Wednesday, march 2, 1977
paga4
daily nebraskan
HPER deserves
overdue funding
Students at UNL do not know what it is like to
take classes that meet in quonset huts. However,
students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
do.
UNO students who take classes in physical
education and recreation meet in small,
temporary buildings that were constructed in
1947. Following their construction, UNO has
. waited to have a building like the Health, Physical
Education and Recreation (HPER) Bldg. that
currently tops the NU Board of Regents' list of
construction priorities.
This building is desperately needed at UNO.
Money for the building was allocated by the
Nebraska Legislature in 1973. An architect was
hired to plan the building.
However, when construction of the building
came up for reallocation of funds in 1974, Gov.
J. James Exon vetoed it from the proposed NU
budget.
In 1975, the Legislature approved financing for
the building again, but Exon vetoed it. Attempts
to override Exon's vetoes in 1974 and 1975 were
unsuccessful.
Two years ago NU requested $6 million for the
building. Inflation made that price tag increase to
$7.3 million this year. Next year the same
building would cost $8.1 million.
While Exon appears to be saving Nebraska
taxpayers money by vetoing the building, he
actually is costing them more.
The need for the HPER Bldg. will not go away
if we try to forget it. The number of recreation
and physical education majors is increasing at
UNO.
Exon acknowledges the need for the building,
but apparently does not understand its purpose.
In his interview with the Daily Nebraskan,
Exon said about the HPER Bldg., "Basically it's
a gymnasium with some teaching facilities built
into it"
Perhaps the name of the building is the stigma
that hurts its funding. The HPER Bldg. is for
instruction purposes. It is not needed because
UNO wants a nationally ranked football team or
an expanded intramurals program.
The fact that an HPER Bldg. could be used for
general student recreation purposes is good. Just
because most of the students at UNO are part
time and commuter students doesn't mean they
don't need a gymnasium where they can exercise
and play basketball.
Exon's comparisons with the buildings at
Creighton University and Nebraska Wesley an
University are not an algous. The number of
physical education and recreation majors at those
institutions make up a fraction of the number of
majors at UNO.
In addition, UNO has about 16,000 enrolled
while Creighton has about 5,000.
By cutting the NU proposal for the HPER
Bldg. from $73 million to $4 million, Exon is
insuring that the building can be used only for
recreation purposes.
NlTs request for $73 million was based on a
program the Legislature approved back in 1973.
The original proposal five years ago was for $21.5
million for a 500,000 square feet structure. That
amount was reduced to $14.9 million, then to
$8.9 million. Two years ago, that figure was
reduced again to $6 million for a 142,000 square
feet building. Exon's $4 million proposal would
provide for a 60,000-square-feet building.
UNO interim Chancellor Herbert Garfinkel
has said that a $4 million building would be
inadequate "from the day it opened."
So, if an HPER Bldg. is going to be built, it
should be done right the first time. This is a
needed building for NU. UNO has pared its
budget as much as possible. The Legislature
and the governor should approve the overdue
funding for the building at $73 million.
. 3 v. atx I I - . i A
reen mora coos
The flying saucer was first noticed by the Campus
Police.
It was neatly parked in Area 12, occupying six parking
stalls and blocking the driveway besides. Action was
swiftly taken. The flying saucer was given six parking
citations for not putting any dimes in the meters. That's
all. No one could figure out how to attach the Phino
Boot -
The driver was nowhere to be seen. The rear window
didn't even show a campus identification sticker.
Several dormitories were contacted to find out if any
one had signed in a visitor. Fraternity and sorority houses
were called to check if it might have been a leftover
Homecoming display. No luck.
An official report was written up and placed in the
proper file. All the officers were told to go back to their
es cornp
ys svir
warp nine
normal duty. It was a complete, intense investigation,
and a full 15 minutes hat been spent on it.
The next day several unrelated inquiries were made
by a small, green man in the Administration Bldg.
"Take me to your leader," he said.
The receptionist had to lean over the desk to get a
good look at him.
."Oh, dear," she said. "Well have to see your student
number and check your file."
No number '
The little green man had no number. Evidently he'd
carelessly lost his identification card. But the mystery
was cleared up when they discovered he had no file,
either.
"Oh, you're not enrolled!" the receptionist said. "Why
don't you go downstairs and apply for aid for next term?"
She escorted him to the Office of Financial Aids, explain
ing to them that his English wasn't all that complete.
They nodded understanding.
"Take me to your leader," he said.
The little green man was given an armload of forms to
fill out, among them a. parent's confidential statement,
a grant application, a federally insured student loan
application, and a half-dozen scholarship applications.
