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ASUN candidates
spar over problems
Officials keep eyes open,
needles ready for measles
By Susie Arth
Staff Reporter_
Spring is a lime of green grass,
blooming flowers, warm weather —
and the measles.
Throughout history, most measles
cases have been reported during the
spring, and this year, the Lancaster
County Health Department is pre
pared, said the health department’s
communicable disease coordinator.
Carol Mitchell said that since the
measles outbreak, first reported at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln in
1989 and Creighton University in 1990,
the number of measles cases in Ne
braska had steadily decreased.
Last spring, no cases were re
ported, Mitchell said.
A higher level of immunizations
in Lancaster County and closer checks
on the disease would keep the measles
under control if any cases were re
ported this spring, she said.
The health department checks area
schools weekly to sec if any illnesses
that resemble the measles have been
reported, Mitchell said. Also, doctors
are called on a rotating basis to see if
any measles diagnoses have been made.
In addition, a state law requires all
cases of the measles to be reported,
she said.
“If there is a case of measles in
town, we’ll know about it.”
When a case is reported, Mitchell
said, an investigation begins that
includes attempts to find out where
the disease was obtained and who
may have been exposed.
The investigation is necessary
because the measles are highly conta
gious, she said. The virus travels
through the air, she said, so being in
the same room with an infected per
son is enough to catch the measles.
One key to decreasing the risk of
catching the measles is being vacci
nated, Mitchell said.
The health department recommends
a vaccination for students before en
tering elementary school, seventh grade
or college, she said.
Panel
Continued from Page 1
those views.
“I hope you would be very con
cerned about this because I believe
the way of the future is people being
pitted against each other,” she said.
Polk said she hoped students would
have the courage to stand up for the
rights of others.
“Whenever you are in a situation
where people are contemplating op
pression of violence, take a stand
against that,” she said.
Polk said the students also could
help by going to the Nebraska Legis
lature and supporting civil rights leg
islation.
“Go to the Legislature, present your
testimony on whatever issue you want
to, and they are going to listen up,”
she said.
Parties agree
East Campus
issues left out
By Shelley Biggs
Staff Reporter
Improving relations between
AS UN and East Campus students
was among the issues addressed
Thursday by Student government
candidates at the East Campus
Union.
Candidates from the ACTION
and COMMIT
parties said a
lack of informa
tion on East
Campus had
affected repre
sentation of
issues concern
ing certain UNL student groups in
the Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska.
ACTION second vice-presiden
tial candidate Chris Olaes said the
ACTION party was prepared to
take AS UN to students through the
use of pamphlets and a joint ASUN
career service office on East Cam
pus.
COMMIT presidential candidate
Andrew Sigerson said his party
wanted to offer more metered park -
ing spots on East Campus. He also
said he wanted to increase the core
curriculum classes offered to stu
dents living on East Campus.
Parking for commuting students
also was addressed by both parties.
Candidates said they believed a
parking garage would be one way
to help ease the parking problem.
Other long-term issues discussed
included improving student secu
rity on campus and recruiting
minorities to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Al Schaben/DN
Lisa Newberg, left, a freshman journalism major, catches a nap after being evacuated from Abel Residence Hall
when a fire broke out on the third floor. Her roommate, Angela Plack, a freshman economics major, sits beside
her.
Abel fire sets off sprinklers
From Staff Reports
A fire in Abel Residence Hall early
Thursday morning set off the sprinkler sys
tem and caused the evacuation of Abel and
Sandoz residents.
University Police Lt. Mylo Bushing said
the fire started from two burning candles
left unattended in a room on the third floor
of Abel.
Bushing said the fre was reported at 1:46
a.m.
The sprinkler system was activated, but
failed to extinguish the fire. The Lincoln
Fire Department brought the fire under control
at 1:57 a.m., Bushing said.
No injuries were reported and damage to
university property was estimated at $150.
Doug Zatcchka, the University of Ne
braska-Lincoin housing director, said that
although the sprinkler system failed to ex
tinguish the fire, it worked like it was de
signed to.
Sprinkler systems arc mandated by the
State Fire Marshal in all high-rise buildings,
Zatechka said.
