Daily Nebraskan
Pago 5
Wednesday, May 1, 1985
Clocks!
m he members of the Student Fmi.
Xdatlon enjoy a good Joke, too, and
we appreciate a well written edi
torial and clever artwork, which your
April 1 2 package on the senior gift pro
ject was, however misguided.
So we would like to share with you
some background that may help your
perspective and also thank the 395
seniors who pledged $25,872 In our
'callathon campaign to support the
class-elected clocks that will adorn the
unions on city and east campuses.
Guest
Opinion
The choice of the senior gift was not
made as lightly as you suggested.
Some history: It has been well
established that UNL is far below the
national average of similar institutions
in its financial support by recent grad
uates. Of the $9 million-plus distrib
uted to the university in private gifts to
the foundation last year including
$2.2 million for scholarships very lit
tle was contributed by graduates of the
last decada
Therefore, our Foundation Aware
ness Week and senior gift projects were
conceived in an effort to build a sense
of commitment among today's students,
a springboard for a lifetime of support
of future students once we reach the
outer world. After all, there is ample
evidence of the support of earlier gen
erations of students that have benefit
ted us in virtually every building and
program on campus.
MS
Perhaps we set too lofty a goal of
$50,000, but the magnitude and quality
of the senior gift were dependent on
response. It was a modest goal in com
parison to the $175,000 in pledges by
last year's Iowa State senior class. A
committee from our Student Founda
tion visited Iowa State, which has one
of the nation's top programs, to study
its procedures and philosophies.
The lessons learned at ISU told us
that the most appealing senior gifts
were physical, lasting and visible.
There was adequate opportunity for
input before the fact. We formed a gift
committee of representative seniors
from campus organizations, adminis
tration, alumni association and foun
dation to recommend three choices for
a vote of the seniors. They were: the
clocks, visitors' centers on both cam
puses and a computer-based career
information system.
You chided us for "not revealing
what the decision was...The mystery is
over now" and alluded to a meager vote
turnout.
There was no mystery, but we wer
en't satisfied, either, with the number
of votes although the clocks won, no
contest.
Of course, we wanted to spread the
word and drum up enthusiasm for the
project, and what better vehitle than
the Daily Nebraskan? We invited the
newspaper to do a story, and a reporter
talked to us, took notes and said there
would be one. Before the vote. Of
course, there was no story.
Where were we to reveal the results
of the vote? In the Daily Nebraskan,
which had already declared its non-
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Photo courtesy of Student Alumni Association
The class clock of 1912 on Architecture Hall.
interest? We told each senior individu
ally over the phone. There was no
mystery.'
Your reference to Secretary of Edu
cation William Bennett and our "proof
to back up his arguments that students
don't really need financial aid, that aid
cuts will only put a damper on our
squandering ways" don't wash.
We did not appeal to students; we
appealed to graduates. You conveniently
ignored the fact that we suggested
pledges of $85 stretched over four years
$10 the first year, which we felt was
fairly modest for a recent graduate, fol
lowed by $25 each of the next three.
We emphasized that the seniors
could pledge as little or as much as was
comfortable for them. Plus, these
pledges were strictly voluntary, not
fees. Nobody was billed. Seniors could"
support it or decline as they wished
We could not agree more that the
university needs cyclotrons, library
books, scholarships, etc., more than
union clocks. Every item mentioned
was discussed by the committee, plus
many more suggestions. The consensus
was that other sources, including the
foundation and private contributions,
were wrestling with those shortages,
and the senior gift had to have as much
broad appeal as possible for success.
Naturally, we don't expect total
agreement with the choice, but we
tried hard to be as democratic as pos
sible. We would welcome the opinions
of the Daily Nebraskan before the
fact in our second annual senior gift
project.
Student newspapers are no more "in
herently evil" than senior gifts, but it is
much more difficult to be constructive.
The Daily Nebraskan would be the
perfect forum for informing the 1986
senior class about its gift project and
for conducting the selection poll.
We would be delighted to have you
work with us next time.
P.S. We thought you might be inter
ested in the enclosed picture of the
1912 senior class gift a clock over
the entrance to Architectural Hall. The
Lincoln architectural firm of Bahr,
Vermeer & Haecker recently sent a
$1,000 gift to the foundation to restore
that clock to working order.
Carla Weiland
Student Foundation
president
Steve Henning
Student Foundation
class of '85
Letters
Poor turnout at protest
angers graduating senior
I attended the march on the Capitol Monday
to protest what I see as an unfair hike in tuition.
I was appalled when I arrived on the scene to
find a group of 200 or so students doing their
best to represent the views of more than 23,000
lazy, apathetic others. Apparently, many stu
dents attending this university either don't
comprehend the significance of a possible 30
percent increase in their tuition or don't care.
I am a graduating senior and as such I felt it
was my duty to voice my discontent with the
present financial structure of this institution. I
have observed the demise of the economy of
Nebraska, and have seen how students are asked
to bear more and more of the financial burdens
that were once paid for by a healthy tax base.
There is little hope for improvement in the
state's economy.
If students wish to save this university from
falling into the ranks of mediocrity and from
having to pay large sums of money for an educa
tion that would be scoffed at throughout the
other 49 states, we must take up the struggle. We
must work diligently to impress upon the regents
and the senators from our districts that we are
willing to work with them, but that we as stu
dents (and as a strong voting power) will no
longer tolerate tuition hikes and the cutting of
valid educational programs without our consent.
The university community of students is a power
ful voting bloc. If we strive for persistence,
organization and cooperation, we can return the
university to being an institution that represents
the ideals of growth and higher learning.
Is your excuse for not being at the Capitol
Monday really good enough?
Melissa Blaisdell
senior
marketing
Student says university
can't afford 'stupidity9
Just how passive can the students here be?
The Nebraska student body is about to be
shafted by the regents and few people seem to
care. I am, of course, talking about the tuition
increase about to be thrust upon UNL students
to pay for the new bookstore and the multimillion-dollar
veterinary college (the price tag
does not include maintenance) and other such
extravagances.
The university cannot afford such stupidity in
spending at a time when education is being
murdered by budget cuts. We need to preserve
and upgrade what we already have. Unfortu
nately even dumber decisions are being imple
mented on the national level like the Reagan
administration's, policy of spending us into
bankruptcy with unnecessary, unaffordable and
counterproductive defense programs. Maybe the
NU Board of Regents is just adopting the Reagan
approach to government that seems to be in
vogue these days.
f Jack Davis
graduate student
forestry
Student says NU needs
equal tuition, fund Kike
In this capitalistic country I have heard it said
many times that "you get what you pay for." This
is the case not only with goods and services, but
also with education.
Many students complain about class size and
the quality of instruction. We get the number
and quality of instructors that we pay for. The
best professors can get jobs at almost any school
in the country, so they are going to pick schools
with high salaries, good research facilities and
low work loads. Think about it, would you rather
make less money and teach larger classes?
If you are concerned about getting a quality
education, you have to be willing to pay for it.
Would you rather pay two to three times as much
to go out-of-state to school, or raise tuition here
30 percent to 50 percent and get the same qual
ity education? A 30 percent to 50 percent tuition
increase translates to only a 10 percent to 20
percent total cost increase.
If we could convince our state legislators to
match our tuition increases with the same per
cent increases in state funding, the University of
Nebraska could offer a quality education at a fair
price.
Tim Isaacson
junior
electrical engineering
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