Wednesday, august 23, 1978
page 4
daily nebraskan
opinioneditorial
Up, up and away goes the rising cost of NU's tuition
Somebody has to pay for inflation
at NU and it looks like the students
and the Nebraska taxpayers will.
NU President Ronald Roskens
proposed a 6.5 tuition increase to
the NU Board of Regents for NU's
1979-80 budget.
If this is approved it would raise
tuition from $22.50 for resident stu
dents to $24 and shoot noa-resident
students tuition from $61 to $65.
Medical students's tuition would in
crease by $450 next year.
Roskens also told the Regents
that with a tuition increase, the
needed money from the State
General Fund for 1979-80 is over
$112 million, an increase of four
percent.
Last year the Regents increased
tuition from $21 to the current
$22.50.
It's a reasonable question to ask
what students are getting for the in
crease to $22.50. The answer is the
privilege of paying the cost of infla
tion. If the increase to $24 passes in all
probability the save privilege will re
main. The increase is just to maintain
and not cut anything from the bud
get. This has been the trend for the
last four years. Tuition goes up, state
funds go up and nobody gets a thing
for the increase.
NU salaries won't go up, the
classrooms aren't any smaller, and
life just gets more expensive.
Roskens did take the time to tell
the Regents that "the salary issue at
the university is still of major
concern and one that we must con
tinue to address."
Roskens qualified his statement
by saying, however, that the budget
request didn't include a percentage
increase for salaries and wages or
corresponding benefits.
He went on to say, "We believe
that the university should receive the
same general percentage increase for
salaries and wages approved for all
other state agencies.
It's likely that the Legislature
won't find that an easy proposal to
swallow.
But Roskens must think that will
hopefully appease NU faculty and
employees.
Yet, the Regents can be credited
with appropriating money for the
UNO Health Physical Education and
Recreation Building scheduled to
open in Sept. 1979, which UNO has
needed.
They can add to their credit the
beginning of a tuition waiver
program for graduate assistants and
summer tuition waiver program for
graduate assistants at UNO, if the
proposed increase passes.
Two Regents who said they would
vote against the increase are Regents
Robert Simmons of Scottsbluff and
Robert Prokop of Wilbur.
Simmons voiced a concern for the
students when he said he would
vote against the proposed 6.5
increase because this is the fourth
year in a row the budget would be
offering no improvement.
For the fourth year in a row, stu
dents and Nebraska taxpayers are
probably remembering former Presi
dent Gerald Ford's advice and think
ing about bring out the old bullet
to bite.
California taxpayers, Carter critics are summer victors
It has been a tumultuous summer for
America's politicians and their sometimes
adversaries, the press.
The summer of '78 will probably be
remembered as the summer of the tax re
volt, when Californian's voted to drastical
ly cut property taxes which sent shock
waves through the nation.
The so-called revolt spawned many
champions and a few new heroes, crusty
old Howard Jarvis, who led the effort for
the California initiative and Rep. Jack
Kemp, R-N.Y., the ex-quarterback who has
become a presidential contender by cam
pioning a 30 percent slash in federal in
come taxes.
President Carter also suffered a stormy
summer.
For the second year in a row, he
endured a scandal among his staff. Last
year Bert Lance, this summer, Peter
Bourne, his advisor on drug abuse.
Bourne causes scandal
Bourne, who was cut loose from the
White House much faster and cleaner than
Lance, wrote a prescription for one of his
aides using an assumed name and was
forced to leave when it became public.
But, before he left, Eoume managed to
create another controversy by stating his
knowledge of marijuana and cocaine use
by members of the White House staff.
So rather than enjoying the aftermath
of a successful European summit, Carter
was forced to once again go on the de
fensive. Carter's losing battle with the 'Congress
continued as his energy plan remained
bottled up, his tax reform package gutted
and his relations with individual members,
especially the powerful Speaker of the
House Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, became
strained.
I. kent wolgamott
Revolt in Nebraska
The tax revolt stretched its tenacles to
Nebraska, with a special legislative session
devoted to the subject and a proposal on
the November ballot to place a 5 percent
lid on local government spending.
