UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS PUSH FOR BOND-ISSUE PASSAGE

No tax increase.

Southeast Missouri State University officials emphasized that point Thursday in pushing for passage of a statewide bond issue that would include funding for a College of Business building on the Cape Girardeau campus.

"We think that if we can get the no-tax-increase message to enough voters, Amendment 4 will pass," said Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast.

Passage of the bond issue would provide $12.3 million toward construction of the $14 million business building near New Madrid and Henderson streets. Private donations already have generated $2.4 million for the local share of the project.

The $250 million bond issue, which is on the Aug. 2 ballot, was one of the topics discussed at two campus orientation sessions for the school's non-teaching staff.

In all, about 500 university employees attended the orientation sessions, at which university President Kala Stroup compared the school to a World Cup soccer team.

"The play is constant, with no timeouts to rest," she said.

Stroup stressed the importance of having a good team of employees. The administrators can't do it all, she said. "We can't send in every play."

Stroup said the university went through some tough times during the 1993-94 school year.

A Southeast student died in a hazing incident and a number of lawsuits were filed against the school.

"Last year was sort of a media nightmare," she said. "If you judge by the media, we had a tough year," said Stroup.

But she said the school had a number of major accomplishments, including inauguration of a telephone registration system and renovation of the Towers West residence hall.

She said some accomplishments often go unnoticed, such as the efforts of the university's mail room, which processed more than 1.8 million external pieces of mail and 2.3 million pieces of internal mail last school year.

Ken Dobbins, Southeast's executive vice president, told the staff that they are important to the success of the institution and its students.

"Everyone here makes a difference on how we deliver academic programs," he said.

As to the business building, Wallhausen said it could provide a big boost for academics in the same way that the Show Me Center has aided athletics.

Several hundred employees attended the Thursday morning session in Academic Hall Auditorium. Many of them indicated by a show of hands that bond-issue supporters already had contacted them through a telephone bank operated by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

Wallhausen said bond-issue supporters have called about 24,000 people. In addition, informational mailers have been sent to about 50,000 faculty and staff members, students and university supporters.

Wallhausen said construction of the L-shaped business building depends on state funding. He said he knows of no other alternative.