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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1998)
. t % I ■S *• By Mark Bauermeister Staff Reporter When most Nebraskans think about Ted Turner, they probably pic ture his Atlanta Braves, his billion do'llar donations or his Turner Broadcasting Network. Fewer Nebraskans are familiar with the rancher Ted Turner - buffa lo rancher, that is. But John Hansen, who spoke to a group in Love Library’s Great Plains Art Collection room Wednesday, knows Turner well in that respect. Hansen started managing Turner’s Spike Box buffalo ranch near Mullen in 1995 after 14 years of beef cattle ranching. Spike Box is home to the largest herd of bison in Nebraska with more than 1,800 head of buffalo and more' than 53,000 acres of grazing land. Hansen found buffalo difficult to work with at first, because they are larger and more aggressive than cat tle. Full-grown male bison can weigh up to a ton, he said. They’re also smarter, he said. Their intelligence compares to that of horses. Despite these differences, Hansen said Nebraska beef cattle ranchers can switch to bison ranch ing successfully if they overcome several obstacles. For instance, the cost of starting a buffalo ranch is high - about $1,800 for each calf, Hansen said. That price just 10 years ago was about$100. i Buffalo also require stronger and taller fences than cattle. Buffalo cor rals often are constructed of steel with a reinforced cement base, which is wider than the bases of beef battle corrals. Although switching from beef cattle to bison ranching is an expen sive decision, there are certain bene fits, Hansen said. Selling buffalo and buffalo meat yields higher profits th§a selling beef cattle - buffalo meat sells for six times as much as beef. Buffalo meat is leaner and lower in choles terol than beef. Buffalo herds also are more independent and require less care than beef cattle herds, he said. But buffalo require extensive protein supplements to protect them from diseases spread by neighboring cattle herds, Hansen said. To stay healthy, each buffalo needs two pounds of protein supplements each day. Most importantly, Hansen said, Nebraskans interested in buffalo ranching should spend time researching buffalo and working with them. Turner operates several buffalo ranches for that purpose, Hansen said, because the best way to learn about the native creature is to join it in its natural habitat. Accident claims UNL student CHURCHILL from page 1 accident. The Seward County Attorney’s office is still investigating the incident Sandy Schnepp and Heather Tonniges, friends of Churchill, said they learned of the accident around 4 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon. The trio became friends by per forming together on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln marching band flag line and spending time together on the weekends, Tonniges said. Amanda’s father, Roy Churchill, said performing on flag line was a source of pride for his daughter. “She was so proud to be a part of the band at die university,” he said. “It took up a lot of time, but she loved it” She studied social science and Worked at a day care center at Southeast Community College. Her father said she “came alive” when she was around younger members of the family. “She loved children,” he said. “She always wanted to work with children.” Churchill was engaged to be mar ried to Gerrod Lambrecht of Goehner. He said they planned to announce the engagement on Valentine’s Day. Lambrecht said he had just reserved the church that morning and told Churchill about it. The couple planned to be married on Aug. 15. “Mandy was absolutely gor geous,” Lambrecht said. “She had a great smile.” Tonniges said she will also remember her friend’s smile. “She was always laughing, and ASUN, Daily Nebraskan budgets passed By Jessica Fargen Assignment Reporter The Committee for Fees Allocation Tuesday passed the 1998 99 budgets for the Daily Nebraskan and ASUN, mid also listened to pro posals from other university fee users. The Daily Nebraskan submitted a budget for $48,889, an 8-percent increase from last year, but came out of the meeting short of that mark with $47,984, a 6-percent increase. The state's fifth-largest daily newspaper, which did not request an increase last year, requested more to cover the higher cost of paper, which could increase printing costs. Kendall Swenson, chairman for the CFA, said the lower amount allo cated resulted from a debate on whether or not printing costs would really go up. CFA originally voted 5-5 on the 8-percent increase, Swenson said, then die 6-percent increase was sug gested and passed. The Association of Students of the University of Nebraska submitted a budget that passed at its requested $ 197,549, nearly a 3-percent increase from last year. The majority of the increase came from increased adver tising costs from Student Legal Services and operating expenses. CFA also met with the University Programs Council/Lied Center for Performing Arts and UPC Programming, also users of the University Program and Facilities funds. CFA will discuss their proposals further today before they vote, Swenson said. The Lied Center will be request ing $99,120, a 3-percent increase, to partially offset the ticket discount provided to students. During the 1997-98 season at the Lied Center, UNL students paid $165,543 for tick ets that would have cost $279,046 at regular prices. In its funding request, the Lied Center representatives said it was important to make performing arte appealing and affordable because students were the Lied Center’s future audience. But UPC will be requesting a much higher increase than that to sat isfy its audience, especially in the area of diversity, Swanson said. “They came in big,” Swanson said. UPC requested a 60-percent increase in funds from last year’s $12,000 for multicultural events and a 60-percent increase for its fund allocation committee. Swanson said many groups came to UPC last year for financial help, but die organization just did not have die funds to help them all. “They turned down a lot of peo ple. We want to make sure that does n’t happen this year,” Swanson said. After hearing proposals, CFA and ASUN will forward their recommen dations to the chancellor Who may accept, reject or amend the recom mendations on a line-by-line basis. Contamination from fuel spill minimal By Josh Punk Senior Reporter p The smell of diesel fuel still lingers in the air at the cleanup site of Friday’s 600-gallon spill outside die City Campus utility plant. Environmental damage should be limited because of the fast action of the staff at the utility plant, 14* Street and Avery Avenue, and ongo ing cleanup by Industrial Service of Lincoln, said Rich McDermott, assistant vice chancellor of facili ties management and planning. “This is probably the cleanest section of Avery Avenue there is right now,** McDermott said. The fuel leaked from a faulty seam in one of the plant’s under ground tanks, which was being filled at the time. About 100 gallons of fuel reached the surface, closing Avery Avenue, before the fuel could be pumped into another tank. The other 500 gallons of fuel seeped through the ground from the tank to the surface, contaminating soil along the way. - When the leak was discovered, utility plant workers reacted quick ly to contain die spill and limit dam age, McDermott said. Industrial Service continues to clean the mess. Any contaminated soil will be removed and replaced and the tank will have to be repaired or replaced, McDermott said. »