SPORTS Finley done Nebraska eornerback Clint Finley talks about ice cream, big hits. Saturday's Texas A&M game and grow ing up in the Lone Star State. PAGE 7 k I i Houses of the unholy Haunted houses have progressed from campy fun to modern day’ technological terrors. Haunted-house engineers comment on the trend toward electronically enhanced fear PAGE 9 FRIDAY October 9. 1998 Rising Against the Fall Mostly sunny, high 77 Parth cloudy tonight, low 50. VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 35 Bill gives students loan relief By Josh Funk Senior' staff writer Student loan interest rates were slashed to their low est le\e! in 17 \ears when President Clinton signed a higher education hill Wednesday The bill addressed maty different areas of metier education ranging from financial aid to teacher's :■ i leges and research grants But mam of the reforms required :n the hill are a l reau\ met m exceeded b\ the University cf Nebraska, admin istrators said Thursday. Unless Congress follows through with appropriations for these programs, administrators said the bill's effects may be limited. “The most sig nificant thing in me Din is me interest rates, saia Lraig Munier. uinl director of scholarships and financial aid. The bill creates a new interest-rate formula, based on Treasury bill rates and added points, for student loans. As a result, the rate for students would be 7.46 per cent for graduates starting to repay their loans —the lowest rate in 17 years. Rates are capped at 8.24 percent. That equates to a sa\ mgs of S700 oxer ten years for the average student borrower graduating with SI3.000 IN debt The measure also raises the maximum authorized amount for Pell Grants from the present S3.000 to S4.500 a vear in 1999,2000. and in steps to S3.800 in 2003-2004. But Congress would have to provide the monev. The higher authorized amount does not necessarih mean larger grant amounts. It is as if Congress raised the limit on colleges' Pell Grant credit card but that doesn't mean thev will spend Please see BILL on 2 u -- The most significant thing in the bill is the interest rates." Craig Munier UNL director of scholarships and financial aid Scott McClurg/DN MIKE CASE, a senior elementary and special education major, practices disassembling and reassembling an M-60 machine gun while blindfolded. Case, an Air Force international guardsman, will be competing in a national competition for branches of the guard in Little Rock, Ark., next week. Pair shoots for M-60 championship By Josh Fi nk ^ Senior staff writer \ couple of self-described Air Force weenies are out to show the test t'the armed Forces how to shoot the M-OO \nd the Arm;, gu;. s iiate it when these two w m l nwersitc of Nebraska-Lincoln student Mike C use and his part ner Farr;. to tattle Rock. Ark., to represent Nebraska in a national mihtan. shooting competition h\er\ state sends a 20-person team to the competition For National (iuard units ()n each team, eight people shoot rifles, eight shoot pistols, two shoot sniper rifles and two shoot machine guns. The team is also broken into 10 experienced or old shooters and 10 new shooters, who ha\e ne\er competed nationally before. ()ld and new shooters are teamed in an effort to pass on skills. ! he pair fh an the !5.';!’ Vcuntx Police unit are teamed as the gun ner ,md assistant gunner of die \l-o(). but during competition then roles become interchangeable 1 he \l-oO is a belt-fed machine gun firing .'ox-callher bullets at a rate of up to 5o0 rounds a minute and accurate!) hit targets at up to 1.100 meters Please see M-60 on 2 Local, long-distance carriers split over initiative’s benefit By Todd Anderson Senior staff writer In a campaign to attract support for a ballot initiative to lower tele phone access charges, it's local tele phone companies in a race against long-distance company AT&T, a major financial backer of the initia tive. According to spending reports submitted to the state this week, the group supporting the proposed state statute has raised and spent the most money in its campaign to draw up support for Initiative 414. With contributions totaling more than S2 million from AT&T. the C ommittee to Vote Yes for Lower Phone Bills has spent S2.2 million tin a petition drive and. more recently, advertising to send out its message. MC I is the group’s onlv other contributor, with a donation of S 1.000. Nebraskans to Protect Our Phone Ser\ ice. the sole group opposed to Initiative 414. has raised nearly S800.000 since it started up its campaign in earlv July. It has spent more than S575.000. Its financial support has come mostly from local phone companies such as Aliant Communications in Lincoln and I S West in Omaha, as well as the IS Cattlemen's Please see PHONE on 3 Telephone totals Supporters of Initiative 414, a constitutional amendment that would lower telephone access charges, have raised more than twice as much as opponents. More than $2 million of the support group's total was donated by AT&T, while most of the opposing group's total has come from local phone companies. Figures are rounded. „ Against the measure Nebraskans to ?ipppfissiiSf»i* 0oo Protect Our F ■ - - ■ ' 51 Phone Service ( ) $126,000 For the measure Committee to ilfiiWlWiaiilllljMga^^ eo Vote Yes for - ■ —- - ---1 3333 mill,on Lower Phone ) $1.57 million Bills (more than -* $2 million _) $47,000 0 Campaign contributions since January O Campaign contributions since mid-June (most recent reportinn nencrt' O Money on hand _ . Source: State AccountaDmty and Disclosure Commission •Iox Fk.wk n.\ Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World U ide Web at http: u'me.unl.edu DailyNeb