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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1986)
Monday, February 10, 1986 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan EdiforialL- Nsbrayskan University of NebrjjK J-Lmcoln Bydot Ideas lack student input The proposal to form an ad hoc committee to help de cide where UNL could make budget reductions could easily become a farce an adminis trative ploy to let students and ''acuity think they have input on mportant budget-cutting deci sions at UNL. The ad-hoc committee once appeared to be a good idea. Now it is too little, too late. UNL administrators Sunday re leased reductions and elimina tions prescribed by UNL vice chancellors that will be submit ted to the ad-hoc committee, which includes members from the Academic Planning Commit tee, the offices of business affairs and student affairs and students from the ASUN academic plan ning committee. The committee now will dis cuss budget reduction proposals and seek input from students, faculty members and deans. The problem is that the com mittee was formed after the vice chancellors decided how much of the total university cuts each department should share. There was no input, other than that from those people who work cl?sely with the vice chancellors. Few students or faculty mem bers. Although the committee has no strong voice in how the uni versity distributes cuts to var ious departments, it does have advisory capacity to tell UNL Chancellor Martin Massengale how each department should handle the cuts proposed by the vice chancellors. Massengale has said he'll listen to the commit tee's comments. We hope he fol lows his word. Since administrators often Trim ctebt j31 1 Bond bill deserves to be passed Between 1950 and 1983, farm debt as a percentage of net farm income increased more than 10 times, from 92 percent to 1,350 percent. This tremendous increase is the farm debt prob lem that we hear so much about. While some argue that no action should be taken to deal only with the process of the market weeding out the weak, some now propose plans to soften the human impact of this "shake down" process. Of particular note is the plan that UNL economics professor F. Gregory Hayden advocates. His proposal would provide a sort of state-sponsored bankrupty pro cedure while also providing money for the banks that would be affected by the debt restruc turing. Hayden's plan would sell bonds to buy troubled farmers' land and revalue the land at a lower level. It also would require banks to forgive 20 percent of the loan assumed by the plan's Family Farmland Reserve Authority. Farmers then would be re Vicki Ruhtfa, Editor, 472-1766 Thorn Gabrukiewicz, Managing Editor Ad Hudler, Editorial Page Editor James Rogers, Editorial Associate Chris Welsch, Copy Desk Chief mm don't have the time or resources to acquaint themselves with every UNL department, they must rely on experts who work closer to the subject at hand to get a clear, accurate view of the situa tion. But officials whose programs are up for cuts often give biased views supporting their programs. To counter this, the committee also will encourage students to respond to the cuts. This should provide a different view on the matter. Yet, another strand of bureau cratic red tape could hinder that input. People who want to respond to the decisions must respond in writing to the ad-hoc committee by Feb. 21. Responses cannot exceed 10 pages, and the com mittees has asked that 30 copies of each response be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 21. With requirements such as these, the committee can expect little feedback. What's needed is a public hearing in which students and faculty members can express their opinions. Nebraskans have grown accustomed to having a chance to speak about matters that affect them. This state has one of the few Legislatures in the country that sponsors a public hearing for bills introduced in the Legislature. Overall, the committee's goal is an impressive one: To shed some light on UNL's desperate budget situation what can be cut and how much. But the way the administra tion neglected to form an ad-hoc committee earlier in the budget proceedings hinders the voice of students and faculty members in the destiny of their university. quired to buy back their land with lower debt payments. The payments would be more in pro portion to the expected income of farmers at today's depressed price levels. The plan also is geared toward solving the problem of the in creasing number of rural bank closings. Although the banks would have to write off part of the debt that farmers owed them, they still would get a larger pro portion of the debt paid back than if the current do-nothing policy were pursued. But the real wisdom of the plan could be in its political pal atability, rather than its eco nomic insight. Because the authority would be financed lar gely through the sale of bonds instead of state finances, the bill has a better chance at passage than does a more costly prop osal. The bill deserves passage: The farm debt problem must be speedily addressed so that the entire Nebraska economy can get back on track. YOU BUMS ARE 50 BUSY , L0OK1N6 FOR A UANDOUT YOU CANT APPRECIATE FREE PETROLEUM PRICES, V L, ARE PLUMMETING fmj Z I HUM IS UT II I .'"'' J'kHv CHEAP GAS AND GOOD TIMES THE BANK? MY MONEY? GONE? ARE YDU SURE? 5t B irn V Alt Conventional farming rapes land, bankrupts farmers Last semester I wrote a column urging the federal government to wean farmers off support. I wrote that 4 million farms have collapsed since 1945, despite price supports that rose faster than farm income. Congress spent record amounts on farm aid in the last five years, yet 100,000 farms have gone under. Federal money is not helping the farm economy it only makes it possible for smaller farmers to get by. Plain and simple, it's welfare. I was criticized for taking a conser vative