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thursday, September 24, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 107 no. 22
Copyright Daily Nebraskan 1981
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73
UNO contract haggle discussed
By Mary Louise Knapp
Collective bargaining for better faculty salaries has
worked at UNO and could be successful at UNL if the
faculty organizes, a representative of UNO's chapter of
the American Association of University Professors said
Wednesday at the Nebraska Union.
Bill Pratt, associate professor of history at UNO, dis
cussed the terms of the recently approved contract settle
ment between the UNO Faculty Staff Association and the
NU Board of Regents. About 10 UNL faculty members
were present.
The Regents gave the union a two-year, 21.55 percent
pay increase and back pay with 14 percent interest from
July 1980. The contract settlement was approved by an
8-0 vote, which marks the first time the regents have been
legally bound by an agreement with the faculty, Pratt
said.
In addition to the terms of the original settlement, two
side letters signed by UNO Chancellor Del Webber accom
panied the contract.
Both of these letters could be incorporated into the
settlement, he said.
The first letter advised the budgeting of $91,937 in re
search for 1981-82 and approximately $166,000 for
1983-84. The proposed budget of research funds for 1981
82 is about $25,000 more than the amount already bud
geted for this year, Pratt said.
The second letter advised the establishment of a UNO
policy review committee to review existing administra
tive policies.
"Collective bargaining is not a cure-all," Pratt said,
"but it gives the faculty more chance to improve (their
salaries)."
Pratt expressed a desire to work with UNL in trying to
establish collective bargaining, but added UNO would con
tinue to bargain with or without the help of UNL.
"If we have to stand alone, we will do so," he added,
"but it might be more advantageous for us to combine."
Pratt said the morale among UNO faculty members has
improved since the approval of the settlement, and the
settlement marks the end to 1 1 years of striving for suc
cess with collective bargaining.
Pratt also said if the settlement had not been reached,
the faculty union was prepared to. take the issue to court.
A court battle would not have been a problem he said.
"We were well prepared. We did not run out of money,
but were prepared to borrow if we had to."
A survey which revealed much discontent among facul
ty members was the main factor prompting collective bar
gaining, Pratt said.
"Many people have an idea that Nebraska will appreci
ate its faculty because they are cheap," Pratt said.
Pratt said he was pleased with the settlement, but re
marked that it had several disadvantages.
"The salaries are still not as high as we wanted," he
said. "We also did not arrive at an agreement on non-economic
issues."
The union was unable to obtain an inequity fund for
faculty members who felt they were disadvantaged in
some way, he said.
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Daily Nebraskan photo
UNO associate professor Bill Pratt speaks with UNL
professors about the UNO contract approved by the
NU Board of Regents.
Shackelford favors some radial land for housing
By Patty Pryor
City Councilman Lou Shackelford spoke to Lincoln
Chamber of Commerce members Wednesday about a va
riety of issue confronting the city, including use. of the
land bought for the defeated Northeast Radial and the
progress of the city's Comprehensive Han..
Various uses are being considered for the land which
was bought by the city before the radial proposal was de
feated by voters last April.
Shackelford said he favored proposed recommendations
for use of the land east of 27th Street to 48th Street, which
include increased commercial and industrial development,
and revitalization of residential areas and parks.
Shackelford emphasized the need for housing in the
area to accommodate East Campus students, and said de
velopment of parks is the biggest problem in the plan.
Compared to other cities Lincoln already has a high
percentage of parks in relation to its population, he said,
and more attention should be focused on proper mainte
nance of existing parks.
Concerning the land west of 27th Street, Shackelford
said he would like to see the area north of O Street, be
tween 19th and 24th streets, zoned for moderate, low
cost housing, to support the downtown university campus.
He said the area between 24th and 27th streets may be
considered for historic preservation some day, since the
city's first homes were located there.
Shackelford said he agreed with the rejection of a pro
posal to build the radial along 17th Street.
"The university is the greatest asset Lincoln has," he
said, "and if they want to expand to 1.9th Street, we should
work out a street system to let them do it."
However, Shackelford said he was disappointed the ra
dial plan has been almost totally abandoned, and raised
the possibility of losing federal funds for street construc
tion as a result.
