The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, May 06, 1991, Image 1

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    H L/ CJ 1 V Partly sunny today with a
I ■ J ■ high around 60. Mostly
I clear tonjght with a low of
■; I" 35-40. Tuesday, partly
P-M -
Ifficial says
culty eyes
lionization
3nne Searcey
Editor
oncems that UNL faculty members will
not receive a fair shake during salary
negotiations have prompted talks of
zation, a university official said Sunday.
>rge Tuck, Academic Senate president,
niversity of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty
jrs are “feeling nervous” about losing
raises to unionized campuses and have
sed collective bargaining efforts.
University of Nebraska at Omaha and
use University of Nebraska at Kearney,
r which are unionized, collectively bar
for salary raises in April. The NU Board
ents approved salary raises of 6.5 per
r UNO and 8.7 percent for UNK, which
in the University of Nebraska system
ause UNL doesn’t have a collective
ling arrangement, faculty salary increases
t be decided until the Nebraska Legisla
proves the NU budget. The UNL Aca
Senate in April requested a 10-percent
increase, Tuck said.
)ast years, he said, UNL always has
d raises slightly higher than those gained
O.
But now, UNL faculty members fear budget
f constraints will hinder their hopes for the 10
percent raise, which has spurred talks of union
izing, Tuck said. The Academic Senate is not
i advocating a union, he said.
Faculty members have resisted unionizing
in the past. In 1976, the American Association
of University Professors proposed to serve as a
collective bargaining unit for UNL, but was
defeated in a vote of 634 to 503, Tuck said.
Last week, the Legislature’s Appropriations
Committee proposed a $10.6 million alloca
tion to UNO, UNK, UNL and the University of
Nebraska Medical Center for salary raises. The
money may be distributed in different ways,
Tuck said.
University central administration might take
money from UNL and UNMC to fund salaries
of the two unionized schools. If this happens,
UNL would be better off unionized, he said.
“We’re not attacking UNO or Kearney. They
negotiated. They did it fair and square. They
got the salary increases they bargained for,”
Tuck said. “Obviously we’d like to have more
money, but we don’t want to have to take
money from one of our sister institutions.”
But the unionizing process could take months,
he said, and would require faculty votes and
other lengthy procedures.
Dividing the proposed $ 10.6 million evenly
among the campuses would result in a 4-per
cent salary increase for each campus, Tuck
[ said.
Individual campuses would then have to
fund the remaining salary increase from within
their own institutions, he said, which could
mean program or staff cuts.
Tuck said central administration also could
take money from UNMC and UNO to help
bring faculty salaries at the Kearney and Lin
coln campuses closer to those of peer institu
tions.
“It just depends upon who they want to
make unhappy,” he said. ——
Shaun Sartin/Daily Nebraskan
Jack Scherbak displays hi9 insulating aluminum can panel outside of his Lincoln home.
Insulation or art?
Inventor finding new uses for aluminum cans
By Wendy Navratil
Senior Reporter
A former University of Nebraska-Lin
coln student has combined ecology,
art and architecture in his latest in
vention: aluminum-can panels that can be
used to insulate buildings or to build pyra
mid-shaped sculptures.
Jack Scherbak, who has a U.S. patent on
a roach trap, said he has received some
positive feedback on his two-tiered alumi
num can concept.
Recycling experts, artists, architects and
engineers have acknowledged both the in
vention’s practical architectural use and
artistic potential, he said.
To use the invention as either insulation
or sculpture, aluminum cans are first filled
with popped popcorn or shredded paper.
The tops of the cans are then dipped in an
adhesive and stuck, in tightly packed rows,
to a plastic foam or other material backing.
The backing is cut differently depending on
the intended use of the layer of cans.
“You don’t have to use Styrofoam, ‘cause
it’s kind of on the hit list for ecology,”
Scherbak said.
If the cans arc going to be used to insulate
buildings, two rectangular layers are placed
back to back to form one wall of insulation.
