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friday, august 29, t980
lineoti nebraska voL t05ft no. 4
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Official says Iiigli premiums require Aetna switch
By Steve Miller
A switch in insurance companies, was described as the
only suitable alternative UNL had to- an expected 26
percent increase in premiums, paid to Blue Cros&and Blue
Shield of Nebraska according to a UNI official,
William D, Jones director of personnel services at
UNL told the Nebraska Legislature's Banking, Commerce
and Insurance Committee Thursday that employees would
have had to pay an additional $15 a month had the
contract with Blue Cross been renewed,
Williams told the committee that a research firm had
been hired to, evaluate the insurance program and provide
specifications for a new one.
Insurance bids reviewed
Bids from several companies, were reviewed and the
new contract was awarded to Aetna life and Casualty ,
We tried to think of alternatives to paying the in
crease to Blue Crossw Williams; said, "And the only alter
native was to reduce employee benefits. This was not
acceptable"
Although the University pays an additional $? per
employee with Aetna employees will not pay an in
crease, Williams called the new program with Aetna a min
imum premium program. Under this plan only $300,000
a year is, paid to Aetna, The rest of the money paid in
premiums is put in a trust fund with First National Bank
of Lincoln.
Aetna offers trust fund
AH claims, are paid out of the trust fund, Williams said,
and the University is allowed to use the money in trust
as an insurance company would.
Williams said that if the claims went over the amount
in trust Aetna was liable.
"The money we pay them is to assume administrative
work and to assume the risk in claims going over the
amount in trust," Williams said.
Committee Chairman Sen. John DeCamp of Neligl),
said he was a bit confused by the role that Aetna played
in the program, and wanted to know exactly what would
happen if claims exceeded the amount in trust.
v'l just want to know if this isn't going to double back
and the taxpayers aren't going to have to pay,' DeCamp
said.
Trust fund reimbursements
Tom Schulte Aetna representative, said that Aetna
would continue to pay claims. The University would
then reimburse the company out of the trust fund.
lf claims, exceed the amount in trust, Aetna has the
right to recoup losses when the contract is renewed,"
Schulte said, The following year Aetna would receive a
greater sum to handle the program,
"The university has the right not to renew the con
tract though," Williams said. "We (Aetna) would then
have to eat those losses. '
DeCamp said he had been concerned that Aetna may
have made low claim estimations and that claims would
total more than the trust, lie said that other companies
had estimated higher claims in their bids.
Sen. DeCamp asked Schulte if the decrease in cost
from that of Blue Cross had been accomplished by cut
ting services.
"The Blue Cross plan was fat up front," Schulte said,
"the part that covers in-hospita! bills. We cut that fat part
off the front and moved it around to the rear."
Employees now have to pay the first $100 and 10
percent thereafter for hospital bills. Aetna reduced the
liability for doctor and medicine bills to $700.
Aetna also provides dental coverage that Blue Cross
did not, Schulte said.
The committed was informed by an Omaha psychia
trist that the new program cut out-patient services to
mental patients.
"The university is giving up an excellent mental
health payment plan," said Dr. William Reid, associate
professor of psychiatry at the NU Medical Center.
Reid said that treatment can be very expensive and
he represented a great number of employees who feared
to speak on their own behalf.
says budget pressure to end Centennial
By Bill Graf
Centennial College will be eliminated at the end of the
1980-81 school year a senior fellow at the college said,
"For sure it's our last year. We were done in," Robert
Fuller said,
The Five-Year Plan for the university which was pass-,
ed by the UNL. Board of Regents July 26 states in section
two (UNL recommendations) that Centennial College will
be the first academic program to be phased out due to
budget pressure, Other programs named for possible
elimination are general engineering at UNL and the under
graduate program at UNL's Teachers College,
Fuller said the plant's working is "fuzzy" because he
interpreted the plan to mean that further analysis would
be made before the college was eliminated. However, he
added he recently received a letter from the chancellor's
office asking him to develop a plan for the elimination of
the college.
Lack of power
Fuller said he feels the college was eliminated because
of Us lack of power and not because it was the best place
to make the cut,
"Straight power got us, It's a shabby deal all the way
around he said.
However, Lzekiel Bahar strongly disagreed, Bahar, a
professor of electrical engineering and a member of the
Academic Planning Committee, voted to recommend that
Centennial be the first program eliminated in case of
budget trouble,
"I didn't perceive any of that (political struggle). No
one was trying to pick on anyone or trying to be sadistic.
