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
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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.
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