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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 1979)
n n tuesday, november 27, 1979 lincoln, nebraska vol. 103 no! 61 - n Resolution questions need for positions By.Gordon Johnson The UNL Faculty Senate Fnday will discuss a resolu tion calling on the NU Board of Regents to "critically examine', the need for the offices of vice president for academic affairs and vice president for administration. This is the third such faculty proposal in recent weeks. Similar resolutions were also offered by the Teachers College faculty and the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences. However, only this resolution names specific offices. Others call for dissolution of the central .administration. A report by the senate's budget committee shows that a restructuring of the central administration office could save NU $2.1 million per year, said James O'Hanlon, one of the resolution's originators. The resolution asks to analyze the entire systems . office, paying particular attention to the two offices. This is needed , according to the resolution , because the present financial crisis at the university threatens to seriously damage academic programs. The current two level administration for UNL is inefficient and cannot be afforded with the present and projected financing of the university, the resolution stated. Submitting the resolution are William Campbell, faculty senate president and O'Hanlon. O'Hanlon said the two offices duplicate work that is done at the campus level. "We don't think it means that anyone is messing around not doing their work," O'Hanlon said. But doing certain tasks twice does not necessarily make the running v of the university more efficient, he added. "We want a reevaluation of the offices," which might result in a reorganization, he said. Such a reorganization may cut down on a number of employees that could be combined into one office. The systems office keeps telling the campuses to look at their programs and decide where cuts can be 'administered, O'Hanlon said. They (administrators) should apply the same rule to themselves, he said. 'Ve want some pretty tough evaluations made of the systems office too. They don't seem to want to do this on their own, so we are prodding them a little," O'Hanlon said. Steven Sample, executive vice president for academic affairs, and William Erskine, executive vice president for administration, could not be reached for comment. fro 1 "V f . .... ..& f Ik MP 'WfJ ? i WJ m) 7 n Tis the season ' Photo by .Tom Gessnar Thanksgiving marks the opening day of the Christmas, season as well as open season on Santas. Kierstin Smith, 3, bagged a cuddly one at the Centrum shopping center. M7 budget being studied By Barb Richardson There are people in the Legislature that care about NU and, according to state Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln, that is the reason a special study is being conducted on the university's budget. Legislative Resolution 75, introduced by . Sen. Frank Lewis May 3, proposes to study how the university drafts its budgets, according to Tom Krepel, staff assistant to the Legislature's executive board. ', The Appropriations Committee will deal , with the specifics of the university budget, while trie LR 75 special study committee primarily will address the, formulation of; the budget; Krepel said.' Wesely , said that although little back, ground information on the budget has been accumulated, a special study committee with Lewis as chairman will hold a public hearing at 2 pan, Friday in Room 1520 of the Capitol. The Appropriations committee usually works with the university on the budget, but Wesely said, that people outside the committee are concerned about the univer sity. "I WANT THOSE in the university to know that there are people that care," Wesely said. He - added that the attitude of the university is one of frustration. Staff, students and faculty think that no one cares about the university j he said. Wesely said that he hopes people attend, ing the hearing Friday will make recom mendations on what should be done abdut the university's problems. ' . 'The university is really hurting now, but must realize that there are so many other people hurting, also," Wesely said. He added that state employees are under paid and that other groups in the, state, such as senior citizens, also need help. Wesely said that the hearing will let the Legislature hear the "real people." 'The University cannot be isolated. The university must get closer to the commun ity and the state," Wesely said. He added that he thinks the budgejt study will educate Nebraskans as to where the univer sity stands financially and academically. A MAIN CONCERN of the study, according to Wesely, is that the senators will be looking at "what would happen to the university if a 7 percent state budget is followed to the bone, "When we get information from the hearing, from students, faculty and staff, about the university, the next step will be to make recommendations and proposals on the university's situation," he said. Wesely said issues outlined for Friday's hearing include: the university financing and expenditures, the capital construction budget, the way the Legislature gets university fiscal and budget information, the Legislature's oversights of the budget, the university's accounting, current and projected budgets and their effect on the quality of education, student fees and tuition, faculty staff and salaries and opera, ting expenses. - Wesely said he thinks other issues may also be discussed at Friday's hearing. The Teacher's College and Arts, and Sciences College petitions to dissolve NU's central administration, Sen. Dave Newell's 'proposal for a "superboard" of regents over" all institutions of higher learning and Sen. Barry Reutzel's proposal to gain more control of the university s budget also may be discussed, according to Wesely. Another hearing may be schedulod in Omaha, Wesely said. Energy bill may create $200 million state program By Gordon Johnson Loans of up to $3,000 will be made available to renters, home owners and businessmen to promote energy conservation if a bill introduced at the next Legislative session is passed. State Sen. John Decamp, Ncligh, is one of the bill's authors. He said the entire program may eventually cost $200 million. The bill, which is now a rough draft, is titled the Energy Conservation and Independence Act. Decamp said he wanted the 67-page bill to cover all aspects of energy conservation. The act will establish the Nebraska Energy Conserva tion Finance Council, a state corporation to oversee the lending of money for energy conservation. The council will make money available to lending institutions, which in turn will lend to the private individuals. The council will sell bonds to finance it's operations and loans. Also to be established under the act is the State Energy Office. The energy office will coordinate all state energy related activities and monitor Nebraska's energy consump tion. The office will make recommendations about energy conservation measures to the governor or Legislature. WITHIN 60 DAYS of the passage of the bill, each utili ty in the state which produces more than 750 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year must submit to the energy office a plan outlining guidelines for offering credit to its customers. The money will allow the utility "com pany's customers to make their home or business more energy efficient. 0 Included in the bill is tjie Nebraska Energy Efficient Standards Act, which will develop and implement state wide minimum standards for energy use in new buildings. Each contractor would be required to meet certain mini mum specifications. The bill also has a provision which will give the gover nor emergency powers in the event of a vital resource emergency. Food, water, and energy are listed as vital re sources. Other items in the bill include state encouragement for the construction of alternate energy sources such as wind .and solar power and a revision of existing traffic laws. The Energy Conservation and Independence Act was drafted under the direction of a special energy committee. " A LETTER from Sen. DeCamp that accompanied the bill states that Nebraska imports 95 percent of its energy. This means more and more money leaves the state to pur chase energy, the letter said. "The enclosed legislation is apt not to please every one," DeCamp said in the letter. However, he said, the conservation of energy is a necessary evil. The proposed bill has been sent to Gov. Charles Thone's office, but Thone has not looked at the bill, said administrative aid Randy Moody. Such a bill is needed because "many citizens of the state are unable to provide for themselves the necessary energy, conservation improvements through existing financial institutions," the bill reads. The comprehensive bill is the culmination of seven months of work, DeCamp said. Continued on Page 6 Dormant dorms: Cleaning has been curtailed in UNL re si. dence halls during Christmas break because of the university shutdown to save energy page 9 Bah! Humbug: The UNL Theatre Arts department will present an interpretation of Charles Dickens A Christ mas Carol starting Dec. 7 page 8 Dream comei true: Chicago Bear linebacker Lee Kunz will return to UNL to throw the discus next spring, He said he hopes it will prepare him for the 1980 Olympics page 10