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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1998)
GLC focuses on safety, renovations ■ 1 he committee is working with the city to improve crosswalks. By Jessica Fargen Assignment Reporter Speeding cars and backpack-laden pedestrians speeding to class may not be the safest combination on campus. So city officials are conducting studies this week to figure out ways to fix the situation. It’s just one of two projects the Government Liaison Committee, in conjunction with the city, hopes to see completed this semester. John Wiechmann, chairman of the GLC, said city officials will be study ing pedestrian activity and car speeds around 14th and Vine streets to see if safety measures the committee has proposed in those areas would be fea sible. Wiechmann said he brought safety concerns about the area to Lincoln Public Works and Utilities Manager Rick Haden in November to discuss ways to make the area safer. Haden said studies will be done COMING TO YOUR WORLD [COLLEGE PROGHaml W|jlEN: February 4,1998 • 7:00 pm Love Library Auditorium The Walt Disney College Program is about friends, experiences and opportunities you’ll discover as you live, learn and earn in our world STOP BY AND DISCOVER A WORLD OPPORTUNITIES AT DISNEY. this week to record car and pedestrian traffic in the area. The studies have been delayed since November while city officials waited for dry pavement and classes, Haden said. Haden said officials would do a pedestrian count survey to observe how many students use the crosswalk between 14th and 16th streets, how much they obey walk signs and gener al driver behavior. Lincoln Police also will monitor traffic speed on 14th Street. Wiechmann said something should be put at the crosswalk to alert drivers of the pedestrian traffic while not giving students free reign of the street. “Flashing lights would alert dri vers, but we would not want students to assume that they would automati cally be safe,” Haden said. Wiechmann said he would also like to see 14th Street’s 35-mph speed limit lowered farther north. Wiechmann said drivers “just fly through that area” and it is dangerous to pedestrians. After the studies, Wiechmann said, it would be up to the city to decide if any changes would be beneficial. “We will be looking for (the city) to either support or challenge the results and tell us where they want us to go,” Haden said. Added to the committee’s concern for students’ safety is the desire to help them save money. Wiechmann said a city ordinance prohibiting more than three unrelated people from living together makes it hard for students to cut down on their expenses. Angie Klein, a sophomore market ing, advertising and broadcasting major, said having a lot of roommates is a popular way for college students to save money, and because Lincoln is a “college town,” changing this ordi nance makes sense. Ed Zimmer, from city planning and housing, said he met with Klein to discuss the process of getting an ordi nance changed. Zimmer said the reason for the ordinance was to prevent large amounts of unrelated people taking up parking spaces or causing distur bances. “It’s important to have some kind of definition so people know what to predict,” Zimmer said. Wiechmann agreed, but said some compromise had to be reached. “We don’t want to turn it into an us-vs.-the-system thing,” Wiechmann said. And addressing the system is the job of GLC, Wiechmann said. Whether it be protecting students’ money or addressing safety concerns, he said, GLC hopes to lobby for stu dent interests through several outlets this semester. Committee will examine ‘brain gain’ implications By Jessica Fargen Assignment Reporter The governor is trying to get Nebraska college graduates to stay in the state and work. An Omaha senator is sup porting a bill that would update the buildings that those students learn in. And UNL’s Government Liaison Committee plans to spend a great deal of time lobby ing for both of those legislative measures this semester. John Wiechmann, GLC chairman, said the “brain gain” bill introduced by Omaha Sen. Jon Bruning and supported by Gov. Ben Nelson would be GLC’s main focus this semester. The bill, LB1176, would provide 200 to 300 scholarships to students who agree to stay in Nebraska for three years after graduation and complete an internship with a participating 1I1-5UUC “Anything that provides money for students we’re going to support,” Wiechmann said. However, Wiechman said, GLC won’t give its full support to the bill until more specific information is available and cer tain questions are answered. “What are the long-term implications?” Wiechmann asked. “What if a student gets transferred because of their job? We don’t want them to be penal ized by that.” The “brain gain” bill’s focus is to keep students in Nebraska, but the GLC realizes that the university must first be able to attract top students to the University of Nebraska Lincoln. And having the top facilities for students to study in is one way to do that. Sen. Dan Lynch of Omaha has prioritized a deferred main tenance bill that would provide for repair, renovation and con struction projects throughout the NU system and the smaller state colleges. “UNL needs this so that we can continue to get educated in updated facilities,” Wiechmann said. Laurie weoer, a legislative aide for Lynch, said the univer sity would buy $79 million in bonds for the project, with the Legislature paying the universi ty $5.5 million a year for up to 10 years to help with repayment. The university would pay back some of the bond money from its general fund, Weber said. The bill outlines 13 projects on the campuses at UNL, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Weber said. In the works for UNL is the transformation of Lyman and Bancroft halls into one building, renovation of Hamilton and Avery halls and construction of a new facility to replace the Bio chemistry Building.The bill would also allocate $400,000 for state colleges such as Peru State College and Wayne State college for up to 10 years.