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Wednesday, September 17, 1975 volume 99 number 13 lincoln, nebraska .
Fire safety plan includes residence hall fire drills
y Paula Damke
This year for the first time, students liv
ing in UNL Residence Halls will be subject
to fire drills twice a semester to evaluate
fire procedures, according to Glen
Schumann, coordinator for residence hall
administration.
The fire drills are part of UNL's Housing
Office and Environmental Health Depart
ment's planned safety program.
Schumann said the Housing Office has
received criticism from the Lincoln Fire
Dept., for what he called their lack of eval
uation and - fire safety in residence halls.
To get students to consider fire alarms
seriously student assistants (SAs) on each
residence floor have become spokesmen for
fire safety procedures, he said.
Evaluation responsibility
The SAs are responsible for evaluation
of all students on their floor, Schumann
said. In the past, he said SAs also have
failed to take fire alarms seriously.
This year's fire drills,. whether they are
announced in advance or unannounced,
will help familiarize students with evacua
tion procedures, he said.
To deter students from making false fire
alarms, hard glass covers are being installed
over alarms in Abel and Harper Halls, on a
trial basis, Schumann said. Tlus will make
it necessary to break the glass before
pulling the alarm.
Housing Director Richard Armstrong
said the covers, which cost about $20 each,
are being financed by money remaining in
another section of the capital improvement
fund. He said the covers, approved by the
state fire marshall, were., made in Canada
and were approved after a year-long search
by UNL's Housing Office.
Additional fire escapes
To meet fire codes, the Housing Office
also is installing additional fire escapes in
the Neihardt Residential Center at a cost of
$55,000, Armstrong said.
The Burr-Fedde Residential Complex
also has emergency exits under construc
tion. The exit cost $17,500. Bids on stair
well enclosures for the complex now are
being taken, Armstrong said.
An additional 12,000 has been appro
priated for emergency lighting in dorm
hallways and staircases. The sum is not
enough money to cover the cost of installa
tions in all residence halls, Armstrong said.
In November, he said he will ask the NU
Board of Regents for additional funds for
the emergency lighting.
Armstrong said his office is working on
two requirement lists fire officials think
are necessary to meet fire codes. The first
list arrived at UNL in November, 1972.
Appropriations for financing requirement
lists were made by the regents then,
Armstrong said. .
7v
1
Husker fans heed warning;
parking violations decrease
i
Photo by Td KiHc
Nebraska Governor J. James Exon
. After last Saturday's football game, the
score stood at 63 illegally parked cars
towed away and 30 student football tickets
"retained."
. The cars were towed to the impound
ment lot at 1100 N. 17th St. during the
LSU football game according to city
and campus' police. -
With a $15 fine per car, three Lincoln
towing companies collectively are $84Q
richer. -
Thirty-nine violations were cited by the
Lincoln Police Department, according to
Inspector Dean Leitner. This figure is lower
than expected, he said. .
This year there was "tremendous coop
eration from the fans," because of good
publicity, he said. Warning leaflets describ
ing illegal parking places were mailed with
every football ticket. Television channel
10 and radio stations KLIN and KFOR
broadcast parking warnings, and the Lincoln
Journal and Lincoln Star printed advance
warning to football fans.
Fans who were parked illegally were
warned to move their cars', Leitner said.
Most whose cars were towed disregarded
police warnings, he said.' '
Campus police found 24 cars illegally
parked on university property, according
to John Duve, Campus Police parking and
traffic coordinator.
The Athletic Department is reviewing
approval to double 'the Fairgrounds bus
service from two to four buses so people
will not have to wait long for a bus, Duve
said.
Ticket manager James Pittenger said
30 student football tickets were kept at the
gate's before the game Saturday. Students
whose tickets were retained must talk to
Pittenger, he said, adding he did not know
the exact violations or. actions to be taken.
Ticket policies forbid students to allow
anyone else to use their season student
football ticket.
He said he had "no way of knowing" if
more students sold tickets before the game
this yearthan in other years.
Commission gets additional year
He said financing for the original re
quirement list was $521,400, of which the
regents have appropriated $213,400. Arm
strong said the dormitories still need
between $314,000 and $350,000 to com
plete the second requirement list.
Inflation and the additional cost esti
mates of emergency lighting in all residence
halls are reasons for the higher appropria
tion request, Armstrong said.
Financing of the projects is taken from
the capital improvement fund to which all
residencevhaU students contribute through
their room bill, Armstrong said.
The procedure starts when the Housing
Office has sketches of needed improvement
drawn by UNL Physical Plant officials. The
office then- sends a list of capital improve
ment priorities to Ken Bader, vice chancel
lor for student affairs, who then views the
plans and makes recommendations on pri
orities to the regents, Armstrong said.
