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flonday
Sports
49ers win Super Bowl,
page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Eagles roost in Lincoln, page 9 ...
January 30, 1995
RHA, Housing trying to lower upgrade costs
Alternate plan
for new system
to be drawn up
By Laura King
Staff Reporter
Housing officials and RHA are
working to lower the student costs of
a $6.5 million plan to improve access
to the Internet.
Doug Zatechka, former housing
director, said a new plan could be
drawn up by the Wednesday ASUN
meeting, but for
sure by the next
Residence Hall
Association meet
ing.
In the original
plan, housing
rates could in
crease as much as
10 percent, or up to $ 179 per resident
if only new residents paid. The plan
suggested a $129 cost per resident if
each resident paid.
Glen Schumann, director of hous
ing, met last week with RHA mem
bers to discuss the possibility of find
ing an alternate plan after they voted
to oppose such an increase at last
Sunday’s meeting. The Association
of Students of the University of Ne
braska also opposed the plan.
RHA later presented its ideas to
Zatechka. He then reported to a cam
pus-wide committee that was asked
to make a new plan.
Zatechka said Sunday he was in
favor of the upgrade, but agreed there
needed to be a way to lower the cost to
students.
“We are not looking at a 10 per
cent increase or even an 8 percent
increase, but even though it may be
lower, students can’t get hit all at
once with these costs,” he said.
Zatechka also said the committee
and Chancellor Graham Spanier were
looking at a way to upgrade the sys
tem in phases over three or four years
that would spread out the cost to
students.
“We don’t have the specific num
bers right now, but our main objec
tives are to upgrade the existing com
puter facilities, spread out the changes
which would reduce costs to students
and to implement a state-of-the-art
computer system,” he said.
Statistics from major universities
in the region, such as Colorado and
Kansas, have shown the committee
there is a way to upgrade the existing
system without outrageous increases
in housing rates, Zatechka said.
“Everybody has either done this or
will be doing this,” he said. “We have
to put ourselves into* the computer
age.”
The changes would allow all resi
dence-hall rooms and faculty offices
to be wired to access HuskerNet and
the Internet. The new system would
include a central wiring system in
each building that would spread out
to wire each room individually.
Club, coffee
considered
for the Crib
4
By Laura King
Staff Reporter
The clink of coffee cups and the sounds of a
live band may be common in the Crib by next
fall.
A non-alcoholic alternative nightclub or a
coffee house are two of the options a steering
committee is looking at to transform the Crib
into an alternative for underage drinking on
campus, said Daryl Swanson, director of the
Nebraska Union.
The Crib would be used Thursday through
Saturday nights for entertainment sponsored
by university organizations. A portable stage,
refreshments and decorations would be brought
in to enhance the atmosphere, Swanson said.
\ A different event will be held each month
until April as part of this year’s “pilot pro
gram” to try out different ideas, Swanson said.
The final decision will be made by the end of
; the semester.
“We don’t want the place to be event-ori
ented,” he said. “We want a fun and entertain
ing atmosphere that will be an alternative to
tiart\/inr» in livinn unite ”
ptULjrtiig 111 living uiiuo.
The first scheduled event will be Feb. 18,
when Lie Awake plays in the new nightclub
atmosphere, Swanson said. The University
Program Council will be a co-sponsor.
Last spring, Vice Chancellor for Student
Affairs James Griesen appointed a committee
to explore the possibility of creating a non
alcoholic nightclub. Since then, the committee
has met every other week to brainstorm ideas
and explore places the club could be housed.
The Crib was the most likely location be
cause it was the easiest space to use within the
Union, Swanson said. It would not have to be
extensively remodeled and has management
and staff already in place, he said.
Another option the committee is seriously
considering is a coffee-house atmosphere,
Swanson said. The coffee-house theme would
be permanent during the weekdays, with enter
tainment on weekends.
With the planned union expansion, Swanson
said he hoped the nightclub or coffee house
could become permanent.
The other Super Bowl
jen naner/uiN
Ryan Stephens, left, Jason Peterson and Andy Theis surround ball carrier Ian Barnett, second from left, in a
fngid football game near 17th and Vine streets Sunday.
Bill would ban smoking in state buildings
From Staff Reports
A bill that would bring the no-smoking
policy in state buildings up to UNL’s standards
was sent to the floor of the Legislature Friday
by the Health and Human Services Committee.
LB 121, introduced by Sen. Don Preister of
Omaha, would ban smoking inside all state
buildings, as well as within 10 feet of them.
The bill originally prohibited smoking
within 50 feet of the buildings but was amended
by the committee.
was an arbitrary figure.
His concern was to provide
a smoke-free workplace.
“My intent is to protect
employees,” Preister
The bill exempts several
state buildings, including
university residence halls.
■ rnin mtiipc Another bill, LB255,
LEGISLATURE which would prohibit un
married and unrelated adults who live together
from becoming foster parents, was killed by the
Health and Human Services Committee at the
urging of the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Kate Witek of
Omaha.
The bill, while not mentioning homosexu
als, would have prevented homosexuals from
becoming foster parents.
Witek said the bill was unnecessary because
a Nebraska Department of Social Services policy
announced last week prohibited such cases.
Party will help students make an IMPACT on UNL
Editor's note: This is the third in a series of
reports taking a look at parties campaigning
for the ASUN presidency.
[ By Kathryn A. Ratliff
f Staff Reporter
Establishing a government that is represen
tative of the entire student body is Shawntell
Hurtgen’s top priority.
Hurtgen is the presidential candidate for the
Impact party, which is vying for the leadership
of the Association of Students of the University
of Nebraska.
“Having a representative-type of student
government is what making an impact is all
about,” Hurtgen said.
Hurtgen said her party aimed to make an
impact in all areas of campus by listening to
student opinions and concerns and by forming
an attainable platform.
“A platform doesn’t mean anything if it
can’t be accomplished,” she said. “And I don’t
break promises.”
Hurtgen said it was early in the campaign
and at this point, the Impact party had yet to
fully develop a platform.
Party members are busy visiting residence
halls and campus organizations in an effort to
gather a variety of student input, she said.
“Making a platform depends on the stu
dents,” Hurtgen said. “We’re aggressively ask
ing questions about how students feel, and
we’ll build our platform based on that student
consensus.”
Eric Marintzer, student coordinator for
Impact, said making a strong effort to find out
what students want was how the party would
make a difference.
“We want to help students make an impact,”
Marintzer said. “We’re about empowering the
students.”
Marintzer also stressed the importance of
setting reachable goals.
Impact has branched out to about every area
of campus, Hurtgen said. Everyone needs to be
represented, she said, and all students will be
able to find something that affects them on the
Impact platform.
“We’ll have issues on the platform that will
take initiative, investigation and motivation,”
Hurtgen said. “We’ll have issues that aren’t
dreams.”
Although the Impact ticket is not full,
Hurtgen said the representatives already com
mitted to the party represented a variety of
experienced faces that were eager to make a
difference.
See IMPACT on 6
