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Tuesday, May 1, 1984
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 83 No. 149
Date not yet set
David TroubaDally Nebraskan
Fcur heated bus shelters will be built in downtown Lincoln early this summer on the west side of
11th Street between O cr.d N streets. Current downtown bu3 shelter, like this one at 12th and Q
etrcets, ere net heated. ,
Planner hQpes shelters lure patrons
By Pani Al;vcrd
Four $75,000 custom-designed bus shelters will be
built downtown this summer as part of a $758,000
city redevelopment project, Lincoln's transit plan
ner seid. .
Alice Althaus said the shelters, which will be built
on the west side of 11th Street between 0 and N
streets, will have glass walls, Plexiglas domes, venti
lation and electric heating systems..
Gold's Galleria, which is west of the shelters, will
indirectly pay fof $345,000 of the $758,000 project
$210,000 from special assessments against the
property and $435,000 from tax-increment financ
ing The area, which has been declared blighted, also
will receive restructured underground vaults, land
scaping, new pavement and strectscaping, Althaus
said.
The shelters are secondary to the project, she
said.
A Federal Urban Mass Transportation Adminis
tration grant of $C0,000 city street improvement
financing of $18,000 and private financing of $5,000
also will help pay for the project.
Fourteen new bus shelters in outlying areas also
are planned for this year, Althaus said. The new
shelters, not including the four at the Gold's site, will
be like the existing models, Althaus said.
The city also will buy eight small buses this year as
part of the Capital Improvement Project, Althaus .
said. The buses will replace some of the Scooter
buses and crccstown buses.
Gold's Galleria was picked for the four special
shelters because of the high number of patrons at
the site, she said.
'The site has received the highest boarding count
of the city for several years," she said.
The makeshift shelter previously at the site was
old and inadequate, Althaus said.
The four shelters will be about 208-square-feet
each with a capacity of 80 persons seated or 130
persons standing.
The shelters, hopefully, will lure people down
town, Althaus said, as well as improve the city
through beautiScation.
"Downtown has been very supportive of the tran
sit system," she said.
The first phase of the project, including curb
replacement and vault restructuring, already has
begun, Althaus said. The second phase, which in
cludes the shelters, probably will begin in early July
and end in October, she said.
Interfaith agency
to provide farmers
with crisis hotline
By Gene Gentrup
Financially troubled farm families may be
closer to having a new crisis hotline after Sun
day's Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska work
shop. IMN, a planning and programming agency of
cooperating denominations in Nebraska, will
continue fact-finding and planning for the cir
sis hotline today after a morning information
session on the extent of the farmer's financial
crunch.
Mel Luetchens, executive secretary of IMN,
said the hotline will help farmers share re
sources with state agriculture department
representatives, state farm groups and church
officials.
Luetchens said many factors led to the
future formation of the crisis hotline.
The unavailability of money, the low amount
of money farmers get for their products, the
devaluation of land and natural weather con
ditions such as drought are the biggest prob
lems facing the farm family," Luetchens said.
A 1980 census showed Nebraska had more
than 68,000 farms, he said. Of these farms,
more than 25 percent showed annual incomes
of less than $7,000. Despite these findings,
Luetchens said, the extent of farmer's plight is
unknown. But, he said, "all indications are that
, the crisis has worsened."
Although Luetchens said he thinks there is a
"sense of urgency" to start the hotline as soon
as possible, no target starting day has been set.
When the hotline is installed, it will be
modeled after a similar Iowa service spon
sored by Rufal America.
The morning session about the farmer's
finances will include these panelists:
Kathy Vctau of First National Bank of
Lincoln
Bad Hiblet of the Farmers Home Ad
ministration Tom Weber of the Production Credit
Association
Larry Eitney, professor cf c;?kcltural
economics tX UNL
Kathy 6 everens cf the Leal Aid Society
Dwiht Dell end Ezyscnd Eehbeia, Neb
raska farmers frem Kslssviile and North
Dend, respectively.
Inside
UNL Health Center will undertake
massive $3 million expansion in fall
UNL Division of Continuing
Studies wins two national awards
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A!! is not peaches and cream
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Huskers expend minimum
effort as they split a pair from
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Crossword 12
Editorial 4
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EyrtllCassri-
Bids for a $3 million expansion of
the UNL Health Center will be taken
by the NU Board of Regents this month,
said the health center's director of bus
iness services.
Gary Wilkinson said construction
probably will begin in June and be fin
ished in January 1036.
Creating a more efUcient atmosphere
and modernizing are the two main
reasons for the expansion, Wilkinson
said.
The current health center was built
in 1058 to accommodate 10,000 stu
dents. Wilkinson said proposals to en
large the center were 'presented in
1955 when student enrollment was
more-than 15,000. However, expan
sion plans did not begin until 1 9S0. The
expansion will almost double the health '
center's interior space from 25,502 to
'45,979 square feet.
Stephen Blom, a health center adminis
trator said the expansion .will also .
increase the number of examination
rooms from 1 4 to 20. Also, the pharmacy,
radiology and physical therapy depart
ments and minor surgery treatment
rooms will be upgraded, he said. Most
departments will increase in size, but
the number of in-patient beds will
decrease from 14 to six.
The building will be enlarged at the
northeast and northwest corners, Wil
kinson said. He said radiology will be
housed on the northwest side of the
building. The medical clinic and physi
cal therapy rooms are part of the north
east expansion, which accounts for
80 percent of the increased space.
About $2.75 million of the total $3.1
million construction cost will be paid by
unappropriated bond surplus funds.
Eighteen dollars of student fees is used
annually to maintain buildings, and
the accumulated interest on that money '
makes up the bond surplus, Blom
said. He said the rest of the money will
come from health center reserves.
Chi System Inc., a health care con
sulting firm, was contracted in April of
1C32 to conduct a year long study of
the center and possible expansion
areas.
During that period, Chi System looked
at the center's programs and spoke
with officials and students to evaluate
the health center's effectiveness.
In April 1 983, Chi System presented
its report. The report recommended
the health center building be expanded
so it could continue providing health
care service to students. Along with
that, it supported the center's role of
providing health education and aware
ness programs.
Wilkinson said the health center will
be able to provide service to 50 percent
more students after its expansion. He
said the current health center size
ranks sixth among the Big Eight
Schools. The Missouri health center is
the smallest in the conference, he said.
Schemmer Associates Inc., of Omaha
are drafting the expansion plans.
Wilkinson said students should watch
the Daily Nebraskan in the fall for relo
cation notices of some services. Because
of the renovation, some services will be
moved to other campus buildings, he
said.