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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1988)
Handicapped student center hopes for grant By Mary Nell Westbrook Staff Reporter__ Handicapped students at the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln may benefit from only one of six federal grants that are given by the U.S. Department of Education. UNL’s Educational Center for Disabled Students should find out by the end of May whether it received this $133,000 grant. Although only six of these grants are given, Christy Horn, coordinator of the center, said she is confident UNL will receive one. “The center is the only one of its kind in the country,” she said. “The expertise is not equalled.” The center has made strides in technology that have been unparal leled throughout the country, sfe said. The grant would finance a research project that would involve network ing an entire information center into the existing computer system for dis abled students. The present system, which is about two years old, has such advanced technology as voice synthesizers, large print monitors for the visually impaired, keyboard emulators and other specialized devices for the orthopedically impaired. The center’s reputation should make it competitive for this prestig ious grant, she said. “We’re better known on the East and West Coast than we are in Lincoln or even on the campus,” she said. Many handicapped students on campus don’t know the center exists, she said. “That worries me,” she said. The new network would incorpo rate entire dictionaries, encyclope dias and other historical and reference data. The new system will make this basic information more accessible than the library, which is not that easy for handicapped students to use, she said. Working on a paper will be as easy as lifting the information from the stored source and putting it into the paper, she said. This serves those students who aren’t able to handle books. An optical character scanner will essentially be able to transfer any book into the computer system. “This is a major educational stride with real potential as an information source for those students who can’t access these basic sources,” she said. The project would be tested at UNL and then filter down into the high schools, junior highs and ele mentary schools. “It’s not that they (handicapped students) don’t have the ability (to learn) they just haven’t had the oppor tunity,” Horn said. UNL is the first college in the country to integrate such a computer system into its curriculum for handi capped students. The center serves about 135 stu dents now and that number is ex pected to grow, Horn said. As more students hear about the center, the numbers it serves keep increasing, she said. Already, Horn said, many out-of-state disabled stu dents arc choosing UNL because of the center. In 1985,23 students were using the center and during the 1986-87 school year, the number increased to 60. But despite the major advance ments, the center’s rapid growth could be stunted by the end of July. The center, a federally-financed demonstration project, is scheduled to run out of money in July. The buck is then passed to the university, she said. The NU Board of Regents will have to make a decision whether to continue financing the center after July, she said. But Horn is confident the univer sity will find the money to continue the center. “I’m not losing much sleep over it,” she said. “The administration has been very supportive.” The center may not receive as much money as it’s used to, she said, but she’s certain it will still serve the needs of the students. School is a major expense for a handicapped student, but at UNL the quality and technology now available to that student may make the expense a little easier to bear, she said. While nearly all buildings on campus are accessible on the first floor, Horn said, it’s just a matter of time before all buildings are more accessible. When buildings are renovated, handicap access is included, such as in Architecture Hall and the Walter Scott Engineering Center. Elevators were installed in these buildings dur ing renovation. The law states that “all programs” must be accessible, not all buildings. “We’re still able to make all the programs accessible,” she said, “but elevators are not cheap.” Some buildings that have caused difficulties for handicapped students are the College of Business Admini stration, Military and Naval Science, Mabel Lee Hall and Bancroft Hall, she said. Most doors are a problem, but they, too, are slowly being replaced, she said. “The student body is usually very helpful with doors when a handi capped student is trying to get through,” she said. An electric wheelchair, which helps a student get across campus faster on a cold Nebraska morning, costs $5,000, she said. Horn said she knows one student who is paying a lot of money to make a van drivable. He has to replace doors, install a mechanical lift and various other renovations all for a little more independence, she said. ‘‘Nothingcomes cheap fora handi capped student," she said. See Related Story on 6 Orr: education, economy important to Nebraskans By Amy Edwards Senior Reporter Gov. Kay Orr told University of Nebraska-Lincoln students Thurs day that education and economic development are still the most important issues in Nebraska. Orr met with 10 students from a class in leadership development for agriculture to answer questions about the political, economic and educational