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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1984)
n Daily '1 7 r 3 9 r-ortday, October 15, i?;3 Liversityof fslebraska:Lincojn Vol. 84 No. 37 1 It t i I SI V 11 Veathon Mostly cloudy, coo'er and quite breezy today, with a 40 chance of showers, high about 58. Tonight, cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers, low near 40. Tuesday, continued chance of showers, high in the mid-50s. Dob BrubacherDsi!y Nebrstksn A muddy good time: UML's Rodeo... Page 7 Huskers sack PJlizzou, wrap up a win... Pages j Keepered alcoholic relates air, Mmmreiy By Gene Gentrup Dally Nebraskan Senior Reporter Statistics from the Lincoln Council on Alcohol and Drugs show most young people have their first drink between the ages of 12 and 14. By the time they graduate from high school, two thirds will have used some type of illicit drug. Mike (who asked that his real name not be used), al though he survived, is an exam ple of thi3 teen-age tragedy. Mike was 1 2 years old when he began drinking. He drank because he wanted to feel like an adult. He didn't feel special to anyone and thought drinking would change everything. It did change every thing but not in the way he had hoped. By the time he was 16, Mike had been arrested for auto theft, malicious destruction and other acts of violence. He had lost his license three times and was shot at once. He eventually spent time in a reformatory center and was, for a short time, kicked out of his home by his family. . "I didn't like myself then," Mike said. "I didn't like my environ ment. I didn't like my folks. I know when I drank, it changed my feelings and I liked it I remem ber how good I felt and I know I felt better with alcohoL" Mike etude with alcohol until the Vietnam War period, when he was 19. He didn't go to Viet nam, but some of his friends did. When his friends returned they brought with them a new drug called "raw opium." Mike liked it more than s3cohol. "I didn't throw up as much," he said. But Mike's buddies made sure he tried everything. Hash, purple., haze, sunshine, orange barrel and LSD-25 were easily accessible. "Back in that era, most people just gave them to you," he said. When Mike became addicted to drugs, he said, it was because of too many doctor-prescribed drugs, not from those he obtained off the street. "I'd keep getting headaches, and instead of working out my prob lems, the doctors just gave me more and more drugs. If I took enough, I'd feel better. They had me on a drug nearly as powerful as morphine, just to cure a head ache," he said. It was at this point he said he felt an addiction to drugs. But the drugs were too expen sive for Mike. He had to find cheaper drugs. "I knew a guy that just robbed pharmacies," he said, "I bought them wholesale." Mike had enough money for drugs. He ran his own body shop, specializing in custom bikes. He often was featured in Easy Eider and Hot Rod magazines in the mid 1970s and had no diffi culty buying drugs. But more money meant more drug3. His addiction to drugs worsen ed, as did his health. He began losing feeling in his feet, and twice went into respiratory arrest. "My central nervous system just puked-out. I was dying. I would sit there and say, 'I'm not going to die, I'm not going to die.' " Though he was now heavily into barbiturates, Mike said, his life still centered around alcohol. "In order to have fun, I had to be drinking. In order to make love, I had to be drinking. I drank because I was scared. I drank because I was happy, I drank because I was lonely," he said. Mike first admitted to having a problem after suffering a number of drug overdoses in the mid 1970s. I was taking a thousand milligrams of phenobarbital a day plus valium and phenocodeine. It takes ony 320 milligrams of phe nobarbital for post-operative sedation. I was taking that much in the morning just to wake up," he said. Mike said he admitted to hav ing a problem but did not imme diately seek help. The drug prob lems continued. "I OD'd in a cafe one time, made it to the car, started the engine, and then passed out. A police man woke me up a couple of Continued on Page 6 Regents buy Commonplace Buildinj to relieve space shortage in union By Snzsnne Teten Daily Nebraskan Staff Reporter The NU Board of Regents Fri day approved the $230,000 pur chase of the Commonplace Build ing to provide more meeting rooms and office space for the Nebraska Union and authorized the preparation of a $2.1 million parking bond. The Commonplace Building, 333 N. 14th St., across the street from the Administration Build ing, is owned by the United Presbyterian Church. Richard Armstrong, UNL vice chancellor for student