ri Daily
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Monday, November 15, 1982
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 82, No. 62
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eating ctf the i;r,d m toe Cor.ro, a fcioiodst from
the University of CLIcsjo searched for the fearM
mokel34rh :m 3 ir.ccsttr,
Roy ! !; J:al, who has led two expeditions to
the Cc:-o in IVZQ and 1931, gave a slide presen
tatios cf r i travels Saturday at the Exploring
UtwJ7fcir,;J FJirnomcn Conference at the Ne
braska Center fcr Continuing Education. The
weekend conference was sponsored by the center
find the Nebraska Association for the Study of
the Unexplained.
Frctt the information he has gathered, Mackal
said the mckelembembe looks like a giant lizard
or a dinosaur-like creature with a long thin neck,
He believes it Is a non-swimming reptile that weighs
about two to four tons and Mils hippos bat does
not cut them, '
la 19SG, Mackal end a 1 5-member crew began
a joint adventure with the Congoii government
and Use U.$, State Drpartracnt in search of the
specks manatus s:n?;olnsi,he said,
The mosquito -His rate was 1,000 bites per
hour and there were five species of venomous snakes
in the swamp," he said. However the ciew managed
to travel about 30 kilometers per day and reached -'Inrtponda
where they met i missionary pastor who
spoke the native language. He helped them throu
cut I.; erpeiitwn. -
Ma;fcsl w i he ried the natives there about
the mofcel?rabembe. Soma had heard stories from
their farcnts, whib others had actually seen one s
?nd t:Jld f-:..."rib it.
s , "This led me to brieve that they were indeed
referral me to real animals not just myths or ' : "
lil "s bcl;-is, the biologist $:id,
- turin3his second expedition, Mickal learned" ;
' there were tlwee mckele-rnbembes In take Tele - ;
thai 20 years tzo. - ' v
1 4iTh5 py"r.i?s reported that the mokele-mbcrnbe J
ov:rtuir.ed the boats Ltd killed ths people by tail ' '
lashing or fcitin, he'fiaid. r , 4 ,s
, Mackal and his crew went to the Bal River,
where there was a mote recent account of encoun ., J
s ters with the monster, - , 1 " , t
wTo get to the Dai River, we had to go through '
the Congo River, wliich is a snake-infested area,
Thus far, ue had at least 13 snake encounters', some'
of them dropping off grass trees onto our dugout,' ,
he said, , ,
"After this expedition,' he said, ."you appree v
late clean water, a good bath and toilet paper.
'Mackal mentioned the difficulty of finding
the river because of an "unending sea of floating ' ,
grass at the mouth of the Bai River.1' During this 1
time, the crew ate off the land. He said monkey
were "good eating." '
"The pygmies throw the monkey on the fire
to sear their hair. You can imagine the odor. It
' was like the smell of human remains. I made them -pressure
cook it, then fry it became they (the .
monkeys) had flatworms and round worms,
, Mackal said. . . , . :
Area vndisturbed .
A pygniy later led the crew to the area where
he last S3w the raokele-mbembe. Mackal said the
area had not been disturbed since the encounter
because the natives were so afraid of tire anim.J
they avoided going near. ,
He said they found an open area with tra,
broken branches and flattened grass, just as ih? 1
pygmy had said. Mackal added, however, th t 1 e
could not me a plastic cit of Cw t: U L .
tliey were not clear er.0u.5h. te cor.clad ! t"
the animal was large and ccJd have t?:fi t
pliant, too. ' .. - ;
fdackat sdd there Is no rtUtl v, ;:.. . ?, ;
mokele-mbeinbe and the Ijxk n:c?;:r
Scotland. TIis lock r.; :r.i;;t h 3 1 i
..primitive h;!?, v.h:rt:s C: r'
rrpti'i. he '
HxU said he h f :;;r 1 1 r.i'.r a t..;-' - ,
lion loiheCrr- T :h ev t;?ni-" ': . ;t
Legislators pass budget cuts
Package needs tax board OK
By Pat Higgins
The Nebraska Board of Equalization will meet today
at 2 p.m. to determine if income taxes will be increased.
This meeting comes after Saturday's 40-1 approval
of the compromise legislative package to handle the state's
financial crisis. State Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly
spearheaded the development of tiie package and state
Sen. Larry Stoney of Omaha cast the only vote against
the package, which includes a tax increase.
