Farm subsidies needed
By Terie Clement
Staff Reporter
Federal farm subsidies are neces
sary to keep many farmers in business,
a University of Nebraska agriculture
official said.
Leo Lucas, dean and director of
NU’sCooperative Extension Service,
said because grain profits are down,
other countries subsidize their farm
ers and South America produces
cheaper grain, the United States must
subsidize its farmers to keep them in
business and compete in the world
market.
European farmers are subsidized
50 to 75 percent more than American
farmers, Lucas said. And in Brazil,
where labor is cheap, farmers can sell
grain at more competitive prices than
here, he said.
An excess supply of grain makes it
di ff ic ul t for farmers to get a good price
on the world market, Lucas said.
Grain is not the only product the
United Slates government subsidizes.
Farmers who produce cheese and
honey also arc eligible for govern
ment assistance.
The Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service, a division of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
determines who will get the subsidies
and distributes them.
Subsidies are not simply loans to
farmers. Most are programs designed
to benefit both the farmer and the U.S.
agriculture market.
Some examples of these programs
are:
• Payment-in-kind.
The government asks farmers to
take a certain percentage of their land
out of production. This land is also
known as set-aside acres.
Farmers arc paid a set price compa
rable to what they would receive had
they planted. The payment is usually
half in cash and half in certificates that
may be sold for more than face value.
• Loans.
In a 1987 Commodity Fact Sheet,
the ASCS said, “Producers must re
duce their established crop acreage
base by 27.5 percent to be eligible for
loans, purchases and payments for the
1987 wheat crop.” The ASCS said,
“Loan rates are established to reflect
the relative value of the commodity at
its location.”
Most loans mature in nine months.
According to the fact sheet, “If the
loan is not repaid by the final loan
maturity date, the Commodity Credit
Corporation takes title to the com
modity as full payment of the loan and
interest charges.”
• Price support programs.
A farmer is guaranteed a set price
on his crop if he takes a loan from the
federal government to help finance it.
uConservation Reserve program.
Farmers setaside land that is highly
erodable for a period of no less than 10
years. The farmer may set his own
price, but the government does not
have to accept it.
Farmers have the option of choos
ing programs that will best benefit
their own situations.
Information on the programs is
available from another branch of the
USDA, the Agricultural Services.
Don Miller, a Lincoln agricultural
extension agent, said agents help
farmers understand the farm pro
grams.
“In-depth questioning on the pro
grams can usually be answered by the
ASCS, but we can interpret for the
farmer questions like, ‘How many
acres should I cut back?’ and explain
the economics of selecting between
two different crops,” Miller said. “We
try to match up different alternatives
in the programs.”
Nationally, 518,929 farms this
year arc participating in wheatsupport
programs alone, according to ASCS
figures.
World peace concern brings anti-nuke advocates
to U.S.; Swedes say Americans are supportive
By Victoria Ayotte
Staff Reporter
Promoting world peace and get
ting support for the nuclear test ban
treaty brought Ingcla Martensson, a
member of the Swedish parliament,
to Lincoln last week.
Martensson is on a mission with a
group of nine Swedes who arrived in
the United States last Monday. The
group traveled to Washington, D.C.,
and Atlanta before splitting up to visit
other areas of the country.
A comprehensive test ban treaty
will solve the spread of nuclear
•r~
weapon capability, Martcnsson said.
“If you don’t test anymore, you
won’t modernize and develop new
nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons
will not spread to other countries,”
she said. “A lest ban treaty is neces
sary for all countries, not just the
superpowers.”
Another major concern with nu
clear testing is radiation, she said.
“We can see with the Chernobyl
accident, it spread worldwide. \N e in
Sweden suffered for this,” she said.
Martcnsson also said she believes
there arc more important priorities
than nuclear weapons, such as world
hunger.
Some Swedes think Americans
support nuclear buildup, Martcnsson
said.
“I am very glad to meet so manv
activists (in the United States). I don t
think people in Sweden know about
them,” she said.
Peace activists around the world
must work together, she said.
