SPORTS
Unbelievable!
For the first time in school history the Nebraska women’s gymnas
tics team earned a spot in the NCAA Super Six. NU scored a 196.025,
beating Utah on a tiebreaker. PAGE 7
A A E
Clawless ‘Cat’
Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait will bring his manic
brand of stand-up comedy to the Nebraska Union’s
_Centennial Room Saturday night. PAGE 9
April 18, 1997
Summed Kiss
Partly cloudy, high 80. Chance of rain later, low 45.
VOL. 96COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901NO. 141
Meter accuracy winds down on R Street
»
Faulty timing needles stick students
without minutes, money to spare
By Josh Funk
Staff Reporter
More than one-third of the parking
meters along R Street bordering City
Campus don’t give students the time
they pay for, a Daily Nebraskan inves
tigation found.
All 103 parking meters on both
sides of R Street from 12th to 16th
streets in front of Nebraska Union were
each plugged with a quarter, and the
time the meters allotted was recorded.
Meters are supposed to allot one
hour per quarter, 24 minutes per dime
and 12 minutes per nickel.
But 31 percent of the meters regis
tered less than 60 minutes for a quar
ter, and 43 percent of the meters lost
- minutes as they counted down; how
r ever, meters also have played in favor
of drivers with 30 percent registering
more than 60 minutes after depositing
25 cents, and 35 percent gaining min
utes as they count down.
About 39 percent registered the
correct time, and 22 percent kept the
correct time.
Meters are enforced and emptied by
the Lincoln Police Department, but
they are maintained and serviced by the
Lincoln Public Works Department,
where traffic engineer Larry Brage
oversees their operation.
“I am disturbed by these figures. It
is not our job to shortchange people.”
Brage said. “A meter should give you
at least 60 minutes for a quarter.”
Of the meters that were incorrect,
15 registered less than 60 minutes per
quarter, and 19 lost five minutes or
more keeping time. There were 28
meters that registered more than 60
minutes per quarter, and 32 that gained
time.
Thirty-seven registered 60 minutes,
and 20 kept the correct time.
These figures do not include the
eight meters that were out of order
because they were stuck on 90 min
tt
It is not our job to
shortchange people.
A meter should give
you at least 60
minutes for a quarter.
Larry Brace
city traffic engineer
utes or could not be plugged because
an object was jammed in the slot.
Winding down
Inside each of the city’s parking
meters is a mechanical device similar
to a wind-up wristwatch with a hair
spring to keep the time, Brage said. The
coin trips the spring and winds the
clock to start the countdown.
When a meter is having timing
problems, the serviceman must open
the meter and replace the timing mecha
nism, so he can take the questionable
timer back to the shop for testing,
Brage said.
There are a few things that could
cause the timing to be off, including
worn pieces or meters that need ad
justment, Brage said.
Until a few years ago all the meters
along R Street were one-hour meters,
Brage said. The timing gear was then
changed for 90-minute meters. Now,
the department is debating the benefits
of digital meters.
“We are considering going to a
meter without a handle to turn or
maybe a credit card system,” traffic
engineering technician Alan Lee said.
“But those meters wouldn’t necessar
ily be more accurate than the ones we
have now.”
Legislature takes no
action on prison bill
From Staff Reports
Senators adjourned early Thursday
afternoon and took no action on a bill
that would create an incarceration
work camp as a prison alternative for
nonviolent criminals.
LB882, in its second round of de
bate, would stress counseling and re
habilitation, and includes an after-care
program following release from the
work camp. It is one of Gov. Ben
Nelson’s legislative priorities this ses
sion.
Sen. Chris Peterson of Grand Is
land said she wants the facility to be
for juveniles only. She proposed an
amendment to postpone debate on
the issue for that reason, saying the
state had to consider how to best
spend its money.
“(Juveniles) have the greatest need
and the best chance of reform,”
Peterson said.
Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek said
juvenile offenders were better served
in the community and had no business
beirg institutionalized.
The amendment was voted down.
The session adjourned until Monday.
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http:/ / www.unl.edu/DailyNeb
Matt Miller/DN
SOPHOMORE BUSINESS MAJOR Jeff Albertson puts money in his meter on R Street Thursday afternoon. Albertson
said he has noticed that the meters do not always give the correct time, and he said he has accumulated more
than 30 tickets in the last two years.
Meters with worn or broken parts
can vary greatly in the time they regis
ter. One meter registered 10 minutes
after a quarter was deposited. Later,
on another trial, that same meter reg
istered 24 minutes. Another meter in
the same block gave zero minutes for
a quarter.
A different meter registered 42 min
utes when the quarter was deposited.
Then the time ran out in 35 minutes.
After inspecting the data from a
particularly erroneous meter, Brage
said that the meter could have the
wrong timing gear inside. He said the
only difference in the city’s different
meters — from those that record 10
minutes to 10 hours — is the timing
gear.
Bad timing
The Daily Nebraskan kept records of 103 parking meters
along R Street; eight were out of order. Coin One shows the
percentages of meters that gained, lost or kept the correct
time. Coin Two is a breakdown of how the meters measure
time once a quarter is inserted.
Co
Please see METER on 6
Aaron Steckelberg/DN
Candidates: personal funds
fuel ASUN election success
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter
According to campaign reports,
parties who win ASUN campaigns
pay the price—almost $4,100 over
the last two years — most coming
from their own pocketbooks.
Losing parties in campaigns
spent about $735 — one-fourth of
the winners’ total.
Although total spending this
year fell to about $2,070, down from
about $2,720 in 1996, campaigning
is still expensive, said ASUN President
Curt Ruwe, who led the ADVANCE
party to victory this year.
Getting the attention of uninter
ested student voters takes a lot of
money, he said. The party system on
campus raises the cost, he said, because
a new name and party platform must
be publicized every year.
“It’s not a cheap process,” Ruwe
said. The ASUN abolished campaign
spending limits, which were historically
violated, after the 1994 campaign.
Ruwe alone reported donating
about $500 to the ADVANCE cam
paign. ADVANCE senators were each
asked to donate $25, he said.
James Griesen, ASUN adviser and
UNL vice chancellor for student affairs,
said the amount of money spent, when
divided by the number of students cam
paigning, should not keep students
from being able to run for an ASUN
office.
If two candidates sought every one
of the 35 ASUN senate offices, the per
candidate total would have hit less than
$30 this spring.
Please see CAMPAIGN on 3