Technology Park venture creates jobs
By Amie Haggar
Staff Reporter
Technology Park, a joint venture
between UNL and the city of Lincoln,
could pay off for students in the form
of jobs, officials said.
John Connor, chairman and chief
executive officer of Lincoln-based
Transcrypt International, said intern
ships for University of Nebraska-Lin
coln students were part of the partner
ship already in place at Transcrypt.
Connor said Transcrypt’s 10-acre
lot was under construction and sched
uled for completion on June 6, when
the company will relocate to the area.
Transcrypt is the first company to
announce plans to move into the UNL
technology park. Transcrypt is an in
ternational corporation that specializ
es in providing wireless communica
tion for public safety organizations.
The technology park is a 130-acre
area near Superior Street and Inter
state 80. Its plans date back to Decem
ber 1987, when then-UNL Chancellor
Martin Massengale and former May
or Bill Harris conducted a feasibility
study for a proposed site.
That study recommended focusing
efforts on technology-related business
development as a strategy for long
term economic development and job
creation in Lincoln.
Internships make up part of joint project
Mayor Mike Johanns and Chan
cellor Graham Spanier announced last
November that Transcrypt had signed
on as the park’s first tenant.
Connor said hiring students for
internships had provided a valuable
service to Transcrypt.
“There is a pool of talent in front of
us,” he said. “Interning allows stu
dents the capacity to get things done
we might not be able to get done
without them.”
Stephanie Lauerman, a UNL soph
omore international business and fi
nance major, has worked at Transcrypt
for three years.
She said she started working at the
company part time when she was in
high school, but she decided to use her
job as an internship in college.
Lauerman said her experience at
Transcrypt helped her get ahead in
her classes.
“I have already handled certain
things in my job, and 1 can understand
certain applications better," she said.
Stan Liberty, dean of UNL’s Col
lege of Engineering and Technology,
said students gained experience at
Transcrypt they could not find at the
university.
“The students are getting work
experience intermingled with their
disciplineof study,” he said. “It is very
motivating.”
He said as interns the students had
to use not only the knowledge they
acquired in the classroom but also
their interpersonal skills in order to
perform well in a team setting.
“In the classroom you don’t neces
sarily get teamed together in real
projects,” he said. “There (at
Transcrypt) they have to be able to
communicate their ideas with a tech
nical content.”
Connor said interns that were en
gineering majors designed new prod
ucts and conducted basic-level re
search. Marketing majors design ad
vertisements for the company, and
accounting majors work on accounts
receivable and daily accounting tasks.
He said providing UNL students
with internships had assisted
Transcrypt in better planning for the
future.
“This helps in developing people
for our long-term needs. Sometimes
we can’t hire someone full time, but
we can bring a student in for six
months,” he said. “I think of it as a
development strategy.”
Lauerman said interning made her
anxious to finish school.
“This makes you want to be done
with school and be out in the real
world working,” she said. I
Connor said interning could also
Erovide students with a potential job.
le said last year one student intern
accepted a full-time position at
Transcrypt, and the company planned
to hire one or two students this year.
Lauerman said interning at
Transcrypt was definitely worthwhile.
“I feel like it is time well-spent
because I am gaining experience that
I can use further down the road in my
career,” she said.
Liberty slid UNL’s partnership with
Transcrypt was strengthened through
the internships because the company
now works with UNL administrators
and faculty members in ventures such
as research projects. *
He said the partnership was advan
tageous to all involved.
“This is a big win-win situation for
everybody,” Liberty said.
Tax consultants can help students
By Melanie Branded
Staff Reporter
Students who don’t want to file
their own federal income tax forms or
need help filling them out can find
help from local bookkeeping or tax
consultant services.
Mark Burch, a tax consultant for
Burch and Associates of Lincoln, said
his firm already had helped about a
dozen college students with their fed
eral income tax forms this year.
Burch said students could get com
puterized returns, which would en
able them to get federal tax refunds in
about two weeks.
“The main appeal of electronic fil
ing is the faster turnaround of the
refund,” he said.
Some students have professionals
do their taxes because they have no
time to do it themselves. Others don’t
understand the forms or simply want
to avoid the hassle, Burch said.
Students also want to make sure
their taxes are done correctly, he said.
“Some people like the ease and
quickness of having someone do it for
them,” he said. “Others like the assur
ance of doing it themselves.”
