Senators move
t- ■
V
■ An Internet feature,
UniCAM Live!, will
broadcast legislature.
By Todd Anderson
Assignment Reporter
Live from Lincoln, it’s “UniCAM
Live!”
For Internet users, coverage of
this year’s debates on the floor of the
Nebraska Legislature is not limited to
short media highlights. Full, live cov
erage of the Legislature has been
available since the first day of the
second session, Jan. 7, through the
Legislature’s homepage at
http://www. unicam. state, ne. us.
Angela Lutz, an employee of
Legislative Computer Services, said
UniCAM Live! displays a digitized
version of Educable’s video cover
age.
The process, which is called
“video streaming,” takes the image
from the television and digitizes it,
"she said. The image is then down
' loaded onto the Internet.
Computer users will need a
modem that operates at a speed of
28.8 kilobytes per second or faster
and an Internet browser such as
Netscape Navigator, as well as a pro
gram called RealPlayer, Lutz said.
RealPlayer works with the World
Wide Web browser to allow the user
to see and hear the video and audio
signals, she said. The program can be
downloaded for free from
RealPlayer’s homepage at
http://www. real, com.
Lutz said the sound of the audio
recording is “very dear,” while the
video display is a little slower, at four
frames per second. A television
image is displayed at 24 frames per
second.
Richard Brown, assistant clerk of
the Legislature, said the quality of the
image depends on the speed of the
user’s modem and the number of
users on a particular Internet net
work.
The cost to install the system was
less than $20,000, he said, and main
tenance costs will be minimal.
“The system is self-maintaining,
and any problems are handled by cur
rent staff. There is not really going to
be an added significant cost,” he said.
Brown said the state of Nebraska
is close to the forefront of states that
have decided on such an undertaking.
He said the technological capa
bilities to expand into other branches
of the government already exist. For
example, Washington already broad
casts executive and judicial proceed
ings over the Internet, he said.
The decision to make legislative
debates accessible through the ,
Internet came after concern was
shown for parts of the state that cR)
not have access to Educable’s live
broadcasts, Lutz said.
Steve Graziano, assistant pro
gramming manger for Educable, said
the decision to carry the Educable
station is made by independent cable
companies throughout the state. An
estimated one-third of the state does
not have access to the Educable chan
nel, he said.
With UniCAM Live! People with
access to the Internet can view their
government in action, he said.
“The nice thing is that you can see
what happens as it happens and the
way it happens,” he said. “It’s an
unvarnished look at what’s going on.”
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TEXTBOOKS AT
BACK TO SCHOOL HOURS
MON-THU 8am-8pm
FRI 8am-6pm & SAT 9am-6pm
www.nebraskabookstore.com 1300 Q STREET • 476-0111
Study finds politics
boring to freshmen
WASHINGTON (AP) - Three
decades after an unpopular war, the
civil rights struggle and free speech
disputes brought turmoil to college
campuses, a record low number of
college freshmen show much interest
in politics, according to a survey
released Sunday.
It’s even hard to get students riled
up about tuition, said one campus
Republican.
The annual freshman survey by
the University of California at Los
Angeles for the Washington-based
American Council on Education
found just 27 percent of the nation’s
1.6 million freshmen believe that
keeping up with political affairs is a
.very important life goal, less than
half the percentage recorded in 1966.
Just 14 percent said they fre
quently discuss politics, down from
30 percent in 1968.
. Large numbers also reported
being turned offby their studies when
they were seniors in high school.
, Because the annual survey began
in 1966, the benchmark is a period of
political ferment. Except for a few
? . blips, the political disengagement has
been fairly steady.
rresnmen and some frustrated
, activists point to several reasons: a
sense of powerlessness, a lack of
burning issues, and a desire to shun
political labels or even a reluctance to
antagonize acquaintances in a new
social setting.
