The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, June 28, 1979, Page page 4, Image 4
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 -