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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. »