Elections
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university has been through round after round
of cuts, and you have to wonder what more can
be done without some serious damage.”
But Van Valkcnburg said there was much to
be done.
UNL’s administration is overstaffed, he said,
and sometimes overpaid.
“Layers and layers of administrators arc
inappropriate,” he said.
It doesn’t stop there. Van Valkcnburg said.
“What we’ve allowed to go on approaches
total fiscal irresponsibility. When you have the
president of the university making about as
much as the president of the United States,
something doesn’t make sense.”
Wescly said that throughout his term in
offtee, his intentions always had confl ictcd with
the realities of governing.
And in that conflict, his intentions usually
lost.
“We’ve been trying to stop bad things from
happening rather than trying to make good
things happen,” Wescly said. “The problem
again ... will be to head offbudget cuts instead
ofproactively trying toenhancc the uni versity.”
Candidates’ perceptions of the university
vary greatly in the highly contested 28th legis
lative district.
With four candidates in the running, UNL
has ranked from “stronger than ever” to need
ing an overhaul.
Sen. Chris Bcutlcr said he had seen the
university through some hard times, but this
wasn’t one of them.
“I think that the University of Nebraska, in
general, is stronger than ever,” he said. “And
despite some fairly moderate years financially,
I think the support of the university out of the
Legislature has been good.”
Paul Wooddisagreed, saying UiyL was head
ing in Ihc wrong direction.
The way to turn that around, he said, was to
start at the top.
“UNL is just as top-heavy as can be,” he said.
“If I ran a business the way the University of
Nebraska (does)... I would be broke.
But Michael Barrett said while he agreed
some things needed to be cut, the Legislature
needed to be cautious.
“A lot of politicians, when they have a
iproblem with budgets ... tend to want to cut
everything.”
Barrett said he was not familiar enough with
the workings of UNL to judge what should or
should not be done.
Carol McShane, the fourth candidate from
the 28th district, said a lot of UNL’s problems
could be solved simply by re-budgeting and
making programs more cost-effective.
As for UNL’s need for maintenance funds,
McShane said that was not the Legislature’s
problem.
'“I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy with
the maintenance problem.” McShane said.
“That’s just sloppy budgeting.
“ I f you ha ve any sense ofbudgets, you budge t
every year for the dayyou have to start patching
your roof.”
If cuts need to be made. Wood said, they
should be aimed at cutting the number of ad
ministrators.
Those savings, he said, could then be passed
on to students.
“The students arc getting it in the fanny,”
Wood said. “We have enough money in the
state to underwrite education. We shouldn’t
have to pay for education in this state. I’m for
abolishing tuition altogether.”
i ■ 1 1 '"■jji- i
With the departure ofSen. Dennis Byars, the
30th district is the only one without an incum
bent.
All three candidates in the district describe
the mselvcsascducat ion-oriented andhavesimi
lar views of UNL’s direction in the coming
Centrum building finds owner
in non-profit energy company
By Patty Wewel
Staff Raportar__
The uncertainty surrounding the Centrum
Plaza has ended with its purchase by a non
profit energy company, an official announced
Friday at a press conference.
H. Steve Wackcr, executive director of the
Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, which
purchased the building, said the company would
relocate its offices to the Centrum Plaza. The
remaining space would be leased to retail stores
and offices, he said.
Brad Korell, president of the National Bank
ofCommerce, which is financing the purchase,
said the city was fortunate MEAN decided to
make the purchase.
“It is an example of cooperate responsibility
and leadership at its best,” Korell said.
The Centrum, located at 11 th and O streets,
and most of downtown Lincoln have been los
ing retail tenants to other areas of the city.
“For the last seven years there has been a
cloud of uncertainty over the building," Korell
said.
Wackcr said the Centrum Plaza was located
conveniently across the street from Lincoln
Electric Supply, a company that MEAN works
with. Also, Wacker said, the building was big
enough for company expansion.
Brad Smith, chairman of MEAN, said by
relocating, the company could lower its operat
ing costs, thus benefiting members of the com
munities it served. The company supplies elec
tricity to about 50 Nebraska communities.
Wacker said MEAN would immediately
begin improving the Centrum. Improvements
will include lighting, general clean-up, mainte
nance and remodeling.
The company would announce a new name
for the building later.
Wacker said he hoped to make the Centrum
“a viable hub of downtown like it was suppose
to be.”
This goal can be achieved, he said, with the
new office and retail space, as well as the
skywalk that runs from the building.
Mayor Mike Johanns said MEAN’S pur
chase of the building was another step toward
downtown revitalization.
“A sound, secure downtown equates a sound,
secure community," Johanns said.
Smith urges teachers to be adaptable
By Julie Sobczyk
Staff Reporter_
Today’scdueators need tocommunicatc with
students and be open to new technology, NU
President Dennis Smith said during a speech
Friday.
