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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1988)
Lewis pleased with efforts to increase salaries By Amy Edwards Senior Reporter Jim Lewis, president of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Faculty Senate, said Sunday he is pleased with the progress being made by the Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee to increase faculty salaries. However, Lewis said he agrees with Sen. Shirley Marsh of Lincoln that salaries for sup port staff at the university should also be in creased. Lewis said support staff salaries are lower in comparison to other universities than are fac ulty salaries. The Appropriations Committee will meet today at 1:30 p.m. to make any necessary changes in the tentative budget before sending it to the Legislature floor. The tentative budget includes an overall 11.2 percent faculty salary increase. The committee made some assumptions on how the money would be spent within the University of Nebraska. Lewis said the regents may choose to do something different than the committee’s speculations. The university has a real salary crisis that will take several years to resolve, Lewis said. Gov. Kay Orr’s proposal would be a substantial step to make salaries comparable, he said. Marsh said Sunday the appropriation of the money will be left to the NU Board of Regents, but she hopes they will listen carefully to the speculations of the committee. There are a number of categories that are all important to the university, Marsh said. Sup port staff often have equal years of service, but are further down the line for salary increases, she said. Marsh said i f people don ’ t “look at the whole picture,” the university could stand to lose a lot of people who are important to the structure of the campus.” Salary problems are not equal at the three university campuses, Marsh said, and this should be taken into consideration. NU President Ronald Roskens said he does not want to speculate on the Appropriations Committee’s decisions, but is generally pleased with the trend in the committee’s plan ning. Speaker: Blacks isolated from own cultural activities By bretchen Boehr Staff Reporter Black athletes need to escape the “dumb jock” syndrome, a University of Califomia-Berkeley professor said Friday. Harry Edwards, a sociology pro fessor and recognized leader in the study of the syndrome, said nothing is expected of a black athlete academi cally because society places empha sis on black athletic achievement. Edwards spoke after a dinner sponsored by University Programs Council Black Special Events. About To step into the average press conference is like stepping into a Ku Klux Klan meet ing.’ Edwards 140 people attended the program, “Let’s Put the ‘Dumb Jock’ to Rest,” in the Nebraska Union Ballroom at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edwards said many black athletes attending universities on athletic scholarships are isolated from black cultural activities on campus. “Black athletes have virtually no contact with involvement with any thing supportive of black culture,” Edwards said. The black athlete is mainly under the direction and influence of white coaches, he said. Edwards said America maintains a plantation system where black people are linked to less intelligence. White society monopolizes managerial positions, he said, and blacks are told they are less suited for these decision-making roles. Less than 1 percent of the lawyers in the United States are black and less than 2 percent of the professors out side of black institutions are black, Edwards said. “Blacks feel they should limit their job expectations to what society says,” Edwards said. This plantation system exists in American sports too, he said. Blacks are virtually non-existent in athletic management positions. “Even if blacks got all of the bas ketball and football coaching jobs, still over 90 percent of the manage ment jobs would be held by whites,” Edwards said. Approximately 50 percent of ath letic scholarships go to blacks ath letes and in some conferences, he said, the number is even higher. But there are only three black basketball coaches at universities in this country, Edwards said. Universi ties hire black coaches only after experiencing problems with black athletes, he said. Edwards said the media is the most segregated sports entity. Out of 658 professional sports beat writers, he said, only 28 are black. “To step into the average press conference is like stepping into a Ku Klux Klan meeting,” Edwards said. He said the plantation system must be dismantled, not just because of moral reasons, but because of the cultural clash it causes on college campuses. He said the black inner-city com munities arc producing most of