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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2000)
UNL students form group to VoNsybai legend comes speak out against Defense of from Haifa world away to Marriage Amendment teach, learn from Huskers In News/5 In Sports/10 aa BBiiit._ i. •. A z&rz' W; ^v-r. <5 w: ■■ ’OBLt'»>' \o,. - . Historic farm, highway bypass threatened by each other JoshWoMe/DN Dale Retziaff stands by one of the original bams on their home stead. Left Lyn Winemanandherchl - r,in_-a li^i_ uiviif um dfvQ naiey, read a bedtime story. IV-MM-M-tt-t iik nwrvtiMBi lamny o concerned that a pro posed bypass on the «--«-— idfin s DOUnGdfy win anect me serene atmosphere. highwaytfirougfiO history L BY MARGARET BEHM Some people say we should listen to the voices of die past But traffic from a proposed bypass near Lincoln could make them harder to hear The Stevens Creek Stock Farm means a lot to Marleen Rickertsen and her family. It has been in her family since 1854. Seven genera tions ofher family have lived there. The farm means a lot from a historical per spective, too. It’s where the first documented baby was bom after Nebraska became a state. TVvo-hundred and forty acres of it were put on the National Register of Historic Places on May 31,1979. But a proposed bypass east of Lincoln could pollute the atmosphere of the farm with the noise of semi-truclcs and convenience stores. Rickertsen’s concerned about preserving the farm because that’s where her roots are. Her father, Dale Retzlaff, owns the farm and has lived there all his life Rickertsen moved out of the farm where she grew up so the next generation could live there. Currently, three generations live on the farm. “We move out so the next generation can move in," she said. “That's the tradition.” It’s not just the Stevens Creek Stock Farm that Rickertsen is interested in preserving; it’s the whole atmosphere surrounding it because many of the nearby farms are also historic, she said. “It’s also important to preserve the land around us,” she saRL * Ids the whole rural setting that’s important. We actually have more like a historical district” Rob Nieweg, regional attorney for the National Thist for Historic Preservation, said that no one has given him a reason why the bypass should be built “Nobody can tell you why it’s necessary, and I think that is a question that needs to be answered,” he said. Ed Kaosola, realty and environmental offi cer for Nebraska's division of the Federal Highway Administration, said the bypass may be essential for the future. “When we build roads, we generally design them for traffic years from now,” he said. In about 20 years, he said, the bypass will be needed so people can drive around a Lincoln that will have grown. People in Lincoln could take the bypass, he said, to get to another point in town, instead of driving through clogged city streets. Art Yonkey, project developer engineer for the Nebraska Department of Roads, said the bypass would have to be a four-lane, high speed road to achieve its goal of being a quick route around Lincoln. “In order to justify this road, there has to be quite a bit of traffic on it” he said. “In order for there to be a lot of traffic, it has to be foe fastest route." The current estimate for the cost of the bypass is $200 million, Nieweg said. Federal money will pay for 80 percent of foe cost, and foe state will pay for foe other 20 percent, he said. But, because foe project wont be built for five to 10 years, he estimates the cost to be around a quarter of a billion dollars. There are four different routes that are being considered in the South and East Beltway Stucfy. One is on the south side of town; three are on foe east The three routes under consid eration on the east side of town include: halfway between 98th and 120th streets, hallway between 120th and 134th streets, and halfway between 134th and 148 th streets. They would all go from Rokeby Road to 1-80. Rickertsen is against foe proposal for foe bypass that would run between 134th and 148th streets, near 141st Street because it would go along the boundary of her family’s farm. Please see FARM on 5 UPC strives to balance wants, budget demands ■The campus programming council has $120,000 each year to bring events to campus.This year, poet laureate Maya Angelou and comedian Jay Mohr are featured. BY JHJ.ZEMAN Students looking to see the sweat drip off each of the Backstreet Boys or have their eardrums Masted by Korn’s riffs will have to look beyond the UNL campus this year to satisfy their wishes. And because of the lack of big-name acts that appear on campus, many students may be left wondering what the University Program Council, funded through student fees, is doing with their money. This year’s UPC lineup is not strictly filled with no-names, as poet laureate Maya Angelou and comedian Jay Mohr are slated as die headliners, said Tom St. Germain, ___________ University Program Council vice president UPC received about $120,000 this year from student fees, which the group tries to split equally between the fall and spring semes ters, St Germain said. Angelou’s appearance cost about $43,000, while Mohr’s runs at more than $30,000, St Germain said. The council also scheduled hypnotist Jim Wand, which costs $4,000, and professional storm chaser Warren Faidley, for $5,000, he said. “In our heads, we have a list of what we'd like to do and what we can