page 10
friday, October 27, 1978
daily nebraskan
Inflation program spurs various views at university
By Shelley Smith
President Carter's recsnt anti-inflation
policy has generated dispute among UNL
business and economic professors.
Carter's policy asks American workers
to hold requests for wage increases at seven
percent and asks business to keep price
increases at 5.75 percent in an attempt to
bring down the inflation rate.
Some members of the College of Busi
ness Administration and Bureau of Busi
nessResearch said the policy has two
chances of success, "slim and none."
Donald Pursell, director of the bureau,
said with inflation rising at an average rate
of eight percent a year, it appears that the
administration is groping for a policy to
attempt to control it.
50-50 chance
However, Jerry Petr, associate professor
of economics, and a senior fellow of the
Centennial Educational Program said he
feels the policy has a 50-50 chance of
success.
, He said it is a positive approach to com
batting inflation and said he feels it is sen
sible because he is "not in favor of the
alternatives of either a recession or an even
higher inflation rate."
Pursell said it will be difficult to gauge
the impact of the new policy upon
Nebraska. All employers, including those in
Nebraska, can use the president's policy to
hold wage gains to a minimum by urging
workers not to request increases higher
than seven percent.
Price picking
Pursell noted that many Nebraska firms
are modest in size and may have difficulty
in determing what prices were during base
years of 1976-1977 which would make it
difficult to hold price increases to the
desired levels in 1978-1979.
However, Petr argued that any
competent businessman should know what
he's done over the last 12 months and
should know how much it cost.
Business Professor James Schmidt noted
that Carter's plan has a serious deficiency
in that it may not make a sufficient allow
ance for shifts in demands between indus
tries. N
If a particular industry experiences a
large increase in the demand for its pro
duct, the price has to rise for efficient allo
cation of that product. He noted that the
increase that may be required may not
satisfy Carter's guidelines.
Not so rigid
Petr said he felt the guidelines of the
program were not so rigid as to seriously
affect allocation.
He said he thinks the government
realizes there will be some increase and
added this this was the advantage of having
a voluntary program.
Petr said he likes the wage insurance pol
icy proposed by the president. Workers
whose wages do not match the inflation
rate would be reimbursed by the govern
ment. This proposal must first be approved
by Congress, however.
Schmidt said the "wage insurance"
could have adverse inflationary effects in
that inflation might then feed upon itself
through increased consumer spending. The
wage-price spiral could then become a
permanent fixture of the economy.
Case by case
Schmidt also said he endorses deregula
tion of industries and restoring com
petition as a device to combat inflation.
However, Petr said he thought deregula
tion should be considered "case by case."
He said he thinks deregulation of the
airlines is good, because it has "good
competitive potential."
But if natural gas is deregulated, prices
may skyrocket and provoke inflation.
Petr said he felt the major problem
Carter's policy will undergo will be the
public's frustration.
He explained that because people are
naturally "impatient" and "greedy" the
gradual effects of the program will frus
trate them.
He said if the program succeeds this
year, the president will try for a lower
increase next year.
"So you see the effects won't be
immediate, and drastic."
He said he is optimistic about the pro
gram and is hopeful it will succeed.
"I realize that it may not work. Then
111 be concerned as to where we go next,"
he said.
Ammonia antidote questioned as effective or harmful
By Kim Wilt
"Poison: contains ammonia. Avoid
swallowing, breating vapors, and prolonged
contact with skin or eyes. As an internal
antidote, give lemon, orange or grapefruit
juice or diluted vinegar. Then give olive oil.
Call physician immediately."
That antidote, and others like it, can be
found on household ammonia and pro
ducts containing ammonia, and it was con
sidered the correct one.
consumer byline
Now, however, it has been discovered
that the antidote may be as harmful as the
poison it is supposed to neutralize.
The Nebraska Poison Control Center, lo
cated in Children's Memorial Hospital in
Omaha, says the only antidotes it recom
mends in cases of ingested poison are milk
and water.
After consulting with a physician, a
worker with the Center said the combina
tion of citric acid in the fruit juices and
ammonia would produce heat inside the
body which would do more damage than
ammonia alone.
Actions unsure
The Consumer Product Safety Com
mission, a federal agency located in Wash
ington, D.C., is aware of the problem, ac
cording to Alan Ehrlich, commission mem
ber, and program manager for the Acute
Chemical Hazards Division but they are
still unsure of how to act.
The commission is in the process of
amending its labeling guide, which consists
of interpretations of various laws, and has
"the force of law" Ehrlich said.
The problem, according to Ehrlich, who
holds a PhD. in chemistry, is whether the
citric acid is effective enough as a neutra
lizer to warrant its use.
