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tuesday, november 27, 1979
lincoln, nebraska vol. 103 no! 61
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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.
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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