Legislative bill couid
nail salons with rules
By Jessica Fargen
Senior staff writer
Many women can tell stories
about dark fungus forming under
their acrylic nails, paying $25 for a
meager nail job or even loss of a fin
gernail because the person who pul
on their false nails was not properly
trained.
Omaha Sen. Deb Suttle is aiming
to up the standards of nail techni
cians and salons through LB68. The
bill would require nail technicians to
take 600 hours of education on nail
technician skills, such as applying
acrylic nails.
Nebraska is one of four states
that does not require licensing of nail
salons or training of nail technicians.
If the bill passes, all nail technicians
and salons would have to be licensed
by January 2000.
“People have come in and set up
nail salons without any thought to
health concerns and sanitation con
cerns,” Suttle said.
Cut-rate salons can be very dan
gerous, several Lincoln nail techni
cians said, and it is about time
Nebraska imposed some regulations.
Hana Van, manager of Unique
Nails, 220 N. 66th St., said untrained
nail technicians may not know whal
to do with clients who have fungus
underneath thei; nails.
“Some technicians may keep
going over (fungus) without treating
it, which can, in the long run, be
extremely, unhealthy and damaging
to the nails,” Van said.
Fungus can get underneath a nail
if the acrylic nail is loose or not
adhered right, said Van, who has
been a nail technician for six years.
Jessica Scott, a nail technician at
Heavenly Nails, 1144 Belmont Ave.,
laid out more nasty consequences of
inept nail technicians.
“If they don’t sanitize their tools
correctly, you could get certain
blood diseases if there is a cut,” Scott
said. “You could go to a nail salon
that has never been inspected, and
they could be using improper prod
ucts.”
Scott also said some salons use
cheap poisonous chemicals such as
methyl methacrylate, known as
MMA, to attach artificial nails.
Once the chemical is applied to nails
it gets so hard technicians must use
an electric file to remove it, Scott
said.
“The prolonged use of MMA
products on your nail can actually
cause the whole nail to come off,”
Scott said.
John Miner, consumer service
supervisor for the Lincoln/Lancaster
County Health Department, said nail
salons were not the only places
where regulation was lacking. -
“There’s a lot of things, like tat
toos, nail care, false nails, sun-tan
ning - none of which are regulated
by any governmental agency in the
state or local government - but peo
ple keep wanting less government,”
Miner said. “But because they’ve got
a consumer complaint, they expect
government to step in and do some
thing.”
Complaints about fungus, dam
age to real nails and even false nails
falling off in food top off the list of
«
You could go to a
nail salon that has
never been
inspected, and they
could be using
improper products
Jessica Scott
nail technician
nail salon complaints the department
hears.
Miner said the department was
neutral on the bill.
Under the bill, nail technicians
would be required to pay a licensing
fee between $10 and $300. The
appropriation bill for LB68 was
advanced to Select File by senators
Wednesday.
Suttle said the majority of nail
salons were safe, but a few bad ones
could really wreak havoc on some
one’s hands.
“Most of them are sanitary
because you lose business if you
kept a shoddy shop, but there’s still
no rules or regulations.”
Although laws are one way to
regulate nail salons, people also need
to be smart consumers by asking
questions and not taking “I don’t
know” as an answer from nail techni
cians, Scott said.
If consumers have any concerns,
they should ask a lot of questions, he
said, or find a new salon if they are
not happy with what they are getting.
Lecture to examine
minorities in writing
■ An English scholar will
conduct discussions about
representing women and
other groups in writing.
By Veronica Daehn
Staff writer
Authors writing about those differ
ent than themselves must be careful to
paint an accurate picture of the charac
ters in their stories, says a University of
Michigan professor who will visit UNL
today.
Ann Ruggles Gere, through her
work in minority representation, wants
to make sure minorities and women are
portrayed accurately in literature and
history.
Gere, chairwoman of the Joint doc
torate program in English and
Education at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, will address the
problem in her lecture today at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Her presentation, titled
“Consuming Voices: Perspectives on
Representing Others,” will be at 3:30
p.m. in the Andrews Hall Dudley Bailey
Library, and is open to the public.
Gere feels particularly strong about
the representation of women.
“It’s important to educate people
about women’s studies issues because
we keep losing the history of women,”
she said. “Where women and minorities
are concerned, they are not usually the
ones who get to tell their own stories.”
Gere, who has written or edited
about a dozen scholarly books and 30
articles, said she has seen representation
become a continual problem.
“I saw this again and again in my
book on women’s clubs,” she said “The
public statements about women’s clubs
were terrible distortions of what these
groups were actually doing.”
In her most recent book, “Intimate
Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in
U.S. Women’s Clubs 1880-1920,” Gere
said she focused on reading and writing
among many groups of women.
Blacks, Mormons, Jewish
Americans, American Indians, the
working class and white middle-class
Protestants are included, she said.
Gere, who is affiliated with the
women’s studies program at UM, said
she is working on another book with her
daughter.
The book, titled “Woman of the
King Salmon: a Mother Daughter
Memoir,” has taken her in a new direc
tion, Gere said.
“My current project is very different
from anything I’ve ever written in that it
is addressed to a more general audience,
is co-written with my daughter, and is
much more personal,” she said.
Debbie Minter, assistant professor
of English, played a large role in bring
ing Gere to UNL.
“I thought that given the challenges
we face to build literacy, it would be
useful for us and her to have her here,”
Minter said. “The research she’s doing
is compelling for a broad range of stu
dents and faculty.”
Minter, who is involved with the
women’s studies program, said Gere’s
address will serve a necessary purpose.
“It’s crucial to address representa
tion,” she said. “It matters how you rep
resent someone else in your research.”
There will also be a series of infor
mal discussions led by Gere today and
Friday, Minter said. Those interested in
attending should contact Minter at
(402)472-1846.
“Now is a crucial time to use writ
ing and reading as a way of engaging
with our differences, as a way of build
ing community,” Minter said. “(Gere’s)
research is based on this.”
Think Of It As
A Little Wind ow
Of Opportunity.
February 4
"Little" because we won't be on campus for long. But the career opportunities
are huge. Just think. Working for a national company. Designing and marketing
top-of-line windows and doors that are known the world over. Learning from experts.
With room to move up. * p
Pella Corporation representatives will be at the Career Fair February 4.
For more information visit our representatives. Or callour jobline, 515-621-6770.
n
VIEWED TO BE THE BEST."
Pella Corporation • 102 Main Street • Pella, Iowa 50219
i . . ^ : j „ . ' . . -
“100 GREAT REASONS
TO BE AN ENGINEER”
ENGINEERING &
TECHNOLOGY
CAREER FAIR
Thursday, February 4,1999
9:30 am to 3:00 pm
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
City Campus Union
Centennial Ballroom
l1" " 1 " '
- * # .<..
Representatives from the Nebraska Department of Roads invite you to
stop at our table at the the Engineering and Technology Career Fair
on February 4*. from 930 am to 3 pm
We also will participate on February 8* in the UNI Interviews of
graduates and interns; and the Minority Professional Job Fair February 25th.
We are the state agency responsible for the planning, design,
construction, maintenance and administration of Nebraska's highway
system. We employ more than 2,200 people across the state.
Our entry level positions offer excellent benefits and possible
relocation assistance. We also provide student work-study programs
and summer job opportunities. Entree level positions include:
• Data Processing -
(Business I Engineering Applications)
• Engineering
Department of Roads
Stop by the Department of Roads booth for information.
■ SSS&Ssis j&SgsSfc&JgBSSS s'..-.' -S' • ' '* v* -: i