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11
Monday, January 14, 1985
f,"1'-
Weather: PrliycToudy, windy and cooler today
wiiii a myn 01 juoj. Monaay nignt, cloudy and
cold with a low of 8 (-13C). Tuesday, mostly
sunny and warmer with a high in the upper 30s
(3C). Tuesday night, partly 'cloudy and not as
cold with a low in the upper teens (-7C).
.t iW ,, Bob BrubacherOally Nebrcskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Battlers: Raunchy,
and raw roclc.Page 1 2
Vol. 84 No. 80
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Senatos,
j u o. m n t
put to test
i By Brad Giffbrd
t Senior Reporter
i Nebraska voters in November gave
' the 1885 state Legislature permission
to value agricultural land in a separate
tax division to lower farmers' and
ranchers' property taxes.
Commonwealth Savings Co. deposi
tors are pressuring the Legislature,
which reconvened Wednesday, to
reimburse the money they lost in the
failed institution in 1983. They claim
the state is liable because it created
the company, Nebraska Depository In
vestment Guaranty Corp., which insured
but' could net cover Commonwealth
deposits.
At the
Statehouse
Gov. Bob Kerrey made water and
education top priorities in his pro
posed budget for fiscal 19S5 by recom
mending significant spending increases
in both areas.
These proposals and others will test
the judgment of 49 Nebraska legisla
tors during the next 87 days, as they
decide where the state's money will
go. Present revenues fall short of cover
ing many proposed expenditures.
I The governor's budget was drafted
with a $36 million deficit between pro-
jected revenue and spending propos--4
als. After legislators form spending
ideas, a game of give and take will
determine if taxes need to be increased,
if spending must be cut or both.
If substantial farm property tax relief
i is granted, revenue will decrease pro
portionally. Talk of broadening the
state's tax base is already being heard
; from some legislators, namely Vard
' Johnson of Omaha, the newly elected
chairman of the revenue committee.
Ccr.tir.csd a Page 7
Administrators delay bookstore
reloc
atiou
By Ward W. Triplett III
Sports Editor
At this time last week, the Nebraska
Union sr.d EacHocn, Chsricellor Mar
tin Massengile's office, & contractor or
two somewhere and a bookstore con
sultant decided that the north end of
the Nebraska Union basement would
be closed and converted into an ex
panded and unified University Bock
store. On Thursday, the university received
contractor bids. One of them was good
enough to lead all paries involved to
believe demolition of the basement
would begin today and the contractors,
working on a "design-and-build" pol
icy, would begin to figure out what
would go where in the revtstped space.
Bat Friday mornlngy pirns
changed.
The entire plan, starting with the
approval of the bookstore relocation
project, the contractors and the finan
cial package, all depended on an affir
mative vote by the NU Board of Egsnts
on Saturday. However, tht item was
removed from the regents' agenda, and
nothing will likely happen until Febru
ary when the proposal is resubmitted
to the bo&rd. :
What transpired on the last few days
of the semester bresk was the tail end
c a whirhrlnd of decisions and meet
ir 3 about the location of the new Uni
versity Bookstore. Since Dec. 1, 1984,
tlie two-year-old Chancellor's commit
tee cn bookstore relocation considered
nine options for the nsw location. The
c:rJttee finally concluded the union
t-er.tr.t still would be the best place
for the bookstore. Even this wasn't a
quick or easy solution, since bookstore
officials wanted to move out of the
basement entirely.
The committee finished
the plan during fall semester's finals
week. Union EacEoom director Bailie
Hughes told his staff of 1 2 students and
two full-time assistants that they would
have to find other jobs the plan
called for the bowling alley and
EecEoom to be tom out Immediately.
Meanwhile, the bookstore manage
ment braced for the crush cf first-week
book buyers and at the same time, had
to start thinking about where it would
relocate the school-supply store until
the new area was finished
Then won! of the plan leaked out
slowly to students, who had missed the
early decisions becsnse of semester
break.
One RccUccm patron said
she was unhappy students weren't
informed.
"I find it real curious that they found
a way to do this right when the stu
dents were supposed to be on break,"
said Susan Swartz, a sophomore inter
national studies major who used to
bowl in a Tuesday city league.
But others say they think it wasn't
planned.
"1 really don't think anyone intended
it to work out that way," said RecRoom
director Hughes, who used to manage
the 10-lane boiling facility. "It's just
amazing how it all happened so fast."
ASUN president Mark Scudder, who
described himself as a strong suppor
ter of the bookstore move does want
students to have some say in the loca
tion of the bookstore.
That sentiment, combined with a
need for better wording and a firmer
financial plan, led to Friday's deci
sion to pull the item off the regents'
calender, Scudder said. For now.
When the regents next convene, an
affirmative vote will close down the
RecRoom and the rest of the north
basement anyway. Between now and
then, Scudder and the Nebraska Union
Board plan to hear as many student
opinions about the bookstore as possi
ble. "There isn't much about this that's
set in stone," Scudder said. "If any
students have opinions or suggestions
on how to make this a better plan,
everyone is willing to hear them."
On the other hand, if there is over
whelming student ejection, a change
of heart by the administration or if the
regents turn down the plan, nothing
may happen at all.
Continued on P&e 5