Ehrlich agrees with the Poison Control
Center's recommendation of drinking milk
or water, but says the commission still has
not decided whether or not to recommend
the use of citric acid to neutralize the am
monia even after it has been diluted with
milk or water.
Unresolved issue
Although the issue has not been
resolved, Ehrlich said he hopes it will be
"within the next few months."
Massenet's lyric opera
based on Goethe's
epic romance
eft 8-88
eft
ipinfi)
Bpifin)
Tickets 472-3375
or at Box Office
n
Meanwhile, what about those who are
unlucky enough to accidentally swallow
PARSONS SUDSY AMMONIA
The Hard Working Economical Cleaner
G .1 for all-around household cleaning-kitchen ba
, utility room anywhere in the house Use tor o
.jk..niHiiluHaininiiAhc
Walls
Floors
Painted Woodwork
Linoleum
Tile
Refrigerator
Oven
Stove Tod
Tubs
Showers
Metal Fixtures
Wash Bowls
Toilet Bowls
Venetian Blinds
Car Washing
Garbage Cans
Use 12 cup to a gallon of warm water
TOUGH JOBS Use Parsons Ammonia full strength
.or lipstick tar scuff marks grease stains Oo no) use
to soak aluminum pant.
OEOOORIZESdrams and garbage disposals
rnmm
PARSONS SUDSY AMMONIA
ingredients
Ammonium hydroxide solution
Linear aikyibentene sulfonate
Ethoxyiated alkyi alcohol
Opacifier Clarifying agent
Salts 'inert
'ontamsO. Phosphorus dim
recommended use
ARMOUR DIAL IMC
PHOENIX. ARIZONA 15077
178510'
Unions need
Continued from Page 1
The report also called for a more active
role of the university administration in
union management and suggested the
Union Board be elevated to an equal status
with the union director.
The fundamental source of disagree
ment between the student group criticizing
the union and the union management is a
philosophical one where there "are no right
and wrong answers," the report said.
The students believe the union should
be the "living room of the campus" and
the priority of its management should be
maintaining comfort.
The union management, however, has
maintained that the union should keep up-to-date
with other unions by continually
renovating and upgrading facilities and fix
tures. The report said the union manage
ment philosophy borders on commercial
ization. The report recommended a student sur
vey be conducted to determine which of
the philosophical approaches should
be implemented into the management
decisions.
Report released
The report has been released to
representatives of the union management,
the Union Board, ASUN and a task force
which was organized by Armstrong earlier
this semester to determine how a survey of
campus attitudes to the union should be
conducted. The report also has gone to the
regents. Armstrong said he might present
the report to the board at its November
meeting.
The auditors recommended that these
groups review the report and meet to de
termine a course of action. After that a
plan should be developed to set imple
mentation dates for each proposal. Im
plementation of the policies should be
ammonia, or discover that their children
have?
"Our recommendation is not to proceed
with the (citrus fruit) antidote," Ehrlich
said.
However, the antidote is still there, and
its being there is not against the law.
Under the Federal Hazardous Sub
stances Act, a poisonous substance, while
required to show a warning depending on
the amount of poison it contains, is not re
quired to show an antidote for the poison.
No legislation
As for having the incorrect antidote
listed for a product, an aide to the U.S.
House of Representatives Consumer Pro
tection subcommittee said there is no
federal legislation covering that occurrence.
When faced with the problem of an
incorrect antidote being listed on a hazar
dous product, such as ammonia, a CPSC
spokesman said the manufacturer has two
choices. "He could voluntarily recall the
product and change the label or he could
do nothing and run the risk of possible
litigation."
closely monitored by the union director,
university administration and the Union
Board, the report said.
In order to set priorities, the auditors
said a survey of user opinion is of "utmost
importance."
Armstrong said he probably would meet
with Bennett early next week to begin to
set up a review process for the report.
All groups will work as quickly as pos
sible but will not be able to move from
recommendation to adoption immediately,
Armstrong said.
But he warned that all
recommendations in the report will not be
implemented. "There will be some recom
mendations that the administration will
not approve of."
Identify areas
Mike Gibson, chairperson of the task
force which will determine the content
and form of the survey to be used said the
report would be used by the task force to
"help us identify the areas we should be
addressing."
Bennett said the union will "continue
in a more or less business-as-usual manner"
until it is directed differently. He said it
will take the management at least a month
to fully understand the content of report
and begin to respond with appropriate
research.
How the audit and the student survey
will be paid for has not yet been
determined, Armstrong said. Plans earlier
this fall had called for both to be funded
by a $30,000 bond reserve account ear
marked for long range planning and re
search for the unions. Armstrong said he
has discovered those funds can only be
used for planning new construction -not
for planning within existing structures.
He estimated the audit will cost about
$10,000.