thursday, november 5, 1981
page 4
daily nebraskan
1
Legislature 's budget cuts may starve university
The whimsical tune "Buckle Down Winsocki"
served as the campaign song for many of Richard
Nixon's campaigns. It's an apt time to recall it be
cause if Gov. Charles Thone has his way, state
legislators may soon be whistling a parody called
"Buckle Down NU."
In the modern version of this little ditty, Gov.
Thone is seeking a 3 percent across the board cut
in all state agency operating budgets. The univer
sity is to be included in these cuts and NU Presi
dent Ronald Roskens told the Legislature's
Appropriations Committee that if the Legislature
mandates it, NU will "unenthusiastically" comply.
Roskens' scenario of what the cuts would do to
the university are not promising. But operating a
university on less money will always be a prob
lem. Unfortunately, the continuing restraints placed
on NU prompt a question: How far can belt
tightening measures go before restrictions prove
fatal?
Roskens told the committee, "At this late stage
(in the fiscal year), it would be difficult to do
anything else but spread the misery equally.
That's hardly encouraging news, but Roskens
has little reason for encouragement. The univer
sity will survive, but it will also suffer.
In testimony before the committee, Roskens
and "ther representatives of UNL warned of
what reactions the budget cuts may force.
- Roskens said he would anticipate more ad
mission restrictions for the College of Engineering
and Technology, Business Administration and
possibly Agriculture.
- Students would have more difficulty getting
into classes, Roskens said. This semester, 1,200
students were unable to get their preferred class
es. The budget cuts would make this worse and
further irritate overcrowded classrooms.
- ASUN President Rick Mockler said the
quality of education will decrease as class sizes
grow. Mockler said a decent level of student-
bob W
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Alice: Anti-bear pills hard to swallow
"Oh, dear me," said the Pink Rabbit, glacing at his
large gold pocket watch. "We must hurry or they will
close The Window of Vulnerability."
"What time do they shut it, pray tell?" inquired Alice.
"No one knows," said the Pink Rabbit. "But I blinked
once and missed the entire Missile Gap."
"Off with their heads!" shouted a voice from some
where in the murky gloom.
"Ah, that's Cap the Knight; so it must still be open,"
said the Pink Rabbit. "After all, it's his window."
So saying, the Pink Rabbit vanished through a tiny
door. Alice turned a comer to come upon the saturnine
figure of Cap the Knight seated on a toadstool. He was
wearing a wizard's costume and on his pointed hat was in
scribed, "Secretary of Frightful Incantations." Behind
him was a large window.
"Look through that window and tell me what you
see," said Cap the Knight.
"I can't see jl thing," said Alice.
4X)f course not," said Cap. "It is all top secret. But I
don't mind telling you that peering in that window at this
very moment is a huge, voracious bear. And his sole pur
pose in life is to gobble you up."
Alice shuddered. "Goodness gracious!" she said. "What
a frightening thing to say."
"Oh, thank you," said Cap, quite pleased with himself.
"It's my duty to frighten people and the task grows more
difficult all the time."
"Why must you frighten people?" asked Alice.
"So that they will close the window, of course," said
Cap.
"As long as I'm up, 111 do it," said Alice.
But Cap shook his head. "You can't," he said. "You're
not nearly strong enough."
"Then "you frightened me for nothing," said Alice
angrily.
Continued on Page 5
teacher interaction is ainicuii in overcrowded
classes.
- Robert Narveson, an English professor and
president of the UNL chapter of the American
Association of University Professors, said decreas
ing money for acquisitions for NU's libraries, will
make the university spend more later for books.
- Narveson said cuts in travel money will de
crease the number of professors able to deliver
papers on their studies and thus lower the
reputation of instructors and the university.
- Roskens also said filling staff and faculty
vacancies would be delayed or not filled at all.
All in all, if NU is asked to tighten its belt
another notch, the university may come close to
starving itself from financial want.
We should all be concerned that the rampant
fiscal restraints imposed on NU are shackling it to
a continuation of mediocrity when it needs so
badly to progress.
Buckling down could mean buckling under.
Loan cuts forfeit
right to education
Officials in Washington are outraged, and they are
going to do something about it.
Do you realize that aid to college students is draining
the Federal Treasury? Such waste will not be tolerated by
the Reagan administration, and they have proposed to cut
12 percent from the largest federal aid program for college
students, the Pell grants.
j? Bumps
The cut will come out of the allocation the White
House set in March, which in itself failed to keep up with
the increasing needs of college students and their families.
In addition to the Pell grants (formerly known as the
Basic Educationl Opportunity Grants), three other aid
programs will be adversely affected: the National Direct
Student Loan program, the College Work Study program,
and the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
program.
Incredibly, Department of Education official Edward
J. Elmendorf seemed astonished that the 12 percent cut
could be questioned. If the program were put into its full
effect, "the cost of the Pell grant program would exceed
$4 billion," he said. Perhaps we should scrap the aid pro
gram entirely and get that extra tank we so desperately
need.
As it is, the program is not being used to its potential,
and the 12 percent cut is from an initial figure of $2,486
billion.
At a time when state governments are threatening to
lessen their support of colleges, the administration's cuts
become overtly odious. Opponents to the cuts are placed
in the ludicrous position of defending equal educational
opportunities, a right that should need no argument. As
usual, it is the lower- and middle-income families who will
be affected, and the cuts become a step towards establish
ing an elitt class of those rich enough to perpetuate their
economic position.
Continued on Page 5
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