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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1987)
WEATHER: Sunny and warm Wednesday. High in the lower 80s. Wind northeast5to15mph becom ing east 10 to 15 mph in the after noon. Clear and mild Wednesday night. Low in the upper 40s. Mostly sunny and mild Thursday. High In the upper 70s to lower 80s. "F e1.. ' Inside: News Digest Page 2 Editorial Page 4 Sports Page 9 Entertainment Pago 7 Classified Page 10 Vol. 86 No. 149 X April 29, 1037 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Pushing the limit ? ifll J ? ) x- f y ' r r N i r . ! y J I I y . ; ' ' ft " ' - """N. -' I i II f -:;)! cy i - - . x h Ky " I ' I I . ' . : lf1f ! .-. . ' -'j j i : ,v : : J u ;; : f ' ' 1 1 A h . I , j I h V , , ... , I Nebraska De partment of Road3 workers like this one were already at work Tuesday re placing "55"s with "65"s. 18.0 Avco faculty caries, UIL (In 1975-70 dollnra) T r o w 3 15.5- X a 15.0-t 73 T 77 i i 81 2 r- 3 T 1 r 78 79 3 Tlzzzl ytzs 107(5-70 to 1C37-G3 T 3 i r 3 67 3 John BruceDaily Nebratkan Landis offers amendment for $9.9 million fund to raise faculty salaries By Michael Hooper Senior Reporter Andrea HoyDaily Nebraskan In an effort to stop quality faculty from leaving the university for better salary offers, Sen. David Landis of Lin coln has filed a $9.9 million amend ment to a budget bill to increase faculty salaries at UNL Charlie Petersen, aide to Sen. Lan dis, said he expects LB780, the budget package introduced by the Appropria tions Committee, to be discussed in first-round debate this week. UNL salaries now are ranked at the bottom of UNL's 1 2 peer institutions in the American Association of Universi ties and Land Grant Institutions, Peter sen said. In the past year alone, the College of Arts and Sciences has lost 19 faculty members, said John Peters, associate dean of the college. Of about 24 profes sors who received better salary offers from other universities, and counter offers from UNL, only three remained. "There's always good people leav ing," Peters said. He said other universities' salary offers are often 30 percent higher than average salaries at UNL While AAU universities over the last 10 years have increased annually an average of 6.4 percent, UNL salaries have increased annually by only 3 per cent, according to a report from Landis' office. The most distressing fact, Peters said, is that most of the faculty members leaving the College of Arts and Scien ces are top-quality senior professors. "This can be devastating to a univer sity because you cannot always expect a junior professor to make the same outstanding contribution," Peters said. Peters said the notion that faculty salaries should be lower in the Midwest because it costs less to live here is untrue. The market for professors is not local, he said. It includes professors from all over the United States includ ing such places as the University of Illinois and Harvard University in Boston. He said UNL has to bring in the best professors who are able to train profes sionals and contribute to economic de velopment, so salaries must be compet itive with UNL's peer institutions. The $9.9 million appropriation in Landis' amendment will be used to provide employee benefits and bonuses besides raising faculty salaries. What for Whittier? Administration still plans to make junior high into research center By Jen Deselms Senior Reporter our vears since the university N purchased Whittier Junior High School, university officials still are saying they hope to convert the building into a research center someday. But today, most of the building at 22nd and Vine streets, is used for storage. It's crowded with castoffs from renovation projects in Bessey and Architectural halls. However, one step has been taken toward converting the shell of a school, which has been closed since 1977, into a full-fledged research center. The northwest end of the building houses Kamterter, a re search office for experimentation with agriculture and biotechnology to advance crop-establishment tech nologies. The office has been located in Whittier since September 1985. But in other parts of the building, the heat, electricity and water remain turned off. At the NU Board of Regents' April meeting, Regent Margaret Robinson of Norfolk said that with all the it i. -A m t- ''I - 31 4 tt - f . m-' ;-;s i f if r ' l!yi j 1- f - 4 I m broken windows the building "looked like something from a Vietnam War zone." But the university has spent about $120,000 on repairs and prevention of more vandalism, said Jack Goe bel, vice chancellor for business and finance. Repairs have included a new roof and vandalism-prevention measures, such as boarding up first floor windows and replacing win dows on the upper floors with shatter proof plastic. Harely Schrader, director of the Physical Plant, said the building has weathered the extremes of heat and cold and is sound. People do not realize that the building, a $500,000 purchase in 10 S3, is an asset, Schrader said. The building not only has potential for the future, but has helped the university in its current storage role. T he university has limited stor age space, and without Whitt ier. UNL might have had to lease space to store equipment dur ing recent renovations, Schrader said. Chairs, desks, sofas and lamps line the halls. They cover many of the gaping holes left after Lincoln Public School officials removed many lockers that once lined the hal lways. Many locked classrooms house similar equipment. But most second floor classrooms are empty, stripped even of their chalkboards. Academic departments are not the only university divisions using the building as storage. Canoes can be found in the darkness of the kit chen; a shopping cart full of old trophies sits in a hallway. Vandalism to windows has been a problem in the past, and writing can be found on some of the interior walls. But Schrader said that people who got into the building did little damage. University officials keep all the doors locked, some with chains on the inside. Someone has written on a gymnasium chalkboard, "I can sleep safe and secure tonight know ing Whittier is locked up tight." Vice Chancellor for Research John Yost said he has no intention of leaving the potential for research expansion locked up forever. See WHITTIER on 6 r