WEDNESDAY »
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WEATHER:
Today - Mostly sunny.
Clouds in the afternoon.
Wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight - Light snow.
Low around 0.
COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 95 NO. 95 January 31 1996
Matt Miller/DN
Senior psychology major Bob Temply wraps up to protect against the
cold Tuesday afternoon. Temperatures are not expected to venture far
into postive readings through the weekend.
Cold spell
Temperatures continue to drop
as some cities hit record lows
By Joshua Gillin
Staff Reporter
It’s been said that if you don’t like the
weather in Nebraska, wait a minute, and it’ll
change.
Well, not this week.
Arctic air pummeled the state Sunday,
and it’s not going anywhere soon. Several
Nebraska cities have broken record-low tem
peratures, and some locations are expected
to hit 25 below zero this week.
As the increasingly cold weather persists,
the National Weather Service and local
weather experts are quick to warn citizens
about the dangers of prolonged exposure to
wind and low temperatures.
Laurie Sutter, a health educator with the
Lancaster County Health Department, said
those who attempted to go out during cold
weather were taking a big risk.
“When the temperature drops as low as
it’s supposed to this week, it doesn’t take
much exposure for flesh to freeze,” she said.
“A person can get frostbite in a matter of
minutes.”
Sutter said those who are fatigued, eld
erly, sick or under the influence of alcohol or
drugs are more susceptible to injuries than
younger, healthier or sober people.
Frostbite, the most common injury result
ing from cold weather, strikes mainly the
ears, nose, cheeks, fingers, hands and toes.
Signs of frostbite include a numb, tingling or
See WEATHER on 6
Shutdown forces students
to stay at home overseas
By Julie Sobczyk
Senior Reporter
All Jonathan Kerr wanted to do on Jan. 5 was
catch a plane from London back to the United
States.
Kerr wanted to get back to Lincoln, to classes,
to his home away from home.
But the after-effects of the Dec. 15 govern
ment shutdown left Kerr stranded in London for
five days, with little money.
Kerr, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln se
nior broadcasting major from Edinburgh, Scot
land, spent winter break with his family.
When he tried to renew his student visa to
return to the United States, he couldn’t.
The U.S. embassies in Edinburgh and Lon
don, where visas are issued, were closed.
“I was aware that the nonessential services
had been shut down,” Kerr said. “I was surprised
to find the embassy was considered nonessen
tial.”
And Kerr wasn’t the only international stu
dent who had problems returning to UNL after
break.
Peter Levitov, associate dean of international
affairs, said two groups of international students
were affected by the shutdown.
Students like Kerr$whose visas had expired,
were greatly affected by the shutdown, he said.
The International Affairs office received at
least 40 urgent letters, faxes and e-mail mes
sages from students asking for the university’s
help in getting back to Lincoln, Levitov said.
“We got messages that said, ‘I’m stuck. What
can I do? Please help,”’ he said.
UNL allowed students an extra week to get
back to campus, he said. Students were to arrive
no later than Jan. 15.
Of the 40 students who contacted UNL, 25
did not return for the semester because they were
unable to get visas, Levitov said.
But there could be more, he said, depending
on the number of students who needed visas, but
did not contact UNL.
“The only people we know of are the ones
who wrote,” he said. “There could be more, but
people decide not to come back for many rea
sons.”
The shutdown had a smaller impact on inter
national students who would be attending UNL
for the first time, Levitov said.
Some of those students might not have been
able to get their visas either, he said.
See VISAS on 6
Will proposes alternative
to agent registration bill
By Ted Taylor
Senior Reporter
Lawmakers might be forced to debate two
separate athlete agent registration bills this ses
sion after the banking committee unanimously
advanced a second proposal Tuesday.
But Sen. John Hilgert of Omaha hopes two
debates aren’t necessary.
- “Hopefully it won’t be
Legislature debated,” he said. “I hope
•gB i*, i J they (Sens. Eric Will and
J? ftl® Kermit Brashear of Omaha)
get togetner ana nammer out
the differences.”
