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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1992)
--—---------------_ ■m T USLllV 65/44 I ■ J H Today, cloudy and cooler, east I I H ^ winds 5 to 15 mph. Tonight, I M ^1 H doudy a 30 percent chance BhB ■ ^B H ■ V showers. Wednesday, cooler, ■ V ■ ■ ■ 40 percent chance of light rain, 11 v^/xmj\viAi. i_ i William Lauer/DN “It’s absolutely amazing what you can do with a two-liter pop bottle,” Ron Bonnstetter, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, said. The pop-bottle rocket helps illustrate Bonnstetter’s theory of teaching things in an interesting way, he said. Up, up and away Professor’s tools launch learning By Mike Lewis r ■—-- Staff Report* _ If UNL professor Ronald Bonnstettcr was in a crowded room, he might start handing out his holographic business cards. Or he might ask people to help him fly a kite. Or blow some bubbles. Or launch a water-powered rocket. For Bonnstettcr, an associate professor of curriculum and in struction and director of secondary science edu cation at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, these curious activities help teach scientific concepts in interesting ways, he said. Bonnstettcr builds innovative tools such as kites and water-powered rockets and then shows teachers nationwide how to use these tools to help students learn, he said. The holographic cards, for example, can be used to teach people about optics, he said. Optics is the branch of physics dealing with light and vision. “You find ... a tool that has appeal,” he said. “You then allow the content to fit in . .. as you leach it.” Bonnstetter builds the devices not only to provide teachers with learning aids, he said, but also for personal reasons. “I really enjoy figuring out answers to questions,” he said. And he said he had been driven by this curiosity since he was young. As a child, Bonnstetter and two neigh borhood children had a laboratory,'he said. But because the young scientists caused bad smells and blew things up, they had to move the laboratory from house to house, he said. They finally moved the lab into one of the children’s grandmother’s house, Bonnstetter said. That worked well because she could neither smell nor hear well. Bonnstetter no longer works in that neigh borhood laboratory, but he docs visit towns nationwide to host workshops. In the next 30 days, he said, he will be hosting workshops in towns as close as See BONNSTETTER on 3 Baldwin released ~ to psychiatric care By Sean Green Senior Reporter UNL student Andrew Scott Baldwin was released from Lancaster County Jail on Monday after posting bail and agreeing to conditions for his release. After Baldwin’s attorney, Hal Anderson, deposited a $10,(XX) check (10 percent of the $100,000 bond), Baldwin was released for trans fer to St. Joseph Center for Mental Health in Omaha, where he will undergo psychiatric treatment. Baldwin, 22, was charged with assault for allegedly beating Gina Simanck of Lincoln and injuring a Lincoln police officer Jan. 18. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. Baldwin signed a bail order Tuesday morn ing after telling Lancaster County District Court Judge Paul Merritt that he would abide by the conditions of the bond. Baldwin’s next appearance in court is sched uled for April 6, Merritt said. Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey filed a motion for a court order that would require Baldwin to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Lacey said he was asking the judge to ap point a psychiatrist to examine Baldwin be cause his attorney was planning to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Merritt scheduled a hearing for 10 a.m. Wednesday to rule on whether Baldwin should undergo the evaluation. Baldwin waived his right to be present at the hearing. In a press conference after the hearing, Anderson said Baldwin was in belter spirits now that he could begin treatment. Anderson said Baldwin probably would spend a week at St. Joscph’s'and then return to Lin coln. Under the bond’s conditions, Baldwin either will live with Nebraska assistant football coach Frank Solich or with the Rev. Donald Coleman, Sr. “Scott will probably keep a pretty low pro file when he returns to Lincoln,” Anderson said. “Part of the plan was that he be allowed to go to the Hewit Center to study, but he will still have to abide by the conditions.” . The Hewit Academic Center, located in the West Stadium, houses the academic center and training table for University of Ncbraska-Lin coln student-athletes. Tom Osborne, Nebraska football coach, told Merritt that Baldwin could stay with him after returning to Lincoln. Merrill declined to