doily
thursday, august 28, 1975 volume 99 number 4
Legislature
reopens case
on sculptures
By Lisa Brown and liz Crumley
A meeting Tuesday of the Legislative
Council's Executive Board reopened
controversy surrounding the Interstate 80
Bicentennial Sculpture project.
Grand Island Sen. Ralph Kelley,
appointed by the Executive Board to study
possible legislative and gubernatorial
approval of the sculpture projlct, referred
to a letter written by Gov. J. James Exon
which said Exon believed the sculptures
may have to be approved, by the.
Legislature and himself.
In an interview Wednesday, Thomas
Doyle, Nebraska Roads Dept. director and
a spokesman for the Exon administration
said a 1975 statute (LB605) requires the
governor and the Legislature to approve
any gifts' to the state of real property
valued at $10,000 or more.
However, Doyle said, a question was
raised at the board meeting about another
provision requiring only the governor's
approval of gifts of personal property
worth $10,000 or more.
The estimated cost of the sculpture
project is $525,000.
" Legal decision
The question of whether the sculptures
constitute real or personal property is
pending on a legal decision to be made
later this fall, Doyle said. He said he was
noi sure who would make the decisions.
A subcommittee was named at the
meeting to talk to Exon about
implementing LB605, said Art Thompson,
sculpture project director. ,.
Members include Senators Ralph Kelly,
Wally Barnett and John Savage.
Met specifications
The 10 Bicentennial sculptures have met
all the Nebraska Dept. of Roads
specifications, Doyle said.
"We would reject any project that was
unsafe, difficult to maintain or a liability
to the traveling public or to the State of
Nebraska," he said, adding that state funds
also could not be used in acquisition of the
project.
"We have no point of view concerning
the artistic value of the sculptures. . .as
long as, the provided funds are there and
the physical properties met," he said.
1973 proposal
Thomas Yates, a Bankers Life Nebraska
executive, proposed the "455-mile
sculpture garden" in 1973 when he was
chairman of the tourism subcommittee of
the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.
Yates, the Lincoln Chamber of
Commerce and Norman Geske, director of
the University Art Galleries and a member
of the Nebraska Interstate 80 Bicentennial
Sculpture Corp. board of directors,
proposed the Idea to the Nebraska
American Revolution Bicentennial
Commission, which adopted it in August,
1973. .
The sculptures are . to be finished by
June 1, 1976, according to contracts, and
will be unveiled at ceremonies July 4,
Fall victim slightly improved
Abel resident 'serious'
l ' k . " "" i
I ' 1 V , ' t ' ' ' " " ' , "
Artist's drawing of Linda Howard's "UpOver" as it will appear,
Nebraska's Interstate-80. It is one of eight sculpture projects.
Photo courtesy lntrtat-80 Sculpture Project
when completed, on the Ogailala west-bound rest aea on
1976.
Sculpture criticism
Many Nebraskans have criticized the
sculptures in local newspapers and in
letters to the 1-80 Sculpture Corp. because,
they said, the works are too abstract. .
"Most of the negative criticism has dealt
with tilings other than the sculptures
themselves, such as the use of state tax
funds." This criticism is totally incorrect,
he said.
Others have criticized the sculptures for
not representing Nebraska's heritage, he
said.
Horizon's Division
. "We tried to base the sculpture project
under the Horizon's Division" which
represents the future and is one of the
three divisions . of the Bicentennial
celebration, Thompson said.
Other areas : of the Bicentennial
celebration are Heritage, the past, and
Festival, the celebration today.
Some people also complained because
there were no Nebraska artists as sculptors,
Geske said. Eight of the 121 sculpture
proposals received were from Nebraska
artists, and only one of these made it past
the first screening.
Even though none of the artists selected
were from Nebraska, he said, all of the
sculptors visited Nebraska and studied the
local landscape. ,
Estimated cost
About $400,000 will be used for artists'
commissions, construction and artists'
travel to Nebraska. Seventy-five thousand
dollars will go for salaries and publicity for
the Nebraska Interstate 80 Bicentennial
Sculpture Corp., a non profit organization
whose purpose is to promote the sculpture
project. Fifty thousand dollars in services
and supplies are being asked from Nebraska
businessmen.