Smith was the featured speaker at the Uni
versity of Nebraska Awards Ceremony. This
was Smith’s first opportunity to address the
entire NU community.
Smith spoke to recipients oflhcOutstanding
Research and Creative Activity Award and the
Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Cre
ativity Award.
The universitywide Departmental Teaching
Award also was presented. Past recipients of
these awards also were honored at the cer
emony.
In his address. Smith focused on the rela
tionship between faculty and students.
“Education is a shared experience,” Smith
said. “It has been said that education is like a
conversation. When one party isn’t listening,
they will miss something important.”
Accepting changes in technology will add to
effective teaching. Smith said.
“Technological discovery serves our society
belter,” he said. “It makes our world safer
through discovery.”
Smith said the 1990s wasan information age
filled with new ideas and possibilities. He said
teachers needed to have the willingness to
change that students had.
Educators should not be afraid of trying new
leaching ideas. Smith said.
“To enter the future means engaging in an
exchange with a moving and changing envi
ronment,” he said.
“Test your creative excellence. Show your
value as teachers,” Smith said. “You are the
ones who will lead into the next era.
Smith was confident of professors’ abilities
to change.
“I think we’re in good hands. You represent
the best.”
years.
For David Maurstad, that means maintain
ing UNL without diminishing its role in Ne
braska by making further budget cuts.
But that will bedifficult, he said, because the
state will be starting its budget session next fall
with a $100 million shortfall.
“The upcoming budget is going to be a very
difficult situation,” Maurstad said. “We will
have to re-prioritize where we want to allocate
our resources.
“When we do that, the university system will
have to be a high priority.”
Bcv Bennett said when it came to budgets,
neither legislators nor university officials were
presenting an accurate picture.
“The state legislators arc coming to the
people saying ‘the federal government is mak
i ng us do it,’ and that’s a cop-out,” Bennett said.
The university, on the other hand, com
plains it needs more funding, he said, while
considering projects it can’t afford.
Bennett used engineering as an example.
“We have an engineering college, and we
don’t need another one,” she said. “I think they
(NU) will be speaking out of both sides of their
mouth.”
Candidate Terry Kcslar said she thought the
Legislature still could trim fat from the univer
sity budget.
“I really feel that we do have a lot of waste in
the administration (of the university),” she
said. “We duplicate a lot of research programs.
“But I think the university is as strong or
stronger than its ever been.”
Either way, when the Legislature hands the
university the final budget this year, Keslarsaid
voters needed to take into account that where
there were reductions, there also were expan
sions.
Voters often forget the improvements that
arc budgeted into the final university budget
each biennium, she said.
» A I
If UNL thought a budget cut two years ago
was bad, Sen. David Landis said the university
better be prepared.
“In the event thcr.c isn’t a change in the tax
posture (of Nebraska), we arc looking at a cut
several magnitudes of that two years ago,”
Landis said.
“It could be a very hard year for the univer
sity.”
Landis said UNL was in a vulnerable posi
tion, given that the Legislature would be start
ing out with a sizable deficit.
Candidate Charles Reinsch said if budget
cuts were needed, campuses should be priori
tized with UNL’s needs coming first.
One of those needs should be building a new
College of Law, Reinsch said.
“The Lincoln area... has plenty of doctors,”
he said. “There arc two or three forevery illness.
“But there aren’t very many attorneys. The
university should stress that and try and turn out
two or three times the number of attorneys they
arc now. Quit turning out so many medical
students and doctors.”
Reinsch said he realized that getting the
money for such- a program would be difficult,
especially under next year’s budget.
When it comes to maintenance, Reinsch said
buildings were in good shape on both UNL
campuses, with the exception of a couple of
buildings on East Campus.
Reinsch said he was in favor of raising
faculty salaries, because that was the only way
UNL would maintain its current position.
Five years ago, the last time professors’
salaries were raised, Landis said he was at the
forefront on the legislation to do so.
Now, with NU President Dennis Smith tak
ing charge ofthe budget, any raises will be in h is
hands, Landis said.
“The university has sacrificed a great deal in
the last few years,” Landis said.
By all indications, it may continue to do so,
he said.
Whoever is elected, Mulnix said, it is impor
tant they have a stance in favor of higher
education.
If a recently completed 30-community sur
vey of Nebraska residents is any indication,
Mulnix said, that should hold true.
A preliminary look at the surveys shows that
Nebraskans think UNL is doing a good job,
Mulnix said. And so far, there haven’t been any
complaints about inefficiency, 1 ike in past years,
he said.
“I think the word is out that we’ve taken our
share of cuts,” he said.
He said heonly hoped that had gotten through
to the Legislature.
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Just a reminder—ah student
who early registered on or before
April 11 must turn in their $35 fee
payment by 4:00 p.m. Monday,
May 2 to avoid cancellation of their
registration on Tuesday, May 3.
The deadline for paying tuition and fees
for the 3-week and 8-week
Summer Sessions is
4:00 p.m. Monday, May 2.
