TUESDAY
WEATHER:
Today - Sunny and warm.
Southwest wind 10 to 20
mph.
Tonight - Mostly clear. Low ««:,».««:..
near 40.
October 10, 1995
Pumpkin vendors push slim pickins
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
If you’re short a jack o’lantern this Hal
loween, blame Jack Frost.
Adverse weather conditions created a
pumpkin shortage that is starting to become
obvious in grocery stores, pumpkin patches
and customers’ wallets.
And for some Halloween shoppers, the
search for the Great Pumpkin is turning into
a scavenger hunt.
Jan and Tim Vala, owners of Vala’s Pump
kin Patch cast of Gretna, said irrigation sal
vaged 25 of their 45 pumpkin acres.
Jan Vala said a wet spring pushed back
planting, a hot summer triggered wilting and
an early frost cut the growing season short.
Because of the early frost, pumpkin hunt
ers will find more green pumpkins in the
patch, Vala said, but will be left with less
green in their wallets.
Last year, Vala’s charged 28 cents per
pound, she said; this year pumpkins are 35
cents per pound. The average pumpkin
weighs 10 pounds.
But the Halloween shortage will haunt
consumers most in the grocery stores, Vala
said. In the past, pumpkins have sold for as
little as 4 cents per pound.
Scott Karg, produce manager at Hy-Vee,
14th and Superior streets, said pumpkins
that sold for 12 to 15 cents a pound last year
were selling for 20 to 25 cents a pound this
year.
Orange pumpkins of all sizes Were piled
up in Super Saver at 48th and 0 streets for
about 20 cents a pound Monday.
An assistant produce manager said it was
hard to find pumpkin suppliers because of
the shortage. And people would see a crunch
come Oct. 31.
People are buying them now, he said, and
are buying as many as they can. Super Saver
sells about seven bins a week, with about 700
pounds of pumpkins in each bin.
If the Great Pumpkin eludes the Lincoln
consumer at the grocery store, he may be
found on the haunted hay ride at Roca Berry
Farm.
Beverly Shaefer, owner of Roca Berry
Farm 10 miles south of Lincoln, said irriga
tion helped 15 of her 20 pumpkin acres
flourish. Although prices are slightly higher
this year, she said, she has plenty of pump
kins.
Vala also said her pumpkin patch would
not be affected by the shortage because it
relied on entertainment and seasonal mer
chandise sales, as well as pumpkins.
The pumpkin shortage did prevent Vala’s
from donating pumpkins to hospitals and
nonprofit organizations as it has done in the
past, she said.
Stolen Husker helmet
returns in good shape
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Reporter
It’s a good thing the Nebraska
Comhuskers were idle Saturday be
cause it could have been an especially
rough game for Tyrone Williams.
A white, Husker football helmet
checked out to Williams was stolen
Saturday afternoon from the team’s
locker room in the South Stadium.
Williams is a starting senior
comerback from Palmetto, Fla.
University police officers found the
helmet—painted with Williams’No.
8 — in a paper bag north of Avery
Hall. A community service officer
witnessed a 10-year-old boy drop the
bag into a thicket of bushes about 3:31
p.m.
Williams’ helmet, valued at $175,
was the only one missing from the
locker room.
“I don’t know if there was any
reason behind taking that number,”
said UNL Police Sgt. Mylo Bushing,
“or ifit was just the first one they came
across.”
It was unknown how the helmet
was stolen from the locker room, Bush
ing said, because all doors to the build
ing were locked. Police were unable
to identify or locate the boy.
Will iamsr helmet was not damaged,
police said.
After its weekend off, undefeated
No. 2 Nebraska will play Missouri on
Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
See FEDERALISM on 3
Success after sports stressed
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Student athletes are learning how
to cope with challenges off the field,
or ofT the court, through a program
sponsored by the NU Athletic Depart
ment,
Nebraska’s Five Star Life Skills
program, “More than winning,”
teaches student athletes how to win
the game of life.
Life Skills is a five-part program
that instructs student athletes in com
munity service, personal relations, ath
letics, academics and career goals.
Director Keith Zimmer said it was
turning idealists into realists.
In a 1988 survey, 40 percent of
Nebraska football players said they
wanted to make professional football
their careers, Zimmer said.
“Knowing that less than 1 percent
advance to the pros told us that we
have a lot of unrealistic student ath
letes,” he said. “Career counseling
needed to be a priority.”
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln had started a career program,
Zimmer said. And then the NCAA
asked Zimmer to come to Kansas City
to build the career branch of its new
Life Skills program.
Topics include study skills, job
searching, diversity and sensitivity,
manners and etiquette, nutrition, life
after sports, agents and professional
sports, alcohol and drug education,
and dealing with authority and anger
control.
NU senior basketball player Kate
Galligan, a member of the Life Skills
advisory committee, said students fa
vored the programs.
“For a lot of student athletes, you
have your academic part and you have
your sports,” Galligan said, “and
you’re missing out on learning about
life.”
This year, Galligan has been to one
workshop, which addressed domestic
violence.
“We got a lot of valuable informa
tion in light of everything that’s been
happening,” she said.
The first year of Life Skills at UNL
required all student athletes to come
to spring and fall comprehensive work
shops. Zimmer said that because of
schedulingconflicts, coaches thisyear
can choose five workshops for their
teams.
Galligan said the new system
worked better with student athletes’
full schedules.
Zimmer said coaches had been re
ceptive to the new program.
See PROGRAM on 3
Jeff Haller/DN
Trent Haun of Lincoln hoists a pumpkin while looking around thepumpkin
patch at Roca Berry Farms with family and friends Monday afternoon.
Weather conditions this year have caused a pumpkin shortage this fall.
Prices have risen since selection has been slim.
Legislators
to discuss
federalism
By Mike Kiuck
Staff Reporter
The balance of power between the federal
government and the states has tipped away from
the states, Gov, Ben Nelson said Monday, and
state leaders will meet soon to discuss how to
regain that power.
Leaders of five organizations will meet in
Cincinnati Oct. 22-24 for the National Summit
on Federalism.
“This meeting is the first of its kind,” Nelson
said. “Governors and state legislators will get
together on a bipartisan basis to talk about the
imbalance of power between the states and the
federal government and to explore options for
restoring balance to our system.”
Nelson’s remarks came during his weekly
teleconference.
The organizations will try to find ways to
return authority back to the states, he said, and
will consider budget issues that may impact
state programs and finances.
Those involved in the meeting include the
National Governors’ Association, the Council
of State Governments, the National Conference
of State Legislatures, the American Legislative
Exchange Council and the State Legislative
Leaders Foundation.
Nelson is the co-chairman of the National
Governors’ Association and past chairman of
the Council of State Governments.
Nelson said the summit would look at why
power has shifted from the states to federal
government.
The summit won’t focus on any single issue,
he said, but will emphasize two areas.
“First, we’ll look at the status of federalism
and the reasons it has eroded in recent years,”
Nelson said. “We’ll look at the impact of court
cases, the implications of congressional budget
action and the challenges facing the states.
“Secondly we’ll look at our options for re
storing the balance of power.”
Nelson said summit members would attempt
to reach an accord and then look at ways to
advance the proposals they develop.
He said he had spoken with House Speaker
Newt Gingrich about the summit and that
Gingrich was interested in the possible resolu
tions.
Members of the summit also will listen to
federalism scholars, who have been meeting at
the request of the five organizations.
The scholars have discussed options such as
state reconsideration of federal actions, limit
ing the conditions of federal aid to states and