Will introduced his ver
sion of the Athlete Agent
Registration Act, LB1012,
Tuesday afternoon, a week
. after Brashear’s LB927 was
advanced to floor debate by
the Judiciary Committee.
One of the major differences, according to
Will, is the particular state department with
which agents will be required to register.
Will’s proposal would require agents to reg
ister with the secretary of state, while Brashear’s
measure requires agents to register with the
attorney general.
The definition of the word “athlete” also
differs in the two bills.
Will’s proposal would protect only intercol
legiate athletes, while LB927 applies to all
amateur athletes.
The bill also outlines different criminal pen
alties levied to the player and agent.
Will’smeasure saysagents who fail to notify
the university of a contract or fail to register
with the state are subject to a class III felony,
while the athlete is subject to a class I misde
meanor for the same act.
George Achola, a registered athlete agent
from Omaha and former NU running back, was
on hand to testify for the bill.
“Unscrupulous agents will harm the reputa
tion of the athletic program and the state,” he
said.
Achola said he would prefer a combination
of the two bill sand said either one would benefit
both the agent and the athlete.
“It helps me with my business because I want
to represent these players,” he said. “And I
follow the rules.
“It helps the student athlete, and it helps the
university,” hesaid.
Achola said he would support anything the
Legislature could do to make it more difficult to
gain access to the athlete.
Near the end of the hearing, committee chair
man Dave Landis of Lincoln plucked A1 Papik,
NU senior associate athletic director, from the
audience to testify in a neutral capacity for the
bill.
“The university is very concerned about the
student athlete,” Papik said.
Previous EPA violations force UNL to clean ut>
By Julie Sobczyk
Senior Reporter 1
UNL is continuing to clean up its
act by preparing for surprise visits
from the Environmental Protection
Agency, an administrator said.
“We’re in a constant state of readi
ness,” said James Main, assistant vice
chancellor for business and finance at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“The gross violations the EPA had
found we have cleaned up.
“We ’ ve taken a big step in the right
direction.”
Two years ago, the EPA fined UNL
$600,000 for violating regulations for
storing and labeling waste, personnel
training, emergency planning and
burning waste in an incinerator.
But since those violations, UNL
has earned a virtually clean report
with the EPA, Main said.
During inspections last summer,
only one violation was cited on City
Campus, he said. No violations were
reported on East Campus.
To maintain the good record, Main
said, the university has undergone
some changes in the past two years.
A special department was created
to make sure UNL complied with all
EPA regulations, he said.
The department, called The Haz
ardous Materials Program, helps the
university faculty and staff understand
the EPA regulations.
“The Hazardous Materials Program
held us accountable to EPA regula
tions,” Main said.
One important part of the depart
ment is self-evaluation of both cam
puses every year, he said.
Dan Olsen, senior hazardous mate
rials specialist in the department, said
chemical training was provided for
faculty and staff. Department staffalso
check each classroom on campus for
potential violations.
The checks are important, Olsen
said, because the EPA can evaluate
the university at any time, without
warning.
Main said he thought the low num
berof violations during the EPA’slast
visit was directly related to the im
provements enforced by the depart
ment.
For example, he said, many of the
EPA’s violations dealt with improper
labeling of materials and storing in
compatible chemicals next to each
other. Education helped reduce the
number of violations.
“Before, we didn’t have people to
educate and train our campus,” Main
said. “Now, we’ve been able to raise
the awareness and knowledge of
people working in laboratories.”
Olsen said the department’s accu
rate chemical files also cut down on
the number of violations.
“There is a lot of record keeping
and documentation,” Olsen said. “That
is where we were lacking in the past,
and EPA didn’t like it.”
Passing the last inspection was a
step in the right direction for UNL,
and for future inspections, Olsen said.
“No facility is perfect,” he said.
“But EPA found only one violation on
City Campus and none on East Cam
pus. That is really hard to do.”