The radial should not be deleted from the Compre
hensive Plan without first presenting an acceptable alter
native, he said.
The Comprehensive Plan coordinates the city's road
building and development policies.
"I strongly believe in the Comprehensive Plan, but it
should be implemented in all of its elements " he said.
The plan has the potential for meeting the future
needs of the city, he said, but if a time schedule is not
followed, the plan could incur much more expense in
the end.
As an example, Shackelford brought up the delays in
volved in construction of the east-west bypass, designed to
serve as a link between downtown and west Lincoln.
The proposal met with opposition, however, because
it was planned to run through Wilderness Park, a natural
preservation area, and an injunction was imposed to halt
construction.
This injunction was lifted Tuesday by U.S. District
Court Judge Warren Urbom, but according to the Com
prehensive Plan, the bypass should have been built by now,
Shackelford said.
The bypass is a crucial element in an attempt to draw
new industry and business to Lincoln, Shackelford said.
Other long-term plans include a massive public rela
tions campaign, creation of laws providing financial assist
ance to new businesses and the possibility that university
research facilities may be made available to the city's industries.
Lincoln school board ponders creationism issue
By Jim Garrett
Heading the superintendent's report to the meeting of
the Tuesday night meeting of the Lincoln Board of Educa
tion was a resolution from a Lincoln citizen to include
scientific creationism in the curriculum of Lincoln Public
Schools.
Superintendent John. Prasch also presented the board
with a memo refusing to include creationism at this time
in the curriculum.
Prasch said it would be premature for the board to take
definite action for the inclusion of creationism when
"such subjects as this should be decided at the state legis
lative level and not be delegated to individual school
boards."
The memo, compiled by James Travis, associate super
intendent for instruction, specified that the current "con
troversy over creationism demonstrates no basis for the di
rect teaching of it in science classrooms within the Lin
coln Public Schools."
The memo also said current debate within the scientific
community over creationism& validity should be confined
to just that.
"An attempt to replicate those debates under the aus
pices of the Lincoln Public Schools is neither prudent nor
productive," according to the memo.
Travis said a meeting between proponents and oppo
nents of creationism was held in response to the initial re
quest. "From that meeting the memo was devised so as tojiot
take a position for or against creationism at this time, he
said
Travis went on to say it was very important to treat
students in the LPS system who accept creationism with
sensitivity. He said it needed to be addressed, yet with an
emphasis only on maintaining the methods of scientific
teaching and information gathering.
Prasch added it is very easy to make creationism into
something larger than it is. He said creationism must be
kept in its proper context.
"The theory of evolution contains many truths while
still acknowledging that there exists very definite gaps as
well," Prasch said.
Continued on Page 2
Speaker says policy too simple
By Hollie Wieland
The idea that more weapons mean more influence in
international affairs is one of the simplistic views which
dominates White House foreign policy, according to David
Forsythe.
Forsythe, a UNL political science professor, said yes
terday that Ronald Reagan's foreign policy is not well de
fined and is based on many simple notions. His speech was
presented by the University Program Council's Talks and
Topics Committee.
"The success of Reagan's foreign policy depends on
how his simplistic notions of the world hold up to reali
ty," Forsythe said.
He said another uncomplicated notion of Reagan's is
"what is good for the United States is good for the rest of
the world and what the rest of the world needs is, a large
dose of capitalism."
Forsythe said he saw future years foreign policy to be
dominated by the clash of simplicities and realities.
According to Forsythe, the AWACS plane sale is very
symbolic, a token of esteem that is not of much military
. significance to Saudi Arabia.
In case of conflict, Saudi Arabia probably could not
handle pressure from other countries to turn over data,
and Israel sees this as a threat, Forsythe said.
He said Reagan will cut non-military foreign aid dras
tically. Originally a 50 percent cut was desired but it ap
pears cuts will amount to one-third, he said. .
Continued on Page 5
sd(o Thursday
Internship Placement: The Arts and Sciences internship
placement service is looking for more businesses to
offer positions Page 7
Starbound: A new show opens at Ralph Mueller Planetari
urn , ... , Page 8
Batter Up: The Husker Invitational softball tournament
starts Friday , ...... Page 10