“It won’t be more effective in insulating
than other conventional methods of insulat
ing, but the metal will conduct heat. Pop
-M -
I thought ‘perhaps I’m
being an egomaniac, but
maybe it would get in the
Guinness Book of (World)
Records, and kind of bring
Nebraska to light.’
Scherback
inventor
-» -
com does act as an insulator, but with the
metal around it, it’s not as effective,” Scher
bak said.
On the outside layers, the cans are coated
with a caulk-like adhesive to seal out the
elements. The interior layers can be covered
either with Shectrock, Masonite or left
exposed.
“If they’re left exposed on the outside,
they act as sort of a solar panel to collect
heat. On the inside, the wall of cans can
absorb the heat so it is retained within the
building.
“The World Peace Center asked if I would
be interested in constructing this for their
center. But they wanted to leave the cans
exposed to show the recyclable, functional
aspect as well as for the aesthetic appeal —
kind of for advertising ecology or cy
cling,” Schcrbak said.
Scherbak said that before he can hope to
successfully undertake any major project
using the can concept, there are some bu
reaucratic barriers to overcome.
“It’s like knocking on a revolving door.
Everyone agrees that it (the can concept)
has some kind of value, but with the bureau
cratic types of ladders, it’s hard to pin down,”
he said.
Scherbak said that building widespread
public awareness and support for the method
ideally would provide him with the momen
tum to tackle some of his larger-scale proj
ects.
But for now, he said, he is concentrating
on generating enthusiasm at a local level for
his invention by focusing on the artistic
element of the can concept.
Scherbak proposes holding a race, per
haps between Lincoln and Omaha, to see
which city could construct four sides of an
aluminum can pyramid 3 1/2 stories high.
The pyramid could be constructed in a
park or along Interstate 80 as a tourist attrac
tion or as a monument to the ecological
awareness movement, Scherbak said.
The structure, about 50 feet in height,
could have a checkerboard appearance,
achieved by alternating the cans with clear
plastic so viewers could see in the pyramid,
he said. The floor inside the pyramid would
also be composed of cans.
“It could be a real interesting art form.
See CANS on 8
Policy change puts DN
in new Capitol cubicles
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Senior Reporter
The Daily Nebraskan will again
be distributed in the State
Capitol after a brief absence,
state officials and newspaper repre
sentatives decided Friday.
Last Wednesday, Lany Primeau,
director of the Department of Admin
istrative Services at the Capitol, or
dered that the Daily Nebraskan no
longer be distributed in the Capitol.
The decision had followed the
publication of a joke issue in the April
29 issue of the Daily Nebraskan, but
Primeau said the decision was not an
attempt to ban the newspaper.
Primeau said that prior to the
removal of the paper, there had been
no policy for the dissemination of
free publications.
“You have to have some sort of
policy — not to close things off, but
to open them up,” he said.
Under the new policy, the Daily
See DN on 5 .
Medical procedure could force
President Bush to shift power
briefly to Vice President Quayle.
Page 2.
Pottery tradition must be
passed down through family, not
school, according to a pottery
exhibitor at Morrill Hall. Page 6.
Nebraska baseball team splits
weekend series with Iowa State.
Page 10.
IAf \ INDEX "
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 10
A&E 13
Classifieds „ 15
Student representation
ASUN’s goal for summer
By Adeana Leftin
Senior Reporter
The last bell may have rung for
classes this semester, but AS UN
will be spending the summer
doing its homework for next fall.
Andy Mas
sey, Association
of Students erf the
University of
Nebraska presi
dent, said the
Government
Liaison Com
mittee will lobby
the Nebraska Legislature this sum
mer to get higher faculty salaries and
a more generous budget for the uni- —-•
versity.
“We can’t let off on lobbying,” he
said.
ASUN also will push for student
input on the Nebraska Coordinating
Commission for Postsecondary Edu
cation, he said.
For several weeks, AS UN has been
encouraging Gov. Ben Nelson to
appoint a student to the 11-member
commission, and asking students to
See ASUN on 5