“At the age I am now, it doesn’t
seem that important,” said Jessica
Grace Evans, 18, a freshman at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “I
don’t think our opinion matters in the
grand scale of things.”
n Campus activists from both par
-3 ties have trouble explaining such a
^feeling of powerlessness, but they
know it’s there.
-u: “They don’t think tuition is going
2Jto rise or decline because they say
maof’c&akMSte ^Jt^23?3P}ftS6Mid
spokesman for the' College
^^Republicans at the University of
' Washington in Seattle.
i;; “I think that reflects the level of
contentment in the general society,”
said Dana Gaylin Mathes, a 21-year
old senior and president of th£
University of California at Berkeley
Democrats, a group whose phone
number ends with the digits 1964.
“What gets people involved in poli
tics is the bad things.”
After all, less than half the voters
cast ballots in the 1996 presidential
election, the lowest since 1924.
But cynicism and a lack of
younger politicians have alienated
many as well. Even President
Clinton, who made direct appeals to
the MTV crowd, is the father of a
freshman. And first daughter Chelsea
Clinton’s peers around the country
don’t like political pigeonholes.
“I think sometimes people are
afraid of the label,” said Pruitt, who
describes himself as a moderate with
libertarian leanings. “It’s either the
liberal Democratic party or the con
servative Republican party, and stu
dents aren’t really interested in one or
the other.”
The poll of more than 250,000
students in fact found 55 percent
identifying themselves as middle of
the road - the highest in a decade.
UCLA freshman Corinne
LeTourneau, 18, has another view.
She says that the campus is a melting
pot of people with different back
grounds and cultures, requiring
extreme sensitivity, and that may be
why people hold down their discus
sions. Politics “is a touchy subject,”
she said.
you aon t want to toucn on
someone’s nerves when you’ve just
met these people.”
People also are adjusting to a new
life and are cut off from their usual
sources of information. “You are iso
lated from a lot more news media,”
she said. “You’re not going home
clicking on the TV by yourself as
much. You’re not by yourself as much
to just sit and concentrate on what
occurred.”
The pollsters also found what
they called a disengagement from
studies, with a record 36 percent
reporting that they had been fre
quently bored during their senior year
in high school. A record number had
overslept or missed class or an
appointment. The amount of home-,
But the erstwhile seniors had
plenty of reasons, mostly falling into
the category of ‘ senioritis.’ *
“It was hard to focus, because
you’re so excited to be going to col
lege,” said Evans, the UNL freshman.
Brian W. Thompson, a 19-year
old freshman at the University of
North Carolina, said the courses
ceased to be challenging.
“I think high schools don’t keep
up with most of the students that goto
college,” said the politically interest
ed history and1 political science
major.
■ ^————————hii^— ■
All Students are eligible to apply for a refund of
their “A” portion of student fees beginning
January 12, 1998 and ending February 6, 1998.
Students claiming a refund will lose benefits
provided by Fund “A” users during the Spring
semester 1997-1998.
Application forms are available at the Student
Activities Financial Services Office, Room 334
City Union; ASUN Office, 115 Nebraska Union
and should be returned by the applicant in person
to 334 Nebraska Union or 300 Nebraska East
Union. Students must bring their student I.D.
cards at the time of application. Students who are
unable to personally return their application to the
Student Activities Financial Services Office
should contact Daniel Paez, Room 334 (phone
472-2154) on or before February 6, 1998 to make
arrangements.
Students who have completed a refund
application and returned it on or before February 6,
1998 will be mailed a check for the amount of die
refund claimed. Refund checks will be mailed
between the dates of February 9-13,1998.
Students claiming a refund will lose certain
benefits provided by the above Fund “A” users. For
details on which benefits may be lost, please refer
to the coversheet on the refund application.
ON MEN'S AND WOMEN’S
• SUITS AND SPORTCOATS
• DESIGNER COLLECTIONS
• SWEATERS & WINTER COATS
• SHOES AND BOOTS
ALSO