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November 2, 1987 University of Nebraska-Lincoln _Vol. 87 No. 48
Faculty pay bill
to be debated
By Lee Rood
Staff Reporter
Students and tax payers will have to
footthebill to increase faculty salaries
at the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln, student government officials
said.
A bill to be debated at
Wednesday’s meeting of the Associa
tion of Students of the University of
Nebraska asks both parties to do just
that.
The bill, sponsored by College of
Arts and Sciences senator Pete Castel
lano, calls for an increase in student
tuition but stipulates that the money
from that increase go directly to fac
ulty salaries and the Legislature
match the students’ money 2-to-l.
Castellano and ASUN president
Andy Pollock said tuition and faculty
salaries at UNL arc lower than at other
Big Eight schools.
Castellano and Pollock said action
needs to be taken soon about the sala
ries, and because the Legislature can ’ t
do it alone, students and lawmakers
need to work together.
“It isn’ta good idea,” Pollock said,
“but if we want to be the kind of
institution we say we are, we need one
(a tuition hike).
‘This is not a tuition
increase bill. This is
a faculty salary bill,
and most of the
money would come
from the Legisla
ture.’
—Castellano
“I really think we need to take the
initiative here,” he said. “We’re going
to run ourselves into a rut.”
Pollock said several faculty mem
bers will retire in the next five to 10
years, making competitive wages
essential for attracting new faculty.
“If we want to compare ourselves
with those kinds of institutions (Big
Eight universities), we have to make
ourselves comparable,” he said.
Pollock said the increase would be
no more than $5 a credit hour, but
senators don’t have specific figures
yet.
Castellano said he doesn’t want
students to think he wants to raise
tuition; he just believes something
needs to be done for the faculty.
“This is not a tuition increase bill.
This is a faculty salary bill, and most
of the money would come from the
Legislature,” he said.
Both Castellano and Pollock said
that if the bill passes ASUN, they want
to work closely with the NU Board of
Regents to get its approval.
Regent Nancy Hoch of Nebraska
City said student support of a bill to
raise tuition would indicate the impor
tance of the faculty salary issue.
Hoch said students already pay
above-average instructional costs.
However, she said, the issue of faculty
salaries should be top priority now.
If students made this sacrifice for
increased salaries, any package the
regents offered the Legislature would
be strengthened, Hoch said.
Sen. Vard Johnson of Omaha,
chairman of the Legislature’s revenue
committee, said he isn’t sure he agrees
with the recommended 2-to-l ratio,
but the idea of joint contribution is
good.
Johnson said a tuition increase
would seem unfair to students unless
the money went to something “fair
and noble.” Faculty salaries definitely
fall in that category, he said.
Johnson said he wasn’t sure if the
measure would get to the Legislature,
but cooperation is necessary to solve
the problem.
“If they (legislators, regents and
students) can work together, I am
convinced the Legislature can find the
kind of money for salaries we are
looking for,” he said. “If you put them
in a harness, you can pull a heck of a
wagon.”
Sen. David Landis of Lincoln
See BILL on 3
Dave Hansen/Daily Nebraskan
Commonwealth Remembered
Dr. Michael Breiner speaks to Commonwealth Savings and Loan depositors Sunday afternoon
on the steps of the State Capitol. Sunday was the fourth anniversary of Commonwealth’s
closing. _
Class tries to regain stock loss
By Lee Rood
Staff Reporter
After losing $43,000 when the
stock market crashed last month,
members of a University of Ne
braska-Lincoln business class arc
working to regain their losses.
Students taking Security Analy
sis, a finance class that lets students
invest real money, lost $43,000 on
Oct. 19, when the Dow Jones in
dustrial average fell 508 points to
1,738.74.
Richard DcFusco, an associate
professor of finance, said he has
been teaching Security Analysis
since 1985, when the University of
Nebraska Foundation let the class
manage $150,000 that was ear
marked for investment
Another professor raised almost
$50,000 that year for the class.
Since then, DeFusco said, stu
dents have made the money grow.
When the market was at its peak in
August, the investments were
worth more than $300,000.
And even though students were
surprised when the market fell,
DeFusco said, it was a good learn
ing experience.
“In class, when we leach fi
nance, we teach that risk goes both
ways. This showed them that there
is a down side to this,” he said.
“When you watch the market go
down like that, there’s a real gut
level feeling inside,” he said.
The students are rebounding,
DeFusco said.
