RHA wants improved relations I
■ The association will try
to work together inside
and out this year.
By Jessica Fargen
Staff writer
Some members of the Residence
Hall Association will be attending
more meetings this year than just their
regular Sunday night get-together.
RHA President Ben Wallace said
. his organization will regularly send
representatives to observe meetings
of the Interfraternity Council,
Panhellenic and the Association of
Students of the University of
Nebraska.
“It is important we have the lines
of communication open,” Wallace
said. “It is important as leaders of
campus that we work together as
much as possible.”
Wallace pointed out that student
government sends its second vice
president to sit in on RHA meetings.
Laura Sullivan, senator from
Neihardt Residence Center, said the
relationship between the two groups
sometimes can be strained.
“Everyone knows we need to
work on relations between greeks and
residence halls,” Sullivan said. “I
think everyone would like to see the
communication improve and work
together more.
“It’s pointless for us not to work
together.”
Wallace also hopes RHA mem
bers will be working closer together
this year through a mentoring pro
gram.
The 2-year-old program is being
given a new focus to help new sena
tors feel more comfortable in hall
government
Wallace, who is a junior French
major, said rookie senators last year
were automatically paired up with an
executive board member, regardless
of that board member’s RHA experi
ence.
This year Wallace and Sullivan,
the mentoring program coordinator,
will choose the mentors based on
RHA experience. Sullivan said men
tors will be chosen this week. The
program did not have a coordinator
last year.
“Basically it is to give the new
senators a resource base so they can
talk to people who have more experi
ence with RHA, get a feel for what’s
going on,” Sullivan said.
“So you don’t go half the year and
not know anyone.”
The mentoring will consist mostly
of social activities such as going out
for ice cream or bowling, she said.
Sullivan said the effectiveness last
year was average. Sullivan had a men
tor last year, but did nothing with that
person. She said she would like to be
a mentor this year.
“We want to make it a strong,
effective program instead of just an
average one,” Sullivan said.
Other RHA news:
■ Applications will be available
Friday for the fall RHA retreat. The
retreat is open to residence hall stu
dents.
■ Residence Hall Week is Sept. 16
23.
■ The first RHA meeting is Sunday at
6:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union.
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Children’s museum
plays with new locale
MUSEUM from page 1
nent home for the first time
when it moves to the new build
ing, said Lindy Bull, director of
operations for the museum.
The permanent home for the
museum will include a modern
look and new exhibits. While
many of the old exhibits will be
used in the renovated museum,
new ones designed by a firm
specializing in the development
of hands-on exhibits for chil
dren also will fill the museum.
The designer, Amy Leidtke,
will work with community
members and organizations on
the exhibits that occupy the new
space, Bull said.
Leidtke and the board have
come up with preliminary plans
for many exhibits.
One of them, which has the
working name of Museumville,
will represent a Midwestern
city and countryside. This
exhibit will look most familiar
to patrons who often visit the
museum, as it will incorporate
old favorites like the bank, the
grocery store and the replica of
NU’s Memorial Stadium.
Other planned exhibits
include a tree that will stretch
up through the three floors of
the museum, containing climb
ing and learning activities.
A water exhibit is planned
for the basement, where the
boat housed in the old museum
will be used. A water wall that
visitors can walk over will be
part of the Big Splash exhibit.
Prairie Dog Hill will allow
children to crawl through
numerous tunnels and experi
ence the life of a prairie dog, an
important part of western
Nebraska’s ecological system,
Bull said.
There will be 36,000 square
feet in the new building for
these exhibits. Currently, the
museum operates with 13,000
square feet.
The remaining space of the
72,000-square-foot building
will be leased to other tenants.
The renovation of the build
ing along with the new exhibits
will bring a hefty price tag.
While the bond issue paid for
the building, another $2.67 mil
lion needs to be raised through
private donations to fund the
renovation and construction of
the exhibits, White said.
As the museum begins a
broad media campaign this fall
to get the money from the pub
lic, it also will go to numerous
corporations and foundations to
get the needed dollars.
Fund-raisers plan to incor
porate the children they are try
ing to help as well. Through a
children’s campaign, they want
to get youth contributions for
the project.
While White hopes the chil
dren will feel they are a part of
making the new museum a real
ity, he also wants them to learn
a little about what a fund-rais
ing campaign is all about.
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln will join the numerous
entities involved in the cam
paign. Many of the ads for the
media campaign have been cre
ated by students in marketing
and advertising classes, White
said.
As the fund-raising cam
paign continues, the construe
tion will begin. White said that
work on the building will begin
either this fall or winter and
will be completed by sometime
in 2000.
The construction of the
building, as well as the opera
tion of it when it is completed,
will draw from organizations
across the community.
The building itself will be
run by a private-public partner
ship, since the city owns the
building, and the Children’s
Museum, a private nonprofit
organization, will run it, White
said.
But the downtown location
also will give nearby organiza
tions, such as the university, a
chance to be a part of the muse
um and benefit from it.
As it is now, the university
already plays a role in the
museum. The agricultural
department brought in the trac
tor that sits in the museum.
Some of the museum’s cos
tumes were made by students in
a textiles class.
White thinks such
exchanges benefit both the
museum and the university, and
hopes they continue.
“They got a great project,
we got great costumes,” he said.
With many people and
groups involved in the museum,
White hopes that throughout
the building and operation of
the new museum, one goal will
remain paramount for every
one: providing a place in the -
world where children feel com
fortable.
“Those opportunities are
diminishing,” White said.
“There are so many museums
around that don’t allow children
to touch.
“This is a place where their
interests can be highlighted.”
