Tuesday, January 12, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Page 9
Surprises greet the unveiling of Union Square
By Ward W. Triplett III
If the early returns are any indication,
the Nebraska Union may have gotten a
little more than it bargained for with the
Union Square.
Take, for example, the 500 customers
who showed up during the two-hour, half
price grand opening of the union's new
fast-food restaurant Jan. 6.
"We only did that to get our employees
accustomed to taking orders and getting
the food out fast," said Ron Pushcar,
union food service director.
"We only expected 70 to 80 people at
the most, but people kept coming in," he
said.
Day two wasn't much different. Three
hundred to 400 people were expected, but
more than 1,000 came in. Day three
followed a similar route. The best part of
the high turnout is that few students,
whose money will primarily decide the
Square's profit or loss, were even back in
town by 4 p.m. Friday.
'To be honest, I don't know where the
people were coming from," Pushcar said.
"We didn't think we would be that busy
until the semester started. Even with the
large crowd, I think things went pretty
well," he said.
Union Square, open from 8 a.m. to 8
p.m. weekdays, is the visually-upbeat
operation Pushcar had hoped for last
spring. It looks, intentionally, as you
might expect McDonald's to, with artificial
skylights, iron gates and lampposts. Push
car said the operation should . be very
appealing to students.
"We spent the students' money to build
this, and we tried our best to give them
what we thought they wanted," Pushcar
said. He said input from students on the
Nebraska Union Board, particularly about
the entrance to the square, was exception
al. As might be expected, the early days of
the Square brought about problems
Pushcar hopes to eliminate when students
explore the Square en masse.
"Our main concern right now is to keep
the food hot," Pushcar said. "We also had
less than top-level ketchup, and from now
on we'll only be using the best you can
buy, which is Heinz," he added.
Among other complaints was too much
salt on the french fries, but it, like others,
was an isolated objection, due to the in
dividual's tastes more than a fault in the
Square's kitchen, Pushcar said.
"If I had about 50 to 100 people
complain about the salt, then I would have
said that there was a problem," Pushcar
said, "but I know I'm not going to make
everybody happy. That would be a real
nice thing to do, but I now we're not.
"I'm stili going over the day's business
with the staff after closing to see what
went wrong and what things have to be im
proved. 1 guess we'll be doing that through
the first month."
Jim Gage, supervisor of Lincoln's three
Wendy's restaurants, said he was not sure
how Union Square would affect the down
town site.
"I m not really qualified to say right
now if they will or if they won't," Gage
said. "I haven't been over there yet, but
I've read in the papers what they've done,"
he said.
Gage estimated that 20 percent of
Wendy's customers are students, plus the
business that comes from university-related
activities such as school trips to Morrill
Hall and other places.
"Athletic events or high school teams
that come down have an undoubtedly
positive effect on us," he said.
Pushcar said that although Union
Square is a viable competitor with Wendy's
and McDonald's, it hopes to attract and
serve mainly the college audience.
Union Square is unique among college
operations. Pushcar said last spring, and re
peated this fall, that fast food seemed to be
what the college student wanted and Ne
braska was going to be the first to provide
it. Now that it's operational, Pushcar hasn't
let any enthusiasm slip away yet.
Murder mystery. . . P
Continued from Page 8
Once the cat is quickly out of the bag, the reader must
endure a drawn-out chase through crowded Radio City
Music Hall as well as the melodramatic demise of the
murderer. Then, in the last paragraph, it gets cheaper still,
when Nightingale actually says to Connelly, "1 think this
is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Perhaps What Nigel Knew isn't serious or tongue in
cheek. Maybe it's a subtle allegory and a reverent homage
by the authors Evan Field to bad movies and senseless
plots. Possibly strangling the critic is symbolic of their
armchair feelings. But it begs the nagging question of why
trash sells. Only if you agree that lack of talent is an
American art form should you bother with this super
fluous, bo ok.
Kess;0
N S I k V
NEAR CAMPUS
We have o large selection of
Fashion and Sports Eyewear,
plus-
fv o
disV
IN OFFICE REPAIR SERVICE I
Hours: 9a.m. to 5p.m. Mon. Fri.
9a.m. to 12 p.m. Sat.
476-6212
Till; CAiuT ESCAPE
TO PADRE ISLAND!
FT" " tV
IV
ir.
March
10 - '28
Deadline to sign up and first
down payment is this
Friday, January 15.
For more information come
to the booth in the Unions
from 11-1 on East Campus,
Wednesday, January 13, or on
Citv Campus on Thursday, January 14,
or to the Informational meeting Thursday,
January 14, in the City Union, 7:0O-9.00p.m.
You must make your first down payment by
Friday, January 15 to go on the Padre Island
Spring Break trip. Any questions, call the East
Campus UPC office at 472-1 780.
mm - M mmm
Monday - Import Wight
fill imports beers $1.00
Tuesday - Ladies Night
Happy Hour prices on all hard liquor drinks
for ladies from 8-10
Wednesday - Wheel of Fortune
Price on wheel is the price of all bar liquor
drinks for each half hour following spin
From 35 cents to 95 cents
Thursday - Tequila Wight
fTlost tequila drinks 75 cents
Live Music
Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Daily Happy Hour
4:30 - 6:30 monday through Thursday
3:30 - 6:30 Friday
245 North 13th. Street
Lincoln, Nebraska
475-3007
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