Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1998)
The worst of the worst UNL students handle bad, bad Christmas gifts By Jessica Fargen Staff writer One bottle of Turtle Wax wash and a wax kit. A tube of green lipstick, a lawn chair and a small slot machine. A 5-pound pillow that looks like a potato. Bizarre, overly practical and just plain stupid gifts top University of Nebraska-Lincoln students’ lists of worst-received Christmas gifts. The culprits: usually aunts and grandmothers. The well-meaning relatives gave the strangest gifts, which rarely got thrown away and always required proper gift-opening etiquette, stu dents said. Josh Reiners, a junior animal sci ence major, said he opened a too practical gift from his aunt and uncle last year. “I got a bottle of Turtle Wax wash and wax kit,” he said. “I still haven’t used it. That was kind of weird.” But Reiners has yet to part with the car-shining liquid. In fact, he brought it to college with him. “Maybe some sunny day, I’ll use it,” he said. Beth Rademacher’s gift was also green, but it wasn’t for her car. The junior communications major got a tube of green lipstick that turned bright red when she put it on. She has not used the lipstick since her grandmother gave it to her a couple years ago, but she has not thrown it away either. Throwing away bad gifts and making sour faces when they are opened isn’t proper, Reiners said - no matter how ridiculous the gift is. “It’s essential that you act like you love it,” he said. “Especially when it’s from relatives.” Scott Jefferson, a freshman pre medicine major, agreed. “You just kind of give a cheesy grin and say, ‘Oh thanks,’ but you don’t really mean it.” Jefferson had an experience sim ilar to Reiners’ when he received a lawn chair from his grandmother. Jefferson was 10 years old when he and his brother got the lawn chair. “They thought we might need it,” he said. Jefferson said his mother used the chair more than he did. Deborah Lee, a junior psycholo gy major, said she usually gets nor mal gifts from her family members - with the exception of her dad. He always puts a bottle of “stuff ” in her stocking. The stuff, she said, goes in her gas tank to make her car start better in winter. “He just started putting that in my stocking when I came to school,” she said. “He’s not much of a gift person, but he usually gets us that. a It’s essential that you act like you love (the gift).” Josh Reiners animal science major “It’s his way of taking care of his little girl.” Robin Clevenger, a junior psy chology major, got a slot machine from her aunt before she was even old enough to gamble. ine toy was stutted under Clevenger’s bed for several years. Michelle Wiemer, a senior busi ness major, said her grandmother gave her and her sister 5-pound pil lows that looked like sacks of pota toes. “Me and my sister thought it looked like bird seed, and it was very embarrassing,” said Wiemer, who was 20 years old at the time. She hasn’t used the potato pil low, but it might still be around. “I have no idea where it is now,” she said. “We brought it home, we laughed about it, and Mom took them somewhere. “It was a good laugh.” The perfect holiday gift. No assembly required. * - -vt Combining state-of-the-art features with simple setup and operation, iMa<T is also an incredible value. It boasts the advanced performance of the lightning fast PowerPC G3 processor, high speed ethemet networking, a 56K modem, and pre-loaded software that combine to get you to the Internet in 10 minutes right out of the box. Your special UNL student price:$l,199.00 The gifts keep coming because you also get a coupon book worth $2,500 in additional value for things like software, games and accessories.__ 01998Apple Computer, IncAilritfxs reserved Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks and iMac is a trademark of Apple Computer. Inc. PowerPC is a trademark of IBM Corp Newest shopping center ready for holiday traffic By Michelle Stforius Staff writer When the busiest shopping day of die year arrives Friday, Lincoln’s newest shopping center will be waiting with open doors. Six new stores will open that day at South Pointe Pavilions’ open-air stop ping plaza at 27* Street and Pine Lake Road. Abercrombie & Fitch, The Buckle, Gymboree, Lenscrafters, Athlete’s Foot and Bed, Bath & Beyond will join four stores already open at the plaza, said Scott Rehorn, a partner in R.E.D. Capital Development Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Old Navy, Hallmark Creations and Chili’s opened this fall. We don t have these stores any where else,” said Amy Jappert, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln fresh man who works at Hallmark Creations. “This way, I don’t have to go to Omaha.” Rehorn said planning for South Pointe began more than two years ago. The exterior construction should be fin ished within the next two months, and the interior of the mall will be complet ed by summer 1999. South Pointe’s open-air layout is dif ferent from that of a typical mall, Rehom said. It adds atmosphere and gives shoppers a better shopping expe rience than an enclosed mall does. Scott Victoryskocil, general manag er of Gateway Mall, agreed that South Pointe Pavilions offers shoppers a dif ferent option than Gateway, the other large mall in Lincoln. Other stores that will open at South Pointe after the New Year’s holiday include Gap, Gap Kids and Landmark Luggage. Old Navy was the first store to open at South Pointe. Daniel Reimnitz, Old Navy general manager, said the store has had steady traffic since its opening. Chili’s, South Pointe’s only restau rant, opened at this fall because of the development in the area. Steven Drake, service manager at Chili’s, said the mall brings people to the restaurant “We have people coming in droves,” Drake said. “We got killed last week.” Chili s will not have problems han dling holiday business, he said. TJ. Hesser, store manager of South Pointe’s Barnes & Noble, said he also expects the mall to draw a huge number of shoppers to the store. People will stop into the bookstore during their holiday shopping trips to other South Pointe stores, he said. Barnes & Noble has much more to offer than books, he said. The store also has listening stations for music, Starbucks coffee and a gift area. “Usually, Barnes & Noble is a desti nation store,” Hesser said. “But South Pointe Pavilions is going to be a destina tion mall.” THE OZONE |pCLOTHING, BODY PIERCING, St ^ GIFTS, COFFEE & MUSIC. & WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE 120 N. 14TH (402)435-8299 Arizona W $89.95 M IF5 Iki ~ifjE"BAG BIRKENSTOCK. The original comfort shoer Complete selection of Birkenstocks Starting at $59.99 FOOTLOOSE & FANCY p . 1219 P Street 476-6119 JSZL