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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1991)
Goebel: Budget snarl possible Faculty members divided on proposed pay raise By Alan Phelps Staff Reporter The jury is still out on proposed salary increases for faculty members after a meeting last Friday left some uncertain about the type of budget shortfall UNL faces, officials said. UNL Interim Chancellor Jack Goebel said faculty sentiment given at the meeting was divided on whether there should be a salary increase. “(They were) all over the board on the subject—some did and some did not feel the salary increase is appro priate,” Goebel said. “I’d have to say I got a feeling there wasn’t a great deal of enthusiasm to forgo salary increases.” The meeting, held two weeks after Goebel sent employees a memoran dum saying a proposed faculty salary increase could cause a $5 million university shortfall, allowed chancel lors and vice chancellors to hear out college deans, directors and chairper sons on the matter. “Basically, what we did was to receive from deans and chairs what they felt was appropriate in salary expenses,” Goebel said. “What it really amounted to was a fairly open discus sion.” Goebel said he and the vice chan cellors are discussing the results of the meeting and will await the April 18 final state revenue projections before anything is decided. The Nebraska Legislature’s Ap propriations Committee has made a preliminary proposal for 4 percent faculty salary increases for the 1991 - 1993 biennium. Faculty members at UNL had been receiving salary increases of more than 10 percent in the last three years as part of a salary initiative to bring salaries at UNL to the midpoint of UNL’s peer institutions. Stan Liberty, interim vice chan cellor for academic affairs, said one group at the meeting believed the state was facing a temporary eco nomic downturn while another group wondered if the state was beginning to significantly reallocate funds away from higher education. “It was clear that there were differ ing opinions on that and a sense of frustration on not knowing what we’re being told,” he said. James McShanc, president of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Academic Senate, said he questioned the nature of the budget shortfall at the meeting. “Last year, the state put 4 7 percent of the money into local government and 53 percent to state government programs. This year, (Gov. Ben Nel son’s proposal) gives over 58 percent to local governments. The Appro priations Committee proposal is about 50-50,” he said. “That’s a remarkable shift” McShanc said Nebraska’s situation is unlike New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where state in comes arc down. Instead, he said, Nebraska is putting money into a lot of other programs. He added that because state per capita income went up 11 percent in the 1980s while university faculty salaries broke even with inflation for the first time last year, “it’s hard for the faculty to see themselves as being greedy.” “People in the statchouse say the university can afford to fund raises out of its own resources .... It just isn’t there.” Liberty said the university needs to know the nature of the budget cuts in order to correctly plan for the fu ture. “If we know what it is to respond to then we’ll get about the business of planning,” he said. “But wo need to have a clear signal on how this insti tution is going to be treated by the stale over the next several years.” Lack of victim information stalemates police action By Stacey McKenzie Staff Reporter Che University of Ncbraska-Lin coln Police Department is aware of four rapes since ovF^..tbcr, but cannot file official reports because the informants will not give their names or enough infor mation, the police chief said. Lt. Ken Cauble said, “Someone will call up and say, ‘This happened,’ but they don’t give you any more information. “Essentially, you don’t have a victim if you don’t have a name.” Of the four cases, one of the infor mants was the alleged victim, he said, and the other informants were friends of alleged victims. All were acquaintance rapes, Caublc said, which may be why the victims did not file a report. “The acquaintance rapes arc proba bly the most difficult for the victim to make an official report,” he said, because victims often feel guilty or don’t feel they’ve actually been raped. Caublc said the woman who iden tified herself as a victim has called See RAPE on 5 L kr j m. — Staci McKee/Daily Nebraskan Sen. Brad Ashford discusses his bill, LB355, which would require an annual permit for the purchase of handguns. Discussion of gun bill delayed to gain input from small towns By Tabitha Hiner Senior Reporter After the bill’s sponsor said he wanted to trigger more discussion in Nebraska’s smaller towns, the Legislature Monday postponed discussion un til May 8 on legislation to require yearly permits for handgun pur chasers. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford’s bracket request was granted by a 30-0 vote. Ashford said he didn’t think he could get the votes Monday needed to push the bill out of first-round debate. LB355 would require a back ground check and annual certifi cate for people wanting to buy, lease, rent or receive handguns. The background check would take a maximum of two days and be done at the applicant’s local police or sheriff’s office. Ashford said his small-town discussions on the bill had prompted him to want to talk about it further outside of the Omaha and Lincoln areas before trying to pass it in the Legislature. One incident occurred in Hastings, Ashford said, when he was approached by a National Rifle Association member before a dis cussion on LB355. The member asked Ashford who was pushing him to back the hand gun-check bill, Ashford said. After the discussion, Ashford said, the NRA member said he had thought the bill was restrictive and asked Ashford for a copy of it. This situation led Ashford to invite the NRA “to listen to their members instead of dictate to their members,” he said. Other senators agreed with the See GUN on 5 The NU baseball team wins dou bleheader. Page 7. Yellowstone National Park rang ers kill three bison and a tempo rary restraining order is issued. Page 3. UNL police say they will con tinue to issue campus crime re ports. Page 5. Wire INDEX 2 Opinion 4 Sports 7 Entertainment 9 Classifieds 10 Senators argue, amend abortion bill By Lisa Donovan Senior Reporter Some lawmakers say they spent Monday afternoon’s legisla tive session debating the non issues surrounding a bill that would require women 18 years and younger to notify a parent or guardian before obtaining an abortion. Stale Sen. LaVon Crosby of Lin coln said she thought the senators weren’t listening to one another and were getting away from the point of LB425. The only way to discuss and de Date tne Din enecuveiy wouia oe to establish that a pregnant woman is carrying a human life, Crosby said. “Can’t we all not agree on that... and help that child, that woman, that family and that young man we keep forgetting about?” Crosby said. State Sen. Bernice Labedz of Omaha, LB425’s sponsor, said she felt a little guilty about the amount of lime the parental notification issue was taking. In 1989, Labedz said, the Legislature spent seven days on a similar bill, and in 1990, four days. The bill calls for a pregnant women to inform a parent or guardian of her uiiuiiuuii to nxeivc an auuruon. rony eight hours after notification, the woman could go through the opera tion. Women who decided not to in form a parent or guardian could get a judicial waiver if they could prove to the judge that they were capable of making the decision on their own. Notification might not be required if the woman’s life were at risk or the pregnancy was the result of sexual abuse or neglect. State Sen. Ron Wilhcm of Papil lion was the only senator to succeed in amending the bill. He proposed caning 101 rscorasKa s pumic scnoois to provide written information to all seventh- to 12th-gradc students ex plaining the mandates outlined in LB425, should it become law. Spcakifig in favor of the amend ment, Sen. EmicChambers of Omaha said that young women need to know their rights. “A right which is unknown is not a right,”hc said. “Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is deadly.” The Legislature passed the meas ure 25-11. See ABORTION on 5