100 percent ' - -;
Armstrong said in his years at UNL, the
regents have financed housing requests for
appropriations 100 per cent.,
This year's improvements in fire safety
in residence halls resulted from last year's
priority capital improvement list. It has
taken nearly a year to get projects started,
some of which won't be finished until
. Christmas, Armstrong said.
Armstrong said his staff now is con
sidering capital improvements for next
year's priority list. Findings are due by
Sept. 24.
Armstrong's priority list is due to Bader
by October, so that Bader can review it and
make recommendations prior to the
regents November meeting.
Armstrong said fire safety requirements
will be the top. priority on the list. The
physical improvements to meet the fire
codes are important, he said, but equally
important is the education of residence hall
members to fire dangers.
Stairway exits
The only exits from out of the residence
halls during fire alarms are stairways. All
elevators are cut off when the fire alarm
is sounded, Hansen said. The students
don't stop and think that smoke spreads
one floor per minute," Hansen said. Smoke
spreads through the staircases, she- said,
making it doubly important that
evacuation be prompt.
Hansen said the fire drills are to prevent
a crisis before it happens.
"If the student stops and thinks about
what fire is, he will evacuate the building,
but he must be reminded constantly,
especially after false fire alarms are
sounded," Hansen said;
Group re vived to organize colleges inside
By Theresa Foreman ,
Gov. J. James Exon has revived the
1202 Commission to serve as temporary
coordinator for Nebraska postsecondary
schools.
The commission was named for section
1202 of the federal Higher Education Act
of 1972, which provides federal funds to
states for long-range planning of higher
education coordination.
Exon first appointed commission
members in June 1974, for one year.
The 1975 Legislature did not act on
LB579, which would have established a
permanent coordinating body. That pro
posed bill resulted from studies and
recommendations made by the original
commission.
Three states -
Nebraska is one of three states without
an official coordinating body for higher
education.
The state probably will be slow to
accept a permanent commission which has
some statutory authority, according to
Norman Otto, Exon's executive adminis
trative assistant.
Jim Ollanlon, chairman of the com
mission, said It has helped prevent overlap
in various colleges' adult education efforts.
The commission helped revise information
systems of the postsecondary schools so'
the Legislature and others can interpret the
information more easily.
" Sticky issues
The commission will continue last year's
work, he said, but added that he would not
be surprised if it !'got into the more sticky
issues," which he said include assessing the
role of private education in the state and
laws governing private schools, improving
the "minimal coordination in Omaha
schools and trying to eliminate the over
lap in the missions of different public
institutions.
In its January 1975 report to Exon, the
commission said there is a need for a plan
for postsecondary education in the Omaha
metropolitan area to identify institutional
missions.
The commission also advised that adult
education programs should not be dup
licated in any area of the state."
PeLik attention
Hie commission should bring these
issues to the public's attention, O'Hanlon
said.
Included on the 23-member commission
are NU Regents Robert Kocfoot and Kermit
Hansen, Education Commissioner Anne
Campbell, NU Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs, Steven Sample and State
Sen, Maurice Kremer and Douglas
Rereuter.
The seconJ 1202 Commission expires
June 30. 1976. Funds for the commission
must be renewed yearly by the federal
guvejiiiJiciH.
O'Hanlon said the commission would
cease to exist if the Legislature created a
statutory coordinating body, but he does
not know if the Legislature will be ready to
act on LB579 by 1976.
Kocfoot said the 1202 commission has
no real power to coordinate, only the
power to suggest programs to Exon.
LB579 calls for creation of a 15-mem-ber
coordinating agency to insure max
imum use of the educational resources of
the state, while providing high quality
secondary education.
Goals -
The bill outlines goals of such an agency
as:
-to provide high quality educational
opportunities for all residents of Nebraska.
-to give a statewide perspective on
decision making and planning for post
secondary education.
-to identify and meet the educational,
service and research needs of the state.
- to promote increased sharing and most
efficient use of expertise and resources of
the postsecondary institutions in the state.
-to eliminate unneeded duplications
and inefficiencies in programs and services.
to maintain cooperation and joint
planning among public, independent
proprietary institutions. .
Women in Careers: .discussed in
WomenSpeak p.2
Law College and Law Students:
In Third Dimension. p.5
Also Find:
Editorials...... , P-4
Entertainment. p.9
Sports....' p.ll
Crossword p.12
. K Weather
Wednesday: Partly cloudy, temperatures
ranging from 75 to 80. Southerly, winds
from 10 to 20 rrsph.
Wednesday night: Clear, lows In the mid
to upper-50's.
Thursday: Partly cloudy, temperatures
in thejow 80's.
