_SPORTS Pg. 11 Ja&E Pfl.ie] I weather
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News Digest 2 Quar^er^ac^ ir^~)
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h ■ - Jt | Tomorrow, continued
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Athletic director trades Ducks for Huskers
By Stacey McKenzie
Senior Reporter
EUGENE, Ore. — Bill Byrne
stands in his comer office and
points out the window and
across the road to two football prac
tice fields.
The fields were a parking lot be
fore Byrne became athletic director
at the University of Oregon in 1984.
But when he saw that a local club
was making money off the university
by selling the lot on game days, he
convinced the county to lease the
land to the university for $1 a year.
Such improvements to the Univer
sity of Oregon sent a signal to UNL
Oregon’s Bill Byrne to head department
Nov. 1; was appointed to position in June
when it began its search for a new
athletic director to replace Bob Dcva
ney. In June, a search committee
appointed Byrne to the position.
Byrne was in Lincoln this week
end, but he said that until he takes
over at UNL Nov. 1, his mind will be
more on the Ducks than on the Com
huskers.
One of Byrne’s last projects at
Oregon—the Lcn Casanova Athletic
Center—isnear completion. Hecalls
it his “baby.”
The state-of-the-art center is adia
ccni to the football stadium and houses
the university’s athletic staff.
The SI 2-mil lion center is a mass
of brown brick and sparkling glass. It
gleams against the Oregon skyline as
proof that Byrne knows how to create
and raise money for quality athletic
facilities.
Before Byrne tackles his job at
UNL, he said he would research
Nebraska. The Nebraska Blue Book
and a large folder filled with informa
tion about UNL arc on his reading
list.
Some di (Terences in the two schools’
programs arc obvious, he said.
Byrne had to open up offices in
major Oregon cities and work with
mayors to generate support for the
university’s athletic programs.
“I felt that we needed the entire
stale to support this institution,” he
said.
UNL already has strong statewide
support, he said.
Although it is filling up more than
it used to, Oregon’s football stadium
is only a little more than half the size
of UNL’s, Byrne said.
UNL has filled its 73,650-seal
See BYRNE on 8
Byrne
Spamer lists
recycling as
chief priority
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Recycling old cans, boulcs and newspa
pers and attracting foreign students arc
among UNL Chancellor Graham
Spanicr’s top priorities for the coming aca
demic year.
Spanicr announced plans for a campuswidc
recycling program Friday during his Stale of
the University address to UNL staff and faculty
members at the Lied Center for Performing
Arts.
“My goal is to make UNL the state’s leader
in recycling of paper, plastics, waste and other
items,” he said.
The comprehensive program would be based
on national models, he said, and would rely
heavily on recommendations of the UNL Re
cycling Task Force.
After the initial year, Spanicr said, costs of
the program — including the salary of a newly
appointed recycling coordinator— would be
paid for with savings achieved by recycling.
Spanicr also announced that UNL will pai
ticipalc in a program that will encourage black
South Africans to pursue their graduate studies
at UNL. The program is sponsored by the
United Nations Educational and^training Pro
gram for Southern Africa.
Funds for the program were set aside to
provide initial financial support for the first
students, who would join UNL next fall, Spanicr
said.
Spanicr said he also would place “a very
high priority” on improving UNL’s deteriorat
ing infrastructure. Several classrooms and other
spaces on UNL’s campus were renovated over
the summer. The renovation of spaces in the
future, as well as health and safely issues.
See SPANIER on 7
rTinrr ..-ul-———J
Shaun Sartin/DN
Happy Birthday, Nebraska!
Nebraska’s first lady Diane Nelson and Governor Ben Nelson prepare to light the cake during opening ceremonies
of the Q125 Birthday Bash at the Capitol Saturday afternoon.
i Lied Center records surplus;
will be applied to lower debt
By Susie Arth
Senior Reporter
The Lied Center for Perform
ing Arts has taken its first major
step toward financial success,
the center’s director said last week.
Robert Chumbley announced
Thursday that the Lied Center re
corded a $71,8% budget surplus for
the 1991-92 operational year.
“A surplus of any kind, let alone a
surplus as high as this one, in these
economic times is extraordinary,” he
(said.
Chumbley said the year’s profits
would be applied to the center’s debt,
which has accumulated over previous
years.
■
The debt has been reduced to
$523,673, he said.
Chumblcy credited increased ticket
sales, his stall and support from the
University of Nebraska Foundation
for the financially successful year.
In addition, the Friends of Lied, a
fund-raising group, exceeded its goal
of support for the Lied Center by
$25,000, he said.
Because the Lied Center depends
on public support, Chumblcy said, it
is difficult to predict whether it will
be able to continue its financial suc
cess.
“The vast majority of income is
based on the public’s whim to buy
tickets,” he said.
But Chumbley said he believed
the Lied Center would continue to
make financial progress.
The Lied Center recently com
pleted its most successful season
subscription campaign, he said, with
sales of $698,861 — a 44 percent
increase over last year.
New marketing and promotional
activities give the Lied Center a chance
to make money every year, he said.
TheFriendsofLied’s membership
has increased, and the group has
planned fund-raising activities, he said.
This support will help the Lied Cen
ter remain viable.
“The Lied Center is structured and
functions in such a way to allow us
the opportunity to do well financially
every year,” he said.
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