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thursday,december8, 1977 vol.101 no. 53 lincoln, nebraska
Committee will review
stadium expansion lean
Photo bv Mike Dahlheim
High contrast enlarging silhouettes a lineman against the late afternoon sky.
The lineman is stringing cable above the intersection of 56th and Cotner
streets.
It is not a football game day but Mem
orial Stadium will be on the minds of at
least several members of the NU Board
of Regents at their monthly meeting
Saturday.
UNL Student Regent Greg Johnson said
the regent's business affairs committee, of
which he is a member, will review
expansion plans before the general regents
meeting at 1 :30 p.m. It is not known if the
issue, tabled at the September regents
meeting for further study, will be voted on
at the regular meeting.
Other items on the agenda for
Saturday's meeting at Regents Hall include ;
a vote on non-stated funded projects
the university hopes to accomplish in the
next fiscal year; curriculum adjustments
for the College of Engineering and Tech
nology; and appropriating $80,000 for
utilities in the Life Science building.
All three NU campuses will present a
list of non-state funded projects they hope
to accomplish in fiscal year 1977-78
These projects, not included in the univer
sity's Capital Construction budget request
Bilingual program to benefit minorities
By Margaret Stafford
A program to benefit Mexican-American
children currently is being organized by the
Elementary Education Department of the
UNL Teachers College.
The Interstate Bilingual Program will
train teachers for elementary schools with
Mexican-American students who do not
speak English, according to O.W. Kopp,
chairman of elementary education.
'We have discussed the problem of
teaching minority students for a long
time," Kopp said, "This program is finally
an attempt to solve the problem."
The program is being developed with
the cooperation of the Houston, Texas In
dependent School District. Kopp said the
general superintendent of schools in
Houston, Bill Reagan, suggested the pro--gram
to UNL officials after talking to stu
dents who are originally from Texas. Rea
gan visited UNL and saw that the good
things he had heard about the school were
true and asked for the school's help, Kopp
, said. .
Because Houston has - thousands of
Mexican-American students, it will be an
excellent area to begin the program,
according to Kopp. Houston also has the
material and expertise needed to train new
teachers, Kopp said.
"It is just a great laboratory for beginn
ing teachers with these interests," Kopp
said. "It will be much better than anything
we can offer in Nebraska."
The bilingual program will be offered
as a dual major with elementary education.
The major can be completed within the
normal 125 credit hour requirement by
substituting 44 hours of Chicano-related
classes for other requirements, Kopp said.
Majors will be required to spend two
summers training for the program. The first
summer, students will learn the customs,
heritage and basic Spanish of Mexican-
Americans. The second summer, students
will work together to develop language
skills and prepare for the classroom, he
said. The student then teaches in Houston
under the supervision of the Houston
school district. , -
After student teaching and completing
the requirements for certification, the grad
uate will have the option of staying in
Houston or returning to Nebraska, Kopp
said. Job placement is "almost guaranteed"
because of the great demand, Kopp added.
The Houston School system is trying to
secure federal funds for the program and
if all goes well, students can begin the pro
gram in January by taking the basic
requirements, Kopp said. The first summer
sessions will begin next summer if enough
interest is shown, he said.
Kopp said interested students should
meet at the Union Dec. 14 at 7 pjn., when
Bill Reagan will explain the program and
answer questions.
Sept. 15, are expected to be approved by
the regents.
The ten-member board also will vote on
limiting the final two years of classwork
for industrial engineering majors to the
UNL campus. The program currently at
the University of Nebraska at Omaha
would be phased out during a three-year
period, according to a report prepared by
Ned Hedges, UNL interim vice chancellor
.for academic affairs.
In his report. Hedges said that the UNL
engineering program has never been accre
dited, which might lead to a weakening of
the UNL program. Although transferring
the entire program from UNL to UNO has
been discussed, Hedges report stated there
is not enough money available to either
duplicate or move the engineering pro
grams. The ASUN Senate's proposal to trans
fer the Fees Allocation Board to ASUN
control will be delayed until the January
regent meeting, according to Johnson.
