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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 1990)
Nebra^kaN_ Michelle Paulman/Dally Nebraskan Congressman Doug Bereuter talks with Nebraska nut growers Terrence Kubicek (left) and Ted Rethmeier at the 81st annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association on Tuesday. Bereuter ate lunch with the growers in the pecan orchards on the University of Nebraska Lincoln East Campus at 48th and Holdrege streets. ui\l may provide research location Center to test trees By Jennifer Dods Suff Reporter A national center for scmiarid tree research may be housed on the University of Nebraska Lincoln East Campus in less than two years, said Rep. Doug Bercutcr on Tuesday. Speaking in Lincoln at a confer ence for the Northern Nutgrowers Association, Bercutcr said the center would research ways Nebraska and other scmiarid states could grow trees commercially. The Scmiarid Agroforcstry Re search, Development and Demonstra tion Center was a proposal added to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Farm Bill by a Bercutcr amendment. The bill is still under debate in the House. Bercutcr said the U.S. Senate al ready has passed the proposal for the 1 research center. The U.S. Forest Serv ice and the Nebraska State Foresters helped write the proposal. The research center would be es tablished at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory, operated by the LJ.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service on UNL’s East Campus. The research center, along with federal, slate and local government 4 offices and the National Arbor Day Foundation, also would test varieties of trees compatible with scmiarid climates and develop improved shcl lerbelt and windbreak technologies. Bereuter said the earliest the funds for the project could be available, depending on Congressional appro priations, would be October 1991. The congressman said the center would be good for Nebraska, as it would promote using nuts such as pecans, walnuts and chestnuts for a cash crop. “Someday the (nut) tree may become valuable here,” he said. “And who better lead this than Nebraskans, since Arbor Day started here?” Ted Rcthmcier, member of the board of the Nebraska Nut Growers Association, agreed. “We can’t live on corn and beef forever. Trees are necessary,” he said. Bereuter said that about the only commercial trees grown in the state are Christmas trees, although one man Irom Crete is now starting a commer cial walnut tree farm. The southeast corner of Nebraska, which receives the most rainfall, would be the best place to grow the trees, Bereuter said. But he said Nebraska’s varying climate would be the “ulti mate test.” For the last 12 years, UNL faculty members have researched nut har vests from pecan trees on East Cam pus. Rethmcier said Nebraska is the northern limit for pecan tree growth, but the trees grown in UNL’s North ern Pecan Research Orchards have harvested edible and good nuts. According to one UNL official, Nebraskan pecans arc sometimes tastier than those grown in southern states. Loyd Young, director of the South east Research and Extension Center said that the pecan trees benefit from the acidic soil in Nebraska. “It has been amazing that these trees have really done very well, much to our surprise,” Young said. When the pecan orchards were planted, Young said, the biggest concern was if the trees could survive Nebraska winters. But he said the trees have shown endurance in their 12 winters. Along with the pecan orchards, UNL has several other plots of spe cialty tree tests, including varieties such as the Persian Walnut, the Shag bark Hickory and the Siberian Filbert on East Campus. Young said that while Nebraska farmers might not be able to afford switching over to tree nuts as their main crops, nuts could someday be a profitable second crop. Officials: UNL salaries must remain competitive »y c may wastrel Staff Reporter _ To avoid future shortages, sala ries for UNL faculty members nfttisi iviitai.rcumpciit. ve, sakr two associate deans and the director of institutional research at the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln. By maintaining competitive sala ries, UNL’s colleges can combat the rising number of faculty members retiring, they said. Projections of rising numbers of faculty members retiring at UNL by the end of the century are consistent with national trends, said John Ben son, director of institutional research planning and fiscal analysis. Benson said that according to a study from last year, 19 percent of all UNL tenured and to be tenured fac ulty will be 65 years old by 1995, 31 percent will turn 65 by 2000 and 47 percent will be 65 by 2005. These numbers, he said, are addi tive, so that the 47 percent who will tum 65 by 2005 includes the 31 per cent that will tum 65 by 1995. This trend could have a significant impact on UNL, he said, and will make it important for UNL to main tain competitive salaries. It is projected that the number of students receiving doctorates will not be enough to take the places of all retirees, Benson said. And an increase in the student population will contribute to prob lems for universities across the na tion, he said. Associate Dean Morris Schneider of the College of Engineering and Technology said about 30 percent of the college’s faculty will reach retire ment age by 2000. pm the cortege jusrhnrd TLfac ulty members last year and 10 this year, Schneider said. And if the college is willing to pay a good staning salary, he said he thinks it will be able to compete in the national market. Once the college attracts teachers, faculty members will be convinced to slay because Lincoln is a good place to live, work and raise children, he said. Schneider said he’s not sure the number of faculty members retiring would encourage students who might otherwise not complete a doctorate to continue their schooling. “That all depends on the market place,’’ he said. Students who can earn a starting salary of $40,000 after completing a bachelor’s degree would have to decide whether a little more money would be worth continuing their education for a few more years, he said. A1 Kilgore, associate dean of the Teachers College, said that although he is unable to predict how many faculty members will retire, the col lege “is in a lime of transition.” “We’ve had 18 retire with the university policy on tenure buyout,” he said, and the college has hired 12 new faculty members this year, Icav See FACULTY on 2 festival turnout pleases ‘ Summertime' coordinators By Cindy Wostrel Staff Reporter Coordinators of Summertime Ne braska, and managers and owners of Haymarket businesses called the festival “outstanding.” Julie Lattimer, public information specialist for the Citizen’s Informa tion Center, said the event turned out great. “We were delighted,” she said. “Of course, the weather couldn’t have been better.” “Your first year, you don’t really know.” Carol Eddins, festival coordina tor, said, “I think it went beauti fully.” On Friday, Eddins said, she wor ried that the weather might be a prob lem, because as she was marking off room for booths, the tape she was using wouldn’t stick to the wet ground. But the better weather later on encouraged people to stay at the fes tival longer, she said. “The weather was incredibly good,” she said. Eddins said she was pleased with the turnout of about 60,000 to 65,000 people for the three-day event. Artists and craftspeople told her they had a constant stream of people looking at their booths, she said. The Children’s Fair was “jammed inside and out,” Eddins said. And the festival featured something for every age, she said. “It had to appeal to every taste.’’ Eddins said those who planned this year’s festival will meet and discuss how the festival went, including re finements such as making it easier for people to find specific areas. Mayor Bill Harris will decide whether Summertime Nebraska will continue next year, she said. Lai timer said things look good for a festival next year because of this See SUMMERTIME on 2