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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1980)
lincoln, nebraska vol. 105, no. 60 friday, november 14, 1980 Official alarmed by low minority employment By Laure Perlinger Brad Munn's job at UNL might best be exemplified by the plaque on his desk which reads, "The best man for the job may be a woman." As UNL affirmative action officer, Munn sees that the university conforms to federal laws concerning employ ment, and also guarantees that minorities and women are not excluded from employment because of race or sex. Affirmative action exists under a federal executive order requiring all federal contractors of a specific size to have a set of goals and a timetable for hiring of under utilized protective class members, Munn said. But Munn calls the employment hiring data of minori ties at UNL "alarming" for the past quarter. During July, August and September, 3,009 people applied for nonbreaching, non-administrative and non student employment positions. While 281 people were hired, only six of them were minorities. The non-minorities hired (275) represent 98 percent of the new hirings, while the six minorities hired account for just 2 percent of those hired. "If we continue at this rate, we would be hiring 24 minorities per year, while our projection for '80-'81 is 64. We're 40 people off. That's not very good progress," Munn said. "Probably not all that applied were qualified," Munn said, "but because the university added only six minori ties to its staff this quarter, I am alarmed. I think we have to do a better job." UNL's current affirmative action plan has a goal of hiring 64 racial minorities in managerial-professional positions during the July 1980 to June 1981 fiscal year. During that first quarter employment period, Cauca sians were hired at the rate of 9.5 percent, meaning that almost 10 out of 100 non minorities were hired. The hiring rate for racial minorities was 5.3 percent. Twenty minorities applied for managerial-professional positions with only one hired, while women represent 48 percent of those new hirings in that same category. "It's not far off target to say that 3 percent of the population in Lincoln is minority," Munn said, adding that about 3 percent of UNL's non-administrative, non teaching and non-student employment should also be minorities. "I don't know why we aren't attracting more minori ties," Munn said, but he thought that salary, insurance benefits, parking policies and transportation costs may be leading factors. Munn said the university has lost a number of people, many of them racial minorities, to private businesses, because they pay higher wages. "With an annual seven or eight percent salary increase and a 13 percent inflation rate, wage earners look at salaries, and fringe benefits," he said. For UNL to reach its goal, an average of six minorities per month will have to be hired during the next three quarters. "The university must hire the best qualified people, but if they've never hired a black before, and the black can do the job, then give them the opportunity," Munn said. 'But not if they don't have the qualifications-that's wrong. Continued on Page 14 Seven-month negotiations UNO faculty wants voice in curricula, tenure By Steve Miller Contract negotiations continue slowly between UNO faculty representatives and the NU Board of Regents according to L. Bruce Wright, representing the Regents' negotiators. Wright, a Lincoln lawyer, said substantial differences exist between the parties. The contract has been under negotiation for about seven months. "We are not in agreement on several items," Wright said. "But the main reason it has become such a drawn out affair is because of the wide scope of items under negotiation." Wright said he thought the two parties differ most on shared governance. Faculty negotiators are asking for a say on curricula, tenure and working conditions. "The main difference is that they (faculty) would like to include shared governance in the contract," Wright said. "While we feel it is important we don't think it is proper to include it in the contract." Wright also said there were some problems with salary increases the faculty are asking for. "We rely on state funding and have been budgeted for an 8!4 percent increase for salaries," Wright said. "We have offered them that amount, all we can possible offer, but they demand a total that would come to 25 percent." The 25 percent increase includes salaries and benefits. There is still a lot to negotiate and no deadline has been set at this time, Wright said. Bernard Kolasa, political science professor and presi dent of the American Association of University Profes sors at UNO, said he also thinks that shared governance is a problem. "Shared governance is a big problem, probably the non-economic problem that we are farthest apart on," Kolasa said. He said he didn't understand why the Regents' repre sentatives don't want governance in the contract. "All we want is to reaffirm what is essentially in the Regents' bylaws," Kolasa said. "It should be a binding agreement. Kolasa said that the governance item includes nothing that isn't standard already. "The only thing is that bylaws aren't legal documents," he said. "They can be changed or ignored by a whim of the board." Kolasa said that there are currently 199 dues-paying members in UNO's AAUP and that it legally represents the whole UNO faculty in the negotiations. (J . ... m - if 7 0 y a4 I 0 o Photo by Mark BHIirtgsley A cluster of dew-misted choke cherries photographed with infrared film seem to glow in the murky grayness of a rainy Thursday afternoon light. The berries record themselves on the infrared film according to their health. Old or dying berries photograph black, while berries in the peak of their existence photo graph white. Hansen claims he receives no money from trust fund By Jim Faddis NU Regent Kermit Hansen of Omaha has answered an inquiry by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commis sion into a trust fund he has by saying that he cannot get any financial gain from the fund. But Hansen's response has not answered all of the commission's questions, said Thomas Burke, executive director of the commission. The commission had sent Hansen a letter asking for an explanation of the fund. The law requires an elected official to identify businesses they have financial interests in, Burke said. In his statement of financial interests, Hansen did not specify what stocks and bonds he has in the trust fund, prompting the inquiry, Burke said. But he did not have to if the fund was not of a direct advantage to him, Burke added. In a letter to the commission this week, Hansen said the fund is a grantor trust that is of no benefit to him. But Burke said Thursday that he has sent Hansen another letter asking what he means by a grantor trust. Burke said he considers a grantor trust one that the grantor, in this case Hansen, has control over and can revoke. If that is the case, Hansen must still report what property is in the fund, Burke said. "If he has any power or control of the fund, it should be reported," Burke said. Bu-ke said it could just be a misundet standing between Hansen and himself on what a grantor trust is. Hansen said Thursday that it was his understanding that the fund was of no benefit to him, but he would not say what he understands a grantor trust to be. Paul Kadavy, executive vice president of the First Northwestern Trust Company where Hansen's trust is, said the kind of trust fund Hansen has is a standard one used to provide security for one's family after death. But, Kadavy said, a grantor trust is one that the grantor controls and that Hansen can revoke the trust anytime. friday Things to Come: Three UNL economic professors said they think President elect Ronald Reagan's economic pol icies will hurt the VS. economy. Page 9 No Sweat: Columnist says the Huskers will have no trouble letting the air out of the Cyclones Page 10 Fats Waller in Outer Space: Voyager I's "Sounds of Earth" package could produce a few cofused aliens . . Page 12