future of Nebraska. Orr told the students that money is not the only answer for better education. She said accountability for the quality of education must be taken into consideration when fi nancing education. Orr said comparisons with peer institutions must be considered for quality education. ‘‘I don’t think as a nation we’re doing enough,” Orr said. “I think we have to buckle down and confc pare ourselves internationally as well” Internal examinations of the educational structure must be in cluded to improve education, she said. Orr also told the students that agricultural research will play a role in adding value to Nebraska’s future farm production. Orr said she thinks farmers will be producing many of the same products, but there will be new uses for those products that will help Nebraska attract more business. The declining rural population also means more efficient farming, with fewer people needed to pro duce the same amount, site said. But Orr said efficiency also means fewer farms. “There are going to be rural communities that won’t survive,” Or said. The quality of life in Nebraska will also attract more people, Orr said. She said Nebraska is not im mune to drug, violence and gang problems, but hat these problems are minimal compared to other states. Orr said education and eco nomic development, combined with Nebraska’s quality of life, will keep people in the state, especially people who are raising families. In the future, Orr said, the coun try will see more people valuing a lifestyle that is more than afflu ence. Or said programs like LB775, to increase employment in investment growth and LB270 to increase a tax credit under the employment, ex pansion and investment act, will create more jobs by diversifying the economy. Before companies can acquire state funding, they must provide jobs, Or said. Other states finance corporations with no guarantee of creating jobs, she said. Orr said the government must play a role in economic develop ment. “All we’ve done (with LB775 and LB270) is give businesses and communities tools,” Orr said. “We can’t sit here in Lincoln and reach out to every community. Tne com munities have to decide what they need.” Eric Gregory/Daily Nebraskan Doug Bomberper, a sophomore business administration major, gets a little friendly help from student staff member Kim Brautigam Wednesday at the Educational Center for Disabled Students. Campus gardens to benefit all By Eve Nations Staff Reporter Students will notice growing changes on East and City campuses when they return for the fall semester, said Margaret Broberg, University of Nebraska-Lincoln nursery manager. Grounds crews are beginning to implement a plan for a botanical gar den and arboretum approved in Feb ruary by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, Broberg said. “Right now, we are developing the type of collections (of plants) we need,” Broberg said. “Some of the collections are started already.” Bud Dasenbrock, director of grounds for UNL, said some of the areas, such as the Cather exhibit west of Love Library, are already in place. The Cather exhibit includes native grasses and plants of Nebraska, he said. Dasenbrock said the project was started to improve educational oppor tunities at UNL. The gardens will have distinct uses for various student groups. “The art students will look at the artistic aspects of the gardens and the biology students will look at the bio logical aspects,” Dasenbrock said. “Humanities students will use them for different things too. “The project will be a new re source for students and faculty. The project evolved from faculty and staff. University students were also involved from the beginning, so ev eryone is learning from it already.” The botanical gardens will exislon both campuses but will be operated as a single garden with several themes, Dasenbrock said. “Each space will be operated as a different garden and theme,” he said. “Some will be exhibits of flowers and herbs, but each area of campus will be unique. Kind of like different shows.” The city campus already has small individual gardens, Brobcrg said. The individual gardens will be incorpo rated into the botanical gardens. Dasenbrock said there may be special exhibits, but at this point they arc not that far in the planning. “The regents say it can happen,” Dasenbrock said. “People will be appointed by the chancellor and then decide what displays there will be.” Special crews won’t be needed for the project because most of the people on the grounds crew are capable of handling the job, he said. “We have special people already,” he said. “We have a landscape artist and a horticulturer, among others.” Broberg said no people will be added to her crews. “We are trying to do with the people we’ve got,” Broberg said. “There will be a need for special training, though.” Kim Todd, campus landscape art ist, said there won’t be many addi tions to her department, but workers may be reclassified. “There may be some appointments to master gardener in the future,” Todd said. Dascnbrock emphasized the im portance to train people to take care of the new types of plants. Broberg said many of the new plants arc ordered from nurseries. “If we can’t buy the plants already grown, we collect and order seeds,” she said. “We bring some back from different arboretums. As we get more developed, it will be more difficult to find new plants.” Broberg said it is time to make a commitment in order to see the long term effects of the botanical gardens.
