Greek Row may see
historical registry
Thesis topic raised issue
—--- > >
By Kasey Berber
Staff Reporter
It started as a master’s thesis more
than a year ago, hut in 40 days it might
just becOipe a piece of history.
Greek Row, an area encompassing
almost all UNL fraternity and sorority
houses, is one step from becoming a
nationally-recognized historic district.
Greek Row includes 35 fraternity
and sorority houses and other buildings
on or near City Campus.
Bill Callahan, National Historic
Register coordinator in Lincoln, said
Greek Row had excellent chances for
approval because of its detailed pro
posal —a necessity for National Park
Service approval.
“The explanation is critical,”
Callahan said. “The person putting the
proposal together must keep in mind
that final approval will come from a
few people in Washington who might
not even be able to point Lincoln out
on a map.”
If the National Park Service does
approve the recommendation, it would
be because of Justin Van Mullem, a
former UNL student now living in Cali
fornia.
Van Mullem was working on his
master’s thesis for community and re
gional planning when the idea first oc
curred to him that Greek Row could
be recognized as a historic district.
While a few individual fraternity
and sorority houses had been recog
nized, Van Mullem said the district as
a whole had a unique architectural his
tory.
After formulating his thesis, Van
Mullem began a year’s worth of re
search eliding with a drafted nomina
tion of Greek Row for inclusion as a
historic district.
“The majority of the work was in
the research,” Van Mullem said. “For
each house, I tried to find the original
architectural drawings.”
Van Mullem compared these draw
ings to current fraternity and sorority
houses to see if any major renovation
or construction had altered the origi
nal building.
While some houses had undergone
changes from their original condition,
Van Mullem said nearly all houses
qualified for the historic district.
Greek Row has an interesting ar
w
The person putting
the proposal
together must keep
in mind that final
approval will come
from a few people in
Washington who
migfd not even be
able to point
Lincoln out on a
map.”
Bill Callahan
National Historic
Register coordinator
chitectural history representing several
styles and periods of architectural de
sign, Van Mullem said.
Many of the houses display period
revival, Van Mullem said, and copied
earlier styles of architecture.
Competition also contributed to
Greek Row’s uniqueness, he said.
“A fraternity would build a house
and another fraternity would pop up
and build its house more impressively,”
Van Mullem said.
This aspect of competition was ap
parent in the dates the houses were
constructed, Van Mullem said. Most
fraternity and sorority houses were
built within eight years of one another.
Van Mullem said he knew he would
be gone before his plans came to frui
tion.
“I knew it all along,” he said.
“When I came up with the proposal, I
made sure it was a nomination. Other
wise it could have taken me four years
for me to get my master’s.”
But Van Mullem said he hoped stu
dents would leam from his effort.
“For me, it’s important that people
realize that a history went along with
these houses.”
NU regents to vote
on buying mainframe
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter
The NU Board of Regents will vote
on two campus improvement projects
Saturday morning, both with price tags
of more than $500,000.
A more powerful mainframe com
puter for the University of Nebraska
Lincoln and renovations to the Univer
sity of Nebraska Medical Center in
Omaha will be considered at the 8:30
meeting in Varner Hall.
The proposed $560,835 computer
for UNL would replace the current
IBM mainframe purchased in 1992,
according to a proposal by Melvin
Jones, vice chancellor for business and
finance, and Irvin Omtvedt, interim
senior vice chancellor for academic
affairs.
The current computer often runs at
90 percent of capacity at peak times
and serves as both a research and e
mail server for more than 4,200 UNL
users.
According to the proposal, the new
computer would facilitate a strong web
server for UNL, which soon could top
1 million hits per day because of dis
tance education and other electronic
university initiatives.
The proposed UNMC renovations
would cost $592,060 and include up
dating inefficient work stations for staff
and improving lighting conditions in
the Level 7 West Oncology/Hematol
ogy Special Care Unit.
Other agenda items for today in
clude:
■ A 4 pan. meeting of the Busi
ness Affairs Committee in Varner Hall
to discuss the UNL modem pool.
Student Regent Eric Marintzer said
he regretted that the meeting will be
too late to stop UNL from losing free
off-campus access to the modem pool
Feb. 1. But the meeting could bringup
future plans for the modem pool, or
justify the loss of service, he said.
■ A 3 pan. meeting of the Genoa!
Affairs Committee in Varner Hall to
discuss student financial aid at UNL.
■ The election of 1997 officers of
the NU Board of Regents at the Satur
day morning meeting.
Law&
Order
Child neglect
Two children were placed in
protective custody Wednesday
when police officers found them liv
ing in squalor.
When officers arrived at 2821
N.W. Sixth St., they found the house
in which the two children were liv
ing did not have running water be
cause of frozen pipes. It was littered
with dirty clothes and dog feces.
Several windows had been broken
out and the glass was lying on the
floor.
Police arrested Carl Wheeler,
28, and Kathy Wheeler, 31, for child
neglect. The children, an 8-year-old
girl and a 9-year-old boy, were taken
into protective custody.
Burglary
A computer hard drive and key
board were taken from Andrews
Hall by someone University Police
said they believe had keys to the
room.
Language lab instructors told
police that the computer parts had
been taken between Thursday and
Monday, when the lab was closed.
Officers could find no signs of
forced entry, UNL Police Sgt. Mylo
Bushing said. That has pointed of
ficers toward someone with a key
to the room, he said, which was
locked at the time of the burglary.
The keyboard and hard drive
were valued at $1,270. Ironically,
Bushing said, someone stole the
monitor that was attached to the
now-stolen hard drive and key
board.
HBAacTosa^^gi
Hi special^^H
(C^ m2 Micro-Import Draws
r BBtti— Jl<a—Itgrmu lull I II
s MAIN ST. CAFE s
S 2ND SEMESTER DRINK SPECIALS pi
WED: $1.75 BOULEVARD BIG BEERS (ifSt- I
pj STOUT, WHEAT, PALE ALE & PORTER) pj
W THUR: $2.00 YOU CALL IT!! THAT’S RIGHT ALL W
£ PREMIUMS, BLOODYS, MARGARITAS, LONG £
[ 1 ISLANDS, CAPTAINS, 23 OZ. MICRO & IMPORT M
S BEERS, &DOMESTIC PITCHERS ARE ALL B
S ONLY TWO BUCKS!!!!!! pj
U FRIDAY: $2.50 CAPTAIN & COKES W
£ .500 JELLO SHOTS £
LJ SATURDAY: $1.50 WELLS U
.500 JELLO SHOTS
WE NOW HAVE A POOL TABLE Lg!
Doesn't your body deserve
MORE THAN THIS?
\
If you have bulimia nervosa—a pattern of binge eating and purging—
you are robbing your body of important nutrients. Bulimia can permanently
damage your intestinal system, your throat, even kill you.
If you fit this pattern, call the UNMC Eating Disorders Program at (402) 559-5524.
University
of Nebraska
Medical Center
i
K
