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• Judy Diamond, an assistant professor of museum studies at UNL, travels to New Zealand every winter to study Kea
parrots.
Wild calling
Professor conducting parrot study in New Zealand
By Phuong Vu
Staff Reporter
Every winter, Judy Diamond travels
to the high mountains of New Zeal
and to study a species of birds
whose numbers are declining steadily —
Kca parrots.
For the last four
years, Diamond, an as
sociate professor of
museum studies at the
University of Nc
braska-Lincoln, has
conducted a field study _
on Kca parrots with funding from the
National Geographic Society.
Diamond works with her husband,
Alan Bond, a research associate in
/oology at the Nebraska Stale Museum.
Bond also is a consultant for the Univer
sity of Califomia-San Diego Medical
School and the Creighton University
Medical School.
The two are working with the New
Zealand deparunent of conservation to
develop management plans for the
species, Diamond said, because only
about 2,000 Kca parrots arc left in the
wild.
Diamond and Bond first heard about
the Kca parrot 10 years ago when they
traveled to New Zealand for a scientific
meeting. Sheep farmers told them about a
parrot that attacked and killed sheep, she
said.
Diamond said she attempted to find out
more about the onc-foot-tall bird. Her
husband had studied the foraging behavior
of birds, she said, and they both wanted to
learn more about Kcas.
Their study was the first long-term
quantitative field study conducted on the
parrots, she said.
During the field study, Diamond said,
she discovered Kcas did kill sheep and
other animals, but the numbers were not
nearly as high as the sheep farmers
claimed.
“Kcas will cal insects, plant material,
dead animals and harass live animals,”
she said.
Their harassment can kill animals.
Diamond said. The parrots dig holes on
the backs of sheep, she said, and the open
wounds can lead to blood poisoning.
But, Diamond said, Kcas arc master
explorers in their mountain habitat and
they have complex social organizations.
“Kca parrots will try to investigate and
manipulate anything in their environ
ment,” she said. They arc intensely
curious, she said.
“It’s relatively easy lo find Keas if you
know where to look,” she said. “Kcas
aggregate where there’s people.”
Diamond and Bond also arc conducting
a field study on the Kaka, a relative of the
Kca parrot.
The Kaka arc an endangered species,
Diamond said, with fewer than 1 ,(XX) birds
remaining.
Last year, she and Bond studied the
Kaka on a rain forest island called Kapili
in New Zealand.
“I wanted to know if behavior evolved
differently in a rain forest environment vs.
the high mountains,” she said.
When Diamond is not researching in
See DIAMOND on 3
Scottsbluff gains MBA classes I
Courses taken
via satellite link
By Taryn Gilster
Staff Reporter
Students in western Nebraska will
be able to continue their educa
tion in business with a joint
graduate degree program offered by
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
and Chadron State College.
The new graduate program, to start
next fall, is the latest addition to a
growing network of cooperative higher
education options in western Nebraska.
Arnold Bateman, extension coor
dinator of the UNL Panhandle Re
search and Extension Center in
Scottsbluff, said the joint masters of
business administration program would
be taught by faculty from UNL and
Chadron Slate and transmitted via
satellite to the extension center in
Scottsbluff.
“The majority of our courses arc
graduate courses,” Bateman said. “We
try to complement what Chadron Slate
has and avoid duplication.”
UNL provided a classroom at the
extension center, and Chadron Stale
supplied electronic equipment, he said.
The Division of Continuing Stud
ies at UNL also assisted with the
arrangements, including providing the
electronic communications systems,
with funding from the Nebraska
Legislature.
The university has a satellite sys
tem that sends signals to Scoltsbluff
and Chadron State, he said.
Chadron State is offering its third
semester of credit courses via the
same system to Scoltsbluff, he said.
Bateman said students might choose
to complete the UNL or Chadron Stale
route in receiving their masters’ de
grees.
The Chadron Slate MBA program
requires 30 hours of undergraduate
courses, including core courses. The
UNL program requires 39 hours with
required courses such as calculus,
elementary quantitative methods and
operations and resources management
courses.
See MBA on 3
Corrections:
In Friday's Daily Nebraskan, an article
on a fire in Abel Residence Hall incorrectly
stated that the sprinkler system failed to
extinguish the fire The sprinkler system
did extinguish the fire
Also in Friday's edition, a story on the
Nebraska Community Improvement Pro
gram should have said the program was a
cooperative effort between the University
of Nebraska, the Nebraska Department of
Economic Development and a group of
investor owned utility companies The
story should also have said a workshop on
Saturday was sponsored by the Mayor's
Neighborhood Roundtable and the Lin
coln Urban Development Department
In another story Friday on multicultural
awareness and homosexuality, a quota
tion was misattributed to Donna Polk, who
is a community activist Polk spoke on the
need for students to become involved in
civil rights, but she did not specify her
sexual orientation.
The Daily Nebraskan regrets these
errors
Baldwin may
be released
to center
By Sean Green
Senior Reporter
UNL student Andrew Scott Baldwin was
scheduled to sign a bail order at 8:15
a.m. today, and he could be released
for care at an Omaha psychiatric institution if
he can post S10,000 bail.
As soon as Baldwin can raise the bail money,
he will be released to St. Joseph’s Mental
Health Center in Omaha for observation, Lan
caster County Attorney Gary Lacey said Sun
day.
Baldwin, 22, faces up to 25 years in prison
for allegedly beating Gina Simanck of Lincoln
and injuring a Lincoln police officer Jan. 18.
However, Lacey, who had asked the court to
set Baldwin’s bail at $50,000, confirmed re
ports that there were several conditions for
Baldwin’s release.
The conditions to his release were issued by
Lancaster County District Court Judge Paul
Merritt Friday, Lacey said.
Baldwin will be released provided that he
docs not contact Simanck, her family, or Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln football players
Trev Alberts, Travis Hill or 18 other witnesses.
Hcalsomust be admitted immediately toSt.
Joseph Center for Mental Health’s locked unit
for observation.
After being released from St. Joseph, Bald
win must live in Lincoln with either Nebraska
assistantcoach Frank Solichor the Rev. Donald
Coleman Sr. and continue to receive outpatient
treatment under the supervision of Jack Stark,
the football team’s psychologist.
The Omaha-World Herald reported Satur
day that Stark sent a letter to the court Wednes
day and said he expected Baldwin to undergo
evaluation at St. Joseph’s for at least a week.
Hal Anderson, Baldwin’saltomcy,declined
to comment Sunday on Baldwin’s case.
Programs added
to UNL employee
health care plan
By Kristine Long
Staff Reporter
Rising health care costs coupled with state
budget cuts have caused colleges and
universities throughout the country to
reevaluate their employee health plans.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently
implemented two new employee health care
programs and is educating employees on well
ness to help cut costs. UNL also raised insur
ance premiums 15 percent.
Gregory Clayton, director of risk manage
ment and benefits at UNL, said the university
started participating in a program with Mutual
of Omaha called the “Preferred Prov ider Or
See INSURANCE on 3
Democratic
candidate Paul
T s o n g a s
draws fire from
candidates.
Page 2
Bike racing
competition sends dirt flying Page
6
W *
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"Wayne’s World’’ producer
Lome Michaels finds film’s suc
cessdisappointing. NOT. Page9
INDEX
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A&E 9
Classifieds 11