College students often go to book
keeping or tax consultant services in
stead of a certified public accountant,
because consultants cost less and many
CPA firms don’t offer electronic fil
ing.
Cheryl Kane, tax consultant for H
& R Block, said most students filed a
short-form 1040EZ or a 1040A.
“Students usually have simple tax
returns, and most of them only have
part-time jobs,” she said.
Kane said the 1040EZ was used by
a single taxpayer who records just
wages and interest on the tax form. A
1040A, she said, is used by a single or
married person who has other forms
of income besides wages and interest,
such as dividends and distribution of
pension.
“The 1040EZ form is not that dif
ficult—you just follow the lines,” she
said.
Kane said the cost for doing a two
page 1040EZandthe 1040N, the state
income tax form, is $24. Filing the
1040A and the 1040N costs a mini
mum of $24.
Each form dictates the charge based
on the difficulty of the return. Ifpeople
need to know the cost of doing a
particular form, she said, they can
come in for a free estimate.
Council
Continued from Page 1
lowed the panel. Jan Rogers, a social
studies consultant for Lincoln Public
Schools, attended the workshop.
“We need to study from all per
spectives,” she said. “Not all the ma
terial has been tapped.”
Rogers said the Winter Council
was a turning point for
multicultural ism in Nebraska.
“The atmosphere is so conducive
to understanding,” she said. “I think it
will encourage others to do similar
kinds of sharing sessions."
Three different teaching circles
constituted most of Saturday’s events.
David Smith of the Winnebago
tribe led a teaching circle focused on
stories about moral endings. Smith
said the purpose of the teaching cir
cles was to show that the American
Indian cul ture was different from oth
er cultures.
He said people of the Judeo-Chris
tian belief aid not understand Ameri
can Indian spirituality.
“They don’t understand why we
want the repatriation of our sacred
objects,” he said. “We need to bury
them because the spirit needs to rest.”
Smith, a teacher in American Indi
an history, said his teaching methods
were designed to tell the Indian side of
the story.
He said Thanksgiving wasn’t the
union of Indians and colonists. The
colonists were celebrating the mur
ders of 100 Indian men, women and
children.
“I was taught wrong,” he said. “We
need to open people’s minds.”
Alcohol
Continued from Page 1
many fraternities. We’re going to
try very hard to turn that around.”
Spanier said the Knoll incident
heightened awareness on campus
to the point students were calling
administrators with party tips. And
the administrators are investigat
ing.
So far this semester, two frater
nity house parties have been bro
ken up by surprise visits from
Griesen and the UNL Police.
Griesen said officials were fol
lowing up tips and increasing ran
dom inspections.
“The amount of feedback made
me think there was far more drink
ing going on in the greek houses
than I had realized, than anyone
realized,” Griesen said.
While alcohol consumption
also goes on in the residence halls,
Griesen said, it is not to the extent
and does not create the problems of
parties in fraternity houses.
University employees, whose
charge is to report alcohol con
sumption, live on every floor of the
residence halls. Greek nouses oper
ate on an honor system.
He said the living units needed a
more equal level of supervision.
Greek house presidents are re
quired to sign a statement promis
ing the chapter will abide by the
University Student Code of Con
duct in order to be considered sanc
tioned university housing.
Griesen said some greek houses
had been faithful to that pledge, but
suspected most hadn’t.
He said he sensed willingness
on the part of some greek houses to
change their reputations, and a few
already have changed practices
since the Knoll incident.
"I truly believe the greek houses
have a positive impact to make,” he
said, “but I don’t believe being a
safe haven for illegal drinking is
one of them.”
UNL Police Sgt. Bill Manning
said the campus situation was bet
ter now than when the drinking age
in Nebraska was 19 and 75 percent
of the student population could le
gally consume alcohol.
Still, he said, there’s room for
improvement.
Manning said greek units had
the worst reputation and any
change would have to come frcm
within.
“Until they start taking action on
their own ... it will be difficult for
anyone on the university campus to
do anything about it, short of clear
ing the houses off campus.”
But Griesen said the university
was forcing the situation on the
students.
He said it was unrealistic to
think young people between the
ages of 18 and 21 were going to be
kept from drinking.
“We treat college students as
adults in everything else we do ...
then we tell them they can’t drink
like other adults.”
Drink This
Illustration by John Anaorge
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