OCT 2 1972
OQIIU
monday, October 2, 1972
lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 17
Tattoo artist mixes flowers, daggers, taxes
by Michael (0 J.) Nelson
"If they've got the money, I've got the time,"
Fred Luellman says.
The time to do what? To tattoo, of course.
Luellman, 72, is one of two known Nebraska
tattoo artists. He's been illustrating arms, hands, legs
and other parts of the body for more than 50 years.
His own arms are covered with tattoos of flowers
and daggers. He said one of them, a rose, is being put
on by his 12-year-old grandson, to whom he has been
teaching the art.
After a 30-minute tirade against the Social
Security system, taxes ('They're trying to take
everything I own."), Communists and the President,
Luellman talked about his work.
He's "run into all kinds of people" since he started
tattooing. And from the stories he told (most of them
unprintable), his jobs have been as varied as his
customers.
He said he's worked on every kind of person from
motorcyclists to ministers.
'This preacher came and said he wanted two
tattoos taken off his arms. They were nudes, and he
said he'd gotten them while he was in the service. He
told me he hated to take them off because they
looked so nice when he gestured."
The tattoo artist said he will work on anybody but
drunks and dope addicts.
"I got a glue-sniffer in here once," he said as he lit
another in a seemingly endless chain of cigarettes.
'The guy wandered around and looked at the
designs. He didn't even know what he wanted."
It's understandable how a person might not be
able to decide. The walls of Luellman's shop, a
converted underground garage beneath his Omaha
home, are covered with hundreds of more than 6,000
; f AM A .
, , ? A.
Luellman . . . will work on anyone but drunks and dope addicts
available designs.
They range from nudes, flowers and names to the
more elaborate eagles and sailing ships. He said prices
range from $8 to more than $200. The price of a
tatoo, he said, depends on the amount of detail in It.
Nudes, once his most asked-for design, are loosing
their popularity, he said. Daggers, roses, sentimental
tattoos such as "Mother" and women's names now
are the most requested.
His clientele, as well as its preferences, is changing.
"I'm opttina more women in here." he said, "and
they're asking for the darndest things. One came in
here and I put a I'rd on the inside of her thigh.
Others have asked for 'hot' and 'cold' put on their
breasts."
The women, he said, seem to be braver than men
while being tattoed. Insisting that 99 per cent of the
pain in getting a tattoo is psychological, he explained
the process.
The tattoo is put under the skin by using a
machine similar to a hand drill. The machine has a
needle where the drill bit should be. The needle, he
said, pierces the skin about one-sixteenth of an inch
and then injects the ink under it.
But before he can use the needle, he said, the area
to be tattoed must be shaved and coated with
Vaseline. The tattoo outline is put on the area by
rubbing carbon dust on a plastic sheet which has been
etched with the illustration.
"I can't do all the work at one time," he said. "I
have to fill in the colored places piecemeal. If I did it
all at one time it would hurt too much."
He said he uses six color of ink. He refuses to use
low-quality products and has to pay $35 a pound for
ink, which he orders from New York City ("I can't
get anything in this cow town").
With the mention of the cost of the ink, he once
again began to harangue the country's economy and
the treatment of senior citizens.
"There was an article on me in the Omaha World
Herald," he said. "The government thought J was
making so much money they tried to cut my social
security payments the next day. I wish my business
would get so good I could tell them to go to hell."
His business varies, ha said. Occasionally he goes
for several days without a customer, he said. At other
times, he added, "they come in by the carload."
But whether business is good or bad, he plans to
keep on working, he said.
"I've worked all my life," he said. "If I quit now
I 'd go nuts. After all, I m 72 years old.
for environmental institute
bv Sara Schwieder
Nebraska sits quietly between both steaming,
spewing coasts, somewhat innocent of the industrial
pollution infesting both edges of the nation. But
because Nebraska's largest industry-agriculture-relies
so heavily on the state's resources,
environmental concerns have a special significance
here.
Recognizing that, University President O.B.
Varner last year commissioned a study of the
University's environmental activities. The report
entitled "Environment and the University of
Nebraska," devises a plan for an environmental
institute to coordinate University efforts to help solve
Nebraska's environmental problems.
The report was authored by Dean Howard W.
Ottoson of the College of Agriculture in conjunction
with an ad hoc Committee on Environment. The
report, released in August, envisions an environmental
institute to:
-promote research on environmental problems.
"The emphasis here should be on problems not
being adequately covered in the University rather
than duplicating efforts presently underway," the
report states.
The report also recommened that the institute
stimulate interdisciplinary study and maintain an
inventory of environmental research now. underway
at the University.
-develop environmental study in undergraduate
and graduate teaching programs.
Ottoson said in the report that he recognized that
msny courses already have been revised to include
environmental impact, but that the institute should,
over lime, examine courses available and consider the
needs for new courses. The institute also would
overhaul major, minor and possible graduate degree
prc irssns in environmental areas.
f ha institute Drobablv would not offer degrees
independent of regular colleges, but would help
coordinate special interdisciplinary courses within
present colleges and schools, according to the report.
-develop and promote off-campus extension
programs in the environmental resources area.
The report reads: ". . .considerable effort is
already being devoted to environmental quality by
current projects which should not be disturbed by the
institute, (but that) '. . . the institute should identify
important problem areas not being serviced by
present projects."
-serve as an intelligence center for environmental
quality for the University.
The report foresees the Institute as a center for
environmental information open to University
researchers as well as state, federal and lay groups
needing the information.
It also might stimulate staff interest and
communication on environmental research, teaching
and extension by organizing workshops, symposia
and conferences.
Funding seems to b "he most important variable
in bringing the environmental institute into operation.
The report suggests that permanent funding, even
modest funding, is essential to the institute's success.
"An institute should not be considered without
assurance of at least minimum permanent funding
from state sources," the report says. "Such a
minimum level might be $200,000 or $250,000,
exclusive of any support for the Nebrasksa Water
Resources Institute.
"With permanent funding, the institute could
develop in a rational way without unduly dissipating
its energies for fund raising and being subjected to the
goals and objectives of outside agencies.
Ottoson said the institute would bsv the best
chance for real achievement if "it first datermirjsi lis
areas of priority and then seeks funds to carry on Jtt
work, rather than being led in on direction or
another simply in response to svsl&blt funds."
Colleges list 'ecological' cours
WW
by Sara Schwieder
and Vicki Horton
Prominent capital letters leap from the page,
asking "WHAT IS THE UNIVERSITY OF
NEBRASKA DOING IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL
AREA?"
A healthy section of the "Environment and tha
University of Nebraska" report delves into the
specifics of that question.
The report lists each course that has "ecological
content," but acknowledged that some courses listed
stretch the meaning of the word. Some do not mest
the report's definition of ecology, so the report sat id
the list "undoubtedly gives an inflated picture of
environmental teaching activity in the University."
As of spring, 1972, the report says the VUL
tna rf Arte and Sciences offered .73
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undergraduate courses with ecological content and 23
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