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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1987)
,1 iilm,(ijMJl L . 1 ' f ' '...i.-h.Fr.J.yr. ; r.-.c;..cL :r , U3 low 3 to ."1 C:'.-jr;, , r .". : t!y S'jnny v.;;h a ccr.'ir.-j; J .rr.in-jtrcr.J. I!.3inr.3l;;.:r ' - r ii:::. ifv:..3 D:-;t Pt;,3 2 j editorial . Pg 3 4 jCporti' 7 ! Er.tirtalnment P?.;u 9 !C!a:3ifiad 23 10 J" April 3, 1987 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 85 No. 131 Demolition of tha Men's PE BuHd'ng began this week to make recreation center end indoor prsctico field. Ail that remains building is the scoreboard end curve of the roof. .BiW would eliminate election spending limits By Merry Hayes Staff Reporter In a bill responding to the Unite Party's campaign-spending violation, the ASUN Senate Wednesday recom mended that the Electoral Commission eliminate campaign spending limits and require all parties to publish the amount they spent on their campaigns two days before the election. Opponents of the bill said spending limits are needed to keep students from "buying" the elections. Sen. Shawn Boldt, a member of the Unite Party, said he's not sure spend ing limits are good, but some regula tion is needed to keep the elections fair. He said quality people who don't have much campaign money would be overlooked if there were no spending limits. Sen. Jeff Petersen said spending limits keep the elections from becom ing a "spending war" that benefits rich students. Sen. John Bergmeyer, who was elected ASUN second vice president with the Unite Party, said if campaigns aren't regulated, parties will open themselves up to problems they don't perceive yet. Mew fflinminieial aM By Kari Hulac Staff Reporter Pert three of a three-part series Cuts in federal student aid and an alarming increase in student-loan debt and defaults have govern ment and university officials and oth ers scrambling to help students find new ways to pay. Colleges whose students can't han dle the burden of extremely high tui tion are trying new solutions that seem to be gaining popularity. The "College Cost Bock" indi cates that SCO coUe3 and universities allow tuition payments to be spread out for several months with no interest charged. A survey by the American Association of State Colleges and Uni versities found that 33 percent of its members cfTcred installment plans in a tcicJ cf 27 states. Prepayment cf tuition is another new idea that often provides discounts cr alleys parents to best inflation and Sen. Doug Weems, the bill's sponsor, said spending limits are a hassle that can't be enforce effectively. He said that he'd be willing to bet there was more than one spending vio lation this year and "a lot mere viola tions before that." Even when the policy is enforced, the penalties aren't effective, he said. "When we do enforce it, we make them write a five-page paper," he said. "That doesn't do a whole lot." Weems said spending limits have nothing to do with fair elections. He said all elections are "free-for-alls" in which some candidates have Cummer registration deadline Tci:y u the !:.:t d:y ta eci'Iy rzy special ;rtricnfpricd.,fcr:C:: turicy frczn 8 to 11:C3 a.n. r:::!:?, I!:y 18 to July 10; sri tT.a f 2 z ::;i:::3, J-j.r.3 St-) J;:'y 10 pay for college while their children are still young. Duquesne University in Pennsylva nia uses one such "rate for age" plan. The plan allows parents to make fixed payments for their newborn child to attend the school later. Private schools such as Cornell University of Pennsyl vania and Grinnell College in Iowa have adopted similar plans. Although no public institution has tried it, legisla tors in Michigan, New Jersey and Cali fornia are reviewing tuition prepay ment plans for their public institutions. Some schools are offering discounts for prepayment of tuition and tuition gift certificates. Robert Clark, UNL student accounts director, said UNL has no current plans to adopt any alternative tuition-payment plan. Clark said many plans would not be valid for UNL because it is supported by state taxes and payment-discount prcir.s nsy violate stats law. Clark recommended the UNL short term lean program o a resource for ::; Paul VondarlajaDaily Nebrsskan room for the new student recognizable of the old more money than others. "It isn't always the case that the party that spends the most wins the election," he said. Sen. Jon Stick said spending limits won't make elections fair. Sen. Tre Brashear said students vot ing in the elections would know if a party was trying to "buy" the election if, before the election, the parties pub lished their financial statements in the Daily Nebraskan. "The parties can spend what they want, but the university populace would also know how much they spent," he said. ar.J July 13 to At: 14. General re istnticn v.111 be liter in tha year, lit chz 3 priority ccr.net be c::urcd turned irio the lurch's cites in plains j student who find themselves short of cash to pay their fees and tuition or other educational expenses. Short-term loans carry a simple interest rate of 9 percent for students registered at least half-time. The loans usually are repaid during the academic Students In Debt period in which the loan is made. Clark said UNL officials may need to lock at a tuition payment plan in the future. "The amount cf federal financial aid is diScult to forecast," he said, "and that will have an impact." TTTTT A wesiceraeirs sinm It save UNSTA By Michael Hooper Senior Reporter NORTH PLATTE Struggling to ' save the NU School of Technical Agri culture at Curtis the last three years has made some western Nebraskans bitter towards eastern Nebraska, a bit terness that was expressed Thursday over the proposed elimination of UNSTA. Many of the 37 