WEATHER: Monday, increasing
cloudiness with temperatures climbing
into the 30s with a slight chance of light
snow or rain. Low Monday night will be in
the upper teens. Tuesday, highs in the
upper teens with temperatures rising
throughout the week.
A&E: The Daily Nebras
kan decides which of the
Christmas movies are
naughty and which are
I nice — page 12
SPORTS: Sports editor
Jeff Apel reviews the top
sports stories of 1987 —
page 9
Orr proposes wage hike for NU employees
By Amy Edwards
Senior Reporter
Gov. Kay Orr has proposed an additional 5
percent salary increase for Nebraska Univer
sity employees for Fiscal Year 1989.
In a budget briefing Sunday night in the
governor’s mansion, State Budget Administra
tor John Rochford said an additional $9.09
million has been proposed for university em
ployee salaries.
Rochford said the proposal, in addition to
$5.38 million approved by the 1987 Nebraska
Legislature, could mean a $14.47 million
increase — or an average 8.1 percent pay
increase per NU employee.
The percentage includes all university
employees and appropriation of the money
would be left to university officials, Rochford
said.
Slate colleges would have an average 6
percent employee salary increase, Rochford
said.
Although Fiscal Year 1989 would normally
be an “off-budget” year, Rochford said initia
tives in education were possible because of an
unexpected revenue for Fiscal Year 1988.
Jim Lewis, Faculty staff president at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said Orr’s
proposal, in addition to increased tuition, could
come close to the NU Board of Regents’ pro
posal for faculty salaries.
“If it is close, we’ll work quickly to come up
with a meeting of the minds,” Lewis said. “If
not, we’ll continue to urge all of Nebraska to
recognize the seriousness of the problem at the
university.”
AS UN president Andy Pollock said Orr’s
salary proposal is “a lot better than I expected,”
but that AS UN will not lower its original goal
of a 3-to-l ratio between the state and the
student body to raise faculty salaries.
AS UN proposed a tuition hike during the fall
semester to help raise faculty salaries. The
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‘It is most important that
we stick to our proposal
of a 3-to- 1 ratio so stu
dents don 't have to pull
an unfair amount.’
-Pollock
proposal included matching state funds for the
salaries.
“The proposal brings a touch of optimism
about what our possibilities might be,” Pollock
said. “The next step for (ASUN) is to hit the
senators and appropriations committee hard
and to enforce our side of the issue. It is most
important that we stick to our proposal of a 3
to-1 ratio so students don’t have topull an unfair
amount.”
Orr also has proposed an additional $4 mil
lion for university research. Lewis said Orr’s
research proposal in Fiscal Year 1989 would
not conflict with the need for salary increases.
Lewis said the two issues are not separate, and
that increased research money could eventu
ally mean salary increases.
Orr’s budget proposal includes a restoration
of state aid to public schools. Rochford said the
proposal will return the amount of state aid to
schools to $133 million in Fiscal Year 1989.
The proposal adds $11 million to the $122
million in Fiscal Year 1988.
New computer
will aid students,
faculty members
By David Holloway
Staff Reporter
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln
engineering students and faculty
members will be computing quicker
this semester.
A new $776,153 computer from
Digital Equipment Corporation has
about 12 times the power and memory
of the Engineering College’s previous
computer, which was bought in 1982.
f Stan Liberty, dean of the College of
I Engineering and Technology, said ..
maintenance costs on the old com
! putcr were high.
“Wc have had the engineering
computer for about five years and
that’s usually the lifetime of any given
technology,” he said.
“The computer was behind in
many ways,”Liberty said. “It had over
2,000 users on it, but was only a one
million-instruction-per-sccond ma
chine, which made the response time
for students extremely low. Using the
computer was a very frustrating expe
rience.”
Installation of the computer in
Walter Scott Engineering Center 124
is scheduled for completion today.
The new computer will be fully
integrated into the HuskerNet, linking
all computing resources on campus
and the college’s existing computing
network.
The computer will be used for re
See COMPUTER on 7
Long lines for learning
Students line up for the final checkout of general registration, which was Thursday and Friday in the
Nebraska Union.
Rupp comfortable with new lobbyist
By Marge (iasnick
Staff Reporter
Lee Rupp began working at the
State Capitol again as he has for the
past five years, but this year will be
different.
The former state senator from
Monroe resigned his position effec
tive Dec. 31 to be vice president for
university relations at the University
of Nebraska.
Among his responsibilities, Rupp
will lobby for the university when the
Nebraska Legislature is in session.
Although he works with senators from
a different angle now, Rupp said he
felt at home when this year’s session
began Jan. 6.
“I’m not one of them, but we’re still
good friends,” he said.
Rupp said being a senator gave him
a “distinct advantage” in performing
his job at the university. Because he
has friends at the Legislature, it will
not be a new experience to work with
them, he said.
Rupp said he knows senators are
bombarded with information from
special-interest groups. Timing is
important when the university wants
to present an effective message to the
Legislature, he said. Senators want
relevant information, he said, but they
don’t have time to sift through details.
The university meets obstacles in
the Legislature, Rupp said. Many out
state senators perceive the university
ascither “the University ofOmaha”or
“the University of Lincoln” instead of
a state institution, he said.
“We have to overcome that mind
set,” he said.
To overcome this, Rupp said, stu
denis must talk 10 people from their
hometowns about the university and
write letters to their state senators.
“The best lobbying device is a
courteous, brief letter,” he said.
Since taking the position at the
university, Rupp said he has often
been called a lobbyist. His job, how
ever, entails more than lobbying dur
ing the yearly legislative sessions, he
said.
His responsibilities, he said, arc‘‘to
be the primary liaison with all govern
ment levels and to coordinate public
affairs programs on and outside the
three university campuses.”
Rupp said he wants to establish
teamwork among university officials
from the three NU campuses. In the
past, a “lack of appreciation” or
“misunderstanding” existed among
officials, he said.
“I would like to sec the mind-set of
a team rather than a small number of
cogs in a large machine,” he said.
Rupp said he will spend part of his
time speaking to community groups
about the university.
“My job is to get citizens to under
stand that the university is an invest
ment,” he said.
To accomplish this, Rupp said, he
will devote half of his time to govern
ment relations and half to public rela
tions.
The university’s goals for this leg
islative session arc to fulfill the Board
of Regents’ request for faculty and
non-faculty salary increases and to
improve the university’s research
capabilities, he said.
The Board of Regents has proposed
a three-year salary increase plan for
university employees. The plan in
eludes $20.9 million for faculty and
non-faculty salary increases for fiscal
year 1988-1989. Part of the funds for
these increases would come from
$12.9 million in requested appropria
tions from the state.
Rupp said Sen. David Landis of
Lincoln will introduce a bill that par
allels the Regents’ proposals. The
public hearing for the bill will be Feb.
2
During his service in the Legisla
ture, Rupp was also a public relations
official for the LcDioyt Land Com
pany in Omaha. Previously, he was a •*
fisheries biologist for ihc Game and
Parks Commission.
Rupp has a bachelor’s degree in
agriculture and a master’s degree in
biology from the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln.