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Sunny, hot and humid conditions can
DO expegieu iur luuay iniuuyn sun
day. High today 93. Low tonight 70.
High on Saturday 95.
Barb BrandaDally Nebraskan
Cockey lYJonroo band
follows its dream
Arts and Entertainment, page 7
Huskers prepare
for FSU game
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Sports, page 10
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September 6, 1985
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 85 No. 9
Faculty senate doubts
Legislature's word in
Landis' budget plan
By Todd uon Kampen
Senior Reporter
UNL faculty members are skeptical
about state proposals to reallocate NU
spending because the Legislature has a
record of taking away the funds involved,
said the UNL Faculty Senate president.
4'
f
)
Landis
If the university
does not identify
areas for spending
cuts, it will be 'doom
ed in the budget
wars.'
State Sen. Dave Landis
Desmond M. Wheeler, senate presi
dent and chemistry professor, and other
members of the senate's executive
committee met with Lincoln Sen. Dave
Landis Thursday to discuss his NU
budget reorganization plan.
The plan asks the NU Board of
Regents to reallocate $10 million in
spending during five years if the Legis
lature promises to keep the money for
strengthening remaining programs.
Wheeler said faculty members agreed
with Landis that NU and state govern
ment must work together and plan
ahead for future budgets. But, he said,
faculty members are leery about identi
fying areas for cuts because "there's no
assurance the Legislature will deliver"
and use the money for other NU
programs.
The regents decided in April 1981 to
cut about $300,000 from the budget
and use the money for other NU pro
grams, Wheeler said. The next week,
the Legislature's Appropriations Com
mittee voted to trim $300,000 from pro
posed state funding for NU, he said.
Landis said NU officials may be justi
fied in worrying whether the Legisla
ture will keep reallocated funds. But he
said they shouldn't expect to convince
the Legislature that NU's scope should
not be reduced. If the university does
not identify areas for spending cuts, he
said, it will be "doomed in the budget
wars."
NU can keep its academic programs
and narrow its scope at the same time,
Landis said. He said spending for
extension services and research could
be cut without violating NU's mandate
to provide the services as a land-grant
university.
Gerard Keating, ASUN president,
proposed cutting research and exten
sion spending to save money for aca
demic programs.
But research and extension cuts
actually could injure academic pro
grams and deprive NU of valuable income,
said George Tuck, Faculty Senate secre
tary. Research grants help pay for
equipment and hiring graduate assist
ants to teach and research, he said.
"You can cut out major academic
units just by doing that," said Tuck, a
news-editorial professor in the College
of Journalism.
The provision of allowing NU to real
locate money gradually over five years
could test the Legislature's intentions,
Tuck said. However, NU does not have
as much "fat" to cut from its budget as
some members of state government
may think, he said.
"We're actually running an extremely
lean operation here," Tuck said. "There's
little more we can do."
The public should enter the budget
debate to try to preserve programs they
think are important, Wheeler said. But
such input probably won't prevent "a
long, hard fight" over NU's future, he
said.
V n
' - - - - --
Tuck
'We're actually run
ning an extremely
lean operation here.
There's little more
we can do.'
George Tuck
UNL Faculty Senate
"The trouble is there's a lot of peo
ple that say the university should
spend less," he said. "But when you try
to cut their programs, they get rather
cross about it."
, 1 - 'vjJZ--
A.
'A
Mark DavisDaily Nebraskan
Bottom 's up
Jim Kelso, employee of A. A. Leupold Painting Contractors, scrubs old paint from the entrance of
gate 20 on the east side of Memorial Stadium. The building is being prepared for Saturday's game
against Florida State University. Story on page 10.
459000 sign seat-belt petition
Opponents of Nebraska's seat-belt
law, which takes effect today, collected
about 45,00 signatures more than
enough to place the controversial bill
on the 1986 general election ballot,
said the petition coordinator.
The group need 27,395 verified sig
natures to place the issue on the ballot
said coordinator, Don Jensen.
Petition signatures will be categor
ized by county and then verified by that
county's election commissioner or
county clerk, said Secretary of State
Allen Beermann.
Jensen, who is also the group's
treasurer, attributed the large petition
response to Nebraskan's independent
way of thinking.
The group spent two months getting
signatures from 92 of 93 counties.
Bob Cashoili, the group's legal coun
sel, said he expects 10 to 15 percent of
the signatures to be invalid. Cashoili
said most of those signatures are invalid
because no address was given.
Petitions are required to have the
date of signing, signature, address and
printed name under which the voter is
registered.
The seat-belt law is the start of a
trend intended to protect people from
themselves, said petition Chairman
Clarence Olberding of Lincoln. The
group advertised for volunteers to take
petitions door to door and to set up
booths at county fairs and the State
Fair, Olberding said. About 6,000 sig
natures were collected at the State
Fair, he said.
"I don't buy the theory that seat
belts save lives; people.save lives," he
said.
Jensen said he didn't think the
group "had a chance" of getting the
issue on the ballot before the petition
campaign began.
"The response was overwhelming,"
he said.
Petitioners probably could have col
lected enough signatures to suspend
the law if they had another week, he
said.
Jensen said he thinks the seat-belt
law will be a major issue in upcoming
gubernatorial and legislative elections.
Nebraskans must buckle up today
Nebraska's mandatory seat-belt law
takes effect today, which means that
all front-seat occupants of automobiles
must wear seat belts.
However, there are exceptions: Pas
sengers in busses and automobiles
made before 1973 and motorcycle and
moped riders are not affected by the
law. Also, people who can't wear seat
belts for medical reasons are exempt if
they are carrying a written note from
their doctor that says they should not
wear them.
Drivers will be fined $25 for each
violation if they and any frontseat pas
sengers ages four to 15 are not wearing
seat belts. Children ages 1 to 3 must
wear a seat belt no matter where they
sit, and children under 1 year must sit
in a child-restraint seat secured with a
seat belt.
Frontseat passengers 16 and older
can be penalized if they are not wear
ing seat belts.
No court costs will be assessed or
driver's license points taken away from
the driver.
Drivers and frontseat passengers can
be penalized only if police stop them
for violating another law and the officer
discovers the seat-belt violation.
Nebraska is the sixth state to enact
a mandatory seatbelt law.
More money sought for Lied Center
From staff and wire reports
The NU Foundation has begun a
money-raising campaign for the Lied
Center for the Performing Arts, or
ganizers announced Thursday.
The new money-raising effort "is
just another campaign woven into
our ongoing efforts," said Edward J.
Hirsch, executive vice president
and corporate secretary of the founda
tion. The foundation hopes to raise $10
million from both the national and
local efforts, he said.
Only $5 million more is needed to
fund the $25 million project, Hirsch
said, and money donated after the
goal is reached will be placed into
an endowment fund to pay for oper
ating the 3,400-seat performing arts
center.
Construction is expected to begin
in spring 1986.