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BY GEORGE GREEN
The biennial budget battle that pits state agencies,
the legislature and the governor against each other
has begun.
State agencies submitted their two-year budget
proposals, which exceed expected state revenue by
$500 million, to the governor's budget office on Sept.
15, said Chris Peterson, a spokesman for the governor,
v The agencies are requesting $5.8 billion for the
two-year fiscal season that begins July 1,2001. But
state revenue is expected to be only $5.3 billion, he
said.
“It always starts out looking bad,” he said.
Peterson said the proposals are only the first step
in a 10-month-long budget process.
He said the governor will review the agency pro
posals “line by line” and submit his budget proposal.
The Legislature will then form its own budget in mid
May for the governor to sign or veto.
During the 10-month process, the budget will
change several times, he said.
For the state to afford the $500 budget overrun the
agencies requested, state taxes would have to be
raised, Peterson said. *
But, as promised during his campaign, Gov. Mike
Johanns is “committed to not raising taxes,” Peterson
said.
To ensure taxes remain steady, state agencies will
have to pare their spending - or be forced by the
Legislature and governor to do so, he said.
Peterson said the governor will decide which
spending proposals can be trimmed and which pro
posals involve money that citizens are legally entitled
to, such as Medicaid benefits.
Choosing which proposals have room to be cut
will be “a lot of work" because of the large number of
requests, he said.
Agencies’ requests include the following:
■ The Department of Corrections requested $35
million to fund four capital construction projects, said
Steve King, planning and research manager.
King said one of the four projects is at the
Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York,
which needs new housing and expanded food and
laundry services.
Other capital projects are at the Omaha
Correctional Center and the Diagnostic and
Evaluation Center in Lincoln. Both need control cen
ter improvements, he said.
“Control centers are literally the most hectic areas
in the prison and need to be updated,” King said.
■ Rising operational costs prompted the State
Patrol to push spending figures up further, said John
Little, a finance and accounting manager.
The State Patrol requested $746,000 each year,
which is a 30 percent increase in spending, Little said.
Increases in gas prices and expanding numbers of
patrol vehicles forced operational expenses up, he
said.
The patrol is losing grant money from the
Copsmore Office, a division of the U.S. Justice
Please see WISH LIST on 5
PRIDE OF
NEBRASKA: The
drumline pro
vides the
rhythm for the
UNL Marching
Band during a
Tuesday morn
ing rehearsal.
The band took
to Tom Osborne
Reid at 7:30
a.m. in prepara
tion for this
weekend's half
time show at
the Nebraska
Missouri foot
ball game.
Nebraskans
won't get cold
feet this winter
BY GEORGE GREEN_
Weather experts said it won’t be time to pack away shorts and T
shirts anytime soon.
The National Weather Service predicts this winter will be slightly
warmer than average, said Brian Smith, a meteorologist.
“We shouldn’t get too cold,” he said.
But, he said, this winter will be colder than previous winters,
which have been exceptionally warm.
The Farmer’s Almanac, an annual publication that predicts the
weather based on a secret astronomical formula, agrees that shorts
and T-shirts will be around for a
while, said Sandi Duncan, the
book’s managing editor.
In fact, the secret formula con
tradicts the weather services’ pre
diction and anticipates a winter
that will be even more mild than
last year’s balmy season, she said.
Duncan said Nebraska, part of
the north-central state zone, will
have a rainy October with possible
heavy snow in November.
Be prepared to slice turkey on
Thanksgiving and sing carols on
Christmas with snow on the
ground, she said.
The weather service agrees pre
cipitation will be slightly higher
than normal, Smith said.
Typically, Smith saic^, Lincoln
receives 26 inches of snow each
winter with the first flakes usually
falling around Nov. 19.
Average temperatures hover in
the mid-20s during the winter
months of December, January and
February, with January having the
coldest average temperature of 21
degrees, he said.
Smith said average tempera
ture statistics, though, can be mis
leading.
Melanie Falk/DN
Meteorologists calculate the statistics by averaging the maximum
and minimum monthly temperatures over a 30-year period, he said.
The Farmer’s Almanac uses a different procedure to help anxious
people judge when to break out their warm coats, Duncan said.
The Almanac has a confidential predictor who uses the alias
Caleb Weatherbee, she said.
Weatherbee is the master of a 184-year-old formula that uses the
Sharon Kolbet/DN
Please see WEATHER on 5
ASUN hopes bill builds
partner-benefit support
BY MARGARET BEHM
Student government leaders
said they hoped passing a bill in
favor of domestic partner bene
fits today would spur cam
puswide action on the issue.
“Hopefully it will further the
cause in the fight for domestic
partner benefits for faculty,”
ASUN President Joel Schafer
said.
The Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska
vote this evening on whether to
pass a bill supporting domestic
partner benefits for faculty
members, staff and students.
Student government passed
by a wide margin a similar bill
last year.
Schafer said passing this bill
is critical for the image the uni
r
versity reflects.
“Domestic partner benefits
are important because we need
to show thgt we are committed
to having a welcoming environ
ment at the University of
Nebraska at Lincoln, for all,” he
said. *
English professor George
Wolf said the bill shows students
are in favor of domestic partner
benefits.
“It’s a statement by the stu
dents of what ought to be the
case,” Wolf said.
Currently, only UNL students
can receive domestic partner
Please see ASUN on 5
Boys misunderstood, therapist says
BY SHARON KOLBET
Boys will be boys.
And family therapist Michael
Gurian thinks parents - and socie
ty-should accept this.
The nationally renowned
author and therapist spoke to a
Lincoln audience TYiesday night,
passing on his belief that adoles
cent boys are misunderstood and
lack identity.
Society may try to lump boys
and girls into an androgynous
framework, but boys are funda
mentally different from girls,
Gurian said.
The therapist, based in
Spokane, Wash., presented his
ideas at BryanLGH Medical
Center East. About 400 people
attended the lecture, which is part
of the hospital’s ongoing commu
nity health education program.
Gurian’s ideas about boys i_
have been criticized among psy
chologists.
His views contrast with those
of Harvard psychiatrist William
Pollack, author of the book “Real
Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the
Myths of Boyhood.”
Pollack said the real problem
lies in the emotional repression of
young boys.
Gurian said that one of the
biggest problems for boys in our
culture is that adults, especially
women, need to be educated
about the nature of boys.
As the author of eight books
on the moral development of
boys, Gurian said, he tries to reach
parents and “teach them the sci
ence of their sons.”
“Boys are driven by their
testosterone. Their brains are less
organized than females’ brains,”
Gurian said.
“Because of this they need a
lot of care to figure out how to
Please see GURIAN on 5
Sharon Kolbet/DN
Michael Gurian,
therapist and
author, speaks
to a crowd of
about400 at the
BryanLGH
Medical Center
East Tuesday
evening. Gurian
has become
nationally
known for his
books on the
moral develop
ment of adoles
cent boys.
