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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1993)
?V~7£7 * '• ‘1 L, * > '.t j W ■ . jV «*• V r*. i* tfsjJWv ■HaKMMU | - J' ' 7? ' ,) | |||| ;f^g:J / a v **' ^ “:V ^ ‘ ’—i»'E-- 1~ = r 4 I >4 1^ % NU acceptance. State spending per student in i i i Peru Chad non UNO Wayne Cent UNK State State State Comm. College Source: UNK Faculty Senate figures for 1989-90 budget Brian Sheflito/ON A historical marker commemorating the founding of Kearney State College stands the University of Nebraska at Kearney. By Jeff Zeleny Senior Reporter__ KEARNEY — Picture a gun man walking onto a college campus and opening fire on hundreds of faculty and staff. That would be a sure-fire way to save money and eliminate positions, Roger Davis, president of the UNK Faculty Senate, said, but it would be a crazy thing to do. Cutting $13.98 million from the University of Nebraska budget is equally crazy, said Davis, a history professor. “Going at the university with that kind of cut is insane,” Davis said. “We understand they ’ re not doing this right. They’ve chosen the most destructive way to solve this. “If there was ever a case of killing the goose with the golden egg, this is it.” Davis, referring to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee recom mended cut from the university bud get, said the reduction would nearly destroy the University of Nebraska at Kearney. “Wc’vejusi finished taking a hit,” he said. “One more hit would take some fundamentals out.” Of the proposed SI3.98 million cut, UNK would bear a $1 million burden. Davis said the Legislature was going about the cutting process all wrong. ■ they think there isonly one mind set,” he said. “I think they say every one must be cut. We need to have the option to say, ‘That’s not acceptable. ’” Education is the most important entity in Nebraska, he said, and it is the future of the state. “Our Legislature wants to treat education as a commodity,” he said. “Education is not a commodity. “You can’icutlhcarmsandlegsof the university,” he said. Nebraska has one of the healthiest state economies business-wise, Davis said, but education isn’t in the same situation. “Business is downsizing,” he said, “and they think, ‘Why not cduca lion?’ but they miss the point.” People always think there is some thing to cut, Davis said, but there isn’t anything to cut at UNK. “There is not an ounce of fat on this campus,” he said, “It just isn’t there. We’ve been taking a razor blade and paring away at it for a decade.” Davis predicted summer class re ductions would be the beginning of the budget-cutting process at UNK. Once programs begin to get elimi nated, the university declines in qual ity, he said. “This campus will look like one of those children in Somalia," Davis said. “It will be alive, but not pretty.” If there was ever a case of killing the goose with the , golden egg, this is it. -Roger Davis president of UNK Faculty Senate Funding is not a new problem for UNK. Before it was admitted into the NU system in July 1991, Davis said, it had funding problems through the state college system. Now UNK is about 44 percent underfunded com pared to its peer institutions. UNK receives $2,749 per full-time student through state appropriations. Among other universities in its peer group, UNK falls $1,212 below the $3,961 average. The University of Northern Iowa leads the peer group with $5,263. Davis said despite the funding short falls, UNK still was moving forward academically. “(That) says a hell of a lot for this institution, for getting things done with barc-bonc budgets,” he said. The lack of funding has cut profes sors’ travel stipends down, but most instructors try to continue their re search trips.’ “It happens because people pay for a lot of things out of their own pocket,” Davis said. “They pay for their own airfare.” All the cuts eventually reach the students, Davis said, which hampers their education. “Students arc already paying too much of this burden,” he said. “They shouldn’t be punished by this.” Peter Longo.chairman of the UNK political science department, said stu dents were the primary people af fected by the budget cuts. With the continued cuts, sections inevitably will be combined, Longo said, and some classes already have grown to about 60 students^ “It takes away from what Kearney campus is all about,” he said. “It’s the students that suffer." Many UNK facilities arc in ncedof repair, Longo said, including the po litical science department lecture hall, which is housed in an old campus swimming pool. If a choice had to be made between building improvement and merging class sections, students would keep the covered swimming pool class room, he said. . If the proposed cuts become a real ity, Longo said, he would rather sec programs eliminated than cuts across the board. Both professors said the final bud get cuts wouldn’t be as large as the proposed $13.98 million. “I’m going to be optimistic,” Davis said. “I hope the public understands that fundamental relationship with their kids and the future. “I don’t know if that will translate to the Legislature, but I think they’ll sit down and take another look,” he said. “I have a little glimmer of hope that they might rethink the whole thing.” But Davis said the university must have a plan, regardless of what the predicted outcome might be. “As much as you’d like to dodge the bullet, as much as you’d like to win, there are times if you arc correct you don’t win,” Davis said. “You’ve got to be ready and have a plan.” Andy Stock, UNK student regent, says the students he repr though they are “along for the ride” in the NU system. Regent Continued from Page 1 Nebraska. “In another state, who’s going to know where Kearney Slate College is?” he said. “The University of Ne braska at Kearney, though — that pretty much tells it like it is.” - McCully, a senior political science major from Mullen, agreed the name recognition was a definite advantage. “Idon’t think it’s going to be dras tically different as UNK rather than KSC, but right now, everybody is second-guessing everything about the NU system,” McCully said. “But the inclusion in the NU system was obvi ously a move in the right direction. 1 think everybody agrees on that.” However, with the longer name came a shorter rein on school deci sion-making. As part of the NU sys tem, Stock said, UNK receives more instructions from the UNL-based ad ministration and can make fewer de cisions on its own. For example, Slock cited strictly controlled spending for government and student organizations, which no longer enjoy the freedom of frequent trips to out-of-town conventions or workshops. “That has to be OK’d from the lop now,” he said. “Before, we just got in the van and went.” Also, he said, a perception of lack of respect from other NU campuses for UNK has emerged among stu dents, faculty and staff members. Most of that perception, S lock sa id, came from the way Kearney State College was incorporated into the NU system in 1991. t - ... The Legislature voted that it would be more economically feasible to merge Kearney State with NU rather than allowing it to seek accreditation as a Nebraska State University. The decision was controversial and drew protests from some administrators, faculty and staff members within the NU system. Stock said few people had forgot ten about that reluctant acceptance. Students sometimes feel like UNK Is being shut out or Ignored... —Stock UNK Student Regent “I think some people kind of look at us as an illegitimate fourth child,” he said. ‘‘A couple years ago, they took us into the system, but it was like they didn’t really want us. People remember that, and I know other stu dents here share the concern that we aren’t really that important. “Just more ‘feasiole.’” With that perception, Stock said, concern emerges that long-anticipated budget cuts in the NU system will hit UNK harder than other campuses. In February, the Legislature’s Ap propriationsCommittcc, which writes the state budget, targeted almost S14 million in cuts for the NU system. "We’re a learning institution, which means that we don’t ha ve much — if any — research going on here,” Stock said. “Other campuses, like