•) j /
Slashing and
burning
Johanns ’budget vetoes will
hurt education
Growing up, most people were taught to deal with prob
lems as soon as possible and pay for expenses before going
into debt.
Apparently Gov. Mike Johanns never learned those les
sons.
Last week Johanns announced his vetoes from the state’s
budget, which included trimming $2.5 million from a recom
mended $6 million dollars for the University of Nebraska.
Now NU’s Regents are discussing a tuition hike to account
for Johanns’ veto unless legislators can pass an override this
week.
The money that the university requested was not for any
•s*
The increased cost
of health insurance
should not be
shouldered by
students or
academic programs.
thing frivolous such as aca
demic programs or faculty
salaries.
The money is needed to
pay for rising health care
costs for the university’s
10,000 insured employees.
An appropriate benefits
package is an important
part of employee compen
sation, and as the university
struggles to attract top fac
ulty, it is crucial that benefits remain comparable.
The university cannot reduce the benefits it offers, and it
cannot control the cost of providing those benefits.
When the cost of health care increases, the cost of provid
ing health insurance increases.
If the Legislature and the governor cannot agree to pay for
the increased health costs, the university will be forced to look
elsewhere in its budget.
That means either programs or administration will be cut
or tuition will increase. Those are the only places the universi
ty can get money.
When the university made this emergency request,
Johanns proposed granting $4 million of the $6 million
request, but in the aftermath of the governor’s veto pen, only
$3.5 million remains.
In his veto announcement, Johanns said the matter can be
delayed. We think this is foolish.
The university is already considering program cuts and
tuition hikes in reaction to Johanns’ veto.
The university should provide health care to its full-time
employees. Those benefits should not be decreased.
But the increased cost of health insurance should not be
shouldered by students or academic programs.
The Legislature should override Johanns’ veto to ensure
there will be enough money to pay for health care.
- f
Editorial Board
Josh Funk (editor) • J.J. Harder • Cliff Hicks • Samuel
McKewon • Dane Stickney • Kimberly Sweet • Lindsay
Young
Letter Policy
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letters@unl.edu
> I
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the spring 2000 Daily
Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student
body or die University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A col
umn is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents
acts as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the
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strives to print fair and accurate coverage; any corrections or
clarifications will be printed on page three.
Obermeyer’s
VIEW
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Letters to the
EDITOR
Learn the law
I was troubled by the report in your
newspaper that a UNL faculty commit
tee had recommended Professor
Reinhard be fired, in part, due to ques
tions regarding the legality of his
research.
Apparently, the committee con
cluded that his research had violated
the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA),
based on its belief that this law prohibits
certain kinds of scientific studies. This
belief is mistaken. There is absolutely
nothing in the law itself that prohibits
studies of remains in the control of
museums or universities.
The Department of the Interior,
which is the Federal agency charged
with implementing NAGPRA, has
made its official position on this point
crystal clear “NAGPRA does not pro
hibit new scientific studies; it simply
cannot be used as the authorization for
them... Public agencies and museums
[including universities] that hold such
remains... are permitted to undertake
or allow new studies according to their
articles of incorporation, statements of
purpose, or other legal statements
under which they were established.”
[U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Resources hearing on
HR2893, June 10,1998].
In other words, so long as
Reinhard’s studies did not violate any
other statutes and were consistent with
UNL’s mission, those studies were
legal.
Across the nation, archaeologists
have worked long and hard to forge
positive relationships with Native
Americans. In most cases this has been
done in a spirit of compromise, which
attempts to balance legitimate public
and scholarly interest in archaeology
with legitimate religious concerns.
As one who worked on the lan
guage of NAGPRA and lobbied for its
passage, I can attest that this law was an
example of such a compromise.
Being so far removed from the
painful situation at IJNL, I cannot inde
pendently judge the merits of the vari
ous charges against Professor
Reinhard. But it appears that the facul
ty committee made its recommenda
tions without a clear understanding of
the relevant law.
Vincas P. Steponaitis
professor of anthropology,
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
past president, Society for
American Archaeology
Militant gays
In his letter, John DeLair expresses
the popular argument that gay and les
bian soldiers undermine the necessary
cohesion for an effective military.
However, it cannot be disputed that
thousands of gays and lesbians have
already served proudly in every branch
of the U.S. Armed Forces in all military
operations, including World War II.
We do not have to wait for the next
war to see whether gays and lesbians
are a weakness to military readiness;
they have already proven themselves
combat-worthy.
If the documented existence of mil
itary gay beaches on South Pacific
islands in the 1940s (see “The Other
Side of Silence: Men’s Lives and Gay
Identities” by John Loughery) isn’t
proof enough of openly gay soldiers
fighting successfully for our country, I
don’t know what is.
John Kastning
senior
chemical engineering and
German
The right to refunds
I am writing in response to
the editorial pub- ^
1 i s h e d H H
Thursday (March^O) regarding Fund A
student fees. The editorial board accu
rately reported that the Fund A fees can
be refunded to students upon request,
and this is a right that students do not
have at all universities. I hope that we as
students do not take this freedom light
ly, but rather use it to hold the institu
tions that are funded with our money
accountable for their actions and how
they represent the student body.
ASUN is an organization that is
funded by Fund A student fees and
therefore should be accountable to stu
dents. If the polices of the student gov
ernment leave a student feeling alienat
ed, then he or she should exercise the
rights afforded to them as students and
send a message to ASUN by asking for
their funds to be returned.
It is for this reason that Fund A stu
dent fees should not be given the same
protection afforded to Fund B student
fees. Any movement toward protecting
Fund A fees should be seen as an
infringement upon student rights and
would originate from my office. It is my
hope that my term as ASUN president
will be one that is open enough to all
students, tat no one will feel it neces- ■
sary to request their fees to be reim
bursed. However, I know that no insti
tution is perfect, and I want students to
have th$ power to exercise their rights.
Joel Schafer
ASUN president r
$. \ ' . •