There was no pettiness in our decision. Also want to
emphasize that no one on the committee said Centennial
wasn't a $ood quality program,
But what we had to decide was: What would be the
impact if we took $100000 from Centennial or front
another program such as the library? It was a very dis
tasteful task,
Dollar support declines
Bahar said the cut is a direct result of the decline in the
real dollar support that the university receives,
"If the student and their parents care, they would not
let this go on. No one wants to pay the taxes. But every
one wants the benefits,
"They tell us to run the university like a business, but I
can't think of any business with a better return,"
Another member of the committee, John Bean, said
there was a general agreement among the committee
members that Centennial was a good program. But it was
felt that the elimination of Centennial would be the best
place to cut the budget and maintain the best overall
quality of the university,
"Centennial has lost its original importance, which is
offering interdisciplinary programs, Now they're (inter
disciplinary programs) aU over the place," he said.
Continued on Page 6
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
Randy Collins, a Centennial student, plays the piano
in Love Hall where Centennial classes are taught.
GLC resignations prompt chairperson search
By Kathym Haugstatter
The Government Liaison Committee,
ASUN's lobbying agency, has begun the
semester without members or even a chair
person, ASUN President Renee Wessels said
Wednesday, "It's a definite advantage to
have the GLC functional over the summer,
but I don't consider it a problem, The chair
(person) changes every year with the
ASUN president anyway,"
Last April, Wessels appointed Kate
Joeckel GLC chairperson and Maurice
Higgins vice chairperson, But Joeckel
resigned because she is working for a con
sulting and lobbying firm in Lincoln,
Wessels said,
Higgins resigned, Wessels added, because
he had to increase his work schedule to
cover expenses.
Although the Nebraska Legislature is in
session for only a few months in the begin
ning of the year, committees study issues
and plan the legislative calendar during the
rest of the year.
Lack of members uncommon
Dan Renn, a UNL sophomore and form
er GLC member, said the lack of continu
ing membership is unusual,
"The GLC usually perpetuates itself,
Renn said. But last year a big graduation
into other parts of ASUN and just gradua
tion left GLC empty,"
Renn said he is waiting to hear about
another position in student government be
fore deciding to rejoin,
Wessels said her first goal is to get the
leadership established. The application
deadline for the positions has been extend
ed from Aug, 28 to Sept, 3, she said,
' hope to announce the ehair(person)
and vice chairperson) by Sept. 10," she
added,
Familiarity with UNL impeachment
Mark Hirschfeld, fonner GLC chairman
and now first vice president of ASUN, said
he has seen six or eight applications for the
positions, "and a couple look super, The
key to the organization is to pick a chair
(person) who's been around the university
awhile,"
Hirschfeld said the group acts as an
intermediary between students and the
Legislature, the NU Board of Regents and
the Lincoln City Council. Since members
often use GLC as an entry into student
government, he said, the chairperson pro
vides iufonnation and education about the
processes and major participants involved
in academic and legislative issues.
"After they learn the processes, they
investigate, ask questions," Hirschfeld said.
"When the time comes for a public hearing
on an issue, a member will present a
written position paper to the Appropriate
committee,"
Reorganization, direction GLC goals
Hirschfeld said the student senate will
set up a priority legislative agenda listing
major areas of concern in late October or
November, 'when we get a sense of what
legislation will be up."
But members with interests in other
areas can apply to the senate for approval
to work in those areas, he added.
'For example, if landlord-tenant legisla
tion isn't on our agenda and they can get
it approved, they can do their research in
that area," he said. lt'i a volunteer-
based organization and very flexible. It
functions better that way."
Wessels said one of her goals as ASUN
president is to build up the GLC, which
she said was weak last year.
Renn said GLC is in a stage of reorgan
ization and he's not sure what the ASUN
will do with it,
"It needs to find its new direction and
go on from there, Renn said. (ASUN) will
have to move quickly, but GLC wUl be
effective if it's organized soon. I've seen
lots of people picking up applications,
which 1 think is great," he said.
Fewer Magazines: UNL libraries cut
$100,000 worth of periodicals. . Page 7
Creature From The Blue Lagoon: Review
er finds movie tedious despite the ideal
setting , , . Page 8
Winning Atmosphere: The Missouri Tigers
plan to change their pre-game routine
this season Pie 0
