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.