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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1984)
"Oaaly r i 7 TN hi v. r in iwroi ? Thursday, September 27, 1934 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 84 No. 25 etimp: Dig business ! 4? r By John Mcissner Dally Nebrsskan Senior Reporter Editor's note: This U the fourth article in a five-part series ex ploring various issues behind Nebraska football. Behind Big Red So you think those rabid, rau cous Nebraska football fans cheer so loudly every Saturday solely because pride and a national ranking are on the line? Wanna bet? A lot of the east stadium deni zens do bet on Nebraska, that is. Bet on the outcome of a lot of college and professional games every weekend. Try their skill at something more substantial than the friendly $5 wager or the resi uor dence hall floor pool. MWe have been told that there is extensive gambling, especially dur ing the. football season," said Lt. Joe Wehner of the UNL police department. "But there . is not enough information to confirm it - is a problem." , fJttepsndtogjon the weekeruLpne , bookmaker might take bets amoun ting to "$3,000 to $4,000," accord ing to aformer gambler. And, he said, there 3s more than one book ie serving UNL "Gambling is very difficult to ' uncover," Wehner said. "The peo ple who gamble know each other and 'know who the police are. They can gamble openly, and still manage to keep it from the police." The former gambler explained the present betting system. "They ; buy a line (a list of match-ups ; with predicted point spreads be- tween final scores), and adjust it for the favorite games (those that spur the most betting because of local interest) to make both teams seem more attractive." A runner then distributes the Xeroxed sheets among friends, fielding phone calls and keeping track of all placed bets. The min imum bet is $10, with an addi tional 10 percent bookie fee. After the final pro game Mon day night ("Monday night games are extremely popular," he said, bets are collected and money dis tributed. The bookmaker's ideal situation, the former gambler said, is to Worn In an effort to focus attention cn v;crr.cn's roles in Nebraska businesses, Gov. Cob Kerrey hza selected 21 Nebrsskans to serve on a steering committee, for the I33 Governor's Conference cn 7omen Busaiea3 Owners, Kerrey end two committee numbers, I.L'ine Iloul end Lynn P.trpzi', cildzliy introduced ccn mitt2 members nd outlined ths nnusKer tans have an equal number of bets placed on both teams, so the winners and losers even out. Usually, though, losers outnumber the winners, because bookies not only have a statistical advantage, but an informational one. "People who make point spreads know a lot more about games than the bettors " tangibles and intangibles like "injuries, team dis unity, and playing conditions," he said. He said he has suffered through losing weekends, but a "smart bookmaker plays the game such that winning weekends easily cover losing weekends." Wehner said the department doesn't make a large number of gambling arrests, but they have made some, mostly low-level run ners. The maximum first-offense sentence for promoting gambling in the first degree a charge which applies to bookmakers who take in more than $1,000 a day is one year in prison andor a $1,000 fine. Fines and sentences are smaller for bookies who take in less and people who bet more than $300. People don't turn in bookmak ers or bettors because "gambling is viewed as a victimless crime, a recreation, not a priority to report," Wehner said. The former gambler denied that bookies take advantage of peo ple. "On this campus, betting on sports is not a matter of one stu dent trying to screw others out of money. It is a matter of an aggres sive person providing a highly demanded service to friends and acquaintances." "What right does the state have to provide gambling whereby they only pay the gamblers an 80 per cent return on what is bet, and say that that is moral because it is legal?" he asked, referring to the 1 7 percent cut Nebraska takes out of every parimutual pool at racetracks. "People enjoy betting football games, and I have seen it cause no more hazard to them than to others who enjoy wagering legally on horses. "My only moral qualm with bet ting on games involving the human element is that the integrity of the men performing can be ques tioned," he said. He said some people begin to assume games are "fixed" or players accept money to influence games. "11 1 1 P . press coaferehcv "Hccnorr.ie drrclcpnznt is so crucial to Nebraska's future that v a must not ovcrJocI: sny source of groivth, espgcisl'y not m the fields being currently pioneered by and dominated by women en trepreneurs" Kerrey S2id. The conference, tentatively Moul ..said small business own scheduled for the sprbjef 1CS5, ership is a way cut for women may include franchir-ir. cash who now have low-paying jobs. mans.errxnt, ztcit-vp financing, rik-taKin t r.a ctr. :r rr.r naceriai n 1 f-f n x 't I V U' LLi . - Joel SatorelD&Sly Nebraska!) JchaJanovy, interim director of st&te museum, sits beside one off Ids favorite ilortill Mali exhibits, the DInoIiyi: j a plaster figure representing an animal frbmlthe Miocene era. nterim director Janovy hopes to integrate university, By Barry Trevcrrow D Nebrtsian Staff Writer ' John Janovy Jr., newly ap pointed interim director of UNL's State Museum, said he hopes to increase public sup port and awareness for the museum in the next year. Janovy, professor of biolog ical science at UNL, was ap pointed Fr iday, replacing Allan Griesemer. Griesemer left to take a position at a museum in San Bernadino, Calif. Janovy will be in charge of administering the museum's research and exhibits for this academic year. He said his experience as director of UNL's Cedar Point Biological Field Station near Ogallala probably led to his appointment. "The station is a complex ."Figures ; show'thst;. threare about 3 miIlioji:..womfn .involved . in sm&tt business.owiiershlp con' trLuti? to Ebout 10 billion In. revenue to the ccuritrjs eccn cray "said Moul, owner of Maver ick Media of Syracuse. "They are the idlest growing entrepreneurs in the country ilcrrsy said ne z&em. jfi y v 3 J A 1 is 99 ' 9 . administrative job that involves teaching, food service and transportation." Janovy said. Jancvy said he has "an enorm ous amount of interest in the museum." . , "I use it every semester for classroom exercises in -my teaching," he said. "I never miss museums when I'm in big cit ies." Janovy teaches advanced parasitology at the field sta tion and introductory biology and zoology at UNL "I see a strong relationship between the museum and geo logy, anthropology and life sciences," Janovy said. Though Janovy isn't ready to disclose ideas he has for the. museum, he said, he wants to "continue to make the museum a growing part of the univer- people who have sokjc dream, soma pal End proide tha as:ij tar.es," Kerrey said. Kerrey sUd he ii'ces the idea of the conference because he thini most businesses and jobs created m : the state will be formed by people already lifting in Nebraska. "We're" very, excited about the potential ofthejconference in not only id enticing current women b usintss owners," Roper said, "but giving an opportunity for poten ticicr.T.crs to know what resour ces exUt b the stcte to help i : .; museum sity and make people aware of how it is integrated with the campus." Janovy has been a member of the UNL faculty since 1966. He is a former university award winner for distinguished teach ing and has gained national prominence for his research and literary achievement. "We are very pleased that Dr. Janovy has agreed to serve in the interim capacity," Chan cellor Martin A. Massengale said. "He is well-known for his fieldwork in the sciences, his creative writing, and he is an exemplary scholar and leader." Janovy is expected to begin his new assignment Oct. 1. The search for a permanent direc tor for the museum will begin immediately after a new vice chancellor for research and graduate studies is appointed. theiru to th2 cpnr.;:ttce along with fiw Oraahans, four Lincolnites and ilvz ethers from cuutate L'cbra- The conference would run one to two days. Satete vidf.eeorf,f rencir.3 v.i'i be used if two cities are choy?n as locations for the conference. North Fiatte, Lincoln and Omaha have been su;::$ted 3 iMj.iii.A.'C-a,, Several members of the Kerrey a-ntinistmtian have been named i i