. n n
thursday, august 30, 1979
Nncoln, nebraska vol. 103 no. 5
UNL research damaged by budget cuts
By Mike Sweeney
Research at UNL will suffer this year
from major reductions in its Research
Council and equipment budgets, officials
said Wednesday.
"That's how bad our budget is," School
of Life Sciences director Russel Mcints
said, pointing to a "Furnished Room"
advertisement on his office door.
Meints said budget reductions will make
it impossible for the school to buy research
equipment this year, and make it difficult
for advanced science students to win re
search grants-in-aid.
The budget cuts also will drastically
reduce the number of faculty summer
research fellowships and faculty research
leaves, according to Henry F. Holtzclaw,
Jr., dean for graduate -studies and executive
secretary for the Research Council.
The council provides grants-in-aid of up
to $1,000 for university students and
instructors, as well as faculty fellowships,
leaves and money to bring research scholars
to UNL for lectures.
The junior and senior faculty summer
research fellowships for the summer of
1980 have been suspended, Holtzclaw said,
but seven or eight Maude Hammond Fling
fellowships will be awarded.
FACED WITH the budget cutbacks,
Holtzclaw said the Research Council will
concentrate on travel-sending UNL profes
- sors to scholarly meetings and bringing
other scholars to campus. But even these
areas will be cut back, he said.
UNL faculty members may receive
funds for only one research trip per year,
down from two last year, he said. The
council will support only two visiting
scholars per department for fiscal 1979-80,
he said.
Holtzclaw said UNL administrators
reduced the council's state financing by
$140,000 this year, from $272,854 to
$139,360.
Although the council will receive about
$170,000 from trust funds and the NU
Foundation-the same amount it received
last year. State financing losses have
reduced the overall council budget to
almost one-half of what it was two years
ago, Holtzclaw said.
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H iHYiYi tu
Catchin' rays
Photo by Tom Gessner
Allison Srb, Chi Omega sophomore, soaks
up sunlight on the sorority house's sun-deck.
"OUR BUDGET was cut very tight this
year," he said. "We can survive, ay ear t but
iwehave
Qne year of research uinding cutbacki
isn't a crisis, Meints said, but continued
cutbacks could interrupt several research
experiments.
"We're not going to slide five years
backward in one year, but you can bet the
effect will be substantial," he said.
Holtzclaw said the pressures of inflation
add to the council's troubles.
"It all adds up to we're in a desperate
situation this year, but we hope to recover
next year," Holtzclaw said.
He said the administration is committed
to trying to increase the Research Council
budget, but everything depends on winning
the approval of the Legislature.
HE SAID more research funds may be
available this year if the university saves
money on heating costs this winter or a
faculty member resigns.
In view of the recent Regental Role and
Mission statements proposing a major
emphasis on research and graduate studies,
the Research Council has written to NU
President Ronald Roskens recommending
that a prime goal of the 1980-81 budget be
restoring the council's budget to 1976-77
levels, plus an adjustment for inflation.
He said the budget was reduced to help
the university keep its commitment to raise
salaries 7 percent.
"The university was committed to a 7
percent increase, and in order to meet that
7 percent, they had to commit, other areas
of die budget. There is a relationship
there," he said.
He said the budget cuts wouldn't have
been necessary if the Nebraska Legislature
had approved the university's budget as it
was submitted earlier this year.
"WE ASKED for a realistic budget,"
Holtzclaw said. "We didn't ask for the
sky."
He said 79 percent of the university's
budget is allocated to personnel salaries.
By raising salaries without a corresponding
increase in the NU budget, administrators
had to take money out of the remaining 21
percent of the budget to pay for the
increases, he said, resulting in some "pretty
tough cuts." ,
The Research Council budget was cut
because it had funds available, he said.
"They were available for cutting. But if
you have a certain amount of faculty
members hired, the only way you can
save money is to have some of them leave."
