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October 5, 1995
Health care
for students
keeps pace
By Paula Lavigne_
Senior Reporter
As the medical profession progressed
from aspirin to ultrasounds, the University
Health Center has kept up with the times.
When it was founded in 1958, the health
center looked much different than it does
today. At that time, it resembled a hospital,
served about 8,000 students and had 70
beds. The last six of those beds were phased
out last spring.
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See related story on page 8
Dr. Ralph Ewert, interim medical direc
tor, has been at the health center since the
early 1970s, when the center still had 32
beds.
Back then, he said, people were hospital
ized for more illnesses, including mono
nucleosis. As medicine improved, the cen
ter followed a national trend of outpatient
care.
Now, any student who needs to be hospi
talized is referred to Lincoln General Hos
pital, 2300 S. 16th St.
During its transition from hospital to
health center, the building at 15th and U
streets was continually being remodeled
and expanded.
It underwent a $2.7 million upgrade in
1985, expanding its medical clinics and
mental health, radiology and .physical
therapy departments.
In 1982, the center offered student health
insurance for the first time.
The health center staff grew from three
full-time physicians in 1958 to more than
91 full-time and part-time workers in 1995,
not including outside consultants.
The center continues to be funded by
student fees.
Some NU Board of Regents questioned
at their meeting Friday whether the health
center should be funded through mandatory
student fees.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln repre
sentatives insisted at the meeting that the
health center is a necessary expense and a
•valuable resource.
Although the-center’s capabilities con
tinue to improve, the stigma that students
attach to it waver, Ewert said.
“Some called it the Band-Aid box or
Student Death,” he said. “It’s like students
complaining about dorm food. It’s part of
the milieu of the university.”
Rachel Pettit/DN
Brian Stonecipher, an industrial engineering major, exits the health center
Wednesday morning after attending his physical therapy appointment.
That reputation greeted UHC director
Kunle Ojikutu when he came on board in
1987. Ojikutu switched administrative po
sitions for a year but will return to UHC in
1996.
Ojikutu said he didn’t know what caused
that negative reputation, but he tried to
improve it by letting students know where
their student fees were going.
“It’s a more respectable organization,”
he said. “It’s a well-managed organization.
“We have brought in a lot of qualified
individuals in key positions, and we im
proved the budgetary process of the faculty
to a healthy one.”
The center recently added a podiatric
clinic, an optometry service, a dermatology
clinic and more physical therapists, he said.
Last year, the center had to cut back its
24-hour service because of budget con
straints, he said.
The students still get a good deal for their
$80 a semester, he said, which is much
lower than community rates.
“If a student has to go to Lincoln to see
a physician, it could average $94;” he said.
“If a student goes to the health center to see
any of the primary, care physicians, it’s
free.
“I’ve worked outside at private institu
tions,” he said. “From both sides, I think the
students have a very great deal.”
Four regents
push opinions
without votes
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
A dispute between a regent and a student
regent at last week’s meeting may have sparked
a few flames, but both sides said cooler heads
usually prevailed.
The persons involved in the dispute, Uni
versity of Nebraska at Omaha Student Regent
Justin Peterson and Regent John Payne of
Kearney, both said the student regents made
important contributions, even if some com
ments are not appreciated.
Peterson and Payne first disputed an engi
neering issue at Friday’s NU Board of Regents
meeting. Later in the meeting, they argued
again, prompting Peterson to say, “Yeah, well
at least I’m not a drunk.”
Regent Chairwoman Nancy O’Brien of
Waterloo then said Peterson was out of line.
Peterson declined to explain his comment,
but said his disagreement with Payne began
during the engineering issue last year.
“It’s very disillusioning to be a student
regent and come to the-regents meeting and try
to speak on an issue, which is engineering,
which is very important to UNO,” he said.
“John Payne doesn’t think I have a voice
anymore because he doesn t agree with what 1
say. and if I’m in disagreement with him, then
I’d better shut my mouth.”
Payne said the situation was isolated and
unfortunate. - .
“I think I’ve gotten along with more student
regents than most other regents,” he said. “The
Omaha situation is an unfortunate thing, and
it’s the engineering issue that triggered that.”
Peterson said Payne was the only thorn in
hisside on the board. Peterson works well with
Regents Robert Allen of Hastings, Don Blank
of McCook and Rosemary Skrupa of Omaha
and other regents, he said.
UNL Student Regent Shawntell Hurtgen
. said she thought the student regents were treated
as equals on the board.
“The majority go out of their way to make
us feel comfortable,” she said. “Most take
student input very seriously on important is
sues at UNL.”
Although Peterson said he felt intimidated
during some engineering debates, his contri
bution made an impact.
Student regents have been part of the board
since 1974. The student body presidents of
each of the four campuses serve a one-year
term as student regent.
They are regents in every aspect but one;
they do not have a vote. Their opinion is noted,
but not officially counted.
Without that vote, they said, their impact is
See REGENTS on 2
Students take advantage of free electronic mail service
James Mehsling/DN
By Tasha E. Kelter
Staff Reporter
Since school started, Shane
Blaufuss has talked to friends in dif
ferent cities and states, discovered
obscure information about his favor
ite TV shows and made new friends
he has never seen.
And he hasn’t paid a dime.
“E-mail is great,” said Blaufuss, a
. freshman psychology major. “It’s
better than s-mail (snail mail) be
cause you can get it any time during
the day, even on Sundays.
“And there are no disgruntled
postal workers to shoot you.”
Blaufuss is one of more than 3,000
UNL students who have taken advan
tage of bigred, the university’s free
on-line service.
Though more extensive services
are available for a fee, bigred is per
fect for most students who just want
to use electronic mail, said Larry
James, Computer Operations Center
spokesman:
About 3,110 people on campus
have bigred accounts, James said,
about* 20 of which are management
accounts. About 25 to 50 people sign
lip for bigred accounts every day, he
said.
“There are lots of people getting
in there and using it,” James, said.
“That’s good because that’s what it’s _
there for.”
Bigred offers fewej options than
paid UNL services such as herbie,
unlclassl, or unlinfo. Herbie, for in
stance, has compilers, which allow a
user to write ja program and run it
from a herbie account. Herbie has
about 1,500 users.
By the end of the semester, James
expects at least 5,000 students to
” See E-MAIL on 2