thursday, march 19, 1981 lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 49 n Radial spokespeople agree dispute 'too lengthy' By Melanie Gray Whether Lincoln voters decide April 7 to build the northeast Radial or not, two adversaries agreed Wednes day the dispute has gone on too long. Richard Sutton, co-chairman of Citizens Against Radial Expenditures, and Duane Funk, a member of the Lincoln Citizens Association, said the issue has kept the Clinton and Malonc neighborhoods from starting revitali zation projects. Funk, a radial supporter, said block grants and self help groups have revitalized many neighborhoods except for those the radial would pass through. "The neighborhoods have been held in limbo too long," said Sutton, an opponent of the radial and five year resident of the Clinton neighborhood. Sutton said the city's estimated $17 million price tag should prevent citizens from voting for the project. With President Reagan's proposed budget cuts, he said, Lincoln probably won't receive any federal funds for the radial. Withouth federal funds, he said, the only way to fin ance the diagonal would be through a bond issue. Interest payments on the bond, he said, would have to come out of the city's general fund, requiring higher property taxes. Funk said the proposed radial is a "necessary city utility" because of steady car use and decreased car occupancy. Other points discussed included what voters should base their decisions on. Sutton said, "Citizens should vote using their common sense. There is no such thing as building a road without tax money." Funk said, "People should be aware of the background and history of the radial." "You can't vote without being familiar with an issue," le said. Concerning justified additional costs, Funk said, "I don't believe cost is an issue, although Mr. Sutton is try ing to make it an issue. The radial is designed now as economically as possible." "There are too many ex-penditures already," Sutton said. "Not just money, but in people's houses. None (of the expenditures) is justified." Alternatives if the proposal doesn't pass also were addressed. Funk said the only alternative is to improve existing facilities. "I think the alternatives are really exciting," Sutton said. "It would force us to confront our problems-not just locally but nationally. There's carpooling, buses, alternative routes such as P and Q streets and flexible time -bosses can decide which personnel can come earlier and which later." The debate was sponsored by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce City-County Affairs Committee. State senator expects 12.5 percent budget hike By Mary Louise Knapp Chances are slim the Nebraska legisla ture will accept NT's request for an IX percent budget increase. State Sen. Chris Beutler said Wednesday. Rentier, an Education Committee mem ber. s:tid tiie Legislature probably will accept li.w. Charles Thone's recommen dation of a 12.5 budget increase. Beutler said he believed Thone had been 'generous" in his budget recommendation. "Twelve percent is high for the gover nor," he said, adding Thone previously had considered only a 7 percent increase for NU. "There are lots of areas where we (the legislature) have been unfair." Beutler said, citing examples of slate employees who have been held to an X percent 01 9 peicent salary increase. "If we have high allocations to Nl! also, thai will make even more of a tight squeeze." he said. Beutler said he is against appropriating funds for a new veterinary college at UNI.. lie said the number of students that would be educated at the proposed region al college would be about the same as those now educated at vetennai colleges in the Midwest . II additional slots were made available lo Nebraska students, the college could cost as much as $5.5 million a year, he said. "I don't think the proponents of the college have been totally honest with us about it." Beutler said. He said he doubted federal funds or money from private sources would be pro vided for the project, as originally planned. "If private industry and federal funds pay what they're supposed to, it might work," he said. Under the proposed funding plan, state funds, federal funds and private donations would each pay for one-third of the pro ject. Beutler said NU may spend up to $1.3 million for planning alone before it is certain federal funds will be available. If that happens, he said, the veterinary college will he the most expensive pro ject ever undertaken by NU. Beutler said at present the Legislature has no plans to ileal with possible cuts in federal funds for student loans and grants. "Since we do not know the size of the cuts, and because cuts are coming in all areas of the budget, it is difficult to anti cipate what will happen." he said. If necessary, a special session of the Leg islature might be called to consider the proposed cuts, he said. "It might be possible for the state to pick up some of the federal funds thai would be cut," he said. A bill providing for state aid to gifted children in the public schools was recently advanced to the floor of the Legislature, Beutler said. The bill also designates some state funds for vocational education, he said. v-v Mm Photo by Jon Natvig State Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln spoke at the Nebraska Union Tuesday. Regents to consider enrollment limits, class cuts By 1). Kric Kirther The NU Board of Regents will hear at its Saturday meeting reports from university officials on how they are carrying out the Five-Year Plan. The administration was asked to develop a plan to find and eliminate duplicate or unnecessary classes. UNI. administrators have identified 507 possible classes to cut, but none have been cut yet. The board will receive a plan from the universities to limit the number of students in a class. The recommenda tions range from 20 students a class for 1 00-and 200-levcl courses to 10 students in 400 or 800 level classes and other graduate classes. The plan will also recommend how often a class should be offered. Some classes may be offered each semester and others only once in two or three years. Another policy being investigated would allow the administration to drop a class after "two or three days" if too many students drop it. Currently classes are dropped if not enough students register. ASUN President Rick Mockler said he would investi gate the UNL recommendations to see how they would affect students. "My goal is to find out what the courses are." he said. Student involvement "This has been drawn up prom much bv the adminis tration on the campus." Mockler said. "I think it's been drawn up fairly so far " Some academic changes studied without student involvement haven't been fair, Mockler said, mentioning the recent laboratory fee addition. The Academic Affairs Committee studied the fees -which were approved last month and refused student involvement. The adminstrators did involve faculty members in the Five-Year Plan study, Mockler said. The plans are "reaching the stage where student input is going to start making a difference," Mockler said. "This meeting for me, as a student regent, is going to be ideal." Mockler said. "I can get a feeling for things without any major battles. I think the major business is going to be the other campuses." Mockler is looking to future board meetings. "Personally, I would like to work on some long-term planning on the budget," he said. "We wait until the meet ing to react to it." Students need to be involved in planning the budget before the regents approve it, Mockler said. He said he wants to organize a faculty-student coalition to advocate higher faculty salaries. Legal service expansion Another goal for Mockler is convincing the regents to allow the ASUN student legal services lawyers to argue student cases in court. "I think it's time we expand those services," Mockler said. The regents originally approved the service on a trial basis. Mockler said, but now that they know that it works. he said, they should expand the lawyer's power to help students. Any student legal service expansion would require the regents' approval. The Government Liaison Committee also will ex pand its role in lobbying for more federal financial aid. "We're going to have to take a stand," Mockler said. UNL students hadn't organized before a U.S. Senate vote last year, Mockler said, and the nation's students lost $1 billion in federal aid. UNO President Florene Langford was to introduce a bill to require a non-binding vote for the student regent, but the regents she questioned weren't very favorable to her plan, Langford said. She will introduce the plan in the future if its chances of passing improve, she said. tfiiursda Time Warp: The Society of Creative Anachronism is creat ing the Middle Ages for UNL's Mensa Organization Page 3 Metaphysics for Money: Novelist Michael Zangari discuss es Bugs Bunny, Rhythm and Blues, and other influ ences as he prepares to read excerpts from his novel in a UPC event Page 6 Life in the Fast Lane: Julie Scat on, women's track team middle distance runner, has made a conversion from sprints to her current forte Page 7