WordWand
at library
takes notes
for students
By Karl Anderson
Staff Reporter
WordWand, a new computer ac
cessory that can take students’ notes
for them, has been donated to the
UNL Architecture Library.
Developed by Bart Narter of Fre
mont and Chris Rokusek of Lin
coln, a recent University of Ne
braska-Lincoln engineering gradu
ate, the WordWand consists of a
scanner shrunk into a tool resem
bling a pen.
The pen is moved slowly across
the text of a book or journal, and
words are transferred to text in a
computer.
Tne company WORDWAND,
of Stateline, Nev., recently gave the
library its WordWand Version 1.3
for use by the university commu
nity to raise interest in the product
among college students.
It also will be tested at New
York University and Harvard Uni
versity in the near future, Narter
said.
WordWand, which weighs fewer
than three ounces, plugs into a
printer port. Requirements for the
program are: a PC with a 486.
Pentium or a compatible processor,
Windows version J. i or later, eight
megabytes of RAM and seven
megabytes of hard disk space.
Narter said the WordWand had
been successful among legal pro
fessionals. Among students, how
ever, the response has been some
what disappointing because the
product is not readily available at
most universities.
Still, Narter is hopeful.
“We want the WordWand to be
the next accessory after the CD
ROM, and what better place to test
it than the home of the national
champion Comhuskers,” he said.
Please indicate which products Target now
carries by answering True or False.
Use a #2 pencil.
T F T F
® 0 Bread # 0 Rotisserie chicken
• 0 Milk 0 0 ice cream
• 0 Pizza • 0 Cheese
• 0 Fried Chicken • 0 Salads
® 0 Snacks • 0 Fresh deli meats
• 0 Eggs • 0 Sandwiches
Now put your pencils down and
proceed to the new Deli at Target.
DELI COUPON NO EXPIRATION DATE
WHOLE ROTISSERIE CHICKEN
OR 8-PC. FRIED CHICKEN
Limit one item per coupon,
one coupon per guest.
Reproductions not accepted.
Offer good at Target North
store only.
CASHIER: Scan product,
then scan coupon.
I
I
I
J
Deli. Now open at the Target North store at 48th St. and R.
Thursday, February 8,1996
Cold weather
forces a halt
in natural gas
By Tasha E. Kelter
istatt Reporter
Last week’s cold increased theneed
for gas to heat the city and had some
Lincoln buildings and factories using
an alternate energy source — for the
longest stretch of time in at least 16
years.
Don Nordell, director of customer
service at People’s Natural Gas in
Lincoln, said propane or other fuel
oils were used when the demand for
natural gas increased.
When large factories and buildings
— such as the university plant —
revert to backup power, the use of
natural gas is halted to make enough
fuel available for other buildings in
Lincoln, he said.
“They just have to stop natural gas
supply and start burning their other
fuel source,” he said. “They get the
stuff ready in the summer to prepare
for the wintertime.”
The curtailment process works in
24-hour increments, Nordell said, and
usually lasts a day or less. But last
week, curtailment lasted for five days.
“Last week was probably one of
the coldest periods of time on record,”
he said. “We were able to supply all
the homes in that period.”
Last wee*, tne University of Ne
braska-Lincoln utility plant also be
gan the curtailment procedure, said
Gary Thalken, UNL utilities manager
for facility management.
“The gas company calls and tells
us, but we do the actual switching,”
Thalken said.
The university then switches the
utility plant, at 14th and Avery streets,
to alternate power to control campus
heating, he said.
Burning these alternate oils costs
more, Thalken said.
“TTie ballpark figure is 50 cents per
million btu’s higher to bum oil than
natural gas,” he said.
Natural gas also burns cleaner than
oil and requires less maintenance,
Thalken said.
“You might have noticed that the
stack gases were a little darker last
week,” he said.
f
l
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the IRS
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