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"T V " TTTTTOTI T1T1 O "H Tl 71
By r.cxl: Davig
As remnants from our youth, we are sometimes
privileged with reappearences of ancient voices that
cut a figure in our childhood. These voices occupied
us as children for moments, decades at a time, giving
us continued adventure in the confinement of our
own space, creating prodigy for our conquest and
procreating comrades for top secret conversations.
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with Marl-
As we grow older, these voices disappear for lack
of faith. Some of us retain vision longer than most,
but we are visited by our intimate friends from the
past, each interval growing longer, until finally we
are discouraged by the ravages of time.
For me the visitations are becoming more rare,
but I have discovered a way to refuel the voices,
encouraging them to make reappearences at times
when I desperately need friends to confide in.
As children, our world is less touched by adults,
uncensored by social norms and only restricted by
the solid stroke of a mother's mixing spoon. Now,
very seldom do we have opportunity to exist in the
natural state, yet ironically we have had a breeding
ground for vision preserved for us . in our own
backyard.
Exclusive to this continent and largest in the
world, Nebraska's sandhills are such breeding
grounds. As if maneuvered by my ancient friends
themselves, the UNL Recreation Department offered
a trip down the upper Niobrara and I seized the
opportunity.
The river's trailway through the sandhills is pas
sive, but an adventure. Even though it lacks some oi
the challenges that the river offers at its lower
points, it does take you into a part of Nebraska that
is relatively unmarred by man.
After putting in on an old settlement abondoned
by its builders, we slowly cut our way around sand
dunes and passed many more of the settlements
built of logs and abandoned for refuge of the abund
ant wildlife in these hills. The eroded valley that the
river has left is green and full of surprises. As we
traveled, pelicans flew over our heads and water
falls of fresh springs entered the river, reminding us
of scenes from Atlantis.
On the evening of our first day on the river, I took
a canoe back upstream to a place where the Snake
River enters the Niobrara. As we passed it earlier, I
had thought that it would be a good place to fish.
Walking back upstream pulling the canoe against
the current wasn't easy, but the time spent alone
made it all worthwhile.
While being embarrassed by the humbling brook
trout, I was visited by a doe and what I thought must
have been the offspring of a rat and a beaver. The
trout in The Snake are large and virgin to much
fishing, but their will was stronger than my line and
the only thing I really caught was a burning desire to
go back and conquer the unobtainable.
"No Trespassing" signs litter the land surrounding
the rivers and make it difficult to find a place to fish.
I saw evidence of the greedy white man displayed
after stealing land that wasn't meant to be stolen
but rather shared among men.
As the sun set that night and I turned my canoe
around to head back toward camp, I took a mental
picture of a place I promised to come back to.
That night we sat around a fire and told crude
jokes and disposed of a large bottle of tequila. The
women on the trip disappeared first, and then one
by one we all went to our tents to pray for a painless
morning.
The next day everyone had a more serious, sullen
attitude. As we put in, I looked back at the unscar
ed camp site we left behind. Old trees and a fallen
bridge assured me that thi3 place would still be here
long after we left. The foothills I had canvassed
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An unidentified shuttle runner, taxi man of
the sandhills, leans on a fare.
didn't seem so large as we got further down the
river. But they were even more beautiful now. The
hills hide wildlife which were wary of human pres
ence, but watched with the same curiousity.
Without much warning, we had reached our des
tination and we were packed and back in the van
headed for home.
When we arrived, the goodbyes were very short
and we were all eager to help unload the equipment.
We had all been contacted by our ancient friends. .
I could almost see evidence of frequent visitations
on the faces of our veteran guides. Their eyes wer
en't tired and their lips were pursed with promises
of coming back to this stretch of the upper Niobrara.
U.S. lit hie
tes YpM-msIce up tor boycott voigi
T3
Opicnlcn by Ccctt Afelstiand
The 1 884 Summer Olympics at Los Angeles will be
better known for those competitors that didnt
show up than for those that did.
Absent from this year's Games axe athletes from
the Soviet Union, Cuba and several Eastern Eloc
countries. Their absence will certainly deprive the
competition of some great athletes, but shouldn't
dull what projects to be an exciting athletic event.
With the Soviet and the East German contingents
out of the Olympics, the main competition for many
American athletes will come from their own team
mates. While hundreds of events and thousands of ath
letes will be on display in Los Angeles, a few per
formers seem destined to grab the spotlights. Among
the best of the world's best are:
GAEL LEWIS Lewis is chasing the legend of Jes
sie Owens. Owens won four track and field gold
medals in the 1936 Games, a feat that Lewis would
like to equal. Lewis has a near lock on the long jump
competition, an event which he has dominated for
the past three years. He is also the favorite in the
100- and 200- meter dashes, and is a member of the
heavily favored U.S. 4 X 100 relay team.
MARY DECKER Decker, perhaps more than any
emm
20 sign 1
Nebraska track coach Gary Pepin recently
announced the signing of 10 men and 10 women to
national letters of intent.
