Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1978)
monday, October 16, 1978 daily nebraskan page 7 Tractor Test Lab attracts visitors from Soviet Union -wL n a 'f if, . - Jym w (J " ., Photo by Bob Pearson Dmitri Zalesky and Vladimir Krivorotiv, both from the Soviet Union, visited UNL's Tractor Test Lab on Friday. Foundation reports increase in donations The NU Foundation reported Friday that income from all sources during the 1977-78 fiscal year totaled $7.4 million, an increase of $2.6 million over the previous year. President Harry Haynie told the trustees at their annual business meeting that total donations surpassed the $5 million mark for the first time in the 42-year history of the foundation. The audit showed that $5.3 million was received, up $2.1 million. The previous high for gifts to the founda tion was $4.2 million in 1972, he said. Investments from endowed funds earned $2.1 million, an increase of $511,802. The total assets of the foundation now stand at $30,460,932, and increase of $2,994,657. Haynie said this was a conser vative figure. Most of the real estate, including farmland, owned by the foundation is valued low. "If the property were listed at its cur rent market value, the foundation's assets would increase by at least another $15 million," he said. Alumni gave $1.9 million, $1.1 million more than has ever been received in one year from living alumni of the university. The largest single gift was $274,784 from a Lincoln donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Haynie said the increased activity reflected payments on pledges and dona tions as a result of the first year of the $25 million capital gifts campaign. This addit ional giving, coupled with increases in the annual giving program of the alumni, gave the foundation a record year, he said. Other sources of donations were: es tates, $1,403,123, up $853,245; corporate support, $1,018,010, up $526,784; other foundations, $487,964, up $37,832; organ izations, $188,040, down $52,397, non alumni $177,755 down $363,188 and corporate matching gifts, $26,566 up $9,923. The foundation also reported that $2,788,303 was transferred to NU in bene fits. These included: student assistance, $1,042,074; faculty assistance, $391,697; research, $456,392; museum, libraries and fine arts, $96,301 ; building improvements, $76,594; grants from unrestricted gifts, $241,838; UNL Alumni Association, $50,000; and Montgomery Lecture Series, $3,000. In addition, the foundation had $309,732 in loans outstanding to 395 students. UNL's Tractor Test Lab does more than offer a consumer testing service for domestic and international machine manu facturers, its also serves to attract foreign visitors to the state. The lab has a guest book filled with the names of visiting businessmen, government officials and educators from Australia, Red China, Iran and South Africa. Three men from the Soviet Union were the most recent visitors. Dmitri Zalesky, a regional director of the Agriculture Ministry, Vladimir Krivoro tov, chairman of Collective Farms, and Dr. Alexie Kovalev, who is stationed for four years at the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C., are three of over 1,000 guests expected to visit UNL's east campus this year. As guests of the Nebraska American Agriculture corporation, Zalesky and Krivorotov flew into Washington last week where they met Kovalev who acts as inter preter for the group. The tractor test lab visit Friday was part of the scheduled tour led by Dr. Norman Tooker, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources assistant director of international programs. Tooker said the most interesting aspect of his job is talking with the visitors per sonally or through ar interpreter. "We may not speak the same language, but we can visit about intricate things," he said. The subject of interest while touring the test laboratory was farm machinery. Kovalev said Soviet farms were larger than American farms and therefore needed more powerful tractors. An American farmer would use a 100 to 150 horsepower tractor in field work whereas, Kovalev said, Soviets are producing a 500 horsepower tractor to do such work. Besides farm machinery, Tooker said the Soviets were interested in soybean production, corn production and irrigation. Because of these interests, Tooker said, the tour included a visit to Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, the Pioneer Village in Minden, co-op elevators and farms in the Seward area, and the 9,000 acre experi mental field laboratory in Mead. Before moving on to Iowa Monday, the Soviets attended the Nebraska-Kansas State football game. NUPIRG seeks recruits NUPIRG needs you. This is what divisional directors of the Nebraska University Public Interest Re search Group are telling classes and student groups to recruit more volunteers, said Sammie Grier, consumer division director. "Our purpose is to recruit, but we'd like to make them aware of what NUPIRG offers," she said. Many students still do not know what services NUPIRG offers, according to Grier. "I ask the students in the sociology class I went to this morning what they knew about NUPIRG," Grier said. "Either they were asleep or they really didn't know much about it because nobody answered. Grier said students who volunteer to do research can get from one to six hours credit. Recommendations too In addition, NUPIRG will provide letters of recommendation for volun teers upon request. "It (NUPIRG experience) looks real good on a resume," she added. Students who are interested should talk to instructors in the areas that they want to research and sign up for the hours during pre -registration, Grier said. If the students discover they will not have time to do the research, they can drop the hours during free drop and add. Margy Meister, NUPIRG director, said anyone who can 't get credit for the re search with their own college can get it through Centennial College. Students would not have to spend hours in the library accomplishing the research, Meister said . Interviews not library "A large part of the research is not library but interview or personal contact research," Meister said. "I think public interest research is more akin to depth reporting or investigative reporting than term paper research." Much of the research also includes com piling materials from several sources, Meister said. NUPIRG needs volunteers in all divisions, Grier said. Theoretically, she said, all UNL students could work for credit through NUPIRG. "We'd love to be able to let people come in and do what they want," Grier said. "The only problems we'd come up against are money binds." Bottle bill studied Currently, NUPIRG is researching the bottle bill proposal which is on the Nov. 7 election ballot, Grier said. They also are conducting the consumer hotline, which serves as a referral service for consumers with complaints, she added. However, anything which would relate to NUPIRG would be an acceptable re search project, she said. ffhenpni consider tko investment consider liind End Sli jr These days, when just about everyone is getting into the waterbed business, you owe it to yourself to visit Land and Sky before you buy. Or more precisely, before you invest. Because a waterbed is an investment. And in the long stretch, it's a Land and Sky waterbed that'll pay off. Not only in night-after-night, year-after-year comfort, but in quality. In service. In selec tion and price. Yes, we make some ex ceptional claims for our waterbeds. But we can also guarantee those claims be cause we simply build better waterbeds. What's more, our people are waterbed specialists, knowledgeable professionals equipped with all the industry information and statistics you need to help make your waterbed decision an intelli gent one. And, Land and Sky can now cater to your specific style and budget preferences at either our Lincoln Center economy store, or at our Lincoln East store with furnishings for the complete waterbedroom. So if you're considering a waterbed, go ahead and look into everbody else's waterbed business. Because once you consider the investment, we think you'H end up with a Land and Sky. land and sky Lincoln Center 1325 0 475-7778 Lincoln East Cotner & O 488-8997 iParEl 'SHOP