The group’s visit was supported by
the Quakers and the Center for De
fense Information. In Nebraska,
Nebraskans for Peace and other local
agencies have .supported the organi
zation.
!
Financial aid and school facts
available at educational center
By Randy Lyons
Staff Reporter
Students who seek information
about financial aid and universities
across the nation can find their
answers at Lincoln’s Educational
Planning Center,
Joe Bird, director of the plan
ning center, said the center has
more titan 100 catalogs from
schools around the country. The
catalogs contain details about pro
grams at the colleges, characteris
tics of the student populations and
the costs of attending the institu
tions, he said.
The center, at 3206 O St.,
opened Sept. 14. It was developed
by the Nebraska Student Loan
Program, a guarantee agency that
assures a lender loans will be paid
back should the student default.
“We believe that along with
guaranteeing student loans we also
need to educate students about the
choices that are available to them,”
he said.
The planning center also pro
vides five computer terminals and
a software package called “The
Student Loan Counselor.”
Students using this program
enter figures from income tax
forms and their financial records.
The program determines their fi
nancial standing and the approxi
mate amount of financial aid they
qualify for.
If a student needs to borrow
additional money through a stu
dent loan program, Bird said, the
software can estimate the amount
the student will need to borrow to
complete his education. From this
total, the center can inform the
student how much money will have
to be paid back each month alter
graduation.
Students should know this in
formation before they borrow
money, he said.
If the catalogs and computers
aren’t enough to help students find
the information they’re looking
for, the planning center also pro
vides a WATS line so schools can
be contacted directly.
“Our services are open to all
students, including high school,
free of charge,” Bird said. “We are
here to assist students in the selec
tion of the higher education of their
choice and we have good people
with good knowledge.”
To celebrate FarmAid III, the
Nebraska Student Loan Program
gave more than 5,000 red bandan
nas to students and parents visiting
the centers in Lincoln, Omaha and
Kearney. “We’re not
trying to jump on the FarmAid’
bandwagon,” Bird said. “We feel
that agriculture and education are
the two most important things to
the state, and we just want people to
know that wc arc here to help.”
The loan program established
two other planning centers in the
state. An Omaha center opened
August 1986 to serve a heavy con
centration of students and leaders
in that area.
The planning center in Kearney
opened this spring.
The Lincoln center is open to
assist students and parents Monday
through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5:30p.m.
and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
Short
Perkins National Direct Student
Loans for first semester will be
issued today and Wednesday from
9 to 11:30a.m. and from 1 to4p.m.
Checks can be picked up in the
Nebraska Union Ballroom today
and in the union’s Georgian Suite
on Wednesday.
I
Two great ways to cruise through the semester.
The hand on the left is poised on what could lx* the most essential part
of your education.
A Macintosh" computer.
And the hand on the right is gripping pure, simple, unadulter
ated fun.
A Honda Scooter. One we re giving away.
.All you have to do for a chance to drive it away is visit your campus
computer center and fill out an entry form. While you’re there, take a
Macintosh for a test drive.
Because Macintosh can help you write term papers, categorize
elements of the periodic table, plot the rise and fall of pork-belly
prices, compile computer code, and talk to other computers.
And the first 250 people on campus who get Ixhind a mouse, so
to speak, will receive a free Apple® memo board.
So head over to your campus computer center today And ask
about our Student Financing Program.
Who knows? You may soon find yourself cruising a little farther
than vou expected. 9 -
□
A, Test drive a Macintosh. You may ride away on a Honda Scooter.
#
Enter September 8 - October 16
University Bookstore Computer Shop
Lower Level Student Union
Certain restrictions apply, visit ytxir campus computer center for ti implete promtxional details One free Honda Elite'* SO Suxxer will lx* awarded |x-r participating sdxxil, only registered students ;uid faculty are eligible tt > win Odds of winning vary depending
on size ofschtx)! and number of contest entrants No purchase necessary ©19fC Apple Computer, Inc Apple and the Apple kigo are registered trademarks of Apple Gxnputer, Inc Martnkishis a trademark olAppk* Gxnputer, lix Elite is a trademark iX Honda