Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1985)
ruesclay Weather: Partly cloudy this afternoon with a 20" percent chance1 of showers. Winds southerly 10-20,mph with a high of 70. Cloudy tonight. Low of 42. Partly cloudy on Wednesday with a 20 per cent chaa;e of, morning showers. High near 65. Tugboats, jazz group moves to Chesterfield's Arts and Entertainment, page 16 The 'other' Fryar, making a name for himself Sports, page 17 1X7 fl Paiiy ri !X(P. October 22, 1985 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 85 No. 41 'The money just isn't there' NU professional schools area to cut, Kerrey says Kerrey Mark DavisDaily Nebraskan By Todd von Kampen Senior Reporter As NU absorbs upcoming budget cuts, it should consider its graduate professional schools and central administration more expendable than undergraduate programs, said Gov. Bob Kerrey. Kerrey said in an interview Friday that NU is certain to lose part of its state support during the special legislative session. NU officials are scheduled to appear before the Legislature's Appropriations Committee today to discuss Ker rey's proposal to cut almost $5 million from NU's 1985-86 budget. Kerrey, who announced last week he would not seek re-election next year, said during his 1982 campaign that NU did not have the finan cial support at that time to be a "superior" institution. He told UNL students in April 1982 that, if elected, he would "go to the people and say if you want excellence at the university, this is wlnt it would cost." Nebraska's declining economy has shown him since then "the money just isn't there" to sup port state government, including NU, at its pres ent size, Kerrey said. Economic forecasts in 1982 said the state's economy would grow by 7 per cent each year, but experts today predict 3 per cent growth each year for the next two to three years. Research and undergraduate programs form NU's "fundamental building blocks," Kerrey said. If the NU Board of Regents keeps trying to fund all of NU's programs, he said, the under graduate programs will suffer and the overall quality of the university will deteriorate. "Is it more important to have the best instruc tors possible in those areas, or is it more impor tant for us to continue all the other things we've decided we're going to do?" he said. "The regents decided it's more important for us to do all the things'. And I think that's a mistake." Professional schools such as the NU Medical Center and NU College of Law, should be elimi nated first because comparatively few Nebras kans attend them and fewer of their graduates stay in Nebraska than those of undergraduate programs, he said. Those who worry that too many people are leaving Nebraska for graduate training should be more concerned when stu dents "go down to Kansas University because they've got a better department of English, chemistry, (or) mathematics," he said. The regents must be willing to eliminate good programs along with weaker ones to effectively reduce NU's budget, Kerrey said. "If you try to say, 'We're only going to elimi nate those things that aren't quality, we're only going to eliminate those things that aren't necessary,' you eliminate nothing," he said. "There are darn few things over there that aren't quality, that aren't necessary. But the question is, 'What can you afford?' " Kerrey said each of the three NU campuses could survive independently without damage to their educational missions. He said the state spends $19 million a year to maintain one cen tral administration, which the state established 15 years ago. Lincoln Sen. David Landis' proposal that NU transfer $ 10 million in spending during five years from weaker to stronger programs is unworkable unless programs actually are eliminated, Kerrey said. Landis' plan leaves the regents the freedom to decide how the $10 million would be reallo cated. "History has shown us that we've been able to identify those areas of excellence that we want," Kerrey said. "But we haven't been able to make the reduction of those things that are good pro grams, that are needed, that aren't first-dollar items," Kerrey said. The regents' refusal this summer to close the NU Medical Center's College of Pharmacy and the School of Nursing's Lincoln division shows the regents are vulnerable to public presssure, he said. A tight budget will give the regents the incentive to cut programs, he said. 1 Legislative hearing on NU budget today A Legislative hearing about the NU budget will begin at 1:30 p.m. today in room 1517 of the State CapitoL . NU faculty members, administrators and student leaders will speak to the Appropria tions Committee. Gov. Bob Kerrey has pro posed a 3 percent across-the-board cut for state agencies, including NU. ASUN President Gerard Keating encour ages students to attend the meeting to show support for the university. He said students should visit their state senators at the Capitol. "Our strategy is to work toward a tax on services" to generate revenue so cuts won't be necessary, Keating said. "They're going to be faced with a substantia' reduction in the general-fund budget," Kerrey said. "That's a given; it's going to" happen. . . .They're going to be able to turn to people and say, 'Last time you said we had the money, this time we don't.' " Students in programs that are eliminated should consider that NU and the state will be better off for the cuts, he said. "What I will simply say to people is, 'Don't be depressed by it,' " Kerrey said. "It may be your program. But what's left is going to be stronger. It's going to enable us when the economy turns around to invest in things that we weren't able to invest in before The only way you can do that is to invest less in some of the things you were previously doing." SSA to send resolution to state legislators By Diana Johnson Staff Reporter Alarmed by Gov. Bob Kerrey's budget balancing proposal to cut three per cent of state support to higher educa tion, the Nebraska State Student Associa tion has prepared a four-point resolu tion that will be mailed to state legisla tors this week. The resolution was made during NSSA's first statewide conference last weekend in Chadroa NSSA members include student re presentatives from Chadron, Peru and Wayne state colleges, UNL and the Uni versity of Nebraska at Omaha. . "This is a situation where everyone is on the chopping block," said Kelly Kuchta, UNL's acting NSSA board of director representative. "This is an opportunity for us to stand together." The resolution will be used as a "united statement" and a "working document" for all NSSA members, Deb Chapelle, NSSA executive director said. The possible effects of a three per cent cut are included in the resolution, Chapelle said. For example, should the Legislature adopt Kerrey's proposal, NU's state support would be trimmed 'by about $5 million. Chadron State Col lege would lose $172,000 from its fiscal budget, Kathleen Neary, UNLNSSA member said. NSSA's resolution also encourages the Legislature to find alternatives to decreasing expenditures, like lowering state support to universities and state colleges, Neary said. "If we are going to admit to the fact that Nebraska is going to be economi cally depressed, then we are going to have to find answers for long-term pro gress," Chapelle said, referring to Ker rey's proposal. NSSA's proposal suggests finding state income producing programs, Chapelle said. . "This is not a short-term problem, that's why alternatives are so impor tant," Chapelle said. The resolution suggests also that the - Pr-3 2 three percent cut cannot be success fully instigated in the mid-fiscal year, Chapelle said. "Any way you cut it, it's going to be very difficult to find a way to adjust quickly to the cut without harming someone somewhere down the road," Chapelle said. The resolution ends by stating that "education is a sound and productive investment for Nebraska," Neary said. Please see NSSA on 3 fs, m s ; ...7 an j M