Coliseum s age
slows project,
director says
By Sarah Duey
Staff Reporter
Problems arising during renovation of the
NU Coliseum will cause the process to take
longer than planned, a UNL official said.
Stan Campbell, director of Campus Recrea
tion at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln,
said renovation of the Coliseum, which began
in May 1991, originally was slated to be com
pleted in 12 months. But the date was moved
back two months, he said, and the planned date
for completion now is July 1.
Unforeseen complications occur when an
old building like the Coliseum is renovated,
Campbell said. The Coliseum was built in
1926.
For example, he said, redesigning the origi
nal plan for the air conditioning system caused
some delay. The original plan for the air condi
tioning system was inadequate for the Coli
seum’s size. After renovation is completed, he
said, the entire Coliseum will be air-condi
tioned.
“We appreciate students being patient and
understanding with the renovation,” Campbell
said.
Renovating the Coliseum is the last of three
phases. The entire project, which includes
completion of Cook Pavilion, construction of
the Lee & Helene Sapp Memorial Recreation
Facility and the renovation of Mabel Lee Hall,
cost $14.9 million.
Once completed, Campbell said, the Coli
seum will have new features. The men’s and
women’s locker rooms, which are being refur
bished, will each have a sauna. A “suit-mate,”
which extracts water from a swimming suit in
about 25 seconds, also will be added. This
feature will help prevent the rusting of metal
lockers, he said.
Campbell said the basement would hold a
fitness/acrobics room, a combative-arts room,
an athletic-training space and locker rooms for
the intercollegiate volleyball and softball teams.
The main-floor court space is being refur
bished to produce four multipurpose courts, he
said. The women’s volleyball team will use the
courts for practice and home games once the
Coliseum is finished, he said.
Scholarship
Continued from Page 1
male counterparts when it came to
scholarship termination.
While his client faced losing her
scholarship not because of academic
or disciplinary problems, but rather a
personality conflict with her coach,
McFarland said, a football standout
was allowed to keep his scholarship
even after being suspended by Coach
Tom Osborne in the spring of 1991.
McFarland said he had asked Dierks
to introduce the bill after his experi
ence with the appeal process.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a
co-sponsor of LB 1185, noted that no
-44
They knew they were
very wrong in this
case
Sen. Ernie Chambers of
Omaha
co-sponsor of the bill
-ff -
representatives of UNL attended the
hearing.
“They knew they were very wrong
in this case,” Chambers said in refer
ence to the case McFarland described.
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Dorm occupancy dropping, official says
By Shelley Biggs
Staff Reporter
Smaller graduating high school
classes and an increase in the con
struction of new apartments in Lin
coln have caused a decrease in UNL
residence hall enrollment over the
last 10 years, an official said.
Doug Zatechka, director of hous
ing at the University of Ncbraska
Lincoln, said residence hall enroll
ment began to decrease in 1980. The
drop was not considered serious at the
lime, he said, because the residence
halls were considered loo full with
capacity at more than 100 percent.
The dip in residence hall enroll
ment began to materialize at the
beginning of the 1986-87 academic
year, Zatechka said, when residence
hall enrollment dropped by 60 stu
dents. This year, residence hall en
rollment has decreased by about 200
to 240 students and currently is at 90
percent capacity.
Zatechka said housing officials
anticipated the drops in enrollment
after freshmen class sizes began to
decrease in the early 1980s.
Lisa Schmidt, director of High
School and College Relations at UNL,
said the number of graduating high
school seniors in Nebraska had de
clined by about 1,000 students every
year since 1979.
w
Class sizes are slowly beginning
to increase, Schmidt said. Nebraska s
class of 1992 is expected to increase
by 80 graduating seniors, but that is
not enough to make up for past de
clines, she said.
Giles Schildt, president of Harper
Residence Hall and a member of the
Residence Hall Association, said one
of the main problems with the low
enrollment was that there was less
involvement in activities and pro
grams.
“Most of our programs are one
shot deals,” Schildt said. “When there
are fewer people living in the resi
dence halls, it affects the amounts ol
people who get involved.”