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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1985)
OF Mostly sunny, humid and warm today. Southeast winds 5-15 mph with a high of 88. Fair and mild tonight with a low of 67. Sunny and warm for the Labor Day weekend with highs In the lower 90s and lows in the upper 60s. Barb BrandaDally Nebraskan Playfair draws few students Pags 9 Women athletes get new study area Sports, page 12 August 30 1985 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 85 No. 6 7 7T a ; : ... n.t-... ... . - s ft t;.- ; I j - :;i(s -V if! .-'$ -JUT 0 1 ! T. 1 T7 ' i "'SKaa,'. S " ' bavid CreamerDaily Nabrat kan Mike Rethwisch, left, and Mark Carter of the UNL entomology department judge insect collections at the Nebraska Stste Fair Thursday. Record crowds (predicted to tramp through Fair gates By Linda Hartmann Staff Reporter More than 550,000 people are expected to attend the Nebraska State Fair today through Sept. 8, a fair board official said Wednesday. "Advance ticket sales are 15 per cent higher than they've ever been," said Henry Brandt, State Fair man ager. Brandt said he expects at least as many people to attend this year as the 550,785 people who attended last year. He said he doesn't know how many students attended. However, this year an age census will be taken at the gate to deter mine such figures. A new feature on the fairgrounds this year will be the food plaza south of the administration build ing. Five stands will feature Italian and Mexican food, fried chicken, prime rib and sandwiches. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating is avail able, he said. . Besides the many educational exhibits and light rock concerts in the open-air auditorium, Brandt said, students should be sure to see the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. He also recommended the model train and antique farm machinery exhibits. "The midway is as 'good looking as any I've ever seen in Lincola," he said. No new rides or attractions have been added. Fair-goers may buy a $6 pass for unlimited rides good from 6 p.m. to midnight today . and from 4 p.m. to midnight Sept. 8. The fairground gates will open at 6 a.m. today and remain open 24 hours a day until the fair is over. Tickets are $2 in advance, $3 at the gate and $1 for parking. E creation center construction depends on students, regents By Martha Stoddard Staff Reporter A two-year moratorium on new con struction at NU has blocked plans for a new recreation center for UNL stu dents, said Suzanne Brown, assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. The NU Board of Regents instituted the moratorium at its July 29 meeting in response to cuts in state funding for the university. The proposal for a new, multi-purpose indoor student recreation center already has been endorsed by NU's Centra; Planning Committee. It is listed on the university's six-year capital construc tion list. . Brown said the regents' action "in effect blocked any further action" on plans for the center. If the moratorium had not been imposed, the Student Affairs office would have started work ing with the NU Foundation to raise money for the building. Administrators don't believe state funds would pay for the building because it is not an aca demic hall, Brown said. Stan Campbell, director of Campus Recreation, said he prefers that the building be paid for by a combination of NU Foundation money, student fees and state money. On other campuses where student recreation centers have been built recently, student fees have paid for at least part of the cost, Camp bell said. Brown said student fees would have to increase to support the building's operating costs, so the administration didn't want to increase fees for con struction a well. Last spring, the ASUN general elec tion ballot asked students whether they supported construction and main tenance of a new recreation center "partially founded by some increase in student fees." The vote was 2,089 votes for the measure 1,065 against. "That's a very strong statement," Campbell said. A 1979 study of Big Eight universi ties showed that UNL offered the few est open recreation hours per student per week, Campbell said. UNL also had the poorest quality indoor recreation. Only one building used by Campus Recreation has been, built since the 1950s. Most of the buildings are shared with the School of Health, Phys ical Education and Recreation or the athletic department, so hours for stu dent recreation often get last priority. On East Campus, the area avaiable for student recreation is on the second floor of an old building. The first floor holds faculty offices, Campbell