Gov. Charles Thone previously had threatened to use
his veto power against any proposal that would force the
Board of Equalization to raise taxes. But the spirit of
compromise won out and Thone said that he would sign
the $64.4 million package.
The package assumes that the Board of Equalization
will approve a retroactive increase in the 1982 individual
income tax rate from 17 percent to 18 percent of the
federal liability. The Nebraska tax system is based upon a
percentage of the federal rate. Raising the state rate would
increase revenues by $19.5 million.
The board also is being asked to bring the 1983
calendar year income tax up to 20 percent. This is
intended to make up for revenue losses caused by the
federal tax cut and would bring in $7 million by the end
of the fiscal year, June 30.
Current members of the Board of Equalization are
Thone, Secretary of State Allen Beermann, state Auditor
Bow record no
By Richard Werner
On Nov. 3, the Dow Jones industrial average, which is
the most familiar of stock market indexes and an average
of the price movement of 30 industrial stocks, surged
a record 43.41 points to a historic high of 1,065.49.
This leap supoassed the previous single-day gain of
38.81 points set Aug. 17 and eclipsed the Dow's old all
time peak of 1051.70 set nearly a decade ago on Jan. 11,
1973.
Viewing the Dow by itself as an indicator of overall
stock market performance is risky business, said Clay
Singleton, an assistant professor of finance at UNL.
"The Dow Jones industrial average is only 30 stocks
which the Dow people change all the time. So to say the
Dow broke its record high means absolutely nothing be
cause the 30 stocks that were in the Dow the last time the
record was broken are not the same stocks that are in
there now," Singleton said.
"Even if the companies represented in the Dow stayed
the same, making those sorts of comparisons really
doesn't make any sense because for most companies the
only thing that stays the same is its name. There are
management changes, companies merge, they dump old
products and they bring up new ones," he said.
UNL finance Professor Keith Broman said he agrees
Ray A.C. Johnson, state Treasurer Kay Orr and state Tax
Commissioner Don Leuenberger. The only Democrat on
the board is Leuenberger, who is resigning effective Dec.
31.
Next year's board will be chaired by Governor-elect
Bob Kerrey, who will appoint Lcuenberger's replacement.
The other board members all won re-election this year and
will remain on the board.
Through the special session, Warner often has referred
to opinions from Attorney General Paul Douglas
indicating that the board has to deal with the reductions
in state revenue resulting from the federal tax cut when
they set the tax rate for Nebraska. The board may try to
keep the tax rate at 19 percent instead of the proposed
20 percent by lowering the cash reserve from 3 percent to
2 percent of the budget. By law, the reserve can go to
a minimum of 2 percent.
The final provisions of the compromise package
include a 2 percent across-the-board cut for state agencies
and aid to local governments. NU will have a cut of
52,896,000 as a result of this 2 percent cut.
Selective cuts for the university will increase this
amount by $660,000 to $3.5 million. The bulk of these
cuts is expected to come from savings on utility bills this
winter.
State capital construction is deferred by $2.5 million
until the next fiscal year. This includes $235,000 ear
marked for NU. The Temple Building renovation accounts
for $100,000 of this deferral.
tall
it seems
that the Dow may be a poor indicator of the stock market
as a whole.
"The Dow is obviously skewed by the fact that it is
made up mainly of blue-chip stocks (stocks in a company
known for its long-established record of making money
and paying dividends)," Broman said.
"I think the market has a record of anticipating
economic change, both up and down," he said.
Singleton also said he believes that there is growing
confidence in the future of the economy.
"The current demand for stocks reflects the expecta
tion of an upturn in the economy in general. People want
to buy stocks now because they think they will be able to
sell them for more in the future," he said.
Interest rate declines, which have spurred the market,
also are helping to set the stage for an economic recovery.
"Decline in interest rates is a very important factor.
It makes investing as individuals, as companies and as
a nation cheaper," Singleton said.
"Buying that new car, for example, is nowhere near
as expensive as it was a few months ago when interest
rates were 15 percent or higher. That, of course, encour
ages people to buy new cars. General Motors, Ford and
Chrysler put their people back to work which puts more
money into the economy. Then those people can buy new
cars and the whole thing begins to gear up," he said.
An errant, lifeless leaf sepa
rates itself from legions of
fallen comrades by inter
twining with a chain-link
fence, as autumn succumbs
to the steely gray of winter.
Staff Photo by Otvt Btnti
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