stand (which doesn't happen often) and for supporting corporate farming. I said only big farmers could survive without supports, and that is still true. I was not saying 1 liked big farms, nor the idea that small farmers should go under. I said it was a tragedy, and it is: Small farmers are the foundation upon which this country was built. Corporate farms tend to abuse the land squeezing every drop of profit for the short-term gain, leaving the land polluted with chemicals and rob bing it of its value. I said the forces of the economy make it impossible for the small farmer, and with the budget deficits, we can no longer afford to support him. I didn't mention an alternative, one that I'd heard of at the time, but didn't think farmers would take seriously. I still don't, but alternative agriculture, as it's called, would probably work, given time and effort. The Wall Street Journal ran a story about alternative agriculture and its most prominent proponent, Wes Jack A midnight visit from an apparition forces George Bush under covers iwas a cold and windy night and George Bush awoke with a start. Standing before him, icicles hanging from lean fingers, was an apparition that looked very much like himself. The wind blew into the room and Bush, scared, pulled the covers over his head. "Who are you?" he asked, peeking out. "The Former George Bush," the apparition thundered. Bush pulled the covers over his faca The Former George Bush stepped closer to the bed. "I understand that you are going to be the keynote speaker for Jerry Falwell," the apparition said in a cold voice. "I read that you will soon speak before his newly renamed Liberty Federation. Is that true, George?" There was no answer. "Is that true?" the apparition insisted. A weak "yes" came from under the cover. "George, this Falwell is the man who called Bishop Desmond Tutu a 'pho I'M GCXMGTOTUEEANKTO WITHDRAW SOME OF MY SiMMGS AMD BUY A , BftNEWCAR 1 WAS THE , PRESIDENT son, who leads a research farm called the Land Institute. Conventional farming stresses ex tensive use of chemicals and big machinery. It rapes the land and breaks farmers. Alternative agriculture stresses con servation: organic farming, hybrids instead of herbicide, horses instead of combines. Chris Welsch As a first step, the Land Institute is trying to develop perennial grain crops that won't require costly replanting or chemicals grains that could replace a lot of corn and wheat. Jackson is a revolutionary. He'd like to see farmers stop wearing caps that advertise their "corporate lords." Farmers are tied to the chemical and seed companies just like serfs were tied to medieval landlords, he says. Critics are skeptical that perennial crops can be bred. Scientists have yet to breed a plant with high yield and strong roots. Besides, most farmers would balk at the idea of turning in their chemicals and conventional crops for a new idea Some have too much invested in their operations they have to keep gam bling on the grain. What would happen if farmers were to move backward in time, back to labor-intensive, conservationist tech ny.' George, this is the man who insulted a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a leader of black moderates in South Africa, a man with wide following in his country and throughout all of black Africa and, need I add, an Anglican. 1 "7 n i i iMcnara Cohen How could you, the vice president of the United States, endorse a man such as Falwell?" "I want his support for 1988," Bush whimpered. "George!" the voice boomed out. "Listen to me. You're not even being a atiwe ao&icult liSL BUT THE BANK WENT BUST IT WS AIL V THOSE LOANS TO THE BOTTOM DROPPED CUT 0F0W DEFAUUEP.' wo niques? Yield probably would decline market wide, unless miracle perennials could be developed. That, however, wouldn't be all bad. Farm technology has, in many ways, hurt the farmer. At the same time yields have doubled and tripled, sur plus has accumulated and prices have dropped. The technology that was once exlusively American now belongs to much of the world, which undersells overpriced U.S. produce at every turn. Farmers, then, would get more for their crops. Surplus would dwindle quickly. Small farms would be feasible again. The chemical companies would go broke, and the earth would be freed of the destruction farmers now wreak upon it for short-term gain. Farmers would stop cutting out their windrows. In organic farming, wind breaks collect snow for water and pro tect crops from storms. Many farmers remove them now because they impede irrigation and because they have to plant every inch of land to survive. By working with nature instead of against it, much could be accomp lished. But Jackson knows such radical change will take time. "That's going to take 50 or 100 years. We've got a tre mendous job ahead," he said in the Wall Street Journal. Alternative agriculture proponents say 20,000 to 40,000 of the nation's 2.3 million farmers have taken their move ment to heart. And that's a start, albeit a late one. Welsch Is a UNL English and journalism major and a Dally Nebraskan copy desk chief. smart politician. Look at Falwell's neg atives. In the recent Virginia guberna torial race, all the candidates steered clear of the man. He's the most unpop ular figure in the state. What kind of trade is this, George? You get his nega tives and he gets your respectability. George, George, think this over." The apparition raised his voice. "George, what has happened to you? Has ambition blinded you so that you never see moral principles? This Fal well is the man who has urged members of Congress to overlook an occasional human-rights abuse and get behind Philippine President Ferdinand Mar cos 'with unswerving support.' This is the same man who is a demagogue on the issue of homosexuality, usingwords in his mailings like 'pervert' and terms like 'gay conspiracy.' Do you think there's a gay conspiracy, George? See COHEN on 5