lake up the issue at that time. Another condition of Baldwin’s release on bond prohibits him from talking to Simanck and members of her family, and to Nebraska football players Trcv Alberts and Travis Hill and 18 other witnesses. During thchcaring, Baldwin asked the judge what he should do if Alberts or Hill approached him. “I know you may sec (Alberts or Hill) in the weight room,” Merritt said. “But if they ap proach you, don’t talk to them. Just turn around and walk away.” Merritt said that if he heard reports that Baldwin had broken any of the conditions of his bond, he would have Baldwin arrested and returned to court to explain his actions. Merritt said willful failure to appear in court was a Class IV felony and would result in arrest and a $5,000 fine added on to the other charges against Baldwin. Another condition of Baldwin’s release on bond requires him to begin any outpatient treatment program recommended by St. Jo seph’s alter his return to Lincoln. Bill would make more students eligible for aid Other provisions to help middle-income families, official says By Jeremy Fitzpatrick Senior Reporter_ __ More college sitidenis would be eligible for federal aid to help finance Iheir education if a bill passed in the U.S. Senate on Friday becomes law. The Senate passed the bill — part of the rcauthori/alion of the Higher Education Act— by a 93-1 vole. The bill would raise the amount of federal aid to students and increase the number of students eligible to receive aid. The maximum Pell grant would increase from $2,4(X) to $3,6<X) in 1993-94, and then to S4,8(X) by 1999. The maximum family income to be eligible for a Pell grant would increase from S3(),(KK) to $42,(XX), making more grants available to middle-income students. The bill would increase the guaranteed fed eral student loans from S2.625 to S3,(XX) per year lor lirst- and second-year undergraduate students, S4,(XX) to $5,5(X) per year for third - and lourlh-ycar undergraduates, and S7,5(X) to S9,(XX) per year for graduate students. In addition, it would exclude equity in a family’s home or farm in determining how much a student would receive in grants or loans as long as the student's family did not earn more than $5(),(XX) a year. John Beacon, director of scholarships and financial aid at the University of Ncbraska Lincoln, said $7,1 IX,469 in Pell grants was awarded at UNL in 1990-91. He said 4,943 students received the money — an average of SI,440 each. Beacon said the average family income of students who applied for federal aid at UNL in 1990-91 was $3.1,800. A total of8,464 students received federal aid, he said. See GRANT on 2 Nebraska arboretum receives plant grant By Mindy L. Leiter Staff Reporter The Nebraska Statewide Arbo retum received a S9,4(X) grant to continue its work in the preservation of endangered plants, an official said. Art Ode, director of the arbore tum, which has its headquarters at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, said the grant came from the Center for Plant Conservation at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Ode said the money would be used mainly for the travel and manpower expenses of tracking down rare plant Director says money to help preserve endangered species species. “The grant is really a contract,” he said. “They gave the money to reim burse what we have done. “We have been working with the plant center for years. We help them identify plant populations that arc endangered regionally or arc a rare occurrence. Then we collect the seeds.” Finding and tracking endangered plants is a complicated process, in volving “lots of time and gasoline,” Ode said. The curators travel throughout Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and eastern Colorado looking for endan gered species, he said. They contact local arborctums for range maps and times when the plants will be in bloom. But the actual harvesting of the seeds is a matter of lucky timing, Ode said. “If the weather is wrong, or the seeds arc already dispersed or not ripe ycl, you’ll have lo come back,” he said. Al ter the seeds arc collected, they arc placed in cold storage or planted lor research purposes, he said. Among the more rare indigenous species of plants sought by the arbo retum are the blowout penslcmon and the western prairie white-fringed orchid. The penstemon is a rare plant that can live only on the edges of moving sands, Ode said. Better range man agement has eliminated the sand “blowouts” that arc the plant’s habi See ARBORETUM on 2 Two hard-hit sectors of the economy got upbeat news as a key manufacturing barometer climbed out of recession terri tory. Page 2. INDEX Wire 2 Opinion 4 Sports 7 A & E 9 Classifieds '* ~ 11