affairs, said the church will move its campus offices to Wesley House, 640 N. 16th St., and wanted to sell Commonplace. Armstrong said the purchase "gives us a sense of relief to space problems in the Nebraska Union." Of the 300 students organiza tions on campus, he said, 40 apply each year for office space. The union has enough space for only 30 organizations, he said. Five more groups share space with the other 30, Armstrong said, leaving five organizations with no office space. Nebraska Union Director Daryi Swanson said Commonplace offers the possibility of 12 addi tional offices, depending on how the space is used. Swanson said he thinks the Commonplace Building will solve the union's office space shortages. However, he said, when organiza tions find out about the addi tional space available in the building, more will apply for offices. The union's meeting room shortage also will be eased by the purchase. Swanson said the union has 11 meeting rooms and two larger rooms, the Ballroom and the Centennial Room, which can be used for large groups cf peo ple. He said the meeting rooms available for rent are filled every Tuesday through Thursday dur ing the fall and spring semesters. Some of the rooms are used two or three times a day. Some rooms are better suited to some purposes than others, he said. Swanson said the isolated at mosphere cf Commonplace will interest some groups. The build ing has a quiet retreat setting that will attract organizations that don't like the busy traffic in the union, he said. Sw235 :OH said the Common place chapel will be converted into one large meeting room. The building will provide three smaller conference rooms and the lounge could be used as an informal meeting room, he said. The union director said he re ceives many requests from cus- tomers.who want to serve potluck dinners during their meetings. Since the union has a restaurant license, he said, the Union Board has prohibited customers from bringing in their own food. Since Commonplace is a sep arate building, he said, this ser vice could be offered. In addition, meetings could be scheduled at Commonplace when the union is closed. In other business, the regents authorized preparation of a $2.1 million parking bond issue. Arm-, strong said he thought the bond would be issued within the next 30 to 60 days after the board approves the interest rate. Armstrong said the bond money will be used to buy land belonging to Jacobs Bulk Plant ' south of the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Court Street, two small lots on R street across from the NU Foundation and 10 acres of former Rock Island Railroad property between 18th and 10th streets and R and Vine streets. Ownership of that property was transferred to the Chicago Pacific Corp. when Rock Island went bankrupt. Armstrong said he is uncer tain whether the new parking areas wlU be residential, commuter or faculty lots. The university is try ing to develop "a mixture of park ing to meet the most pressing needs," he said. P-..II LI 1U-I. . i ' !M.y.U. 'H-- I H III llll I .Hill -I" I I ' " if -n V- 7 X I ' ' - 1 ft " v r 4 ' 11 il'-, (T' . V " ' " ' J j - '' '" '''' -' "i" X ' ' , Jol StrtorDaily Nsbratkan Where's the rest? Erin Gaines, 2, examines a couple of stuffed Oryx heads during the Nebraska State Museum's open house at Nebraska Hall Friday night. Erin and her parents, Andrew and Sherrill Gaines of Omaha, were among the 471 vis itors that evening. Story on Page 10. survey to aeciaejate of unlimite too Or By Kevin McCoy Dally Nebraskan Stair Reporter Residence hall food service probably will not be switching to its "unlimited food" option before the end of the semester, Housing Director Doug Zatechka said at a meeting of the UNL Residence Hall Association. Zatechka outlined the housing office's position and answered questions from students during an RIIA open forum on the option. He said some negative student response to the approximately $20 increase that would result in room and board costs caused the office to reassess its plan. The status of the unlimited food option will hinge mainly on the result of an RHAhousing survey designed to assess stu dents' willingness to pay added room and board for items under consideration. The surveys will be distributed to a randomly sel ected group ofhall residents some time before the end of October. The three items being considered are: Cable television in the resi dence halls, at an estimated $18 increase in room and board fees. Paper towreis andor soap dispensers for floor bathrooms, each at an approximate room and board increase of $2.50. Unlimited food in residence hall food services, at a proposed $20 room and board hike. d on Fn2 7