The university's equipment budget also
was reduced by more than one half to help
defray the cost of salary increases, he said.
The equipment budget is distributed to
academic departments to help pay for
scientific equipment, such as microscopes
"Mdtesttubeis.
Meints called the process "stealing from
Peter to pay Paul."
HE SAID salary increases may have
been necessary to improve faculty morale,
but the budget cuts will hurt machinery
maintenance and young scientists interest
ed in research.
This year, Meints hasn't yet received
even the $40,000 the department needs to
repair the equipment it has , he said .
"I can't afford to repair the equipment,
much less buy it," Meints said.
David J. Sellmyer, physical department
chairman, also said he has received no
equipment funds this year. He said the
department may repair its equipment with
. the overhead rebates it receives for generat
ing $700,000 in grants.
"We're certainly squeezed," Sellmyer
said. "We had a big budget deficit last year.
Vice Chancellor (Ned) Hedges was there,
able to help out. If we don't get help like
that this year-and indications are we
won't-we'll have a terrible time just
operating the place."
Continued on page 7
Alleged TONE newsletter found in ASUN photocopier:
A letter containing a racist term believed to be written
by Theta Nu Epsilon, a secret fraternity, was found in an
ASUN copy machine Aug'. 13, according to ASUN senator
Jim Davidson. v-
r ' Although Davidson declined , to' say who found the
letter,' tie told the senators during last night's ASUN meet
ing C it a senator did not find the letter.
; "The rcws that it was found in the copier of ASUN is
-somewhat startling to me," First Vice President Hubert
Brown told the senate. V
"There are questions that need to be answered - like
what the hell was it doing there, how much student
money was spent copying it, and how did it get there?
"The issue is that student fees were used to run off the
letter, Davidson said.
"The problem is not TNE-the issue is that it was
found in the ASUN office," senator Dale Wojtasek said.
-The letter has proved its point, it's splintered us into
groups.'
Senior Larry Novak, who was observing the meeting
told the Senate that this summer. he remembered seeing
the letter otfthe ledge feythe copier.
' "There's the chance that someone found it .and
brought it and wanted copies of it, Novak said.
"No one can say or prove that this letter came from
TNE," senator John Kelly said.
"This is par for the Greek system, senator Doug
Novak said.
The senate referred the incident to the internal affairs
committee. - ' .
Reporting on the proposed million dollar alumni cen
ter, Jim Davidson told the senate that he heard from John
Duve, parking coordinator for UNL, that if the alumni
center is built the chancellor will be presented with a pro
posal to build a new parking structure east of the city
Union.
Duve told. Davidson that the structure has three possi
ble financing methods: by the sale of bonds, by renting
the spaces'for $50 a month; or by doubling the price of
student parking permits.
Davidson said that Duve told him increasing the park
ing permits is the most probable method of financing the
structure. ; - . .
"if the alumni center places such a financial burden on
the University of that magnitude, we should emphatically '
stop it, Davidson said. "Z
Senator , Renee Wessels said she was not against the
building but was against the parking structure.
ASUN has named Saturday, Oct. 27, as the Second
Annual Student's Day. In their proposal ASUN has asked
for the help of all student organizations. -
A resolution calling for the reconsideration of the 10
percent tuition hike, which was passed by the Board of
Regents during their August meeting, was referred to the
RiiH fret and Fees rnmmittee -
An organic act establishing the Government Liaison
Committee as an agency with full accountablity to ASUN
was referred to the Special Topics Committee. ,
Five student court justices, Mike Brogan, Bob Gleason,
Dave Hartmann, Marl Lane and Joe Nigra were sworn into
office during the meeting.
Student newspaper trouble: Minnesota newspaper Li
trouble I pzt 3
Flayfair Photographer gives view of UNL Hayfair 4?::; 1 D
Hh- hopes: UNI womens track has great recrultl-j
yeirV,v..v,y.V.. . ....... .... ... . ps 12