said. As planned, the new recreation cen ter would be built somewhere in be tween 17th and 20th streets and Vine and T streets. Projected costs, based on a June 1981 occupancy date, were $11.0 million with annual operating costs of $737,244, Campbell said. But for each year the project is delayed, construction and operation costs will rise, he said. Campbell said the center is expected to cover 137,000square feet, including the following areas: space for five bas ketball courts that also could be used for volleyball, badminton and tennis; 14 courts for racquetball handball or volleyball; a six-lane, 25-yard swim ming pool; a weight training area; a combative gymnasium that also could be used for aerobic conditioning classes, locker rooms; areas for table tennis and sedentary games; equip ment check- out and storage areas, kit- Please see ftQcrestipn on 7 CC budget increases with enrollm'erv By Ann Harrell Senior Reporter Although the amount of state gen eral funds allocated to UNL this year increased by 3.8 percent, the amount given to Southeast Community College in Lincoln increased by 4.6 percent. But that comparison can be mislead ing since the total amount is less than UNL's, said SCC Campus Director Jack 'Hack. The college's board approved a $15.8 million budget for 1985-86 last week. The new budget is an Increase of 5.3 percent, or $786,489, from the 1884-85 budget, Huck ssld. That budget includes 6.6 million in state aid, which is an increase of 4.6 percent, or $298,000, from last year. Last year, UNL got about $89.57 mil lion in state money. This year, that figure is about $89.02" million. Huck sees the increase as recogni tion by the Legislature that "the com munity college system has been the fastest-growing segment of education in recent years." WhileXthe number of students at UNL has declined in recent years the enrollmentat SCC nearly has doubled. In 1976, SCQ had 1,358 full-time stu dents. Now, it has 2,61 Huck said. When more students enroll in a Nebraska community college, that col lege gets more money, he said, since state aid is based on enrollment. Thus, while some campuses will receive less state aid this year, SCC will receive more. "We continue to get our share or more here because of increased en rollment," he said. However, only about 40 percent of SCC's budget is state aid, Huck said. Another 40 percent comes from pro perty taxes. That is an increase of 4.59 percent, or $248,000, from last year. Yet the tax rate, which stands at 6.6 cents per $100 of valuation, was not raised to supply the increase in local tax funding. Instead, property valua tions in many cf the 15 counties went up, Huck said. SCC gets the remaining 20 percent of its budget from tuition and fees. With this year's budget, SCC can avoid program cuts. However, Huck said no new pro grams could be started. "It was a 'hold-the-line' type of budget," he said. Although SCC officials consider themselves fortunate to avoid difficult program cuts, the future is less certain, Huck said. When the Legislature organized com munity colleges in 1973, it said they would become state institutions beginning with the 1987-88 school year. Then, like UNL, nearly all money except tuition would come from the Legislature. "We would be in a situation similar to UNL," Huck said. "And we've never played that kind of ballgame." When community colleges become state institutions, Huck said, SCC will not compete directly with-UNL Because UNL is so close to SCC, thejjegislature prohibits SCC frdm offering college transfer programs. SG$y-e'ntirely vo cational. All other Neika commun ity colleges have the authority td offer both, Huck said.' 1 , Beermann to announce bill status Nebraska Secretary of State Allen Beermann has scheduled a news conference at 2:30 p.m. today to announce if a petition on the state's new school-consolidation law has enough signatures to keep it from taking effect. A spokeswoman for Beermann said Lincoln's KOLN-TV was "very premature" when it reported Mon day night that enough signatures had been gathered to suspend the LB662 before it takes effect Tuesday. Opponents of the new law suc ceeded earlier this summer in get ting the 27,395 signatures necessary to put the law on the November 1086 ballot. To suspend the law, 54,780 signatures are required. LB662, which was passed in April by the Legislature arid stped by Gov. Bob Kerrey, requiis elementary only school districts to merge or affiliate with districts offering kin dergarten through 12th grade by September 1989. LB662 also dou bles state aid to education and lim its to 45 percent the part of its income that a school district may gather from property taxes. I