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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1986)
I :: 4 W V4 w Weather: Mostly sunny and warmer today with a high of 47. Northwest winds at 10 mph. Mild tonight with a low of 23. High of 40 Wednesday. For those with Spring Fever: A high of 79 in South Padre. January 28, 1986 Neihardt By Lise Olsen Senior Reporter A plan to expand ASUN voting sites to include a residence hall will be the topic of an open forum today at 3:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union. ASUN's election commission sche duled the meeting after RHA members submitted a proposal to include Nei hardt Residential Center, 540 N. 16th St., at a meeting Thursday. Current vot ing sites include the Nebraska and East Unions and Nebraska Hall. About 15 people testified for and against adding Neihardt at the unpublicized meeting, said Greg Smith, ASUN elec tion commission chairman. Neihardt would provide a central voting location for Neihardt, Cather and Pound hall residents, and for those who live in nearby Greek houses, said Pete Castellano, RHA vice president. Castellano co-sponsored the proposal with Doug Weems, of ASUN and RHA, and Tony Coe, president of Abel Hall. However, opponents of the proposal said the Neihardt site would give an Budget for Health Center rises with high national health care costs By Thorn Gabrukiewicz and Todd von Kampen Staff Reporters A national rise in health care costs has brought an increase in student fees for university health programs, said the director of the University Health Center. Dr. Gerald Fleischli said although student user fees for the health center have increased 4.2 percent from last year, the figure is below that of national health costs. The health center's share of student fees per semester increased from $43.37 in 1984-85 to $45.22 this year, said Gary Wilkinson, director of business services for the health center. Nationally, Fleischli said, the in crease in health care rose 6.2 percent because of an increase in the medical YEARS 83-84 30 -J : 13 r- - 20 1 ill M ml 15 - I 10 1 X 84-85 Hawaiian-clad liven up Sports Sports, page 6 x a v i v. v i w y ram. voting site is topic unfair advantage to residence hall candidates, Castellano said. Castellano said opponents feared hall residents could be coerced into voting. "Like that doesn't happen in the Greek system already," Castellano said. The voting commission budget was decreased by more than $500 this year because election workers at three sites are paid less than when there were more voting locations said Marlene Beyke, director of development for ASUN. Future election costs could decrease even more, Beyke said, because of a new voting system for 1986 that repla ces the computer punch cards with single voting sheets. Adding the Neihardt site could cost $400 to $500, Castellano said. The number of voting sites for ASUN senator elections was reduced from 11 to three in 1984 to cut costs of election workers' salaries and voting booth rental. - - '- The 1985 voting sites included NeihardtCather-Pound, Selleck, Abel care index over a rise in the consumer price index. The situation has been going on for a long time, Fleischli said, and will con tinue as long as the consumer price index trails the medical care index. Both indexes measure the change in the retail price of goods and services, by comparing the current fixed market value with its cost from previous years. Student health care is spared the burden of the national increase, Fleischli said, because the state sets university employees' salaries, which are tied to the consumer price index. Basic health care and the fact that students pre-pay for the services also keeps students' health care costs in check, he said. The entire health care budget of $2.5 million is garnered through student fees and service charges, Wilkinson 85-86 Kurt EberhardtDaily Nebraskan fans Center anJly i University of Nebraska-Lincoln Sandoz and HarperSchrammSmith residence halls, Westbrook music buil ding, the UNL College of Law, Hamil ton, Burnett, CBA and the Nebraska and East Unions. Voting turn-out dropped in 1984 from 3,226 in 1983 to 2,350. However, the 1985 election results exceeded the 1983 total by 32 voters. Commission chairman Greg Smith encouraged interested students to tes tify on the Neihardt proposal. But Smith also asked students not to limit suggestions to the Neihardt site. "The biggest problem I see is not with on-campus students it is with off-campus students," Smith said. "Half of the university population live off campus and the majority do not vote in ASUN elections." Of the 3,258 students who voted in ASUN elections last year 1,240 lived in residence halls, 1,181 in Greek houses and 629 off-campus. The election commission will review 'today's testimony and are expected to make a decision on the Neihardt site later this week. said. The percentage of the budget sup ported by student fees has remained constant in recent years, he said. For example, the 1985-86 budget included $1.9 million in student fees, or 76 per cent of the total. The remainder of the health center's budget is raised by user fees, such as pharmacy costs, x-rays and counseling, Fleischli said. The money obtained from student fees, Wilkinson said, allows the health center to provide the services of staff doctors and nurses at no charge. Service charges cover the cost of some medical supplies and emergency room charges if the student comes in after regular hours. If students need health care beyond routine treatments and they have in surance, Wilkinson said, the health center helps them file insurance forms. He said student health insurance is available for those who do not have private plans such as Blue Cross-Blue Shield. In addition to lower bills, Wilkinson said, students get more personal care from the health center staff than they would in the private sector. Physicians in private practice, he said, are not able to give as much attention to their patients because they have to be businessmen a role Wilkinson said he fills at the health center. Increases in health-care costs, Wil kinson said, are unlikely to skyrocket in the future. Cuts in federal programs, such as those that might occur under the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget law, would affect only the few students that are under Medicare or Medicaid, he said. 'Witch orgy' you say? No, it's Walpurgisnacht! Arts and Entertainment, page 5 A 6 Jim Cawthra, 20, a junior biology mrjor, top, and Brian N3 fa tty, 20, a sophomore mechanical engineering mrjor, at thslr "home" in 02 Cather Half. Cawthra i3 from Thousand Oaks, Calif, flsbtty is from Chapman, Nab. f! W it? I if v ? van By James Rupprecht Staff Reporter Students who move off campus may gain privacy and responsibility, says Doug Zatechka, UNL's housing director, but they won't save money. A recent survey conducted by the Oaice of University Housing jshows that students are leaving the resi dence halls to cut expenses. But, Zatechka said, "for equal services, a person would have a hard time living off campus for the same amount we charge them to live on." According to a flyer circulated by the housing office, on-campus ser vices include cooks, maintenance workers and custodians, as well as conveniently located gamerooms, computer terminals and snackbars. All these services, Zatechka said, lead to savings in both money and time for students. "However," he added, "I have no doubt that a person can get by for less if they're willing to give up some of the services we provida" Zatechka said off-campus stu dents often fail to include the value cf the time they spend shoppir and cocking and the cost cf the gas they use to drive to classes when figuring their costs. " - I Vol. 85 No. 89 U f Dan DuSaneyUEiiy Nebraskan According to the flyer, living on campus costs a student $250 a month compared to $372 a month for an off-campus residence Many students in the random survey, however, disagreed with the housing office's estini2tes 1 have no doubt that a person can get by for less if they're wil ling to give up some of the cervices ve pro vide Zatechka One student, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of a reprisal from his landlord, said he lived in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house with seven other people. "Although four in a bedroom can get a little tight at times, the only time we have a real problem is when more than two of us need to use the bathroom," he ssid. P.ent, utilities, cable television and phone bills cost each of them about $30 a month. Food during a "good month," only ccst him about $50, he said. See H0UCir:G on 3 y J pb -c - - , p m