The proposal, originally scheduled to
be voted on at Saturday's meeting, is
being held until NU President Ronald Ros
kens presents his recommendations on a
new student fees structure to the board,
Johnson said. He added that ASUN isI;ope
' ful that Roskens' report will be made next
month;
Inside thutsday
Making hay while the sun shines:
UNL and state agencies are mak
ing cheap energy from ol' sol. .p. 5
Are you talking to me: Lincoln now
has more taxi drivers, thanks to a
new company .p. 6
Hopefully, you're not what you eat:
Lincolnite's film on city garbage
premiers here. .-.p. 8
Oriee hot Go Big Red sales cool this Christmas
By Mary JoPitzl
Christmas shopping for the ardent Big Red fan?
Although the stores overflow with items ranging from
Big Red furniture to a piece of the AstroTurf trod on by
the Huskef superstars themselves, the novelty item busi
ness has cooled somewhat, according to Lincoln busi
nessmen, k.V .
Fans either have everything there is to buy, or are
thinking twice before they put out money for another Big
Red trinket. ' ,
, . Randall Klein and Frank Aerni are testimony to the
dwindling buying power of the Nebraska football fan,
and they have more than 49,000 pounds of Astroturf to
prove it.
Last spring, Klein, Aerni and three friends submitted
an $11,101 bid for the AstroTurf in Memorial Stadium.
The Athletic Department was getting a new carpet for the
football field and put the old AstroTurf up for public
sale.
The five partners formed the Nebraska Football Sales
Company and are making souvenir mats, desk cts and
wall plaques from the 6,480 square yards of AstroTurf.
Since sales began last April, Aerni estimates the part
ners have made about $20,000. just recently moving into
the profit column. He said that about 19 of the original
24 2,600-pound rolls of AstroTurf are left to sell.
Operating in the red
Although the five-member company spent more than
six months operating in the red, Aerni said he and his
partners are not overly-concerned about aggressively mar-
keting their AstroTurf products.
"We're not real concerned about it now because it
sells well as patio covering in the spring," Aerni said.
"They (sales) went down in toward the end of the season,
and then picked up." .-.
Christmas sales have helped profits, Aerni said. The
wall plaques, mats and desk sets are sold in several Lin
coin stores, according to Aerni, although the majority of
sales are handled through the mail.
Klein, who describes himself as a Mdyed-in-the-wooi
fan," said he is not too worried about sales.
Klein said that when he and his friends started their
company, they realized they were taking a chance and
might not make any money.
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"I don't think it's a good market at all for a one
shot bit," Klein said, explaining that the souvenir value
of the AstroTurf probably would not last more than two
years.
Saying that he can not sense the same football fever as
when he was a UNL student in the early 1970s, Klein
speculated that fans "might have been let down after the
great years (Nebraska's two national championships in
1970-71).
"I think people are peaked out, but it can come back
again. It may take a few years to dull the fever from the
early 170s."
Many people have commented that the souvenirs are
attractive but they have not put their money where their
mouth is, according to Klein.
Worst customers
'Our worst customers are the people you would ex
pect to be the best," he said, adding that sales are low
among ardent Big Red fans.
The best sales are from people who really are not
crazy about Nebraska football, Klein said. Many of these
people are buying the souvenirs as gifts for avid Big Red
boosters, he said.
Letters from the end zones have been selling for $200
each, and strips of the goal line were sold at the Nebraska
State Fair last fall, Klein said.
Trie numerals from the field Yyardlines sell for$n
apiece, he-said.
A Holdrege man, who said ne is related to .imer
Nebraska quarterback Jerry Tagge, bought a "10" and a
40" from the company and sold back the zeros, Klein
said.
He explained that the man wanted an AstroTurf "14
to hang on the wall of his cabin in case his cousin, who
wore jersey 14, ever came to visit.
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