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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1990)
V' \ * 1 m TB I "B IP R5rrocnorv~ln MTu^da^^^^^he^urntM^Mratorat^ninority students In the m ^Mk I M tfm I I m# chemistry department was stated incorrectly. One American minority student Is enrolled w mm m. ..„JE W I in the department's graduate program. The Dally Nebraskan regrets this error. p|k i §§ J ff WEATHER , INDEX 1 5 Today- most|y sunnybut not ^uite as hot' hi9h Editoria'0est.4 mi jiL.pi IB Wt m W BL-^ mJT M m 11 around 90, light east wind. Tonight, clear, low ^dlt°r,al.7 ■» SS ® fflK£sk &@Z Hi I around 60 Saturday, partly sunny and still hot, Sports. 1 m&r jit. %M. iZP JOkCS. JL §L Ih^—_c—la,nmenl::::i? September 7,1990_ University of Nebraska-Lincoln _Vol. 90 No. 9 Agriculture research jeopardized Budget under fire By James P. Webb Staff Reporter Agricultural research at the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln would be impacted significantly by a one-two punch of state and fed eral budget restrictions, an official said. Darrell Nelson, dean and director of the Agriculture Research Division, said the blow would come from a proposed 2 percent state and local budget lid and from cuts within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Iniuative 405, the budget lid, would “significantly affect” research if Nebraskans approve it in November, Nelson said. “I believe it’s going to have a significant impact on all programs, but certainly our program on agricul - ture research,” he said. The lid would be retroactive and would cut about $1.7 million from the 1990-91 research budget in January, Nelson said. Because the research division would be midway through the fiscal year, the cuts would have to come from the remaining half of the budget, Nelson said. “People would lose their jobs,” he said. In subsequent years, the budget would not keep pace with the cost of living and other benefits, and “people and programs would have to be re moved,” Nelson said. “That would make it difficult tc attract and maintain high quality fac ulty members,” he said. The second blow to the research division would come from the USDA. Last week, a USDA study fore casted a 31.9 percent or $7.3 billion cut from the agriculture department’s budget as a result of the Gramm Rudman deficit-reduction law. The cut would reduce the amount of appropriated money and the avail able pool of competitive research grants reserved for land-grant universities, Nelson said. However, Nelson said he thought the final version of the bill would amount to less than the anticipated 32-percent cut. “We’re going to speculate that after (Congress passes) the final ver sion, it will be less than 5 percent,” Nelson said. A 5-percent cut in federal appro priations would slash $155,000 and would stiffen competition for grants, Nelson said. But state budget cuts would have a greater impact, he said, because Nebraska matches federal funds 5 to 1, which is bigger than the required 1 - to-1 match. Nelson said. About fifty-five percent, or $20 million, of the budget comes from state funds; about 34 percent, or $11 million, from grants, gifts and con tracts: and about 11 percent, or $3.1 million, from federal formula funds, Nelson said. Federal formula funds are those exclusively given to land-grant uni versities, such as UNL, Nelson said. This year’s budget for the Agricul ture Research Div ision was about $34 million, Nelson said. The budget was increased 11 percent over the previ ous year to cover an \ 1 percent in crease in faculty and stafl salaries and a 2.5 percent increase in operating expenses, he said. So far, no budget decisions have been made because of uncertainty about the severity of cuts, Nelson said. ’ . ""'' sBm - * IOMHmHHhK._1_1 Al Schaben/Daiiy Nebraskan Sen. James Exon (left) answers a reporter’s question as Republican challenger Hal Daub listens during a debate at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Thursday. ‘No new taxes’ Senate candidates debate By Michael Ho Staff Reporter Candidates for the U.S. Sen ate Thursday accused each other of pandering to spe cial interests and paraded more “no new taxes” pledges past an audi ence of more than 200. At an afternoon debate at the Nebraska State Fair, Republican challenger Hal Daub called special interests harmful and charged that incumbent Sen. James Exon relied too heavily on money from out-of state sources. Daub said Exon gets 80 percent of his money from political action committees and individuals out side Nebraska. Daub has said that he would not accept money from PACs. Exon countered that when Daub was in office as a 2nd District con gressman, he was a “champion collector of PAC contributions.” When Daub left office to pursue a Senate scat in 1988, Exon added, he “hurt Nebraska” by leaving behind a seat on the influential House Ways and Means Commit tee. One debate panelist suggested that Daub might have obtained that committee position through con nections with outside lobbyists - a charge that Daub denied. “To suggest that outside inter ests could have in any way influ enced that decision is preposter ous,” he said. Honesty also dominated the tax issue debate, with Daub calling for closureof what he cal led the “S100 billion tax gap,” the uncollected part of this year’s income tax bills. * ‘We ought to collect that reve nue before we raise the rates on the haid-working people of Nebraska,” he said. He called for Congress to live up to the targets of the Gramm Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction act. Exon also disavowed tax in creases. “At this time,” he said, “I would not be in favor of any tax increase. ’ ’ However, he called the Gramm - Rudman bill ‘‘a total failure” and said new ways of deficit-cutting needed to be found. Both candidates expressed sup port for the use of U.S. troops in President Bush’s4‘Waron Drugs.” 