the athletes. A university will bring a high number of these black athletes on a predominantly white campus, he said. Some of these athletes attend college although they don’t want to further their education. “Some of these students are on campus because we’ve set up this silly system that says if you’re good at athletics you have to go to college, even if you have no interest in it,” See EDWARDS on 3 Bud Callahan of Ficke* FickeThe Auctioneers takes bids on these lamps at the University of Nebraska-Uncoln surplus auction Saturday morning at UNL Warehouse No. 1 on East Campus. AH 10 lamps pictured above sold for $2. UNL surplus auction grosses $10,000 By Lee Rood Senior Reporter Jack Smith paid $6 Saturday for an X-ray machine at a University of Nebraska-Lincoln surplus auction on East Campus. The used machine was aboutsix feet-long and came complete with instructions and five other boxes of accessories. Bud Callahan, the auctioneer, told Smith he’d have to register it with the State Health Department. A man shook his head as Smith followed Callahan, of Ficke & Ficke The Auctioneers, to another part of UNL Warehouse No. 1. “What the hell would somebody want that for?” the man asked. Smith said he doesn’t intend to use the X-ray machine to X-ray, but he wants to tear it apart and recycle various metals. Smith, from Pickrell, calls him self a crap dealer. He comes to university auctions to buy “good crap, scrap junk or whatever you want to call it.” Smith said many people come to surplus auctions to buy recyclable metals. Others come to find an tiques, used machines for their of fices, or to resale their purchases. James Sterling, manager of inven tory at UNL, said the auction Satur day was a success, grossing about $10,000. Two surplus auctions last year only made $7,000, he said. Sterling said two big money makers Saturday were lawn mow ers from the UNL Department of Grounds. They sold for more than $1,(XX) each. Sterling said money raised at the auctions is pur into a general fund to pay auction expenses and UNL* classroom upkeep. If one depart ment’s inventory brings in a large amount of money, that department gets the money, he said. According to Marge Ficke, a settling clerk at the auction, UNL holds surplus auctions twice a year. Ficke said departments at the university give old machines and office materials to UNL inventory personnel. Other UNL departments can take what they want from the collected inventory. Periodically, junk that isn’t claimed is sold at the auction. Auctions always attract a lot of customers because inventory is so See AUCTION on 3 Senators question pay hike approval By Phil Richmond Staff Reporter While giving first-round approval Friday to a constitutional amendment that would raise state senators’ salaries, many Nebraska legisla tors remained skeptical of voter approval. LR7CA would raise senators pay from $400 per month to $ 1,500 per month. Originally, the amendment proposed an $800 salary raise, but further amendments increased the amount. Sen. Vard Johnson of Omaha voiced senti ment of other legislators when he said he is skeptical the pay increase would meet voter approval. “I’m jaundiced, jaded and cynical that the Nebraska voters will do the right thing,” Johnson said. ‘They think it's more fun to do the wrong thing.” Johnson said such a low salary “saps one’s self-worth,” because each day senators drive to the Capitol they realize they arc taking part in “human exploitation.” Johnson said it is unfair that one lobbyist receives a higher salary than the entire Legisla ture. Sen. Ernest Chambers of Omaha agreed. “It’s not right for a lobbyist who stands outside the glass doors and watches us work to receive more money than we do,” Chambers said. Chambers said he, like other senators, has considered leaving the Legislature because he can’t afford to serve. “In 18 years of service, I’ve earned $86,000 in salaries,” Chambers said. He said private firms have offered him jobs that pay that much in a year. Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha said he is in a similar situation. “It’s very difficult for me to serve in this body with three kids and a mortgage and a wife who likes me home for dinner,” Hall said. He said he is considering leaving the Legis lature if salaries aren’t increased. Sen. Elroy Hefner of Coleridge opposed the amendments to increase the salary to $1,500 a month. Hefner said he thought it went too far. “I think if we raise it to $1,500, we’ll come away and the people will not support it,” Hefner said. ‘‘Leave LR7 the way it is — at $1,000 per month.” Senators also gave first-round approval to LR258CA, which would remove salary re quirements from the constitution and establish a citizens’ commission to recommend salaries for legislators.