate students
would pay $65 next year if the Legislature
approves the request.
Returning to the university residence
halls will cost students an additional $70;
room and board for a double room will
cost $1,335 this year compared with
$1,265 for the 1977-78 year, according to
Douglas Zatechka, director of housing.
Zatechka cited three reasons for rais
ing housing rates 5.5 percent this year.
Food costs skyrocketed
"Inflation seems to be climbing in the
area of six to seven percent , particularly in
the area of food costs," he said.
"Hamburger and beef products have just
skyrocketed. Last year we elected to go to
six hamburgers per pound," he said,
compared with dividing a pound into five
servings earlier in the year.
Increased utility bills are a second rea
son for the increase, Zatechka said, with
electricity for lights, heating and air con
ditioning up about 15 percent from last
year.
The increase in the federal minimum
wage is the third factor. "We employ a lot
of students under that," he said. Minimum
wage went from $2.30 to $2.65 last year
and is scheduled to go up to $2.95 on
January 1," Zatechka said. Last year stu
dents faced a $40 increase.
Textbook prices higher
Textbook prices have also risen and
students are advised to get to the book
store a week before classes start to buy
used books, according to Kathleen Morris,
textbook manager of the University Book
store. Hardcover books are about a dollar
higher this year, she said. "Some publishers
have raised prices on all their books and
some publisher haven't increased prices,"
according to Morris.
Hardest hit by rising textbook prices
will be incoming freshmen, who should
count on paying $75 to $100 for books.
Morris said that many instructors at the
100 level have changed textbooks and edi
tions which is typical each fall.
The only expense students can count
on as not being highei this year is student
fees, Armstrong said. Fees will remain at
$66.50 for full-time students.
insidewednesday
Sex, disco, Perrier. . . : New York
lifestyle can get boring if you take
it too seriously page 1 7
Shape up or ship out: CBA begins
no nonsense registration and aca
demic procedures page 54
Neophytes not alone: Various
campus groups have ways of
making life easier for new
students page 36