4‘I supported that from the very beginning,” Exon said, calling the drug war “the No. 1 social issue for the United States.” He stopped short of supporting arrest powers for the military, but said the military should play a key role in eliminating drugs. Daub said the military was an important instrument for global interdiction. However, he said, troops should not be used within U.S. borders. ‘‘We should and we must use all of our resources in this fight against the scourge of drugs,” he said, but using U.S. troops against U.S. citizens raises civil liberties questions and could cause confu sion. UNL students lend a hand harvesting Japanese crop By Pat Dinslage Staff Reporter The summer sun glares down on the long rows of crops as the morning coolness wanes. The farmhands and field owners peel off layers of clothing as the temperature rises, and continue to talk and joke as they pick the crops. They look forward to the showers they soon will take during their noon break. The scene could be a farm in Nebraska, or anywhere in the Mid west. Instead, the farm is half a world away, on an island off the southern coast of Japan. The farm is located on a mountain side, rather than on a plain. The crop is tea leaves, and among the farmhands are two University of Nebraska-Lin coln students. Nikette Allen, a senior interna tional affairs student from Lincoln, and her fiance, Hiroshi Nakama, a senior advertising student, spent the summer on his parents’ farm in Nishi noomole on lire island of Tancgashima. The farm is average-sized for Ja pan, and Nakama’s parents grow rice and oranges in addition to tea. But the amount of cultivated land is hard to measure because the fields are on the See JAPAN on 5 Regents chairman says request is not gag order By Jennifer O’Cilka Senior Reporter Regents Chairman Don Blank said a let ter he sent to University of Nebraska faculty members should not be consid ered a gag order. An Academic Senate leader and an admin istrator agreed. Blank said a letter he sent last week about speaking during NU Board of Regents meet ings to NU vice chancellors, university vice presidents, the Academic Senate president and faculty was not a result of any one situation but of many limes others have commented while the regents were engaged in policy discussions. The letter was “trying to put a little more sense and control into our discussion," Blank said. “It’s not a gag rule at all." The Academic Senate president and other administrators have the opportunity to give their reports and comments at certain times during the meeting, Blank said. “They all have input when there’s an item that affects their campus,” Blank said. “It’s not a matter of sitting there and not saying a word.” Also, members of the public can get onto the regents’ agenda by contacting J.B. Milliken, the corporation secretary, at least 24 hours before the meeting. When the 11 regents have listened to all outside input, they must sit down and discuss the issues, Blank said. If everyone was allowed to participate dur ing those discussions, Blank said the regents would end up with 1 ‘a Saturday morning round table” with 25 to 30 people offering opinions. Blank said the position of the three student regents would be “watered down” if everyone participated in the discussions. Student regents do not have voting power, but are allowed to participate in policy discussions and to give their opinions. James Gricsen, vice chancellor for student affairs, said Blank’s action was appropriate. “The chairman has a responsibility to see that the deliberations of the board are done in a very orderly manner,’ ’ Gricsen said. The meet ings can’t be an “open forum’’ for anyone to voice concerns, he said. Gricsen said unscheduled interruptions have tended to occur in recent months. “As a vice chancellor, I’m always there, and I wouldn’t think of gelling up’’ and com menting without permission, he said. James McShanc, president of the Academic Senate, agreed that the letter was trying to bring some order to the meetings. And, al though any citizen has the right to address ihe board, they must follow rules to get on the agenda, he said. “It’s just to keep the meeting from getting ragged,” McShane said. “4 4 The chairman has a responsibility to see that the deliberations of the board are done In a very orderly manner. Griesen Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs -9 9~