The Nebraska political scene has been
marked by a loud squabble between gu
bernatorial candidates Gerald Whelan and
Charles Thone over the number and
formats of their debates, providing more
disagreement between the two than the de
bates themselves have shown.
The university has not been dormant
over the summer with students once again
being forced to swallow a tuition increase
with no appreciable changes in the product
received.
The press suffered a long series of
setbacks this summer.
Police searches
In their ruling on the Stanford Daily
case, the Supreme Court justices sent a
chill through the nation's newsrooms when
they ruled that police could conduct un
announced searches of newspaper offices
to look for material newspapers may
have relating to police investigations.
This ruling prompted outraged reactions
from newsmen and defenders of the First
Amendment as well as legislation at the
federal and state levels to prevent such
searches.
The Court dealt another blow to the
media when it ruled that news media were
not allowed any greater access to public
facilities than the general public,
severely limiting press investigations into
state institutions such as prisons and
mental hospitals.
And the press is once again threatened
in the muddied case of Myron Farber and
the New York Times in New Jersey.
Martyrdom marred
Initially, the case dealth with Farber,
who refused to turn over his notes on sto
ries he wrote about a New Jersey doctor
accused of murder to the judge handling
the case.
Farber's journalistic martyrdom was
subsequently diminished by the revela
tion that he had begun a book about the
stories and had submitted a manuscript to
his publisher for approval.
The case could still result in a major
decision on the confidentiality of
reporters' sources but it has lost some of
its clarity with the possibility of a book.
All in all, the summer established
groundwork for a very interesting fall as
the president tries to bolster his image,
Congress passes election year legislation,
politicians run for office and the courts
continue to rule on cases involving the
press.
Monstrous welcome back' to students
This year, the Daily Nebraskan begins
publication with a welcome back issue of
56 pages. It's the largest Daily Nebraskan
ever published. It represents the work of
more than 50 student staff members in
news-editorial and advertising.
It's not easy to put out a monstrous
issue like this. Copy was set in type and
sent to the printers during three days.
Production and advertising people worked
about two weeks to finish their end.
Reporters, photographers and editors
gave up the last few days of their summer
vacation to dig up stories, shoot assign
ments and produce the paper.
The work comes with the territory,
though.
The Daily Nebraskan is the ninth largest
newspaper in the state.
We publish every day of the week, ex
cept Tuesday, with a circulation of 17,000.
Our budget is $333,844, and 90 percent
of that comes from advertising revenue.
This year, we will receive $34,800 in
student fees, which makes up the other
10 percent of our budget.
We also have planned to publish three
special supplements this semester.
A magazine section will appear tri
weekly on Fridays. Magazine editor Amy
Lenzen intends to include depth pieces
that a daily newspaper usually doesn't have
the time to research.
Ad lib, our entertainment supplement,
promises to inform and give you an
indepth perspective on musicians, the arts
and television listings. Entertainment
editor Casey McCabe will be responsible
for Ad lib, which comes out every
Thursday.
Our sports department will produce
First Down, the football program, which is
available on home game Saturdays. It will
be directed by Sports hditor Jim Kay.
We promise to continue giving you
a growing newspaper whose prime goal is
to serve the readers of this campus.
We are optimistic that we can continue
to give you thorough news coverage of the
campus. whiJe expanding to come citv
areas. 3
And welcome back.
letters
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes
letters and guest opinions. Choice ol
material will be based on timeliness
and originality. Letters must be ac
companied by the writer's name, but
may be published under a pen name
if requested.
Guest opinions should be typed,
triple-spaced, on nonerasable paper.
They should be accompanied by the
author's nam, class standing and
major or occupation. All material
submitted is subject to editing and
condensation and cannot be returned
to the writer.
Depth pieces suitable for the
opinioneditorial page also are wel
come. A variety of types of work will
be accepted, including opinion pieces
on timely subjects and depth reports.
Material should be brought to the
Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union,
Room 34.
Free lance work occasionally is ac
cepted. It also should be typed,
triple-spaced, on nonerasable paper.