actually afford to do,” St. Germain said. Events for the spring semester „ , , will not be determined until Nov. ' 18 when the council will come together to vote on the schedule, he said. Members of the council face the challenge of bringing quality and entertaining acts to campus that are within their budget, he said. For example, bringing Kom to UNL would cost about $250,000, while the Backstreet Boys cost about $750,000, he said. So UPC tries to provide a variety of smaller events rather than spending the entire budget on one headliner, he said. This situation is not unique to UNL Students at the University of Kansas in Lawrence also have quite a challenge in bringing popular acts without spending a lot of money. KU’s Student Union Activities is primarily funded through a pri vate, on-campus corporation, which provides $100,000 yearly to the group, said Marie Dispenza, SUA box office assistant SUA also receives about $11,000 yearly through student fees, she said. Last year, KU brought in comedian Jimmy Fallon, who also appeared in the spring at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew from MTV’s Loveline were the main attraction the year before, she said. The MTV crew appeared at UNL in 1998. But some of UNLs peers are able to offer popular concerts. The University of Iowa in Iowa City has played host to groups including the Backstreet Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters. The Student Commission on Programming Entertainment is in charge of recruiting acts at Iowa. This year’s main attraction is the band matchbox twenty, said Ryan Barker, assistant director of the group. Another featured show is the Punk O Rama Tour, sponsored by Epitaph Records. Headliners of the tour include punk bands Voodoo Glow Skulls, Agnostic Front, Straightfaced and All. Like UNL, the Iowa group also receives student fees from each of its 27,000 students. But student fees won’t pay for everything, so to bring in big attrac tions, the commission makes proposals to the Office of Student Life as well as the Dean of Students. If these administrators deem the proposal as a good risk to take, they will provide a sort of short-term loan to the group. After the university is paid back, profits (or the debt) go directly to the student group, Barker said. “Sometimes we make money, sometimes we don’t,” he said. Fraternity recruitment changes spark slight increases ■Sorority rush drew fewer women than in 1999, but because of higher numbers in past years, houses are reaching capacity. BY KATIE MUEHNO Changes in the fraternity recruitment led to an increase in the number of men who pledged this year. The changes, which move the recruitment from an off-campus to an on-campus event were initiated to counteract a steady decrease in the number of men pledging fraternities, said Linda Schwartzkopf, direc tor of Greek Affairs. Previously, fraternity members went to the homes of incoming students and threw parties in towns around the state. This year, they had to focus their energies on recruiting men who were on campus for New Student Enrollment Fraternity members were also required to limit m m v v their recruiting activities to the campus during August The campus-based recruitment program culmi nated the week before classes started with formal activities, similar to sorority recruitment, commonly termed “rush.” This year, fraternities received470 applications for recruitment and pledged 394 men, numbers which are slightly up from last year, Schwartzkopf said. “I think the program got mixed reviews from the fraternities,” Schwartzkopf said. Fraternity members have offered suggestions for altering die program for next year, she said. Monte Else, rush chairman for Alpha Gamma Sigma, said the informal rush practices are more effective. “I wouldn't stop (the campus-based program),” Else said, “1 would just allow fraternities to travel dur ing that period.” Informal recruitment practices are limited in that they are not able to reach students outside of -V' Nebraska "Part of the goal was to try to reach out-of-state students,” Schwartzkopf said. Else said Alpha Gamma Sigma did not see an increase in the number of out-of-state students, which he said disappointed the Interfraternity Council. Despite its criticisms, Rhiannon Kenner, overall rush chairwoman for Panhellenic Council and sum mer secretary for Greek Affairs, said she believes die changes will pay off in the future. "It’s hard to kill a sacred cow,” Kenner said."... Ifeel (the formal rush practices) will be very successful in the years to come.” Sorority recruitment has always been a campus based program, and recent years have seen a dramat ic increase in die number of women who participate, Schwartzkopf said. The number of women who participated in soror ity recruitment was slightly lower this year There were 629 women who participated in 1 ‘ ' ** V 7r£ hard to kill a sacred cow... J feel (the formal rush practices) will be very successful in the years to come.” Bhiaimnii Panhellenic rush chairwoman recruitment this year; 461 pledged. Last year, 657 applications were received, and 473 pledged. But the overall trend for sorority recruitment has been increasing steadily, SchwartzkopfsakL The numbers are slightly down this year, but Kenner said this isn't a bad thing. “Because with the numbers we've had in the past," she said, “we physically cannot take all the women who go through recruitment." M V U