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tuesday, September 22, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 107 no. 20
Copyright Daily Nebraskan 1981
UNL educators say they lack teaching assistants
JLIU
By Tom Shelton
Lack of funds, an attractive outside job market and
difficulty in getting quality students to sign up are factors
causing a shortage of teaching assistants in several depart
ments of the university.
Salaries for teaching assistants in seven departments,
and colleges range from $3,500 for an academic year in
the Teachers College to $6,500 in the Chemistry depart
ment. Lyle Young, associate dean of the College of Engineer
ing and Technology, said teaching assistants are hard to
come by.
"We're competing with industry," he said. "When a
student with a bachelors degree is offered $24,000 by
some corporation, it's kind of hard to keep them around."
Teaching assistants in the engineering college are paid
about $5,600 for an academic year, depending on experi
ence, he said.
In addition to competition from outside interests,
Young said an increase in students majoring in engineering
has caused problems.
"We've had a shortage of teaching assistants for the last
five years," he said. "It's mainly because we've had a 78
percent increase in students. There are not enough teach
er assistants to take care of all the students.
Young said toughening of academic standards is one of
the methods the department has had to use to diminish
the number of its students.
Robert Egbert, dean of the Teachers College and past
president of the American Association of Colleges for
Teacher Education, said his department has not gone un
touched either.
Egbert said the college has suffered shortages of funds
to get the number of teaching assistants needed and the
ir j.iey to pay them to be competitive with other schools.
Egbert said all seven departments of the teachers col
lege are having difficulties. He said the salary range for
teaching assistants in the college was from $3,500 to
$4,500 a year, depending on experience and skill.
Egbert said the salaries paid to teaching assistants
throughout the university are determined by the skills, ex
perience and demand for people to fill assistantships.
He said the money granted for teaching assistants
comes from the Legislature. The money is distributed to
the colleges of the university, then goes to the department
deans, who appoint the teaching assistants. The number of
assistants is determined by the funds allottted to each department.
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Photo by Kent Morgan Olsen
Mike Levin, a first semester graduate student in architecture, makes studying bearable as he reads a book hidden
in the soft fall grass between Architecture Hall and Sheldon Art Gallery.
Social Security cuts anticipated
By D.L. Horton
Social Security benefits for college students will be eli
runated over the next four years, Social Security officials
aid.
Joyce Crow, assistant director of the Social Security
Administration, said the elimination of benefits is part of
President Ronald Reagan's budget cut proposal. She said
students often get a duplication of aid money, such as fed
eral student loans and other available financial aid in ad
dition to their benefits.
Carol Barry, a claims representative for the Social Se
curity office, said there are about 1,500 Nebraska high
school and college students drawing benefits. She said
about 500 UNL students are receiving benefits.
Barry said students eligible for benefits as of August
1981 will receive normal benefits through May 1982. She
said benefits will no longer be paid for May through Aug
ust even if the student is in summer school.
Students must be full-time and less than 22 years old
to be eligible to receive benefits. If students turn 22 dur
ing a semester, they may continue to receive benefits until
the end of the semester.
Beginning in the fall of 1982, benefits will be cut by 25
percent each year until the program is elimainated. Only
those eligible as of August 1981 will experience the cuts.
Students ineligible at that time will receive no benefits,
Barry said.
However, she said if a student applies for benefits be
fore May they can get full benefits through July No more
students may apply for Social Security payments after
May 1982.
In the fall of 1982 that amount will be cut by 25 per
cent, 50 percent in 1983, and 75 percent in 1984 and eli
mainated in 1985.
Don Aripoli, director of UNL Scholarships arid Finan
cial Aids, said the elimination of Social Security benefits
will have an impact on the aid his office can offer. He said
affected students should apply for other forms of aid. He
said that in addition to the Guaranteed Student Loan and
Basic Grant, there is a new program called Auxiliary Loan
Assistance Support Program. Under this program the par
ents of a student can borrow money from a bank at 14
percent interest for the student's education.
Aripoli said the elimination of benefits could put strain
on the financial aids office if the amount of money they
receive stays the same and they have additional students
who need aid. If this happens, he said, either the amount
of money to each student will be less or those who are
receiving marginal aid will no longer receive any aid.
Aripoli said the university's request for more federal
appropriations will automatically be higher next year than
ever before. He said every other school will also increase
their requests for National Direct Student Loan money.
Egbert said teaching assistants help themselves and stu
dents. They help students to learn and the teacher assistants
learn to teach at the same time, he said. "They are a
good internship for. would-be professors. We get excellent
instruction from them.
However, Egbert said, it's not easy to pay them
enough, or hire enough of them when there is a lack of
funds, or when an outside job market beckons them to
leave.
James Can, associate professor in the Chemistry De
partment, said his department also could not lure enough
qualified applicants to become teaching assistants.
We have 23 new graduate teaching assistants when we
hoped to bring in about 35," he said.
Carr said there was a terrific demand for teaching assis
tants by other universities. He said the competition has
prompted the Chemistry Department to pay higher sala
ries - beginning at $6,500 for an academic year - to en
tice applicants to stay.
The chemistry department also has seen an increase in
students. In this case, the increase is in non-chemistry ma
jors taking freshman level classes.
Continued on Page 6
UNO professors
receive donation
By Charles Flowerday
The Nebraska State Conference Executive Commit
tee of the American Association of University Profes
sors voted unanimously Saturday to contribute: $500.
-to the UNO AAUP chapter. The money will help de
fray legal expenses incurred during the recently resoJ-"
ved collective bargaining dispute with the NU Board of
Regents.
The Regents voted 8-0 Friday to accept the contract
settlement proposed by negotiating teams representing
the two parties.
Because negotiations failed to produce a contract
within what the UNO chapter of the AAUP considered
a reasonable time, the chapter filed two suits regarding
the impasse. One, in District Court, seeking interim
raises and the other with the Commission of Industrial
Relations seeking a judgment on disputed economic
matters.
Suzanne Moshier, president of the UNO chapter,
said the chapter will drop the suits when the settlement
terms are accepted by the Commission on Industrial
Relations. She said she expects that process to run
smoothly.
Mnshier said the AAUP state executive committee's
contribution, was "a very fine gesture of support." Al-
though not all chapters ot the AAUr have couecuve
bargaining stipulations in their contracts, all maintain
an ongoing relationship with the Nebraska State Con
ference, Moshier said.
"What we have tried to accomplish (through collec
tive bargaining) is to get specific legal guarantees of the
goals pursued by the state conference, Moshier said.
The $500 was allocated out of a state conference
fund of membership dues collected from college and
university chapters throughout. the state.
Evelyn Haller, state conference president, said, "All
AAUP chapters in Nebraska uphold similar standards
and goals for the professoriate. Collective bargaining is
but one means to that end. By this contribution we are
demonstrating in a concrete way our support of our
colleagues at UNO."
I J
Parlez-vous Francais? Lincoln Friends of Foreign Students
encourages indoctrinating foreigners to American cul
ture Page 3
Double Bogey: The University Program Council offers
two nights of Humphrey Bogart films Page 8
Maybe the Best: Husker football Coach Tom Osborne said
Penn State may just be the best team Nebraska faces all
season Page 10
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