I think its
important that
we as student
athletes get out
in the
community and
do as much as
we can"
Kris Brown
camp coordinator
Tanya Wright/DN
NEBRASKA HEAD Football Coach Frank Solich shows Sarah Bauer, a participant at
the Pacific Pals picnic, how to throw a football Tuesday at Bethany Park. Pacific
Pals is in its fourth year in Lincoln and offers part-time employment to NU ath
letes.
NU athletes volunteer in
summer youth program
■ Community work aids
both children and the
volunteers, says NU Head
Football Coach Frank
Solich.
By Tanya Wright
Staff Reporter
Imagine children spending
four weeks of their summer
pulling weeds, helping in libraries
and cleaning up city parks.
Thanks to the partnership of
the Summer Youth Program and
Pacific Pals, area youth are engag
ing in activities they might not
otherwise get the chance to exDe
rience.
Approximately 100 children
are chosen from area middle
schools either through
Community Classroom
Connections — a program aimed
at keeping children in school,
called TeamMate Mentors — a
program started by Tom and
Nancy Osborne, which pairs vol
unteers with selected students
who are sometimes recommended
by teachers.
The Summer Youth Program,
which is funded by the Kellogg
Foundation Points of Light grant,
pairs children with local organiza
tions where they spend their
mornings volunteering in the
community and helping out agen
cies like Goodwill, the Lincoln
Action Program and the
Community Playhouse.
“It gives kids an opportunity to
see parts of their community and
to be involved in areas that they
otherwise might not,” said Dr.
Mary Lynne Schaffer, coordinator
of the Summer Youth Program.
Pacific Pals began in Omaha
eight years ago, became a non
profit organization in 1994 and
expanded to Lincoln one year
later. The summer camp phase
pairs NU student-athletes with
local youth in an attempt to pro
viae positive roie models.
Pacific Pals Camp Coordinator
and football player Kris Brown,
seized the opportunity to make a
difference in the life of a child.
“I think it’s important that we
as student-athletes get out in the
community and do as much as we
can,” he said.
Each afternoon the children
and 11 student-athlete counselors
participate in activities ranging
from swimming to visiting local
institutions.
Camp participant Steven
Sigrist, 14, said he liked visiting
the State Penitentiary because the
children got to talk with an inmate
and “could ask anything.”
The children learn about their
communities and develop skills
that will stick with them for life.
Nebraska Football Coach
Frank Solich believed in the pro
gram but said the children weren’t
the only ones who benefited.
“I think it’s a good program,”
he said. “I think it also benefits
the athletes who help with the
camp, knowing they can be of
some help to the youth that are
here.”
Pacific Pals Director C.L.
Ross estimated the program has
helped over 21,000 children and
their families in the Lincoln and
wmuua uivuo.
“Some of these kids who have
had counselors still have relation
ships with them,” she said. “We
get letters from parents saying
how worthwhile (the program) is.”
The current program may be
rewarding, but NU women’s bas
ketball player Naciska Gilmore
thinks the program has an even
brighter future.
“I think it’s going to develop,”
said Gilmore, a camp counselor.
“It’s already developed into some
thing good, and I think it’s just
going to keep getting better.”
Strickland: lockout
could affect season
By Darren Ivy
Co-Editor
When the current agreement
between the NBA and its players
expired June 30, and without a new
agreement being accepted, the owners
locked out the players for the third
time in the last four years.
The past two lockouts didn’t last
long, but former Nebraska guard and
current Dallas Maverick Erick
Strickland is expecting this lockout to
last some time.
“We may miss some games,”
Strickland said. “The two sides are at
two extremes. When you have that sit
uation, you sometimes aren’t willing
to hear what the other side has to say,
and that adds time to the negotiations.”
The lockout will, in essence, shut
down the league. Teams will be barred
from talking to their players. Trades
and free agent signings will be prohib
ited, and summer leagues will be can
celed. However, players will still
receive salaries until November.
“The expired collective bargaining
agreement between the NBA and its
players did not work,” Deputy
Commissioner Russ Granik said after
conferring by conference call with the
league’s Board of Governors.
“We have made a series of propos
als to the players under which salaries
would continue to increase — but at a
slower rate than under the expired
deal,” Granik said. “Regrettably, the
players have rejected all the proposals.
The NBA will not operate until we
reach a new agreement that is fair to
both parties.”
While the owners are trying to
blame the players for the lockout,
Strickland said the players want to
play, and the owners are the ones at
fault.
“It’s weird that the (owners) took a
lot the last time and now two years
later they come back and want to take
more,” Strickland said. “We don’t feel
we are being treated right.”
Strickland said the players won’t
give up the Larry Bird clause, which
allows teams to exceed the salary cap
to retain their own free agents.
Randy Bowman, Strickland’s
agent, said the lockout is not about
who is right or wrong, but rather a bat
tle of attrition.
“Whichever side loses money first
and feels the pain most severely will
buckle,” Bowman said. “If the players
were smart and built a cash reserve,
the players should be able to withstand
the owners.”
Strickland took Bowman’s advice
and said he was financially set.
“We knew the possibility of a lock
out, so we made sure we were overly
cautious last year.”
Elkhorn standout gives
oral commitment to NU
By Adam Klinker
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska football team
made another addition to its recruit
ing class when Phil Peetz gave an
oral commitment last week to
become a Cornhusker.
Peetz, a senior-to-be offensive
and defensive lineman from
Elkhom (Neb.) High School verbal
ly committed to a full-ride scholar
ship to play football for the Huskers
in the fall of 1999. Peetz will sign
with NU in February.
“It’s feeling pretty good right
now,” Peetz said. “Eve been kind of
calm about it, but it’s starting to hit
me now.”
Peetz, who signed with Coach
Dan Young, said the Huskers may be
looking for him to play on the defen
sive line as a rush end or lineman.
“He’s very explosive on both the
offensive and defensive lines,”
Elkhorn Head Coach Mark
Wortman said. “Coming to a high
school game, he’s a definite stand
out.”
This fall, Peetz will begin his
third season as a varsity starter at
Elkhorn. In his sophomore and
junior years he was named to the
Nebraska All-State Football Team as
an offensive lineman.
With Peetz’s speed and explo
siveness off the line and his 6-foot
2, 250-lb. frame, Wortman said on
either side of the ball Peetz will
move people around in the tradition
of other Husker lineman.
“He’s ready to go,” Wortman
said. “Like most kids, he’s been
looking forward to playing for
Nebraska for a long time.”
Peetz is the first Elkhorn High
player to receive a scholarship to
NU for football. Reserve quarter
back Jay Runty, also of Elkhorn,
made the team as a walk-on last
year.