o o
ment chairman positions, she said.
Most of the open positions are in
the Arts and Science department,
because it is the largest, England
said, and although the total number
is a little higher than normal, she
said it is nothing unusual.
Wheeler said that because the
problems retaining faculty at UNL,
competition by those institutions
better funded by their state govern
ments is making it difficult to refill
the positions left open by existing
professors.
For example, the organic chemis
try department has one opening it
has been trying to fill since last year.
Wheeler said offers were made to
the two top candidates, but both
turned down the jobs. A position
was offered to a third candidate,
who by that time, had already
accepted a job at another school,
Wheeler said.
In all three cases, Wheeler said,
the money offered to start the faculty
member's research or "set up" funds
was not attractive enough to bring
to Nebraska. He said UNL usually
offers a little more than $ 100,000 to
set up research while other universi
Page 7The Sower
ties in Florida and Arkansas offer
anywhere from $ 1 75,000 to $225,000.
Other schools can offer so much
"simply because other states make a
bigger effort to put money into their
universities," Wheeler said. That
commitment by the state to higher
education is something potential,
faculty base their decisions on when
considering job offers, Tuck said.
And when they see low salaries, he
added, it paints a bleak picture of
how the state plans to treat higher
education.
If recent budget cuts and battles
with the Legislature to restore
money for the university are any
indication, Wheeler said, the brain
drain is likely to continue and
further effect the qulity of the uni
versity. "This is going to get worse until
the state starts funding us prop
erly," he said.
But several of the front-running
gubernatorial candidates agreed it
will take much work and time before
the state can adequately fund the
university.
All four of the candidates reached
said that although higher education
is one of their primary priorities,
they would not attempt to fund the
university through a tax increase.
"The people (of Nebraska) will
not be supportive of higher educa
tion as much as they would like to
be until we broaden the economic
base and they can be supportive
without being personally financially
penalized,' said Republican candi
date for governor Kermit Brashear.
Saying "there are no quick fixes,"
Brashear maintained that to ade
quately fund the university, the state
needs more people paying sales,
income and property taxes. Higher
taxes only force people and busi
nesses out of Nebraska which im
pedes its economic growth.
Democratic candidate Chris Beut
ler said that until the economic base
of the state grows to where more
revenue can be collected for the
university, it is the NU Board of
Regent's responsibility to reallocate
money to give faculty raises and
keep them in Nebraska.
"It is the job of the governor and
the Legislature to provide as much
money as it can to the university
and to prioritize education," Beutler
said, "But once the money is allo
cated to the university, it is up to the
Board of Regents to decide how to
spend it."
Democratic candidate Helen Bo
osalis said the university cannot
rely on tax increases and should
increase its efforts to attract corpo
rate endowments, foundation money
and federal aid if it is to retain its
faculty and quality.
"... A tax increase is unrealistic,
she said. We need to look at all
other avenues first."
"This is going to get worse
until the state starts
funding us properly."
Wheeler