“They think there are some real
bargains out there to be had,” he
said. “Actually, my class is buying
stocks still.”
Jon Kuck, a senior finance
major, said the class has already
recovered $17,000.
“We’re working hard to bring it
back up,” he said.
The worst part about the whole
experience, Kuck said, is that no I
one expected it.
Jim Fellows, another senior in
the class, said the loss taught stu
dents to look for signs that might
lead to similar crashes.
“There arc a lot of young bro
kers that have never seen the mar
ket go down like this,” he said.
DeFusco said his students
haven’t slowed down since the
crash. If anything, they’ve been
working harder.
If students do their homework,
he said, they should be able to make
up the lost money.
Students from farms finding aid hard to get
By Randy Lyons
Staff Reporter
Students from farming families are working
longer hours at part-time jobs and seeking more
scholarships because a portion of farm assets
are now considered in determining eligibility
for financial aid, university officials say.
The assets, such as land and farm machin
ery, are being considered because of changes
made by Congress that became effective in
January 1987, said William McFarland, direc
tor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
McFarland said that before 1987, farm
families had the option of using the Financial
A id Form or a specialized needs test to apply for
financial aid.
“Before, farmers were allowed to use either
one,” McFarland said. “If they couldn’ t qualil y
on the FAF, they could go to the needs test.”
The needs test only took into account ad
justed gross income, family size and the num
ber of children in college, McFarland said. A
simple table was used to find an amount the
family could contribute, he said, and how much
aid would be available.
Because the needs test was discontinued, all
students applying for financial aid now must
use the Financial Aid Form, which takes into
consideration a portion of family assets.
McFarland said the new system is a problem
for many families because many farmers’ as
sets cannot be converted to cash easily.
Two students from farm families who have
had problems qualifying for financial aid said
the new changes could make things worse.
Leland Wagner, an agriculture honors stu
dent majoring in agriculture education, said
that when he first came to UNL and applied for
financial aid he became disgusted and hasn’t
applied since.
Wagner said that when his financial aid
application came back, it staled that his parents
could contribute $20,(XX) to educating the three
children in the family who were in college.
“The only way to do that was to sell all of our
stuff,” Wagner said. “They don’t realize that
you have to replace equipment and pul money
back into the operation.”
Wagner’s parents, who farm 900 acres near
Chapman, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy a
year ago, he said, which will allow them to
restructure their debt and make a larger balloon
payment at a later date.
Because of merit scholarsh ips, Wagner said,
he was able to stay in school. A part-time job
was out of the question, he said, because he had
to go home to help on the farm each weekend,
like many students from farm families.
Another UNL student lost her eligibility for
a student loan because of the changes.
Elaine Hoesing, a junior elementary educa
tion and human development major, said that
during the past two years she was able to gel a
student loan of $2,500 to help meet her ex
penses, but not this year. Because of the
changes, she now has to work 30 hours per week
instead of the 10 to 15 hours she worked last
year.
Hoesing said she was able to keep her Re
gents Scholarship, but she must keep a 3.5
grade point average and working so much
makes it harder.
The information she received after applying
for financial aid said her parents could contrib
ute $3,700 to her education, she said.
“They just don’t have it,” Hoesing said.
“When they (financial aid agencies) evaluate
the assets, they don’t consider the debt against
it."
Hoesing’s parents farm 320 acres near
Coleridge and also run a hog operation of 20 to
25 sows. Her father also works away from the
farm at a construction job. She said her parents
have a special savings account set aside to loan
money to her brother and her when money is
low. S he said she has had to use some of that th i s
year.
Although it has been tougher on her, Hocs
ing said, there may be some benefits to the
situation.
“Of course, 1 won’t have to pay back the loan
money that 1 didn’t get," she said.
It will also make a difference after she
graduates and looks for a job, Hocsing said,
because it looks good if a student had to work
and help pay expenses for college.
While financial aid officials and students
say the changes are causing problems, advisers
from the Institute of Agriculture and Natural
Resources said students haven’t said much to
them about the problems.
“Maybe students just haven’t made me
aware of the problems,” said David McGill,
professor of agronomy.
McGill said he wasn’t aware of many stu
dents who have left school because of the
problem. He said more students are applying
for scholarships because of the difficulty in
borrowing money. More students arc working
part-time as well, he said.
“The real thing that has changed is the cost
involved in going to school,” said McGill, who
S<m FARM AID on 3