Joining the men's team will be Steve Akeson of
Chappeli, John Baumann and Scott Parker of Nor
folk, Tony Coe of North Platte, Alan Emanuel of
North Bend, Jeff Rowen of Nebraska City, Craig
Duncan of Glasgow, Scotland, Phillips George of
Lagos, Nigeria, Gerald Hughes of Bristol, Connecti
cut and Richard Hughes of Coeymans, New York.
Two native Nebraskans are among the 10 women
joining the three-time national indoor champion
Huskcr squad. They are VIcM Johnson from Geneva
and Tammy Thunnan from Fremont. The other
recruits are Debbie Dunant from the Netherlands,
Belvia Moody of Ft. Worth, Texas, Michelle Milling of
Oklahoma City, Stephanie Heed ofTopeka, Kansas,
Susan Samuels ofPittsburg, Kansas, Debbie Smith of
Lake Station, Indiana, Yelanda Waddles of Denver
and Cindy Ueotzcr of Roswa!!, Georgia. (
Pepin said he was generally pleased with the
Tuesday, June 26, 1984
other athlete, is a symbol of the frustrations that the
Olympics can bring. Injured before the 1076 Games
and sidelined by the United States boycott of the
19S0 Games, Decker should be in top form for Los
Angeles. The current world champion at 1500 and
3000 meters, Decker will miss the push that Soviet
and East German competitors would give her. But
she still should turn in some excellent times.
EDWIN MOSES Moses dominates the 400-meter
hurdles like no other athlete dominates an event.
The winner of 102 consecutive races, Moses.was the
1976 champion and should breeze to more gold this
summer.
U.SJL BASKETBALL TEAM This could be the
toughest ticket to buy in Los Angeles. While the
Soviet team will be missed, the high-flying, slam
dunking behind-your-back, hvyour-face U.S. team
should provide the crowd with plenty of thrills.
Coached by Bobby Knight and featuring Michael
Jordan, Wayman Tisdale and Patrick Ewing, the
Americans will be solid favorites to grab the gold.
MARK BRELAND Fancied as the best amateur
boxer in the United States since Sugar Ray Leonard,
Breland has dynamite in both hands. A Golden
Glove winner and reigning amateur world cham
pion, Breland heads a strong American boxing
team.
These are just a few of the athletes viewers should
0
etters oi intent
Huskers' recruiting season this year.
"We still havent filled our need for a really out
standing distance runner," Pepin said. "We were in
on the right people, but we just couldn't get them.
"We really filled some areas that we needed help in
for next year. We didn't have a triple jumper this
year, so we. went out and picked up four, one real
good one and three others who should improve and
. come on. We also needed and got help in the long
jump because Von Sheppard couldnt be with us out
there the whole time."
Sheppard, a sophomore from St. Paul, Minnesota,
is also a member of the football team and thus
unable to compete for the track team during spring
practice. Sheppard finished third in the Big Eight
outdoor meet with a jump of 23-5.
Pepin also announced that steeplechaser Marc
Adam, who missed the outdoor season because of a
bout with mononucleosis, will compete m both the
indoor and outdoor events for the Huskers next
season.
watch for in Los Angeles. Of particular interest to
Nebraskans should be the performance of UNL
sophomore Angela Thaeker, who qualified second
in the long j ump at the Olympic trials. Also making
the team from UNL are gymnasts Jim Hartung,
Scott JohBso&i Jim Mifiras and CMs Ecijel. Lin
colnite Abdurr&him Kuzu earned a spot on the U.S.
Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team and has a
legitimate shot at winning a gold in the 136.5-pound
weight class.
-' Eec
Scoreboard
The following are scores from June 18 to 23.
Scores from Monday's through Thursday's games
will run in the Friday newspaper.
CO-EEC VOLLEYBALL
Whiners d. Surfs Up, 7-15, 15-9, 15-3
Brew Crew d. Drunken-Pack-of-Turtles 15-8, 6-15,
15-9
Dorchester Longhorns won by forfeit over Wreck
Crew
Misfits d. Wreck Crew 15-10, 16-14
Dorchester Longhorns d. Chemistry 15-0, 8-15, 15-8
Animal Science d. We Dont Care 15-0, 15-2
CO-EEC SOFTBALL
Co-Rec League 1
Hoops Later 15, Ragamuffins 6
Guppies 12, Business Services 11.
Screenigne and Co. 8, KSS Summer Resort Staff 7
Co-Rec League 2
Huskers won by forfeit over The Birds
Road Warriors 8, Animal Science 2
Speech Communication Department 7, Food
Science 6
Diverse athletes to
Plunge for Nebraska '
Nebraska diving coach Jeff Huher recently an
nounced the signinga of four divers to national let
ters of intent to compete for the Huskers next year.
' Ccstiacsd cn Fs3 12
PQQB 11
Dc.'y Nobroskoi i