"Are you interested in sports?" they asked. Then they
noticed for the first time that he was only three feet high,
and quite green. Immediately they sent him to Student
Health Services. The doctors at Student Health tried to
coerce him to assume a healthier hue, and then decided
that green, after all, was his proper color. They apologized
profusely and sent him to the Office of Minority Affairs.
"Take me to your lead"' " he said to them.
Makes headlines
Meanwhile, the Car paper, the Daily Typo, had
gotten the scoop. A story about the green man was
printed on the front page the next morning: ALIEN
DENIED ENTRANCE TO UNIVERSITY, Editorials
screamed for the resignations of those responsible, includ
ing many administrators who were resigning anyway.
At the Fees Allocation Board meeting that afternoon,
a delegation from the Little Green Men Movement
(LGMM) demanded that funds be set apart for alien
students attending the university. The LGMM threatened
to march on the Capitol.
Interviews with the green -man proved impossible.
Later it turned out that he'd been spending his evenings
at the Brass Rail. There he'd been invited to speak at the
next ASUN meeting.
i?or the first time in two months a quorum was obtain
ed. The room was packed with senators. The little green
man showed up right on time and went to the front.
'Take me to your leader," he said.
An impassioned debate followed for three hours, and
when it was over they still hadn't decided what he'd
meant. They did decide not to decide until after the
election, however.
The little green man slipped out during the debate. It
could be that hot air was dangerous to his health. Or .
maybe he'd decided that the search for intelligent life on
Earth was a hopeless cause. .
Anyway, the flying saucer was gone the next morning.
Along with the truck (and driver) that had been trying to
tow it away.
Coffee lovers' yens ignored in Love
By Lisa Velders
After four years at the university, I've finally quit
studying.
Not because I've burned out, mind you. Or because I
prefer play to work. Or even because I'm bored with
studies.
On the contrary, the guidance of a few skillful pro
fessors, the experience of a year abroad, and the example
of a few studious friends have taught me an appreciation
for learning.
No, it's not that I don't want to, but rather, that the
university doesn't seem to want me to study.
Two years ago, I used to study late into the night on
the third floor of Nebraska Hall. The third floor, as
opposed to the second, was extremely quiet, because
guest opinion
students were more spread out. And of course, when you
simply couldn't take the silence any longer, you had only
to skip down two flights of stairs to the lounge for a cup
of coffee and some quick-energy eats.
Now, two years later, I come back to UNL to discover
a lovely new addition to Love Library with no provision
made for late night studiers with a yen for coffee and
candy bars. In fact, students cannot even take in their
own thermoses of coffee.
Caffeine addict
- As a confirmed caffeine addict, I find the prospect of
several hours of dry work and a drier throat an unpala-
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table one. By contrast, I visited a university library in
Indiana, and spent entire days contentedly studying with
frequent coffee breaks.
So I returned to my old haunt, the third floor of
Nebraska Hall-and found out that that's what it is, all
right, an old haunt. The floor has been closed off, and
second floor has been packed with students.
Being a truly serious student (no, I don't weigh 200
lbs. or have pernicious acne), I was not even deterred by
tiiat-nor from Ihe rather constrictive study room hours
(i.e., it's closed Saturday nights, which, for those of us
with heavy work loads, are necessarily study times).
No, as long as you give me my cup of coffee, I can
study under almost any circumstances. But the university
has finally taken even that away from me. The "all
night canteen" in Nebraska Hall is no more.
I was sitting in it at about 10:15 pjn. Tuesday,
frantically studying for an early morning exam and
munching a candy bar, since I'd had little to eat that day,
when some key-punchers came in and noisily informed
me thai I wasn't supposed to be there. You can imagine
my chagrin.
They had access to the room, but I, a fees-paying
student, did not.
Because of some burglaries and destructive students,
"They "-whoever "They" are-had decided to close the
coffee lounge early.
AS night study cut
I feel the university is closing me out of my study
space: Love is good for a few hours only, because of no
lounge facilities; Nebraska Hall, because of space constric
tions and the closing of a. coffee lounge, is becoming a
less pleasant prospect for all night study, as well.
So I give up.
I realize that the energy crunch has forced the univer
sity to close off electricity in some areas, and that some
students do ruin nice lounges. But this is, after all, an
institution for studies, and priority should be placed on
making them a pleasant and relatively easy prospect.
In a couple of months, many of us will take up the
nine to five, and well have little time to spend exploring
new subjects. It becomes too much of a hassle to go to a
library to spend an evening learning about art, or history,
or how the economic system affects us. It's much easier
to just sit open-mouthed in front of the tube.
I'm one of the fortunate few to have learned in four
years that studying can be fun. As I leave the university,
my advice to freshmen is: Let yourself discover new
subjects, and forget about grades. Study -that is, if the
university will let you.
Lisa Velders is a senior journalism major from Granger,
Ind.