Granting money to the project are the
Nebraska Bicentennial Commission,
$100,000; American Revolution
Bicentennial Administration, $12,500;
National Endowment for the Arts,
$20,000; Nebraska Arts Council, $2,500;
and Nebraska businessmen, who are
expected to donate $340,000.
About $300,000 of the $475,000 has
be'en raised, Thompson said.
Bus cut affects students
A freshman student was listed in serious
condition at Lincoln General Hospital late
Wednesday evening after falling through his
tenth floor window at Abel Hall Tuesday
afternoon, according to a hospital
spokeswoman.
David Arthur Zcch, 18, of Douglas, was
listed in critical condition when he first
arrived at the hospital.
Campus Police said Zcch tpparently fell
through the glass window in Abel 1011
about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, hit a tree, then
slammed into a six-foot wooden bench on
the west side of the hall. Police said it was
a fall of about 100 feet.
Hospital officials refused to elaborate
on Zech's condition Wednesday. Lois
Ullman, supervisor at Lincoln General, said
Tuesday night that Zech had suffered a
fractured pelvis and wrist, several broken
ribs and possible head injuries.
Gail Cade, Campus Police chief, said
investigation into the Incident is continuing
with Ihe help of the State Patrol. '
. Sgt. Tom Keith of Campus Police said
about 50 persons have been interviewed by
police in connection with the incident.
No one has given police any information
that would lead them to any conclusions as
to how the incident occured, Keith said.
Keith asked that anyone having
info.'maiion about the case, or who came
contact with or knew of the
ii-reahouti of Zech between noon and
the time of the incident Tuesday, call him
at 472-3555, ,
in
w
By Marian Lucas
It appears that more than one NU
student will have to alter education plans
this year because of the scheduling of the
intercampus mail bus. .
According to Paula Dollevolt, a life
Sciences graduate student, a handful of
Omaha to Lincoln commuters are changing
classes because the shuttle bus which runs
between the University of Nebraska
Medical Center (UNMC) and UNL has
discontinued its 5 p.m. return trip to
Omaha. .
But officials at NlTs MaU Dept., which
runs the service, said the main object of the
bus is to transport mail between campuses.
Dick Schenaman, assistant supervisor of
campus mail, said the 5 pjn. return was
eliminated because it was no longer needed
as a mail service.
Students depending on the service for
their afternoon classes purposely moved
closer to UNMC to catch the bus, Dollebolt
said.
"Now they are stuck in the middle of
town and can't find car pools," she said.
Equipped to carry 14 people, the bus
has made more opportunities available to
the commuter student. Dollevolt added
that s three month internship at UNL was
made possible for a UNO student last year.
Without this service, his internship would
not have been granted, she said.
Dollevolt said last fall 12 regular
commuters attempted to gain reserve
passage on the bus. The mail department
told us they were certified to carry mail
and .were under ho obligation to carry
passengers," she said. "We really have no
recourse because there is no good
commuter transportation between Lincoln
and Omaha.
Another student, lan Duncanson, said,
he was forced to quit the masters program
in accounting at UNL because of the
transportation problem. Duncanson, now
taking classes at UNO to ba a Certified
Public Accountant, said a budget cut
reduced the department's number of trips.
"It was never a question of whether the
mail would be late or not since it is already
delayed one day," Duncanson said.
Alternatives existed, but the mail dept did
not want to change the schedule, he said.
According to Schenaman, the possibility
of adding the 5 p.m. bus to this semester's
schedule is very slim.
This year's departure times are:
Trip 1
UNMC 6:30 a.m.
UfjQ 6:55 a.m.
Lincoln, 14andS St. ' 8:15 a.m.
Statehouse 8:35 ajn.
Lincoln, 1 4 and S St. 8:45 a.m.
UNO 10:10a.m.
UNMC 10:25 a jn.
Trip 2 .
UNL Nebraska Hall - 1:00 p.m.
UNO 2:20 p.m.
UNMC s 2:50 p.m.
Lincoln 4;30 pjn.
inside
Chatauqua: Bicentennial show
will change
Commonplace: Creative
community
Campus Bank: One year later
"Qint": UNO student
president
p. 1 1
p.2
p.7
p.12
Thursday's forecast calls for
sunny skies with highs in the
mid-nineties and humid conditions,
according to the Lincoln Weather
Service. Winds should be southerly at
10 to 35 mph.