Pago 4 Summer Nebraskan, Thursday, June 28, 1 979
tuidente victoiriioTii in regent vote
Strike one for the students.
It might not have been for the best reasons, but students
were victorious Saturday as the NU Board of Regents fail
ed to recommend the issuance of bonds to finance a $8.4
million stadium addition.
Are Carter's
Japan efforts .
the answer?
By L. Kent V0i3an0tt
No gas, no food, no money.
That seems to be the situation confronting those on
the east coast as -the effect of the gasoline shortage,
truckers' strike and inflation hit the nation's cities.
Obviously, the three problems are related.
The shortage of petroleum products has caused gas
lines up to 15 blocks long in New York, and is an in
tegral reason for the independent truckers' strike.
The strike is beginning to have impact as meat and
fresh produce are becoming scarce in New York and
other eastern cities.
And, the government announced Tuesday that infla
tion rose at a rate of 1.1 percent in May, a 14 percent an
nual increase, reducing the spending power of all
Americans. .
Meanwhile, President Carter is in Japan at a meeting
of the leaders of the western industrial nations.
Carter has said he will attempt to forge a western
response to energy problems, highlighted by a pro
grams designed to save 2 million barrels of oil per day.
And while the western nations try to figure a
. response to the high energy prices, the OPEC oil
' ministers are holding another of their meetings in
i Geneva. . , '
' Price increase
The inevitable price increase is expected to raise the
price of oil to $20 per barrel contributing another a
nickel-a-gallon increase to the spiraling price of
' gasoline, which is already shooting up at a 55 percent
annual rate.
So, following a Fourth of July holiday in Hawaii,
! Carter will be returning to problems which he must
deal with quickly and effectively.
Perhaps his efforts in Japan can serve as a beginning
in handling the energy shortage and in halting inflation,
but they should only be regarded as a starting point
Congress has begun to move on- an energy package
based on the production of synthetic fuels, gas from
coal. And Carter has indicated he will support these ef
forts. Decisive action
But decisive action is still required in dealing with
, the short term problems of gas lines, riots in the
streets, and a reduced food supply.
Having begun the process of satisfying independent
truckers demands by suspending Special Rule No. 9,
which guaranteed all fuel necessary for agriculture, the
i President should use the power of his office to get the
i trucks moving again.
Maybe a return to the nearly lost art of presidential
j jawboning would be appropriate in this situation.
f Summer Nebraskan '
The Summer Nebraskan is published weekly by the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Journalism
during eight weeks of the summer sessions. Summer'
Nebraskan office is 112 Avery Hall, City Campus.
Telephone 472-3210.
, Editor Shelley Smith
Business Manager: Rosemary WQtsie
Reporter: Gordon Johnson
Advertising Representative: Becky Caredis
- Advisors: Jack Botts. Don .Glover
School of Journalism Director: Neala Copple
letters policy
The Summer Nebraskan welcomes reader com
ment and will publish letter and guest editorials
that are signed and capable of verification. The
editor reserves the right to condense letters, retain
ing the writera point Timeliness and clearness of
writing will be considered.
Letters should be received by the Summer
Nebraskan Monday, prior jto the date of desire
And it appears that addition plans are dead -for this
year anyway.
The energy crunch was cited as the strongest reason
why Regent Robert Raun from Minden changed his
previous for-the-addition vote, yet it was the weakest
reason when compared to arguments presented to the
board from concerned students.
Raun, a farmer, said because of lessening gas and oil sup
plies, and President Carter's decision last week to
reallocate farming diesel fuel to truckers, it is not the time
to spend money on anything that would entice people to
travel.
Three cheers for Regent Raun. He realized that there
was at least one valid argument against building the
stadium addition.'
However, the energy crunch was seen as the weakest
argument against the addition in a booklet prepared by
several ASUN members.
They contend that the overall cost, aesthetic value and
principle of the addition should be enough to thwart any
kind of proposed expansion, and rightfully so.
Granted, the nation's energy problems are real and im
portant. It is a good argument. But, who in their right mind
would want to sit three-fourths of a block away from the
sidelines? Where are UNL administrators going to find
3,000 more parking spaces to accommodate 9,000 ticket
holders? And is there anyone who really knows how long it
will take to pay back the bonds?
And what about President Roskens' speech Saturday
emphasizing that inflation has hit the core of the universi
ty and educational quality is at an all-time low?
And then the regents have the nerve to turn around and
discuss building an addition that in no way could ever
possibly help the educational quality level.
Regent Robert Simmons from Scottsbluff was right
when he said he's heard the same complaints about educa
tional quality for five years and nothing has been done.
Plans for the expansion are being shelved, and hopefully
will stay there permanently. The $175,000 .spent on the
plans is a small price to pay when compared to the millions
that could have been spent on the expansion,.
Let's hope the work of those concerned students doesn'
go in vain and their arguments serve to strengthen Regent
Raun's stand against the stadium addition.
Student's were victorious last Saturday and it's good to
know that at least one regent listened to what they said.
UNL
Administrator's
solution
to the
parking
problem.
L W r1
' '' '' ' C
letters
I can't let the opportunity go by of sending my criticism
of one article in your paper the same type of comment I
have made to to other news media. Referring to the article
by Kent Wolgamott (Tuesday, June 12) on the energy
crisis. He talks about the oil companies "sitting back and
getting rich" "Company profits for the first quarter of
this year were up dramatically.' True, the dollar profits
were op, but profit in $ is primarily significant only if
related to the size of the industry. Profit is a percent of
equity capital (stockholders investment) is the more pro
per figure to use when considering whether profits are too
high or too low. X ' y A
Factually, a shown fa Fortune May 4973 also Time of
471679, the oil industry in 1S78 earned 13.1 percent of equi-
ty capital while all Bancfacturisg Industry averaged 15.9
percent oil e arcings looked at In this way were below in
dustry ia general for 1975, 1971 and 1978. In 1978 earnings
of various Urge companies were as follows: " " '
IBM 23.1
Gen. Motors 20.0
Gen.Elec 18.77
Ford 16.4
Oaindustry 111
Wolgamott says "the oil companies offer few solutions to
the energy crunch except 'the simplistic give us more
money and well give you the energy philosophy they have
explored for,years"-sctua!ly a Chase Manhattan bank
study shows that for the last five years for the SO leading
oil companies capital and exploration costs were $124
billion, 3 percent more than total net income (profits).
Your reporter's headline says "everyone point at
everyone else," and he points to attitudes of President
Carer, the Congress, individual congressmen, and the oil
companies-he should have added "the press". I personally
believe the news media are also to blame by so repeatedly
misleading the public .by continually refsrrkg to high
dollar profits of the oil industry, rather than the more
meaningful figures percent of capital invested. -
Fred u. smiu
Sun City, Arizona
-
