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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1996)
Thursday December 5,1996 UNL modem pool drained in spring By Josh Funk Staff Reporter For UNL’s 16,000-plus off-campus students, the information superhighway ! t soon will become a toll road. The University of Nebraska-Lin coln will eliminate the dial-in modem pool early next semester. The pool cur rently gives off-campus students free : ; Internet access without making them travel to campus computer labs. Beginning in February, all off-cam pus students will have to subscribe to a commercial Internet access provider ! ; and pay a monthly fee to access the Internet. The change will not affect most stu dents living in residence halls, who have Internet access from their rooms — provided their computers have l Ethernet cards. Kent Hendrickson, associate vice chancellor for information services, said demand for access to the pool and the cost of keeping up with advancing technology has made the modem pool too expensive. Despite UNL’s ongoing efforts to upgrade the system, students often en counter busy signals and outdated hardware when they call. Connecting to the system can take dozens of tries during peak evening hours. .Information Services considered many different proposals to improve the service for students before decid ing to turn over university Internet ac cess to a commercial provider. “We finally reached an agreement with the vendors to provide service to students,” Hendrickson said. Hendrickson, who was in Califor nia on business Wednesday, did not have specific information about pro viders or costs. Last year, when the possibility of abandoning the univer Please see INTERNET on 8 Donated bridge offers link for trails By Erin Gibson Staff Reporter An abandoned railroad bridge over the Platte River will provide the vital link between Omaha and Lincoln hiker-biker trails, Nebraska trails officials said Wednesday. The bridge, about four miles southeast of South Bend, will be donated to the state by a private donor, said Andy Bailey, project manager for the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District. Although the bridge needs some work — $1.5 million to make it hiker and biker-friendly — it will greatly enhance the metro area trail system when completed around 2001, he said. The bridge’s railroad tracks will be converted to a path, and trails will be built on both sides of the bridge to link it with existing trails and roadways, Bailey said. And Great Plains Trails Net work (GPTN) President Susan Source: Great Plains Trails Network Rodenburg said the converted bridge will speed the completion of an off-road trail system between Lincoln and Omaha. “It’s just very vital to the area trails system,” Rodenburg said. “We’re working on the bridge first Natalie Linstrom/DN because the opportunity is there.” In support of the bridge conver sion, the GPTN has agreed to ex pand the Mopac trail that runs from 84th Street between A and O streets Please see TRAILS on 6 , • Lane Htckenbottom/DN THIRTY-TWO WHITE BALLOONS with red ribbons were launched Wednesday in commemoration of World AIDS Day. Each of the 16 years of the epidemic was marked by the release of two balloons. UNL commemorates World AIDS Day Students distribute infor mation and release balloons , to mark the 16th year of the * epidemic. By Tasha E. Kelter StaffReporter A small group of UNL students gathered in front of the Nebraska Union Wednesday to re j lease balloons in commemoration of World AIDS Day. Students walking past the union were invited to release a balloon as a symbol of AIDS aware * ness. The Mueller bell tower chimed an extra 16 times after its usual 12 chimes at noon — one for each year AIDS has been recognized as an * epidemic in America. Pat Tetreault, sexuality education coordina tor at the University Health Center, said the re lease of the balloons and the booth inside the Nebraska Union caught the attention of many students. “It was an uplifting, hopeful kind of display,” mm • - ■-* -!»': she said. Neil Vacek, a senior family science major, said the release of the balloons would have been more effective at reaching a larger number of students if it was at 12:30 p.m. or another time when students weren’t in class. Glynnis Smith, a sophomore special educa tion major, said one of the purposes of the ac tivities was to not discriminate against people who are HIV-positive or have AIDS. The theme of World AIDS Day last Sunday was “One World, One Hope,” signifying the glo bal unity needed to face the challenges AIDS presents, Tetreault said. “We really need to look at this as a global issue,” she said. Frieda Fowler, graduate assistant in commu nity health education, said it was important to keep attention on the problem of the AIDS epi demic. One out of every 250 Americans, and about one out of every 500 students, is thought to be HIV-positive, Fowler said. This includes people who are unaware that they have the virus be cause they haven’t been tested. “People get too comfortable and forget to Please see AIDS on 8 _____ ' ^ - - Lane Htckenbottoii/DN GUNNIS SMITH, a sophomore special education major, prepares to release a handful of balloons Wednesday in celebratidn of World AIDS Day. Smith is a peer sexual educator at the University Health Center.