supporters who testi fied at a public hearing said that east ern Nebraskans do not realize that UNSTA not only provides the technical training necessary to bring Nebraska's biggest industry, agriculture, out of its slump, but it also is an important part of the Curtis economy. If the school were closed, supporters say, the com munity would be left a ghost town. "Eastern Nebraska needs to realize that there's life, hope and vitality in western Nebraska," said Jackie Cun ningham, president of Women Involved in Farm Economics. , Because it has been on the budget chopping block for the last three years, UNSTA enrollment has declined and has left students scared about their careers, said Cheri Stombaugh, a freshman veterinary technology major at UNSTA. "We're scared. For most of us, our future is in your hands," Stombaugh told the NU regents, who presided over -the hearing. Stcrabsais ssid the pro gram she is in is the only one like it in the state and if the school closed she and others would be forced to leave the state to finish their education. About 350 people showed their sup port for UNSTA at the hearing. . NU President Ronald Roskens reaf firmed at the hearing his recommenda tion of cutting $1.3 million from UNSTA's budget. The cut would help reduce the NU operating budget by $3.1 million for 1987-88 as mandated by the legislature, he said. Eliminating $1.3 million would mean cutting the school's entire budget. Roskens said UNSTA was chosen as one of five university areas to be cut because it's not a liberal-arts school. Cuts at the university should not affect research or liberal-arts education, he said. Everett Stencel, a veterinarian from Curtis said that 24 land-grant universi ties in the United States like NU have two-year technical schools. "It all comes down to money. . .not the role admission," Stencel said. impossible to pay tuition, the institu tion would have to respond. But the process of making the necessary record keeping and administrative changes would be an expensive and time consuming undertaking. Richard Hoover, UNO vice chancel lor for educational and student servi ces, has been researching the effects of federal aid reductions at several cam puses. Recently Hoover published a report examining many possible solu tions to the student-debt problem a problem that worries him. In addition to examining tuition payment-related solutions, Hoover's report locks at low-cost, long-term, .repayment loans and miscellaneous programs. Northwestern University has used tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance low-cost variable-rate tuition loans. Since 1934, according to Hoover's report, 4,500 students bor rowed an average cf $3,000 each. The leans are aimed at middle-class fami give kdDpe iion0 mow a a) Ken Highberger, president of the Curtis Chamber of Commerce, said that if UNSTA closed, property values in Curts would decrease and job oppor tunities would be lost. He said that the Curtis population of 1,014 has a strong relationship with students and faculty at UNSTA. "The personal relationship. . .would be lost if the school were closed," he said. The agriculture industry would suffer too. "The only way to save agriculture today is by training young people back on the farm," Highberger said. Al Silvers tein, president of the North Platte Chamber of Commerce, saii that since agriculture is the biggest busi ness in the state, there is no reason to eliminate UNSTA. Silverstein urged the regents to support LB556 as amended, which would require the Legislature to provide $1.3 million to keep the school operating for two years. Then the school would separate from the university and be governed by its own board. Darren Strizek, a second-year pro duction agriculture major at UNSTA, said students like the school's family atmosphere. "Students and faculty know each other on a first-name basis, not on a dry, numerical basis " Strizek said. ? Many . students cfcsae to JUliSTA because alumni expressed pnds in the school Strizek said. Graduates were proud that it helped get them estab lished in agriculture. "Many of us are the backbone of agriculture, but UNSTA needs a boost," he said. Chris Scudder, UNL student regent and ASUN president, said her perspec tive on western Nebraska was changed after the hearing. "I had never been to North Platte before," she said. "The testimony really brings it home." Nellie Snyder Yost Lydick, a long time North Platte resident and local historian, said after the hearing that western Nebraskans are outnumbered, so their voice is rarely heard. "When the eastern part of the state doesn't realize that agriculture brings in most of the money for the state, then there is a problem," she said. "The periodic suggestion that western Ne braska secede and join Wyoming is because Wyoming understands us." lies whose incomes ($40,000 to$100,000) disqualify their children from receiving ! traditional forms of need-based aid. The Massachusetts-based Consortium on Financing Higher Education, whose 30 members include Boston CoUege, Northwestern, Harvard, Yale and Stan ford, provide loans from $2,000 to $15,000 to middle-income families. States like Connecticut, Iowa, Loui siana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania provide tax-exempt, bond-funded loan programs. Each pro gram has a specific purpose, for exam ple, providing funds for students attending in-state public institutions or those at private schools in the state. Card Waldman, a loan cfScer in UNL's OSice cf Financial Aid, said she i3 not familiar with tax-exempt, bond funded lean programs. Sh8 said her cSce is locking at soma ws to har.dla the problems cuts in loan programs will cause the c2ce and students, but ' li&sn t ecu 3 up wivlt ft dc!! pln Sco D-DT on 6 mme