monday, december8, 1980
lincoln, nebraska vol. 105, no. 73
Union bookstore operation is unique in Big Eight
By Mary Louise Knapp
The University Bookstore in the Nebraska Union is the
only campus bookstore in the Big Eight which neither
provides income for nor is owned by the union, according
to data from the other Big Eight schools.
The bookstore is managed by the Department of Bus
iness and Finance, under the direction of Vice Chancellor
for Business and Finance Ronald Wright.
The Union Board Planning Committee is recommend
ing that the union manage the bookstore. The recommen
dation is part of the Union Board's Five-Year-Plan
for renovation of the Nebraska Union.
Will Connor, manager of the University Bookstore at
the University of Missouri at Columbia, said that the
bookstore is owned by the university as an auxiliary
enterprise.
The bookstore reports directly to the union director
and to the Department of Student Services, he said.
"We had been responsible to the Department of Busi
ness and Finance," he said,"but we changed to the present
operation about a year and a half ago."
Connor cited a shift in university administration as
the reason tor the change.
The bookstore pays rent to the union for the use of
its space, an amount which is fixed yearly, and pays its
own utility bills.
The store is a self-supporting enterprise and receives
no state funds.
Connors said that store made a profit during fiscal
1979-80, but he was unsure as to the exact amount.
The profits go to into the bookstore inventory, where
they are used to buy new books and supplies.
Bob Ferguson, manager of the Iowa State Campus
Bookstore, said that the bookstore is owned by the
university, is self-sufficient, and pays rent to the union at
a fixed amount, approximately $9 persquare foot.
"That adds up to about $100,000 per year," he said.
Ferguson said that the utility bills are included in the
rent and that the store pays for some of its own mainten
ance. The income is kept in the bookstore inventory.
Ferguson said that the bookstore made "a definite
profit" during fiscal 1979-80. Exact figures on the
amount were not immediately available.
Bill Minnery, director of bookstores for the University
of Colorado, said thatthe bookstore rents space from the
union, but reports directly to the assistant vice-chancellor
of administration.
Net income from the bookstore goes back into the un
ion budget.
"We have had no profit for the last two years," Minn
ery said.
James Robinson, assistant manager of the Oklahoma
State campus bookstore said it is owned and operated by
the university.
He said he reports directly to the vice-president ot the
university.
"We are self-supporting," he said. "We do not pay
rent -everything we make goes into the union budget."
Robinson said he was sure the bookstore made a prof-
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i Photo by Jon Natvig
Deserted sidewalks, a foggy night and time exposure photography from on top of Love Library combine to
create a lonely downtown Lincoln.
it in fiscal 1979-80.
Steve Word, assistant manager of the campus book
store at the University of Kansas, said the bookstore is
owned and operated by the union.
The operation of the bookstore and all other union
departments is overseen by a union board made up of
students, faculty, and university staff.
The bookstore pays rent, which is listed as a "union
service fee." at a fixed amount each year. The store paid
6.7 percent of its total sales in rent last year, he said.
The bookstore is self-supporting and pays its own main
tenance bills. The store made a profit in fiscal 1979-80,
he said.
Mickey Schnedlcr, manager of the Kansas State campus
bookstore, said that the store is owned by a state agency,
and is overseen by a union governing board. The profits
stay in the union budget, he said. The store made a 12
percent profit in fiscal 1979-80.
The campus bookstore of the University of Oklahoma
is owned and staffed by the university.
James Stafford, manager of the bookstore, said the
store is self-supporting and all income is deposited in the
university budget.
The bookstore has the privilege of using this money
to buy books and equipment, and must pay its own util
ity, heat and maintenance bills.
Stafford said that the bookstore made a 3 percent prof
it in fiscal 1979-80.
Petition secures
1,674 signatures
A week-long petition drive to get student support for a
State Student Association yielded 1 ,674 signatures by Fri
day afternoon. And according to members of the core
committee organizing the state association, many
petitions will still be handed in today.
The petition drive is the latest in a chain of activities to
form an SSA at UNL. A State Student Association is a
body that lobbies for issues that concern all college stu
dents in the state.
The efforts at UNL to form an SSA have been led by
the Government Liaison Committee, chaired by Nette
Nelson. Nelson said there will be another petition drive
daring January to gain additional student support.
Nelson said the core committee is not seeking a set
number of signatures. But because the committee will be
asking for 50 cents additional from student fees per
semester, Nelson said she would like to get as much stu
dent support as possible.
Other efforts this semester to form an SSA have includ
ed visits by the national chairman of the United States
Student Association and the director of the Kansas State
Student Association, meetings with students from the
state colleges and universities and meetings with state
legislators and university officials.
After announcing the preliminary results of this week's
petition drive, core committee members discussed prob
lems they had during the week.
Members suggested to simplify the SSA fact sheet, and
to step up efforts to inform foreign students and students
living in Greek houses and off-campus about the SSA.
Hoped to benefit students, fee users
CFA conducts study to evaluate student fees
By Betsy Miller
A student fees study being conducted
hopefully will benefit both the fee users
and the students, the chairperson of the
project said.
Becky Stingley, head of a subcommittee
; of the Committee on Fees Allocation and
the ASUN Commission on Fees, said stu
dents at UNL are being interviewed to see
what they think of the services provided
under Funds A and B.
"I think this will help a lot of groups
reorganize themselves, because the study is
going to be very valid," Stingley said.
The study is being conducted by phone
and every 48th student registered at UNL
is called, Stingley said.
Users of Fund A and B were asked to
contribute questions that they would like
to see asked in the study, Stingley said.
According to Stingley, the questions
generally follow a format where a student
is asked if he has heard of a service and
then if he is satisfied with it.
Stingley said 24 students are doing the
phone interviews and have been instructed
on how to get the most effective responses
they can from the students they call. The
final questions for the interviews were
decided on by Stingley's subcommittee.
Stingley said the UNL Sociological
Bureau of Research checked over the surv
ey to make sure the questions were not
biased. The survey should also have only a
5 percent margin of error, she said.
The calling should be finished before
Christmas break, she said. The results
will be compiled and an analysis written
before the start -of next semester.
The idea for the study came from CFA,
Stingley said, but it decided that it wanted
ASUN's Commission on Fees involved
also.
"Some people think the ASUN commis
sions haven't functioned as well as should
have in the past," Stingley said, explaining
CFA's decision.
UNL students currently pay a total o'
$72.50 a semester for Fund A and Fund
B fees, Stingley said.
Fund A users are ASUN, the Daily Ne
braskan and the University Program
Council.
The University Health Center, Nebras
ka Unions, the recreational programs and
facilities and the university debt service are
Fund B users.